#I think if the wigs weren’t so hard front it’d be alright

[pearsonspearson]

The most irritating thing about 911 is the fact that they decided to make Angela’s wig grow over the seasons like 😭😭😭

[punkscowardschampions]

Rio & Buster Pt.1

Rio: Is anyone awake/alive in your room and do they want a coffee

Buster: I am, though I was considering going out for coffee before anybody else is awake/alive

Rio: I don’t think anyone else from last night is going to be up to facing town today

Rio: so I see the appeal

Buster: So come on, get ready to go with me

Rio: You don’t have to ask me and ruin your peace

Rio: barely out of your birthday, you have time to be spoilt yet, I won’t tell

Buster: It was more of a command, and since, as you just pointed out, it’s basically still my birthday, you aren’t entitled to refuse

Rio: Alright 😏 as I did entirely walk into that one

Rio: I’ll go try to find my things and hope they aren’t stuck under some dead/asleep girl

Buster: I could walk back into my costume if you require any more convincing than that, there isn’t exactly much to it, I’d beat you in the race for first even with the head start I’ve given

Buster: Finders keepers, it means you may well luck out on your own shit but Nancy’s remains up for grabs

Rio: You certainly could but I don’t think you could then walk out of the front door, not in the daylight

Rio: Good thing I already lost the wig, a few designer items is one thing, can’t have her thinking I want to take her life

Buster: A dare if I’ve ever heard one

Buster: I’m relieved, yeah, not the plus one I invited

Rio: Obviously, though it’d be as much of one to be seen out with you so can’t say I’m not playing fair

Rio: Yeah, she mentioned you weren’t friends right now, repeatedly

Buster: I can say it’d be an honour and a privilege for you to be seen out with me in any state of dress or undress, with a straight face and everything

Buster: and that of course we aren’t friends, we never have been, she’s my sister, it’s a different category entirely

Rio: It isn’t your straight face anyone would be thinking about

Rio: That we can agree on though, entirely different and much more complicated

Buster: Or looking at, I know

Buster: Last night she made things very uncomplicated, simple, in fact

Rio: Sheer dumb luck

Rio: I can be glad for you, whilst I work up to faking I am for her

Buster: Hard work combined with a genetic lottery

Buster: Are you sure? You weren’t up to your usual standard of deception when I last saw you

Rio: Deception makes it sound sordid

Rio: Turning up to a party to be a bitch to the hostess might be standard here but it’s not really my style

Buster: Obviously, I chose it to make everything sound less boring than it was at the time and yet again is as we relive it in your previously mentioned daylight

Rio: Well, it could’ve just been your bodypaint reflecting off the lights

Rio: but now you’ve confirmed otherwise, you didn’t exactly look thrilled yourself, when I last saw you

Buster: Because I wasn’t, babe, and what do I have to gain by keeping that a secret from you, then or now

Rio: Nothing, of course

Rio: you were the birthday boy, you understand my surprise at the state of affairs

Buster: Not really, given that the state of affairs were a joint party with my twin who couldn’t have been more thrilled by said event and a problem which isn’t shared can’t be halved, so unfortunately it was only the limelight that was

Rio: She’s always been more easily pleased

Rio: Sorry your birthday was shit, though

Buster: She isn’t playing with a full deck, intellectually, it stands to reason

Buster: whereas I am, and as a result, I’ll have many more birthdays she isn’t going to be capable of ruining

Rio: I can toast to that, with a coffee, the bottle that your sister is cradling doesn’t look appealing

Buster: Water or an empty glass is bad luck, coffee shouldn’t make things any worse than they already are, I don’t think

Rio: It’d be fucked up if I accidentally cursed you

Rio: will have to double check, not fancying risking it myself

Buster: Get in touch with grandad, it’s his job to be an expert

Rio: I know he would’ve called you yesterday, the hangover today is practically compulsory and you’d be in no fit state to chat shit with then

Buster: Arguably, I’d be in a better state for it, but I don’t have a hangover because it wasn’t my 30th

Rio: If he wanted a properly captive audience, perhaps

Rio: You know what I mean, you aren’t as rough as you should be

Buster: Neither are you, especially after being forced to act as Nancy’s captive audience, oblivion was deserved and owed to you

Rio: I must’ve been in the bathroom when it was handed out, I don’t know

Buster: You know, but don’t worry, I won’t in turn force you to tell me

Rio: If it was the usual sob story, I would, you could delight in my tragic love life

Buster: Wrong twin, I’d take no delight in hearing about your boyfriends, ex or otherwise

Rio: Delight, torture, it’s a fine line

Rio: but there’s nothing to report

Buster: Report how much longer you’re going to keep me waiting instead, there’s an equally fine line for anticipation

Rio: You’re impatient, therefore blatantly single

Buster: I’m always single

Rio: I know but it’d be presumptuous to not indulge in the catching-up chitchat we didn’t have time for last night

Buster: Small talk is just that, it limits

Rio: So be generous and give me 10 more minutes and we can talk big

Buster: 5 minutes

Rio: Suit yourself, it’s your honour on the line when you have to be seen with me

Buster: Suit yourself if you aren’t going to even try with a counter offer of 7

Rio: 7 ½ is what I’d ask for

Buster: So ask

Rio: Or I just take 7 ½ minutes, and you can’t even be mad because you were expecting me to take 10

Buster: I wouldn’t be mad, I’d be proactive and come find you

Rio: See, now I know any threat to leave without me is empty, could take 15

Buster: The threat, were I to make one, would be that I’d carry you downstairs, ready or not

Rio: That does sound awful

Buster: Don’t take 15 and you won’t need to find out

Rio: Noted 

Buster: [A location he wants to take her to for this date] stops serving breakfast at [a time like midday which it is nowhere near rn we’re just saying it to be sassy]

Rio: Omg, hi grandad! 😘

Buster: I’d happily go with him if he was around, as it stands, you’ll have to do

Rio: [come downstairs, so you’re not taking 15 minutes here]

Buster: [taking her wrist when she’s on the last step as if he has to literally drag her out of this house because she’s so reluctant and has been taking a thousand years but we know why really]

Rio: [dramatically gasp like you are about to fall down this last step and he’s gonna let you hit the deck because likewise]

Buster: [obvs steadying her as dramatically like she is falling/gonna without his help because simply must]

Rio: [shaking our head so we don’t just LOOK at you without saying or doing anything here]

Buster: [not at all basically pushing her up against the front door because it’s saucy af, ONLY because y’all gotta go rn immediately of course]

Rio: [making excuse me kind of noises and whipping around to face him so your back is against said front door, brushing some bodypaint remnant off his neck, rubbing it between your fingers and tutting like see ‘impatient’]

Buster: [you have no reason to be touching her back, sir, but we all know damn well he’s touching her hair like so so glad this wig hasn’t made a reappearance, despite the fact you’ve already said as much and she’s already said it’s lost + a look like you too because she didn’t leave it the 15 mins so clearly wants to go too]

Rio: [rolling your eyes in amusement, as if we’re not also bright red, knowing he’s thinking about said wig ‘I was not dyeing my hair, not even for your 18ths’ pluralizing as if we remotely would for Nancy ever, reach back and open this door, clearly have to prove you can maintain eye contact nbd]

Buster: [‘Save it for my 21st’ with the same amused vibe about her pulling a retro Rihanna as we can’t dwell on how hot or not that would be as a move rn, deliberately not including Nancy’s bday in this because he’s too done to share another birthday party with her but more importantly because we all know you weren’t making costume effort for her, it goes without saying that he’s also maintaining said eye contact while he’s using his body weight and their ridiculous proximity to push her through the then open door]

Rio: [‘I’ll try to remember, if it’s a birthday command’ like oh okay birthday boy ‘if I’m not [wherever Nancy has already said she wants to go for her 21st, probably skiing or some posh nonsense]’ a look like God help me, nudging him back as he’s pushing you through the door, not hard enough to stop him but just because]

Buster: [‘I’ll let her be the one to waste her birthday privileges’ because what a flop move Nancy as per, he isn’t gonna ask this gal to book into a hair salon of all the things he could demand lol, giving her his own look that’s v unimpressed + reinforces could never be me, with a shrug that we’re also using to push her back a little bit] 

Rio: [a noise like yeah, that sounds like her ‘more concerned about mine now’ like excuse me, my own 18th to care about first, walking forward so you stop touching each other for no reason]

Buster: [‘What are you doing, if you’re not [stealing Nancy’s 21st idea to piss her off but doing it less basic because you’re not a flop, gal]’ gotta act like we’re only asking the question to shade Nancy/encourage you to steal her thunder and not because we’re interested/want an invite] 

Rio: [looking at him like because that’s feasible ‘my friends aren’t paying to get pissed up a mountain’ not giving you a response ‘cos we’d still be with the boyfriend who dumps us for OFs in a while, so clearly doing something with him]

Buster: [‘their loss’ but sarcastically because obvs we don’t think it’s a peak fun time either, he’s a sporty boy if he was there he’d ski, sis] 

Rio: [‘tell me about it’ like we’re devastated too and couldn’t think of a million better things to do ‘cold enough at home by my birthday’]

Buster: [telling her about when you have been skiing because of course you have as if she’s really asking ‘Don’t pick a party theme involving costumes and you’ll be fine’ dangerous to remember what you were both wearing last night but he shamelessly is thinking about that mermaid fit, how could he not be] 

Rio: [‘it’s like being chatted up last night all over again’ ‘cos I dread to think the quality of that chat lol; likewise now thinking about that don’t mind us]

Buster: [gotta lol at what she said though so it’s not blatant he’s fuming about her being chatted up by all those flops, don’t wanna think about that, thank you] 

Rio: [‘why’d you fall out then?’ getting back in step with him, gesturing like beside the obvious because we all know what she’s like]

Buster: [‘Didn’t she tell you?’ with a tone that makes it clear we find it impossible to believe she wouldn’t have because she’s that bitch who loves to both overshare and complain/play the victim and feel well hard done by even though she’s actually in the wrong] 

Rio: [‘it weren’t exactly… transparent’ because god knows what she said, if it was true, if it made any sense, we’re not going by that, an eyebrow raise to convey this]

Buster: [‘It never is’ because if she’s not a drunken mess she’s a dyslexic one and it isn’t that she’s trying to be a Taylor style mastermind, or it’s all of those] 

Rio: [a noise like yeah, fairplay ‘don’t usually bother you though’ looking up at him]

Buster: [‘doesn’t it?’ looking at her like are you sure about that, because it definitely does and has always wound him up lol] 

Rio: [doing the ehh hand wave thing ‘alright, you wouldn’t let it ruin your good time then’]

Buster: [‘Well, last night she went too far’ because you did hun] 

Rio: [just looking at him, concerned because genuinely]

Buster: [giving her a look back to get across that we don’t wanna talk about the James of it all because the Chlo of it all is also linked to that and he wants to go there even less] 

Rio: [obviously not pushing it because not the move, shrugging it off like okay, I understand]

Buster: [‘Do you want to talk about what ruined yours?’ because she wasn’t having a good time either, we know] 

Rio: [‘it weren’t your mates or choice of soundtrack’ like I was in a shit mood before I arrived, don’t worry]

Buster: [‘I know’ cos you can’t tell me he didn’t notice her arrive and that she was already not in the mood] 

Rio: [not being so buzzing on the low he noticed you and you can’t help but smile a little]

Buster: [Do some walking hun before this turns into any more of a moment because he’s likewise not gonna force her into having a heart to heart rn]

Rio: [you don’t need to do all that now, you can get to wherever you’re going ‘we’re not doing takeout, are we?’ because 1. We don’t want to 2. Imagine trying to guess every straggler's coffee order, no tah]

Buster: [‘No’ with an almost hilarious amount of feeling there because he doesn’t want to either, the whole point was getting out of the house and leaving those flops behind]

Rio: [the noise equivalent of ‘good’ without actually saying the word, just perusing the baked goods casually]

Buster: [he is 1000% the sort of bitch to order for himself and her without consulting her about it, soz gal, thank god you aren’t the total strangers you pretend to be and he does know enough about you that you won’t totally hate his pick]

Rio: [it’s the sort of thing we’re SO into, even if we have to protest otherwise in amusement for the look of the thing ‘are you always like this?’ 😏 as we’re finding the best spot in this cafe for some privacy and cosy vibes, definitely claiming the armchairs/sofa moment with the coffee table instead of a table, tucking our feet up beneath us]

Buster: [‘Like what exactly?’ as you don’t know full well, sir, was gonna sit him opposite her for the eye contact opportunities but we always do that and if anyone would sit unnecessarily close to her for no reason, he would, so be next to her on this sofa]

Rio: [just looking down at the lack of space between y’all now like yeah, you know what boy ‘an observation, not an insult’]

Buster: [‘Then yeah, I am’ because even though the answer is closer to a no in terms of y’all’s vibe we’re projecting that this is who we always are, of course, besides he is always the arrogant bitch who thinks he knows best hence ordering for you whether you like it or not lol]

Rio: [‘take what you can get, huh’ like very the family motto of you, I see ‘you want me to distract you from your problems with mine then?’ with a OTT sigh like let’s do this]

Buster: [‘No, but I thought you might want to take what you can, like I said earlier, a problem shared is a problem halved, allegedly’ as if you’re the last person on earth she’d want to talk to about anything but y’all have to make do]

Rio: [‘as we’re both here’ with a ‘what else would we possibly do?’ tone ‘it’s a long story though’ pushing his drink towards him as it’s laid on the table by the barista, like you’ll need this, casually brushing your fingers against his before moving your hand away to take your own drink]

Buster: [nod as he takes it because you don’t have anywhere else to be and rushing back home is the last thing either of you feel like doing, cheersing with your drink and hers and taking a drink of whatever espresso based concoction I’m sure he chose]

Rio: [likewise drink some of your own drink before getting into this because not going to kick up a fuss and we obviously like whatever you picked anyway ‘it’s not like you should need three guesses, even now’ like it’s obviously a family thing, you know that much about me]

Buster: [‘I didn’t realise you were waiting for me to guess’ because he’s also that bitch who’d think he could get guess right on the first try, even though in this instance you definitely could not, boy]

Rio: [tut like no, give me a minute, sir ‘if you found out something that could really screw over-’ stopping because Nancy is not going to work for this analogy right now ‘-Ava, or your mum, would you tell them, when if they didn’t find out, they’d carry on being okay?’]

Buster: [‘How okay can they be if they’re being kept out of the loop on something that could screw them over? Something like that, they deserve to know. Not to mention, if I found out about it there’s a chance somebody else could, it would always be better coming from me’]

Rio: [shake your head ‘no one else is going to find out, not in this case’]

Buster: [‘If you can seriously guarantee that, and it’d do more harm telling them, maybe don’t’]

Rio: [nod like yeah ‘that’s the conclusion I reached too, it didn’t make my mood any better, though’]

Buster: [‘It won’t, it’ll eat you up inside, knowing they do still deserve to know’ very comforting boy, thanks so much]

Rio: [a look like oh, great ‘well, that’s brilliant, Buster’]

Buster: [‘I’m not going to lie to you, who does that help?’]

