#God its an exaggeration of course I have lots of people I wanna be alive for

[dont-offend-the-bees]

Entering my Dread Pyrate Blackbeard era (ensconced in blanket fort, eating sweet preserves straight from the jar, writing depressing song lyrics and crying)

[from-a-reckless-writer]

here lads have an angsty supercorp soulmate story

It starts exactly 24 hours after Kara’s departure. 

It’s subtle at first. It actually reminds Lena of the first few days after they met. 

The slow but steady build-up of pain manifesting itself into little things; shaky hands, dizzy spells, chest pains. The pills help, of course. She’s already ingested 5 pills in the span of 3 hours and she’s contemplating taking more. Just to keep the pain—threatening to overtake her—at bay. But what good would she be if Alex finds her passed out on the floor? Veins chock-full of narcotics? 

So, she wills her hands to stop shaking and pushes on. She sends a text to Jess to send a shipment of pills to her home address; tells her to be discreet. 

She can do it. She’s done it before. She can fucking do it again. And she will bring Kara home. 

Because every moment that passes with them apart, means a step closer to Lena’s death. 

You might think she’s exaggerating, but really she isn’t. See, Kara’s her soul mate, not just in the figure of speech wax-poetic sense but literally Kara’s her soul mate. 

But her being a Luthor of course, soul mates wouldn’t come easy. None of it had ever been easy. Why would this one be an exception? It wasn’t unheard of, no, there were a few rare cases of it being recorded. Of course, Lena would be one of those people. Why wouldn’t the universe add shitty soul mate luck into the long list of misfortunes in Lena’s life? What’s one more curse, right? 

See, Kara’s her soul mate but...Lena isn’t Kara’s.

“You look like shit, Luthor. You’re allowed to take a break you know?” 

It’s Alex who breaks her out of her reverie. She prays to God that Alex doesn't notice her shaking hands. She’s well aware she looks like shit. She feels like shit, she doesn’t need Alex of all people to point that one out. But now, Lena notices that the whole place is empty, she didn’t even notice J’onn slip out. She didn’t even notice Alex coming in too, really. 

Brainy had long passed-out in one of the beds in the MedBay in the 2nd level of The Tower, Nia taking up the opposite bed. There was a brief moment when she walked in that made her feel tempted to occupy the third bed and take a break. But then, her chest tightened and a flare of pain lit up her whole insides, it was reason enough to keep her feet moving and back unto the computers trying to pinpoint Kara’s location. 

“I know,” she replies, “But it’s really not necessary, Alex. I’ll rest after.” 

She doesn’t need rest, what she needs is Kara to be here. 

She refuses to look at Alex, fingers flying across the screen. Alex shifts closer to her, lays a hand on her right arm prompting her to stop. Her eyes land on Alex's hand and continue up to Alex’s eyes. 

“We’ll find her, Lena. But you have to rest. I’m serious, Luthor. Come on,” Alex persists, wrapping her hand more firmly and tugging at Lena to follow her. 

She doesn’t say that rest will do her more harm than good. She doesn’t say that if she closes her eyes all she would see is Kara’s body floating all alone in space and the pain would start anew.

First, her chest and then travelling up the rest of her body until all there is is pain. 

She doesn’t say that she needs to work in order to distract her from the pain. 

Instead, she holds her tongue, lets Alex bring her to the 2nd level and tries to have the most fitful sleep of her life. 

***

It gets worse on the 5th day of the second week. It really isn’t a surprise considering this is the longest she’s had to go without Kara around. 

She’s taken mega-doses of painkillers in anticipation for today. Last night was a nightmare, she had to bite down on a hand towel as waves of pain assaulted her, again and again and again.

When morning came, it slowly subsided. Once feeling had returned to her legs she ran into the kitchen and swallowed 3 pills immediately. 

It doesn’t matter if she’s taken 3 or 4 or a whole bottle today, because it will just get worse and worse the longer Kara isn’t by her side. 

And so, she drags herself into The Tower again, because she needs to finally find a way to bring her back. 

She tries to ignore the tightening of her chest even though she’s really having a hard time breathing now. Not to mention the pain behind her eyes that is bit by bit making it difficult for her to coordinate with Brainy’s computations. 

She’s taken to keeping a bottle of pills on her person now. Opting to take them dry as if they were mint candies to keep her tongue moving while programming lines of codes. 

She thinks she’s still being subtle. 

Well, she is.

Until she isn’t. 

She crumples to the floor in front of everyone and a guttural scream of pain breaks free from her lips. 

***

When she wakes it’s to Alex sitting by her bedside. 

She lets out a groan in response to the sore feeling of her entire body. It’s like the time they were forced to do team building exercises all day in Mt. Helena and Lena nearly passed out. 

Alex hands her a bottle of water. She sips greedily before handing it back and wiping her mouth. 

“Hey? How you feeling?”

“Like I wanna die.”

Alex sighs and Lena intentionally avoids her eyes. 

“It’s Kara isn’t it?” Alex says and Lena doesn’t bother with lying anymore.

“It is.”

“How you survived almost two weeks away from her, I wouldn’t know. Two days away from Kelly—” Alex breaks off, inhales deeply and then sighs again, “That’s already torture for me.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice,” She retorts flatly, hands fiddling with the rough edges of the blanket. Alex looks like she wants to say something about that but Lena beats her there. 

“How?” She asks, gesturing to the IV drip. How am I not feeling pain right now? How am I still breathing? How am I still alive?

“The DEO created a special fluid for agents,” Alex reveals, “They distribute it to agents on field assignments. That way, them and their partners don’t die from pain. Good thing, J’onn had a stash hidden here, well, we always thought it would be for me and Kelly. Never expected you, Luthor.”

Lena takes that in for a moment. So, the DEO had a special formula of Dextrose to stave off the pain of soulmate separation and apparently she’s using up all the remaining bags of it. 

And it’s not even supposed to be for her. 

“Don’t worry about it. Brainy can replicate the formula.”

Worry must’ve shown on her face. So, she works on schooling her features again, she knows that Alex is itching to ask her questions but is trying to be polite. 

There’s really no use hiding anything now though. 

“K-Kara’s my soulmate,” she finally says out loud, and she’s always thought that it’s supposed to feel cathartic and freeing but instead it just feels heavy. 

“But I’m not hers,” she quickly finishes, better to rip the band-aid off. She briefly looks at Alex, whose face doesn’t give her anything; mouth a tight line and eyes shining with curiosity. 

She doesn’t know if Alex had ever had a conversation with Kara about soul mates before. Had they talked about it? Had Kara ever mentioned Lena acting too clingy whenever they don’t see each other for a short period of time? Had Kara ever told Alex if she would want a soul mate of her own?

But the look and silence from Alex’s side makes Lena refrain from asking. 

Instead, she starts to tell her how it had hit her the instant Kara walked in her office. How there was a zing! and her brain had immediately screamed HER. That’s the one. She’s the one. 

How when they met eyes and Kara had told her her name it felt like Lena’s soul finally found her home. 

“I asked for her name and I kind of thought she’d wait for me to get out of the office,” Lena trails off and Alex takes it for what it is. 

Their first meeting was all sparks for Lena but then, the conversation kept going and going and Clark had tried interrogating her and Kara didn’t do anything. 

Didn’t approach her afterwards, didn’t show any reaction that might’ve given Lena a clue that she felt the way Lena did. 

A conclusion was easily reached. 

Kara was hers but she wasn’t Kara’s. 

After the initial shock settled in, Lena set to work. Because that was what she did best. Work out a solution to everything and anything that poses a problem. 

How many people have dreamed about meeting their soul mate? How many years had Lena sat there hoping that tomorrow maybe, maybe she’ll finally meet them? She never expected this, never expected her soul to find a home that isn’t hers. 

Staying away from Kara was a non-starter, it’s only been a day since they parted but Lena can already feel the beginnings of pain. Slow but sharp shots of throbbing from behind her eyes then came the shaky hands then the dizziness and then— 

They became friends and Lena made sure Kara didn’t know anything about her growing need to be close to her; didn't let Kara know about the fact that the universe made Lena its most epic punchline yet. 

She agreed to scheduled game nights and movie nights and lunch dates. She never knew the pain of soulmate separation during those early days. Kara was always around; bringing her a salad, covering an L-Corp gala, crashing on Lena’s couch. 

“It was easy, you know? Kara was always there. What are friends for?” Lena mimics Kara and then repeats somberly, “It was easy, Alex.”

Or at least, Lena kept telling herself it was easy. She had it easy. She didn’t have to think about painkiller pills or cutting her business trips short—because the pain becomes unbearable too soon—like so many of her board members do. 

She had it easy with Kara, she can just call and she’ll be there. 

Until, Kara started going MIA. And for three days pain overtook her entire life. The pain made her unable to think clearly, the pills kicking in at the last minute. 

“You haven't been around. Supergirl's been there for me. Person who judges me on the very premise of my last name, but my best friend hasn't,” she accuses because Goddamnit Kara has no idea what kind of shit Lena had to endure with her going away with no warning. 

Logically, Lena knows it’s partly her fault. 

She knows that if she only just told Kara that she needs her to live, Kara would stay. But she doesn’t want anything to change. 

Of course, Kara would stay, it was the kind of thing a person like her would do. 

Kara would take care of her, whatever Lena needed she would give. 

But Lena didn’t want things that way. 

She wants Kara to want her the same way she wants her. 

But no, Lena’s not going to tell her that. She is never going to know. She will find an alternative. So, she injects as much venom as she can into that accusation, “B-but maybe it’s better if I leave.” 

She makes Kara leave. 

She just got her cure back and immediately Lena had pushed her away. The moment Kara stepped out of the door, a dull throb already kicked in her chest; as if telling Lena she was making a big mistake. 

She regretted that night so much, Jess had to drag her drunken body out of her office. 

Then it became normal again and Lena went back to not worrying about body pains again. 

Because a different kind of pain is trying to make itself known. 

A gaping hole in her heart that is entirely unrelated to the biological consequences of being separated from your soul mate. 

She was falling in love. 

She was falling in love and she wasn’t prepared for how it would hurt to have Kara not love her back. She can endure the physical pain, there are pills for that. 

But there wasn’t any type of medication to see your other half everyday and not have them see you as theirs. 

When Lex told her Kara’s secret. Something broke inside of her. Which was saying something, considering she was getting her heart broken every single day that Kara wouldn’t look her way. 

But to know how stupid she’s been? To realize that the flutter of her heart whenever Supergirl was near was her brain telling her it was Kara? 

There was no word for that. 

“I think, I kept rejecting the idea of Supergirl being Kara you know?” Lena huffs out, laughs drily, “Imagine how fucking painful it would be, Alex, if Supergirl was my soul mate. This person who didn’t trust me wholly, who lies behind my back, imagine if she was my soul mate? It would have felt humiliating. My body knew better, though,” she admitted sadly. 

“When Lex told me, all the little painful outbursts every time Supergirl flew away? It made sense. Everything made sense, but at the same time? Everything hurt too.”

She tried hurting her back. Created Hope. Experimented with Q-waves. Foolishly used Myriad. Teamed up with Lex.

But even through all of those? The separation pain never knocked her out. 

Even when they were fighting, Kara was still always around. Even when the world—the fucking multiverse got reset. The pain wasn’t enough to knock her out. Not like today. 

Because Kara was always lingering around convincing her not to join Lex, crossing paths in CatCo, flying into her home even if it was to call her a villain. 

All of those interactions were still sustenance for Lena. 

But this? This separation? This knowledge that Kara was somewhere out there, unreachable. That she could be lightyears away in space and it has been two weeks since Lena had last saw her, it has her every molecule shouting to go find Kara. 

“It’s never been like this before,” Lena confesses, “I thought I could do it without-”

“Help?” Alex supplies and Lena finally turns to her and she feels a hand squeeze her. 

“Yeah.” She mutters back softly. 

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, Luthor. You’re part of the team now whether you like it or not. We are going to help you, we’re going to find a temporary solution for that pain and then we’ll get back to work and we’ll find Kara.”

[cheonjeolmi]

Walmart Date (Modern AU)

Pairing: Hange x F! Reader

Warnings: None ( except for some tooth-rotting fluff ) 

Request?: Not requested, though my requests are open so feel free to send!

A/N: just some desperately needed Hange fluff !! Sorry for any grammar or formatting errors as its been a while since I used tumblr. In any case please enjoy the story, and follow me on twitter for writing related updates @_thexaus !

“Y/N!! Come on, come on! Let’s goo” Hange exclaimed as they couldn’t help but pace back and forth around their shared room. 

“Babe, it’s still way too early for you to be this hyper.” you groaned.

“Oh, sorry! I’m just so excited!” They giggled and brought their arms around you, wrapping you in a hug.

“We’re going to Walmart to buy some groceries and other things, why exactly are you excited?” You asked as you returned their hug.

“Yeah, but we’re still spending time together! We’re going on a Walmart date!” she continued, “plus, I’ve missed you. We’ve both been busy with work. But now that it’s our day-off, we can have our date!” Hange smiled and pressed a light kiss to your forehead, face heating up in embarrassment from the sudden kiss. 

“Aww, you’re so cute when you blush! It makes me want to kiss you even more” they swooned, peppering you with kisses, before kissing your nose then touching it afterward. “Boop!” They chuckled at your reaction. “I love you, Y/N”

“I love you too, Hange” The two of you wrapped around each other, with you listening to their heartbeat. The brown-haired scientist pulled away, retracting their arms from you

“Okay, the last one to the car is a rotten egg!” Hange laughed as they bolted towards the door, leaving you in their trail very confused

“What..?”

“Haha, rotten egg!” they said as they kept boasting about their victory. (Y/N) glared at them

“It’s not fair! I wasn’t ready and you tried to trip me at some point. Also, if I had known we were doing that, you would definitely be saying otherwise right now.” you accused your brown-haired partner

“Whatever, you’re just mad that I won” Hange turned to you with a smug smirk before sticking her tongue out, you scoffed and walked a bit further from them, deciding to playfully ignore them.

“Babe, I did what I have to do and I won so that’s all that matters,” they boasted once more, noticing you walk further from them, they let out a laugh “Are you seriously gonna ignore me?” 

You didn’t respond. Instead, you walked even further from them, creating a bigger distance than before. “Okay fine, be that way then. I’m gonna ignore you too! A taste of your own medicine, if you will.” They sighed, crossing their arms, stomping toward the Walmart in front of you both.

Although that didn’t last long since once you both entered the store, they turned to you with tears starting to form in the corner of their eyes. “Y/N!! Please don’t be mad at me anymore, I’m sorry! There, are you happy!? You’re not the rotten egg, I am!” they whined, begging for your attention in the process.

When they saw you turn toward them, their smile grew but immediately dropped when you gave them a smug look, loving the way they were acting now.

“Torture! This is torture, Y/N! Why are you torturing your cute and precious partner named Hange aka the love of your life?! I thought you loved meee..” they whined, as other people began to give you both weird looks.

“Oh my god, Hange! I forgive you. Now, be quiet before we get kicked out!” you said as they immediately brought you into a hug kissing your cheek,

“Yay, Y/N loves me!” Hange sang in delight as they dragged you along the store “So what are we going to buy?” they hummed, walking beside you. “Oh no, I forgot to make a list,” a small frown came across your face. 

“Well anyway, snacks, drinks, and ingredients for dinner. Did you wanna look around to buy something?” Y/N said turning to Hange smiling as they nodded “Okay great! We’ll meet up later, yeah?” After which they both went their separate ways.

Hange skipped around the store holding a basket filled with sweets, and a worrying amount of Red Bull. Once they finished going around getting everything they wanted, the brown-haired scientist stopped and froze in fear 

“Oh no…” Hange had gotten lost in the big store and was completely without their girlfriend and now, proceeded to exaggerate their situation, thinking of all the things that were unlikely to happen. Were they overreacting? Yes, but they believed you could never be too sure.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no no no. I have to find Y/N! Oh, I can call her-!” fishing for their phone, only to see that it was dead. “Oh come on! The day I forget to charge is the day I get lost. What are the odds.” they sighed in defeat but soon perked up, thinking of the perfect idea to get them out of this predicament.

