#HOGWARTS

[ashleigh-luvs-14cats]

@ice-cream-nekogirl BWAAHAHAHAHAHAA~!!!

Sebastian: I hear you like bad boys.

MC: Yeah, I suppose so.

Sebastian: (to Ominis) Tell her.

Ominis: He's literally the worst.

[arayapendragon]

how i shift 🦉

it took me years of experimenting, trial and error to realize i don’t need methods, subliminals and guided meditations to shift. while i do agree that these tools can help you shift, because they do work for many people, my recent experiences have helped me understand that all you truly need to shift is yourself, nothing else. and nothing can ever change that. 

you simply need to have an awareness, which you obviously do ahahaha. to shift, you just need to align that awareness to your desired reality. here’s how i do it:

i decide where i want to shift to, and think about that reality for a while

i acknowledge the fact that my desired reality exists somewhere in the multiverse, and that it is possible to become aware of it

i embrace a “fuck it, whatever happens, happens” mindset and let go. i detach from the outcome (to shift)

i become equally open to both waking up in my cr and waking up in my dr. i put neither event above the other, i am okay with either of them happening. if i shift, that’s great. if i don’t, that’s okay. i can always try again. i have all the time in the world to do so. 

i decide that i will wake up in my dr and fall asleep

i wake up in my dr 

i've noticed that each time i used this technique, i shifted successfully. its helped me with 2 intentional shifts, and several other shifts to one-off dr’s and random realities in the past, so i can assure you that this works! :) this is a simple technique for overthinkers or people who don’t like methods. it helps you embrace your natural talent, and proves how easy, effortless, and natural shifting can be. 

here’s my 2 success stories from using this technique:

last october i was taking an afternoon nap and spontaneously decided to shift to my hogwarts golden trio era dr. i fell asleep while affirming "i am" and woke up on the train to hogwarts, exactly as i'd scripted! i was standing outside the compartment, and all my senses were present in that reality. i could hear the train horn, the sound of the people talking, i could see the interior of the train in front of me, and felt the chugging of the train beneath my feet.

this image is very similar to what i saw during that shift

2. i wanted to shift to my hogwarts legacy dr yesterday night. while falling asleep, i decided that i was going to wake up on the hogwarts express, but was also equally open to waking up in my cr. i didn't mind either outcome. i let go and fell asleep. as i woke up, something felt different. my eyes were closed but i was no longer lying down - i was sitting upright. i was no longer in a still and silent environment - i felt the chugging of the train engine beneath my feet. i quickly realized that i had in fact shifted to my hogwarts legacy dr and was on the train to hogwarts. i shifted back after a minute as i was quite dazed and disoriented, but i shifted nevertheless!

my advice 

don’t try to follow someone else’s steps. do what resonates with YOU, its your journey. 

embrace the process and each step of your shifting journey. demotivation is normal, you’re only human, it won’t stop you from shifting. 

realize that you don’t need anything to shift but yourself. if guided meditations and subliminals work for you, then keep at it! but if you’re not making any progress with them, its time you rely on yourself rather than external aid to shift. the power lies within you, its always been there. 

there's no need to put in effort while doing your method 

simply thinking about your dr and deciding that you want to be there can help you shift

go with the flow, be spontaneous and have fun

stop doing things that aren’t working for you

detach from the outcome of shifting, it will happen eventually, don’t focus on it happening too much

happy shifting! 🩷

[rottenherbs]

Frequent Flyer // G.W x healer! Reader

Request: Reader is a nurse at the Hogwarts infirmary and has a crush on George, after all he's always there after his Quidditch games needing to be tended too.

Word Count: 1.9k

Author's Note:!!! George approx. 7th year - 17-18 y/o. Reader is a learning healer, approx 18 years old // first year out of beauxbaton and interning at hogwarts.. hehe okay enjoy

[masterlist]

Much Love, Saige

——-

Your first job post grad was probably the best and worst decision you’ve ever made. It was hard being a new healer at Hogwarts, especially because of how close in age you were to the students who needed your help. The younger students had no trouble with you, often imagining you were much older than you were. But the older students didn’t trust your abilities and would frequently ask Madam Pomphrey to double check your elixirs before you could mend their wounds.