Rio: [do a little lol like ‘me, maybe, boy’]

Buster: [‘If you already can’t handle this you’ll crack and tell them, maybe at the worst possible time, so you’d both be better off telling them while you’re still relatively sane’ again, very nice of you]

Rio: [giving him a nudge like oi ‘I haven’t lost it yet, I’m not going to, thanks very much’ thinking about how long you were stalked and kept that to yourself]

Buster: [‘Good, don’t’ because that’d be BAD and nobody wants it to be a thing, not even this boy who pretends he cares not for most of this fam rn]

Rio: [‘is that the extent of the pep talk?’ like was expecting a bit more from you, bants]

Buster: [‘you just told me you don’t need one’]

Rio: [‘you can redeem yourself’ gesturing like off you go lol]

Buster: [‘wrong twin’ like excuse you I’m not the evil one]

Rio: [‘I had noticed’ like you’re not as bad company, nudging you in a nicer way this time]

Buster: [share something you’re breakfasting on here to prove how nice you are, boy]

Rio: [no need to make eye contact as you eat this food and yet here we are]

Buster: [you definitely don’t need to but here he also is, hence a beat before he speaks and says ‘I have loads of actually insane girls in my messages, if you ever need somewhere to vent, I probably won’t even see it’ because he can’t just be like you can talk to me if you need to xx ILY so there’s that]

Rio: [‘oh tah, I’ll take a look’ putting your hand out for his phone like let’s go but then carry on breakfasting]

Buster: [‘It wouldn’t make you feel any better’ because true, these girls are grim and not what he meant so not gonna hand his phone over ever lol]

Rio: [‘I’ve seen worse’ like your texts and DMs will be no worse than mine boy, but obviously not expecting you to actually show us]

Buster: [‘of course you have’ because she’s a hot girl so blatantly, but with the tone of that’s not the point]

Rio: [looking at him like ? because we missed the point tbh]

Buster: [a lil headshake because like he said this isn’t gonna cheer either of y’all when you can pretend that you’re both not v attractive instead]

Rio: [raising a brow ‘cos we don’t get it but okay, not something we need to push ‘can’t all be bad’ lowkey implying you saw him talking to some girls last night]

Buster: [a look like if you say so because can neither confirm or deny they all suck]

Rio: [‘charmer’ 😏 because we know they’re all flops, we’ve got eyes and ears]

Buster: [‘you’ve met worse’ because we know your boyfriend/past boyfriends you’ve had is a/are flops I’m sure]

Rio: [‘understatement’ because not about to deny that]

Buster: [absolutely have to order something else she gets no say in to really make that point her exes/current bf aren’t it, excuse us]

Rio: [‘you aren’t going to let me get anything in, are you?’]

Buster: [‘You shouldn’t need 3 guesses’ because no he isn’t lol]

Rio: [smile so big shamelessly ‘cos you don’t know what else to do or say]

Buster: [do your own smile back because that shit is infectious and you’re not a psychopath but not as big]

Rio: [‘It’s Liam and Edie’ blurt that out so you don’t something else]

Buster: [obviously he wasn’t expecting to be told that and he was expecting it to be about them even less because they are such a happy couple rn and lowkey always, but he can keep the !! off his face because he’s that bitch, blatantly trying to work out what’s occurring because she said nobody is gonna find out so it can’t be a cheating scandal or something like that]

Rio: [‘Liam, actually’ attempting to make that make more sense when you see his face, however briefly the confusion is there, ‘cos you know that was out of nowhere ‘it was years ago’ sounds like you slept with him now]

Buster: [having a drink/food pause while he tries to work out what the hell she means there because doesn’t believe Rio would’ve slept with Liam, she’s not that bitch ‘But you found out recently’ because clearly so not a ?]

Rio: [nodding, spinning her mug on the table ‘it took a while to work everything out, be sure, not that I am, it’s still so…’ trailing off ‘cos what even]

Buster: [the way he reaches out when she’s spinning that mug and just puts his hand on her wrist because of course he does, it’s obvious she’s upset before she’s even said anything, and then doing like a reassuring thumb sweep when she says what she does]

Rio: [doing the thing where you wipe your eyes like I’m fine, I’m fine, even though you’re not actually crying or anything that dramatic right now ‘I used to get these weird messages, started the summer before we turned 13, lasted about 2 years’ doing a deep breath ‘cos it is a long story and you’ve never had to tell it before ‘knowing where I was, what I was doing, that sort of thing’]

Buster: [‘Until they got together’ because it doesn’t take a genius to work out with her literally telling him the timeline]

Rio: [‘in hindsight, it’s all obvious, that’s the point’ because exactly]

Buster: [‘obvious isn’t the word’ because nobody would see this coming]

Rio: [‘yeah, it started and ended on his birthday, worked it out’ shrugging like it’s not a big deal]

Buster: [‘his birthday?’ because that’s a weird detail, soz Liam]

Rio: [‘I kept the messages’ because yeah, we don’t know why either but that’s when we got this surprise message, which we’re finding to show him now ‘there’s not been any since’]

Buster: [Reading all these messages, simply must ‘What the fuck’ basically under his breath while he is because how wild and not at all where he thought this convo would go]

Rio: [‘I know’ because we’re still processing this ‘his sister died’ because doesn’t take a genius to work out the why, even though we don’t know why us]

Buster: [likewise trying to process this ‘We don’t know if he’s better now’ because that was mentally ill behaviour Liam, we can’t pretend otherwise, soz hun, and only Edie is gonna be the one in the know with the true tea if he’s well or NOT WELL these days]

Rio: [‘it’d been years, I’d forgotten’ we definitely hadn’t forgotten but we weren’t actively thinking about it, is what we really mean ‘I mean, he never did anything really weird’ by which we mean something sexual ‘cos what we assume and what the vibe is with random internet weirdos]

Buster: [‘this is weird, babe’ gesturing at her phone because it is]

Rio: [‘yeah but-’ and just looking at him because don’t want to admit the fact Edie wouldn’t side with us, if we brought it up, but you know, we all know that much]

Buster: [looking back at her because it goes without saying he understands all of that which she was communicating with her look, nevertheless, gotta say ‘But there’s no time limit on grief, his sister’s still dead and he’s with yours’ because it’s a valid point, y’all don’t know if he’s doing different weird shit now to cope, we know he isn’t but]

Rio: [shaking your head so hard like no no ‘she’d not put up with that’ because now we’re clearly thinking the worst, however sure we’re trying to sound]

Buster: [‘With what though? We have no idea where her line is or how close he is to crossing it with whatever he could be using as a new coping mechanism since he stopped doing all this’ because you don’t or what’s going on behind closed doors either, obvs]

Rio: [‘don’t make me change my mind when I’ve just made it up’ like oh my God, because we’re back into the rock and a hard place we were before we’d made up our mind last night and were then in a sad af mood]

Buster: [‘They’ve got a kid together’ because as close as he’ll ever get to outright being like maybe I was wrong to say you shouldn’t tell her, it’s okay, sir you didn’t have all the info then, you’re allowed to change your decision]

Rio: [‘exactly’ because that works both ways]

Buster: [look at her because yeah okay also valid]

Rio: [resting your head on his shoulder like ffs because literally]

Buster: [‘we’ll figure it out’ idk how you will, boy, but it’s your vibe to say that and mean it]

Rio: [‘yeah?’ quietly, still on your shoulder]

Buster: [‘yeah’ with all the conviction ever because he’s a child of baze so of course, proactive forever and always]

Rio: [eventually,lift your head up and smooth your clothes and hair down ‘sorry’ patting his shoulder where your head just was for the unspoken thank you too]

Buster: [‘Don’t be’ again really sincerely because she’s got nothing to apologise for remotely, she doesn’t need the help fixing her hair or clothes but he is for that excuse to touch her, we all know it]

Rio: [‘so I look shit’ but the way we’re saying it and giving you !! eye contact about it changes the vibe entirely]

Buster: [shaking his head without breaking that eye contact for a single second]

Rio: [‘one thing out of this weekend’ not really specifying what you mean there but could be as innocent as at least I’m still slaying]

Buster: [order her another coffee like that’ll also make things better but we all know the reality is you wanna stay here longer and it’s probably the sort of place that they’d chuck you out if you’re loitering]

Rio: [‘gonna be buzzing again’ because I’m sure you both got some level of high last night, even though neither of you were smashed, coke isn’t like that]

Buster: [‘you’re welcome’ because you’ll need it to deal with Nancy’s bs because you can’t just leave without being like hi and bye babes]

Rio: [‘I owe you, more like’ because I’m sure you didn’t get him a present ‘cos you’re not meant to have a clue what he might want and Ali as their auntie would’ve got something from y’all, obviously]

Buster: [‘course you don’t’ shout out to whatever present you got Alison, love you]

Rio: [nod like yes I do ‘not got to return the favour’]

Buster: [‘you can owe me for the new skis when you unwrap them on your birthday and return them the day after’ because bants bants]

Rio: [loling ‘better fucking not’ like there’d go my excuse for not going]

Buster: [‘What do you want? I know it’s not only [whatever baze are sending, realistically either money or gift cards cos they are rich and busy]’ when you know she’s a sentimental bitch who likes feelsy gifts not just a materialistic one]

Rio: [‘I could send you my list’ for the bants but we’re also not going to ask for anything seriously because we’d feel bad about not getting you anything now ‘Had to get Nance [some perfume or something]’ because she invited you]

Buster: [‘Or you could just think of something right now’ not at all subtle move to get you to think about something else that isn’t the Liam of it all]

Rio: [‘Don’t you like surprises?’]

Buster: [‘Oh okay, you’d rather I surprise you’ as if she’s doing her own not at all subtle hint there lol]

Rio: [an expression like not going to say no, even though we’re sure you won’t really ‘obviously’]

Buster: [‘noted’ because I’m definitely gonna have to get him to send you a bday present whatever you’re doing to celebrate, he’s that bitch]

Rio: [‘come on’ pulling on his hand but not actually getting up, like I need to take you shopping immediately now]

Buster: [amused, acting as if he’s gonna arrange for that 2nd coffee he ordered them to be a take out one like okay then]

Rio: [‘it’s barely belated if we hurry’ because we have been briefly distracted here so well done]

Buster: [when you’re for real tempted to actually go because she’s so cute about this]

Rio: [‘you didn’t get nothing what you wanted last night’]

Buster: [‘you don’t have to take it upon yourself to redeem my shit 18th’]

Rio: [shrug ‘I could’ like don’t get it twisted honey]

Buster: [😏 because the ego has amused him but also there’s no lie detected, she easily could]

Rio: [folding her arms like believe me boy, faux grumpy]

Buster: [putting some food into her mouth like a heathen but gotta as if she needs cheering up that badly]

Rio: [👁👄👁 for real because any response would be INAPPROPRIATE] 

Buster: [literally gonna have to say they bring that 2nd coffee to y’all’s table rn because I don’t trust this boy]

Rio: [distraction o’clock thank you kindly barista, swallow that food and move yourself away slightly]

Buster: [at least you can thank said barista for bringing that because your drink would be too hot to take a sip of and I do need you to hush atm sir]

Rio: [me like remember you’re meant to be sad miss ma’am ‘so-’ clearing your throat ‘I should tell her?’]

Buster: [think about this logically please and don’t just answer rashly ‘Wouldn’t you want to know?’]

Rio: [trying to imagine but you don’t have a child with anyone and haven’t had a relationship that serious ‘only if he was doing anything to me’]

Buster: [‘She won’t tell you if he is until you talk about what he did to you’ because true Edie’s not just gonna be like guess what everyone Liam’s a right weirdo because x y z out of nowhere]

Rio: [bite your lip, nod because yes, that is true]

Buster: [‘But I understand the urge to believe his fucked up behaviour towards you is the beginning and end of it’ because it’s not like he wants Edie to be in peril here either]

Rio: [‘there’s no signs’ just thinking out loud because obviously we have never considered this until this bombshell ‘could be overreacting’]

Buster: [‘It spanned years though’ like are we overreacting because that is not at all casual and in fact a lot Liam]

Rio: [‘he was a kid’ not really enough of an excuse but ‘maybe I upset him’]

Buster: [‘so were you, what could you have possibly done to warrant any of it?’]

Rio: [‘maybe I overstepped, was too much?’ re. being nice to his sister and then his grief after]

Buster: [‘No, Rio’ using her name for the first time because it’s important she listens since she’s not that OTT bitch and we all know it]

Rio: [a yeah well sort of noise but we’re not going to insist ‘cos not dying for that to be true]

Buster: [‘it wasn’t your fault’ pulling her gently by both wrists as he turns his body so y’all are facing each other and close af again, in the same manner of listen to me this is important ‘However he reacted to you sending your condolences, that’s all you were doing, you didn’t do anything wrong, you did a kind thing’]

Rio: [properly look at him and take this in, whether or not you fully agree with what he’s saying doesn’t matter, you’re still hearing it and taking it in ‘I don’t understand it if he’s doing it again now though’ because what if he did fully start again, thankfully not]

Buster: [‘I don’t understand why he did it in the first place, our parents have a dead sister and they didn’t immediately start stalking anyone’ True but all the mcvickers kids are ridiculously codependent af and weird as we know and probably shouldn’t be used as a good example lol]

Rio: [shrug ‘Grief isn’t always rational, is it’ because Joe is also there as an example of losing it, at least from everyone else’s POV]

Buster: [his own shrug because you do have a point there, you can’t apply rational thought to this, lads and if we are being evil giving baze another baby after the twins and before Ava who died, I’m sure they haven’t always behaved rationally about it, the point being regardless that y’all have already seen different examples of it and know it’s different for everybody ‘I said as much myself before, but that doesn’t give him a free pass to treat you like that and then start a new life with Edie as if he didn’t do any of it’]

Rio: [‘I’m just going to have to get over it though’ because yeah, what can you do but at this point, push your drink away like this is a meeting and it’s over]

Buster: [‘Bullshit, however happy they are, or aren’t, now, he used you and your sister to get there, you have to tell her that’ because he’s not having that]

Rio: [‘Isn’t that what everyone does?’ sans the stalking element being conveyed with a ‘you know what I’m saying’ wave of the hand]

Buster: [‘No’ because he can’t just casually put aside the stalking element here when he thinks it’s not at all at coincidence that Edam is together now ‘she needs to know calculated it all is’]

Rio: [‘surely if it was calculated, it’d be me not her?’ sounds arrogant but I understand your point ‘why didn’t he try to get with me?’ we know full well you don’t have the answers to that question either but telling Edie is such an uncomfortable prospect we’re doing anything to avoid it being reality rn]