“Calling Ms. Y/N L/N, please head down to register 5. Again, can Ms. Y/N L/N, please head down to register 5. Thank you.” The store speaker rang out  as you head over there to see what was wrong, there you saw Hange sitting down on the bench, pouting while swinging their legs back and forth.

You compared the sight to that of a child who lost their mother, which to be fair was sort of your situation right now. Hange then looked up and saw you come closer, making their pout turn to a wide grin, soon enough they ran up to you and hugged you tightly.

“Y/N!! You’re here! And you’re alive!!” Hange practically screamed as they were now reassured and weren’t alone by themselves anymore.

"Hange, what-? Of course, I'm alive...Now, start talking.” your gaze hardened against their brown eyes, they gulped from the tension and simply nodded.

“First, why’d you ask them to call me here? Second of all, why didn’t you just text or call me?” They rubbed a hand on their nape, clearly nervous as you seemed like a mother scolding their child, which was also very much true.

“Well, I um..got lost...second, my phone was dead. Also, while waiting for you, I talked with the lady at the register! Her name was Flora! What a nice fellow she was..” Hange smiled, recalling the small conversation they had, whilst waiting for Y/N to arrive at the register.

“Hi, I’m Hange!”

“Nice to meet you, Hange. I’m Flora,” “So, this Y/N person is your..girlfriend?” Hange nodded

“Ah, yes she is! Very lovely, kind, helpful, friendly, and she’s just so great!”

“Aw, that’s sweet. You must love her a lot” the kind woman said and Hange could only nod, thinking about all the things she loved about you.

“I’m gonna marry her one day. I don’t know when or where, but if I’m with her that’s all that matters'' the brown-haired scientist sighed dreamily, as they began to imagine what married life would be like with you.

“I was exactly like you once with my wife, when we’d still been dating. Her name’s Evie and now we’re married! 10 years and counting!” “Let me tell you, waking up to her every day is a dream and even after 10 years it never gets old. I’m sure it’ll be the same for you both” Hange smiled and thanked the kind woman at the register.

“Hange? Helloo? Earth to Hange?” you waved your hand against her face, which seemed to break them out of their daze and smile at you. “Oh, sorry Y/N! Were you done paying for everything?” they asked and you nodded “Oh shoot, I forgot something!”

“Oh? What did you forget? We’re not in a rush so we could go look for it” your eyes lit up in mischief “No no, it’s not that. It’s just that,” moving forward to get your head start “the last one to the car is a rotten egg!” you exclaimed, giggling as you bolted out the door, leaving Hange in the same state you had been in before. 

“Huh..? HUH!!? HEY WAIT!! THAT’S NOT FAIR Y/N!” they shouted as they ran after you, which didn’t take long. Hange caught you in their arms around your waist trapping you within the confines of their body, their chest pressing against your back. 

You moved around their hold, both of you admiring each other's features as the two of you smiled like idiots. “Hey you” they smiled, “Hey yourself” Y/N replied, snuggling closer towards the scientist.

Suddenly the air between you changed, a visible sense of longing present, “Y/N..” Hange began to slowly lean towards you, you began to do the same as your lips brush against each other, their hands move to cup your face, the kiss feeling like all the good things you could name.

Fireworks. Butterflies. Electricity.

Everything in that moment felt right and you both knew that. “Hange” you moaned into her lips as the two of you broke apart for air, which didn't last long as your lips were back on theirs. The taste and feel of their lips on yours, their scent of warm vanilla with a slight hint of earthiness to it filled through your nostrils. 

Everything about them was addicting, and it was frightening how you were willing to sacrifice a lot to be with them-- or to feel the rush of excitement, danger, adrenaline, and warmth which coursed through your veins whenever you were with Hange.

For a few seconds, everything around you was still. You feel every little detail and it's simply beautiful. It’s only but the two of you and it's unlike anything you’ve ever experienced and oh how you wished this moment could last forever.

As the two of you parted, yours and Hange's foreheads pressed against each other gently with the two of you smiling like idiots in love.

“Y/N, stay with me forever please” “Hange..I'd only ever want to stay with you anyway” they smiled once again and placed soft kisses along your face, from your forehead to your nose, and from your cheeks to your jawline bringing their lips to the shell of your ear with Hange softly nibbling on it,

“Hange-” you moaned at the action and they smirked at the way your voice slightly broke. “And another thing, I win, rotten egg.” Hange pulled back to look at your shocked expression and smiled. Admittedly, you had forgotten about the silly race as memories of the kiss you shared not too long ago, filled every space in your mind.

The coffee-haired scientist raced over to where you parked the car and you couldn't help but smile seeing their tall energetic figure make a beeline to the car, with you walking a few steps behind them accepting your defeat. God, you loved Hange so much and you knew that they loved you too, if not more.

But no matter how many times Hange had told you they loved you, you always felt comfort in knowing that, smiling once again for what seemed to be the millionth time that night.

'You're going to be the death of me, Hange Zoe.'

[barnesandrogersfanfics]

Baby Love - Part 10

A/N - Finally an update!! 💕

chrisevans I'm so excited to announce that Y/N and I are expecting!! We are both over the moon.... i cannot even put into words how happy i am right now.

Mama and baby are both doing great and Dodger is thrilled that he's about to become a big brother.

#BabygirlEvansComingSoon

It was a few weeks after the premiere, middle of May, my 5th month in my pregnancy that Chris finally put out the announcement and surprisingly it went well....better than i could ever have imagined. The messages from Chris's fans were amazing! Of course there was still some haters but nothing that was too awful or couldn't be ignored. It was nice that it was out now and i didn't have to worry about someone finding out and leaking it to the press.

Chris was scheduled to start filming 'Defending Jacob' a series for Apple TV mid June through to July. The good thing being it was filming in Massachusetts, 20 minutes from home so he wouldn't have to stay away.

Chris was finally upstairs getting ready so he could head to set, he had been whining this morning about wanting to stay home with his girls.

I was currently laying on the sofa in a sports bra and shorts, with my now 6 month belly showing while i watched some crappy daytime show.... i had removed Chris's t-shirt when i started getting hot flushes.

"Okay im ready to.....go. Jesus christ why are you half naked right now?" I looked round to see Chris looking me up and down like i was the tastiest thing he'd ever seen. I rolled my eyes looking back at the TV "hot flushes, i sweat through my shirt...i feel like I'm burning alive"

"Such a drama queen" he chuckled

"Excuse you?..... you wanna try going through this??" I snapped, i knew as soon as it was out of my mouth it was uncalled for and instantly felt bad "I'm sorry i didn't mean to snap.... is the damn AC even working?" i said almost feeling like i was gonna cry. Chris came walking over crouching in front of me with a cold cloth and draped it across my forehead.

"That should help a little and i got you some ice..." he passed me a cup of ice chips and i cried.

"Hey! Whats wrong?"

"You're just the best boyfriend ever"

"Awww" he chuckled pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Don't.... I'm all sweaty and gross"

"I like you all sweaty" he wriggled his eyebrows making me laugh "and you're not gross..... you're beautiful. I nearly had a heart attack seeing you laying here looking like this.... now i really don't wanna leave"

"You have to, stop making excuses"

"I dont want to leave you alone like this..."

"I wont be, Scott's coming over we're gonna go for lunch later"

"Oh.... "

"You're okay with that right?"

"Yeah of course" he smiled before leaning in to give me a kiss.

"Hey! its just me!" Scott yelled from the front door on cue.

"In here!" I yelled reaching my hands out to Chris to help me up into a sitting position.

"Yikes! what is going on with you you're a mess" Scott said looking concerned.

"Thanks! Thats just what i needed to hear Scotty" i scooped out an ice chip and popped it in my mouth.

"Hot flushes" Chris told Scott and he pulled a face.

"I'll be okay in a minute, it'll pass. Though im pretty tempted to go jump in the damn pool right about now"

"Stay outta the pool sweetheart, maybe a lukewarm bath or shower would help?"

"I'll be fine Chris, you need to go or you're gonna be late"

"I don't wanna leave you alone...."

"Err hello? Im here, she's not alone" Scott said coming to sit next to me on the sofa.

"Can you put your shirt back on.....i don't feel comfortable...." Chris started to say while looking me over again.

"Stop! I am not putting that thing back on when i feel like I'm in the pits of hell Evans!" I said pointing at the soaking wet t-shirt on the table " besides Scott's seen me in my bathing suit plenty of times.... I'm wearing more now than i was then! also incase you forgot.... I'm not his type"

"I feel insulted!" Scott gasped before smiling at his brother.

"Just go to work! I will call you if i need anything, we'll be fine".

Chris sighed but nodded, he leant in and gave me a kiss and finally left for set.

"Geez he always like that?"

"No, he's got a little more protective as the pregnancy has gone on but that was new"

"He's probably just worried about you. This is the first time he's had to really leave you since you've been pregnant"

"He'll be back tonight! He needs to chill out. I know i sound like a bitch and i really don't mean to but i literally feel like Satan himself is roasting my body!"

"You want some more ice chips?"

"Yes please".

After another 30/40 minutes i finally felt myself cooling down.

"Oh thank god! I think it passed"

"For now"

"Thanks!" I laughed "I've had a few hot flushes here and there but nothing like that... that was brutal!"

"Well I'm glad it passed, why don't you go take a shower and we'll go get some lunch, it will do you good to get some fresh air, we can even take Dodger"

"Sounds good to me".

Scott and i grabbed lunch at a small family run cafe that was kinda tucked away, not a lot of people actually knew about it which was the reason we chose this place when we'd have lunch....it also had a small outside seating area where we could sit with Dodger.

Once we were done with lunch we took Dodger for a walk in the park where he found a new friend, they ran around together for a good half an hour.

"Wow he's gonna be beat" Scott laughed as we sat on a bench watching the two dogs running around.

"Good! He has too much energy!"

I chuckled "i'll be wanting to sleep and he brings me his toys wanting to play its exhausting" i said exaggerating, truth was i loved that Dodger always wanted my attention.

"Well he's gonna have to learn to share you when my niece arrives"

"Do you think he'll be okay with the baby?"

"Im sure he will, Dodge is a good boy"

"The best, i just worry. I worry about everything lately though" i laugh rubbing my hand over my belly "you ready to head back?"

"Sure"

I whistle and call for Dodger and he comes running straight over allowing me to attach he's leash.

"Lets go home bubba" i scratched behind his ear before handing the leash to Scott.

We got back to the house and let Dodger out of the car, he ran straight towards the front door and started growling and scratching at the door.

"Hey stop!" Scott said quickly and Dodger turned to look at him before starting again this time barking loudly.

"Whats his problem?"

"I don't know....."

"Maybe Chris is home?"

"His car isn't here....." i opened the door and Dodger ran inside sniffing everywhere.

"Hey Chris you home?" Scott called out but i already knew he wasn't, this didn't feel right.....

"Scott, somethings wrong....."

"What do you mean?" He asked turning to me looking concerned.

"I don't know its just a feeling i have"

Dodger suddenly ran past us and up the stairs, we followed him up to find him sitting outside mine and Chris's bedroom scratching at the door.

"Chris....." Scott called again thinking Dodger just wanted to get to him but no answer, the house was silent.

Scott stepped forward and opened the door and we both gasped at the what we saw. The whole room was trashed.

"Scott..... what if someones still in the house?" I turned to him with wide eyes as panic set it.

"Stay in here with Dodger, I'm gonna check the house..."

"No! Just call the cops, stay in here with us!"

"I'll be fine! They're probably long gone, Dodger would be going crazy if they were still here...but i just wanna make sure".

"Please be careful! I'll call the cops"

"Okay lock the door behind me".

Everything taglist: @jesseswartzwelder @dumblani @barnesandrogersworld @patzammit @rynabarnesrogers-reading @rainbowkisses31 @rororo06 @supernaturalwintersoldier @fairlightswiftly @hiddelstannerbarnes @bellamy-barnes @buchanansebba

Baby love tags @jennmurawski13 @mybabyboytony @ms-betsy-fangirl @vampgirl1997 @ajosieface @afuckingshituniverse @chmedic @esoltis280

@southerngracela @bethabear12 @letsdisneythings @sellulii @katiew1973 @princess-evans-addict

@deidrahouseofpain @siren-queen03 @shipatheart @little-dark-empress @xxloki81xx @lizzyclifford13-blog @booktease21 @lets--be-honest @thevelvetseries @farfromtommy @mery-be @drakelover78

[kanasmusings]

[Translation] VAZZROCK bi-Color Series 2nd Season Vol. 1 - Drama Track 2

Second track is up~! I hope you all enjoyed Mamiya’s new CD as much as I did because, my god, the things that I have discovered about both VAZZY and ROCK DOWN are enough to sustain me until Sho’s CD releases wwww

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission. Please just like/reblog them instead ^^

Oh! And if you can, please do consider buying the CD here to support the artists ^^

Anyways, under the cut, enjoy~!

Track 02: 『お疲れ様の一杯を』 “A drink for our hard-work.”

                                        »»————-　★　————-««

[0:00]

  (Door opens)

  OWNER: Welcome—Oh? Taka-chan, you brought someone this time?

MAMIYA: Yup, table for two~ Is the tatami room available?

OWNER: It is.

  (Mamiya and Sho start walking)

  SHO: Oh~ This shop’s got great ambiance.

SHO: It’s for the general public but it’s very elegant.

MAMIYA: You should tell the owner that directly. I’m sure he’d jump for joy if he heard that from you.

SHO: (chuckles) You’re exaggerating.

(Mamiya and Sho settle themselves in the tatami room)

MAMIYA: Alright… Should we order some draft beer first? Or maybe wine?

SHO: Hmm… Draft beer maybe~? I want to know what it feels like to enjoy it after work~

MAMIYA: Roger that~

MAMIYA: (opens the sliding door and tells the owner) Owner, two draft beers and whatever you’d recommend to eat!

OWNER: Got it.

(Mamiya closes the sliding door)

SHO: This is the shop that Ouka told me you frequent, isn’t it?

MAMIYA: Yup, that’s right—Wait, you talk about things like this with Ouka?!

SHO: We do~ You become our topic of conversation a lot, you know~?

MAMIYA: Uwah… I won’t ask what you talk about then…

SHO: (chuckles) That’s such a waste~

MAMIYA: (smiles) Really now.

OWNER: Here, thanks for the wait.

(Owner starts serving them)

MAMIYA: Oh~! I was waiting for that~ Woah…! They look so delicious!

MAMIYA: These wings really pair well with the alcohol, ya know~?

MAMIYA: Sho, can you hand me that plate over there?

SHO: Sure.

(Sho hands Mamiya the plate)

SHO: You ordered so much. Are you sure we can eat all of this?

MAMIYA: Hm~ You’ll know once you start eating~

MAMIYA: Ah, Owner. Please bring us some nihonshuu later on, too.

OWNER: You got it.

(Owner leaves and closes the sliding door behind him)

�� MAMIYA: Alright then, should we toast for now?

MAMIYA: Thank you for your hard work today, too!

SHO: And to you as well~

(Mamiya starts drinking)

MAMIYA: I feel so alive~!

(Sho starts drinking)

SHO: Uwah~ That’s so delicious.

MAMIYA: Are you actually the strong type, Sho?

SHO: I wonder~ I don’t have any plans about finding out whether I’m weak or strong to alcohol.

MAMIYA: About how many glasses can you drink if it’s wine?

SHO: Hm… About two or three?

MAMIYA: (laughs) That’s great! Are you fine with nihonshuu, too?

SHO: If it’s not too harsh for my taste.