She tried to assure you that with time students would learn to trust your skill, but it was agitating and troublesome in how much you were undermined. Luckily during most of the warm months you tended to quidditch mishaps and concussions, while during the colder season it was simple fixes for colds and illness. The repetitive nature of the job soothed your worrisome mind.

Familiar faces made it easier to manage, though you worried immensely for how often they were in the infirmary. One redhead in particular made your days worthwhile, no matter how much pain he was in.

“I just got an owl that George Weasley took a bludger to the shoulder and fell off his broom. Could you make a bed for his arrival?” Madam Pomphrey asked, pulling your attention from the book in your hands.

You tend to spend your free time studying quidditch history. You had not known much about the sport before working at the school, but you quickly learned how dangerous the game had been and the injuries that come from it.

Your time at beauxbaton was often spent in the library, working towards your goal of helping others through potions and spell casting. Healing was your calling, but something about the exhilaration of broom flying interested you as of late -

The doors to the infirmary swung open, banging against the walls loudly. Startled, you turned to see Hagrid holding up George Weasley, a shy smile across his face.

”My apologies’ my apologies’’ Hagrid whispered, turning to see the cracked wall where the door had hit it, his shoulders seething slightly as he inspected the damage. “Aye’ promise I'll fix that. Should I put the boy over here?” He motioned towards a large arm chair just to his left. You shook your head holding your arms out to stop him, motioning over to an open cot at the end of the room. Hagrid nodded his head and followed you silently.

Just before you turned your back, your eyes met with George, a wicked smile plastered against his face as he stayed silent, enjoying the fact that he didn’t have to walk himself up the castle to see you.

George kept his lips sealed until Hagrid left, playing off his pain as he massaged his shoulder roughly, his quidditch uniform smearing the sheets with mud.

“I'll get you something to change out of.” You smiled, looking all over his face and exposed skin to determine how poorly injured he was.

“Awe, don't you like a man in uniform?” George wined, his eyes watching your every move. He couldn't help but admire the difference between you two. The sterile nature of your job, the ironed creases in your skirt and nursing cap, the soft feminine scent of your perfume. He sat in the bed lazily, his legs splayed. He looked at his body, suddenly noticing the dirt and grime that had stained the white sheets, sweat still reminiscent on his cheeks, and grass sticking off of his shoes.

”I like a man that's not soiled by the outside elements.” You chuffed, bending down and retrieving a cotton set of plain pajamas from under the bed, turning to roll a privacy curtain closer.

“I’ll have you know, I clean up quite nicely when I have to.” George smirked, tugging his shin guards off and setting them aside.

“That’ll be the day that pigs fly.” You responded, standing between the gap in the curtains, cocking your head to the side.

“You calling me a pig?” George gasped, his hand holding his chest dramatically. You laughed lightly, closing the curtain and distancing yourself from the boy.

Sometimes it felt insane that you cared for those your age, but it felt good to help nonetheless. You just couldn't help how you felt about them after they left…

After a moment, George cleared his throat loudly, waiting for you to return. You bit your cheek, attempting to clear your mind. It was clear from your first day, you had to be professional at the end of the day, no matter who you were healing.

Opening the curtains, you spotted a large growing bruise on his right shoulder, several cuts and scrapes following across his chest.

“This might be your worst visit yet.” You mumbled, squinting your eyes to get a better look. Your hands lightly touched his arm, his muscles tensing under your fingers. He winced quietly, sucking his teeth and facing the other way. You glanced at him as you pressed, trying to find where it hurt the most.