Buster: [‘You’re out of his league’ said so matter of factly here it makes me cackle because this boy is acting like Liam is fugly instead of looking how he does, but I get it you think he’s v strange and that Rio is perfect so ‘not to mention on totally different wavelengths’ because true Edam have so much in common meaning y’all don’t at all, and nobody could accuse Liam of faking that for all this time to get with Edie because why and yeah if he was gonna fake a personality he’d try and do it for Rio]

Rio: [doing a ‘ha!’ like no I’m not ‘so he stalked us both and worked out she was more interesting?’ pausing for a sec then doing another shrug like sounds legit ‘not great for building my confidence but alright, sure’]

Buster: [‘Interesting isn’t the word’ because no thank you ‘available is’ not trying to call her a slag but he knows damn well that she would’ve not been without a bf during that time]

Rio: [‘not a save you need to make’ like it’s alright ‘point is, he clearly actually loves her’]

Buster: [‘It doesn’t change the fact he coupled with her for the wrong reasons initially’]

Rio: [put your head in your hands and do a big sigh because yeah ‘for fuck’s sake’ under our breath]

Buster: [putting an arm around her cos so soz this sucks and he’s the kind of bitch who has to say this and not just hush]

Rio: [sit yourself back up and shake it off because never trying to be this much of a downer ‘can’t do anything ‘til I’m home so don’t worry’]

Buster: [push her drink she pushed away back towards her like you might as well drink this then]

Rio: [cheers him again like that’s the vibe]

Buster: [take a drink and a sec because that was a lot of info to take in]

Rio: [raising our brows like I know ‘so many people I thought it was I need to apologise to now’ like adding this to the to-do-when-home list]

Buster: [‘no you don’t, you wouldn’t have suspected them for no reason’ like they must’ve been doing some shady shit/not been very good friends etc to be on the list in the first place]

Rio: [‘it makes you a bit paranoid, obviously’ like idk, it’s not like you can rely on what you think, that’s sort of the point]

Buster: [‘Obviously, that doesn’t mean you didn’t have a point distrusting those specific people’ because he doesn’t actually think she’s lost her mind then or now]

Rio: [do a half smile at him ‘you’re cute, and I’m not having a breakdown so you don’t have to be nice’]

Buster: [‘I’m not being nice, your boyfriends have just given you such ridiculously low standards that you think I am’]

Rio: [shaking your head like not going to address that lol ‘nicer than you usually are, I meant’]

Buster: [‘I’m not having a breakdown either so you can keep your backhanded compliments’ more amused than annoyed though]

Rio: [‘I’m always nice’ like excuse you, this is normal for me, but we’re also amused]

Buster: [‘I’ll remind you you said always when we get back’ because being nice to Nancy this am will be a trial 😏]

Rio: [😬 ‘I might go hit the town instead’ like you’re right, that sounds awful]

Buster: [he’s clearly joking but telling her what shops to hit for his bday present she owes him]

Rio: [‘you can pay for the car I send it back in’ like okay but I am NOT coming back]

Buster: [just nod like okay cos you know he would]

Rio: [‘don’t let any of your friends take it when they head’]

Buster: [‘Don’t do yourself down’ like she’s dragging herself and her gifting for that to happen because none of his friends have any taste because rich people don’t lol]

Rio: [folding your arms like you’re fuming ‘because it’ll be a gift worth stealing, boy’]

Buster: [a look like not to them, girl, they only want flop things]

Rio: [‘I’m not just avoiding Nance’ like yeah, I’ve met them all]

Buster: [‘me either’ because agreed]

Rio: [‘you should go do something today that you actually want to too’ tilting your head to the side ‘go on, what do you want to do, anything on the table’]

Buster: [tell her about whatever plans you’ve already made whether that’s football or boxing or whatever because he’s that kind of person who is always busy with something 24\7 but adding ‘If anything was on the table, it goes without saying I’d leave London, I envy you that option’]

Rio: [‘Too bad we can’t swap that easily without notice’ because we’re not trying to rush home now ‘Christmas break before you know it though’]

Buster: [‘Coward’s way out’ are you trying to convince/comfort yourself or her or both of y’all there, boy, cos good luck lol ‘Yeah, blink and it’s your birthday instead of mine’ because they are pretty close together tbf]

Rio: [‘you’re always alright’ tapping your hand that’s holding your mug against his ‘be so busy studying this whole school year’ do a little smirk like oh you nerd ‘meanwhile I do have a party of my own to plan, yeah’]

Buster: [‘Not so busy I’ll forget to send your present, don’t worry’ returning the smirk ‘I’ve already decided what I’m buying you’ because of course he has]

Rio: [doing the thing where you’re mid-sip so all you can do is widen your eyes dramatically and put said drink down with as much haste ‘you have to let me go then or you’ll be getting your present on my birthday instead’ as if he’s distracting you to cheat at this non-competition]

Buster: [‘I wouldn’t open it until Christmas’ like nice try but I simply refuse to steal your bday thunder]

Rio: [‘wrong twin, right?’ like I’m catching on]

Buster: [‘Exactly’ because yep Nancy so would and we all know it]

Rio: [‘the obligatory invite you’d both have to have is a good advert for not having a party’ lumping you in like it’s not blatant you’d be absolutely fine having him there lol]

Buster: [‘Granted, it’s too late to accuse her of stalking you, but there’s plenty of other plausible reasons to fall out with her, and time to’ acting like it’s so bants and oh Nancy vibes but he’s fuming at her for the James stuff so]

Rio: [can definitely tell it’s more deep than her just generally being a messy nuisance but to push looks like you just want gossip and we don’t want that being assumed, just nodding and mm-ing like so true ‘no chance of her following you to whatever uni you end up getting into’ all the shade, soz girl]

Buster: [‘Unless she played the disability card for a pity place’ because they sure did treat dyslexia like one when I went to uni and you definitely would play on it if you did wanna go, thankfully she does not ‘fortunately, there’s bound to be a bare minimum required even of those students that’d put her off’ because we know what you’re like, sis, all the deserved shade]

Rio: [‘Whatever one [reel off her besties names, not caring if they’re right or just posh girl stereotypes] pick, is more likely’ we know you’ve peaked and would wanna try and ride that wave as long as you could but you’re defs 1st year dropout vibes, as if I can talk lmao ‘of course you know exactly what you want already’ because the least surprising thing]

Buster: [Defs amused at the posh girl stereotype names that are too accurate for these gals ‘Come on, what’s the most likely is they’ll hate her long before then’ because tea, you’ll never stay friends with them for that length of time, you’ve blatantly got a new bestie every 5 secs hun ‘I always have, you know that about me’ we’ll all try not to get into that double meaning even though he’s obvs giving EYE CONTACT as he says it]

Rio: [when you can’t be blushing about University plans so you just have to act like you’re holding your tongue sassing Nancy any harder and that has you flustered, not believable but there we go, you tried ‘if you’d changed that much…’ because you’ve always been that boy ‘I know what I want, just not entirely sure Uni needs to or does feature in that’ because obviously we have our plans that can be put into motion on our bday]

Buster: [‘I’m glad you haven’t changed that much yourself’ because she’s that bitch too it’s why y’all end up being a power couple like his parents are despite doing it very differently ‘sitting here and holding my tongue isn’t who I am or ever have much chance of becoming’ because he wouldn’t be about it if you were a flop and he’d have to let you know, soz]

Rio: [‘Who would I change for?’ For the bants of I’m incredible and everyone loves me so much, gesturing at ourselves like hello; but there’s also the unspoken realness of that being a necessity for him and us being aware of that ‘you can think and say whatever you want but money talks louder, babe’]

Buster: [do a final cheers before you finish this coffee because she is incredible and money does talk she’s not wrong there either]

Rio: [cheers him back and after a beat ‘when do you have to go [boxing/football/whatever]?’ casually like when are you leaving but not at all]

Buster: [shoutout to the Rolex he gives her because he’s checking it rn and obvs answering her, I doubt he has to rush off because he never has to rush anywhere he’s always sorted schedule wise]

Rio: [‘point me in the right direction then?’ gesturing to the door like show me where you shop for my gifting trip]

Buster: [there is no need or excuse for this boy to literally get up and take her to these shops himself but we all know that’s what’s happening, not at all casually expecting her to follow him like come on]

Rio: [obviously we are like lead the way]

Buster: [we’re doing it, you both need the distraction and deserve a nice time]

Rio: [we’re not sorry, you can only bop in an entirely platonic way around these shops]

Buster: [I’m not sorry that I’m imagining a really cute and cliche shopping montage rn]

Rio: [y’all would be having a lovely time, no reason not to and no one to stop you, even if Nancy was awake by now, she would be annoying the people still hanging around the baze gaff]

Buster: [Just his sporty boy plans that he’ll be gutted to have to leave for at some point too soon]

Rio: [we’re not at all devvo’d, nope]

Buster: [Likewise, but you can’t cancel your plans and admit you wanna stay, sir, y’all aren’t there yet]

Rio: [and you can’t invite yourself so you stay shopping and act like you have no interest in anything otherwise]

Buster: [Hang in there lads, we’ve gotta cockblock you for now but it will soon be Christmas and we’ll get the moments going again lol]

Rio: [for now, a match time or thereabouts later]

Rio: Did you win?

Buster: I don’t lose

Buster: Did you buy me [a pisstake on whatever perfume she had to buy Nancy]?

Rio: Do you think I was doing my best work there?

Buster: You were doing what you were told, as per, best behaviour

Rio: She knows what she wants, I suppose

Buster: It’s a shame you didn't decide to surprise her with something she wouldn’t 

Rio: A shame for you

Buster: Us both, it’d be as good for you in the long run

Rio: How so?

Buster: You don’t need me to tell you you’d be better off on her bad side than you would as her best friend

Rio: I’m not her best friend, or going to be

Buster: I know that, but you could do more to make it obvious how much you’d prefer not to be, she’ll always need the clues

Rio: I could start a bitch fight before catching my flight

Rio: bets on one already going on in your house or in the DMs if they pissed off before she awoke

Buster: I can’t condone it, your hair would make you a really easy target 

Buster: and I’m definitely not going to bet against anything like that happening

Rio: Put it up and take out the hoops before, obviously

Rio: Not my first rodeo

Buster: Still

Rio: I don’t know what she did

Rio: but I can tell it’s bad and I have no reason to trust her or disbelieve you

Buster: It isn’t her first rodeo either, you wouldn’t need the 3 guesses if I was offering them to you

Rio: What are you going to do?

Rio: Genuine question not sarcasm

Buster: I did what I had to do last night 

Rio: From now then, it’ll get better?

Rio: for you, I’m obviously not holding my breath for her taking note or anything

Buster: There’s no other option, I’m certainly not letting it get any worse  

Rio: Good, you’re taking charge

Rio: there’s nothing else you can do, everyone else will do what they will, your sister included

Buster: The same will be true for yours, when you tell her about Liam, all you can do is give her the facts, she’ll do whatever she wants with them 

Rio: Yeah, true

Rio: I guess I’m just more concerned with her reaction, as she isn’t in my shit list right now

Buster: Her reaction and the consequences of what she decides to do, yeah 

Rio: I know what will happen, or what won’t

Buster: Yeah, anything else he’s made you doubt over the years, there’s none about how Edie will take this, she’s like your mum, giving people second chances long after everyone else has lost count of the actual number

Rio: You say that like it’s a bad thing

Rio: I’m not worried about the chance she’ll give him, it’ll be the chance I don’t get

Buster: It is, if you don’t know when to stop, or like you said, the wrong people are given the chances 

Rio: You might feel different when it comes to the actual practicalities of cutting your sister off

Rio: you haven’t had anyone in your life like that before, we all have

Buster: I’m not suggesting it’s even close to a similar situation, your sister is the one about to get her weakness exploited, mine is the type to exploit people

Rio: You don’t know that, they’re clearly fine, better than fine and most couples I know

Buster: They’re not fine, he’s been keeping something huge from her for their entire relationship, involving you her sister

Rio: And you’ve already pointed out she isn’t going to see it as huge

Buster: You do though

Rio: Did, maybe

Rio: I’ll be fine

Buster: Again, fine isn’t the word

Rio: Look, forget it, I shouldn’t have bothered you with it

Rio: I’m just on a comedown 

Buster: Forget trying to fob me off

Rio: I forgot how annoying you are

Buster: Because I’m the one in the wrong here, sure

Rio: Wait, am I in the wrong or a massive victim

Buster: That depends what your next move is

Rio: 🙄

Buster: And it’s me being annoying

Rio: Like you’ve never done anything you regret at 14, now even

Rio: Doesn’t he deserve a chance to explain himself?

Buster: He isn’t the victim, he’s the perpetrator 

Rio: I’m not scared anymore

Buster: The point is, you were

Buster: he did that, there’s no excuse

Rio: an apology doesn’t count for anything, no

Buster: Exactly

Rio: I’ll think about it when I have to, right now I can be distracted

Buster: Don’t let me stop you then

Rio: Okay

Buster: Okay

Rio: You could at least say bye, be polite

Buster: I could, but if I did you’d have no opportunities left to point out my character flaws

Rio: Hardly

Buster: As far as seeking distractions go, you could do a lot better, I already agreed

Rio: I don’t need pointers

Buster: You don’t need a polite goodbye

Rio: I’ll survive without one, yeah

Buster: Good

Rio: What are you mad at me for

Buster: Why aren’t you mad at him?

Rio: I’m not not but it makes sense

Rio: it’s better it was Liam than some random who wasn’t grieving and was just creepy

Buster: That creepy random wouldn’t be in your life forever, at least

Rio: Could be

Buster: Maybe, but I wouldn’t have to ask myself if I have enough willpower to avoid hitting him and ruining Christmas

Rio: Of course you do

Buster: Okay, well if I want to exercise it or I’d rather beat the shit out of him

Rio: You know you can’t, it’s already a fucking mess of a situation

Buster: I know

Rio: You can ignore him, it’s not like he’s super social

Buster: I will

Rio: Thanks

Rio: I’m sorry

Buster: You have nothing to be sorry about or thank me for

Rio: I don’t want to ruin anyone’s Christmas

Buster: It isn’t you

Rio: I told you, you’d have no idea otherwise

Buster: I’m not mad you told me, only that there isn’t more I can do

Rio: Telling you wasn’t terrible, that was something

Rio: it was a relief

Buster: Of course, bottling shit up is just going to make you feel worse

Rio: It would’ve been worse telling anyone when I had no clue who it was and it was happening all the time

Rio: it would’ve just freaked everyone out

Buster: I understand why you didn’t

Rio: You wouldn’t of either, right

Buster: No, I think you did the right thing

Rio: So I do owe you a thank you

Buster: You wish, that way I won’t be able to refuse whatever present you’re shopping for as easily

Rio: Why would you refuse, it’s going to be the best present you got

Rio: beside whatever your parents got you, I’m not making those promises

Buster: Good save

Rio: It was your 18th, if they didn’t go hard that’d be terrible parenting

Buster: It’s a shame I won’t have to let them know you think they’re bad parents

Rio: Wait ‘til I’m out the country, tah

Buster: You’re desperate to owe me something, now it’s a favour

Rio: Well it’s not as if you’re going to do a secret for a secret

Buster: Wrong twin

Buster: she’d happily distract you with her own drama if you weren’t avoiding her

Rio: I have plans now

Rio: that don’t involve an IV and a facial

Buster: When’s your flight?

