#Besides! Pleasing your wife is a completely basis-to-basis issue.

[rasmodiusofficial]

You are the town wizard, so… any tips on how a guy coild go about pleasing his wife? Asking for a friend.

I'm not that kind of wizard!

[cevansbrat0007]

Preschool Brawl

Summary: You and Andy end up in the principal's office after BiBi has an altercation with a little boy at school. Andy Barber x Black!Reader, Bianca Barber

*Warnings: Fluff, Sad Bianca Barber, Angry/Protective Reader, Angry/Protective Andy, Cursing, Minors DNI

A/N: This is part of my ongoing Growing Pains Series. As always, I’d love your feedback, so please let me know what you think. Semi-proofread. Not beta’d. All mistakes are my own.

---

It was a Thursday afternoon. You and your husband had been called up to Bianca’s preschool because she had apparently punched another child. Which was so unlike her. Your baby was an absolute sweetheart!

Holding Andy’s hand, you cast a curious glance at the other couple sitting beside you. They were the parents of little Billy Robertson.   

“I’m sure you can see that we find their child’s behavior to be completely unacceptable. And we’d like to know what you plan to do about it.” Says Billy’s mother. 

What was her name again? Sandra? Susan? Regardless, the woman looked like she’d been sucking on a lemon.

Andy gives your hand a comforting squeeze. “What was Bianca’s reason for hitting him?” You ask. “Do you know?”

“Reason?” Shelly balks. “There is no reason! Your child shouldn’t have touched him! And furthermore -”

“Can you please let her answer the question?” Try as you might, you can’t keep the heat out of your tone.  

The director lets out a sigh. “Apparently Billy has been pinching her. Rather frequently.”

Andy looks at you and simply shakes his head. He knew that you were about to go off, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not that he would even try.  

“Our Billy would never -”

“Be quiet, Samantha.” You growl.

“It’s Stacy.”

“Don’t care. Now, do you know if Bianca ever told her teacher what was happening?” The woman sighs again and rests her clasped hands on her desk. “She did. And Ms. Johnson told me that she moved their seats, thinking that the matter would take care of itself.”

You. Were. Pissed.

“Okay, so wait. Just help me catch up so I can understand. Please. If this little boy has been pinching her, and she addressed it with their teacher, who did nothing, then why is she in trouble?”

“Because we don’t tolerate violence.” The woman behind the desk says.

“But clearly you do. If this boy has been pinching my child on what sounds like a regular basis, why wasn’t something done? And I know my baby told him to stop, because she is very, very verbal.” 

“And furthermore,” you turn your baleful glare towards Stephanie. “Why weren’t my husband and I informed of the issue before now?” 

You were going to hurt somebody. 

“As I said, it was being handled internally.” She responds in a clipped tone. 

“My wife is very, very right.” Andy chimes in. “You and your entire team were incredibly negligent here. You completely mishandled all of this. Frankly, I’m shocked. I’m not going to sugar coat it, but this is downright unacceptable.”  He finishes with a growl. 

“”Like I said, we tried to -”

“No! So my baby, who isn’t perfect, but she is the closest thing to it, chose to defend herself…all of the sudden we need to have a meeting?”

Oh good lord in heaven you were on fire. Andy rubs your back and mutters something about “you needing to calm down”.

“I am calm.” You tell him, hackles raised. “But this little boy has apparently been hurting our BiBi on the regular and this administration has said nothing until now. And now my sweet baby is the problem.”

“Honey, we’re going to sort it out.” He assures you.

“Yes, we will. You had better believe it!”

Sherri looks at you and offers you a fake smile. “I think that maybe our son likes your daughter and that’s why he maybe pinches her. It’s kid stuff, but that’s no reason for her to punch him.”

“Sweetheart.” Oh yeah, you were done. “First of all, this isn’t just kid stuff. If I lean over and pinch you right now, if I did that to you, you would want to fight. I know I would. It is the fucking twenty first century, excuse my language, but we need to stop this whole boys will be boys thing. Do you think I went and pinched my husband when I realized I liked him? No!”

I mean, you could’ve… Andy thinks to himself. Probably would’ve fallen for you even harder.

“My wife is right, we should have been notified of the issue way before now. You and your team screwed up in a big way, and we do not appreciate it.” Andy tells the director. Oh, your man was using his attorney voice. Sexy.

“I’m over this. It’s clear that our daughter did nothing wrong. I will always teach my baby that it’s important for her to defend herself.” Your man makes it clear that he is very annoyed. “Hopefully your son has learned his lesson.” 

“Let’s go, Andrew.” You stand up. You needed to go hold your baby. 

“We are not done here, Mr. and Mrs. Barber.”

“Yes we are.” Andy growls. “You let either one of us hear that something has happened to our daughter while at your school, under your administration, and I promise that you will have a serious problem on your hands.” 

“That’s right,” you echo. “And I swear you ain’t never seen a fire like the one I’ma cause.” She blanches at that. And so do the asshole kid’s parents. They clearly didn’t know that you were quoting Beyonce, and that was okay with you.

“Sally. David. Keep your kid away from ours and you won’t have to deal with us again. And maybe teach him some flipping manners if you can find the time.” You take Andy’s hand and walk out.

“It’s Stacy and Devon!” She screeches. 

“Don’t care!” You sing as Andy leads you out of the room. 

You both walk down the hall to find your baby. Poor thing was probably tired. When you get to her classroom you see her sitting in her assigned seat wearing her little backpack. Her head is resting on the desk, and one of her pigtails has come undone. 

“BiBi.” Andy says. “It’s time to go home, sweetie.” He calls softly. Immediately she gets up and runs to you both. She grabs your hand and buries her face in her Daddy’s leg as she sobs.

“BiBi is sorry for being bad! She so sorry!” You and Andy share a worried look. “I be good, I promise! Please don’t give me away.” 

She cries harder with every word. “Wuv Mama, wuv Daddy. Please don’t send BiBi away. I be better!” 

Huh? Your husband appears equally horrified. You go to pick her up, which proves to be a challenge since she refuses to let go of Andy. 

“Bianca.” You coo in your gentlest voice. “Baby. Calm down.” Unsure of what else to do, you sink to your knees and pry her tiny hands from Andy’s pants, which only makes her wrap her arms around you and hold on for dear life.”

“Mama, pwease! No go!” Her tears are drenching your shirt. 

“Bianca Maria Barber. Look at me right now.” Andy softly orders. Lifting her tear-stained face, she does as he asks. “Let Daddy make something very, very clear. Are you listening, baby girl?” She nods as you rub her back.

“Your Mama and I love you. And we would never, ever, give you away. Do you understand me?”

Your baby nods again. 

“Why did you think that, BiBi? Tell Mama and Daddy why.” You ask as you pepper her little face with kisses.

“Cuz Billy tell me. He say dat you no love me no more after I hit him.” 

“Okay.” You were going to find that kid, and dangle him from the monkey bars until he peed his pants.

“He say you gonna send BiBi away and get a new girl. Better girl.” She begins to cry all over again. “But Daddy he pinch me. Lots. I say no. I tell teacher. BiBi got mad. So she hit.”

“You’re okay.” Andy grumbles, pissed at the world. “BiBi, you are fine. We’re not mad at you. This was not your fault. And Daddy is proud of you for standing up for yourself, okay?”

“Daddy no hate?” 

Andy plucks your daughter from your arms faster than you can blink. “Your Daddy could never hate you. Your Daddy loves you. He adores you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, short of meeting your Mama.”

“Wuv you.” She whispers, as she looks into her Daddy’s eyes.

“I love you too.” He gruffly responds, his voice thick with emotion. “Now I’m taking my girls out for ice cream. After all this, Daddy could seriously use some Starrsbury right about now.”

END

[your-angle-of-music]

Okay, but one of the most striking differences between musical Phantom and book Erik to me (besides their gaping disparity in sluttiness levels) is that musical Phantom wants to make Christine into him, while book Erik desperately wants to make himself into her. The most glaring example of this is probably the “Music of the Night” scene in the musical, with which I have...issues.

Now, in the book, what’s happening in this moment is Christine screaming at her mysterious kidnapper while said mysterious kidnapper grovels at her feet and wallows in a bit of self-loathing for a while: Christine describes how “he accuses himself, he curses himself, he implores my forgiveness!” and then “lays at [her] feet an immense and tragic love.” He clearly does have a super uneven and manipulative power dynamic with Christine, but one gets the sense that he doesn’t want to think about that. He isn’t trying to sell Christine anything, or to put her under some spell. He’s putting almost all of his cards on the table right away and begging her to forgive him, or to save him. 

And, of course, at the climax of the novel, it becomes increasingly clear that he sees Christine as a representation of the normal life he so desperately craves. He says so himself: “I want to have a nice, quiet flat, with ordinary doors and windows and a wife inside it, like anybody else! A wife whom I could love and take out on Sundays and keep amused on week-days.” I don’t doubt that he cares for Christine for her compassion and wit and courage and voice, but I think that more than anything, he is in love with the idea of “a wife,” any wife, any person he can pour his love and creativity into and who will “love [him] for [him]self” instead of for his conveniently murderous tendencies. Between his obsession with a public church wedding and the Sunday walks, it’s clear that Erik wants to be seen, by Christine and by everyone. And in that vein, he views her as an escape from the isolation he has imposed on himself; he exclaims, “I'm sick and tired of having a forest and a torture-chamber in my house and of living like a mountebank, in a house with a false bottom!” He does not want to be magical or secretive anymore; he wants to climb into the light in a real and physical way. The fact that he views Christine this way is dehumanizing and objectifying and unfair, and it’s definitely not a healthy basis for a relationship. People don’t belong on pedestals. But it’s still a markedly different situation from the one in the musical.

So, that being said, what is up with “The Music of the Night?”

“Turn your face away from the garish light of day,” sings the Phantom. “Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before,” sings the Phantom. “Let your darker side give in,” sings the Phantom. He doesn’t really want to be lifted up and saved — he wants to drag Christine down with him, and he is trying to convince her that her oh-so-ordinary life cannot compare to his glamorous one, instead of acting genuinely vulnerable. Her actual expressed personality and desires (“all I want is freedom, a world with no more night”) are disposable because he thinks he sees a darkness in her that’s like his own. If he thinks she has a “darker side,” then that means he is “dark” in a moral way, and he has almost a sense of pride in his own evilness that’s a far cry from book Erik’s claim that “I am not really wicked...If you loved me I should be as gentle as a lamb; and you could do anything with me that you pleased”. No, this Phantom doesn’t want to be gentle with Christine, and he wants her to do what he pleases.

And furthermore, it means that the musical Phantom has completely abandoned hope that he could ever escape from the life he has made. Maybe it means he’s less deluded than book Erik: “either way you choose, you cannot win,” he says during the “Final Lair” sequence; this version of the Phantom really doesn’t believe that Christine loves him the way he wants to be loved, or that she ever could. But maybe it just means he’s more hopeless. Before, when he tells her “pity comes too late, / turn around and face your fate: / an eternity of this before your eyes,” we are reminded that this Phantom does not intend to put on his mask and pretend he’s normal for the rest of their lives — he really does imagine his life as just him and Christine in the basement of the opera house, miserable and angry and hidden away, forever and ever. That fantasy seems almost more childish to me than book Erik’s, like a lifelong tantrum. 

Both of these versions of the character are immensely tragic, although in entirely different ways. And ultimately, only book Erik is truly saved. After he admits to Christine, “I know you love the boy” and lets her go, he makes the journey to see the Daroga at his own apartment, in the upper world, for the first time, and takes off his mask on his own. It may be too late, but he is learning and changing. But at the end of the musical, the Phantom does what he always does. He finds a trap door and he disappears. He decides to go deeper into the dark.

[dinner-djarin]

Until the Sun Rises

Part 2: Beautifully Catastrophic

Anakin x Jedi!reader

Summary: The Clone Wars have begun, and although you and Anakin remain best friends, you have sensed your relationship growing distant, both from your time spent apart in battle, and from the inclusion of a certain woman into his life. When you finally get a moment to share alone with him, however, things do not go as you would have wished.

Notes: Part 2 takes place probably a year or so after part 1. Reader is young, probably around 18 or 19. Another Happy Birthday wish to @hellotherebonky

Rating: T

Warnings: fluff/angst. Reader gets very angry, yikes.

Part 1

Only one year later would Anakin be made an official Jedi Knight, just after the start of the Clone Wars. And as much as you hoped for peace in the galaxy, you secretly revelled in the start of the fighting, as it meant you were finally able to leave the Temple on a regular basis. You and your Master fought many battles together, and you felt yourself grow stronger with The Force every day. Master Sente admitted they may have been wrong to keep you guarded all that time, as you proved yourself to be a very cunning and diligent warrior. You learned ten times faster out in the galaxy then you did by studying away in the record halls. Being out there, learning on the battlefield, this was what made you finally shine.

The one downfall, however, was the reality that your assignments kept you away from Anakin.

He and Obi-wan stayed close, even after he proved himself capable and passed his trials, so the two of them often went on missions together… a fate you once dreamed of for yourselves.

But in all honesty, you were thankful for the space from Anakin. Ever since Padme Amidala had been thrust back into his life, you were tormented by how different Anakin had become. He didn’t confide in you as often, and when he did, the sole topic was her. How he couldn’t stand to be away from her. How he dreamt only of her. How only she could tame the fire that seared his soul.

One might think that a war should be the cause of such an uprooting to your life - but the war paled in comparison to the return of a woman.

You could see what drew him to her. Her beauty was only paralleled by her intelligence and kindness. She was stunning - you might even say she was perfect.

Her angelic form could not rival whatever you had to offer him. In fact, you had nothing to offer him, as the Jedi Code stood between any dreams you could dare to possess. At least with her, only his own morals were tempted. He didn’t confide the true nature of his relationship with Padme to you, but in your heart, you knew things had gone too far. It broke you to see him throw away his future for her, but it broke you more that he would never do the same for you.

She was lovely enough to include you in her life too, obviously noting the fact that you were Anakin’s only true friend at the Temple. You spent lunches and dinners and nights out together at the opera. Over the short time you spent together you unconsciously came to like her. More than that, you admired her.

You admired how she continued to fight for the rights of those who had none. How she was always unafraid to speak her mind and stand against what she believed to be wrong. You also noticed just how strong willed she could be in those opinions; ready to take on any voices raised against her own.

And as much as you tried to be happy for the two best people in your life, you couldn’t help the way that they remind you of the neutron star collisions you were taught about as a youngling. Two stars burning hot and bright, caught in each other's gravity, encircling one another over and over in a beautiful rhythm, until time and space can no longer accommodate for their existence. A beauty burning so bright that it can only be catastrophic.

Padme is brilliant and caring, but she is determined and independent. Anakin is willing to fight to the end for what he loves, but he is only satisfied when it is him who makes the sacrifices, and him who makes the choices. He needs to control everything, but she cannot be controlled.

You’ve grown alongside Anakin, and you’ve grown to love Padme. Separate they are unstoppable. They believe they can change the galaxy. But you know neither sees that goal in the same way.

You recount the way Anakin fought so hard against the council, over and over, believing that he knew better, or his approach would suit the situation over theirs. Often, he was proven right. He was talented, but the council only thought of him as reckless and lucky, making him seek to push against them even harder. For nights on end, you would hear him rant on about his distrust in such a system.

“We would be better off to decide for ourselves what we thought was right” he would go on. “How can we put our faith in a group of old, washed up Master’s who have long forgotten what it’s like to put their own lives on the line.” Eventually he would finish with sentiments along the line of: “I think they’re just scared to make the decisions that needed to be made”

But you also knew how faithful Padme was to that same system. She believed in the power of diplomacy and democracy. A freedom made by sitting and talking through their issues. Words right out of the mouth of Anakin; words of distaste for a future he couldn't see himself a part of.

It kept you wondering just how long it might take for fate - for The Force - to intervene. You knew it would have to, in some form or another. It always did. You waited for the day they would implode. And you swore you would be by his side when they did.

You waited. But the day hadn’t come.

Instead, the Clone Wars dragged on. You were eventually Knighted. A relatively small ceremony for the troubled times, but even Anakin made his way to be there. He looked proud as you knelt before the council and agreed to do the will of The Force.

“I can’t believe I finally made it,” you whisper to Anakin as you shuffle out of the council room.

“I never doubted you would, little one.” His voice quiet too but resonating directly into your ear as he hunched over to place his mouth next to your face.

“I did. All the time,” you say as you tilt your face to meet his.

“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.” Just then you realized you had worked yourselves away from the crowd into the hall where your adjacent rooms were held. “Come on, for old times’ sake.” His head nodding towards his own room, but you understood the final destination he had in mind.

You both carefully maneuvered your bodies over the ledge of his balcony onto the roof of the temple. “This was easier when we were children,” you remarked through laboured breaths.

“Everything was,” he responded, settling into the spot next to you so that your two thighs were barely grazing. The positioning reminded you of a night you spent together not so long ago. Watching the life of Coruscant fill the skies. Now the view had barely changed, save for the fact you were currently watching a setting sun instead of a vast darkness.