”I’m sorry, I just need to know if it's out of place.” You spoke, softly lifting and rotating his arm, feeling a slight pop as it moved. George kept his attention away from his injury, having a hard time with the pain. Setting his arm down, you pulled out your wand, his eyes opening wide.

”You’re not hitting me with an unforgivable just yet. I can't be that much of a lost cause.” He smiled, flicking his attention between your ward and your eyes. You rolled your eyes, lighting the tip of your wand silently.

“I just need to look at your pupils.” You cocked your head to the side, holding the wand steadily until he allowed you. George pursed his lips and squinted his eyes, turning his torso slightly to better face you.

”Like usual - Just look in between my eyes for me.” Leaning in, you held your wand close to his face, illuminating his brown iris, flickers of gold and amber as you dictated the light.

“I wouldn’t look anywhere else.” He whispered, your eyes catching his as you inspected his pupils. You felt your heart race, blinking rapidly as you tried to focus.

”You have beautiful eyes.” He whispered as you pulled away your wand, standing up to retrieve his intake sheet.

“And you say that every time.” You replied neutrally.

”It's not my fault they haven’t changed.” He shrugged, leaning back casually. You smiled to yourself, holding the clipboard tightly between your hands.

”We'll do simple healing on your cuts and scrapes, but we will have to put your shoulder back in its socket.”

“That sounds pretty rough, doc.”

”It’ll only be.. an uncomfortable experience.. but over quickly.” You tried to say reassuringly, but George could see right through your lies. It would hurt, that was undeniable.

“Could you hold my hand when you do it.” He asked, his lip pouting every so slightly.

“I can ask Madam Pomphrey to-“ You started, tapping your finger as you thought.

“No! Please.” He shouted, surprising you by his echoed response. You looked at him in imitated shock, mouth agape to his distaste of the idea. Goerge cleared his throat, aware of how loud he actually spoke. “I mean..” he whispered. “She’s a nice lady and all. Just got.. rough hands.” He smiled, his hands twitching slightly.

“You’re a strong boy. You’ll be okay.” You laughed, turning to the drawers that cascaded the walls next to the cot.

Small wooden placards labeled each organized bin for aches and pains, burns and scars, even sneezes and sniffles. Your hands grazed the wall, taking a moment to find the right tube of herbal ointment.

You turned back to face George. His cheeks were reddened lightly, almost visibly hot to the touch and his eyes were unable to meet yours. The energy between you two had changed dramatically in just a few seconds and you were unaware why.

Furrowing your brow, you sat in the chair next to the bed slipping on a pair of gloves. You both sat in silence for a second before you opened the tube and began applying the cream to his chest.

“What's wrong?” You asked softly, watching the ointment setting into the skin and lightening the scars. Goerge huffed, his mind wandering across the room, trying his best to calm his worried mind. How could he tell you he was genuinely scared

“I’ve just never….” He started, pursing his lips tightly. “I've never dislocated anything. Skele-gro is my bread and butter.” He laughed, a shuttered tone following each word. His breath hitched as you kneaded deeper into his skin. His skin prickled where your fingers grazed, the feeling of the ointment soothing along with the warmth of your body so close to his.

“I promise it’ll be okay.” You smiled, peeling your gloves off and tossing them in the bin. Goerge rolled his eyes, and smiled back at you.

“You have to say that to me. It’s your job.” He snorted, trying his best to cover his displeasure of your hands off of his chest. Not only did he miss your touch, but it meant it was time to fix his shoulder.

”My job is to help you.” You teased, standing up and leaving his side. George watched you walk over to Madam Pomphrey, speaking for a moment. He watched as you motioned over towards him, Madam Pomphrey nodding and replying in distinctly. His heart raced in fear, trying his best to distract himself, the inevitable happening anytime soon.

He thought of what you’d wear outside of your job, realizing he had never seen you outside of the hospital wing. What you ate for meals, if you liked the rain or the snow more. If you thought he was annoying or charming. If you liked Scotland more than France. If youd say yes to a date..