Rio: Not ‘til tonight, so I can have dinner at [a fancy restaurant]

Buster: You’ll like [a different fancy restaurant] more

Rio: Yeah?

Rio: I’ll let them know

Buster: Trust me

Rio: Blame your friend for not picking it first

Buster: I told you none of them have good taste

Rio: I wasn’t aware that extended to actual food

Buster: Why wouldn’t it?

Rio: It’s a very specific diss

Rio: I’ll see what he orders

Buster: I should’ve said none of them make good decisions instead, I thought you knew what I meant

Rio: The dig @ me wasn’t subtle but I was choosing to ignore it

Buster: It isn’t a dig at you 

Rio: 😏 mhmm

Buster: One of my friends going out with you isn’t a wise move on their part, that’s all 

Rio: It’s dinner

Buster: The plans themselves are irrelevant, except for how well they prove my point

Rio: Why, like I’m going to eat alone

Buster: You have other options 

Rio: Not on short notice, I know none of them have any other plans today

Buster: You also know I’d go with you 

Rio: I already took up too much of your time today

Buster: No you didn’t 

Rio: Oh, well

Rio: I don’t want a pity hangout though, that’s never the mood

Buster: Come on, you know me better than that

Rio: Yeah, okay, but no one else knows about the stalking thing so 

Rio: they can’t talk to me about it

Buster: We don’t have to talk about it either 

Rio: I know you better than that, boy

Buster: You clearly don’t, babe

Rio: A bit 🤏

Buster: You should know better than to underestimate me

Rio: If anything, it’s an overestimation, reckoning you HAVE to tell me what to do

Buster: You did the right thing last time, you will this time too 

Rio: I appreciate the faith

Buster: I know you well enough 

Rio: You’ve been annoyed by more annoying family members recently, you don’t need to be mad at me too

Buster: Unless you stand me up and I have to eat alone 

Rio: Why would I do that

Buster: You won’t, so I won’t be mad at you

Rio: Thank God, I don’t need that, my boyfriend already will be

Buster: You need [whatever fancy af cocktail is a special at this restaurant]

Rio: I definitely do

Buster: Meet me at [a time]

Rio: Okay

Buster: It’ll give you time to cancel on [the name of whatever friend he knows it is], listening to his sob story included

Rio: It’s so not that deep, if he tries it… 🙄

Buster: I’ll order you a double, don’t worry

Rio: So thoughtful

Buster: You’re welcome 

Rio: Are you going to get a [whatever his favourite drink is]

Buster: I’ll join you in [the cocktail because he’s a secure boy]

Rio: Are the prices that excessive we’ll have to share 🤔

Buster: My parents taught me sufficient manners to foot the bill

Rio: I never actually said they were bad parents, FYI

Buster: I remember, barely a threat never mind a promise

Rio: And I only asked you to be polite

Buster: And I listened, so don’t start an argument with me about paying your way

Rio: You’ll only want to remind me you can afford it, so I won’t

Buster: It isn’t a reminder either of us need

Rio: I paid for my flights and the presents, that’s enough willing shown, anyone would agree

Buster: More than 

Rio: For your sister, perhaps

Buster: For her, definitely 

Rio: as she didn’t even have to drunkenly listen to my problems as she was too busy creating her own, yeah

Buster: As well as a headache for me

Rio: It’s really unfortunate you’re twins

Rio: it’s the same with Janis and Grace, they’re the least alike

Buster: We could have plenty in common, it’s her priorities which are unfortunate

Rio: I don’t think you’re anything alike

Buster: I think that’s the most genuine compliment you’ve ever given me 

Rio: You’re only 18 once, like

Buster: Don’t remind me, you mentioned having regrets before, that party has earned a place on my list

Rio: It probably never lives up to the hype, it’s truthful, far as consolation goes

Buster: It easily would’ve if I’d been in charge of it

Rio: It’s just a number then

Rio: 19 is the new 

Buster: Was it your boyfriend who said age is just a number?

Rio: You’re SO funny 😏

Buster: It’s a fair question

Rio: You’re thinking of the last one, he’s only 22

Buster: Are you sure? He looks 32

Rio: You’re being rude again 👌

Buster: Hardly

Rio: Why are we talking about him again

Buster: We’re not

Rio: Good save

Buster: I’m just wondering which you believe, that we’re only 18 once or it’s a number

Rio: Hmm 🤔

Rio: it’s less about the day, more about the 364 you have until you’re 19, that’s what I think

Buster: Great save

Rio: 🙇🏽‍♀️

Rio: What do you think?

Buster: I agree

Rio: You can still hold your shitty party against Nance, not that old you have to be that mature

Buster: She wishes what I had to hold against her was that petty

Rio: No doubt…

Rio: blackmailed into better behaviour is better than nothing

Buster: With her, we have very little choice but to take what we can get

Rio: Yeah

Rio: I’d hate to think of my brothers and sisters saying shit like that about me

Buster: It isn’t something you have to think about because it isn’t something your siblings would say about you

Rio: 🤞

Rio: That would change if I told Edie, she doesn’t hold back

Buster: Neither should you, how you felt is important and she needs to hear it

Rio: There are more important things

Buster: You matter too, Rio

Rio: I want to be in Libi’s life, what if she doesn’t want me to be if I say any of this

Buster: She wouldn’t cut you out, you’re family, and you haven’t done anything but what’s best for her and Libi

Buster: you kept this a secret for her own good and if you tell her it’s still with protecting them in mind, she’ll recognise that, she’s not an idiot

Rio: She’s not

Rio: Anyway, this is breaking the rules, I’m not thinking about it ‘til I get back to Dublin

Buster: That’s the last time I’ll bring it up, I swear

Rio: I’ll make you pinky promise

Buster: Not if I make you forget about all of this first

Rio: You think you can

Buster: I know I can

Rio: I’m not going to refuse that

Buster: Why would you?

Rio: I’m sure we could think of plenty of reasons if we bothered

Buster: I’m too busy thinking of ways to salvage this trip for you

Rio: We can make attempts at salvaging for you too

Rio: even if I have to point out it’s a taller order

Buster: I’m fine

Rio: Sure but fine is not fine

Buster: Okay, I’m great

Rio: Because I really believe you now 🙃

Buster: I don’t want a pity dinner any more than you did

Rio: Not what I was suggesting, because duh

Buster: What are you suggesting [a really basic touristy thing purely for the pisstake]?

Rio: 😑

Rio: Yes, I’m going to make you [another super touristy moment] with me and it’ll serve you right

Buster: I’ll look out for when you tie your hair back and take your earrings off

Rio: You should

Rio: can’t say you haven’t been warned

Buster: You can’t either, I told you earlier I don’t lose

Rio: Yet

Buster: Ever

Rio: Never know if we don’t try, can’t claim a win when you forfeit 

Buster: I’m not going to forfeit, bring it on

Rio: At [the time you’re meant to meet] 😘

Buster: [Give her the deets of the car you’ve already booked and sorted to collect her etc because he’s just that bitch and always organised af]

Rio: Alright, you’re off to a good start 

Buster: If you’d like something that isn’t a mermaid tail to wear to [this restaurant] Nance has [whatever it’s called when you can just come and shop like on an account idk I’m not posh] at [and a list of whatever shops she does, they can’t all entirely suck]

Rio: I couldn’t possibly do that

Buster: I dare you

Rio: Seriously

Buster: When am I not serious?

Rio: She’ll notice

Buster: It’s Nancy

Rio: 😏

Rio: but really, I can buy my own outfit

Buster: If you want to forfeit the dare, yeah

Rio: I’m going to be late then

Buster: You’re going to be worth the wait though

Rio: Rude you don’t trust my own budget for that to be true

Buster: Don’t act like it isn’t more fun to get dressed at her expense

Rio: I wouldn’t say that

Buster: What would you say?

Rio: I might ask a question

Buster: Yeah?

Rio: Well, I could ask for your opinions, what you want me to wear, I might not take them into consideration

Buster: I’m rarely wrong, you’ll want to take that into consideration

Rio: I’ve never been wrong about an outfit

Buster: [obvs mention an ootd from when she was a lil kid like what about that one lol even though it was probably still a slay, gotta just remind her that he remembers things]

Rio: 😳 Shut up, I’ve always been cute

Buster: I wasn’t disputing how cute you were

Rio: You wouldn’t want to ruin your claim to rarely wrong

Buster: No, I wouldn’t

Rio: So, what do you like

Buster: Don’t you want to guess?

Rio: I could

Buster: So, what do I like?

Rio: Can’t you wait and see?

Buster: Can’t you remember how impatient I am?

Rio: That’s half the fun

Buster: You’re right, we’re having half as much fun as we could be 

Rio: There’s always time for more fun

Buster: Wait and see

Buster: [10000% looking online at fits and then calling up the store and getting the poor girl who works there to give Rio said fits to try on, so casually, just dressing your cousin for a date nbd]

Rio: [sending you selfies of these options, obviously]

Buster: [Sending her more options to keep this try on sesh going like see how much fun this is because I cannot trust him to comment on any of those selfies]

Rio: Okay, I’ll really be late if you don’t stop

Rio: I already don’t know what to pick

Buster: [pick one for her, again so casually]

Rio: I see you

Buster: Do you?

Rio: Showing you have better taste than your friends

Buster: I already proved that with the outfit I threw on to grab coffee

Rio: You dress well, it’d be stupid to suggest otherwise

Buster: You don’t need much help yourself

Rio: I’m not going to forfeit a dare to argue

Buster: Are you going to give me a dare to do?

Rio: If you wanna play

Buster: Of course

Rio: Then I’ll think of a good one

Buster: I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait too

Rio: Who am I

Buster: Who I’m choosing to spend the evening with 

Rio: Despite knowing that present competition is non-existent, still take it

Buster: It’d be stupid to suggest there’s ever any

Rio: Stupid is one of the last things I’d bother to call you

Rio: skirting ‘round the issue is one thing but barefaced lies

Buster: We’ve argued plenty of times when there isn’t a dare at stake, I’ve definitely heard you call me most things you’d feel are a more appropriate fit for who I am

Rio: Well now we know who has the best imagination if you honestly think ‘most’ is fitting

Buster: Well, poor kids need better imaginations than rich ones

Buster: and we aren’t trading one of your secrets for one of mine, so

Rio: 😏 I imagine that stings more when the target is actually ‘poor’, give you the benefit of the doubt there

[liliah39]

How one that takes place during the nude photoshoot Queen did? And reader is a member of the band and she has to take her bra off for the shoot. And of course all the boys are going to stare at her. But Brian feels differently because he likes her and he gets a little jealous of all the boys staring at her. Then after the shoot is over Brian pins her against the wall and makes out with her and admits that he likes her and she says she likes him too and he keeps kissing her until Roger walks in

She Makes Me- (Brian May x Reader) Oneshot

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long!! Thank you all for being patient.

Warnings: Definitely some smutty scenes. Nothing really intense though.

Word Count: 1.6 K+ (I know it’s short I’m sorry guys :((  )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a part of the band, you never felt awkward around the guys even though you were the only girl. Everything just seemed normal. So you really didn’t think there’d be any problems with you doing the nude photo shoot. It was per Freddie’s request- his friend Mick Rock would be the photographer as he had been for all your other shoots. The other three guys weren’t thrilled about the shoot, but you felt like it’d be liberating- like it’d help to get rid of toxic masculinity. Before the shoot, Mick had pulled you aside.

“You know, Y/N. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“I know. But I really do. And besides, you can’t just photograph ⅘ of the band and say you did a Queen photoshoot.” You laughed.

“Well, I guess you’re right there. But all the guys are stripping to their underwear. The whole point of this shoot is to have it be topless. I mean we’ll take the photos tastefully, but everyone on the set will probably, you know. See you.”

“That’s alright. I’m comfortable with the guys. It should be fine. Thanks though.” You smiled, heading to your dressing room to get ready.

Someone came in to do your hair and makeup, just lightly styling your hair and putting dark eyeshadow around your eyes as they’d done for the other four after applying your face makeup. As a woman, naturally you took longer to get ready than the guys, so by the time you had stripped to your black thong and put on your robe, the guys were already out on the floor practicing.

“This is stupid!” Roger sighed.

“Oh hush, you look fine, Darling.” Freddie huffed.

“We look stupid!” He sighed.

“I’ve got to admit, I’m with Rog.” Brian said.

“Well, if anything, we’re basically seductively touching each other in our underwear as we pose for pictures, so at least it shows how comfortable we are with each other.” John added, earning nods from the other members and yourself.

“Ah, look! Our princess has arrived!” Freddie proclaimed as he noticed your presence.

“Hi Fred,” You laughed, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Now let’s get this done.” You said as you took off your robe and threw it to the side, immediately silencing the bickering.  The four of them were looking at you in awe. “What? I know this isn’t the first time you’ve all seen a woman.”

“Yeah, Love, but it’s the first time we’ve, y’know.” Brian blushed.

“The first time we’ve ever seen you naked, he means.” Roger added, his friend punching him because of his brash comment.

“I didn’t think it’d be a problem. We all basically live together.” You laughed awkwardly.

No one responded. They all just awkwardly stared at you, Freddie scratching the back of his neck.

“Alright then guys stop staring at her!” Brian exclaimed, slapping Roger on the back of his head.

“So are we taking the photos or not?” Mick asked.

“We’re taking the photos.” You said, walking over to stand in front of the backdrop.

Mick directed you to sit on a stool centered behind where Roger and Freddie sat with Brian and John behind your so it created levels. Everyone seemed slightly on edge, making you roll your eyes at their ridiculousness. You felt Brian tense up behind you. Little did you know, even though your arms and Freddie and Roger’s bodies covered your breasts, from his angle he could see everything.

Everything.

And being incredibly attracted to you, it absolutely killed him.

Throughout many poses, you were pressed up to the guys, facing them, or in the perfect viewing spot for them to see your almost entirely nude body, but as the hours of photo shoots progresses, they got more comfortable. When you had finished the last photo, and turned to the guys for celebratory high fives, you got one from all the boys except for Brian, who did everything to avoid you. To try to make you not look at him.

“Bri,” You teased, “Don’t you still like me?”

He stuttered to find a response, briefly turning toward you as he grabbed his robe, and then you noticed.

You knew the guys were well endowed, but there was no way he had that much of a bulge without being-

Oh.

He was hard.

And you were pretty sure it wasn’t because of one of the boys.