You both sat in silence, as you often did, words rarely necessary when you felt each other's presence so clearly already. Tuning into his aura, you felt a turbulence - an unease you had never felt before. What is that? You thought, forgetting how thoroughly lodged you were in his essence. “I’m sorry, Anakin. I didn’t mean to intrude-”

“It’s alright. I have nothing to hide, not from you. Never from you.” He admits as he turns to look into your eyes. You met his gaze instantly, and whatever you had felt in his aura had also taken root in his face. Besides the new scar, there were clear signs of worry and fear - his secrets slowly burdening him from the inside out.

“Please tell me, Anakin. You know you can tell me, whatever it is.” You attempt to reassure him. You know he must have a lot on his mind, and you know there is rarely anyone else he can truly confide in. His relationship with Padme meant he could not completely confide in Obi-wan, but the nature of his role and the severity of his actions during the Clone Wars caused a further rift between him and his wife.

“There’s so much. I don’t even know where to begin,” he starts.

“How about the beginning.” Your voice is almost teasing, until you see the bleakness in his weathered face. The horrors of war depleting the once joyful and youthful peace that filled him. Now he looked harsh and serious. He had told you of the things he had done, even before the Clone Wars began, and you could piece together how easily the added burdens had manifested in his soul.

“The council gave me a Padawan.” He spoke softly as he stared at the horizon.

“Already? They must have great faith in you.”

“I think the opposite. They wish to tame me, or to see me fail.” You could sense the hint of anger breaking through his otherwise stoic appearance.

“Anakin, I know you don’t trust them but-”

“But what? When have they ever trusted me?!” His quiet demeanor abruptly dissolving. “Why should I think they’re doing this out of my best interest?”

“How has it been?” You attempt to diffuse him. “What are they like?”

Anakin takes a moment to regain his peace. “She’s like me, Ahsoka.”

“Then she’ll be trouble.” You say with a jab to his ribs.

“Hey.” He nudges you back, and you almost slip from your spot to the balcony below. “Oh Maker, sorry.” He begins again, “I just fear she’s too much like me. She deserves a Master who is knowledgeable of The Force, who can help her find strength and stability. She is wild, and takes risks-”

“And is that bad? She sounds exactly like you. Maybe she needs someone to show her that trusting herself is as important as trusting The Force.”

“I don’t know if I can be that for her. I don’t even know if I trust myself anymore.” his voice reaching a quiet once again. So low, you understand that there is more to what he has shared.

“What’s really going on, Anakin?” You sense his trouble, and you know he has not fully divulged the root of his strife. In a moment of weakness, you let your emotions surface and ask, “Is it Padme?”

“What!? Why would it be Padme? Why would you ask that?” But his voice is too defensive for you to leave the subject alone.

“I just mean keeping the secret. Keeping her a secret. It must be weighing on you. And on top of everything-”

“On top of what?” He asks sternly. But his question stirs something in you, and pokes at all the thoughts you had bottled up over the months of observing the two of them.

“I mean you two already fight enough as it is. You get jealous and she gets angry. You just never seem to be on the same page.”

“You don’t approve of Padme?” He questions harshly.

“Of course I approve of Padme, as if I even need to. I mean she’s perfect. She’s almost too damn good for you-”

“What so I don’t deserve her? You think she should be with someone else?” You saw the aforementioned jealousy rising back up in him, further proving your point.

“I think you’re throwing away your life for a relationship you aren’t even happy in!”

“How could you know If I’m happy?”

“Because I know you, Anakin! I’ve known you for most of your life. I’ve seen you happy, and you aren’t happy with her.”

“It’s not that simple-”

“How is it not? You fight all the time; you don’t agree on anything. Is it supposed to be this hard? Why are you even still with her if she makes your life so difficult?”

“Because she’s my wife!” He admits loudly, a contrast to the deafening silence that follows.

You stare at him for what feels like hours. Your tongue runs dry from the stale air that passes through your agape mouth. Several minutes pass before you realize you hadn’t taken a proper breath.

“What are you talking about, Anakin.” These are the only words you can muster, and they come out painfully against the scratch of your dry throat.

“Just after the assignment where I guarded Padme,” he begins, “I lost my arm, and the Clone Wars began, and there was so much going on. I never realized how easily it could all be taken away. I almost died fighting Dooku.”

“So you decided to get married?” Your mind running too fast, too cluttered with thoughts to string together a calm response. “You lived, Anakin. You’re alive. So you decided to throw it all away because you almost died. Because you realized you could have died. We are Jedi. We could die any day. That’s the freaking point! How could you do something so foolish?!” You scream your words at him like blaster bolts, hoping for the first time ever that you could hurt him, like he had hurt you all these years.

“It was not foolish, I loved her then, and I love her now.” He admits to you angrily.

“And I loved you. I've loved you since the day you came here. And you never gave me a second glance. You never even tried to love me back. I've been here for you the whole time. Through everything. And still, you can't seem to care for me at all. I don't even know why I should care. I should have left you alone years ago. What have I ever gotten out of this? Pain. Hurt. Anger. You’ve pushed me to my breaking point time and time again. You have been more challenging than anything I faced in the trials. But I tried. I tried to be here for you, and hear every problem, every complaint. But you were never here for me. Not once. I’m done.” you say as you slide off the roof. “I cannot believe that all this time you’ve been married to her. And you never once thought to tell me. I am your best friend. At least I thought I was. Maker, Anakin, no wonder everything implodes around you.”

As you retreated, you felt the pain resonate from his aura. Your words tore at his soul and left him to bleed out. But you had enough. You were destroyed, and you needed him to know how deeply he had wounded you first. So, you abandoned him on that roof. You walked away from the one person who you truly loved. With every step you felt the strings of your attachment snap, you felt his presence leaving you in a way it never had before.

But he let you go. Not because he wanted to. But because you were right. He hadn’t been there for you. All those years you had been his crutch. You had listened to every childish rant. You had talked through every problem with him. But what had he done for you? He used you, and he knew it. What good would it do to beg you to stay? He could only be so selfish.

But you were also wrong, because he did love you. He should have shown it better. He should have told you long ago. But his world had become a destructive mess, and he decided he deserved all the pain and torment it had brought. Anakin wasn’t even sure how he loved you. It surely wasn’t the same way he felt about Padme. No, that love was raw. It was fire, and passion. It burned him alive. He loved you softly, like a warm embrace. You brought comfort and joy, even when the world was crumbling around him. Maybe he knew he didn’t deserve such happiness. Maybe that's why he let you walk away.

Part 3

[ssa25]

Souffles and Love - Sasuhina Month 2020 - Day 6

Chef AU

The maître d’ swung by the kitchen to inform him that the last guests for the night had arrived. They would not be accepting any more diners for the evening. As a two Michelin star restaurant, they needed tables to be reserved weeks in advance.

Sasuke finished the final touches of the braised duck before the server picked it up. The new Commis chef had a case of nervous shaky hands that left him with the job of plating. As the Head chef, he had to make sure things run smoothly.

“Last order.”, the expo shouted minutes later. “One Mandarin parfait and One Apple Tarte tatin.”

His pastry chef was an older woman who had more experience than any of them. She promptly got to work on the perfect dessert plates to end the day on a high.

As soon as the last plates went out of the kitchen, Sasuke commended his kitchen staff for their good work. He also had a quick word to the new chef offering him some positive advice in the usual stern manner he was known for. Then, he made his way to the back office. He was expecting his business partner and General Manager Suigetsu to be behind his desk, but the room was unoccupied.

Just as Sasuke turned to go back to the kitchen, he saw Suigetsu walk towards him with a less than pleased expression.

“Ah, Sasuke… I was just looking for you. There’s been an issue, unfortunately.”

Sasuke frowned and asked him, “What issue?”

“One of the diners is not happy with the food. Juugo tried to talk with the customer, but she seemed quite stubborn. Said something about the duck being too dry.”

“What a load of nonsense!! The duck was perfectly cooked, I confirmed it myself.”

Suigetsu rubbed his neck in exasperation. “I know man… I believe you… But our reputation is at stake. Would you mind it terribly to see the lady? She is insisting on meeting the head chef.”

Sasuke snorted with indignation. He was usually very uncomfortable receiving praise and attention on a first hand basis. He’d much rather, they leave reviews on the internet for other people to see. But receiving complaints personally had to be a first. How dare someone try to fault his food? Food that he has spent his sweat and blood to perfect.

“Fine. Take me to her.”, he said with a determined air. He would teach this woman a thing or two about her great food.

Taking off his blue striped apron, he followed Suigetsu to the empty dining hall, which was now being cleaned and prepped for the next day.

“Where is this customer?”, he asked.

“Right this way.”, Suigetsu led him to the corner table behind dark wooden beams.

Sasuke’s steps faltered when he saw his beautiful wife, sitting at the table with a few balloons. He realised he had fallen for a ruse. A perfectly happy ruse. He had not at all expected to see Hinata that evening, since she was not supposed to be back from Paris for the two more months.

She got up from her seat and bit her lower lip with a shy but giddy smile. He could not help the wide grin as he closed the distance between them. 

“What are you doing here? When did you get back?”, he asked her but before she could even answer him, he swooped her in impatiently for a passionate kiss. Hinata responded back with the same zeal. Being married for two years and having stayed away from him for almost six months had been brutal for both of them.

When Suigetsu cleared his throat, Hinata pulled away feeling a little embarrassed. Sasuke turned to see that his whole restaurant staff had gathered behind him and witnessed their private moment.

“We haven’t seen each other in very long.”, the excuse spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them. “Not that it’s any of all your business.”

Most of them snickered behind their palms. It wasn’t everyday that their boss was flustered. When Sasuke faced Hinata again, she held a plate with the warm soufflé ramekin up to him. It had a very thin lit candle in the centre of it.

“I’ve made you a birthday soufflé.”, she quipped.

Someone dimmed the lights in the restaurant, and he could not take his eyes off the radiant smile on her face. All the stress from the day had vanished, and all he could feel was immense joy. If he had been anyone else, he might have jumped up the table and danced. 

But Sasuke being Sasuke nodded and hid his emotions behind a tight lipped smile. “Hn… What kind?”

“Tomato and cheese.”

He grunted in approval and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Happy birthday Sasuke!”, she wished him as her eyes sparkled with an intense emotion that reverberated in his heart.

“Blow on it, and make a wish.”, she reminded him.

Sasuke followed her advice and blew on the single candle, just as everyone clapped. They wished him in unison, but did not break into the birthday song, because Suigetsu had warned them that Sasuke would dash off if they did so.

Everyone shook hands with him and wished him before retiring for the night. Hinata passed on a box of her handmade vanilla buttercream cupcake to each one of them. Suigetsu in particular winked and nudged him before reminding him to exit through the service door.

“Why don’t you take the day off tomorrow? I am sure our Sous chef can handle the kitchen for one day.”, he suggested before leaving. Sasuke said he would think about it.

As soon as the crowd dispersed leaving the couple alone, Sasuke sat beside Hinata and pulled her up to his lap. He nudged his nose at the point where her shoulder met her neck and inhaled her maddening scent, which was a mix of her signature perfume, her own essence and warm vanilla.

Hinata giggled knowing that Sasuke was showing how much he missed her and how happy he was to see her.

“I missed you too…”, she said softly. She lifted his chin to leave a light peck on his nose. “Won’t you try the soufflé?”

“Feed it to me.”, Sasuke demanded in a playful tone.

Sasuke hummed upon his first spoonful. After tasting so many decadent and complex flavours throughout the day, Hinata’s food was exactly what he needed. It was warm, light and airy with a gooey tangy and cheesy centre. Two things that he absolutely loved.

“I’ve said this before and I will say it again… I think you wasted your talents at the bakery you used to work at…”, he said.

“Well, thank you for that back-handed compliment…”, she laughed at his knack for absolute honesty. “And also for letting me do this Pâtisserie course all the way over in Paris…”

Sasuke shook his head. “You deserve it more than anyone else.”

She wound her arms around his neck and pouted, “But I feel like I should do something more to show you how thankful I am.”

“Well, I was thinking…. You could maybe, agree to work with me as a pastry chef here.”

Hinata pretended to think hard about his generous offer. 

“Hmmm… Orrrr… I could open up my own pâtisserie… After all, I love interacting with customers and having handsome strangers for loyal customers...”, she teased him by alluding to their meetings before he explicitly asked her out.

He tightened his hold on her and laughed with her. “I’m beginning to think Paris was not such a great idea after all… You seem to be forgetting that you already have me… Which reminds me, when do you have to go back again?”

Hinata bit her lips and tilted her head. “Actually, I’m back for good.”

“What do you mean? You still have a few months left…”

“Not anymore… I-... I didn’t tell you this when you visited me two months back, but I actually changed to an intensive course at the recommendation of my mentor… She thought I could do it, and I agreed because it would cut short my time away from you by three months… “

Sasuke listened attentively but did not comment.

“So, I have officially completed my course… You, sir, have a proper French pastry chef for a wife…”

Sasuke gave her a blinding smile at the revelation. “That’s amazing!!... I’m so proud of you, Hinata!!”

“I was hoping for you to be happy… Because I haven’t had the time to buy you a proper birthday present.”

“You’re being silly… I am ecstatic to have you back... And you don’t need to give me anything at all… Turning 33 does not exactly call for gifts...”

“Hmm… “, she turned shy and played with the collar of his black chef’s jacket. “Not even a small one… Like a really really small one…”

“Is that code for something kinky?”, he raised an eyebrow, excited by the prospect.

She smacked him playfully on the chest. “No, it’s code for ‘I am pregnant’, you pervert.”

Sasuke stared at her wide eyes before engulfing her into a bone crushing hug that left her gasping.

“Easy... Pregnant women here…”, she chuckled.

“This is the best birthday ever.”

x

A/n: Simple and cute sasuhina.

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 77 of 83 : World of Sea

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SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 77 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2020

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Users   of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may   reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information   remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in   my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical   compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

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Kurin turned to face the pure white Great Sea Dragon by the rail.  “Blind Mecat, you and I talked once about whether I could trust what Captain Barad told me.  What did you tell me about trusting him?”

Blind Mecat’s mellow voice answered, “I said that you would have to make up your own mind, Little Fish.  I also said that I trusted him.”

“Thank you, Cat.  Now, Captain Barad, why did you get the Ord and whose idea was it?”

“Mister Morgu first approached me about getting revenge on the Longin about nine Wohans ago.  The Ord was to be the agency of that revenge.  The plot was to kill you as a covert means of striking at the Longin. The circle of the conspiracy was very small.  Only myself, Mister Morgu and one other, chosen by Mister Morgu and unknown to me, actually knew the real reason for obtaining it.

“Everybody else believed that it was for the fishing experiments that it actually was used for.”

“A moment, please Captain.  Captain Sarfin, these parchments detail the exhaustive experiments carried out.  Their failure, along with the reasons for it, and the disposal of the Ord.  Your honor will notice the highlighted passage where one spine was reported as lost overboard.  Note also the witness statements that Mister Morgu was involved in that loss.”  Sarfin took the new batch of parchment and spent a few minutes reviewing it with Captain Sula.

Sula looked up grimly and said, “You are admitting to the plot against Kurin?”

“We are not done yet, Captain Sula,” said Kurin softly.

“If you wish to spare his life, I hope not,” Sula said dourly.

“Captain Barad, please continue,” Kurin asked.

“Even I did not know who Mister Morgu recruited or how he did it.  I left those details to him.  I did not know about the making of the deadly awl in that sewing kit.  Chena’s death came as complete shock.  It was a totally unnecessary test, and done without my consent.  When Merk, Master Selked’s apprentice was found dead the next morning, I guessed who had made the deadly tool but still did not know what it was.  I just let the normal course of events conceal the cause of his death.

“I stopped by the sickbay to look in on Tanlin’s condition and there I found Kurti being put on the invalid list for a resistant lung parasite infection.  I took her in as my cabin- girl because it was the lightest duty on the ship and she,” Captain Barad paused and his shoulders shook as he appeared to fight for control, “hated being useless.  She began by mending things in my cabin.  Apparently, she approached Master Selked for a sewing kit and got the deadly kit in all innocence.  She never needed the awl for the light work that she did.

“We kept her illness secret from the crew and hoped that one of the treatments would take.  I’d have married her were it possible but she was Grandalor born and the Law is clear.  Besides, we had no time.  Her fatal attack had a sudden onset, as some parasite bored into a vein and her lungs began to fill with blood.

“The whale sang for her, leaping and calling for hours.  Tanlin woke as Kurti failed.  Tanlin had lost all memory of the people of the Arrakan fleet.  She remembers all else.  Blind Mecat says that those memories are gone forever.  In every other respect she is whole.  At first, because of the great similarity between them, I looked in on her progress and tried to help.  It was swiftly apparent that she and Kurti were nothing alike, still, as I worked with her, I fell in love again.  All of this time the kit sat on the shelf in my cabin, and neither I nor any other guessed it’s deadly nature.