MAMIYA: I see~ This place has a great selection of nihonshuu so, you can just choose later.

SHO: I’m looking forward to it~

MAMIYA: Welp, let’s go eat something before that.

(Mamiya prepares a plate for Sho)

MAMIYA: Here you go.

SHO: Thank you. I’ll prepare you some of these on a plate, too, okay?

MAMIYA: Sure, thank—Ah, no, wait!

MAMIYA: Haruto advised me before to only let you eat and to not let you serve food so uh—

SHO: I don’t think I’m that clumsy though.

MAMIYA: No one thinks that you’re clumsy. It’s just… There are things that people are not suited for, you know?

(Mamiya starts serving the food instead)

SHO: Takaaki watches over people even when we’re not all together, huh.

MAMIYA: (laughs) It’s not like I’m doing all of this consciously though. I guess it’s just because I’m surrounded by a lot of accident-prone people.

SHO: Does that include me~?

MAMIYA: (laughs) Yes, it does.

SHO: How strange~ I thought that we were supposed to be in the same situation~

MAMIYA: You mean, us being leaders?

SHO: Yup. A leader who takes care of his family of six~

MAMIYA: (finishes serving Sho the food) There we go.

MAMIYA: We’re actually a huge family of 12, you know?

SHO: (chuckles) A really big family, huh~ Even though it took quite a while.

MAMIYA: That’s true.

(Mamiya starts eating)

MAMIYA: Mmmm~!! This is so delicious!!

SHO: (chuckles) It’s that good? Maybe I’ll have some, too~

(Sho takes a bite)

SHO: !!! This is~!!

MAMIYA: It’s so good it makes you want to just exclaim, right? Then, if you drink alcohol after this, it’s—

(Mamiya starts drinking)

MAMIYA: It’s the best!

SHO: (laughs) You really look like you’re deliciously enjoying it, huh~

MAMIYA: Not “look,” I really am~!

SHO: Let me try it then~

(Sho starts drinking)

SHO: (chuckles) It truly is the combination of happiness, isn’t it~?

MAMIYA: (laughs) You look like you’re enjoying, too~

MAMIYA: We should do a commercial for beer now.

SHO: (chuckles) A privilege for those over 20, huh~

MAMIYA: Alcohol drinking is exclusive for those over 20, y’know?

MAMIYA: Looking at your image, it’s unexpected that you’d like beer so—we might really be able to make it work.

MAMIYA: Maybe I should try telling my manager that…

SHO: Do you keep thinking about things like that even on your days off, Takaaki?

MAMIYA: It’s not like I always do. But, I can’t help it…?

MAMIYA: Whenever I find something unexpected about our members, I kinda think that maybe we can use that as a selling point, too, or something.

                                        »»————-　★　————-««

[05:05]

  SHO: Oh~! I might have something not about me.

SHO: The other day, I went to a local district with ROCK DOWN. It was a roundtrip only but, Ruka kept on saying that he wanted to go sight-seeing.

MAMIYA: (laughs) Sounds like something he’d do.

SHO: Even more so since it was a hot springs district. But, we couldn’t find that much free time to roam around.

SHO: Just when I was thinking of having Gaku calm him down, Reiji already started asking the locals for information.

MAMIYA: He’s good at things like that, huh?

SHO: In an instant, he found out about a footbath that only the locals were familiar with. We all boarded a taxi and headed there afterwards.

SHO: Even though we only had two hours before we had to go on the plane.

MAMIYA: (laughs) Ayumu didn’t object to that?

SHO: About that~ Even Ayumu got excited about entering the hot springs since we were there already.

SHO: Everyone was of one spirit and we headed to the footbath~ (chuckles) And that footbath was the kind that had small, sharp pebbles in it, too.

MAMIYA: And then it was pandemonium~

SHO: (chuckles) Exactly~! Ayumu was screaming in pain but Ruka kept pushing on his feet. When Ayumu couldn’t bear it anymore, he started riding on Gaku’s feet.

SHO: And, when I thought that Haruto was looking like he was fine, it turns out that he couldn’t even move a foot~

SHO: Reiji took a video of all of us during that time~ Of course, one where he’s included as well~

MAMIYA: Ah, I can totally imagine it~ Wait, that seems like something that’d happen in a variety show.

SHO: That’s right. I was thinking that it would seem fun to do a show like that with everyone after Reiji showed us the video.

SHO: You meant something like that, right~?

MAMIYA: Yeah! Being with those guys, even normal things seem interesting that I just wanna show them off to people, y’know?

MAMIYA: But, a hot spring’s super nice~ I wonder when we’ll get that kind of chance.

SHO: What happened when you went to the local districts?

MAMIYA: It was a roundtrip, too. The only thing we did was maybe eat the famous boxed lunches in bullet trains.

MAMIYA: Plus, Ouka sent his manager back in advance so we barely even managed to buy them. That’s it.

SHO: It’s difficult when you can’t find that much free time, huh.

MAMIYA: I wish we could do more next time.

MAMIYA: Ah, but, doing something with all the members is good on its own, too.

SHO: Even if it’s just in the common room?

MAMIYA: Yeah. Just the other day, Issa was saying he wanted to eat some salt and butter bread (shio pan).

SHO: Salt and butter bread?

MAMIYA: You don’t know? It’s kinda like a croissant. The texture’s soft like a French bread and it’s got a bit of a salty taste with lots of butter.

SHO: I think I kind of get it now.

MAMIYA: But, that was at midnight.

SHO: I don’t think… any bakeries are open at that time, huh…

MAMIYA: And I’ve never seen them being sold in convenience stores, too.

MAMIYA: Plus, he was being all spoiled and saying that he didn’t want it if it’s not freshly baked. He hit Futaba awake and told him to make one from scratch. When Futaba told him that he didn’t have the ingredients, Issa went all the way to my place.

SHO: Well, he can, since we’re in the same apartment complex~

MAMIYA: But, getting asked for some flour and stuff at midnight should be out of the question, right?

SHO: (chuckles) It should, huh~ So, did you make some?

MAMIYA: Oh, we definitely did. But he got mad since we didn’t have any butter so he went to get Yuma. And then, Ouka got mad because he got woken up by the noise. He brought with him Naosuke because, according to Ouka, “Naosuke would definitely sulk if no one woke him up.”

SHO: So, you all made bread in the middle of the night?

MAMIYA: Yeah. Futaba was the teacher and we were all kneading dough.

MAMIYA: Really, what an evil thing~

SHO: Did Issa participate in the bread-making class, too?

MAMIYA: That’s just the thing! He’s the one who wanted to eat it but he said, “I’m sleepy so wake me up when it’s done.”

SHO: Ah…

MAMIYA: He fell asleep in a corner in the room so I went ahead and played a prank on him~

SHO: (chuckles) What did you do?

MAMIYA: I curled his hair oh so thoroughly with a curling iron~

SHO: (chuckles) I’m surprised he didn’t wake up~

MAMIYA: It’s me we’re talking about, you know? His hair got so fluffy that it would make him 3x more hostile if he saw it.

SHO: He didn’t find out even after he woke up?

MAMIYA: No one generally looks at a mirror at midnight, right? The bread was just done too so, he was happily enjoying his bread with his fluffy hair~

SHO: (chuckles) That side of VAZZY is really great, too, huh~

SHO: I want to see that kind of cooking show, too.

MAMIYA: Hm… I want to try it too as long as Ouka doesn’t get to hold a knife.

SHO: It’s that bad?

MAMIYA: I wonder now… I think it’s the same level as Haruto not wanting you to hold a knife.

SHO: That’s… Well, that’s reasonable~

MAMIYA: (laughs) Don’t say that~!

SHO: (chuckles) I can’t get enough of talking about our members~

MAMIYA: Oh man… We should have talked about this on the broadcast.

SHO: Ah…!

MAMIYA: Well, let’s talk about it next time~ Let’s take that opportunity to appeal to make a TV show, too~

SHO: As expected~ You don’t miss any opportunities.

MAMIYA: I am very honored by your words of praise~

MAMIYA: Now that we’re in the mood, wanna go for the nihonshuu~?

SHO: Sure~

(Mamiya opens the sliding door and places an order)

MAMIYA: Owner, some nihonshuu, please! Oh, the not too strong kind.

OWNER: Got it.

OWNER: Here you go.

MAMIYA: Eh--?! That’s fast! What’s this~? Did you already prepare it and was already waiting for us?

OWNER: Yeah, I got a hold of some good stuff, see?

MAMIYA: Heh~ Sho! You can expect that it’s good if the Owner recommends it.

SHO: I can already smell how good it is~

OWNER: Alright then, please enjoy your stay.

(Owner closes the sliding door)

  SHO: It’s unusual for it to come with a small cup, huh?

MAMIYA: It feels as if it’s meant just for drinking alcohol, right~?

MAMIYA: Then, once again.

SHO: That’s right~ Cheers~!

                                        »»————-　★　————-««

[10:47]

  SHO: Oh… This is…

SHO: It’s delicious.

MAMIYA: I’m glad to hear that~

MAMIYA: Ah~ It’s so good! He really got a hold of something good with this!

SHO: It feels gentle to the lips but the aftertaste is very distinct…

SHO: I feel like I can drink a lot of this~

(Sho starts drinking more)

MAMIYA: There’s a saying that good alcohol shouldn’t be wasted so, drink as much as you’d like.

MAMIYA: It’s alright, it’s just us leaders here anyway.

SHO: We won’t be troubled if we see each other drunk, huh~

MAMIYA: That’s right. Since we’re here drinking good alcohol, why don’t we talk about things that we can only talk about as leaders?

SHO: Like what?

MAMIYA: Hm, let me see… For example… How did you feel when your CD was first released?

SHO: You mean, my solo song?

MAMIYA: Yeah.

SHO: I really felt… nervous about my first song.

SHO: Of course, I did feel a little bit excited about it, too.

MAMIYA: Same here. I’ve been super nervous about it starting from how people would feel about it until the time I actually saw it on sale.

MAMIYA: But…

SHO: But?

MAMIYA: Hm… It’s just a little bit but… I was scared, too…

SHO: That’s… That’s unexpected. In what way were you scared? Was it because the expectations were too much?

SHO: Or because yours was the first one released?

MAMIYA: Hm… There’s that, too. I mean, I was first in line for the VAZZROCK Project, right?

MAMIYA: I had it in mind that I can’t fail at the very beginning.

MAMIYA: Plus, in my case, I have history with an old unit so… I was thinking about how the old unit’s fans would feel if I released a song without the old members. I got too worried about that, too.

SHO: I see. You’d be curious about how your old fans reacted, huh.

MAMIYA: I guess I was, even though we got newer fans, too.

MAMIYA: That’s why, I totally couldn’t sleep on the day the CD was going to be released.

MAMIYA: And I can’t really yawn during the release event so I had to use some super cold eye drops so early in the morning.

SHO: (chuckles) So you did something like that, huh?

MAMIYA: For real.

SHO: I didn’t know… You just seemed so relaxed to me before and after your CD’s release.

SHO: I guess that’s a part of your character, too, huh.

MAMIYA: Then, my feint worked. It’d be nice if I managed to fool the others, too.

SHO: At the very least, you managed to fool me~

MAMIYA: Well, I’m glad about that. (sighs) I can really only talk about these kinds of things with you.

MAMIYA: I mean… I don’t think that we have to be perfect because we’re the leaders but… There are times when we can’t show the members we’re nervous, right?

SHO: Yeah, I know…

MAMIYA: I know that even leaders feel lost or weak sometimes but… Ah… It makes me wonder what would happen if my members see me like this or something…

MAMIYA: As someone who should pull them along, I don’t want to show them any unnecessary anxieties that I feel.

SHO: That’s right. And not just as leaders. We’re the older members too so, there are times that the younger ones get influenced by us.

MAMIYA: Exactly!! That, too! My unit’s got more people who just debuted unlike ROCK DOWN, right?

MAMIYA: If I say this in front of people who just entered the industry, I feel like they’d be disillusioned by what the people around them do or say in the future!

SHO: That’s true, it is a specialized industry after all.

MAMIYA: In an unstable world like this, the only ones you can count on are your friends. Specially the leader who leads the way. To them, we’re the bright light that guides them along.

SHO: They’ll feel uneasy if the light becomes small or unstable, won’t they?

MAMIYA: That’s exactly it. No matter how strong the winds may become, the light should never disappear.

MAMIYA: Even if we have to desperately protect the light, you know?

SHO: So even you think of things like this, huh, Takaaki…

MAMIYA: He-he~ Being shameless means that I’d be great at hiding secrets, too~

MAMIYA: Well, I can say these things now because of a certain someone.

SHO: A certain someone?

MAMIYA: I can only open up about this because I’m with you, Sho. A unit leader just like me.

SHO: (smiles) I’m honoured.

SHO: Then, I guess it’s my turn to reveal some secrets.

MAMIYA: Heh~ You have something, too?

SHO: Of course, I do.

                                      »»————-　★　————-««

[15:23]

  SHO: Unlike VAZZY, our average age is not that young. And we have a lot of members who have already been in the industry before.

SHO: So this is from a slightly different point of view but…

MAMIYA: Like, how you had difficulty trying to be in charge of people from different fields in the industry?

SHO: I won’t say that I didn’t have that in mind but...

SHO: But, I guess I did feel some… anxieties, maybe? about why I was chosen to be the leader.

MAMIYA: Eh? Why so?

SHO: You know? I’m the type who thinks that it’s okay even if the oldest member is not the leader.

MAMIYA: Hm… Well, that’s true. In the entertainment industry, sometimes it’s the career history and not the age that’s the deciding factor.

SHO: Exactly. I wasn’t familiar with that kind of common sense in the entertainment industry.

SHO: Even though I was introduced to the agency, it was as a violinist, not as a talent.

SHO: Even though I knew what kind of world I was entering when I became a talent, I never once imagined that I would be a unit leader.

SHO: It made me feel uneasy a lot.

MAMIYA: Heh… I’m sorry to say this but—I never really noticed since you always seemed so relaxed!

MAMIYA: And, from my point of view, you always seemed so elegant.

SHO: There were times when I just laughed it off to make it seem okay, you know?

SHO: I’m so glad that my feint worked~

MAMIYA: That just means that we’re both good at keeping up appearances.

SHO: (chuckles) That seems to be the case.

SHO: But, I’m glad I got to talk about this with you.

SHO: It made me remember that it’s okay for leaders to experience troubles, too.

MAMIYA: Me, too. I feel so relieved that I’m not the only one who felt lost at times.

MAMIYA: Well— (softly) This is just between you and me, okay~?

SHO: A secret just for the two of us, huh~

MAMIYA: Totally~ Then, let’s praise ourselves for getting us all the way here, shall we~?

SHO: Agreed~

SHO: Now then, leader~ Thanks for your hard work.

MAMIYA: To you as well, leader~ Thanks for your hard work.

  ==END== 

                                      »»————-　★　————-««  

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission. Please just like/reblog them instead ^^

If you enjoyed this, please consider buying me a ko-fi here to support my work if you want. (o^▽^o)Thank you!!

[spacedimentio]

Live Impressions of “Change Your Mind”

Neat, a bit of the credits music on the title card is fun and totally not ominous

Oh, this a dream. I was legit worried about Connie for a second there

That thing looks like one of those rainbow caterpillars that really little kids have that you can pull behind you with a string

!!?! I- That’s not worrisome at all, nope, no identity crisis here, oooh boy

Does that mean that Rose knew what the corruption light was? Or just that it was an attack of some kind. Cause if she knew exactly what it was then she should have probably seen it coming.

Déjà Blue is right, they’re using the exact recording/drawing I think

“No.” Damn right you’re not sorry!

Oh Blue, you really did love her, didn’t you… She looks nice with messy hair, it reflects how she feels on the inside.

That easy huh? Haha, look at her face she doesn’t know what eating is and is totally mystified and disgusted xD

Yellow time. Oh, are those…those are fusion experiments. A nice reminder of an awful thing that Yellow is responsible for.