His day dreaming was interrupted by the sound of two pairs of shoes tapping against the stone floor. You walked in tandem with Madam Pomphrey towards Goerge, trying to calm your beating heart in the small amount of time it took to get to his bed. You both flanked the sides of the cot, Madam Pomphrey on the side of his injured shoulder and you on the other.

“I’m going to ask you to close your eyes.” She spoke, retrieving her wand from her apron. George shot a scared look at you, his face turning white in fear.

“It’s okay.” You nodded, holding out your hand towards him, inviting him to take it. His eyes softened as he looked down, hesitating before grabbing it tightly. His hand was surprisingly soft, you anticipating a rough calloused grip but enjoyed how warm and tender he held you.

“One.”

”Two.”

”Three!”

[rainydayathogwarts]

hi, could I ask for a George Weasley x reader fluff with the phrase "god I missed you do much"?

I was thinking that she's in the same year has Ron and it's her sixth year so they don't see each other until se goes to the burrow for Christmast

God I missed you so much - George Weasley

ʀᴀɪɴʏᴅᴀʏᴀᴛʜᴏɢᴡᴀʀᴛꜱ' 3ᴋ ᴄᴇʟᴇʙʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ!

summary: when you and george have spent the last few months doing long-distance, the reunion is bound to be good. wc: 0.9k+

The chatter all around you was drowned by the sound of your own heartbeat thudding aggressively against your chest. In the midst of your overthinking, your worry had overtaken the excitement you felt. As the train slowed down and the platform came into view, you gulped harshly, keeping an eye out for a tall-haired ginger on the other side of the window. Despite its fogged up state and the falling snow on the other side of the window, you were adamant on finding him. It had been so long since you’d seen George, and you missed his soft touch, joyous smile and comforting words. He was home to you, and being away from him for so long had you fearing things would change between you. 

The train finally skidded to a stop, and your torso jolted forward before your back connected with the seat again. You couldn’t see George anywhere on the platform and despite the windows all being closed, you felt your hands grow cold. Tugging the sleeves of George’s jumper down your hands, you crossed your arms over your chest, leaning closer to the window, eagerly looking for your boyfriend’s awaiting form. Suddenly, reality hit you. Maybe he didn’t come. Maybe the shop was too busy and he couldn’t leave for the afternoon just to meet you. 

A call of your name had you snapping your head back to see your friends looking back at you. Harry, Hermione and Ron had already taken their luggage and were halfway out of the compartment, looking at you expectantly. It was Ron who had called your name, and he was holding your luggage in one of his hands, a soft smile on his face. You stood, taking it from him with a smile and thanking him, slinging your backpack over your shoulder. He wrapped an arm around your shoulder in a brotherly manner, guiding you out of the compartment. Hey, at least if George ditched you, you could cry about it to Ron later.

You tried not the let the disappointment show on your features when you stepped out onto the snowy platform only to see Mrs. Weasley stood there alone with Ginny by her side. He didn’t come. You trudged closer to the pair of redheads, putting on a happy face as Mrs. Weasley brought you into a tight hug, cold wind harshly hitting your face. You heard Ron huff from next to you, and you shot him an apologetic look, shrugging your shoulders at him, but the truth was you were glad she hugged you when she did. Otherwise, you would have probably burst into tears, and honestly the wind didn’t help with drying your eyes. In fact, it did quite the opposite.

When Mrs. Weasley finally let you go and hugged the other three with just as much passion, she announced your departure to the Burrow, and you nodded, completely missing the knowing smile Ginny couldn’t hide. The apparition was quick and uncomfortable, but you knew you arrived when you were engulfed by warmth. Your eyes snapped open, and you bit your bottom lip, shoving your hands in your pockets as you took in the homey sight of the Burrow.