“I had never thought to love anybody after Teralat died of fire cough twenty five Gatherings ago.  Suddenly, I fell in love twice in quick succession.  There was no impediment to marrying the Lady Tanlin, and I did so.  We had an Arrakan style Wedding Feast at the Longin food booth.  That is crucial to understanding what followed.

“This is the part that the Court will find hard to accept.  I was bothered by the plot to harm Kurin.  It preyed on me.  I took my wife and Master Selked into my confidence about the scheme.  Each had serious and different objections.  

“Master Selked pointed out that my hate was for Captain Mord Halyn, not the Longin.  Further, I was holding a grudge for the one time that I had bested him completely.  No real basis for a grievance.

“Lady Tanlin’s objection was likewise fundamental.  Captain Mord and Kurin were both invited guests at our Announcement Feast.  Under Arrakan Law and Custom, all grudges between invited guests and the celebrators die at such a feast.  If they do not, all the vows taken at the feast are forsworn and the couple must part and can never marry each other again.

“To keep my wife, I declared the plot done and issued Logged orders that if the deadly spine be found, it must be turned in to Doctor Corin for destruction.  Any other use being mutiny.  Remember, I did not know that it had been made into a sewing tool.

“During this same time, the sorry mess with Silor Elon was playing itself out.  I felt that I owed him an assist because he was my eyes and ears aboard the Longin for the last five Gatherings.  We went and picked him up.  I was going to send him to the Arrakan fleet, where I do believe he would have done well.  I should have just let him sail away.

“Mister Morgu somehow recruited him.  Morgu did know about the kit but had lost track of it.  He ran a number of audits and inventories of the tool stock, apparently trying to find it.  He finally realized that the kit in my cabin was the only kit not checked and sent Silor to get it.

“When Silor, who had been ordered to stay out of sight, jumped ship with Mister Morgu, Tanlin realized that something was very wrong and came to me in the Captain’s Council.  That was when I left my proxy with Captain Mord.  I was trying to let you all know that my grudge with him was over.

“My whole crew searched the Gathering, trying to find either Mister Morgu, Silor or both.  We failed.  Later, we found that they had hidden inside one of the floats of the Gathering rafts.  The next day, we caught up to them just moments after they had accomplished their goal.

“All that we could do was watch and pray to the Dragons that Kurin had not eaten the poisoned part of her lunch.  When she collapsed into Captain Sula’s arms, we knew that we were doomed.

“Neither myself or my ship are popular.  I was certain that the rush to rid the Naral fleet of us would have little to do with Great Law or fleet Law.  Events have proved me correct.  You have earned your name as Sarfin the Wise and even you failed to see the flaws in what you all did.

“I had arraigned a link up with the Fauline in her Spring Waters.”

Sarfin interrupted with, “They lay a charge of ramming to enforce piracy against you.”

“I know that, your Honor.  It is not true.  You know that they had a hull-secured loan with us.  Due to a survivorship clause in favor of the Naral fleet, that loan is registered in the fleet Archive.  They were over two Gatherings in arrears.  The unpaid interest alone was somewhat over ten thousand Strong Skins.  I also know that they failed to pay their full share tax this Gathering, pleading poverty.

“They gave us a payment of one thousand Strong Skins, two thousand five hundred glue blocks and a small, one and a half ton, Hag.  They had it in their holds during the Gathering where I learned of it from an informant in the Fauline’s crew.  

“They lied to you about inability to pay their share tax.  They also gave us information about the blatantly illegal Edict of Outlawry and the search for us.  In return, we gave them a full quitclaim on the loan.

“At that point, they seized both myself and the Lady Tanlin.  They also attempted an attack on the Grandalor with a prize crew smuggled aboard ostensibly to help load the payment.  Our crew took exception to the attempted capture, took the prize crew prisoner, and rammed the Fauline at an oblique angle with a bowsprit hook-out.  This damaged the main mast’s running and standing rigging, disabling the ship.  After our crew got us back safe aboard, we saw the Coriolis storm coming, so we rendered aid.  We fixed the rigging and some minor hull damage.  

“We did not charge for that.  The price of not doing it would have been a ship and all the lives aboard.  Some things are too costly to leave undone.”

Urson interrupted sarcastically, “So says the most notorious Captain of the whole fleet.  I have known Captain Skua for many Gatherings and I find his account to be far more credible.  It is, after all, only your word against his.”

“We do have three impartial witnesses,” said Kurin calmly.

“They are separate from either ship.  They observed the encounter and are present to testify.”

“Impossible!” snapped Farrol.  “No other vessel was in sight to provide these mythical witnesses!”

“Dark Iren, are you, Blind Mecat and Frath mythical?” Kurin called out lightly.

“The last time that I looked, no.  None of us are mythical,” Dark Iren replied in a voice seemingly too soft for so large a creature.

“A question of fact, not opinion, then,” Kurin said with the surety of one who already knows the answer.  “Did your Orcas report the encounter between the Fauline and the Grandalor to you?”

“Indeed they did, matters of conflict between ships can have major ecological consequences.  Such confrontations are reported in full detail.”

“Did Captain Barad’s account seem substantially true to your reports?” Kurin inquired.

“All of his facts and the order of them are accurate.  My reports were more detailed, of course.”

“Thank you, Dark Iren,” said Kurin and turned to Blind Mecat and Frath. “Blind Mecat, were you accompanying Frath as he was steering the recent Coriolis Storm?”

“Of course, Little Fish.  You know that.  I asked Frath to steer it nearly nine hundred miles out of its planned path in order to have speech with Barad and Tanlin.  I had to be there for two reasons. One I just gave you, the other, and most important, was to ensure that the storm would still meet its ecological goals.”

All of the audience except for Sarfin, Barad and Tanlin were outraged. “Ecological goals!  That storm hit and scattered our fleet!”

Sarfin threw a bucket of icy water on them by calmly asking, “And whose world is it?  Do you really think that Sea manages itself?  These Dragons make it possible for us to live at all.  Trust them.  They actually do know what they’re doing.”

Frath said, “Thank you, Captain Sarfin.  I do try to miss fleets when I can.  Humans are now widespread across the surface of Sea and it is not always possible.  The storms are necessarily big.  Curiously, Tanlin upbraided me for exactly the same thing even though the Naral fleet was trying to hunt her down and kill her.”

“Where were you, during the encounter between the Grandalor and Fauline?” Kurin requested.

“Blind Mecat and I were about twenty yards under the surface, directly beneath the ships,” Frath answered.

“Then you couldn’t have seen or heard what happened aboard either of those ships!” Farrol exclaimed in triumph.

Blind Mecat replied, “Incorrect.  Sight is a limited sense at best.  Our hearing and echolocation are both very precise.  Two echo pings occupying less than one tenth of a second in total are sufficient to locate every object larger than one inch in length on both ships. The same two pings also allow us to count the number of persons, find their location, orientation, state of health and when they last ate. This includes those up in the rigging.”  She regarded Farrol for an unnervingly sightless second and added, “We’re not just big, we are very good predators.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

In Sorrow and In Joy- Part 8: To Be Grounded

Luke learns the hard way what it means to be a dad and how to keep his family safe and together. Dad!Luke with a South Asian Reader. This is a collaborative experience with A Family of Five.

CW: Over the course of this series, themes of racism and prejudice on the basis of religion are present. Please read or skip as necessary.

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Luke’s sure prayer is still going on, so he moves about the kitchen as quietly as he can. But that assumption is proven wrong when he hears Zahra’s cry from upstairs. “I have nothing to wear!” He knows for a fact her closet is packed to the hilt with clothes. But that’s not what she wants to hear. So he pauses in the kitchen, waiting for another huff to come. He knows it will. There’s some thuds from above him, sounds like stomping. Please, he begs silently, please just let today go well. Gripping the counter, Luke inhales for three seconds and exhales for five. That’s what his therapist warned him to do when he feels overwhelmed again. 

He passed overwhelmed a couple weeks. Right now he’s hanging on by threads. Though he’s positive those threads are gone too now, especially after last night. Last night, he fucked up. He knows he did. He slipped out of bed, snuck into the kitchen, grabbed whatever bottle he got his hands on and sat in the backyard, drinking right from the bottle. It felt good. He felt guilty too, but there was just an ounce of relief behind the guilt. Just enough for him to go for one more swig, when he knew he should’ve stopped. He feels terrible now, thinking about it agan. He feels even more like garbage because he keeps eying the stash. 

The stash only exists under the pretense that it’s there for company and company only. And for a while, that’s exactly what it was. Just for company. But now, it’s becoming his solace again. The thing that screws his head, or even unscrews it, when he’s overwhelmed so he doesn’t have to feel again. He has no clue how Calum does it, with three kids. Granted, Calum was always more level headed than he. But still Luke just can’t some days. He tries hard to be there for everything, he tries to understand the nuisance by being a teenager. He remembers what it feels like to have no control over your life. He knows, all too intimately, what it feels like to be someone else’s puppet. 

Luke slowly opens his eyes as he hears the soft click of dress shoes on the floor. Zeek rounds the corner, flashing a small smile to his father. “Upstairs is a warzone,” he laughs. “Shoes are flying.”

“It sounds like it,” Luke agrees. He pushes away from the counter, necklace hitting his chest and he waves Zeek over to the stove. “This look right?” he asks, waving over to the dish now simmering. 

Zeek nods. “Dad, you’re actually getting better at the whole cooking then.”

Luke’s chest bubbles with laughter. He was not the greatest cook, still isn’t the greatest. But he’s definitely gotten better. “Alright, smart alec,” he teases, ruffling the close crop of Zeek’s hair. Zeek huffs at his father’s antics. 

Noor’s the next one to survive the storm, covering the back of her head with her arms. “It’s dangerous up there,” she grins, finally standing to her full height. She pulls at the sleeves of her kurta. It’s similar to the grey one with a green pattern in your possession. Her’s is a light pink with gold accents around the neck and buttons. Noor took once glance to the one in your possession and fell in love with in it. So she begged her grandmother on the next adventure overseas to grab her one. 

Luke nods at her comment. He can only imagine the chaos happening up there. He doesn’t mean to leave all the messes to you. But he just can’t handle it right at this moment. He’s barely holding on anymore. He’s probably not holding onto anything anymore. But he can’t give up just yet. So he grabs the oven mitts and moves all the food to the table and kitchen island buffet style. 

After a few more minutes, the periodic stomps stop and the rhythmic sound of feet on stairs echoes. He knows it’s Zahra gate. She’s forgone anything too fancy, but still fancy enough in a blouse and billowy pant combination. “She’s arrived,” Luke teases. Ra huffs a little at Luke’s comment. She knows it’s just the band coming over, it’s nothing. But it’s one of the few things that Zahra does that makes her feel wholly herself. The day is hers. Well not really hers, but it puts her in the center. She has no one teasing her, no one prodding her about it. She can exist with no push back. 

You follow close behind Zahra, praying that the rest of the day goes without any more issues. With the kids focused on the food, you duck into the back room and grab the gifts. They’re all settled down, eager to receive what they know is behind your back in bags and envelopes. You hands the kids their gifts first, “Eid Mubarak,” falling off in rushed mumbles from their lips. You and Luke return the phrase. Zahra grins, peeping at the green in her hands. 

Luke hands his them his gifts. It’s always something extra. Noor immediately places the teardrop earrings on after cracking opening the box. Luke helps Zahra with the necklace and Zeek hugs you over the engraved pen. He’s always wanted a fancier pen to write and sign things his prints with, tired of using his drawing pens. The kids smile at you and Luke before all three rush back up stairs. 

“Do you know what’s happening?” You ask Luke. 

He shakes his head, asking you with his eyes if you know. You shake your head no, but grin as you hand over the gift for him. He always gives the same reaction, a head shake no, and a half step back. “You didn’t have.” You would think after nearly 15 years of marriage, he’d be used to this. But every year, it’s the same deal. 

You roll your eyes. “You are family.”

Luke’s never sure how to handle that. He knows he’s family. But he’s not family like this, this isn’t his holiday. He wasn’t raised on this. He doesn’t want to intrude. “Sweetheart, I’m being serious. Every year you do this.”

You huff a laugh. “And yet, every year you still refuse me.” Shaking the bag at him, you urge him to take the gift. He’s not sure what’s inside, the bag’s big, but not heavy. Cracking it open, he notices the record. He looks to you, eyes widened, jaw dropped. 

“How did you--What in the word?”

You just grin. The Rolling Stones record was not easy to come by. But you don’t let on to that. There’s no need. He pulls the record completely from the bag, the neon orange, yellow and red finally exposed. He grins, clutching it to his chest for a second, before flipping over to the back. “God, how long did this take to get?”

“Don’t worry about that. But you like it, right?”

“Babe, I love it,” he says softly, stepping into you. He places the record onto the counter before wrapping you up into a hug. Soft kisses line up around your forehead. The action reiterates his happiness with the gift. But you notice the hug’s not as tight as it usually is. You’re losing him. But you should you bring it up right now. You squeeze him just a little tighter for a beat and then pull away. 

The kids return. Noor holding a box and Zeek with a bag. He hands you the bag, watching your reaction. It’s just a book, one you mentioned in passing a couple weeks ago. The note is signed by all three kids. Luke feels his chest constrict as the sight of the necklace in his box. It’s a simple silver chain with a small pendant. On it there’s a circular design that just looks like an amalgamation of swirls. But Zeek talks about how there’s two different Z’s and an N inside the design to stand for the three of them, with your initial made up in the middle. “Guys, I love it. You three at the best thing to ever happen to me,” he says quietly hugging them. 

“Besides the band right?” Zeek teases. 

“He means before the band,” Noor corrects, lightly slapping at Zeek’s arm. 

Zeek rolls his eyes, but laughs. “Forgive me.”

There’s a twinge of disappointment when you realize Luke hasn’t given you anything. He’s always had something at this time. You woke in the morning and expected Luke to shove it into your hands almost immediately. But it didn’t happen, never one to try to make too big a scene you figured to wait. But here you are, waiting, still. 

“We waited to get you something else, Mum. But we were stomped,” Zahra confesses, hugging your side briefly.

You shake your head, ridding yourself of the dreading feeling of disappointment from Luke’s lack of a gift. A smile lifts your lips. “I love it. I don’t need much.”

She nods. “But still, sometimes we want to spoil you.” You kiss the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her. As the kids settle down in the living until the rest of the boys and their families arrive, Luke pulls you into the kitchen. “I didn’t forget about you,” he whispers, tucking some of your hair behind your ear. 

You only nod. He’s saying that but you notice how his eyes keep leaving your face. What’s catching his attention so much? “You okay?” you ask, forcing his attention back to you. 

He’s not okay. He’s not. Luke pushes the glasses up on his face. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to let you know Michael’s bringing your gift. I didn’t forget. I swear to it.”

You nod. Why Michael has your gift is beyond you. But Luke’s not looking you directly in the eye, he keeps fidgeting with fingers. He’s slipping. The album’s taking longer than they originally thought, also they’re slowing down. Now with two of the four of them will fully established families. Michael’s on the verge of a family. He and his wife talk about having kids, but aren’t sure. Ashton’s settled down. But they’re antsy, they need an edge. They feel like they’ve lost it. But it can’t just be the record that’s getting to him. 

“You’re a terrible liar, you know,” you state. “Whatever’s going on, tell me.”

He shakes his head. Was he that bad already? “I’m okay.”

“Find me when you feel like telling the truth.” You exit the kitchen. Normally, you aren’t this direct, this confrontational. But you refuse to watch Luke spiral again. Whatever the reason doesn’t matter, you just want him to be honest, to stop bottling things up. 

Luke watches the spot you were occupying for a beat too long. His body freezes and his chest squeezes. He’s all too reminded of the day you actually moved out of the house. Harlowe had helped you move your things. She carried Zahra on her hip and you and Luke stood on the porch. He couldn’t beg you not to leave. He begged you instead to remember that promise of a second chance. To let him get himself together. But it still hurt, still made him feel like someone had replaced his air with fire watching you walk down those steps and to your car. It still made him cry for an hour on his front porch when your car backed out first, Harlowe in the U-haul behind you. 

Oh he is not going through that again. But he can’t spill his guts right now. He clears his throat and steps out of the kitchen, knowing your gaze is locked dead on him. The doorbell sounds and Luke walks over to answer it. Michael grins at him, the small holding cage in his hands. “Babe,” Luke calls, waving Michael inside. 

You immediately notice the small kitten, clawing at the cage. A black persian cat. You know the breed all to well. Luke unlatches the door. He reaches inside and carefully collects the cat into his arms. “You’re not even a cat person,” you whisper. 

He crosses the hallway to you. “But you are.” Silently, he offers to small ball of fur to you. “He doesn’t have a name yet.”

Noor walks over, gently petting the cat in your arms on the head. “So we might’ve known about the cat. Do you know how hard it was to keep that a secret?”