Oh, oh shit! Blue looks absolutely mortified holy fuck

Hey, there’s the scene from the promo. “You’d hurt your fellow diamond?” “Didn’t we hurt Pink? She was suffering in silence for ages, just like our gems, just like me!” Oh man, she does know that they’re responsible for a lot of bad shit, was their behavior all just…fear?

That face Yellow just made stabbed me in the heart jesus No don’t you dumb banana what are you doing holy shit! Oh my god no she’s gonna cry and then I’m gonna cry and she really just doesn’t wanna do this

Did he really just Did he really just hit her with “If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hotdogs” I can’t

Haha fuck yes! Yellow crying was my one wish for this ep :’D Let it all out Yellow, I’m sure Steven will give you hugs at some point Also kudos to the person that made the comic where the dialogue was almost exactly like this in regards to Yellow telling Blue to stop using her powers when she wasn’t doing anything

Oh! They’re calling him Steven now! They probably don’t get what he is still but that’s a good step

I’ve heard “You’re not going anywhere” in the commercial like 5 million times but it’s still creepy af

Oh hell no the ship did not need eyes no thank you

Ok I just thought he was trying to pull a “hey, what’s that” and run away while White looked to see what he was pointing at, but no it’s actually the two arm ships how the fuck did Bismuth fix them so fast (how long were the kids in prison jeeeeez). I like how it looks like there’s bandaids and duct tape on them lol But this might actually be a bad thing because why did you bring the arms, you’re going to make the mech stronger!

Dream: achieved! Ayyy, new designs! Nice glasses Peri, but they too big, so I like Lapis’s outfit more. I do love how you just have the lid to a garbage can, you could have found cooler things to surf on, but nope. Garbage can lid.

No don’t attach the arms that’s going to come back to bite you I just know it!

Man, the diamonds hopped on Team Steven quick, but I can’t be too upset with that because it is also what I wanted XD I guess they’ve been suffering a lot more than I thought.

That’s a nice sentiment Connie, and I’m surprised that the diamonds actually listened to what you said and considered it. Doubt it’ll work though.

Oh, they’ve still got control of their ships. I wonder how that particular bit of bullshit space magic works.

You got this Yellow! Don’t hold it in anymore! Oof, they don’t like the pressure they’re under, and they’re under a lot. The diamonds are responsible for a lot of awful things, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t conditioned and expected to fulfill their roles just as much as any other gem.

Aww, look at how Yellow is smiling, and I love how they’re holding hands! Bellow forever!

Oh that’s… Zero hesitation. Stone cold. I don’t like the way their heads flopped backwards, that’s really unsettling OK IT GOT WORSE STOP SMILING LIKE THAT D:

Steven I know you want them to reform but you should probably bubble them before…you…drop them, just like that.

I demand the BGM for this episode and will inevitably be sad when we don’t get it

Oh what, you can just do that? Fuse with a gem that’s not even formed?

o0o Rainbow 2.0! I had a guess that their weapon would be a parasol and it was even neater than I thought it would be Wow, they’re really, really British. That’s a British accent right, I’m not dumb? They’re just Mary Poppins, holy shit I love them! Jet umbrella leaves rainbow trail, ok yes thank you

Fire lady??? We fusing with everyone up in here today! Steven, in episode fucking 11: So, what’s today’s mission? I hope it’s fighting a giant foot! Today, in episode 157-160: a giant foot almost shatters everyone Well you sure got your wish buddy, are you happy?

Alright we got sunglasses mcgoo over here. Sunstone looks like a cereal box mascot I swear to god. So we’re going full “PSA mascot from the 90s”, are we. Man you are just…continually breaking the fourth wall aren’t you. Of course, Sardonyx also has the power to break the fourth wall so I guess it’s just a Future Vision+ thing. I like you Sunglasses McGoo, but I hope your weapon isn’t just suction cups or you’re never going to show up again in a fight xD

Fuckin rip Nice shades Garnet, I like what you did with your…idk what that piece of clothing is called but it’s the bit in the thin section of her body, I like the way the color goes onto her hips a little.

Oh OH SHIT IS IT REALLY TIME FOR THE LONG-THEORIZED TEMPLE FUSION That’s a lot of arms dude! Oh my god they are so cool I love them already!

Peri I love you, never don’t be ridiculous Oh geez I thought she wasn’t going to be able to catch her for a second because bismuth is a diamagnetic metal and *flashbacks of A Gem is Shattered being on the bingo card*

What’s this…staff thing? Ok that was extremely cool, your face is full of lava and you just made a sword from it. Goodbye hands I’m hearing Alexandrite’s percussion instrument in the music, that’s neat. Obsidian is also just roaring a lot, like Alexandrite.

Oh through the eyes, sure. Idk why she didn’t just close the eyelids to keep them out

With all the commotion and fusions, I totally forgot they got brainwashed, oof. It’s definitely not extremely unsettling to see them all talking at once with one voice, nope, not at all. Please stop talking, please stop talking, christ please stop talking

“But you’re a part of me” I-… Does that mean that the color theory where the other diamonds used to be part of White has more merit than I thought? Is that where they came from?

Nononono leave them alone! Oh god why

NONONONONONO STOP THAT DON’T DO THAT PLEASE DON’T DO THAT OH GOD I AM LEGIT CRYING RIGHT NOW THIS IS AWFUL

I don’t think that’s true, I’m pretty sure Pink was just a naturally social person who’s status forced her into loneliness. She just wanted some got dang friends

I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER BEEN SO CREEPED OUT IN MY LIFE. Why is this animation and these over-exaggerated faces reminding me of Cuphead. I’ve never played Cuphead but that’s what I’m thinking of.

DON’T YOU DARE GIVE THE CHILD AN EVEN WORSE IDENTITY CRISIS I AM VERY, VERY WORRIED SHE’S RIGHT

Wait, what are you doing WAIT A MINUTE NO DON’T YOU DARE DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE OH JESUS OH CHRIST THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING NONONO STOP

THEY DID IT THEY ACTUALLY FUCKING DID IT Is…is she…

(Edit from the future: Probably most of you didn’t have a commercial break after this moment, but I sure did, and I spent the entirety of those minutes with my hand covering my mouth in pure shock, tears trickling down my face. I was left to wonder…is Rose coming back? Is Steven dead? I was left with this image:

I was so astounded that I had to pause for a moment and just breathe. And christ, having to wait just a few minutes in utter shock and terror was An Experience. I feel bad for those who didn’t have a break there.)

*quickly realizes that having half the screen still black means that we’re gonna have double perspective* Oh No Oh Shit Oh No is it really gonna be her?!

Oh thank goodness. Congratulations, you now have two Steves, whatever that means

Ok Steven’s still alive, but it looks like it’s excruciating to be without his gem. I’m glad he didn’t just fall apart without the light holding his cells together. How long can he last without his…soul?  Shit what do we call this, what even is this.

This is definitely not what she expected to happen. Oh jesus christ holy shit chill out dude, even White Diamond shook

It’s just…such a relief to finally know. I never believed that the show would abandon its themes of loss by having a miraculous return, but I still wanted to see her anyway. She’s gone.

So what is this guy, exactly? Does he have any conscious thought? Or is he just pure gem energy with the desire to return to his other half

“I only want you to be yourself!” Uh, White honey, you are literally doing the exact opposite thing. “I’ll do it for you!” That’s not how people work White, you are just not having a good time with this turn of events are you

That’s an…interesting shield. Who did Steven say that to, btw? Was he telling White to stop hurting them, or his other self to stop reflecting the attack? Cause White was also in the middle of being hurt, I think

Aww, they’re so happy! It’ll never not be creepy to see White’s voice coming out of Steven’s glass-eyed friends though.

Normally I don’t notice when something in a 2D cartoon is 3D animated, but that shot of White’s head was kind of jarring? I didn’t like it

Oh thank christ he’s alright! I wonder if the gemstone is gonna be turned the other way now? Wait no, it was still turned inside when we went through past reformations.

Oh wow, she’s actually just a 60 foot baby. Look at Steven and Connie laughing cause they’re getting bounced up into the air. Zing! Haha, she’s blushing so everyone’s blushing. …Ok did the ship really need to blush too, come on guys

Ok so whitewashing everyone is something you have to put some effort into controlling. She was literally putting parts of her mind into them.

Haha, good timing guys, you missed everything. Bismuth’s face tho, perfecto At least only Connie has to live with the trauma of seeing Steven get his gem ripped out.

Her face is still cracked? What…what are the cracks from if not from being mind-controlled mercilessly

Yes, congratulations, you are having an emotion. Oh, she’s actually a shade of pink now, what. There’s that color theory again. Guess whose turn it is to have an existential crisis? It’s you!

“I’m supposed to know better! I’m supposed to be better! I’m supposed to make everything better!” Wait, according to who? Theory that someone made her confirmed?

Oh hey, Beach City. It took me a good second to realize that Sadie was doing a remix of a Greg song. Cue a big-ass robot hitting the beach in three…two…one! BAM! A+ timing guys

Oh, White isn’t actually that much taller than the other two when they’re standing together like that. I could have sworn she was at least 100 feet tall, that’s a bit disappointing. Then again, it would be really hard to get her to fit in frame with everyone else. Does this mean that Pink actually might be undercooked after all? Cause when I thought White was 100 feet tall, Blue and Yellow were as proportionately small next to her as Pink was next to the two of them, but now I’m wondering again.

Me too, Ronaldo. Me too.

Uh, wow. Nice timing Lars. Those poor off-colors, it took them a million years to get to Earth and the first thing they see is all three diamonds staring at them. That sure is a mood, Rhodonite. Big mood.

Aww, Lion and Lars are gonna be bros. ‘You’re like me!’

Fucking hug each other you dumbs! God, you’re frustrating.

I demand to know how all three of them fit on the warp pad/inside Steven’s house! Tell me at once!

Oh, we’re doing this right now? I know there’s going to be a season 6, but what are we going to do in season 6? Sneeple? (Re)adjusting to earth shenanigans? Diamond family time?

Nephrites! Look at em all, I love ‘em! And Watermelon Tourmaline too! Ayy, it’s Biggs! I’ve always wondered what she looked like. Haha, if I wasn’t shipping Biggs/Bismuth before I sure am now.

Jasper! Wow that only took like two years for her to show up again. Also I just realized that everyone looks weird because they still have traces of corruption on them and not because they were Like That in the first place.

Oh boy Jasper, you’ve…you’ve missed a lot. I wanna know what Amethyst just told her that made her hide in the water in shame.

Boy that one in the middle with all the different colors is scaring me a little

It’s kind of funny how White Diamond went from Massively Threatening, Narcissistic Perfectionist to Completely Lost Almost Cute Child in a snap. I actually feel bad for killing her off in my fic now, whoops. Ah well, it’s an AU anyway so I’m not gonna retcon anything.

Alright who taught Yellow to make a peace sign

Alright who parked the legs on the cliff like that

All the songs in this arc have been named after the episode title they appear in, nice. I’m kind of disappointed that we didn’t get another diamond song but maybe that’s for later (a song about how everything is confusing now? or maybe about how they let Pink down and suffered themselves)

Welp, that’s a wrap. It is now once again time for hiatus. Yellow continues to be my favorite diamond after Pink; I really hope they all come visit Steven and learn stuff. I’m actually very surprised that they jumped ship so easily; it seems that they might understand that what they do is wrong but they do it anyway cause that’s what’s expected of them. Seems they were suffering a lot more than I thought, and I already thought they were hurting quite a bit.

And that brings me to the biggest question I have. Much like Blue and Yellow, White was acting as if someone told her to do this; it’s like she’s a rogue AI who’s original creators are long gone. I don’t know if I wanna see what White’s afraid of, cause up until the last 10 minutes or so of this ep she was the scariest thing I’d ever seen.

Who made White Diamond?

[louisysl]

so my brother left for the army today.. it’s mandatory for men in finland, and you serve 6-12 months depending on various things, most though serve the full twelve months.

i’m really scared. it’s so fucking weird. i drove him to the bus stop and on my way back, alone, i felt so unsettled. even though i only just had dropped him off. and i miss him, even though i saw him eight hours ago. i think it’s mostly just knowing for at least six months, i’ll only see him a couple times a month.

that probably doesn’t even sound so bad, and trust me, my feelings were very different when my older brother left for a year. in fact it was a relief, as it meant there’d be one less abuser in the house. i wasn’t close to him, either, so even if he hadn’t been abusive, i doubt it would’ve been a big deal, at least in a negative way.

and i realise that, sadly, many siblings aren’t that close. in fact rather few are as close as my little brother and i; he’s my best friend, my Person, my favourite human being. we’ve been called twins our whole life, not because we look alike, are twins, or are even of the same age, but because we’ve always been incredibly close. closer than most siblings are, and i feel so incredibly lucky to be able to say that.

for nearly twenty years i’ve seen him every day, only exceptions being some odd weeks here and there, and my stay at the mental institution (during which i did still get to see him a couple if not a few times a week). and to go from being able to walk three steps to see him every day, to only being able to text or call and then see him once or twice a month is so, so weird. i don’t know.

i’ve been ignoring this, because that’s how i deal with everything. i just pretend it’s not happening, as if that’s actually going to make the problem go away, but of course, at one point or another you’re going to have to face the reality of the situation.

we’re only hours into this thing, and i’ve already had so many instances where i’ve felt his absence. i think of something, see something, hear something, and i wanna go tell him about it, talk about it, maybe just say something in passing, but i can’t. he’s not in his room, and he’s not even coming home later today.

i’m scared, too, mainly because anything violent scares me. guns scare me. don’t even get me started on the war. and it’s my lil brother. i’m worried when he drives alone, i get worried when he goes to the store alone and takes longer than i thought he would, i worry about him a lot and very easily. i don’t really show it to him as the last thing i would wanna do is let my worry dictate his actions. obviously he’s nearly twenty and fully capable of taking care of himself, and the chances of anything happening to him are so slim and on top of it all, it’s just part of life. it’s risky and scary. and he’s the most important person to me so obviously he’s the one i worry most about. but i want him to live his life and do what he wants and the only time i’ll allow myself to show my worry is simply by asking him to text me or the family group chat once he’s arrived home from driving alone, should nobody be home to make sure he’s okay. and that feels relatively reasonable, in fact even my parents would ask as much from him.

i do know he’s going to be okay and i in fact think he might even enjoy this experience. i’m so excited for him to make friends and have these experiences. every guy i’ve talked to that has done this, has told me it’s an experience they appreciate and are glad they had, but wouldn’t necessarily want to have again. also, it helps you become more independent and includes lots of exercise and important life lessons, so all in all, it’s a pretty great thing when viewed from that perspective.

i’m also scared, because for the first time in my life, i’ll live alone with my abusive parents. i’ve always been the one they’ve been harshest on, even more so since my big brother moved away. it’s not even something that’s just in my head, as my little brother would tell you the same thing, and he’s certainly not afraid to disagree with me and often even sides with my parents or remains neutral. i actually really appreciate that about him, and i’m so grateful he has a strong mind and confidence like that.

and, like, it’s scary to live with two people who are supposed to not only take care of you but love you. neither of those apply here.

i got a call last week from somebody who works with the social services, as i’m getting help from, i guess, what’s essentially the child protective services for young adults, and the lady told me they’re going to have available apartments soon, in the city i work in no less. i’m going to have an interview with her on tuesday and i have no clue what to expect or what my chances are but i’m praying, praying so god damn hard this is it. i need to move out, i do, and this is the first time since six months ago when i started this process that any progress has been made.

this is gonna be a year with big changes, that much is obvious.. my lil brother going to the army is the first one, and from what i can foresee, the second biggest change (moving out and living on my own is going to be really fucking weird and hard and new, and going to bring a lot of challenges of its own). 

it’s just.. no matter how bad it’s gotten at home, i’ve always had him here. usually he’s (unfortunately) been present in the situation and i don’t have to explain shit and i can just, yknow, talk it out. get support. perspective. all that shit i do need. and even more so, there was a period of years during which the only reason i didn’t kill myself was his existence and while it’ll always remain a good enough reason to endure anything, it’ll be harder to hold onto without him here. yknow?

i just. there’s nobody that comes even close to him. not even close. no one ever has nor will anybody ever. and i realise i may sound really dramatic to anyone who doesn’t have a sibling or person they’re as close with as i am with him but god, none of this is exaggerated. yknow. it’s just. i. i feel so unsettled this is so god damn weird and every second that i’m not distracted, i feel so out of place. like a piece of me is missing and he’s, yknow, he’s alive and just a text or a phone call away (even if he’s going to have very little time to answer either, but still), but it is just. i miss him.

i miss him even when i spend a night away, or we’re too busy and don’t get to spend time together or even see each other for a day or couple of days. and it’s always been relatively easy to cure because even getting to exchange a few words helps.

also like. i always go to the grocery store with him ‘cause it’s an errand we both need to run regularly and it’s a great excuse for us to do something productive as well as spend time and catch up. now i have to do those alone and it’s gonna be so weird.

and even after the six months to a year, i’ll likely, hopefully, have moved out and it’ll never be the same again, yknow. obviously i’m always gonna keep in touch with him and i know we’re gonna remain just as close, but it’s just gonna be so different and i’m getting really emotional thinking about it because it’s never gonna be so easy again, it’s never gonna be just a walk through two doors a couple meters apart.

i. i know he’s gonna be okay. i’ll also be okay, we’ll be okay, we are okay. but it’s a massive change and one i haven’t wanted to face, one i’ve seen coming for a long time but never wanted to even think about.