Well, that explains a lot.

You turned away awkwardly; not sure of what to say.  You walked to your dressing room, not a moment later hearing the door to Brian’s slam shut next to you. Your mind was racing as you paced  back and forth, still in your robe and thong.

Does he like me?

Why didn’t I say anything?

Does he know I like him to?

If we do anything, what will happen to the band?

You caught your reflection in the mirror, pulling yourself out of your head.

‘C’mon, Y/N. You’ve liked him for ages. Time to go get your man. You told yourself, walking out of your room completely determined to reveal your feelings to him. You knocked on the door next to you, only receiving a muffled, “Who is it?”

“Me,” you replied. “Can I come in?”

You heard him mumble a response as you opened the door. He’d put on a pair of trousers, but still had a shirt off as he looked out the window, a sad look on his face. Probably from the way everything had just played out between the two of you.

“Hey, Bri? I- um. I’m sorry.” You said, closing the door behind you as you slowly walked over to him.

He laughed in annoyance at your apology. “You’re sorry? I’m the one who should be apologizing. I'm the one who made a bloody fool of myself.”

“No you didn’t,” you smiled, placing a hand on his arm.

“What?”

“I just didn’t know what to say before, Bri. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, y’know?”

“Tell me what?” He sighed.

“That I feel the same way, silly.” You smiled.

“Yeah, right. And pigs can fly.” He scoffed.

“No, really-” he cut you off as he stood from the window sill from agitation, walking to the other side of you so that he was facing you, his body now closer to the door, as you were closer to the window.

“Say, Y/N, how do you even know if I have feelings for you?”

“Well- um, I, I kinda, you know. Saw it.”

“Oh my god,” he groaned in embarrassment, running his hands through his hair as his face turned red.

“Hey, hey,” you said, grabbing his hands to calm him down. “Like I said, I feel the same way.”

“Really?”

Instead of answering him, you decided to show him, reaching up to caress his face with one hand while the other laid on his chest as you closed the space between your lips. At first you could feel his shock, but he quickly closed his eyes and relaxed, his hands going around your waste as the kiss soon deepened.

“I’ve been dreaming of this day as long as I’ve known you,” he confessed through kisses.

You moaned at his confession as your lips reconnected once again, passionately moving as they intertwined perfectly. His hands found the tie of your robe, pulling it as his other hand helped it slide off your shoulders, stepping back a moment to admire your body.

“So perfect,” he whispered as he caressed your cheek in his hand. Another ran down your body, lovingly squeezing your breast and then continuing down your side and to the back as both his hands began to knead your ass, his lips reconnecting with yours as he groaned, “God, I’ve been wanting to do this all day.” Which made you giggle.

He pushed you into the walk to the left of the windows as you jumped up, your arms now around his neck and legs hooked around his waist, his hands still not leaving your behind.

He started to trail kisses up your jaw and down your neck, soon finding the spot that made you moan the most, your head quickly tipping back in ecstasy. Not a moment later you heard,

“Hey, Bri, are we still going to the bar in a few min-” as Roger burst through the door, shocked at the sight of the two of you, mouth hanging open in surprise.

You and Brian were equally as shocked as well, Brian turning so that he was still holding you, but he was facing Roger to conceal your breasts.

Brian finally broke the silence, “I’m, uh, kinda busy here, mate.” He laughed nervously.

“Uh, right, yeah.” Roger smiled, nervously laughing as he scratched the back of his head. “Alright I’ll go now, oh and hi Y/N.” He said, making you laugh as he closed the door behind him.

Brian turned you back to the wall as he smiled at you, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips as he trailed kisses up your jaw and down your neck, seductively humming, “Now where were we?” Into the spot he was working on just moments before the two of you were interrupted.

Not a moment later the door opened again, “Oh, and by the way, I totally knew this was gonna happen. Like you two getting together, I mean.” Roger said upon his second entrance.

“Roger, leave!” The two of you said in unison as he slammed the door shut while muttering apologies, causing you and Brian to laugh before reconnecting your lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: That’s it! Thanks for reading lovies!

Taglist: @yourlocalmusicalprostitute , @bismillahnah , @deakysmisfire , @queer-heart-attack , @everything-you-dont-wanna-be , @mercurycrowley , @ikbenplant , @xcdelilahxc , @chekovs-davy-jones-wig , @laedymoon , @manicpixydreamgirl , @jaylikesguavass , @brianskindofcheese , @anincurablefangirl ,  @jennyggggrrr , @delightfullynlove , @johndeaconshands , @jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels , 

[vaingloriosa]

Fur Better or Fur Worse

RK900/Nines x Reader

Words: 1.5k

Summary: The unexpected pregnancy of your cat, Gemma, brings out an unexpected friendship with your hot neighbor.

Author’s note: < REBLOG to ZYPE > HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRYAN DECHART! if it weren’t for the chat, i would’ve never known this man's birthday...now my life knows no peace. man, y’all, i cannot believe i am still around these neck of the woods...after ALL THIS TIME. here’s to bryan choosing not to cosplay nines because he’d be so damn powerful that it’d be game over for me and my [redacted]. enjoy the early upload!!

“Oh, Gemma, what have you gotten yourself into?”

You first noticed the bump on accident as you were preparing your orange tabby’s food. Gemma had become impatient at your slow pace when she stood up on her hind legs to claw at your thigh. You narrowed your eyes when you examined her closely. You always attributed her general plumpness to just her living her life deliciously but then you realize that you had gotten it all wrong.

Gemma is pregnant.

How could this be? You always kept the tabby indoors where she wouldn’t get into risky behavior and get herself hurt. You prided yourself in being the best cat parent, always keeping an eye on her whenever she was within your eyesight. However, you couldn’t always track her movements and you never trusted home security devices ever since they were introduced.

Then you remember the unbearable heat weave the swept across Detroit in mid-August. You couldn’t help but crack the window just a few inches...

Oh, gosh, Gemma must’ve escaped through the window of opportunity to explore the outside world. Now, you watch your cat give birth to her first litter of kittens inside your cramped closet. You close your eyes as you hear the small movement coming from within the box you had prepared beforehand for Gemma. You didn’t know how you would be able to take care of kittens with your new job that demanded more of your undivided attention and time. Taking care of Gemma was one thing but kittens required supervision, special care that was vastly different than an adult cat, and you weren’t sure if you can do this alone.

You move your head to face the new mother licking one of her kittens.

“Hold on a second,” you say underneath your breath and inch closer towards the cardboard box. While Gemma mindlessly tends to the kitten, you squint your eyes at your revelation.

“Gemmy, you little bastard, tell me you did not fuck the hot neighbor’s cat.”

Her soft little meow followed by her eyes closing a tiny bit gave you all the answers that you needed.

The kittens fur, although not fully set yet, were a shade of orange and gray with some kittens having orange paws. They all had gray tortoiseshell fur from head to toe. You rise from your crouched position to look over at your window. From the outside you can see the house lights at your neighbor’s and suddenly you feel like you’re in “The Great Gatsby” looking off into the light of the East Egg. Even from the distance you can make out the silhouette of the Russian Blue father.

You bite the bottom of your lip in contemplation.

Nines was more of an anomaly, a concept, rather than an actual real person. He felt like a ghost of sorts, always working odd hours down at the Detroit Police Department downtown. In your initial meeting, you found out that he’s an android after your housewarming gift of a pie was for nothing. However, Nines was thankful and even kept the damn thing. After that, you two never talked to each other but that didn’t stop you from coming up with silly daydreams that involved a lot of domesticity bliss and then some...

You were kind of dreading bringing this subject up.

A week goes by and you’re about nearly had it up to here with the kittens’ constant crying while you’re trying to fall asleep. Your work as a pharmacist had you constantly on your feet and all you wanted to do when you got home was relax. To be deprived of what little free time you had to tend to these kittens was overwhelming. Gemma was only one cat mother so it had to be all hands on deck to help her out.

As you plop your ass on the hardwood floors, you knew enough was enough. You’ve noticed the soft glow coming from Nines’ house beforehand and you had to seize the moment. You gather up the cardboard box with both Gemma and her kittens with your intent to march up to Nines’ door and demand some sort of child support. Cat food, kitten formula, hell, you would even settle for back massage at this point. All you needed was some peace of mind and to sleep for a one solid fucking hour.

The moment the door opens, the box of cats suddenly becomes heavy in your arms and your skin begins to form goose flesh all over. Those are some very gray eyes.

Nines tilts his head and says your name. “Are you aware of the time?”

You blink frantically, whooshing away those romantic thoughts and remembering why the hell you came here anyways. Gemma lets out a small meow and Nines looks down at the cardboard box.

“Thanks for answering your door at such a weird hour. I, um, I think your cat might have gotten my cat pregnant? And by the looks of her kittens, your cat is the only viable option.”

Nines draws closer to the box and reaches inside to pick up one of the kittens. He gazes into Gemma’s eyes, his own slight hooded, and pitches his voice up a few octaves. “Do you mind?”

Gemma answers him with another meow and exposes her belly towards him. Nines nods his head, a small smile forming at his lips, then secures the tiny kitten in the palm of his hand. The glow from the lights inside illuminates the gray and orange mewling kitten and you did not how you were keeping your cool; feeling an urge to place the box down and asking if you could kiss him after watching his soft behavior with your Gemma. Suddenly, a familiar gray cat appears at the door frame and brushes up against Nines’ leg.

“Oh my gosh!” you screech out in your tender animal voice. You can’t help but smile when you see the Russian Blue in the flesh for the first time. You gently place the box down on the porch and kneel down to get a better look. However, the gray cat did not want nothing to do with you because once his eyes lock onto Gemma, he immediately brushes past you and into the cardboard box with your cat. You watch the cat nuzzle his head against hers, licking her head as a gentle hello. Your heart melts at watching your cat receiving affection that you always yearned for.

Nines kneels down to place the kitten from his hands back with their mother. You two watch in fascination at the interaction between both of your cats. You reach over to pet the Russian Blue and for a second you thought it may be a bad idea but the moment your hand reaches his fur, he accepts you.

“His name is Apollo.”

“Her name is Gemma.”

You let out a snort as you witness Nines reaching over to pet your cat. She leans into his touch and you never wanted to be a cat more than right now. You take a seat on the porch and draw your legs closer to you.

“So, you think Apollo is the father?” It’s more of a rhetorical question than anything and you hear Nines’ let out a soft laugh under his breath. He takes a seat in front of the box and places his hands in his lap. You two watch in silence as Apollo begins to wash one of the kittens with his tongue and settles into the other corner of the fairly large box. You wish you could enjoy the peaceful moment until a pain shoots up through your neck from your spine. You wince at the sudden pain, rubbing the back of your neck and closing your eyes.

“Are you alright?” Nines asks, his voice conveying concern for your well-being. You hadn’t have someone ask if you were okay in a long time and you almost become shocked at the question.

“Just peachy,” you sigh out, “Well, actually, no, not really. With my work at the pharmacy, it always seems like I close then a few hours I have to open. I thought I could be a good cat parent and balance the two but...I didn’t think kittens could be this hard.”

Nines’ shifts his position to give you his full attention. You look up from the box to watch him closely.

“I would like to help you in any way possible.”

Your jaw nearly drops at his proposition. You must have made a face when he speaks up again. “I want to be there for you and Gemma.”

You place your hand over your heart and nod your head in near disbelief. You let out a tiny laugh then look back at Nines.

“So you want to raise a cat family with me?”

The corner of Nines’ mouth forms a small smile. “It would be my pleasure.”

You two work around your busy lifestyle. On days you know you will have to wake up early, Nines comes over to pick up Gemma and the kittens so you can have some quietness for once. Sometimes when Nines would text you about staying late at work, you would let yourself into his house to take his cat with you to stay over. You would go over with them in tow in order to have a play date with Apollo which made for a perfect opportunity to get to know Nines a bit more personally.

You couldn’t believe all it took was Gemma fucking Apollo to have Nines’ pin you up against his wall pressing hot kisses against your neck.

You make note to thank her later.

Tagging: @kwaiky, @cura-posterior, @sethrine-writes, @sunstrain, @the-darklings, @deviantramblings, @thedragonkween, @hades-ii, @deviancy-wasteland, @yonaih, @diansaprince (thank u for support your local dbh stannie), @susiephalange (GOSH!! QUEEN!! IM LOVE U!!), @michverse (....my other caucasian king...the race war ain’t ready...), @pointedly-foolish (ASJKDJSAKSA MY DECHART HISTORIAN HOW U DOIN’?), @kyarymell, @connorswink,  @feralconnor, @justadweebwithashittydream, @heysliver, @negotiator-on-site, @marvelousmorales (is this thing still on *pats mic* anyweys im love u), @dizzypinwheel (ur husben still owes the chat recipes SKSKSKSK), @wrinkledparchment (it may sound redundant pero thank u for ur service), @blue--blushes (AHHH), @black-widow-fangirl (wig), @mattiekins, @layinglonely, @dragonempress123, @divadonadance1, @xyfanficarchive (hope you are living your life deliciously!!), @shorthawkes

[553butterfly553]