“He’s very sweet. He climbed up my arm. I have video,” Michael laughs, pulling out his phone. You’re too busy with the kitten in your arms. His smoked gray almost black fur. The melancholy gaze behind bright blue eyes. For a moment, you are a kid again. You have no worries, no traveling from country to country. There’s no harm, no death, no pain. His fur is soft and thick between your fingers. He studies you intently for a moment, before bringing his gaze around the room. 

“He’s absolutely the cutest thing.” The awe is evident in your voice, your voice thick and vision blurring just a hair. 

“I told you, I didn’t forget.” Luke scratches the top of the kitten’s head. As you gaze up at him, he thinks for a moment, he’s back on track. It took him weeks to pick out the right cat. He even brought the kids to the shelter several times. It did not take much to get Michael in on housing the kitten until the holiday. Michael, after fostering his first kitten, started undertaking some furry friends into his care more often. 

“You don’t like cats,” you huff. You want to keep it together. But the tears are already rolling. 

Luke shrugs. “He’s cute. I miss having a furry friend in the house.” You two had Petunia until her end. Which was a hard hit. But sometimes the only way out is through. “It’s not a dog, but he’s still company.”

The kitten peers over your arms, a clear indication that they want to get down, so you gently lower to the ground and watch him inspect the foyer and kitchen. “What are you gonna name him?”

“Oh shit,” you huff. “I-I don’t know.”

Noor gently taps your arm, a warning glare for the curse word. But she grins. “I say Floyd. Because you like Pinky Floyd. But Zeek said Smoke. It sounded dumb to me. But I didn’t say it.”

“I can hear you!” Zeek shouts. 

“Love you!” she returns, ducking behind Luke. Zeek peers around the corner and rolls his eyes. She always uses Luke as a shield. But it’s okay, he’s going to get her back. Luke places a hand on her back, laughing. This is what he missed. He misses his kids needing him. Zahra spends most of her time in her room or with her friends. Zeek has always been reserved. He’s close, but he’s not affectionate all the time. Noor at first and to this day is still very close to Luke, but lately instead of running to him for help she calls you more often. If she’s out shopping and can’t choose between a top, she turns to you now. Luke feels like he’s not needed anymore. His whole recovery hinged on his family needing him.

Luke recognizes that he had to get better for himself too. He couldn’t keep down that path, but it was much easier to tell himself it was for the benefit of someone else too. It felt more urgent that way. And now that urgency was leaving him. He had been feeling it for weeks. Just lacked the right way to bring it up to anyone. As the house fills up with Ashton and his partner, followed by Calum and Harlowe and their crew, Luke finds himself able to forget the urge in the pit of his stomach. He’s able to gaze at the stash and not long for it. 

“You cannot bring Floyd to the table,” Luke smiles, watching Noor with the cat in her lap. 

“Please?” she pouts. 

A sigh escapes his lips but he nods. He can’t say no to her. She beams up at him, collecting the kitten and rushing to the table. She throws her free arm around Luke’s waist. “Love you, Dad.”

A few tears prick behind Luke’s eyes. He rubs her back for a moment. “Love you too. Now c’mon, let’s eat.”

__

Luke’s been on the deck for a while. After the boys left and the kitchen was scrubbed down, Luke slipped out of the house. You had only noticed as the backdoor slipped close. You wanted to walk out after him, but you know better. If he’s not willing to talk, you can’t force him. The kids settle down for a movie after a twenty minute argument of who gets to decide. Floyd’s already asleep in your lap. Another reason for your lack of escape to the backyard. But as the backdoor cracks open and Luke leans into the house, you know you’ll have to move now. 

You slide Floyd into Noor’s lap, the closest one to you. Normally this sight would make Luke feel at peace. Normally he’s slide in next to you and tussle Zeek’s hair. He’d do something, but all he can muster right now is the slight nod to the outdoors. You slip through the small crack in the door, brushing up against Luke’s chest in the process. He closes the door behind you. The sky is clear and still. You’d normally ask, pry into what’s going on. But you don’t have to, as soon as the glass shuts, Luke grabs your hand. 

“I’m not okay,” he starts. “I feel useless again. I know I was doing so well. The whole point of me getting better was to be here for my family. And I feel like I’m fading.”

“Why? Why do you feel like your fading”

“The kids don’t need me like before.”

“They grow up. Things change. It’s an unfortunate truth.”

“I just--I’m not equipped for it. It feels like it came without a warning.”

“Just like you weren’t equipped for fatherhood. No one can really fix that. I can’t snap my fingers and make things better.”

He sighs, looking out to the night. “I know.”

“Tell me what I can do. What do you need?”

Luke runs a hand over his face. He needs help, he needs to be grounded again. “Come with me to my next appointment. I-I don’t know what I need. I just know I need help.”

Wrapping an arm around his waist, you tuck your head to his chest. “I can do that.”

When shouts start up from the inside of the house, the all too distinct sound of the kids shouting at each other, Luke tenses. It’s too much, his feet are planted to the ground. He needs to be grounded. He has to keep it together. He can’t bare the thought of be separated again from his family. You rub his back. You know you’ll have to do some more heavy lifting in the house. “We’re getting rid of the alcohol too.”

He nods, face buried in your hair. He’s fine with that. He’d prefer it actually. He just doesn’t trust himself to do it. No one said being a parent would be easy, but Luke never thought it’d be this hard for him. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m sorry I don’t have it together.”

“No one does. It’s okay to not have it together.”

“I’m sorry to do this on Eid. I really couldn’t have picked a worst time even if I tried.”

You laugh, softly, shoulders shaking just a tad. “Just as long as the kids got their gifts, we’re fine.”

“I’ll try to keep it together for the next two days.”

“If you need a breather, just let me know.” They’re kids aren’t particularly known for being the quietest bunch. It’s nothing but love, but it’s a well known fact. 

Luke lifts his head after kissing the crown of your head. “Thank you.”

You could say, ‘You’re welcome.’ You could tell him it’s your responsibility to care about his mental health. You could tell him a lot things. But the truth of the matter is that you will always care, you will always be there. “I love you,” you return. The truth of the matter is that even though it’s rocky you’re still by his side. That even though your heart breaks to see the man you love in such anguish, you are not going to give up on him. 

[szopenhauer]

if you have any pets, were they adopted from the humane society? my (now ex) friend had a stray give birth on her yard and she gave away all the puppies besides the one she kept, I chose the most scared and fat one lol

what kind of cheese is your favorite, or no cheese at all? Gouda

do you like home design, like picking out paint colors and furniture? love it <3

have you seen any of the old james bond movies? I hate James Bond movies, tried few and they were so lame

have you ever been in a hot air balloon? and if not, would you ever want to go in one? I’d like to try, maybe someday

do your parents buy you something on a daily basis? food 

is anyone else in the room with you right now? not rn

do you collect anything? shitload of stuff

do you have a pool in your back yard? no and don’t want to own one

do you watch youtube videos often? how often is often?

do you wear mascara? no, I don’t see the point of mascara tbh

do your parents fight?  sigh...

have you ever watched a movie that’s in a completely different language, so you had to read sub-titles? plenty

do people with yellow teeth disgust you? mine are yellow, it’s hard to keep them well having GERD :(

do you wear rings? at times

would you like to have a universal remote, like in the movie, click? hmm...

do you get any magazines in the mail? my mom does

what was the last picture you uploaded to your facebook? snapchat one with peach filter

what’s something that you do that you know hurts people close to you? live?...

what was the last board game that you played? either Scrabble or Hollywood

do you get bloated at all after you eat? I have cascade stomach, GERD and IBS so...

when is your birthday - in winter, spring, summer, or fall? winter :(

you must pick (no, “neither” bullshit please): dying by being run over by a train or being thrown from the top of the eiffel tower? tower

who’s the most overrated celebrity of them all (yes, i know they’re all overrated - but pick one)? Beyonce

what do you wear the most - sneakers, flats, heels, boots, or do you just go barefoot? slippers XD

what’s better - short sleeve tops or tanks? short sleeve

black, blue, or red ink? blue

do you sometimes splurge on expensive, sexy lingerie? my most expensive lingerie (which is sporty) costed less than 20 PLN

what’s your favorite food group? grains?

don’t you just love sushi? never tried and don’t wanna, gross

if you walked in on your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/important significant other cheating on you - how would you react? I have several scenarios in my head 

how old were you when you lost your virginity? what even is virginity? you can have sex without losing it anyway

what annoys you the most about modern technology? hard to tell

do you prefer your chicks with long hair, short hair, or somewhere in between? I always went for girls with no longer than shoulder length yet not shorter than mine but now I date someone with very long hair

do you turn around when someone yells “hey!!!” even if you’re not sure if they’re referring to you or someone else? might

have you ever had that oh-so-embarrassing moment when you think some hot guy/girl is waving at you and/or flirting with you, so you wave back, only to realize they were directing it at the person behind you? they weren’t hot

who was the last person to come back into your life? my gf

is there anyone at your house outside of your family? in the garden

who was the last person you had a conversation with in person? my dad

what was the last piece of jewelry that you purchased? for myself or someone else?

how old are each of your siblings? 30+

how many different conversations do you have going right now? 0

do you think it’s weird to wear socks to sleep? it’s not, unless you sleep naked

have you ever gone swimming in a lake? yup

do you usually buy a new bathing suit every summer? I didn’t buy any swimsuit for ages, don’t own even one

what sucks most about the computer you end up using the most? what doesn’t suck about it, ugh!

what’s something you want to say to someone at the moment? I’m not sure

will you have sexual intercourse within the next two weeks? I won’t

has a boyfriend/​​girlfriend ever put alcohol/drugs before you? nah

do you like when people call you things like “baby”, “sweetie”, “hun”, etc? certain pet names are fine

will this friday be a good one? it’s not...

what’s wrong with you right now? everything?

have you been a happy, angry, or sad person lately? angry and sad

are you wasting your time on someone? hope not 

when’s the last time you cried yourself to sleep? days ago

have you ever been in a perfect relationship? relationships aren’t perfect because no one is perfect and that’s ok

when was the last time you completely broke down? last week

honestly, have you ever kissed anyone with a name that starts with j? nope

are you nice to the people you dislike? if I have to, I prefer to avoid them 

are you and the last person you kissed in a relationship? we are

your ex shows up randomly at your house, what do you say? no comment

would you rather date someone who is extremely protective or not protective at all? why do we have to choose extremes?

does sex mean love? to me

have you ever fallen asleep on someone? as a baby

have you ever slept in the same bed as your friend? more than once

plans for tomorrow? nothing have you ever ridden a skateboard? tried the main thing you can’t leave your house without? clothes, I won’t leave naked does anyone know your password besides you? just me what are you listening to? Melanie Martinez when was the last time you changed in front of someone? this month what’s the closest black thing to you? what I’m wearing, computer mouse and keyboard too, my cellphone next to me is also black what were you doing at 8:00 am? fallen asleep again are you happier single or in a relationship? we’ll see if you had to get a piercing, what do you get? normal earrings in lobes you can get a puppy or a new car. which do you choose? car, I have a dog and don’t want another at least soon have you ever had a best friend who was of the opposite sex? my father is my bestie did you get a full 8 hours of sleep last night? it seems like it have you ever been arrested? noooo

what is a difference between the last two people you hugged? one is a female and one is a male  where is the next place you will go? for a walk - forest probably why did you kiss the last person you kissed? we’re dating

do you say sexy a lot? I don’t recall using that word  when did you last throw up? years ago? do you like to have long hair or short hair? short what is your favorite place you have traveled? Ełk? where do you keep your money? that’s personal what was the weather like today? warm do you want to cut your hair? meh what is your favorite place to shop? thrift? are you over the age of 25? I am are you going to have a good night? hopefully when was the last time you did the dishes? I just washed the knife

do you and your friends trade/borrow clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc.? no way

is your birthday ever on a holiday? which one? it was always on free from school time (ferie zimowe) and my friends been basically always sick so they couldn’t come 

are you friends with your neighbors? I say “goodmorning” to part of them and that’s all

do you think its weird when people talk to their pets like they’re people? not that I have whole conversations with mine but I happen to speak to them when I want to

do you like uggs? they’re great for winter slippers :3

describe what you typically wear on a hot summer day: T-shirt, sweatpants/leggings/pajama pants, panties/undies, socks, slippers or slip on shoes

what about a cold winter day? underwear, tights (when it’s very cold - under leggings), leggings (unless I’m home then sweatpants/pajama pants), socks, boots (if not slippers of course), long sleeves shirt, tunic or oversized t-shirt, sweater, vest, jacket, scarf, hat, fingerless gloves

do you like coffee? ewww, disgusting

do you like flip flops? same

do you like rain? especially it’s sound at night

do you like horses? they’re fine

what is the deepest pool you have jumped into? where? I don’t jump into pools or lakes/rivers

does it annoy you when people open your mail or text messages? people don’t do that :o

what magazine do you buy the new issue of each month? Moje mieszkanie

what is your favorite farm animal? chicken

have you ever driven a golf cart? I’m against golf so...

if a genie gave you 1 wish, what would it be? health, for all, forever

what is something that you shouldn’t like but do anyways? ask God

is there something you love dearly but knew you’d be made fun of for it? I guess

who is someone you always want to be happy, even if you aren’t happy alongside them? those close to me

does it take you a long time to get over someone you liked? it’s complicated

have you ever gone a week or more not thinking of your boyfriend/girlfriend that much? does it sadden you, or make you happy you don’t completely depend on a person? I didn’t go whole week without thinking about them at least once wtf 

is there someone who ruined your life? do you forgive this person? most of those ppl didn’t apologise, most of them don’t know or care, most of them are not part of my life

have you ever questioned your sexuality? when was this? how did it end? I thought I must call myself bi because I dated a guy even tho I wasn’t really into them but I realized that even having sex doesn’t mean I’m not asexual - trying things make you more sure of smth instead of changing who you are       

have you ever felt suicidal? constantly

do you know anyone who has had a miscarriage? or someone who can’t have kids at all? both are more common than you think

what is something you wish would have ended differently (ex. friendship or relationship)? what if I wanted some things to never end? does that count?

type the alphabet and stop at the letter of the last person you kissed: ABCDEFGHIJKLM eventually ABCDEFG (short version of the first name) eventually ABCD (surname) how was your day overall? it’s going so fast because I can’t sit down for long, parents call me every single minute to help them have you kissed someone more than 20 times? I didn’t count but who knows

if you married the last person you texted, what would your last name be? won’t tell you :P how often do you hold back what you want to say? sigh, it’s complicated it’s 2 in the morning and you get a text message, who is it most likely? my gf ever cried while you were on the phone with someone? not many times but still how do you know the last male you texted? he’s my parent do you think the last person you kissed cares for you? they say and try to show that they do  do you laugh a lot? as for such broken person it’s A LOT  are you good at giving directions? I’m pretty bad at that what does your mom call you? by one of the versions of my name duh are you afraid of roller coasters? I’m afraid I’d puke  where do you sing the most, in the car, the shower or everywhere? in front of the computer and when I’m home alone which happens very rarely are you wearing any make up right now? I don’t even own any makeup are you nice to everyone? pfft is it hard for you to be happy for someone else? oh well...

do you like bread crust or do you prefer it cut off? depends, usually eat it tho

what is the worst/hardest drug you’ve been offered, but declined to partake in? nothing hard 

do you think you could ever have an abortion if you unexpectedly turned up pregnant? I don’t want to think about it

is there a color shirt you’d never wear? tie dye or some tiny pattern that makes my head spin 

is there a situation where you caved into peer pressure and regretted it? what I don’t regret?...

would you ever bleach your hair platinum blonde? for a movie role

do you like the band mgmt?  I know couple of songs by them

do you like vanilla candles? I’m not into candles 

[wahoyi]

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May 27, 2019 3:20PM

I was feeling lonely and suffocated. I had just been around people, but it was probably what made the loneliness worse. When the people you’re with don’t make you feel included or like you don’t connect with them. Besides, I hardly consider drunk people as people worth having conversations with. They’re incoherent and random, filterless and unaware.

Last night, sometime in the evening while light was still out, I thought I would hang out with my family for a little in the hot tub. They’re always inviting me and I’m usually declining, so I thought maybe I would give them some time (even if I was invited this time around). I planned on sitting in the hot tub for only a little while, going inside to eat dinner, and then cleaning the house as a surprise birthday gift for my ma since it’s her birthday today. Immediately upon coming out, Bunny and my ma were elated, my ma especially, and ushered me in, invasively grabbing me and hugging me as soon as they could and spouting random nonsense. It didn’t take me long to realize these two blonde women were fucking drunk. My dad was out there too and the entire time I was out there, he was either being affectionate with his wife, or like me, trying to dodge being in the middle of the cat fights. My ma and sister had kept playfully getting at each other’s throat, a whole “I’ll throw you in if you to the pool if piss me off” mentality but in a jesting way. Haphazardly they’d slap at each other’s breast and get in each other’s face and have conversations posing as arguments that hadn’t needed to be a thing. At one point, they tried talking about how men don’t understand what it’s like having periods/ovaries, and at the same, women don’t understand having testicles (to which my tranny-ass was tempted to say something, but that’s just the exception, not the rule, right?) and around that point I was not wanting to put my hunger off any longer and decided to go in. When I started to leave, they were upset and asking me to stay, to which I responded I was hungry so they ushered me to bring my food out. They also insisted this was a good conversation for me to listen to. …THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT I STUDY: sex and gender. This is a MAJORITY of my conversations at school, maybe not only specifically those sex organs, but it’s the same topic. Besides, I would be fine having that conversation if it wasn’t sloppy-ass drunk people who were more rambling than conversing. I wasn’t having fun anyway.