[yarrie-writes]

Thisness

Chapter 1: A Rose by any Other Name

They called it "sublimination," because there was always a nice way to describe terrible things.

Lance had never seen it happen before, but that was just a fluke, a stroke of luck, a - a sign from the universe that he was meant for something, maybe, because in a tiny brick elementary school of 128 students, he'd been the only one sick at home the day that a fifth grader went up in flames and brought the whole school down with her.

People said, afterward, that no one could've known that it would happen. That it could've been anyone. That she hadn't done anything wrong. That there hadn't been any signs of magical affinity in her or her family, much less fire affinity...until she exploded, anyway.

None of that sounded particularly reassuring when you lived five minutes away from a building that had been charred so horribly that the brick was scorched black and the windows were crystalline puddles on the ground. Lance remembered wandering over there once, just once, and getting the shit smacked out of his ass when his mama found out. But he'd had a reason for going. His neighbors had told him, soft and low like it was a secret to tuck into his pillow and sleep on, that somebody in town had been sneaking past the patrol and smuggling out handfuls of ashes for the families who'd lost somebody, and Lance had asked, soft and low because he was in awe, who would do that, but nobody knew, because they went when it was dark and they went fast and they didn't tell no one but God. So Lance had gone looking, and he probably would've kept going if his mama hadn't caught him.

But aside from that one brave soul (and Lance), nobody in town would go near the place. A small colony of government workers migrated down for the summer to scrape charcoal and bone ash from the streets and rebuild the school, but it didn't do much good. Fear was a powerful thing.

In the meantime, Lance went to a school one hour away, and everyone even slightly related to him breathed a sigh of relief when he graduated from it before construction was done.

They called it "sublimination," because there was always a nice way to describe terrible things - and if there wasn't, somebody could always be hired to find one.

And for the last five years, Lance had been that somebody.

Maybe that was overstating his importance, a little bit.

In reality, Lance was a tiny gear in a huge machine. In reality, he was sort of a nobody, even if he was a nobody with a mouthpiece. In reality, his job could rightfully (if rudely) be summed up as propaganda-pushing.

And maybe in another reality, Lance would give a fuck about the ethics and morals of what he was doing. In this one, he didn't have any fucks left to give.

"Good mornin', Pasadena, how was your beauty sleep?" he crooned into his microphone, pulling his mouth into a smile because you fake it til you make it and he desperately wanted to make it. "This is Lance McClain speaking, here to remind you that the sky is blue, the earth is round, the stars are bright, and I'm free for dinner if you're lonely tonight, so hit me up, ladies and gentleman."

On the TV in the corner of the recording studio, he saw Pidge dropping his head onto the desk with a muffled groan, so he pointed finger guns at his techie coworker half-ironically. Pidge could use a fake-it-til-you-make-it smile, he thought. Pidge could use any expression that wasn't exasperation or homicidal rage.

He kept the finger guns up until Pidge gave him the middle finger, then he gave Pidge two middle fingers back, and not once did he stop talking during the entire exchange. "Now then, tonight's topic is the total catastrophe with the protesters at the Gates of Justice yesterday! I mean, seriously guys, if you haven't been following the news you better turn on your TVs. It was a madhouse. Lots of people fighting lots of other people, 'cause no better time to duke it out with security than when you're supposed to be protesting peacefully, right?"

He made a very exaggerated huffing sound. "Now, I'm the first to defend freedom of speech and all that. I love freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is my best girl. It just seems...kinda dumb to get so riled up about it that you go around punching people, y'know? Words don't have feelings, guys. People have feelings. People have lots of feelings. Play nice while you're flaunting your freedom of speech, that's all I'm asking.

"But this isn't just about me, guys. Hit me with your opinions, 'cause I know everyone and their mother has one about this stuff - my facebook feed tells me so. As always, the number to call is 626-555-5567! We'd love to hear from you."

In the corner of his eye, he spied Pidge and Hunk fielding the first callers of the day before he was even finished reciting the number.

Well, that didn't take long.

Seconds later, names and descriptions were scrolling down his screen, and he picked one at random, because he was a brave, brave man, the kind of brave that was often mistaken for stupidity but was actually closer to stubbornness.

"Man, you're chomping at the bit today, Pasadena, aren't you? Mr. Adam Smith, how are you doing?"

"Good." Mr. Adam Smith's voice was soft, and raspy, and absolutely not radio-friendly, which could be blamed on either the inherent quality of his voice or the obvious lack of quality in his phone. There were cars in the background, which helped not at all.

Lance winced a little. Just this once, couldn't his first caller be somebody with a good microphone? Whatever. Rolling with the punches. "You rolling in traffic, sir?"

"Not even rolling, unfortunately. But you know how it is."

A sense of humor, he could work with this. "Man alive, I wish I did know how it is. Maybe I'm lucky that this job forces me to wake up too early for rush hour, but I sure don't feel too lucky when my alarm sounds."

Mr. Smith uttered a dry, dry laugh.

Lance caught the annoyed undertone of that laugh and winced. It was an impersonal sort of annoyance, like Lance had simply nudged an underwater iceberg free and now it was floating to the surface of the sea and causing chaos in its wake. Impersonal, nothing to do with him, but that didn't mean it couldn't get ugly.

On paper, his job was actually pretty simple - all he had to do was talk, and piss the right people off, and not piss anybody else off. And Lance was good at talking, and really good at pissing people off. He might be a little shaky on choosing who to piss off and who to let go, but he was getting better at it. And right now, his hard-won instincts were telling him to bail.

"Alright, alright, while we've got you captive in traffic, my good sir, what's your take on the protests?"

"Well, actually, I think their hearts are in the right place. We all saw what happened in Kerberos, and given the...background...of the terrorists, you can see why people might think that there's something deeper going on."

"Sure, sure. But the question is, do you think that there's actually evidence that there's something deeper going on?"

"I'm not ruling it out."

"Of course not. There's no such thing as ruling it out, right? I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that I know what actually happened. That way madness lies. But what about actual evidence?"

"The tape - "

"Yeah, the tape." Lance sighed. "Not gonna lie, I've listened to it, and I am un-im-pressed. I keep trying to hear the screaming that everybody's talking about, but all I'm getting is feedback. And this is from a guy who talks into a microphone all day for a living. Thanks for talkin' back, though - good luck with traffic!"

The man tried to call back a few minutes later. Wanted to finish the conversation, Pidge's curt notes told him.

Lance sighed and picked someone else.

It would be easy to string his haters along until they stumbled. They always did, sooner or later. Lance wouldn't consider himself the smartest or cleverest or meanest person in existence - he wasn't even the smartest or cleverest or meanest radio personality on his channel - but he was incredibly good at dragging people down to his level, and that was all he needed to do, most of the time. People didn't judge arguments by how good the reasoning was. It was all in the delivery, and Lance was good at delivery.

It just...it would be easy to string his haters along, but he didn't like doing it. Didn't like shining a spotlight on people until they burned from it. Didn't like humiliation. It just wasn't in his blood, his bones, his too-soft heart.

"Today sucked," he said with feeling, curled around one of Hunk's glorious cookie-cake masterpieces.

"Tough topic," Hunk nodded. "Tougher crowd."

Pidge snorted and nibbled on his piece of cookie-cake without commenting.

Lance groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I was there."

Pidge snorted again. It was an ugly, harsh little sound, like a high-dose injection of condescension.

Lance was pretty sure Pidge didn't like him. Then again, Pidge didn't seem to like anyone. Except Hunk, but everyone liked Hunk.

That was not precisely true, he reflected later, as all three of them were berated in Iverson's dusty office for 'gross negligence of their duties.' Lance had tuned him out after he realized that this was about the same old stuff. Iverson was ex-military, and it was written all over the squareness of his shoulders and the straight line of his back and the way he expected his employees to respond well to beration. He gave off this overwhelming sense of what he called patriotic dignity and what everyone else saw as overcompensation.

Plus, he didn't like Hunk, and everyone liked Hunk.

"Dismissed," Iverson barked suddenly, and the only reason Lance even heard it was that he'd been listening for it.

"Freedom," he whispered to Hunk and Pidge. Hunk smiled weakly at him, looking a little nauseous.

Pidge, being Pidge, just snorted again. "You might wanna actually pay attention when he goes off on you. He wants to fire you, you know."

"Okay, first of all, he wasn't just going off on me, he was going off on us."

"Pretty much only you, though."

"I heard Gunderson in there a couple of times."

Pidge scowled.

"And secondly, this is a government position. We're technically government employees. Nobody ever gets fired from the government. That's why Iverson's still here."

Hunk chuckled weakly, recovering a bit from his Iverson-induced panic.

Score.

Pidge opened and closed his mouth. "...you...okay. That's fair."

Score! Lance crossed his arms behind his neck and let his head rest there, soaking in his victory. "The worst thing that can happen is that I'll get promoted into a position where I can't do any more damage," he said conspiratorially.

"Oh how terrible for you," Pidge said, dry as sandpaper.

Lance grinned. "I know."

Hunk sighed and sighed, worry creasing his forehead, but it was a familiar worry that was no longer contagious, because he and Pidge were immune by now. "What do you want for dinner, Lance?"

"I was thinking burgers." Lance half-turned to Pidge. "You?"

Pidge blinked large owlish eyes at him. After a moment he realized why - ever since Pidge turned them down for dinner that first day, he hadn't asked. Maybe their lack of friendship wasn't entirely on Pidge.

"Pidge?" Hunk prodded gently.

"Oh," Pidge said, flushing ever so slightly. "Sorry. Not today, but...raincheck?"

"Sure, sure, Pidgeotto," Lance said cheerfully.

Pidge stared at him. "Was that supposed to be an insult? Pidgeotto's awesome."

"You're awesome," Lance fired back, on instinct, before he realized that yeah, that really wasn't an insult at all.

Pidge giggled, downright giggled. Behind him, Hunk threw him a thumbs up sign.

Lance groaned. "Let's pretend that didn't happen. You're Pidgey now."

"Too late," Pidge said.

"I canceled your evolution, you're Pidgey."

"Too late!" Pidge grabbed his bag and gave them a half-hearted backward wave. "Have a good dinner!"

"Thanks, see you tomorrow, Pidge," Hunk said.

Lance glared at Hunk.

"What?"

"Traitor."

"Pidge is cool, bro."

"Cooler than me?!"

"Lance, I love you, so I'm not answering that."

When he got home he put on the television. He always did, no matter how much shit the television was spewing about the state of the world. It was a horrible habit that he needed to kick, except it made him better at his job, while also making him better at hating his job.

Today the topic of choice was some gun-toting fool with the Remember Kerberos movement, which made him think about that stupid tape again, which made him listen to the stupid tape again, trying his damnedest to hear something in the background other than an increasingly sharp voice on the radio asking for someone, anyone to check in.

Some people listened to the static and heard screaming. Some people listened to the static and heard breathing.

Lance had been listening to this tape ever since it came out, and all he ever heard was static.

Wishing don't make a thing real, his mama always said.

The next day was more of the same. The protests up in Washington had escalated. Again. There were pictures of tear-gassing and water hosing. Again.

Lance was already sick of it, but he did his best not to show it, because he was a fucking professional, and it wouldn't be very professional to ask his listeners why they felt the need to express their opinions on the radio instead of taking those opinions up with people who actually mattered and could get something done.

"Mr. Tom Cain, what's your take on - "

"Madam Euphemia Lowe, how about you - "

"You're up next, Mrs. Efemena Ayodele - "

And so on, and so on.

Until - "Annnnnd here's Mr. Kitty Rose, here to pitch in his two cents!" Then Lance paused for a long moment, successfully pulled out of his own headspace for the first time all day. "Um, please tell me that's not your real name. Actually, no, wait! Please tell me that it is your real name, 'cause I love it."

"...Hello?" came the voice from the phoneline.

Lance nearly cooed at how confused the poor thing sounded. He'd bet an arm and a leg that this was the guy's first time ever calling in to a radio show. It was kinda flattering. Who was he kidding, it was really flattering. "Hello, Mr. Kitty Rose! You're on air right now. How you doin'?"

"...I'm...I guess I'm good?" He didn't sound any less confused.

This time, Lance did coo. "Awww, just good? Not great? Not dazzling? Not awespectacular?"

"What the hell is awespectacular?"

Lance grinned with wild abandon, because the setup was way too perfect, and he probably shouldn't push a new caller like this but what the heck. Being called by a guy named Kitty Rose was the best thing that had happened to him all day. "A lot of things are awespectacular! Me, for example. Specifically, certain parts of me."

There was silence...then the sharp, unmistakable click of a phone hanging up.

Lance pouted, even though no one could see him. He'd always believed in the power of making faces to give his voice that extra emotional oomph. "Well, guess he didn't wanna stay and chat, ladies and gents. Next!"

Awkward-cute or not, Mr. Kitty Rose (seriously, was that his name?) slipped out of his mind completely within half a minute. He was too busy with his other callers, some of whom agreed with him, some of whom didn't, and some of whom really didn't, but it was all in good fun - on Lance's side, anyways - and arguing was the best part of his job, so he wasn't exactly complaining.

So it was weird when Pidge came into the recording studio, afterward, and said with utmost casualness, "So. Mr. Kitty Rose?" like it was meaningful and shit.

"Dude, if that's actually his name..." Lance started laughing again.

Pidge grinned slightly - which was mindblowing to see on Pidge, King of Angry Scowly Faces - but it was a grin of the shit-eating variety. Lance braced himself, and good thing he did, because the next thing Pidge said was, "Didn't stop you from flirting with him. What, you aspiring to be Mr. Rose-Mclain?"

Lance laughed messily and ignored how his neck felt a little hot. He was never going to get used to the fact that batting for both teams was treated so casually here, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate it. "No way, dude," he chirped out at last, "Mr. Mclain-Rose sounds way better." 

Pidge gave him the sharpest little grin he'd ever seen on a human being, and mockingly saluted him on his way out.

"I think Pidge and I are becoming friends," he mused out loud as he and Hunk sat in a sleazy bar with two orders of burgers with cheesy fries for the third time in a week. Who needed healthy arteries, anyways?