Second Chance (An Itachi Uchiha Love Story) 10

Reconciliation and Introductions

It took a week for Sasuke and Sakura to return to the Mist with Serenity. I was practically bouncing off the walls as I waited at the mansion with Itachi and Kisame. The blue man and I haven't gotten along ever since that conversation, however, we still hang out. He just doesn't talk to me or even look at me. So, I don't talk to him. It makes a very awkward situation for Itachi and I feel bad for him, however, he had gladly put himself in the middle to keep the peace. “Adryn?” It was Sasuke's voice calling out to me. Instantly, I was up from the couch and out of the living room door. Itachi and Kisame followed closely by. I made my way to the entrance to see Sasuke, Sakura and my beautiful daughter standing there. “Serenity!” I cried out happily as I immediately made my way to her. “Mama!” She yelled out as she threw herself into my open arms. I fell to my knees to hug her tightly as I began to tear up. “It's been so long since I've last seen you, I can't believe you've gotten so big now!” It'd been a year since the last time I'd seen her. “I'm so happy to see you again! This visit will last a while, right?” She looked at me with big sad eyes and all I could do was smile at her. “Serenity, you're here to stay now. I'm going to raise you from now on.” “Really, Mama?!” She looked so happy and even began to cry. I couldn't help it and began to cry as well. “I love you Serenity. So very much.” “I love you too, Mama!” Serenity then noticed the two men who stood behind me. “Who are they?” I stood up and motioned to Itachi. “This is Sasuke's older brother, Itachi.” “No, he's now Papa.” “What?!” I nearly yelled out at the same time that multiple other people spoke the same thing. Itachi looked shook as Serenity just walked over to him. “Mama loves you, so you're Papa.” Serenity then looked to Kisame and smiled up at him. “You're Uncle Blue!” “Serenity, you just met them, you can't just...” I trailed off not really knowing what to say, however, Itachi and Kisame both smiled at my daughter. “It's alright, I'll be Uncle Blue. Itachi, you're now a father.” Kisame spoke up with a big smile on his face. He patted Serenity's head and she beamed up at him brightly. She then looked to “Papa” and gave him a questioning look. “I'll be Papa.” Itachi simply stated with a soft smile on his face. Serenity then lifted her arms to him, wanting to be picked up. So, Itachi picked her up and she snuggled into his arms happily. “I finally have a family!” Hearing those words not only made me happy but also shattered my heart. She'd never had a true family before since Orochimaru never treated her like a granddaughter. “Yes, you do.” Itachi couldn't help but show sadness in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by happiness. I looked to Kisame only to see him turning away from the situation. “Itachi, watch Serenity, I need to talk to Ki.” With that, I quickly followed the blue man. “Ki, wait!” I chased him until we reached his room. Once there, he opened the door, pulled me in and locked the door behind him. “Ki?” “What if I told you that I want you to be mine? Would you give up Itachi to make me happy?” Kisame questioned as he slammed me against the door. I gasped out, a bit worried but it faded into sadness. “I would.” “You'd sacrifice your own happiness, for me?” I nodded my head. “Then that's enough for me. After seeing you risk your life for him, it made it real to me that I'd lost you to Itachi.” “Ki...” “I know I never truly had you but seeing how much you love him...” Kisame trailed off into silence. He then let me go and realized that I'd begun to cry. “I'm so sorry, maybe in a different world where Itachi didn't exist I could have been yours but I can't just give up on him.” I sobbed out as I covered my face with my hands. “I didn't mean to make you cry, Adryn.” Kisame pulled my hands down and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “Don't cry, I don't know how to deal with a woman crying.” His comment made me laugh as the tears began to dry. He wiped them away until nothing was left. “I'll always be right beside you, even if it's just as a very best friend.” “That's all I'll ask of you.” Kisame pulled me into his arms and we stood there for a moment, just hugging each other. He then pulled away and spoke again. “You should get back to Itachi and Serenity.” “I think I need to find Hidan and Kakuzu first. I can't remember why anymore, but I know we were fighting.” “Alright, good luck.” With that, I left Kisame's room and headed out to find Hidan first. He was in his room all alone when I found him and knocked on his door. “Ugh, you, bitch.” He grumbled as soon as he saw who knocked on his door. I stopped him from closing the door and began to speak. “I'm sorry, Hidan. I upset you and I shouldn't have. I kept poking at you when I knew it would only hurt you in the end.” “You are a bitch, you know that, but you weren't totally wrong.” Did Hidan just admit that he has a thing for Kakuzu? “No! It's not what you fucking think. Just you being with him bothered the fuck out of me. Every time you showed up, we'd go to fucking bothersome places. Then after the long-ass day of work, I'd have to hear you two fucking and it's just disgusting.” “That was a lot of fuck Hidan,” I commented, making him sigh out loud. “I understand why you dislike me and I'm sorry.” “Well, I don't hate you nearly as much as I fucking did before, so I guess it's alright. Just don't fuck around me anymore.” “I promise, no fucking around you ever again.” Hidan nodded his head and I left the area to go find Kakuzu. He'd be a little harder to handle. Even though I had no idea why he was angry with me either. I completely forgot about it. I just knew that I needed to make it up to him. Eventually, I found Kakuzu in the living room with Sasori and Deidara. As soon as I entered the room, the redhead and the blond left, leaving me all alone with the man I used to sleep with. “Go away.” Kakuzu instantly said when he saw me. I smiled at him and sat next to him on the couch he was sitting on. “Adryn.” “Kuzu, why are you mad at me?” “You keep pissing of Hidan and I have to deal with him.” “I just made up with Hidan, so we no longer have any reason to fight.” “Oh really?” “Yeah, so Kuzu, love me again.” I leaned over onto him, just to be shoved away so hard I hit the floor. “Ouch,” I grumbled instantly as I stood back up. “I never loved a whore like you.” “That's rude.” I nearly didn't believe him but I had to just go with what he said to not piss him off. “But will you admit to loving Hidan? He practically admitted he loves you.” To that, I got glared at. “I'll stop avoiding you, just leave me alone now.” He didn't admit it but he didn't deny it either. I'll take that as a win. “Fine.” I then turned around and left the room altogether. I then went to go and find Itachi and Serenity. They were still in the entrance hall with Sasuke and Sakura. “What took you so long?” Sakura questioned once she saw me. It was almost like she was accusing me of something. “I had to make up with Hidan and Kuzu as well as Ki. So it took a little longer than expected.” Sakura clearly wanted to say something about that, but she was stopped by a little voice speaking up first. “Mama, I'm tired.” Serenity wigged her way out of Itachi's arms and came walking over to me. “Alright, let's go home and take a nap then.” It was about midday anyway so it was the perfect time for a nap. At my little house, I prepared a room just for her so she'd feel like it was home. “I'll see you later, Papa.” Serenity waved to Itachi and began to walk out the front door. “Hey, you don't know where you're going!” I called out and hurried after her. I waved goodbye to everyone in the entrance and then I grabbed Serenity's hand and began to guide her to where my home was. We walked slowly, enjoying the forest as we walked. There were different birds and different plants than what she was used to, so it was all fascinating for her. Once we got to my home, I let her run in there and check things out. “Mama, where's my room?” I then guided Serenity to the bedroom right next to mine. It was full of toys and had a big bed in one of the corners. “Take a nap now, because I'll have to introduce you to a lot of people afterward, alright?” “Yes, Mama.” Serenity then climbed into her bed and got under the covers. She was out nearly immediately. I couldn't help but just stand there and watch her sleep for a few minutes. I felt whole now that she was here. However, I also felt tired, so I went to my own room, leaving the door open in case she woke up before me, and then climbed into my bed. I also was asleep nearly immediately. ~ “Mama... Mama! Wake up!” I was shaken awake little arms. I looked around, confused before remembering that my daughter was now with me. “How late is it?” I questioned as I looked to Serenity and then out of the window. It was still light outside. “We slept for a few hours. Uncle Sasuke is here.” “Oh. Why? He probably didn't tell you, did he?” I shook my head, trying to wake up fully. Once I was awake, I climbed out of bed and went into the living room where Sasuke was, just sitting on my couch. “What's up?” Serenity was right next to me and nearly threw herself onto Sasuke's lap. She smiled up at him happily as he gave her a look in return. It wasn't a harsh look, just a happy look. I don't think Sasuke is capable of smiling any longer. “The Kage want to see you and Serenity right now,” Sasuke responded after a moment of making sure that Serenity wasn't going to fall off of him. “Alright, let's go Serenity, you can play with Uncle Sasuke later.” Serenity nodded her head and hopped off of Sasuke's lap. I held out my hand and my child took it, so we left my house, leaving Sasuke in there. He chose to not follow us, but

it was fine, as he was allowed in my house anyway. I trusted him wholeheartedly. So, Serenity and I made our way to the Kage's place. Once in there, we headed to their chamber. “Oh, hello Adryn, and who's this next to you?” Lady Mizukage's eyes went right for Serenity. My daughter instantly hid behind me. “This is Serenity, my daughter.” I stepped to the side and stood behind Serenity so she couldn't hide any further. She just looked around the room and hesitantly smiled at everyone. “Hello.” Serenity finally spoke up as she looked over to Lady Mizukage. Lady Mizukage responded with a hello of her own. Serenity then looked around the room and hesitantly said hello to everyone else, who in turn said hello to her. “Was there anything that you all needed or did you just want to meet Serenity?” I finally questioned after they all said their hellos. “We just wanted to meet her is all.” Lady Mizukage responded simply. I nodded my head and took Serenity's hand. “Well then, we will be at the mansion.” “You're taking her to be around a bunch of criminals?” Lord Tsuchikage questioned, sounding a bit in disbelief. “I trust that they wouldn't hurt an innocent child,” I responded immediately. “If they even tried, I'd deal with them.” With that, Serenity and I made our way out of there. We headed to the mansion and went to find Itachi. We eventually found him in the living room with Kisame and Sasori. “Papa!” Serenity called out as she let go of my hand and ran over to Itachi. Sasori just looked at the situation with confusion. “'Papa'?” Sasori instantly questioned. “She immediately took to Itachi. So now he's her 'Papa'.” Kisame explained simply as he watched Serenity climb onto Itachi's lap. Itachi helped her out a bit but soon she was situated on him. Once she was properly on Itachi, she looked over to Sasori. “Hello, Uncle Red.” Serenity spoke as she looked directly at the now confused redhead. “Excuse me?” Sasori seemed to be a bit annoyed by my daughter's naming of him, but after a moment he just sighed to himself. “Hello, child.” “My name is Serenity!” Sasori didn't give Serenity any response. He just got up from his seat and left the room. “He's not nice.” “He'll warm up to you, don't worry kid,” Kisame responded patting the girl's head softly. “Uncle Blue, I'm not a kid!” “That's just what a kid would say.” Serenity then glared at the blue man. Kisame, however, just burst into laughter making Serenity pout. “So, how was your nap?” Itachi asked, directing the child's attention away from her pouting. “Mama slept more than I did.” Serenity responded simply with a smile on her face. “So, you took a nap as well?” Itachi turned his attention onto me next. “I did. However, Serenity woke me up when Sasuke arrived at the house.” I responded simply. “Not at first. First Uncle Sasuke and I talked about how I was liking my new room and my new father.” “I see.” I just smiled at my daughter. “And? What did you tell him? Do you like your new room and new father?” “I love my new room! It's so much brighter and has more toys than my old room with Orochimaru!” Serenity was seemingly thrilled about her new room. “And about my Papa, I love him as well!” “Thank you, Serenity, that's sweet of you.” Itachi gave her a small smile, but she just frowned at him. “What's wrong?” Itachi was clearly worried that he'd just done something wrong. “You didn't say it back. You don't love me?” “Serenity, he just met you, love takes a while to grow,” I explained to the young girl before she began to cry. She just looked at me, thought it over and nodded her head. “How long did it take you for you to love Papa?” “Oh... Um...” I didn't want to say the truth. I'd instantly fell in love with him as soon as I first met him. That'd be bad to admit at that moment, so I just replied something else. “Let's go meet the other residents of the mansion, alright?” Perfect, I'd distracted her, but not the two adults in the room. “Wait, I want to know too,” Kisame spoke up as I pulled Serenity off of Itachi's lap. I ignored him and carried my child out of the room. As soon as we were far enough away, I set her down and we walked, holding hands, to find the next Akatsuki member. The first room we came across was Kakuzu's. So, I knocked on his door, fully knowing that Hidan was in there as well. “What do you-” Kakuzu paused in his grumbling as he looked down at my side. “What is that?” “'That' is my child, Serenity. I want everyone to meet her since she'll be living with me and seeing everyone every day now.” I simply responded as I slightly glared at Kakuzu. “She doesn't fucking look anything like you, bitch! Are you sure she'd your fucking child?!” That was Hidan's response as he approached the door behind Kakuzu. “I went through 18 hours of labor to have her, so yeah, I'm fucking sure she's mine!” I snapped back instantly causing Hidan to just glare down at my child. “Uncle Kuzu and Uncle Silver!” Serenity didn't seem to understand the annoyance the two men had towards her, or maybe she didn't care at all about it. “The fuck?! 'Uncle Silver'?” “Your hair is silver, therefore-” “I got it, bitch!” Hidan snapped, cutting me off. “Hidan, stop swearing around the child.” “I'll fucking say whatever the fuck I fucking feel like saying!” Hidan threw a few more fucks in there than usual, just to make his point I'd assume. I just sighed and tugged Serenity away from the now arguing men. The next room we came across was Deidara's, so I knocked on his door. He opened it up and seemed to notice Serenity right away. “Is that your kid, hm?” Deidara immediately questioned. I just nodded my head. “My name is Serenity.” “Hello, Serenity, hm.” My little girl then noticed his hands and her face lit up. “You have mouths on your hands! That's so cool, Uncle Yellow!” “'Uncle who now, hm?” “She bases names off of hair color.” I simply explain to the confused male. He just nodded his head, seemingly accepting that. “Why do you have mouths on your hands?” Serenity questioned, bringing the conversation back to her. “That's a secret, hm.” She didn't like that, so she began to pout. “Come on now, Serenity, we have a few others to say hello to.” I pulled her along with me as I began to walk away. We headed towards the furthest rooms from the living room now. Those rooms were Konan's, Nagato's and Obito's. They seemed to be all in one place, so I headed towards what I think is Nagato's room. Once there, I knocked and smiled at Konan when she answered it. “Hello, Adryn, and who is this that you have with you?” Konan questioned when she looked down to see Serenity. “My name is Serenity. Mama is my mama.” “I see. Well, I'm Konan, this is Nagato and Obito.” “Aunt Blue and Uncle Black.” Serenity corrected the woman. She then paused and made a face. “What should I call him, there's already an Uncle Red.” Serenity looked up at me for help. I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know what to call him. “How about Uncle White? When I run out of chakra, my hair still turns white.” Nagato questioned, making Serenity smile at him. She nodded her head. “So, that's everyone. Let's go back to Itachi and Kisame now.” I spoke to Serenity as I grabbed her hand once again. She nodded her head again and followed after me as I began to walk away. “So what do you think about the residents here?” “I like them. Uncle Red is a bit mean though, and Uncle Silver swears too much. Uncle Kuzu doesn't like, I think.” “Why doesn't he get a color for a name?” “He's special to you, or at least was, right Mama?” I was taken aback by that comment. I just sighed and nodded my head. “I could sense unresolved tension from him towards you, but I don't know what it means.” “I'm sure it'll be fine,” I replied as we continued to walk around the mansion. Eventually, we made out way back towards the living room, but Serenity's stomach began to growl. So we headed into the kitchen instead. There was some cereal there that she could eat and I became hungry as well, so we ended up eating some together. While we were eating Kisame and Itachi entered the kitchen, wondering what we were doing. “We were hungry.” Serenity simply explained to the two men when they questioned what we were doing. “So, did you meet everyone?” Itachi asked the young girl. She nodded her head happily. “Yup, and named everyone.” Serenity then went through all the names of the Akatsuki members. “Why does Kakuzu get a non-color?” Kisame asked once Serenity was done speaking. She just giggled though and shook her head. “Hey, Mama, why didn't you answer my question from a while ago?” Serenity seemed to just think of that. I sighed and shook my head. “Is it embarrassing? Did you fall in love with Papa at first sight?” Serenity seemed happy to think that and my red face seemed to answer her question. “Oh really? Instantly, huh?” Kisame's voice sounded unsure. “Don't say it like that. It wasn't completely at first sight...” I was lying and it was obvious. “For a ninja, you're a terrible liar,” Kisame stated simply causing my face to get even redder. “Papa?” Serenity questioned, losing interest in mine and Kisame's conversation. “What is it Serenity?” Itachi responded as he looked over to the young girl. “Do you love Mama?” Itachi seemed to think about her question for a moment before responding. “That's complicated.” “How?” “You'll understand when you're older,” I responded instantly, trying to stop the topic. I didn't want to have him say no, and have my heart shatter completely. I hated this topic and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. Serenity just made a face at us and finished up her cereal. She then jumped down from her seat and headed into the living room. I finished up my cereal and followed her along with the guys. “Are you pouting now?” “Yes.” She was sitting in the middle of the room with her arms and legs crossed. “I see. Well, what would make you feel better?” “You kissing Papa.” “Huh? What? No?” I was thrown off completely. However, it looked as though Itachi and Kisame were also thrown off. “I can't just kiss someone who doesn't want to be kissed, Serenity.” “Maybe he does want to kiss you, Mama, maybe you just don't know it yet.” “Either way, it's not appropriate for someone to kiss someone else if they aren't romantically involved.” “Says the whore.” We all turned to the living room door to see Hidan standing there with Kakuzu behind him. “You know what Hidan, how about you just-” Kisame put his hand over my mouth before I could say something bad in front of Serenity. “Mama, what's a 'whore'?” “It's someone who sleeps around with multiple different people,” Kakuzu answered instead of me. “Hey! I don't do that anymore and I haven't done that in years! Therefore, I'm not a whore anymore!” “'Anymore',” Kakuzu stated in his normal voice with a hint of annoyance thrown in there. “Who do you think I'm sleeping with now?!” “We probably shouldn't be having this conversation around the child.” “Mama, do you want to sleep with Papa?” Serenity's innocent question nearly caused me to literally drop dead at that moment. However, within a second I recovered and responded to my child. “No, I don't.” “You don't?!” Hidan yelled out, completely confused. “My feelings aren't like that.” “How can you love someone and not want to fuck them?” I couldn't help but shrug as the adults in the room looked at me for an explanation. “I've loved Itachi since I was a child. My feelings didn't involve anything sexual then, and I guess they don't now. I don't know, I never thought of it.” “However, you loved Kisame and it was sexual, so you're capable of feeling such a thing.” Kakuzu simply stated causing Serenity to gasp out. “Mama is having an affair with Uncle Blue?” “What?! No, of course, I'm not! I'm not having an affair with anyone! That's impossible considering I'm still an independent single woman!” I was getting flustered and hearing Hidan begin to laugh at me, wasn't helping anything. “Mama-” “Nope! No more questions from you.” I instantly picked up Serenity into my arms. “It's time to go. It's getting dark now anyway.” I then glared at Hidan and Kakuzu before looking to Itachi and Kisame. “We'll see you two tomorrow. Goodnight.” Before anyone could say anything in return, I fled from the room with my child in my arms. Thankfully, no one followed us and we managed to make it out of the mansion without any trouble. Hopefully, tomorrow they'll have let go of the situation.