Around 8PM is when I finally got inside the house to eat. While I was eating, I began making preparations for cleaning and mixed a pre-made salad for my ma since she asked me. My dad eventually came in too and began watching things on the TV, mainly a comedy firefighter show. No one seemed to be aware of what I was doing. A couple times, my ma and Bunny came in, but they were still soaking wet and obviously didn’t even try to dry off before hand. They were mainly coming in for split moments just to get something or whatnot. They leaked all over the place, I had to use a couple of towels to dry up the floor to keep myself from slipping and falling. After a while, I finished my cleaning (dishes, vacuuming, mopping, etc) and went upstairs, debating if I should start getting ready for bed.

I went into my bathroom and immediately closed the door, locked it, and then sat in front of it. My mood was all wonked and I felt lonesome. I didn’t want to be in this household anymore. It’s not like things are terrible, it’s not really abusive (aside one family member on an emotional/mental level), but I just didn’t want to live here. But the one place I want to live, I cannot, and it’s mainly because my metamour moved in, and she’s taking it for granted. I would have been able to get over my petty jealousy if she wasn’t taking her situation, the situation I wanted (at the beginning of this semester, I was going to talk to my girlfriends about the possibility of moving in with them over summer, but then my metamour officially moved in during January/February and thus there was no space for me to as well), for granted, and in doing so, hurting our girlfriend. I’ve gotten to a point where I honestly do not like my metamour, I’m only polite and chill around her for my girlfriend’s sake. She’s rude, inconsiderate, and has no manners. I do not like her, and it’s not just the jealousy speaking. My metamour sounds as though she’s moving out soon, but it feels wrong to immediately be like “can I move in” once she leaves, as I’m sure it will be too much resemblance of her moving in and my living environment isn’t bad enough to move in. Issues with my metamour aside, on the bathroom floor, I was desperate to find someone to talk to. Neither of my girlfriends were showing to be online and neither was my best friend. Besides, I felt like talking on a phone more than anything. I hate text. It was after 10:30, so I knew Kitty would probably be awake, but Hummingbird already announced she was off to bed. 

Suddenly, arguing between my family from downstairs started happening and I got nervous. At 10:39PM, I tried calling Kitty, but there was no answer (it didn’t even feel like it rang enough times). I tried making conversations with people on tinder, but kept in mind that it was getting late. At 10:42PM, I called up Hummingbird and got her on the phone for about 6min. Immediately fear and shakiness poured out of my voice when she answered. I was honest and told her what was happening, how I was lonely but something was happening downstairs. I couldn’t even pinpoint which blonde was fighting with my dad, but it was clearly one or both of the two from the hot tub and my father. I was eventually able to figure that all three were arguing, but not sure who’s side anyone was on or what the basis was. I didn’t let the conversation with Hummingbird drag on since I thought I was being paranoid and this would blow over soon and I knew she was trying to go to bed. I wished her a goodnight and hung up.

Shortly after, I saw Kitty was online, so I messaged her:

Royal (05/26 10:51 PM) Were you away from your phone? Kitty (10:51 PM) It didn't even ring? It's right next to me Hummingbird picked hers up, I heard you sounded upset What's going on? Royal (10:52 PM) Weird, I called it I don’t know I don’t know what’s going on At first I was lonely but then shit started to happen

It didn’t take long for Kitty to call me (10:53PM). She stayed on the phone with me for nearly 2hrs. Near the beginning, Hummingbird even messaged me:

Hummingbird (05/26 11:00 PM) I couldn't make out majority of what you said on the phone. If you need us we are here. Kitty is still up if you need to talk. If you need to get out, just say the word. I'm worried and I love you

Most of my phone conversation with Kitty was me relaying what was happening as it was happening. I also did let her in on my feelings of being alone. At one point, my ma tried yelling at everyone that we’re being kicked out and have 30 days to go. She then said she’d give up 60 days to be generous. My dad kept trying to reason with them but in a very argumentative and aggressive way. I found it dumb that he kept trying to make a drunk person listen and understand. I was often shaken and crying during most of it, but somewhere around the hour and half mark it was just frustrating and annoying to hear them arguing in cycles and cycles and cycles and cycles. You know what happens with you push a revolving door? It spins. They had moments where they’d go quiet and then just start back up again. My father yelled and screamed at the two of them to go, so my ma had decided to listen and told Bunny to pack up some stuff since they were going to go to a hotel. Bunny was hysterical and crying like crazy. At one point, I poked out of there and said “Please tell me neither of you are planning on driving.” Bunny immediately got on the defensive and jumped up and aggressively charged at me, screaming how I don’t even have a license and yadiyada on how I can’t say shit. My ma was fast to try and stop her and continued to usher her to get packed up. I rushed back into my bathroom as soon as I could. I of course was letting Kitty in on everything as it happened, as I was still on the phone with her at that point. It shocked me that Bear hadn’t gotten involved or that my niece didn’t have a reaction from all the yelling and screaming. 

Bear at some point did finally texted, about an hour after things got heated:

Bear (05/26 11:50 PM) How are you holding up?

Royal (05/26 11:50 PM) Trying to make sure ma or Bunny don’t drunk drive

Ma said to Bunny that they’re going to a hotel

So I’m listening in

(11:56 PM) There’s a huge part of me that really wants to call 911

But I don’t know

I don’t trust them anymore

I never know when people are going to get violent or hurt themself anymore

Bear (05/27 12:02 AM) I completely understand

Kitty was able to hear a lot of the yelling and screaming over the phone, though I doubt she could make out what they were saying. I know there were lots of “I HATE YOU,” “YOU’RE THE ASSHOLE,” and like exclamations. There were several times where I was concerned by ways they were saying and reacting to stuff, like there might have been a weapon or harm of oneself involved. I remembering breaking down on a different part of my bathroom floor, crying to Kitty how I wished they would all stop hurting. How I wish my dad knew he was appreciated and no one hate him. How I wished Bunny didn’t hate herself so much she always felt under attack and the need to be on the defensive. How I wished my ma wasn’t so miserable that she felt the need to drink so much. My dad actually tried saying to my ma that if she didn’t stop drinking, he wanted a divorce. Whilst, is something I can get behind, not best to try getting a drunk person to agree with. The entire time, I kept fighting the urge to tell Kitty to come get me right that second. It wasn’t going to be easy to get out without walking past all of them. My bedroom and bathroom is the farthest point from the stair’s opening and where most of this was happening (my parent’s room, Bunny’s room hallway area, the top of the stairs) was my only route to get downstairs and outside. It sounded like my ma was determined to leave with Bunny anyway, so it felt like overreacting if I were to leave too. Kitty tried to tell me that I shouldn’t feel unsafe in my own house, to which I tried arguing back how that wasn’t what was going on. I was scared for everyone else’s safety. After someone has almost been shot, after someone broke a glass bottle with the intent of turning it into a weapon, after someone has charged my door in an argument I was no involved in, after someone has tried killing and hurting themselves on multiple occasions, after someone has threatened to hurt themself to get their way, after someone has offered the gesture of hurting themself to make a point…I just can’t trust them anymore. When things had been quiet for a good while, I finally snuck myself into my room and let Kitty go. She reassured me that she would message me on Discord right away since we were having a hard time hearing/understanding each other with bad signals on both sides.

After some time passed, she hadn’t messaged nor shown any signs of being online and I could hear my parents talking again. I pressed myself against the wall to listen and messaged her:

Royal (05/27 12:55 AM) Sounds like they’re trying again, but less aggressively

My ma is still obviously drunk

I never want to be with someone I would argue with like this

Well shit...the irony is...now that I’m in my room, I have to go pee 😶

Royal (1:10 AM) My dad’s asking my mom not to leave, I think it’s mainly cuz he knows she’s drunk

I think she’s going to go

I think she’s going to get behind a wheel when drunk

I don’t know what to do

Why didn’t my dad plea more

Sounds like Bear is now involved

I think he just went downstairs to stop her too

I’m scared

That my ma might try to harm herself should she leave

But I’m just a coward hiding in my room

I don’t know what to do

I’m going out there

By this point in time, I had texted Bear “Ma is going to drive while drunk with Bunny“ around 1:16AM and I think that’s when she got involved. I went pass Bunny and down the stairs and into a point out of view.

Kitty (1:31 AM) I don't think you're a coward, they shouldn't be making you feel this scared to be around them

Royal (1:31 AM) I AM NOT SCARED FOR MYSELF

I AM LEGIT SCARED THAT MY MOM MIGHT BE DEAD IN THE NEXT 24HRS

Kitty (1:32 AM) Understood...

Royal (1:32 AM) I’m out here to make sure she does not step foot out that door

I honestly have no clue what the hell is going on down here...

My dad is doing something with a lift thingy

Taking something outside or bringing something in

I have no clue

My mom is sitting on the couch like a pouty child

Wine bottles???

I’m at a complete lost right now

I’ll tell you one thing: I will knock my mom unconscious if that’s what it takes to keep her from drunk driving

I know she can’t out run me with her bad knee

Kitty (1:38 AM)That's probably for the best...

What about wine bottles?

Royal (1:39 AM) I don’t even know my dude...I think my dad is bringing in wine bottles from outside but I honestly don’t have a fucking clue

Kitty (1:39 AM) O.o

Royal (1:39 AM) Holy wine cellar

Wait

I think he’s taking it OUT

He got rid of the wine cellar

Or is he bringing it in? But how did it get put in the first place? It’s iron and heavy...

Wine cage, whatever you want to call it

Bunny was just sitting upstairs by the railing with her head down, but I think she came down

My niece is crying hysterically

He’s bringing it in

Kitty (1:43 AM) :/

This is just a really weird scene

Royal (1:43 AM) But it looks like it was mostly emptied

Yeah, I have no idea how to accurately describe it

No, it still has a lot of wine in it, just the top part was emptied

My niece is very unhappy

I want to go in there and hold her

Kitty (1:44 AM) With all the yelling? I bet...

Royal (1:45 AM) But there hasn’t been any yelling for nearly an hour

She only now started

It looks like he’s bringing in crates too or something

Wine crates

My niece is quiet again

Bunny is starting to cry again, silently

My niece started again too

Kitty (1:47 AM) My first thought is he's going to dump them all

Royal (1:48 AM) It’s a scenario where it seems like he’s doing something to make a point to please her

Not to made a point to spite her

Kitty (1:49 AM) Hmm..

I only figured because of the "quit drinking or divorce" line earlier

Royal (1:50 AM) He’s already apologized for saying certain stuff while angry

Mainly about “getting out”

So at least I know neither of the blondes can try to sneak out right now, the 3 ways out (not including Bear’s room) are either in my sight or right by my dad

He’s putting the wine back into the cellar, I think the top portion was missing to make it lighter and not top heavy

Looks like my mom dozed off on the couch, my dad tried waking her to asking her to go to bed

My dad went to bed

I’m going to wait it out a little

It almost seems like they might still be planning on leaving, I can’t tell

Alright, maybe not

I think my mom is getting situated on the couch to sleep

Ok, I think it’s over for real

At least for tonight

I’m in my bed again

Kitty (2:01 AM) kk

You going to be able to sleep after all that?

Royal (2:02 AM) Who knows

Luna is here though, purring loudly as she’s snuggled up to me

My little guardian angel

Sweet li’l familiar

Kitty (2:03 AM) She's a good kitty

I had fallen asleep eventually, not sure what time, and woke up several times in the morning at decent hours. But I didn’t want to get up or do anything. Part of me just wanted to sleep today away, my ma’s birthday or not (also Memorial Day).

Hummingbird also messaged me to check on me this morning:

Hummingbird (05/27 9:17 AM) How are you doing? Royal (10:58 AM) I dumbly had the notion earlier this morning to try sleeping the day away Did Kitty catch you up on everything? Hummingbird (11:00 AM) yes she did. I now I want to steal you away even more ❤ Royal (11:01 AM) It’s been quiet all morning Hummingbird (11:01 AM) I bet, especially after the events last  night Royal (11:01 AM) Sorry I never responded to your messages last night, I was on the phone with Kitty Hummingbird (11:04 AM) np.  I was just worried. I was worried and  asked Kitty to reach out to you, hoping that she could hear better. Royal (11:05 AM) I feel like I need a “days since last incident” sign We had been doing relatively well I was at a point where I wasn’t scared for myself but everyone else And if I wasn’t there and something happened... I was physically safe But I wasn’t sure if someone would hurt themself (or stupidly do something that would hurt someone else) And my ma came very close to drunk driving Hummingbird (11:07 AM) yikes Royal (11:10 AM) Bear didn’t make any effort if anything until an hour in and it was her texting me to see how I was holding up, but then took forever to text back and when she did it was just a “I understand” in response to telling her I was contemplating calling 911, and then I think she got involved again after the 2hr mark after I told her that I thought ma was actually going to drive, but that seemed short lived anyway After everything went quiet, my niece had a reaction Hummingbird (11:22 AM) wow, that sounds intense Royal (11:22 AM) Kitty was able to actually hear the screaming and yelling at some points Hummingbird (11:27 AM) yeah, she mentioned that Royal (11:28 AM) Probably shatters the imagery of how quiet my dad is 😅 Hummingbird (11:28 AM) just a smidge

I don’t even know if Kitty and Hummingbird would want to come over today (as they were invited previously since it’s my ma’s birthday), but I don’t want to be left home alone with them but I don’t want to ditch either. I don’t know what to expect from the rest of the day. Everything is going on with my fam like none of this ever happened, as per usual.

[sharyrazade]

Day -320

I’m gonna do something a little different here; part writing practice, part shameless self-promotion, and part gauging interest in future projects I’m playing with, I’m gonna start posting previews- excerpts from projects of mine.

While technically a flashback in-story, here, we’ve got Makoto and Yuuki in marriage counseling in the Children of Men!verse; so you know how big a dumpster fire that relationship was.

Tapping his fingers against his tablet nervously, Kentaro Masamura, while never a religious man in the slightest, prayed silently for one half of the estranged couple to at least begin to speak. Even if their first instinct was to explode on each other- he’d seen that with more than his share of couples in his line of work and he was trained to defuse said situations. But this tension- this unspoken enmity between in the room was enough to (figuratively) choke an elephant.

Fuck it, I can’t take this anymore. “So, first things first.” Masamura began, his tone unnaturally cordial. “When did you first begin to notice problems in your marriage? Mrs. Mishima, why don’t we begin with you?”

“Ms. Niijima.” Makoto corrected sternly, only glancing at her estranged husband through the corner of her eye. “And I couldn’t tell you; probably the day after the wedding.”

Yuuki scoffed in frustration, rolling his eyes. “Oh, yeah, why don’t we ask Makoto?” he began frustratedly. “After all, she knows EVERYTHING. Something she just LOVES making you aware of.”

Makoto grasped the couch’s armrest in irritation. “Well, Mister Tech Billionaire, I don’t see how it’s any different than those fancy cars you insist on driving or that penthouse you insisted on.”

At this, Yuuki’s expression was more angered than annoyed. “Only because you wouldn’t stop going on about how much you loved it!”

“I WAS TRYING TO BE SUPPORTIVE!”

The therapist rubbed his temples in exasperation. “I hear a lot of talking past one another, but no real communicating.” remarked Kentaro upon the obvious. “Mr. Mishima- since your wife already went, why don’t we get your thoughts on when the problems started?”

Somewhat cooled off, Yuuki exhaled in exasperation. “I’m going to say...about a couple of months in?” he said tentatively. “After the ‘honeymoon phase,’ appropriately enough. I guess I noticed Makoto putting in even more hours at work than usual- kinda like she was avoiding me.”

The brunette scoffed dismissively. “Please!” she remarked, a noticeable hint of defensive cruelty in her tone. “You knew my job wasn’t exactly a part-time thing when I started. If you were going to be such a baby about it, maybe you shouldn’t have married me.”

“Oh, THAT’S the understatement of my life!” Yuuki complained. “You know mom tried to warn me about you? I SHOULD have listened to her!”

“So even when she’s not here, you’re such a mama’s boy, you bring in your passive-aggressive cunt of a mother to fight your battles?”

“How fucking DARE you talk about her like that?! And that’s rich coming from the woman who spent the past ten years giving her ‘best friend’ the cold-bitch routine on a regular basis!”

Once again sensing an impasse (or rather an impeding cliff), Kentaro gave a series of exaggerated coughs to interrupt the couple. “This is getting us nowhere.” he said, again remarking on the obvious. “I’m just going to be blunt about this question- how are things between you two- you know, in the bedroom?”