"Pidge is cool, I told you," Hunk said, around a mouthful of fries.

"You think everyone is cool."

"Pidge is actually super cool, though. Did I tell you that he managed to install some kind of internet radio app on our computers? I didn't even think they were capable of running anything more intense than Wordpad."

"Hey," Lance said, pouting.

Hunk blinked at him. "What?"

"You listen to radio stations other than mine? I'm feelin' betrayed, Hunk! Abandoned! Gutted! Hung out to dry!"

"Dude," Hunk said, snorting with laughter, "we gotta listen to something when there aren't any callers and we're waiting for commercials to pass."

"Hung out to dry, Hunk!"

Later at home, when his landline started ringing, Lance cursed wildly and had a battle of epic proportions with his remote to turn the TV off, because he knew who was calling and he knew what she would have to say about watching the news again, mijo?

"Hola, mama," he said, curling his tongue over the soft vowels of his native language.

"Hola, mi amor," his mother said warmly. "Two rings and you pick up, how punctual."

"I'm very punctual, mama," he protested, grinning. "I always do things exactly when I intend to do them."

"Does that mean that you haven't called me this week on purpose?" her voice turned gently chiding.

"Oooph, mama," he said, wincing a bit.

She laughed, forgiveness and love all in one bell-like sound. "I was listening to you the other day."

Oh shit. "Which day?" he asked, trying for lightness.

"The day you were talking about cereal," she said, and thank god, thank god, because he knew how sad she'd be if she'd been listening yesterday or the day before. Politics and laws were not up for discussion in the McClain household. His brothers and sisters would get fired up on their respective choices of social media, where his mama's sphere of influence did not extend, but Lance kept himself firmly, firmly out of those arguments, even when they tried to draw him in. Sometimes, when he came home for dinner and the table topic landed on how he was doing at work, he'd look up and his siblings would be looking at him plaintively, like they didn't understand how all the pieces that made up Lance McClain could possibly fit together into a cohesive whole. It sucked knowing that at least some of them were disappointed in him. It sucked, but he dealt with it, because he was disappointed in himself, too.

Small mercies, he reminded himself. Always be thankful for the small mercies, because you've already filled your quota for the big ones.

Things would get better, he thought, clenching his phone in his hand. Things had to get better.

Things did not get better.

He'd gone to work, spirits bolstered by his mother's warm, easy affection, and Iverson was waiting for him, and it was way too early for an Iverson lecture, fuck the universe. When it rains, it pours, he thought grimly.

"Look at this," Iverson said, thrusting a paper into his face.

Lance just barely managed to prevent himself from snapping back, "I am looking at it, but you might want to take it back a couple inches if you want me to actually read it." Instead, he said, "Yes?"

"Look at this, and read it!"

"Yes sir," Lance said cautiously, and that seemed to be what Iverson wanted, because he harrumphed irritably and stopped looming.

"This is your last warning to shape up," he said, because he only existed on a spectrum from upset to very upset. "You're not here because you're good at your job. You're here because the last man who had your job turned out to be a thief. Don't push it!"

Lance pulled the paper away and read it.

It was a fucking gag order.

When it rains, it pours, and pours, and pours.

"This sucks, man," Hunk murmured, looking over the stupid piece of paper with a critical eye.

"Yeah."

"I feel like - like we're doing everybody a disservice. This is basically self-censorship, right?"

Lance sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, but - hey, it's not like a random radio talk show in Pasadena is going to change the course of history."

Hunk frowned and looked sad.

Lance winced. "Look, I don't like it - but I don't wanna know what they do to me if I break rank, either."

Hunk chewed his lip. "You have to be careful, Lance. Maybe, this year - maybe you should try to get transferred to the tech side."

"The dark side, you mean?" Lance waggled his eyebrows.

"...we do have cookies."

Lance laughed. "Hunk, you already make me cookies all the time."

Hunk looked properly pensive. "If I stopped doing that, would you turn techie for the cookies?"

"Hunk, my man, I'd die without them. You don't want me to die, do you?"

"No, I really, really want you to stay alive," Hunk said, and wow, okay, this conversation was becoming Way Too Serious.

Pidge piped up, making them both jump, "I didn't know you could do any tech stuff. Aren't you always saying that you and computers have a mutually assured destruction thing going on?"

"Pidge, Pidge, Pidge," Lance wagged his finger at him, "I was a technician here before Hunk was."

"I mean, he wasn't a very good one, but - "

"Hush, Hunk, I'm trying to make a point."

Pidge snickered. "Consider your point unmade. And probably unmakeable."

"I'm feeling so attacked right now," Lance muttered.

"Good," Pidge said, and there was a grin on the little guy's face, and Lance felt weirdly better.

Then Hunk sighed and ran his hand through his hair, ending the moment. "We need a game plan. Pidge and I, maybe we need to screen the callers more? Make sure they're not gonna be trouble?"

"I don't mind trouble," Lance said, "s'long as they don't mention anything on the unmentionable list."

"It's gonna be hard finding someone who won't mention Kerberos or protests or anti-magic regs." Pidge wrinkled his nose.

"Give me an hour of Kitty Roses, then," Lance said, sighing.

Pidge snorted. "You sure you want that kind of trainwreck on your hands?"

Lance looked at Pidge, stern-faced and serene. "Bring it."

He should not have said that.

He should not have said anything.

Pidge was going to be insufferable.

Scratch that, Pidge was already insufferable: next to the little label with Kitty Rose's name, Pidge's note read, Ask and ye shall receive! With the next refresh, it also said, BTW I told him you were gonna answer his call, so if you don't, I guess he's just gonna think that you're a coward.

Pidge was going to suffer.

"So," he said, as sweetly as he could while simultaneously imagining a painful, humiliating death for his traitorous technician, "Mr. Kitty Rose, back again?"

"Hi," the other man said. "...I guess I am."

"You definitely are, my man. Do you actually have anything to say this time, or...?"

There was a pause. "Wow, you're kind of a jerk. Why do people take time out of their day to listen to you?"

"Heyyyy. I'm just gonna point out that you're calling in for the second time, which means that at the very least you've listened to me twice."

"And both times were a waste of my time."

Pidge was going down. Pidge was so going down. Lance leaned in and uttered in the cheesiest cartoon-villainiest voice he could manage, "How dare you."

"How dare I, indeed."

"Yeah, exactly. How dare you listen to my step by step instructions and call me."

"It's almost as though you don't want listeners."

"What, are you a listener now, Mr. Both-Times-Were-A-Waste-Of-My-Time?"

"You know that feeling you get when you pass a car accident on the road and you want to slow down to see what's going on?"

"Yeah?"

"Your radio show is the verbal equivalent."

Lance found himself laughing, hysterically, helplessly. Okay, so maybe Pidge didn't have to go down. "Seriously, man, did you call in just to tell me that I'm a jerk?"

"That's my story and I'm sticking with it."

"You don't have any pearlier pearls of wisdom? That's all you've got for me?"

"...okay, I got another one: cereal, then milk, is the only acceptable order to make cereal in."

Lance gasped. "You heathen."

"But I'm right."

"I'll have you know that I'm a cereal expert, buddy, and milk is always first."

"I bet all your cereal bowls are mushy at the bottom and dry at the top."

"You take that back, my cereal bowls are perfect, thank you, because I know how to treat my dates right."

"That sounds awfully pathetic."

"Why, why I oughta, you're pathetic!"

"What a comeback. I'm quivering in my boots."

"You should be!"

"Yes, yes. That doesn't change the fact that you're wrong."

"How could you possibly put milk over the cereal? You're just making it soggy faster!"

"It's too messy pouring cereal onto milk. Gets everywhere."

Lance narrowed his eyes. "I'll have you know that cereal is my second favorite thing to eat in bed, and unlike the first thing, I've never made a mess in my sheets with it!"

There was silence. Then, very quietly, "Um, what's your first favorite thing then?"

Oh. Oh my god. Oh my god.

He didn't get it.

This was the best day of Lance's life.

With a huge shit-eating grin, he settled down on his elbows and sing-songed, "Nothing, nothing at alllll. Hey, by the way, I'm thinking of having a cereal party soon, wanna come?"

"Uh, no, not if you're going to eat it wrong."

The best. Day. Of his life.

"Hey, man, if it matters to you that much, we can try it both ways." Lance wiggled his eyebrows. "I can bring the milk if you bring everything else."

"Er, no, I'm not drinking your milk."

Hook.

"Why? Don't you trusssst me?"

Line.

"No. Plus, I'm lactose intolerant, so double no."

And sinker.

"Oh, Kitty," Lance purred, "nobody's making you swallow."

Lance was floating on Cloud Nine, and counting, the rest of the day. He'd never been more disappointed to cut a caller short so that he could start music hour. Or more disappointed, in general. He'd already eaten four of Hunk's cookies to chase the high of that incredible call, and now he was eyeing the plate for his fifth.

Next to him, Hunk was shaking his head, the flush of secondhand embarrassment fading at last. "Dude. Dude. Did you have to?"

"Dude. It was necessary."

"So necessary," Pidge agreed.

Lance turned to Hunk. "See? Pidge agrees with me! And Pidge never agrees with me."

"Never," Pidge agreed.

Hunk sighed at both of them. "I guess we did a good job today, though."

"Good? Good? Hunk, my man, my bestie, my homie, that was more than just good. It was amazing, it was incredible, it was - it was - "

"Awespectacular?" Pidge suggested, rolling his eyes.

Lance pointed to Pidge emphatically. "YES."

Hunk looked resigned to his fate. "Right. That. Anyways, good job. I don't think anybody noticed that we didn't talk about the unmentionables."

"Thank you, Kitty Rose, savior of us all," Pidge said.

"Hey. I'm the savior here. Kitty Rose is, like, the DVD Disc 1 villain who helps out during the final battle against the actual villain."

"So not a villain at all," Pidge said.

"Well - "

"And also probably the most important person during the final battle."

"I - "

"So basically the savior."

Lance screeched. "Okay, whatever. What-ever. And here I was, wanting to invite you to our bro dinners, but I guess you don't wanna go - "

Pidge sucked on his soft drink. "Nope."

Hunk frowned. "Awww...."

Pidge flicked his eyes over to Hunk and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, sorry. Still need a raincheck."

"When's the end of your shift today?" Hunk asked.

"6 pm."

Lance wiggled his eyebrows. "And you don't have time to grab dinner with us? Does someone have a hoooot daaaaate?"

"Oh my god, Lance," Pidge muttered, smacking his head.

"That's not a no, Pidge!"

"I take it back, no raincheck."

Pidge, because he was a boring, boring person, turned out to be headed for the library at Caltech after his shift.

Lance, because he liked poking boring people until they lost their boringness, and because he still felt a little guilty about making Pidge the third wheel to his and Hunk's awesome bro relationship, tugged on Hunk's sleeve until Hunk agreed that they should accompany Pidge to the library because you know it's not a great idea to be walking around alone at night, Hunk!

"It's surprisingly quiet around here," Hunk said, warily, twisting his head this way and that, and Lance almost felt bad for appealing to his best friend's protective/paranoid instincts.

"Were you expecting it to be loud?" Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow. "This isn't exactly party central."

"Well, no, but I'm surprised you don't have protesters camping out anywhere."

Pidge snorted. "There were, for a while."

Lance raised an eyebrow. "What happened? Mace? Batons? Dogs?"

"Deadlines and exams," Pidge said flatly.

Hunk cracked a small, wry grin, while Lance outright laughed. "Oh, jesus. You serious?"

"Yep. There were We Will Never Stop Looking signs abandoned all over the courtyard as soon as Hell Week started."

"Ironic."

Pidge smiled at that, but it wasn't really a smile-smile, and it didn't even reach all corners of his mouth, much less his eyes. "Yeah. There are definitely better places to start a revolution than a school of engineers. Not enough of them care, and the ones who do care don't care enough." Was that bitterness? It sounded like bitterness. But maybe Lance was hearing things. It wasn't like Pidge to be bitter - or maybe it was, and they just didn't know Pidge well enough to know that.

"Maybe they have the right idea," Lance said cautiously.

Pidge looked really hard at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I don't think most people are cut out for revolution."

Pidge looked even harder at him. "For such a loud, bossy guy, you're actually really cynical," he said finally.

Lance grinned at him. "Hey, gotta hope for the best but expect the worst, right?"

Pidge shrugged, quiet and blank-faced. He wasn't glaring at Lance, but he wasn't agreeing with him, either. Which was normal. Everybody in the information business talked big game about the moral imperative to inform the masses and change the world and shit, but it wasn't human nature to walk the walk unless you were already headed in that direction.

Lance was a coward, he'd be the first to admit it - but at least he wasn't a hypocrite.

Unbidden, the image of the wreckage at Kerberos Station popped into his head. He winced.

At least he wasn't dead.

Kitty Rose showed up the next day, too.

They had to table the cereal debate, though, because Kitty dropped a bombshell about not being able to cook, which derailed them for a solid fifteen minutes.

He also found out that Kitty liked running and kicking balls around but didn't like team sports because of the team part, and that his favorite color was the same red as canned cranberry sauce, and that he thought pineapple on pizza was disgusting, which was so, so wrong that Lance was compelled to inform him, "You're disgusting!" before hanging up.

Then Hunk and Pidge completely and utterly betrayed him by sending forward an endless line of callers who agreed with Kitty on the pineapple issue, and he vowed not to speak to them ever again.

Kitty Rose also, apparently, thought that Raisin Bran counted as a cereal.

Lance curtly informed him that this lost him the cereal debate by default.

He also, reluctantly, began speaking to Hunk and Pidge again, seeing as his silence didn't have a lot of emotional impact when the alternative was engaging in interpretative dance moves to get his message across.

Also, Hunk gave him more cookies, and those cookies made up for all kinds of shenanigans.

Two weeks after the gag order had been thrust upon him, Lance took inventory of how he was doing and thought that, all things considered, it could've been worse. Iverson was still yelling at him regularly but it was with his usual, baseline hostility. Pidge still wouldn't come to dinner with him and Hunk, but at least the awkwardness of their duo becoming a trio had mostly rubbed off. And Kitty was, weirdly, becoming something of a friend? Lance had no idea what was going on there, only that Hunk and Pidge thought that something was, and they kept making these faces whenever Kitty called and it was actually super embarrassing. And his mama was still checking on him and his siblings were still weird about his job and the McClain house was still a no-politics zone.

So life was - not good, but okay. Really, really okay.

Or, at least, that's what Lance had thought.

It turned out that there was a difference between thinking that things were settling down, and the actual process of things settling down. A small part of Lance's brain had solidified in early childhood and never really changed after that, and it was this part of his mind that fooled him into thinking that turning his eyes away from the world shifting on its axis would somehow make it stop.

So he was just doing his usual bedtime routine, his brushing and flossing and face mask and shampoo and conditioner, when the television noises in the background stopped sounding like weather report noises and started sounding like news report noises. It wasn't a big difference, but he felt it like a cold front crashing down, chilling him to the bone. Some animal instinct told him to pay attention, pay attention so he did, plodding slowly to the living room and sinking into the couch of his living room, staring glassily at the television screen.

" - currently receiving reports of a flash flood in Washington D.C., right at doorstep of the White House. At least forty civilians, many of them protesting the recent changes in the Magical User Registration Act, were caught in the flood - "

"Authorities suspect that the flood was caused by an act of magi-terrorism or a sublimination event...witnesses say that there was a white light before water came rushing from the steps of the White House. No suspects have been - "

"This just in, the flood has started rising again, still not a cloud in the sky - "

" - massive explosion at the White House. Authorities say that its blast radius was dampened significantly by the flood - "

" - White House Correspondent, on the line now - the prevailing theory we've heard tonight is that whoever raised the flood knew about the bomb, what are your thoughts?"