[saintvintagearchived]

idk y im posting this here but

i’ve had the night from hell. i had said my partner walked out on me yesterday morning. like, he literally walked out the front door with a trash bag containing some of his stuff. he’s a bad alcoholic with so much trauma it’d break your heart. i was angry. i’ve been trying to get him to stop drinking, it’s killing him. he’s got mental illness like you couldn’t believe. i just want him to get better. he drank all night and i caught him that morning, tried to de-escalate by locking myself in the bedroom. told him point blank “i won’t talk to you now. don’t drink anymore. sober up. i’ll talk to you when i wake up” it was about 6-7 am. i don’t sleep well. he had been up all night drinking. he wouldn’t leave me alone. knocked and knocked on the door. i refused to open it. he did this for so long, eventually asked me to let him in to get some clothes. with toothbrush in his mouth, he said he was gonna go to his therapist. it was sunday. i told him. i was angry. i threatened him to get out. he wouldn’t. he kept acting exasperated that  i was upset and wanting him to leave me alone, like he hadn’t done anything. i couldn’t take it. i know i shouldn’t have, but i didn’t know what else to do. i grabbed his arm and pulled him hard to the door, then shoved him with all my might through. he had had enough then. called a good friend of ours to pick him up. friend was going to church, wouldn’t be there til the afternoon i figured. ugly fight in the kitchen. i went out back to cool off. eventually, after he told me he was gonna move out, i went and helped him get his things. i was fuming. i took our pictures down out of the bedroom, told him to take everything. i would be bagging it up anyway. he refused. after he had gone back downstairs with his stuff, i locked myself back in the bedroom. i thought he was going to wait to be picked up. i heard him go out the door, but i thought i heard a voice so i figured he left. no, he did leave, but he just took off walking down the road, down the busy roadway outside our neighborhood. i told my family this and they went out to look for him. wouldn’t tell me where he was. eventually i got him on the phone, telling him my family’s out looking for him, crying and telling him they were worried about him and they love him and he was so drunk he kept interrupting me telling me he was fine, like it was stupid for us all to worry. i heard our friend was with him, so i knew he was going over there now, that he was in a car and off the road on foot. 

i was a mess, understandably. i tried to go out and not think about it. i got through the day alright, but that night was when the real horror started. our other friend, who is 1 friend’s gf, calls me to check on me. apparently she had been over there with them for a while and she told me all the terrible things were going on. he had been drinking hard liquor all day. friend 1 said later that he had probably drank $300 worth of liquor. i eventually got a call from him, and he told me he was going to kill himself. i texted her (friend 2) to tell her to tell her bf (friend 1) to go check on him because he was by himself outside. F1 did, and he hung up on me when it happened. in between the time i hung up and the time i took a call with F2 trying to get more info on what happened that day and generally see what was going on, my partner had gone into the kitchen and tried to slit his wrists. F1 and his brother drew guns on him to make him stopp. idk but it worked. they called the police who called the EMT. he refused to go to the ER (naturally) so it was up to me to go get him. which, the state my partner was in, it would’ve been a disaster. he had been talking shit about me all day, talking like that whenever he was drinking over there, had made the plans to move out already the last time we were there. he had been hitting on any female around (mostly F2 & F1′s bro’s gf) just.... it was a mess. i got my mother, a nurse, and my teenage brother who is a big kid, to go with me. it was horrifying when i got there. he was so drunk it was shocking. i had never seen him like this before. he was trying to get naked (which i also found out from last time we all hung out, i HAD done) the cops weren’t very helpful (shocker) they had been called twice and were gonna leave again if F1′s bro hadn’t said he’d just call back and have them sent out. they were supposed to escort us to the hospital but just drove off. 

partner’s being belligerent, combative, but randomly would get calm. it took a long time, but F1 was able to coax him into the car. child lock on doors and windows. good thing. he tried to get out several times on the ride to the ER. it was going fine until about a couple minutes away he wigged out. it was a literal fight to keep him still. he tried punching the windows out, kicking them, eventually bashing his head into it (there’s blood on my from something and i hope it wasn’t that). he started clawing my brother, tried to knee him, pulled his hair, and i couldn’t help myself but hit him back, try to stop him, it was terrible. when he pulled up, it was three of us trying to subdue him. my mom ran in and asked for “hands” per instruction of F1 who’s in med, a skinny little nurse comes out with a wheelchair. it took me having to scream out help someone help get someone out here to have three men come out there and detain him. i think one of those men might’ve just been a patient or someone in the lobby. as soon as he was out of our grip, he calmed down. i went in with him and checked him in, and talked with everyone a long while about what happened. i’m trying to forgive the flirting and shit-talking because he was drinking. they said he broke his phone, his toothbrush, broke some of their stuff, was trying to fight F1 and his brother, hit on F1′s bro’s gf, did smth to F2 that was inappropriate. it was a nightmare. i called the hospital this morning, and all they could say was he was okay, he was asleep. 

we didn’t leave that hospital until about 4 AM. i feel like i’m in a soap opera. i feel drained. it was awful, seeing him so drunk he couldn’t even talk straight. he glared at me. he mocked me. the hatred he had for me then was terrifying. i’m no saint. our relationship is far from perfect. but i didn’t think he had that much hatred for me in his heart. i think i’m a hypocrite for saying that, because i’ve said nasty things to him that i shouldn’t have. i feel partially responsible. i feel like i’ve failed him somehow. everyone kept telling me to stop apologizing and i wasn’t to blame, but that doesn’t feel true to me. i hate what happened. i hate that i couldn’t help him myself. i hate that i’ve been so mean to him in the past. i know, in essence, this anger and hatred isn’t for me, it’s for the abuse he suffered, but it’s still a painful thing to experience. i’m not mad at him, i’m so pitifully drained and tired and sorrowful i don’t even know who i am. 

now i’m just waiting for him to wake up and call me. i hope he does. part of me is afraid he won’t even want to talk or have me visit. he’s going to have to go in-patient somewhere. i’ve been trying for about 4 years to get a handle on this, to stop the drinking, get him to therapy, research ways to help him. i should’ve been kinder. i shouldn’t have let my anger explode out of me like that.  i’m ashamed to learn of what i did last time we were over there on his bday. what a disaster set of friends we are. i’ve got to learn how to make the both of us healthy. i’ve got to figure out how to get us as independent, healthy-minded people. i’ve got to help him get to where he can fortify himself and heal. i’ve talked myself blue in the face about how his past still haunts him and how he lives in this agony everyday and how he HAS TO process his troubles before he can move on. there’s been such little effort on his part. he blamed me for trying to stop him from drinking, at least that’s what they said he was saying about me. i nagged him. i just am gonna need a distraction and support and i don’t even know what i’m going to say when he calls. i won’t tell him what happened yet. i know for a fact he won’t remember it, and he’ll wake up in the hospital not even knowing how he got there. this is just so sick to me. but i have to help him. if i don’t, no one else will be able to. i’m just so grateful for our friends and my family helping out. if it wasn’t for them, i have no idea what would’ve happened. it wouldn’t been horrible, though. 

[strawberry--sunrise]

Shadow Girls

Alright, so here we go: Switching automatically from the shortest part, to the longest. But honestly, this is my favorite part. Half of it is cute and very satisfying to write, and the latter half is violent, dark, and wow, also so very satisfying to get to write. One more step until the girls come out of the woodwork, dragging the monsters out by their feet.

Part One: Roots // Part Two: Stamen // Part Three: Stem

Part Four: Pistil

I was far from diplomatic fashion, but I would have to do without my armor. I crawled over the fence, sprinting through the dewy grass. I nodded at Thomas, who lingered beneath a tree.

“Late night for a walk,” I said.

“You forgot, didn’t you?” he asked. I blinked, confused at his meaning. He saw it on my face, and smiled. “I said that I’d call for you on Monday. You mentioned that you liked evening strolls in the garden. I’m glad that our timing aligned, because if Poppy came back without you, I’d have had to knock on the door myself. And that’s not as romantic.”

“I’m…really not supposed to be out at the moment,” I confessed, scratching the side of my head. “I should get back. I just wanted to make sure Poppy was okay.”

Thomas knelt down and ruffled Poppy’s collar. “Hana? I have something I need to tell you. But I’m still nervous. It’s hard, now that you’re right in front of me.”

I stared at Thomas, watching the anxious curve of his spine. His fingers dug into Poppy’s fur in less of a playful gesture. He was scared.

People didn’t call someone to an abandoned park at midnight for flirting.

“Tell me,” I said, kneeling beside him.

“…You said you wanted me?” Thomas confirmed. “Well, it’s ironic, because I want you. I want your long, pretty hair. Your big eyes. Your figure, your grace, your bravery. I want to feel as beautiful as you look. I want to be beautiful.” Thomas blew out a breath. “I can’t kiss you again. Not until I’m honest with you. I’m not…a boy.”

My lips parted before I knew what I wanted to say. I hadn’t anticipated this kind of confession. Time ticked between us. “You’re…a girl?” I finally said. Thomas managed a small, frantic nod. “A girl. Okay.”

“Okay?” Thomas squeaked.

“Yeah,” I breathed. “It’s fine.”

“That’s–” Thomas dropped her shoulders. They were shaking. “I’m glad. It’s horrible of me to say, but I knew I could trust you. Even if you hated me; even if you told the town.”

My own words echoed back at me. “Because no one will believe a Liftgate.”

“And I figured–” Thomas shook her head, a trembling entering her voice. “This is terrible. But I know why you kissed me. Tried to butter me up. Not because you liked me–”

That part was still debatable.

“–but because you wanted to know what I knew. You’ve been sniffing me out? I’ve been looking at you, too.” Thomas laid a hand on Poppy’s head. “You think my father’s committed a crime. Your father actually has. And I think both are connected.”

That got my attention. “How so?” I asked.

“You didn’t come to school today,” Thomas said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Got myself grounded.”

“So you haven’t heard about Sophia.”

I stared at Thomas, waiting for her to go on. She rubbed the back of her neck. “She’s… she’s missing. Since Thursday. Her parents thought she was staying with friends, but when she hadn’t come home…” Thomas sighed. “Hana, I need your help.”

“With what?” I asked, barely grasping the news. It was just as we’d feared. The perpetrator had bled through the county lines.

Thomas shook her head. “We shouldn’t talk anymore about this. Not here.”

“Hell of a cliffhanger,” I said, crossing my arms. I considered my options. “You said you trusted me just now?”

“With my biggest secret? Yeah.” Thomas’ eyes grew wet, a laugh escaping her chest. “I must be near insane, but I’m relieved I told you. So yes. I do.”

“Then come with me,” I said, taking Thomas by the hand. “Send Poppy home. And one more thing. If you’re a girl, do you have a better name for me to use?”

Thomas’ eyes lit up in the darkness, face splitting into a wide smile. “Promise you won’t make fun of me?”

“Never,” I said, pulling her to her feet.

“Zuli,” she said. “Call me Zuli.”

“That’s a beautiful name,” I assured her, leading her down the street.

I felt the question buzzing on Zuli’s lips as we stopped outside the darkened storefront. She likely had never been to Antigone before, or even heard of it. Her family had moved counties before it was built. I pressed the doorbell, listening as it rang through to the apartment above. A light switched on, and a darkened face gave us a quick glance from the window. I gave a wave. The figure turned and, not long after, emerged from the stairs to the main floor. I watched through the windows as Ruth approached, wrapped up in a warm robe.

She opened the door, face unmade and wig off. Her painted nails rubbed at some of the stubble on her chin, looking me over. “Good evening, Hana. I trust you’re well?”

“Hello Ruth,” I said, putting on a smile. “That I am.” Zuli glanced between me and Ruth so fast, I thought she might get whiplash. Ruth leaned against the doorjamb, deciding to play with me.

“A bit of late night for you youngsters, huh?”

“I prefer to think of it as getting an early start on the morning.”

“Then I should get some coffee going, like any good host.”

Ruth turned, and I motioned Zuli to follow. We went through the shop, taking the often-locked stairwell into Ruth’s personal living space. I had been here several times, but Zuli gaped at the posters of beautiful women, and the feather boas draped across mirrors. She blushed at the artwork of men embracing and women kissing.