Immediately, the therapist regretted breaching the topic; the cold, hostile glares shared by both husband and wife told him he’d just skipped gleefully into a goddamned minefield. “Okaayyyy...when did you first start having issues there?”

“The wedding night.” Makoto and Yuki said in reflexive unison.

The therapist was visibly taken aback by said candor. “Wow, okay. So what caused such a rocky start to your sex life?”

Yuuki shrugged. “Ah, you know, the usual-  it was always ‘I’m too tired,’ ‘I have a headache,’ or ‘maybe on the weekend.’ Basically, she’s a frigid, unavailable bitch.”

Makoto crossed her arms across her chest. “Maybe if you could stop being a thirsty little twerp for ten minutes, you could learn to take a hint. I actually am tired most of the time- it’s not JUST because you’re about as sexually appealing as that plant over there.”

Yuuki, while suspecting it on some level for some time now, wore an expression of genuine hurt at having Makoto’s true feelings confirmed by the woman herself. Kentaro, on the other hand, was justifiably perplexed. “Wait,” he began, furrowing his brow. “you NEVER discussed this kind of thing with each other?”

Both halves of the quarreling couple gave each other an equally-perplexed look before responding in kind once again. “No, never.” they both confirmed.

Kentaro scribbling away at his notes and becoming increasingly pessimistic as he did so, Makoto was the next to speak. “Besides, it’s not like you were suffering SO much.” she said carelessly. “We BOTH know you got plenty from those golddigging sluts all over you.”

Genuinely wounded and offended by this accusation, by this point, Yuuki was now more angry than anything. “Never, not once!” he exclaimed.

“Really? You never cheated once?”

“No! And that’s REAL fucking rich coming from you- remember when we went to Patong back in the summer?! The first actual orgasm you had in this marriage, you called me Akira, for fuck’s sake! And that’s not even getting into why we’re here in the first place!”

“It was a slip of the tongue and you KNOW it, you tiny little man!”

As a marriage counselor, Kentaro was privy to quite a bit about the lives of his clients, but it was still at their own discretion- understandably, he was feeling quite lost now that other names were being dropped. “Wait, who’s Akira, again?” he inquired.

Yuuki was still quite offended by his wife’s casual assertions of his infidelity- as though it were a given. Particularly hypocritical given the situation with a certain lady friend of hers, he fumed. For all those romantic, chivalrous-sounding vows they shared, Yuuki could feel his blood boiling- after all the pain and insecurities he’d shared with his wife, only to have her blurt them back in an effort to consciously belittle him-  No, he wanted to hurt this woman sitting next to him.

“A mutual friend of ours who Makoto spent the past fifteen years carrying a torch for.” he informed smugly. “Got involved with another mutual friend of ours about as long ago and married her- Makoto’s been a condescending, passive-aggressive bitch to her ‘best friend’ ever since.”

Her expression momentarily betraying her wound at this divulging of some of her dirtiest social laundry, Makoto quickly reverted to a couple of her tried-and-true responses, among them her rather aloof default expression.

“Well, it can’t be THAT great a marriage.” she remarked snidely, wanting to change the subject but feel some self-righteousness from her venting. “You know he- they bring other women into their bedroom sometimes, right? Doesn’t sound a man too happy in his marriage if you ask me.”

Yuuki scowled, not having nearly the emotional skin as his wife did in this game. “What makes you so sure it’s for him?” he barbed, glowering at Makoto. “She was pretty upfront about being bisexual with him- kinda important information to have going in, you think?”

“Wait, hold on-” interrupted Kentaro, holding a hand up. “We’re discussing YOUR marriage right now- not theirs.”

At this statement, Makoto lost her composure, shooting upright and looming over her husband angrily. “Oh, and here we go!” she complained. “Yes, I fucked my best girlfriend and left you for her! Yes, I admit it! And you know something, I’d do it again! And again! And again! Do you know why? Because you know something about Haru? She is kind, she’s loyal, she’s humble, she’s caring- all for the sake of it! Everything you’re not! And by the way, she’s more of a man and lover than you could EVER be!”

“If I’m so pathetic and disgusting to you,” Yuuki raged. “why did you even bother to show up today?!”

“I don’t know! I’ve made so many mistakes with you, that would just be the latest!”

“Then why don’t you just get the hell out?!”

“MAYBE I WILL!”

“GOOD! Go on back to your poor little rich girl and your snotty, pretentious cafes, and your weekends in Paris and- whatever it is the fuck you two do to each other every night!”

Even before Makoto stormed from the office, slamming the door behind her, as a therapist and professional in general, it was pretty clear to Kentaro Masamura that he’d lost control of the situation completely the second their friend Akira came up- it had been undeniable once the word “bisexual” entered into the conversation.

Having cooled down somewhat, Yuuki sighed tiredly. “Sorry about that, doc.” he said apologetically. “What do I owe you for all the sessions- I kinda think this was a wash.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Kentaro replied.

“Nah, I insist- I subjected you to the oil fire that is my marriage, I’m going to compensate you for it.”

Hmm, an “oil fire.” That was a pretty good way of describing that utter disaster, the therapist conceded to himself. Kentaro Masamura did this job because he genuinely did believe in trying to preserve relationships when possible. Trying to preserve this one however, was not so much rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic- it was more attempting to bail out the ship with a drinking glass- from the bottom of the Atlantic.

[bxcknxsty]

Ring Finger

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Description: You and Bucky have been together for six years but he still won’t propose and you want to know why

Word Count: 1.9k

  “Nat I’ve been hinting to him for almost a year” you complained throwing your best friend a gun. 

“Should I talk to him?” she asked taking out two men who were approaching from behind.

“Maybe, just find out what his problem is” 

You flicked through the blood stained files that were spread over a desk looking for any relevant information. The mission was routine and relatively simple; you and Natasha were scouting out anything that could help the others on a mission they were assigned next week.

A few pieces of paper seemed of interest so you rolled them up and slid them into a pocket inside your suit.

You took out your lighter to burn the rest of the information that wasn’t any use to the team. Nat checked the exit was clear and nodded for you to follow, both of you staying alert for any intruders.

“Guys we’re about to light her up, is everyone out?” you asked over the comms.

Once everyone had confirmed they were a safe distance from the building you threw the flame into the room and ran with Natasha. Within minutes the fire was beginning to consume the whole warehouse.

As soon as you had stepped onto the jet there was a loud explosion as the chemicals that were being stored in the place that seemed abandoned reacted with the heat.

“Hope this is some use to you all”

You handed the papers to Bucky and he leant in to kiss your lips briefly. You held his hands, running your thumb over the bloody knuckles of his right one.

“You good?” he checked you over with his eyes seeming concerned.

“I’m fine, you?”

“Took a few hits but nothing too bad” he shrugged.

You reached for two bottles of water, handing one to your boyfriend who thanked you.

“Do you want to go for dinner tonight?”

“Sure sounds nice” you nodded.

The minute Bucky was introduced to the avengers after everything that had gone on you were instantly attracted to him. He had been quiet and reserved at first but you had managed to help bring him out of his shell.

The two of you had been in a relationship for six years now after a year of flirting. Everything was perfect; you rarely argued and were as in love as ever.

When the jet landed you headed to your room at the compound to take a shower whilst Bucky took his holster back to the lock up. He had to speak with Tony and Steve for a debrief before rejoining you.

He stood with Nat, both putting their guns back into their places. He noticed she was hanging round even when she had finished and could leave.

“Did you want something?” he asked leaning against the display cabinet with his arms folded.

Natasha wanted to be discrete with the way she asked Bucky the question. She didn’t want him to know that you were the one to bring it up.

“Just thinking about what a great couple you and Y/N are” she shrugged.

“Thanks?”

He pushed off the wall and walked beside her towards the conference room.

“Are you ever gonna marry her?”

Bucky had a confused look on his face with how random the question seemed. He stuttered not knowing how to respond.

“C’mon why wouldn’t you she’s perfect”

“I know she is” he hesitated, “What is it you want to say Nat? The others are waiting”

“I don’t know. I just- You’ve been together for so long, why don’t you go all the way?”

Bucky stopped and moved to stand in front of his friend and teammate.

“Has she put you up to this?” he asked.

Natasha shook her head unconvincingly for a spy, Buck not believing her at all.

You had often confided in Nat about your relationship. You were beyond happy and as in love as ever but you were ready for more.

Since a young age you had dreamed about your wedding and having children. Family was important to you as well as tradition. You weren’t religious but always wanted to be married at some point for what it represented. Also a day of partying and celebration in a fancy dress was appealing.

“Natalia stop lying”

“Look Y/N was just curious. She doesn’t know if that’s what you want or not”

Bucky’s eyes went wide in surprise.

He realised how reserved he still was after so long together.

The truth was that he had wanted to propose within the first year of your relationship but had too many reservations. It was a big thing.

When he was younger people married straight away with white dresses for purity and the wedding bands on the left hand representing a bond. It was a religious ceremony and meant a lot to the families of those involved. If anything was missing it wouldn’t have the same values.

He looked down at his left hand, the metal shining under the bright lights of the corridor.

“It sounds stupid when I think about it” he muttered making a fist then wiggling his fingers.

“Go on”

“It’s just my hand”

Natasha frowned not getting what he meant. He seemed fairly confident these days with his body and it had never been an issue to you.

“Like, how do I wear a ring? How does Y/N put it on when we say our vows?”

“That’s what’s worrying you? A fucking ring”

Bucky got frustrated with Natasha’s dismissal of his problem. He was a perfectionist. If he were to get married, he wanted it to be perfect.

“Buck you don’t even have to have a ring. If you do you can wear it on a chain around your neck. There are so many solutions, you have no excuse”

He understood what she meant. If it was what he wanted, and what you wanted, a minor detail shouldn’t affect the rest of your lives together.

He had bought an engagement ring two years ago but there was never a right moment and he feared rejection.

The cogs started turning as Bucky imagined the look of joy that would cross your face when it happened. He would be the happiest man alive.

“Look we’ll talk later, gotta get this over with” he pointed to the room where Steve and Tony were waiting.

“Okay Barnes, see you later”

Natasha never returned to your room with gossip like you’d expected. After your shower you lay on the bed in your robe watching reruns of old TV programmes whilst waiting for Bucky. He was taking a while but you understood that what was being discussed was important.

When he eventually returned he seemed off. He didn’t speak to you, instead walking straight into the bathroom. It wasn’t unusual for Bucky to be quiet or moody after a hard mission but he never completely ignored you.

“Babe are we still going out for dinner?” you asked when you heard him get out of the shower.

He popped his head around the door, body still wet with droplets falling down his tanned skin.

“Ummm yeah if you want”

“Is everything okay? We don’t have to go out”

Bucky fastened the towel around his waist and joined you on the bed. He pushed his wet hair away from his face avoiding eye contact with you.

You could tell something was off, you knew him like the back of your hand.

“Hey” you got his attention and reached out to take his hand, “I love you”

Those three words were still like music to his ears. He would never tire of hearing you tell him how much you adored him and he would never tire of returning them words on a daily basis.

“You’re amazing” he had a small smile as he stroked the back of your hand.

“What’s on your mind, soldier” you asked sitting in front of him with your legs crossed and hands on his knees.

He tugged at the robe to cover your body, not that he didn’t want to see more because, fuck, he did. Bucky fiddled with the ties of it thinking of what exactly he wanted to say.

“You’re my life” he muttered eventually looking into your inquisitive eyes.

“And you’re mine”

“I want it all with you. The cute house with a white picket fence. Dogs, marriage, kids, baking, lazy weekends in bed”

You weren’t expecting the honesty in that moment. It was like everything had been building up for so long so you thought better than to interrupt.

“That’s what I want but it’s not realistic. Look at us. We fight, train, get hurt, fight again”

You shook your head.

“Buck we can have all of that and more. Who we are now doesn’t have to shape our lives”

He looked over to his side of the bed where he had been hiding the small box for years now.

“There’s always something holding you back. Just forget everything for a minute and think about us” you whispered leaning forward to kiss his lips.

He was thinking about you. He was thinking about what Natasha said. What you had spoken to her about earlier. What he could do in this moment and how happy it would make you both.

“Marry me” he spoke without hesitation.

You frowned not quite grasping what he had said.

“James?”

“Why would I wait so long? I’m an idiot. Let’s get married”

He rolled over on the bed reaching into the third draw down. He fumbled around until he pulled out the ring box.

“Are you playing around with me right now?”

“Y/F/N” he spoke kneeling on the ground next to the bed so you were much higher than him, “Please. Please will you become my wife”

You didn’t know what had gone on or where it had come from. Surely Nat hadn’t persuaded him in a matter of minutes. You weren’t even sure that she’d spoken to him yet.

Before he panicked your head was nodding yes. You were dumbfounded, unable to formulate words in that moment.

Bucky was tearing up as he took the ring and slid it onto your finger, holding your left hand with his metal arm to help with the shaking.

“I’m gonna be a Barnes?”

“If you wanna be a Barnes you can be a Barnes” he laughed with tears in his eyes.

“What brought this on” you couldn’t help but asked.

“Our good friend helped me to realise what an absolute idiot I’ve been”

“You’re not doing this because me and Nat spoke about it are you? This has to be something you want too”

He instantly reassured you that it was absolutely something he wanted.

“I had stupid issues with myself that was always holding me back”

You raised a brow in question wanting to know what he was talking about.

He raised his shining fingers wiggling them in the light, “can’t get a wedding band on one of these”

You took his hand in yours and kissed every plate on every finger. Your hand traced over his ring finger, a faint line over where one would sit on a human hand.

“All this time I thought you didn’t want to marry me” you teased finally inspecting the band he had slid on.

It was delicate and sparkly and stunning and you didn’t quite know what to do with yourself.

“I want to spend every minute of my life with you” he muttered against your lips.

“I love you, Buck”

[kariachi]

Okay yeah I’m still a bit on the fact that I just don’t like Harvey as a bachelor in SV. Just don’t. Like, I know there’s people who like him but I gave him the good old college try and he is just not for me

Like, okay, let’s start with the heart events, huh? The shit that’s supposed to get you a feel for these characters as people and make you fall in love.

So we get Harvey’s first event, and what do we get? To see that he’s condescending when his patients argue, and suddenly I have to choose between supporting that or losing points with him. And when you don’t side with that (guess what, I’m not siding with that) he instead threatens to tell on George to his wife, which would rub me all sorts of wrong under normal circumstances because the man’s not a fucking child, but given he’s disabled and that’s a big part of his character? Yeah, no.

But I continued on, maybe he gets better. Next heart event, literally just you getting a quick check-up. Doesn’t really teach us shit about Harvey as a character, outside of the fact that we don’t get a say in whether the check-up happens now. Can let that slide though, says more about the conventions of videogame storytelling than the man.

Next event, “Please don’t tell the half of the town that isn’t here that I go to an exercise class it’s so embarrassing”. I won’t but only because it’s not worth fucking mentioning. And what sort’ve person do you think I am that we’re at six-fucking hearts and you think I’m gonna go around trying to spread rumors? About shit people probably already know given, again, half the fucking town is here.

Next event, and the last one I checked out because I just didn’t care, and he finally is shown to have something besides work and aerobics going on in his life, opens up about his backstory and his hopes, and finally, after eight fucking hearts, acts like the two of you are anything more than casual acquaintances.

And that’s part of the crux of my issue here. That first heart event and the complete lack of any sort’ve growth from there aside, there’s no indication he sees you as anything more than a patient until eight hearts. Until you are all-but beating in his door with a bouquet your relationship with this man is strictly professional. And that’s fine when you’re not a marriage prospect but when you are? Yeah no. No I’m not about that. I’ll go for somebody I can interact with outside of a business or ‘implying I’d start rumors’ basis, thank you very much.

Just, not my sorta love interest. I prefer someone who actually enjoys my company, thank you.

[starryeyed-char]

The Nyma Incident

Alright y’all, here it is. The next installment of the klance YouTuber AU. Honestly,,, it might be a little unrealistic, but I wrote it anyway and @elsiemcclay convinced me to post it,,, so. There’s that. This is technically for Day 8 of whump week, but it’s late. Sorry. But it’s longer than other one-shots in this AU!

It’s finally time to find out what happened with Nyma.

Or that time a fan of Lance’s finds out his address.

When Lance opened the door, he expected to find Keith. The idiot forgot to take his key while running errands on a regular basis, and he was already prepared with a lecture as he opened it. Not to mention that the loud knocking was typical Keith behavior.

Instead, he was surprised to find a girl not much shorter than him, with thick, curly blonde hair and a bright smile. “Hi! Sorry to bother you, but I just moved in down the hall, and I wanted to get to know some of the neighbors! I brought muffins!” she said cheerily, sticking out a hand as she shifted the tray to the other. “I'm Nyma!”

Lance liked to think of himself as a very positive person, but he'd never met anyone who could put so much pep into their voice. Not even Hunk. “Lance,” he shook her hand, and took the tray from her. “And that was very nice of you. Would you like to come in?”