"These horrific events are the doings of terrorists - and I do not use that word lightly - aligned with the magi-militant group Remember Kerberos. We all know there is a time for tolerance, a time for patience, but we have been tolerant - we have been patient. There is also a time for action, and that time is now. I call upon every member of this group to surrender to the nearest authorities - "

It also turned out that both he and Pidge were a little wrong about engineers, because Caltech was on fire the next morning. Metaphorically.

They weren't the only ones, either - the news was full of footage from nearly every major city in the country. Pasadena fared better than most, but there were still riots happening, honest to god riots. Half of lanes on the highway were blocked off because someone had moved the road partitions. There was broken glass everywhere around the 7-11 across the street from the studio. Lance actively feared for his car's structural integrity if he parked it any lower than the roof of the garage. By then, he was almost forty minutes late. 

Hunk called him while he was running up the stairs, saying, "Dude, I packed you an extra sleeping bag. Have you seen the streets? We might not be going home tonight."

"Fuck," Lance said, blearily. "That's a good idea, thanks, I'm at the studio - "

"How is it over there? I'm gonna be late, tell me how it is - "

"It's..." Lance looked around, and was nearly run over. By the time he managed to find a safe spot, he laughed weakly. "It's a madhouse, man. There are papers all over the hallway - new carpeting, hey? I almost got run over by a super short lady. And she almost got run over by a slightly taller lady. People are everywhere, and it's - uh." He peered out the window and stared. And stared. And stared. Then, without moving his gaze one centimeter, he whispered, "Hunk?"

"Lance? You okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'm okay. Listen. I still have a change of clothes at your place, right?"

"Multiple changes of clothes, actually." Hunk, bless him, was still so Hunk through this mess.

"Can you bring them over? I think maybe the studio's safer than our apartments right now. Kind of. Maybe?"

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

"There's, like, twenty soldiers right outside the door."

"Is that..." Hunk said cautiously, "a good thing?"

"I don't know, man." Lance laughed, only a little hysterically, "I don't know anything anymore."

"Good morning, Pasadena," he said, a pale imitation of his usual cheer, "how was your beauty sleep?"

The words felt like cotton in his mouth.

He didn't ask for callers - no techs meant nobody to screen the callers, so it would've been a lost cause anyways. It was still depressing to look at the empty tech room and watch the phones flash, ringing into the void. He had the ridiculous thought that he should keep watching, regardless, because what if Pidge called in? What if Kitty did? Surely he'd know that it was them, even without sound, without anything but the telegraphed trill of an impersonal ringtone.

The studio felt deathly still, now. Pidge was still nowhere to be seen, and the other people in the building had been leaving - he tried not to think evacuating - one by one all morning until it was just him. He hadn't even seen Iverson all day, and this was probably the only day of his life that he'd feel happy catching a glimpse of the old grump. But no one was there, so Lance stayed huddled in the recording studio, talking about nothing at all, because he didn't know if Hunk would be able to find him otherwise, and he really, really didn't want to be alone.

Halfway past nine, Hunk finally showed up with their sleeping bags and bottles of water and a generous snack stash, and Lance could have cried, he was so glad to see him.

"Where's Pidge?" they both asked, at the same time. Then they looked at each other, and looked at Pidge's empty chair, and Hunk made this...noise of distress. "Okay. Okay. I think Pidge can take care of himself. So let's take care of ourselves, first."

After he was properly fed and watered and hugged within an inch of his life, Lance started taking callers.

Pidge wasn't one of them. Neither was Kitty.

He tried his best not to think about that.

The smoke alarm went off at 4 am and woke them up. Hunk couldn't find a way to shut it off completely, but he did manage to dismantle the one in the recording studio, and they were both tired enough to go back to sleep in spite of the distant ringing. By the time they woke up again, it was all quiet. The street outside didn't look any different from yesterday, which was comforting because it meant nothing big happened and not-so-comforting because no one had come to clean up the 7-11 and the glimmer of glass on the ground was like something out of a horror movie. 

"Okay," Hunk said after they ate a dry breakfast of granola bars, "Let's regroup."

"Hunk, buddy," Lance said, wincing, "two people does not a group make."

Hunk ignored him. "A, things are kinda going crazy out there."

"Yep." Lance resisted the urge to put his hand on his forehead. No facial cleansing routine meant he had to be extra careful -

"B, Pidge is missing."

"Yep." Lance put his hand on his forehead.

"C, Your radio boyfriend is also missing."

"Why is that C? That should be, like, X or something." He paused. Then, frantically, he added, "Also he's not my boyfriend, what the hell Hunk - "

"D," Hunk continued serenely, "I'm pretty sure Pidge knows him. Like, actually knows him."

Lance shut his mouth and stared.

Hunk huffed a bit. "C'mon, man. You said it yourself, Kitty Rose just can't be his real name. But he hasn't corrected you either, right?"

"No," he said slowly.

"Well," Hunk shrugged. "Pidge is the one who screened him. And, um, while we're at it?"

Lance made a go-on gesture.

"It seems way too coincidental that Pidge - like pigeon - and Kitty are both animal names, right?"

Lance stared at him. "Oh my god. Why did I not see that before??"

Hunk, ever humble, shrugged. "So it just makes sense that they actually know each other - but also, um. I tried to find Kitty Rose in the logs, and there's nothing. No phone numbers, no call records, just...nothing."

"Pidge?"

"Pidge. Probably." Hunk scratched his nose.

Lance nearly screeched. "Pidgeeeee. Whyyyyy."

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Hunk grinned at him, and held up a fifth finger. "E, I bet they're still listening to you."

[thetragicescape]

I know no one asked for it buttttttt

This is my blog and I feel like venting. So here we go. More spun thoughts. I feel... hmm. I feel bittersweet. I miss my old roommate. She is honestly not a friend to me, she's a sister. That's how close we were. We hung out 24/7 during our freshman and sophomore years of college. Well, the half of sophomore year before I left. We knew everything about each other and made so many unforgettable memories. Her friendship has been invaluable to me, and we spent so much time together that she was more family than my blood family. She did have strong opinions about certain things, and that's why I hid my drug addiction from her. Her twin sister is addicted to the same drug. I constantly heard her talking shit on not just her sister but meth addicts in general. She was always saying how nasty it was and how bad tweakers were and stuff. I stayed silent the whole time or joined in on her shit talking to cover my ass, never wanting her to know that I was the very thing she despised. I thought that if she knew she would be angry, yell at me or say horrible things to me, or- worst of all- stop being my friend. And I absolutely could not lose her; she was a sister to me. I was confident that I could hide it well enough that she would never need to know, but we can't all be so lucky. The day before I left school, my ex (the one who would rob me the next day) ratted me out to her. I was both furious with him and scared that I was going to lose one of the best friends I ever had. What happened next was miraculous. Something I never would have expected in a million years. She didn't hate me, she didn't stop being my friend, didn't even say one rude word or remark. She was a little upset that I had hidden it from her for so long, but once I explained that it was because I valued our friendship so much and was terrified to lose her she seemed to understand. She even gave me a hug! I was so touched I was near the edge of tears- she knew the worst thing about me, that I was addicted to meth, yet she loved me all the same and was still like my sister. I was about 90 percent sure she would hate me for this, yet she accepted me fully for who I was, faults and all, when for so long I was terrified she would hate me if she knew. I only felt luckier by the second that she had reacted completely opposite of what I thought and that I had her. That night was the last time I saw her. I left college to run away with my ex, he ended up robbing me and my amazing best friend and his wife took me in and let me stay with them. I think of her a lot every day though and miss her. I felt bad leaving her alone there cause we were all each other had. At the time though I thought she would be okay. I mean, for as long as I've known her ive been secretly jealous as fuck of her. She was perfect in every way, and I wish I could say I was exaggerating. She was seriously perfect and I wanted to be her so bad. Honest to god I still do, and if you knew her you'd wanna be her too. She's skinny and absolutely drop dead gorgeous, not to mention amazing with make up. Guys were practically tripping over themselves for a chance to get at her when I was lucky if a guy so much as glanced my way. Getting love or sex or any male attention to her was as effortless as breathing. That wasn't even what I was the most jealous of though. I envy the fuck out of her magic social powers. I can think of another way to put it. It has to be magic cuz I sure as hell couldn't do it. She has some insane power of getting people to take interest in her without trying, and friends flock to her like a moth to a flame. Especially in her home town (when I went to visit her over the summer)- she was popular as fuck. Without even trying, she had more friends than she knew what to do with. All my life id been a near complete loner and desperate for friends, for connections and relationships. No matter what I did, my peers still hated me and I remained a loner. I went straight home every day after school and didn't leave my room cause I had no friends. She, on the other hand, never had to be lonely for a single second- hell, I didn't think she even knew what loneliness MEANT! Without even trying, she had what id wanted so desperately all my life- tons of friends, no loneliness, popularity and guys drooling over her. Over breaks when we went home, shed be having a total blast partying with tons of different people, while I sat alone in my room on the verge of tears because I was so damn lonely and wanted so bad just to have someone to hang out with. Sometimes it was hard not to snap out of pure envy- once she complained to me that she got invited to too many parties. Inside me I was ripping my hair out- like why the fuck are you complaining?! Hers was a "problem" I could only dream of having. Of course if she asked I said I hung out with friends over break because I was embarrassed to let her know how truly pathetic I was. I felt for so long that something was wrong with me and I didn't fit in with humanity because I was so fucking lonely, but she could get everyone in the world to be her friend by fuckin blinking at them. Also her parents were incredibly chill and not strict or controlling at all, the exact opposite of my dad. They cared about her, more than just her grades, they brought her self esteem up instead of crushing it, and they talked to her as an equal human. Which I couldnt pay my dad to do; to this day he talks to me as though Im an idiotic young child or an extension of himself. Never an equal. Hell, I was jealous of her for having grown up with her mom still alive- I lost mine when I was 7. Anyway. At school we hung out only with each other, so I felt very close to her. We tried many times to make friends with other people at the school, but everyone at that school was an ultra religious Jesus freak prude, so not our usual type. Still we tried. We learned pretty early on that people didn't like us for some reason. They got weirded out by us after hanging out with us once or twice and then magically disappeared, never talking to us again. Now i dont know if this is just a paranoid tweaky thought, but I think the word "us" isnt exactly accurate when placing the blame on why nobody wanted to hang out with us. I think the us is actually me. I was what chased everyone away. She has such an incredible talent at making friends that there was no way they didn't like her. I was what they didn't like, and I was always hanging out with her, so if they were chilling with her they were chilling with me. I dont know what about me did it- I seemed to have the opposite abilities of what she did. I suspected that I was the reason since last year, but what's happened in the last couple weeks only makes me think more and more that I was the reason we were so lonely. Since I have left the school, she has instantly made a whole group of friends. She's getting a house with them her senior year and everything. Without me to get in the way, her natural charms were uninterrupted and she found friends almost instantaneously. Nothing like that ever happened when I was around her. Im really happy that she has moved on and found friends so she Wont be lonely, on the other hand it made me sad she moved on so fast. I know that's not fair of me- I cant just expect her to never chill with anyone ever again because I was gone- but still i feel it. That tiny heart ache. Im quite replaceable I think, and Im glad she found her people and not loneliness. I mean it with all my heart, I want her to be happy because she deserved it. Ive experienced more than my fair share of loneliness and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But love is about appreciation not possession, and what matters is she is happy and has people to support and love her, whether i am included in that or not. Just like you trim weeds to make the garden flourish, my absence has helped her become the socialite she always wad again. I am sad that we are separated (and honestly jealous of her ability to attract people to her without conscious effort) but happy that she is happy. She's quickly moved on and Im sure that in time she will forget me completely. The thought hurts but I need to accept that it might be a possibility. I chased friends away from us, why would she want to remember that. I miss her to death but without my weirdness chasing her social life off, she is much better off. She's in her element again, a social butterfly spreading her wings and flying out into the world. I wish I knew her secret on getting people to want to be her friend or boyfriend or whatever , but ill just have to accept I never will. Even she doesnt know, its an instinct to her. I never was lucky enough to have that gift but oh well. That's life. It is what it is. I really hope that this is just the drugs and the paranoia talkin, that it wasnt my fault we had no friends and she also played a part in chasing them away. I hope with all my heart it isnt true, but deep in my heart I worry that it is. I guess ill never know the truth and Im honestly kind of glad, cause Im not sure I could stand to hear it if it had been my fault. I accept that ill never know. I still miss her though. Even if she forgets my name, ill remember her and her friendship and cherish the memories we made for my whole life. If she wants to continue being my friend, which there's a decent chance of because she still hits me up on Facebook occasionally to check on me, I will be ecstatic. Shes like my sister that came out of a different vagina 😂😂😂. Whatever choice she makes is hers though and I will have to accept it no matter what. Her happiness means so much to me that if she slowly forgot about me, id know at least she is doing well, uninhibited by my weirdness and free to put her social talents to use again. If our friendship does end (which is painful to think) I will hold onto the good times. Ill try not to cry because its over but smile because it happened. I would appreciate that I had such a close bond with her that saying goodbye was sk hard. If saying bye is hard you know it was a good friendship and a blessing that I had it..... Okay, rant over Holy fuck I sound like a weirdo. Tina makes me rambly. Then again this was so long Im sure most of u got bored and didbt make it all the way to the end 😂 I dont blame you its pretty long. This is probably mostly for me to read when I sober up and laugh at myself. If you did stick thru to the end, thanks ❤ weird tweaky rant over!!

[aomgdoughnut]

I’m not Okay (Part.1)

Artist : GRAY

Only three days left until deadline and I’m still stuck on this page. This is my first time having a hard time to write scenario. I love romance, comedy or fantasy the most but as a movie’s writer I need to prove my talent and decide to challenge myself to write other genre and now I’m stuck with this melodrama story. Write a melodrama story really drain up all my positive energy. My entire mind clouded by sadness thought and it’s still not enough to finish this story.

“Having a hard time babe?” someone sit across my seat while I’m staring into my laptop without type anything.

“You know I’m really sucked with melodrama.” I’m messing my already mess hair for nth times.

“It’s because you’re too happy with me.” He said while sending a wink and snatches my coffee.

“Lee Sunghwa!” I’m not in the mood to joke around and he seems understand that this is really serious.

“Okay, don’t glare like you want to eat me alive. That’s not pretty you know?” He pats my head to calm me down. He really has a power to control me. Some of my friends already point out that I’m too obedient to him. I never think it was a bad thing to listen what he was saying, it was true after all. When I wear a short tight dress to my friend birthday party he’ll call me out to come back and change my dress because he said I’ll catch flu if wearing that. When I hang out with some of my friend which is mostly boys, he’ll forbid me to apply any makeup because he said that my bare face is the prettiest. And when Dean wants to pick me up for our club reunion he’ll insist to take me there because he said it’s too burdensome for Dean. I always do what he said and it frustrated my friends the most.

“Let’s go home. Maybe melodrama doesn’t match with café’s mood that’s why you still stuck there.” He grabs my backpack and leads me to his car.

“Ah… tonight I’ll be back late. Jessi held a birthday party and she invite me.” Sunghwa said breaks the silence on our way back home. When I heard Jessi’s name then the only person that pop up on my mind is Tiffany. It’s not like I hate her but as you already know, something was going on between Sunghwa and Tiffany before. Insecurities always hit me every time Tiffany’s name being mention and Sunghwa know the best about that.

“If it’s Jessi’s birthday then her ‘friend’ also invited?” I ask him while avoid mention Tiffany’s name. He remains silent for seconds before chuckles.

“Of course she’ll invite her friends to the party. It’s not a private party where only both of us there.” He reaches my palms and caresses it. He knows exactly what I want to ask and the way he answer my question seems want me to believe that’s nothing will happen on that party. I can’t forbid him to do anything so I just nodded my head understand. Furthermore I still have many things to do and I can’t keep him company tonight. Maybe I won’t able to sleep.