You swallowed harshly, looking down at your feet when someone hooked their arm through yours. You looked up to see Ginny’s wide smile, and she muttered “Put on a coat or something.” You furrowed your eyebrows, mumbling “What?” “Come on, you’re gonna freeze otherwise.” “Which brings us back to ‘What?’ Why would I go outside?” But Ginny was already ruffling through the bag on your shoulder and pulling out your thick winter jacket. After Ginny helped you put it on, her hand was quickly wrapping around your wrist and tugging you closer to the back door. You huffed at her insistent nature, following up with her fast pace until she finally stopped, making you bump into her broad figure.

Ginny stepped out of the way with a proud smile. One that almost distracted you from the surprise she had left you towards, leaving you with your jaw dropped. George was stood a few meters from the back door, a table for two set up in front of him, lit candles floating around it. George didn’t come, no, but he did something better. Fred was stood on the other side of the table, and he gestured for George to come closer. His brother obeyed, and the pair was silent as Fred straightened George’s collar before patting his chest supportively. Ginny giggled at your silence and rushed to open the door, giving you an encouraging push outside. Two heads snapped in your direction, and Fred was immediately taking the long way around George’s romantic set up to sneak back into the house.

Wordlessly, you approached your boyfriend, who observed your face carefully, watching for any tells of how you felt. You sped up your pace towards George, and a smile finally broke out on his face, making his way towards you with his arms wide open. Throwing yourself into George’s arms, you snaked your hands around his waist, letting him dig his head in the crook of your neck, inhaling deeply. 

“God, I missed you so much.” His voice came out muffled, but you laughed joyously nonetheless at the sound of his voice. You pushed George away by the chest until you could finally see his face and your hands were instantly cupping his face and bringing him in for a kiss. George moaned in satisfaction the second your lips connected, pulling you closer to him by his arms around your body. “God,” he repeated “I missed you so much.”

[yuvanart]

[faerie-remuslupinsversion]

We need more fics with living hogwarts!

Like it changes the staircases in the wrong way for people it doesn’t like and directs the people it does.

It loves Remus and Sirius. It loves how Remus explores and documents and perceives it. It always shows him the secret passageways and shortcuts, it responds to Sirius’ anger and always obeys his commands.

It never listens to james, Peter is perpetually lost and they both fight over the map because hogwarts recognises Remus’ magic and listens to them when they have it.

[eastons-creations]

Every time I get a headache/migraine I have the urge to go reread blends lol

[jerry-the-leech]

THE HERSHEY BAR HATH SPOKEN

IM A SLYTHERIN

actually I might not be tho?? Idk what house do you think I’m in?

@daonedaonlysk @lovely-rants-alot @hellincarnation @icantfindmireyaaaa-deactivated2 @eldritchnonsensefromthevoid @witless-winion1 @itsmylovedaydreamdreamdream @ember-child-of-hecate @surprisingly-bitchy-up-here

[sonny201818]

Trouble?? Who, us? 😏

Sebastian & Millie in their Fourth Year. They spent quite a lot of time this year in Sharp’s class scrubbing cauldrons due to detentions from all of their schemes 😅😁

[darkmarkmarauder]

You Look So Pretty When You Obey - T.M.R.

!warning!minors dni: bdsm/punishment

Summary: You’re Tom Riddle’s perfect little plaything—whether you like it or not. Punished, degraded, and bound, you’ll do whatever it takes to get his attention… even if it means begging for discipline. He loves making you squirm, testing your limits with every cruel move. But don’t think you can escape—because once you’re in his grip, he’s never letting go. 

Enjoy the torment.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧? 𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞—𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘/𝐍 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭.

𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆. 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

"𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆." 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲.

"𝐍𝐨𝐰."

𝐀 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧, 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲. "𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭. 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧?"

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬. 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩. "𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐, 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖?"

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭," 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢��𝐧𝐭. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡."

𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐘/𝐍 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧—𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐒𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐘/𝐍 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? 𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰.

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡.

𝐍𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, "𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐩, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧—𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

𝐀𝐡.