He couldn't help feeling slightly annoyed that no one had informed him a new person would be moving into their apartment building. Lance loved meeting new people, but if Keith had been the one to open the door... he'd probably have just panicked and slammed the door in her face. Lance had to suppress a laugh at the thought. Keith wasn't much for first impressions.

Nyma followed Lance inside, and he put the muffins down on the kitchen counter. “You really didn't have to bring food, though I'm sure Keith will appreciate it.”

“Who's Keith? Roommate?”

“Oh, no— my boyfriend, actually,” Lance rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at her expectantly. He didn't know what he thought she'd do, but the girl just nodded, accepting the information immediately. “So... what room did you move into?”

“Number... 306. Just down the hall. It's just me, but I've been thinking about trying to find a roommate. I moved in a few days ago; surprisingly baking for every neighbor takes a decent amount of time,” she giggled a little, and passed Lance a muffin.

“Mr. Sendak?” His eyebrows rose. “He moved out? I didn't even hear.”

“Random job relocation, apparently,” Nyma explained, with a small shrug. “Didn't get the details.”

“Never did like him much,” Lance mumbled under his breath. “Kind of a grump.”

Nyma nodded, grinning. “I only had one conversation with him, and found myself despising the guy. Does he have hearing issues?”

Lance snorted. “No, he's just insanely loud. You can't have a conversation with him without him yelling at you.” The topic of Mr. Sendak's shouting had been frequently mentioned in his videos, mostly because the bloopers were full of Lance glaring at the thin wall while the man yelled something at his ex-wife over the phone. Keith had actually suggested that they move several times. He sighed, and placed the muffin on the counter beside him. “Can't say I'll miss the guy.”

Nyma frowned, staring at the tray. “You don't want it?”

“Blueberry muffins are actually one of my favorites,” Lance admitted. Hunk had once made them for his birthday. “But Keith insisted on cooking tonight, for once in his life, and if I ruin my appetite he'll probably kill me. He's out buying the food right now, but between you and me, though, he'll probably just end up ordering pizza. Stubborn as he is, he knows cooking isn't his speed.”

She nodded, though the disappointed frown didn't disappear from her features. “Of course. Sorry, again, for coming. I just thought I should introduce myself.”

Lance couldn't help wondering, again, why he hadn't heard of a new person on the floor. If she'd already been there a few days then why hand't anyone...?

“It's no trouble. I'm always happy to see a new face around here, especially a pretty one,” he shot her his best grin and winked, trying to keep the thoughts from his mind. Keith always lectured him for overthinking everything. Nyma scoffed. “Unfortunately for you, I'm already taken. Anyways, Nyma, what do you do?”

“Hairdresser,” Nyma rolled her eyes. “I love my job but you would not believe some of the clients I get!” He reevaluated her own hair, and had to admit the several different ponytails around her head was definitely not a style the average person could manage.

“Nyma,” Lance said urgently, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I need you to cut my boyfriend's hair. He's had a mullet for as long as I've known him, and doesn't see anything wrong with it.”

She placed a hand over her mouth, feigning a gasp. “You're kidding.”

“I'm not,” Lance told her solemnly, before hesitating. “Though, honestly, I've grown to love it by now. Maybe if he cut his I'd be forced to grow one myself.”

“Please don't,” she grimaced, as if the very idea physically hurt her. “You'd look better with... maybe an undercut?”

Lance touched a hand to his own hair. “You think? I have a friend with an undercut, actually, but he's got this weird tuft at the front. He could pull off anything, but I don't know if that'd be a good look for me.”

“Maybe not the 'tuft', but I still think you'd look good with one,” Nyma narrowed her eyes at him, as if she could see it. Lance's viewers had actually suggested him getting an undercut before, but he'd never put too much thought into it. “So, what about you?”

Lance immediately tensed. Explaining being a YouTuber to anyone who didn't already know what it is was always difficult. He tended to avoid the topic of career altogether usually, but it had completely slipped his mind. And then if people thought he was famous, they'd usually treat him differently, with Keith being one of few exceptions. Better to just play dumb.  “What about me?”

“Why did you decide to start a YouTube channel in the first place?” Nyma asked, her mind clearly wandering as she glanced around the room absently.

“I—” Lance broke off immediately after he started. As often as he played dumb, Lance McClain wasn't that stupid. The plaques for his subscriber counts weren't on the walls, but in a drawer as Keith often said that having them on display would be 'extra.' All his equipment was in the room he used to film videos, originally meant to be a second bedroom, but as he and Keith shared one it became a sort of office instead. There was nothing to possibly alert Nyma to the fact that he even had a channel, unless... unless...

Unless she already knew about it, before coming to his apartment.

He turned towards her slowly. This probably wasn't the best idea, but when did Lance ever have good ideas? “I... I don't think I ever told you that I had a YouTube channel.”

She froze, still smiling. “Of course you did. You must've mentioned it.”

Lance's mind was reeling. She pretended like she had no idea who he was, no idea who Keith was,  but how much had she lied about? No wonder he hadn't heard anything— was her story about moving in even true? His eyes snagged on the muffins, the tray of which her hands hovered over. What... what would've happened if he actually ate one?

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe she'd known it was him only after he opened the door, and lied so he wouldn't kick her out. Maybe she'd only seen a few of his videos, and was genuinely just trying to be a good neighbor.

But staring at her, Lance just knew. It was in the way her hands shook slightly, the smile still plastered across her face, the eyes that seemed to bore into him, daring him to challenge her words again. As his mind backtracked over the conversation, he could see how she must've picked up details from various videos. So she was a fan, then. A fan who had somehow found his address, and lied about everything.

His heart started beating faster.

Lance took out his phone slowly, as if he hadn't a care in the world. Then, he began texting Keith. He typed slowly, keeping his fingers from shaking. If she knew he'd realized the truth, then this would just be even more dangerous.

“I don't think I did,” he shook his head, as if trying to remember. “Maybe you've seen a few of my videos.”

“Nope,” Nyma answered, now looking at the phone in his hands. “Can't say that I have. If I'd known who Lance McClain was before today, I don't think I would've forgotten.”

He hadn't given her his last name either, but he got the feeling she knew that already.

“So,” her voice was strained, but still laced with false cheer. “Who are you texting? Planning to call the cops on me?” She asked the question like one might inquire about the weather.

Lance looked up from his phone to meet her gaze. “That depends,” he tried to keep his voice even. “Am I going to have to, or are you going to leave on your own?”

“That depends,” she echoed his tone exactly. “Are you coming with me?”

Lance swallowed down the lump in his throat. “Would you accept an autograph?” he asked, to which she only smiled. “Who the hell are you, and how do you even know my address?”

“Wasn't that hard to find,” she said, standing up from her stool. He leaned backwards automatically. “Was even easier to get you to let me in, but I wish you wouldn't have realized I already knew who you were. It would've made things a lot less difficult.”

“Things,” Lance hoped that his face was stoic, but his fingers were definitely trembling on the keys now, and he silently cursed Keith for never answering his phone. “What kind of things? What do you want?”

“This, for starters,” she said, and then was beside him so quickly Lance couldn't react, and slamming his face into the edge of the counter. Everything went dark.

Keith, for his part, was trying to decide which kind of sauce Lance would prefer on pasta when his phone started beeping out of control. He recognized the tone he'd set for Lance, and rolled his eyes. Probably another spider that Lance wanted Keith to get rid of. Lance was notorious for sending dozens of messages in a row about the smallest things. He waited until he finished shopping, and had already loaded the car full of groceries before checking his messages.

What he found was a bit more concerning than a spider.

Lance: hey keith

Lance: so uh

Lance: we might have a slight problem

Lance: u might wanna hurry up i know how long it takes u to buy groceries and the kind of sauce u choose really isn't as important as u think it is

Lance: jesus keith would u just answer ur phone for once in ur life

Lance: okay sorry didn't mean that love ya babe

Lance: but i'm a little freaked out here

Lance: and getting progressively more freaked out

Lance: okay scratch that we definitely have a problem keith

Lance: there's this girl here??? she's kinda scaring me idk how she found our address but she might be a fan??? she's a creepy af i can tell u that much

Lance: and no i'm not jumping to conclusions this is a very legitimate issue

Lance: answer ur phone jfc

Lance: i don't know who this girl is but she's aderhjgbhwke

Keith stared at his phone for a moment, panic increasing with each message he read. These had been sent a little under a half hour ago, and he felt an uncomfortable knot settle in the pit of his stomach. He sent out a quick message to Lance before starting the drive back. Luckily, their apartment wasn't far.

Lance groaned, blinking the black spots from his vision. He tried to lift an arm but found he couldn't move them. A quick glance around as his eyesight refocused revealed that he was tied to a chair in his own living room. Just like that, the memories came flooding back.

He looked towards the kitchen, and there she was; sitting on top of the counter with her legs crossed, and glaring at him. “So, you finally decided to wake up.”

Lance shifted under the ropes holding him in place. “I see you came prepared,” he observed, before raising a suspicious eyebrow. “I have to say, I'm more than curious about just what your plan was after this.”

“I can't exactly carry you outside of the apartment building, now can I?” Nyma asked, adjusting a hair tie. “I figured we could stay in here.”

“How courteous of you,” Lance drawled, praying silently that Keith had actually remembered his key. “Don't get me wrong, I'm never one to kinkshame, but... bondage? Never really been a fan, personally.”

She glared at him. “I'd watch my tongue, if I were you. Reassess the situation you're in.”

“Unless you drugged me with your shady-ass muffins and I'm now hallucinating, I believe I'm tied to a chair. And I'm pretty sure I know what you want,” Lance raised his chin, forcing a confident smirk onto his face. “Well, sorry, but you're really not my type. By which I mean you're not Keith, so there was really no hope for you to begin with. Nice try, though, really. I can with full confidence say that this is the most effort anyone has ever put into a date with me. Well, except for that one time when Keith—”

“Spare me,” Nyma rolled her eyes to the ceiling, and lifted something off the counter beside her.  A knife. The largest one they kept in their kitchen, actually. The blood in Lance's body seemed to freeze over. “It's nothing like that. I just wanted to be friends, Lance. I've been watching your videos for so long, I already know you! But you didn't know me, and we had to fix that. You just had to go and ruin my perfect plan.”

“Was your plan really that perfect if it centered around a batch of blueberry muffins?”

“For your information, there wasn't anything in the muffins. Just a friendly gesture that you didn't appreciate because of Keith.” She pushed herself off the counter and began pacing around the room, knife in hand. “My plan was for us both to go to my apartment, which isn't too far from here, but since you're not actually as dumb as I thought, that won't work. Now I've been forced to improvise.”

“Great,” Lance muttered sarcastically. “That makes two of us.”

A sudden ding startled the both of them so much that Nyma nearly dropped the knife on her foot, and Lance would've fallen out of the chair if not tied in place.

Lance's phone was sitting on the counter, and Nyma walked over to it.

“Your Keith is on his way, apparently,” she smirked. “He seems a bit concerned, if this text is any indication.”

The phone rang, and Nyma set it back on the counter, letting it ring. After a minute or so she checked the screen and grinned. “Aww, he left a message! Let's listen to it!”

“Lance, I'm on my way home now. If this is like those stupid pranks you pull on Hunk and Pidge for your channel, we are going to have a very big fight when I get back, because I'm seriously freaked out.”

Nyma faked a pout at him. “How adorable! He's worried about you.”

“I wonder why,” Lance deadpanned. “Maybe because some psychopathic bitch has me tied to a chair in my own kitchen.”

Her eyes hardened. “If you don't want fans coming to your apartment, then maybe you should try harder to hide your address.”

“Fan? Really?” Lance pretended to consider the statement. “I don't know, the word 'stalker' seems more appropriate here. What do you think?”

“I'd be a bit nicer to the one with the knife,” she advised, her voice far too cheery for the words coming out of her mouth.

“Oh, excuse me. Where are my manners? Obviously you deserve the utmost hospitality.”

She was beside him in a second, pointing the weapon at him, and Lance tried his hardest not to flinch. “I have an idea. How about you call Keith back and tell him not to worry, and that he shouldn't come back?”

“With anyone else it might work, but Keith's always been able to see straight through me. If anything, he'd just be even more concerned. Hate to break it to you, sweetie, but you're kind of screwed here. This is why you don't show up at people's houses with drugged muffins.” Lance tried for as sweet a smile as possible, and Nyma made a sound that was suspiciously close to a growl.

“I told you, there was nothing in the muffins! And you didn't even eat them!!”

“A travesty, I'm sure,” Lance schooled his features to be blank. “Now your plan is kinda wrecked, huh? Unless you plan to knock me out and carry me back to... wherever you actually live. Unfortunately, this is an apartment building, so someone would notice. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if I screamed, lots of people would hear.”

“Scream, and I'll kill you.”

Nyma said this with such certainty that Lance felt every part of his body go numb. This was seriously dangerous, then. It hadn't really hit him until that moment. Maybe he shouldn't have been sassing her as much.

“And forget about the old plan. Let's just stay here and chat instead.” Lance shuddered, but forced a lazy smile back onto his face.

“Look, if you're going to kill me, would you just hurry up and do it already? I'm on a very tight schedule. Places to be and all that, you know how it is.”

“Everyone talks about how different you are,” she tapped the knife's handle to her chin. “How spontaneous. The most unpredictable, interesting YouTuber ever. If they saw you now, all they'd see is a scared, lonely little boy. I wish I'd have thought to bring my video camera, so they could see it. I wonder where you keep yours? How about we set up a live stream?”

“I haven't straightened my hair yet,” Lance managed to say. “Surely, as a hairdresser, you can understand that's a necessity? Well, if you're even a hairdresser.”

Nyma leaned down, getting in his face, knife still in hand. Lance inched against the chair, as far away from her as possible. “You're not as clever as you think you are, Lance McClain. You can hide all you want behind that arrogant, cheerful facade, but I'm not here to see that. I know the real you. I know you.”

“We've never met,” Lance said, voice still shaky. “I don't know you at all.”

“And that's the problem!” Nyma grinned, standing back up. “I'm just here to level the playing field, like I said.”

That's when the door swung open to reveal Keith, chest heaving and out of breath. His violet eyes widened; taking in Lance, Nyma, the knife, and the chair. His mouth set into a firm line, but his hands were shaking.

“What,” his voice was angrier than Lance had ever heard it. “Is going on here?”

“Keith,” Lance breathed, unable to keep the relief from his voice. He glanced at the knife before looking back towards his boyfriend with a shaky smile. “Uh... meet Nyma. She's... my biggest fan?”

“Lance, if this is a joke for one of your videos, it's not funny—”

“Oh, come on!” Lance protested. “I'm not that much of an asshole! Sure, I enjoy song lyric pranks but this? This is not my style. Honestly, I'm insulted that you'd even think I would—”

“Enough!” Nyma nearly shouted, and Lance flinched when she brought the knife closer to him. “I am getting really, really sick of all your rambling! I should've put tape over your mouth.”

“Right. Shutting up now.”

Nyma turned her attention back to Keith. She didn't see what Lance had noticed. Keith had set his phone on the counter after quickly dialing something. And he'd left the door unlocked.

Lance told Keith how much he loved him at least once a day, but he made a mental note to say it at least ten times that amount from this point on.

If Lance was right, Keith had just called the police. Now, all they had to do was stall. Lance was an expert at stalling.

“Nyma,” Keith started, lifting his hands in a placating gesture. “Just put the knife down, and leave. I'm not going to follow you. You have to realize that there's no way this works out for you. Just go.” He took a step forward.

“If you take one more step this way, I'm going to stab him.”

Keith immediately froze.

So, maybe stalling would be more of a concern than Lance thought.

“Nyma,” Lance began carefully. “You're... you're a fan, right? If all you want is to be friends, then we can do that! But... but you're going to have to put the knife down, okay? You're not going to be able to get away with this how things are going. Let's just talk like rational people, okay?”

She just glared at him.

“What was your plan, anyway?” Keith's eyes scanned the room, his voice tight.

“Holding a famous YouTuber who got a little too careless in one unboxing video for ransom sounded like a pretty good plan to me,” she passed the weapon from hand to hand. “Not to mention someone I’m a fan of. Unfortunately, we ended up staying here instead. I didn't have much time to plan properly. Maybe I was a little careless, too. Regardless, this has been a pretty fun day.”

“Unboxing— that was just a few days ago! But I... I scribbled over the address!”

“All I had to do was take a screenshot, zoom in, and edit the picture. You went over it in a different color. Add a little contrast and saturation, and boom. Shines right through,” Nyma shrugged, as if it were no big deal. “I had to act quickly, before you realized it.”

“You're insane,” Lance said softly. “Did... did you really think this would've worked?!”

“It might've, and what's the harm in trying? I've been a fan for years. Almost as long as you've been a YouTuber. Longer than you've been with him,” she jerked a thumb towards Keith. “And I watched your channel grow, and I got to know everything about you. But you never knew I existed! I saw my chance to change that, and I took it. Call me insane all you want, call it poorly planned, but I've made it this far. Doesn't that alone scare you? I could kill you, you know. But I just want to be your friend. Get to know you. Maybe get a decent amount of money out of it.”