I keep writing the story all night long and Sunghwa still not back home. I take a glance at clock, it’s 04.00AM. I try to call him just to make sure he’s okay. After the second ring he accepts my call but no one speak. I just heard a loud noise and girl laughing voice.

“Oppa… Sunghwa oppa?” I try to call him but still no answer. I don’t know what’s on my mind at that time but I don’t hang off the phone and keep listening to the other line. It’s my first time doing that because I’m usually a quite positive person and never once I doubt him.

“Oppa, you got phone call.” The girl’s voice said.

“Don’t pick. Don’t pick. Just turn off fany-ah.” A man drunk voice can be heard on the other line that’s I believe is Sunghwa. And she really turns off the phone. I try to call again but its mailbox. With stress that already pile up; I don’t think I can bear with this. I wait for him until sun rise and finally I heard someone unlock the door. The drunken man comes to our living room without take off his shoes. He walks wobbly to my direction and hugs me.

“You already awake?” He asks me, act like sober.

“I’m not even sleep.” I answer him while restrain my anger.

“But my fany still pretty even doesn’t get any sleep.” He murmurs on my neck but I still can hear clearly that he said Tiffany’s name instead of mine. And the worst he put ‘my’ in front of her name.

“I’m not Tiffany. I’m (Y/N)” Now I raise my voice a bit.

“Ah right! I’ve back home so it’s (Y/N) now!” He said between his chuckles and that’s my last warning. I can’t hold it anymore. I push him back and make him fall on the floor.

“Yah!” he protest, tries to get up but failed. He ends up sit on the floor while looking at me with his furious eyes.

“What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?!” Now he begins yelling.

“I’m the one who should’ve asked you! Are you crazy Lee Sunghwa?! How drunk you are until you call me with tiffany’s name? Are you that happy spending the night with her while I’m here stuck with this laptop all night long?!” Tears already pour down on my cheeks. What I need the most now is him apologizing with his behavior and I’m all okay. But he doesn’t seem give up.

“(Y/N) why are you so sensitive? It’s not like you. You know I’m drunk yet you still blame me for that tiny mistake. What? Why? You don’t want to live with me again? Then leave! I can’t be with you if you keep this clingy!” As obedient as I am, when he tells me to leave, then I’ll leave. I bring my laptop and storm out from his house without pack any of my belonging there.

 My head hurt so badly when I wake up. How much drink I took last night? I try to reach my phone on coffee table beside the bed but then I realize that I’m not on my bed. I’m lying down on the floor in the middle of living room. Standing seems impossible right now so I just crawl up to the couch there and make myself more comfortable. I see a half drink coffee on the table and it’s reminding me about what happened this morning. I’m so fuck up. Now (Y/N) really gone. I don’t know if we could make it up this time. This is my first time see her angry. Actually, she had never been angry before. She’s always my good girl. I decide to take more sleep to get rid my hangover since no (Y/N) then no hangover soup today.

“Hyung how was Jessi party last night? You told her why I couldn’t come right?” Jay who just comes out from studio takes a seat beside me.

“Worst.”

“Huh? Worst?”

“You should have come and stop me from this mess.” I pull my own hair frustrated and Jay kindly tries to stop me from pulling my hair before one of his artist become bald in front of his eyes.  

“Okay hyung, calm down and spill. What happen?”

“Last night… on Jessi’s party I met Tiffany…” I said hesitantly don’t know how to tell him so he could see me less guilty.

“Hmm… you met Tiffany and you hang out with her until dawn and when (Y/N) called you worried because you haven’t come back home but the one who answer her call is Tiffany and (Y/N) angry at you?” He blabbed like already know everything.

“Yeah…”

“What? Am I right?! Shit!!! That was from the latest episode of weekly drama that Simon D hyung and I watch yesterday.” And it really did happen in real life.

“Not only that…” I try to continue my story so at least Jay can help me out.

“Not only that?! Okay continue, I wanna hear how fucked up you are.” I send him glare but only earn a big grin from him.

“When I back home, I kinda wrong calling her name…”

“It’s okay hyung. If you don’t call her name with Tiffany’s then everything’s gonna be fine. I know (Y/N). She’s a good girl. Maybe she just stress out. Call her and apologize. She’ll forgive you.” Jay pats my shoulder and smile like every problem already solved. I know (Y/N) too and if I don’t call her name with Tiffany’s then I won’t frustrated like this.

“What if I call her Tiffany?” I manage to pull Jay’s hand before he stands up and back to recording studio.

“Haha then I suggest you don’t come near Han River or balcony of your apartment Hyung. It’ll be the end of you.” He’s still smiling, thinking it was a joke until he realizes that my expression said otherwise.

“Shit Hyung! You really call her Tiffany? Oh God! You’re the worst! It’s the worst of the worst!!!” Jay hysterically said with much exaggerate. Jay’s voice must be heard until studio and make Simon D hyung and Loco who’s still recording come out.

“What happened?” Simon D hyung asks.

“Sunghwa hyung fucked up! He’s breaking up with (Y/N)!” Jay said while pointing his finger to me. Loco and Simon D hyung seem not believe him.

“What did you do until (Y/N) angry? That girl really kind though.” Simon D hyung cross his arms on his chest interrogate me. I believe this is AOMG where people here are my homies but why they’re gang up to blame me?

“He drunk and call (Y/N)’s name with Tiffany’s!” Again, Jay reassures Simon D hyung and Loco to believe him. Now they’re staring at me. Wait for my confirmation whether it was right. I nod and hang my head low. I can hear loud sigh from both of them.

“You really fucked up bro.” Simon D hyung pats my shoulder.

“But I’m curious. Who’s the lucky guy that gonna replace Sunghwa hyung and become (Y/N) next boyfriend?” Loco said absentmindedly and earning hisses from the other.

“We’re not breaking up!” I still can’t believe that our relationship will be end this pathetic.

“Yet.” That was Jay.

“Bro, just come to her home and kneeling down ask for her forgiveness.” It Simon D hyung idea but I believe a real man shouldn’t kneel down for a girl. I can apologizing but not kneel or cry in front of her. It’s a no.

After make up my mind for weeks finally I’m here at (Y/N) apartment parking lot with a bucket of flowers and her favorite banana ice cream. I take a look once again to mirror side, checking my appearance. Messy hair check, unshaven facial hair check, red eyes check, sad expression check. I’m ready to ask her forgiveness until I see Dean come out from (Y/N) apartment elevator carrying (Y/N) backpack. What is he doing here? It’s still 07.00AM and I’m sure (Y/N) just wake up around this time. Wait… does him spending night here?! Tch… I can’t believe this. It just two weeks since our break up yet she already allow a guy spending night with her? Or maybe she already plans to break up with me so she can date Dean. I cancel my entire plan to apologize and heading back to my studio.

“Oh Dean thank you! I know you’re always the best!” I snatch my backpack from him as he enters my room. He’s really my hero. Actually I don’t even expect he’ll answer my call because it’s still early and I’m sure he still sleeping. But he willing to get my laptop from my apartment and bring it here.

“If your parents know that I help you to get your laptop, I’m sure they’ll hate me. You should’ve rest here and forget about work. Do you know why you’re here in the first place?” I open my backpack and take out my laptop to check my email.

“Because I’m sick?” I give him my sweetest smile hoping he’ll stop nag for a while.

“You’re stress out because of your work and you don’t even eat properly. Do you know how worried I am when you call me to bring ambulance? I thought you’re dying!”

“Hmm… Almost?”

“It’s not funny (Y/N)!”

“Sorry?” He sighs and pulls the chair to sit beside me on the bed.

“But where’s Sunghwa hyung? I didn’t see him since yesterday?” I know he’ll ask this question.

“I don’t know. We broke up.”

“Ah you guys are broke… WHAT? Broke up? Why? I thought you’ll marry him?” I also think the same. I thought he’s the one that will marry me. But I think it just a dream now.

“Don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Hmm… now everything makes sense. We’ve been friend for years but never once I saw you stress out because of work. You love writing and enjoy it. When you tell me you stress because of the deadline I thought you’re getting slump but it’s not slump… its broken heart.” I throw my pillow to him and he catches it perfectly.

“Don’t think too much and rest well. I have to go now. Since you don’t have boyfriend now, call me if you need anything okay?” I don’t know if he’s really care or just teasing me. Maybe both.

“Hyung stop drinking! You look like a middle age man drinking alone here!” Loco tries to steal the rest of soju from me and put it back to refrigerator.

“Did she reject his apology?” Jay asks Loco with whisper tone yet I still hear it.

“I don’t ask for her forgiveness! I never want to apologize! It’s not my fault! It was her fault!” I yell half-drunk to them.

“But why there’s a bucket flower here? I thought you go to see her this morning?” Loco questioning me while take the bucket flower near the trash can.

“No! I don’t see her! I don’t wanna see her ever again!” The memory of Dean walking out from her house this morning still fresh and I can’t believe that she already move on while I’m still desperate thinking about her.

“Okay, Sunghwa. How about having fun tonight? You shouldn’t drink alone here. Let’s go!”

The club is quite full tonight. Simon D hyung ask me to join him here to having fun but all I do now is just drinking. I’m not in the mood to meet people and girls here are nothing compare to (Y/N). It just reminds me how fool I am to lose her. After few glasses I need to use bathroom but I can’t walk straight because of the alcohol. I walk carefully until I feel a girl with a drink in her hand bump into me and pour her drink on me.

“Oh I’m sorry! I didn’t see you.” Said the girl when I’m about to explode to her.

“(Y/N)?” 

[myselfinserts]

“Thank god you’re not a surgeon.”

You would think that after years of coming back and forth to visit the school, Ceri would have memorized every pathway back to the stadium and could traverse them blindfolded. Sadly, festivals always seemed to turn places into more of a maze than was is normal. As a result, when he and the rest of the family arrived at U.A. and had gotten immediately lost and separated. 

Not that he was worried. Sorley probably found his sister by now, and Étienne wouldn’t be too far from either Lady L or Renegade before the obstacle course. By the time he found his seat, they’d probably all be together for the most part. When it came to gatherings like this, Sorley tended to stick with the other kids. 

As Ceri made his way back towards the stadium, he noticed a few people staring at him. He wasn’t surprised. It was one of the few days he’d decided to wear a lavender short sleeved button up in public (because like hell he was wearing long sleeves on such a hot day), and with that, came exposure of his scars. He could feel unsuspecting eyes burning into him, staring in shock at the remnants of the flames he’d endured. It didn’t carry nearly the same sting as that fire.

“I better try and find Étienne,” he muttered. “He’s probably worried sick. And trying to convince himself and others that he isn’t.”

God I love that man.

As Ceri made his way through the crowds, a slow feeling of unease started to worm its way into his mind. As though he was being watched by someone sinister. He couldn’t be though, surely. They had guards at every other corner. Heroes were everywhere. No reason to be scared. 

And yet, there was. 

When Ceri had turned the corner toward the food vendors, he froze. The world seemed to fade away. The sunlight vanished, replaced with damp and dark. Standing not too far away was a man he knew all too well. A man who resembled a mighty  dragon on the left side of his body. His dragon eye was foggy and glazed over, a result of the scars on his face. 

And all of Ceri’s scars started to burn. 

“There you are dad. Got lost again? The opening ceremony is about to start.”

Ceri’s eye went wide in fear as he winced. The dragon man was slowly approaching, and the world was slowly beginning to return. Ceri glanced over his shoulder, his blood running cold as he saw Odette standing there in her school tracksuit. She always seemed to appear whenever he got lost these days. 

“Odette,” he stammered nervously. “H-how are you?”

“What’s the matter?” she asked, taking note of his expression. “Are you feeling okay? I came looking for you because papa said you got separated.”

“I-”

“Long time no see, Aylward.”

No. Oh god no.

Odette looked past him, eyeing the man who addressed her father. “And you are?”

The dragon like man smirked. “I’m Willis Drake. Your father and I were...associates back in the day. I was one of his doctors.”

“Funny. He never mentioned you.”

“Really?” Willis smirked, his sharp teeth yellowed and stained with what Ceri hoped was wine. “I’d have thought he’d mentioned me, given his current appearance.”

“What are you talking about-?”

“See, I knew your dad since he was ‘bout your age. He gave me this right shiner here.” Willis pointed to his eye, a sadistic heat slowly radiating off of him. “I can tell you, he got a lot more back in exchange. Thank god you’re not a surgeon, eh Aylward? Imagine what kind of damage I’d have if you were.”

Ceri wasn’t about to listen to this any longer. He stepped back slightly, holding his arms out protectively and keeping his daughter behind him. His arms were shaking, and his knees felt week, but he didn’t care. 

“This is a safe place,” he croaked. “You’re not welcome here. Leave before I call for security.”

Willis’s smirk melted to a sneer. “You really don’t wanna tempt me, Aylward. I’m here on business. You ain’t got the balls to get me thrown out.”

“Try me.”

A long silence was held between them before Wills shrugged, letting out a snicker. “That’s fine then. I’ll be off.” He leaned forward, trailing a long claw just behind Ceri’s ear. “Take care of that pretty little thing. She wouldn’t look near as nice with one o’ these.” 

Before he could respond, Ceri felt a slight heat, and the eyepatch fell from his head, distracting him long enough for a hand to grab his right forearm and leave a nasty burn. 

“DAD!” Odette stepped forward, screaming at the top of her lungs. “Let him go you-!”

“Don’t Odette!” Ceri groaned. 

“But-”

“Don’t.”

Willis licked his lips, letting go with a laugh as he turned away and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the two alone. Ceri’s hand flew to his eye, covering the scar as best he could. Odette reached down and picked up the patch, a gasp escaping her lips at the marks. 

“Putain de merde,” she said. “Papa made with the heat proof fabrics. The good shit. This shouldn’t be possible, how could-”

“Some things aren’t impossible for a dragon.” He looked at her, smiling as brightly as he could manage. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?! Dad, that man burned you! He’s-”

“A ghost of the past. And I won’t let him lay a finger on you.” He gave her a pat on the head. “Now let’s go find your Aunts. I have a feeling they’ll want to hear about this, and they’ll kill me if I hide it.”

Odette shook her head, taking hold of his uninjured arm. “I’m taking you to the medical tent first.”

“Odette-”

“Is everything alright here?”

“What happened?”

“We heard someone yell- Oh my god!”

In no time, Ceri was surrounded by a few of the on duty guards. Creati, Ingenium, and Chargebolt had been clear on the other side of the vendor’s when they heard Odette scream, so the didn’t manage to run into Willis. All the better, he thought. Ceri wouldn’t forgive himself if any of those kids got hurt because of him. The heroes took their statements, with Odette being very insistent that they find and arrest the miscreant immediately. (though she used far harsher words to describe him). After that, Ingenium escorted them to the medical tent personally, while Creati went off to find Étienne and Chargebolt alerted the rest of security.

Odette sat beside Ceri as Mither set to work healing the new burn, holding his hand and resting her head on his shoulder. “Dad...who was that man exactly?”

Ceri let out a sigh, cursing himself for not explaining properly before. “Remember when papa and I used to tell you stories about how I fought a dragon when I was really young? Those exaggerated ones to explain why I look the way I do?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

“Well, that was the dragon. All the burns you ever saw me with were his doing.”

“...Why was he here? Did you use your quirk on him?”

He smiled fondly, pressing a kiss to her forehead and wrapping his good arm around her. “No, I didn’t. I should have but...I was too focused on something far more important than my quirk.”

“I’m sorry-”

“Don’t be. I’m just glad he didn’t hurt you.” He nuzzled her slightly. “I love you, my little Odie.”

“I love you too, dad.”

Étienne and Sorley arrived not long after Mither had finished with her healing, and the four of them were taken to their seats. Étienne had offered one of the spare patches he kept on hand and Mither had offered bandages, but Ceri refused either. 

“I think I want myself out in full force today. I’m lucky to be alive, and I’m going to enjoy it with no covers.”