𝐒𝐨 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

"𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤.

𝐀 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞.

𝐀 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭.

𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐘/𝐍 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲—𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐧.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐥𝐞��𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥��𝐩, 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

"𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝑻𝒐𝒎," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞.

𝐀 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐡. "𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡."

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞?"

"𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧. "𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕."

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐘/𝐍 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰—𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫.

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐘/𝐍 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝.

"𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔."

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩. 𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

"𝑵𝒐𝒘."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

"𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

𝐘/𝐍 𝒕𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭. "𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐦, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥."

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭, 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬.

"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲," 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐀 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤. 𝐀𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢��𝐞.

"𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰…" 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲.

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠."

𝐀 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝑷𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈," 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?"

𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠.

"𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?"

𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝. "𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐎𝐡, 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕." 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥. "𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟."

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

"𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝, "𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥𝐲.

𝐀 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦—𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭—𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡��𝐲. "𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮—𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐟𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. "𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕, 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆."

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞."

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐜𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞.

"𝐏𝐮𝐭. 𝐭𝐡𝐞. 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦. 𝐨𝐧."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝. "𝐒𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫.

𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭—𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝.

"𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲. 𝐀 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤.

"𝑨𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕."

𝐇𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐀 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐞𝐝.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬—𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭?

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭.

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐩, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐥��𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭, 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬.

𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐮𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞.

"𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞?" 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫.

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

"𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐒𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞?"

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭.

"𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨, 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐋𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝.

"𝐎𝐡, 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, "𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐒𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝. "𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝.

"𝐎𝐡, 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟𝐟."

𝐀 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩, 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤.

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭, 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡—𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖?" 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐓𝐨𝐦? 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐎𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐫. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 ��𝐭."

𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐠𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲—𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲—𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫?

𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐥. "𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞? 𝐎𝐡, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬. "𝐈’𝐦 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲, 𝐓𝐨𝐦."

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭. "𝐎𝐡, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?" 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲."

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. "𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞."

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

"𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 ." 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐤-𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤, 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞?"

𝐘/𝐍 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐚𝐰. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠.

"𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠," 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐒𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐒𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐲. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. "𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. "𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞?"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠." 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠."

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧."

𝐇��𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞."

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞—"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠."

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫.

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭—"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬. "𝐓𝐨𝐦."

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧?

𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

a/n: okay so this lowkey ended up more kinky than I wanted it to BUTTT i couldn’t stop writing it so I kinda just went on and onnnn

so I’ve decided I want to make a smut pt 2 for disarm me or detention again but idkkkj SCHOOL IS SOO HARD im ignoring all my hw cus this is more fun lol

happy reading friends;)

MASTERLIST

[nottsim]

୨୧ the way i smile thinking about his goofy ass is alarming..sigh

[nuttyhatter]

More feral Severus Snape?

Like, I already proposed a Severus that goes back in time and chooses to turn his back to the WW, but now I feel more like getting a Snape that takes a look around, realizes he's back, takes a deep breath, rolls up his sleves, cracks his neck and goes...

"Very well... Bring it on."

A bit like "Falling apart", but with a bit more crack, maybe?

He just doesn't give a fuck, he's got no more shits to give about what's going on. His goal is to have a quite, paceful and solitary life, but he concludes that, with the war going on, he won't get it.

So, he goes around with a single goal in mind. He does consider leaving Hogwarts altogether, but decides to stay just to freeload on the castle while he applies to take his OWL's and NEWT's earlier. He wants a life, after all.

The werewolf pranck? He laughed at Sirius face.

The lake incident? He blocked the levitating spell and punched Potter in the face.

Lucius trying to recruit him? Bleached Hair got a middle finger.

Slughorn trying to talk to him (a weak half-meaning attempt that was more insulting than anything)? An eyebrow raised and no words.

Detention? Ha! Sure... Who do this dumbasses think he is? (A student, Sev... They think you're a kid). He's got no time! He has a Dark Lord to stop!