“Nyma, just leave him alone,” Keith spoke up again. “This is illegal, and you could get in a lot of trouble. But if you just leave now, without hurting Lance, then maybe you won't. Just put the knife away, let me untie him, and—”

“Is that your phone?” Keith's face paled instantly. “Why is it on?”

“No, it's not,” Keith stammered, and Lance's heart sank. Keith was a terrible liar. “It's just lighting up because... uh, I got a text, or—”

“Did you call someone?” she demanded, growing visibly more and more angry. “Did you call the police? Why would you do that? Do you not realize the situation you're in?! I'm the one in charge. You don't get to call anyone!”

“I didn't, I swear, please—”

Nyma brought the knife down, stabbing it into Lance's forearm. He let out a strangled yelp, tensing as the pain rocketed through his body. Spots danced briefly in the corners of his sight before fizzling out, and when he looked down... that was a lot of blood.

Keith had a hand over his mouth, looking terrified and livid all at the same time. He started towards them, but at that moment the door burst open.

The police had finally arrived.

After Nyma had been escorted away, after Keith and Lance had recounted what had happened and gone to the hospital, after Lance's arm had been bandaged up, they sat in silence on the drive back to their apartment.

Lance fidgeted uncomfortably with the bandages. He kept seeing Keith's face in that moment, when he crossed to room in a second and was untying Lance, looking absolutely horrified at everything that just happened. Lance couldn't blame him. He half expected Keith to break up with him right then.

“I'm sorry,” he finally mumbled. “I... I was stupid. She said she was a neighbor, and she seemed nice, and I believed her and... I'm sorry. For scaring you, for... just... everything. I'll... I'll clean up the blood when we get home?” He tried for a grin.

Keith looked at him briefly before refocusing on the road, hands tightening on the steering wheel. “You're sorry? For scaring me?”

“Well, yeah, I shouldn't have—”

“Lance, you had no reason to believe that a crazy fan would show up to our apartment and tie you to a chair,” Keith said, unreadable expression beginning to crack around the edges. “It's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for. I can't... I can't believe you're worried about me, at a time like this. She could've hurt you way worse than she did. That was really, really dangerous. Probably the most scared I've ever been, and my life hasn't exactly been all sunshine and rainbows.”

Lance slumped down further in his seat. “I still feel bad, though. You shouldn't have had to deal with any of that. This is all because of my stupid YouTube thing,” Lance gestured around wildly, before wrapping his arms around himself. “You don't deserve any of this, you didn't sign up for it. You deserve someone better. Someone... normal.”

Keith cast him a sideways look, with a small smile. “I don't care about normal, Lance. I want you. True, I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into when we starting dating, but I don't regret anything about this. If you're worried about me wanting to end it after this, don't be. I'm in love with you. No amount of your life's craziness is going to change that. Just... let's not do anything like that ever again, okay?”

Lance let out a soft laugh, trying to blink back the tears that sprung to the corners of his eyes. “How is it that half the time you're terrible with words, but the other half you know exactly what to say?”

“Guess you're rubbing off on me.” Keith glanced at his boyfriend again, still uncertain. “You sure you're okay?”

“I think I need a restraining order,” Lance replied. “What about you?”

“We're definitely moving. If Sendak wasn't enough, this settles it.”

“Fair enough,” Lance nodded, before planting a quick kiss on Keith's cheek. “I don't know how you tolerate me sometimes, but I love you, too. Glad this whole thing is over.”

Keith's cheeks instantly heated up. “I... um, I would kiss you but... I'm driving and I'd like to avoid two disasters in one day. Uh, and me too. The... glad that it's over thing.”

Lance smiled softly. “There's the terrible-with-words Keith Kogane I know and love.”

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : World of Sea : Part 77

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2018

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

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Kurin turned to face the pure white Great Sea Dragon by the rail.  “Blind Mecat, you and I talked once about whether I could trust what Captain Barad told me.  What did you tell me about trusting him?”

Blind Mecat’s mellow voice answered, “I said that you would have to make up your own mind, Little Fish.  I also said that I trusted him.”

“Thank you, Cat.  Now, Captain Barad, why did you get the Ord and whose idea was it?”

“Mister Morgu first approached me about getting revenge on the Longin about nine Wohans ago.  The Ord was to be the agency of that revenge.  The plot was to kill you as a covert means of striking at the Longin. The circle of the conspiracy was very small.  Only myself, Mister Morgu and one other, chosen by Mister Morgu and unknown to me, actually knew the real reason for obtaining it.

“Everybody else believed that it was for the fishing experiments that it actually was used for.”

“A moment, please Captain.  Captain Sarfin, these parchments detail the exhaustive experiments carried out.  Their failure, along with the reasons for it, and the disposal of the Ord.  Your honor will notice the highlighted passage where one spine was reported as lost overboard.  Note also the witness statements that Mister Morgu was involved in that loss.”  Sarfin took the new batch of parchment and spent a few minutes reviewing it with Captain Sula.

Sula looked up grimly and said, “You are admitting to the plot against Kurin?”

“We are not done yet, Captain Sula,” said Kurin softly.

“If you wish to spare his life, I hope not,” Sula said dourly.

“Captain Barad, please continue,” Kurin asked.

“Even I did not know who Mister Morgu recruited or how he did it.  I left those details to him.  I did not know about the making of the deadly awl in that sewing kit.  Chena’s death came as complete shock.  It was a totally unnecessary test, and done without my consent.  When Merk, Master Selked’s apprentice was found dead the next morning, I guessed who had made the deadly tool but still did not know what it was.  I just let the normal course of events conceal the cause of his death.

“I stopped by the sickbay to look in on Tanlin’s condition and there I found Kurti being put on the invalid list for a resistant lung parasite infection.  I took her in as my cabin- girl because it was the lightest duty on the ship and she,” Captain Barad paused and his shoulders shook as he appeared to fight for control, “hated being useless.  She began by mending things in my cabin.  Apparently, she approached Master Selked for a sewing kit and got the deadly kit in all innocence.  She never needed the awl for the light work that she did.

“We kept her illness secret from the crew and hoped that one of the treatments would take.  I’d have married her were it possible but she was Grandalor born and the Law is clear.  Besides, we had no time.  Her fatal attack had a sudden onset, as some parasite bored into a vein and her lungs began to fill with blood.

“The whale sang for her, leaping and calling for hours.  Tanlin woke as Kurti failed.  Tanlin had lost all memory of the people of the Arrakan fleet.  She remembers all else.  Blind Mecat says that those memories are gone forever.  In every other respect she is whole.  At first, because of the great similarity between them, I looked in on her progress and tried to help.  It was swiftly apparent that she and Kurti were nothing alike, still, as I worked with her, I fell in love again.  All of this time the kit sat on the shelf in my cabin, and neither I nor any other guessed it’s deadly nature.

“I had never thought to love anybody after Teralat died of fire cough twenty five Gatherings ago.  Suddenly, I fell in love twice in quick succession.  There was no impediment to marrying the Lady Tanlin, and I did so.  We had an Arrakan style Wedding Feast at the Longin food booth.  That is crucial to understanding what followed.

“This is the part that the Court will find hard to accept.  I was bothered by the plot to harm Kurin.  It preyed on me.  I took my wife and Master Selked into my confidence about the scheme.  Each had serious and different objections.  

“Master Selked pointed out that my hate was for Captain Mord Halyn, not the Longin.  Further, I was holding a grudge for the one time that I had bested him completely.  No real basis for a grievance.

“Lady Tanlin’s objection was likewise fundamental.  Captain Mord and Kurin were both invited guests at our Announcement Feast.  Under Arrakan Law and Custom, all grudges between invited guests and the celebrators die at such a feast.  If they do not, all the vows taken at the feast are forsworn and the couple must part and can never marry each other again.

“To keep my wife, I declared the plot done and issued Logged orders that if the deadly spine be found, it must be turned in to Doctor Corin for destruction.  Any other use being mutiny.  Remember, I did not know that it had been made into a sewing tool.

“During this same time, the sorry mess with Silor Elon was playing itself out.  I felt that I owed him an assist because he was my eyes and ears aboard the Longin for the last five Gatherings.  We went and picked him up.  I was going to send him to the Arrakan fleet, where I do believe he would have done well.  I should have just let him sail away.

“Mister Morgu somehow recruited him.  Morgu did know about the kit but had lost track of it.  He ran a number of audits and inventories of the tool stock, apparently trying to find it.  He finally realized that the kit in my cabin was the only kit not checked and sent Silor to get it.

“When Silor, who had been ordered to stay out of sight, jumped ship with Mister Morgu, Tanlin realized that something was very wrong and came to me in the Captain’s Council.  That was when I left my proxy with Captain Mord.  I was trying to let you all know that my grudge with him was over.

“My whole crew searched the Gathering, trying to find either Mister Morgu, Silor or both.  We failed.  Later, we found that they had hidden inside one of the floats of the Gathering rafts.  The next day, we caught up to them just moments after they had accomplished their goal.

“All that we could do was watch and pray to the Dragons that Kurin had not eaten the poisoned part of her lunch.  When she collapsed into Captain Sula’s arms, we knew that we were doomed.

“Neither myself or my ship are popular.  I was certain that the rush to rid the Naral fleet of us would have little to do with Great Law or fleet Law.  Events have proved me correct.  You have earned your name as Sarfin the Wise and even you failed to see the flaws in what you all did.

“I had arraigned a link up with the Fauline in her Spring Waters.”

Sarfin interrupted with, “They lay a charge of ramming to enforce piracy against you.”

“I know that, your Honor.  It is not true.  You know that they had a hull-secured loan with us.  Due to a survivorship clause in favor of the Naral fleet, that loan is registered in the fleet Archive.  They were over two Gatherings in arrears.  The unpaid interest alone was somewhat over ten thousand Strong Skins.  I also know that they failed to pay their full share tax this Gathering, pleading poverty.

“They gave us a payment of one thousand Strong Skins, two thousand five hundred glue blocks and a small, one and a half ton, Hag.  They had it in their holds during the Gathering where I learned of it from an informant in the Fauline’s crew.  

“They lied to you about inability to pay their share tax.  They also gave us information about the blatantly illegal Edict of Outlawry and the search for us.  In return, we gave them a full quitclaim on the loan.

“At that point, they seized both myself and the Lady Tanlin.  They also attempted an attack on the Grandalor with a prize crew smuggled aboard ostensibly to help load the payment.  Our crew took exception to the attempted capture, took the prize crew prisoner, and rammed the Fauline at an oblique angle with a bowsprit hook-out.  This damaged the main mast’s running and standing rigging, disabling the ship.  After our crew got us back safe aboard, we saw the Coriolis storm coming, so we rendered aid.  We fixed the rigging and some minor hull damage.  

“We did not charge for that.  The price of not doing it would have been a ship and all the lives aboard.  Some things are too costly to leave undone.”

Urson interrupted sarcastically, “So says the most notorious Captain of the whole fleet.  I have known Captain Skua for many Gatherings and I find his account to be far more credible.  It is, after all, only your word against his.”

“We do have three impartial witnesses,” said Kurin calmly.

“They are separate from either ship.  They observed the encounter and are present to testify.”

“Impossible!” snapped Farrol.  “No other vessel was in sight to provide these mythical witnesses!”

“Dark Iren, are you, Blind Mecat and Frath mythical?” Kurin called out lightly.

“The last time that I looked, no.  None of us are mythical,” Dark Iren replied in a voice seemingly too soft for so large a creature.

“A question of fact, not opinion, then,” Kurin said with the surety of one who already knows the answer.  “Did your Orcas report the encounter between the Fauline and the Grandalor to you?”

“Indeed they did, matters of conflict between ships can have major ecological consequences.  Such confrontations are reported in full detail.”

“Did Captain Barad’s account seem substantially true to your reports?” Kurin inquired.

“All of his facts and the order of them are accurate.  My reports were more detailed, of course.”

“Thank you, Dark Iren,” said Kurin and turned to Blind Mecat and Frath. “Blind Mecat, were you accompanying Frath as he was steering the recent Coriolis Storm?”

“Of course, Little Fish.  You know that.  I asked Frath to steer it nearly nine hundred miles out of its planned path in order to have speech with Barad and Tanlin.  I had to be there for two reasons. One I just gave you, the other, and most important, was to ensure that the storm would still meet its ecological goals.”

All of the audience except for Sarfin, Barad and Tanlin were outraged. “Ecological goals!  That storm hit and scattered our fleet!”

Sarfin threw a bucket of icy water on them by calmly asking, “And whose world is it?  Do you really think that Sea manages itself?  These Dragons make it possible for us to live at all.  Trust them.  They actually do know what they’re doing.”

Frath said, “Thank you, Captain Sarfin.  I do try to miss fleets when I can.  Humans are now widespread across the surface of Sea and it is not always possible.  The storms are necessarily big.  Curiously, Tanlin upbraided me for exactly the same thing even though the Naral fleet was trying to hunt her down and kill her.”

“Where were you, during the encounter between the Grandalor and Fauline?” Kurin requested.

“Blind Mecat and I were about twenty yards under the surface, directly beneath the ships,” Frath answered.

“Then you couldn’t have seen or heard what happened aboard either of those ships!” Farrol exclaimed in triumph.

Blind Mecat replied, “Incorrect.  Sight is a limited sense at best.  Our hearing and echolocation are both very precise.  Two echo pings occupying less than one tenth of a second in total are sufficient to locate every object larger than one inch in length on both ships. The same two pings also allow us to count the number of persons, find their location, orientation, state of health and when they last ate. This includes those up in the rigging.”  She regarded Farrol for an unnervingly sightless second and added, “We’re not just big, we are very good predators.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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[4memoriesevent]

I am GK Dammalapati From Andhra Pradesh, I took part in #Step2BActive virtual cycling Ride organized by #4memoriesevent.  I live with a small family that comprise my parents, wife and kids.I am a businessman by profession into food business from past 10 years and managing the entire business with my elder sister at Vijayawada. My entire focuses was to supervise every act in the hotel to grow the businessman didn’t realize that I needed to be in sitting position for long hours. I never cared much about my health or saw myself, how am I looking. I adopted to consume alcohol often and smoke everyday irrespective, knowing that it will affect my body besides the overweight I am carrying.I ignored what people talk about me but after a day I realized when my family had a conversation about my overweight, and they seem to be worried. I checked my weight and surprised to know that I was 130KG at 44. My parents wanted me to go for bariatric surgery to reduce fat from the body, but I was not interested and denied for the surgery. Later, my parents insisted me to scan the body & we went to hospital, but it was amazed to me and my entire family when I wasn’t fit into scanner machine because of my overweight. Doctor told me to start exercise and reduce some weight to fit in the scanner to proceed further check up. I know some of them could have laughed at the time, but I silently back to home. The incident was stucked in my mind and I kept on thinking what the doctor told me but it also turned my life and able to take decision to start exercise. I began with the daily 1 km & 2 km walk.  I also made few friends while morning walk. A friend of the morning walk group have suggested me to start cycling and I started too.I took my kid’s cycle and used to ride 3-5KM every not more than during pandemic COVID-19 but slowly I increased the Kilometer because of the motivation from my kids. I bought a new bicycle and ride 10 km to 15 km on a daily basis.  I also left those bad habits of dirking alcohol, smoking, eating junk foods. I never used get up early in the morning and I still remember the words of my father used to tell me to get up early before the sunrise and feel the positivity but now I follow my father’s words and I get up early morning by 3:40am to 4:00am clock and be ready to cycling ride by 5’clock to 5:15 in the morning regularly. There are so many people of the road that noticed me while I ride from last 2 to 3 months on Vijayawada road. Some of them laugh and but many of them cheer too. I will reach my target of completion century by cycling every day in the month of September. Some time I do cycling with my kids too. Although I am not part of any cycling group but I participate many challenges.Nowadays I do cycling 2hr to 3hr on a daily basis and off day, I increase my timing 4hr to 5hr to cross ride 50 km to 60 km. I am so pleased to share that I reduced 32KG in 3 months. Further, I kept target to reduce more KGs.There are many positive changes brought in my life as cycling become a part of daily life. A continuous motivation from my family, Strava friends, #medals #certificates of accomplishment #unique T-shirt made me more committed towards keeping good & active healthy lifestyle. I strongly recommend everyone who is facing challenges of obesity as worried or carrying many health issues to start the exercise, cycling, walk or run . I appreciate 4memoriesevent for creating such platform to encourage making ourselves fit and active. So if you have not started then #Step2BActive is a good platform to begin with and make your fitness journey to inspire others.Link:https://forms.gle/r9yAcWQUimG4p9Zy9 #PeaceRun #GandhiJayanti  #Cycling #2020Challenge #RunForHealth #RunForFun #VirtualRun #RodeForJoy #RideForFit #ToBeFit #Step2BActive #BeActive #BeHealthy #Run #Walk #dedication #motivation #encouragement #challangeaccepted