And when Dumbledore wants to "speak" with him - read: Interrogate him on his latest activities that are getting him out of the castle and into the forest and Hogsmade (and all over Diagon and Knockturn Alley, plus many other places, though Albus doesn't need to know that) -, Severus speaks circles around the old man.

He's tired and angry, and can't stand people anymore, and he is going to get out of there and fix things so he won't have to ever put up with any of them again.

[mae-mae-me]

!!!

Drumroll Please

I have recently come to the decision to share more of my fan fiction on Tumblr, hence this shiny new sideblog to collect all assorted snippets, first chapters, new ideas, so on and so forth. First order of business will be laying out all the fandoms I post for over on my AO3, and putting together a Masterlist with links to each “what if” series. My other blogs here include @triscribe for Shenanigans, @birdsandbatsofgotham for all the DC art/writings I stumble across, and @storiesfromthescribe where I only talk about my original projects.

Featured tags here will henceforth include:

-westeros (my catch-all tag for the various GoT and HotD stories that have begun circling my mind as of summer 2024. Some inspired by other fics, some entirely of my own creation, but there are so many little twists and turns and trails not taken that could’ve sent canon in wildly new directions) The Pack Thrives

-pjo (new as of 2024, I finally watched the new series and guys. GUYS. I love it so much. And I love even more that it’s inspired me to write more in a week than the past two months) The Trade AU

-star wars (originals, prequels, sometimes sequels, plus a wide swath of cartoon show characters and occasionally a reference to the live action ones too) Main Series: What-If AUs and Vod’e An and Visions

-marvel (I am first and foremost a Spidey fan, so he’s usually the one getting tossed into shenanigans with a healthy dose of GotG on the side) Avengers Nonsense Starring Spider-Man and Guardians Shenanigans

-dc (listen. LISTEN. I haven’t touched any comic to have come out in the last decade, but I would never have become a fandom person if not for the Bats, so I will make new AUs based off of their familial nonsense until the day I die) Canon? What Canon? Batfam Stories  and YJ AU Assortment

-hogwarts (for all things Harry Potter, because She Who Shall Not Be Named created a great sandbox that I still love to grab and run with, usually down a road called Total Disregard of the Author) Main Series: Alternate Living Arrangements

-transformers (I’ve got knowledge from half a dozen different continuities and I am not afraid to assemble my favorite pieces into a whole new amalgamation of adventure) (catch-all series to be determined) Cliff and the Kid

-alta (I can remember blowing off a friend’s slumber party to watch The Boy in The Iceberg when it premiered, okay? My fan fic ideas for this show are not a recent development, but actually writing the dang things down and posting them is new and comes in fits and spurts) Avatar AUs

-bnha (My Hero Academia was a bit of an accidental fandom, honestly, but for a year or so it was just about the only thing I wrote for, and there’s a heap of fic on my AO3 account to reflect that) Wild Cards and Something Strange Hit Me and my Doubles AU

-misc (the catch-all, the extraneous, the fandoms I really only dabble with, hence adding an extra tag to keep them all bunched together for quicker identification) Featuring: Back Again (Merlin) and Smallest, Smartest, Youngest (Voltron) and Got to Be Joking (Ranger’s Apprentice)

-originals (which won’t appear here all that often, but since I *do* have a few pieces of my own worldbuilding creations available to read…) Scribe Sampler and The Understudy Project

Alrighty, last couple of links to other websites: Tri on Instagram, where I occasionally post my art of various fandom and canon characters Ko-fi, where one could commission a speedier update to one of my fan fiction stories they particularly love or purchase a signed copy of my self-published novel And as of March 2023, I’ve also got a brand new Patreon account, where the first pieces of big WIPs go up, and you can read the first chapter of my book Wolfen’s Rage for free.

Now then. Who’s ready to read?

[rainydayathogwarts]

Would you consider doing a part two for Sleeping Beauty thats more Regulus focused? I want to see what happens next

Charmed - Regulus Black

summary: sleeping beauty pt.2 - you and regulus have more going on than just a one night stand. wc: 0.7k+

Stepping out of the common room with Lily, the last thing you expected was to see the younger Black brother pushing himself off the wall and marching up to you confidently. Lily’s eyes widened and she very obviously elbowed your side. You straightened your posture, trying to prevent the heat climbing up your face. “Regulus.” The boy was smiling widely, which made it impossible for your cheeks not to ache from the smile trying to appear on your face. You quickly glanced away from Regulus’s intimidating gaze, hiding away from Lily’s even scarier one to look around, ensuring Sirius wasn’t around. 

“I told you I’d see you today, didn’t I?” He asked, scanning your facial expression. Yes, he did. After giving you more orgasms than you could count, encouraging you into his bathroom for a warm bath while lathering soap over your body then offering you a cozy hoodie, walking you up to the gryffindor common room and planting the softest kiss on your lips, Regulus had told you he’d see you tomorrow. But you didn’t think in the least that he would stick to his word, especially knowing how close you were to his older brother. You hooked an arm through his, putting a hand on his bicep as you dragged him down the corridor, abandoning a grinning Lily who directly ran back into the common room to announce the news to Marlene.

It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be seen with Regulus, you just felt slightly guilty. Guilty for flirting with one of your best friends’ younger brothers, sleeping with him behind his back, and now hoping for a relationship to come out of it.

“Sirius was angry at me.” You told the boy, lowering your voice. Regulus’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he pulled you to an empty nook in the corridor. “You told him?” You shook your head, separating your body from Regulus’s and crossing your arms over your chest. “He figured it out.” Regulus chuckled quietly, putting both hands on your shoulders. “I’m surprised honestly. Thought he’d never notice.” 

“Never?” You hummed, smiling teasingly. “As in we could be together forever? And he’d never notice?” You admired the trail of red that travelled up Regulus’s neck to settle on his face, his mouth falling open as he tried to find his words. “I mean, well,” He began, stammering embarrassingly. You stepped closer to Regulus, putting your hands on his chest as he scrambled to give you an explanation. “I know we didn’t go on a proper date or anything, but all that-that flirting I did with you… It wasn’t just to get you into bed. I mean that was amazing! But, but I genuinely meant the things I said and I’d like us to properly go on a date.” 

The hands on Regulus’s chest trailed upwards to  wrap over his shoulders, a smile on your face. “You know, this attitude is totally different than the one you had when you charmed me into your bed.” You mumbled, watching as Regulus’s face leaned closer to yours. His arms wrapped around your waist, and he muttered quietly “Yeah well, I’m confident about my seduction techniques, but I can’t make you go out with me if you don’t like me back.” 

“You’re right. Good thing I do like you back then.” Regulus’s chest deflated in relief, and he dropped his head on your shoulder as his body shook with a reassured laugh. And when Regulus raised his head off your shoulder, his hands instantly came up to cup your jaw, pulling you into a kiss. You moaned at the warmth of his familiar lips, arms tightening around his body to pull him closer to yours. Regulus maneuvered you against the wall, pressing his body against yours only to break away from the kiss as you parted your lips. You huffed, causing a smile to break out on Regulus’s face, and suddenly, the boy’s confident demeanor reappeared. Oh yeah,  you thought, with good looks like that, the boy could whisk you away at any time of the day. 

Regulus leaned down to peck your lips quickly, causing your cheeks to warm up, and for you to look away from him. However, when you averted your gaze, your eyes met Sirius’s stare from across the room. Sirius raised his eyebrows, putting both hands on his hips. Oh well, that was sure to get you a little more than a pillow to the face. But at least he didn’t look angry this time, only amused at the shy expression on your face, completely allured by his younger brother. 

Sirius puffed his chest out. Yeah, he was definitely proud of Regulus’s effect on you. 

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Three young barn owls standing in the stone quatrefoil of Christ Church, Fulmodeston.