Ruth lit a candle, the room filling with the sweet scent of roses. I might have objected, if not for Zuli’s look of wonder. She had found Ruth’s glamorous vanity, littered with make up, jewelry, and carefully brushed wigs. I led her to the kitchen table with a gentle hand, sitting her down. Her eyes went straight to the picture of Ruth on the wall, done up in gold and silver, surrounded by laughing faces.

“Can I get you anything special?” Ruth asked, drawing Zuli’s attention. The older woman set down a bowl of sugar, and looked straight at Zuli. Realization lit her eyes. “I haven’t even asked your name! What kind of host am I? I’m so sorry little miss, you are…”

Zuli flinched, eyes wide as saucers. She looked over to me, frantic and in disbelief. I just nodded, wondering if I shouldn’t have left this as a surprise. Poor Zuli looked ready to drop.

“Zuli? I–I’m…a girl!” Zuli tried.

“Well, of course you are,” Ruth said, bringing out the pot of coffee. “Hana knows the rules. Only women at my shop. This is a safe space for us.”

I watched for Zuli’s reaction, indulgent. To my horror, she started to cry. She hiccupped and sobbed, burying her face in her hands. Ruth, undeterred, patted Zuli’s shoulder and shushed her tears.

“Now, now, that’s quite alright,” Ruth said.

I fidgeted in my seat, wondering if I shouldn’t have interfered. If I had overstepped my boundaries, again. Then Zuli raised her face and, in spite of the tears, it had the biggest expression of relief on it.

“I’m not alone?” she mumbled, hopeful.

Ruth, in a rare moment, lost her whimsical, lighthearted nature. She gripped Zuli’s arm, demeanor turning serious and grave. “Never,” she promised. “Sometimes we’re hard to find, but your sisters are always somewhere waiting for you.” Zuli cried some more at that, but Ruth returned to her smile. She glanced at her room, then back at Zuli. “Would you like me to doll you up a bit?”

I poured myself a cup of coffee as Zuli practically ran to the vanity chair.

“Now, try not to cry again. It’d be a sin to ruin your make up.” Ruth bit her lip, standing back a bit. “Better yet, let’s not jinx it.” She whipped two sheets out of her closet, draping one over the vanity, then heading to the next room. Zuli got up from her chair and glanced at me, questioning.

I kept my face straight, refusing to give away the truth. Zuli’s handsome features had been morphed into something beautiful. Her eyes, wide and black-lined, blinked long, delicate lashes. Her lips, pink and glossy, twisted and pursed, anxious. I wished I could tell her how much I admired Ruth’s hand. She had pushed Zuli’s hair back from her high forehead, revealing lovely, shadowed temples.

“You’re a tad taller than me, but we should be able to make this work,” Ruth said, re-entering the room. She drew down clothes from the top shelf of the closet, shaking out the dust.

“Everyone is a tad taller than you,” I reminded Ruth.

She shot me a look before handing Zuli a pile of gauzy garments. “No peeking, now. We’ll have you looking like a regular black widow in no time.”

Zuli shifted, hugging the fabric closer with a dreamlike gaze. Eventually she turned where Ruth directed, shutting the bathroom door.

Ruth stood beside me as Zuli went to get changed. “Are you still doing your detective work?” she asked.

“Barely,” I said, sulking. “My parents threw out all my things. They know I’ve been ghost writing to area newspapers. They don’t have the highest opinion of reporters, at the moment. And truthfully, neither do I.”

“Do they know about the Lotus Division?”

I glanced over at Ruth’s wicked smile. “Even Sophia doesn’t know I write for them, and she’s the damn editor-in-chief.”

“You play so coy,” Ruth chuckled, “but you’re more invested than anyone else.” I didn’t say anything to that. Ruth changed the subject. “And how did the search go?”

“We didn’t find anything. I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” I confessed. “But I made it back home by the skin of my teeth.” The doorknob twisted open. “I don’t think my parents would be able to handle the thought of me becoming a detective, either. They want a model wife, for a model husband.”

“Well, I would wish them the best, if they weren’t trying to gain blood from a stone.”

Ruth was in fine form today.

I opened my mouth to reply, and lost my train of thought in an instant. Zuli stepped out in a bold, purple, floral print shirt. The neckline plunged dangerously low, her hips cinched with a silver belt. Tight, shiny, pants ended in a bootcut. Ruth let out a happy sound.

“You went with the most daring! A girl after my own heart. Let’s get some jewelry on you.”

Zuli, still bashful, stepped toward Ruth as she donned bracelets on her wrists. She slipped rings over her fingers, and strung a low-hanging silver chain around her neck. Ruth grinned as she added the final touch: A well-teased, brunette wig. The curly hair went down past Zuli’s shoulders, soft and sprayed with glitter. Zuli turned to me, made of starlight and magic.

“Am I…okay?” she asked, earnest.

I swallowed, unsure what to say. “You are–certainly more than that. Much more.”

A relieved smile broke over Zuli’s face. She looked back to Ruth. “Can I see now?”

Ruth ripped the sheet off of the mirror in a flourish, knocking over a bottle of perfume. “Voila!”

Zuli gasped, then went still. In a slow movement, she raised her hand, then flinched as the girl in the mirror did the same. Her eyes misted then, remembering Ruth’s orders, set her jaw.

“That’s me?” she confirmed.

“Tried and true, 100% you,” Ruth sang, rummaging in a drawer. “And one more thing. Hana, could you grab the pink bottle next to Zuli?”

I moved without wondering why Zuli couldn’t grab it. I wanted to be closer to her.

Ruth turned, and Zuli and I blinked at a sudden flash of light. Ruth smiled as, our attention caught, she unleashed another flash.

“Pictures are important,” Ruth said, the Polaroids slipping out of the camera. “Even when the make up wears off; even when you have to go home…” Ruth held out our pictures, one for each of us. “You can always remember just how beautiful you are. You are you. And someday, things will be okay.”

Zuli choked back a sob, accepting the slowly-materializing image with a shaky hand. “So far,” she said thickly, “today has been the most okay day ever.”

I took my own photo, staring at the women, their faces and bodies gradually coming out of the inky darkness. “Thank you, Ruth,” I said.

“My pleasure,” Ruth nodded. “Now, we can’t have you all done up, and nowhere to go. Hana, your emergency club outfit is still around here?”

“You know it,” I said, as Zuli cried: “What?”

“Then put on your thigh highs, and I’ll put on my cat eyes; let’s boogie!” Ruth crowed.

In a matter of half an hour, Ruth and I were covered in glitz and hairspray. My minidress provided little protection to my bare thighs, but I hadn’t felt so free in ages. I grinned at Zuli, tucked beside me in the backseat as Ruth raced down the highway. Music blasted from the radio, Ruth screaming along, and beating on the steering wheel. My hand crept across the leather seat, lacing my fingers through Zuli’s.

She flushed, looking down at our hands. She asked me a question, but I couldn’t hear it over the music. She raised her voice, overpowering the instrumental.

“You said you’re grounded.”

I rolled my eyes, then brushed my lips against Zuli’s ear, who stiffened. “The jig is up. I’m not a good daughter. I might as well start being myself, if I can’t force myself to be anyone else.”

Zuli stared at me so long that I thought, perhaps, she hadn’t heard me. Then her grip on my hand tightened, and she pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“You’re perfect the way you are. And I still want to be like you,” she assured me.

My chest swelled at the kind words, my throat stopped up by the emotion. It felt strange to be told I was enough. I looked in Zuli’s eyes, near invisible in the darkness, wondering if I could afford to believe it once the dawn hit.

Ruth pulled up a few blocks away from the club. We walked, the night air brisk, into a short line outside a booming building. The bouncer frowned as we approached, numbing the small talk.

“Ruth,” he greeted.

“Samuel,” she replied.

“I know you,” he said, shaking his head, “but I don’t know these kids.”

“You think I would take children to such a salacious venue?” Ruth gasped.

“In a heartbeat,” Samuel said, grave. He squinted at Zuli. “Maybe I believe she’s old enough–” Zuli beamed at the pronoun. He turned his face to me. “–but ah, I’m sure I know you now.” He stuck a finger at me. “She is trouble, accordin’ to the papers.”

“Trouble is the spice of life,” Ruth said, waving her hand in the air.

“Trouble doesn’t sign my paychecks,” Samuel grumbled.

“Well, would you rather I leave her in the car, where any old Boogey Man could grab her?” Ruth shot back. Her glare grew frosty. “If you’ve been reading the papers, you know we’ve got a bad one in these streets. Can you keep that on your conscience? Or is the money good enough for a slick therapist?”

“Call her a cab,” Samuel replied.

I rummaged through the purse I kept in Ruth’s closet, while the two adults argued. A minute later, I stepped forward, taking in Samuel’s face. He wasn’t much older than me, despite his concerns. I stuck out my hand and raised my chin.

“Hana Liftgate,” I said. He stared down at my waiting gesture, a question in his eyes. “You won’t even accept an introduction?” I asked.

“What’s your game?” he replied, wary.

“Take my hand,” I said, “and why don’t I tell you?”

His large hand delicately encased mine, rough and powerful. I clutched his grip, pulling him closer and rising to my toes. I brought my free hand to cup his ear, whispering my message only to him.

“If you let me in now, I’ll be delighted to show you how much of a bad girl I am later.”

I dropped down, pressing my chest against his and squeezing his arm. I looked at him through my eyelashes, smiling, reworking the same tactic I had used on Zuli. I spoke in an exaggerated fashion, drawing his eye to my red-painted lips.

“I could use a strong fellow to fend off a Boogey Man for me. As well as do a couple of…other things.”

I rescinded my grip, passing off a small piece of paper. He glanced down at his own hand, baffled, then nodded. “I–” He cleared his throat, deepening his voice. “I guess I can make an exception, then. You’re less of a shrew than the papers called you.”

“And I’m a lot more than anything anyone can even put into print,” I promised, winking. “See you later, Sammy.”

Pink-faced, he moved to let us through. Zuli clinged to my arm in an instant, as we entered the cool, people-clogged building.

“What did you do?” Zuli asked, voice tinged with worry.

“I gave him the number of public works,” I assured her.

Ruth danced in ahead of us, all glamor and bangles, the brightest star in the galaxy. She conquered her size with platform shoes, her brash personality drawing in the room. Zuli and I watched as she laid claim to the dance floor, twirling under the silver lights like that had been put there for her. The DJ raised a hand, and that was all we saw before the crowd swallowed her up, eager to be in the presence of a space goddess.

Zuli and I danced on the fringes, singing along to the songs we knew. We moved with strangers, bumped bodies with drunk patrons, and laughed at the unfamiliar. Zuli took in all the wild, lavishly dressed people, half of them not unlike herself. For the first time, I caught confidence on her face. She shone with pride, dotted by flashing lights and swells of smoke. She stood up straight, with her shoulders back, in command of herself.

In that moment, she was everything I wanted to be.

After an hour, Zuli excused herself to grab some water from the bar. The tide of the dance floor pushed me closer to the bathrooms, were people lingered for a smoke, or a quiet place to talk. I saw a familiar face, who did a good job of blending in. I turned my gaze, wondering how long he had been following me.

Another man stood out, less done up than his counterparts, and woefully drunk. His female companion turned from him in disinterest, walking towards the heart of the club.

He shrugged off the rejection, the poor bastard, and eyed the rest of the room.

His gaze landed on me and, through the ill-placed wig and fake glasses, I recognized him.

He was on me in what felt like an instant, stinking of cologne and smoke. Whiskey spiced the air between us as he introduced himself. I didn’t listen to the fake name, my nerves singing with fear.

Woole. Governor Woole.

And through the heady excitement of the night, the beginning came rushing back.

“You think my father’s committed a crime.”

“You haven’t heard about Sophia.”

“Hana, I need your help.”

His hands roamed my body, too hot and too fast. Sweet words rolled off his tongue, even as his eyes darkened. He was too strong, pulling me away, back towards the alley exit.

I stumbled forward, face blank. My brain was screaming, but my body wasn’t moving.

Should I stay; should I be safe?

Should I go; should I look for the truth?

How far could I go? How long could I court the monsters, before they wanted me to stay?

Still caught in the tide, I watched as twin fists appeared on either side of the governor’s neck. Pulled between them was a length of silver chain. In a firm tug, the governor went tumbling back, releasing me to grab at the metal. Zuli, her face resolute, cinched the necklace she had been wearing tighter.

“Hands off,” she growled, voice higher than usual. “Get your kicks somewhere else.”

“Let go, you bitch!” the governor spat, face red and sweating.

“Promise you’ll leave my friend alone?”

“Zuli!” I shouted, finding my voice.

The chain slipped from her grasp, freeing her victim. She put her hands on her hips, watching the governor press his hand to his neck and totter away. She glared, not taking her eyes off of him until he left the building.

“Zuli!” I gasped, grabbing her arm. She looked down at me, eyes bright and smile wide. “Are you insane? What if he recognizes you?”

“He’s so drunk, he thinks he just got attacked by three queens instead of one,” Zuli laughed, breathless. The mirth faded from her face as the high wore off. “Come here.” She brought me into the bathrooms, where the lighting made it easier for her to look me over. “Did he hurt you?” she asked, gentle.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Oh Hana, what were you thinking?” she asked, taking my face in her hands. “He’s a dangerous man. I should’ve told you.”

I pressed my hand over hers. “I know what you wanted to tell me,” I said, not breaking eye contact. “And I believe you. Will you let me prove it?”

Zuli searched my face, the pulsing music muffled around us, as a certain silence stretched between the girls in the mirror.

I didn’t tell Ruth what happened. She was on her way to the car, slightly tipsy, when I turned around to talk to Samuel.

“There’s a man who’s going to leave,” I told him, “in a plaid shirt and hat. Will you tell him that I saw him, and he’s on the right track?”

Samuel cocked his head, trying to make sense of the cryptic message. “That’s all?”

I rubbed my arm, lowering my head. “There was also a guy who… I’m sorry, I wanted to come get you, but I was so scared…” I took a big breath, gathering my courage. “He tried to hurt me. Red pants, kind of overweight, thick glasses, and smoking? He was really drunk, and if it wasn’t for my friend…”

“Yeah, I know him. He’s a regular.” Samuel’s eyes were steely. “But never. Again,” he spat, voice gravelly. He laid caring eyes on me. “Are you alright now?”

“Yes,” I said, excusing myself. “Thank you.”

I skipped back to the group, a twinge of regret in my heart. Samuel deserved a good girl.

I hoped he would find her soon.

Ruth dropped me off at my house at near four in the morning. I had changed back into my night clothes on the way over, Zuli respectfully turning her head. We scrubbed and sprayed the club away the best we could, even as Zuli drew her thumb across a cheek full of glitter.

“Don’t suppose they’ll believe their daughter is simply full of stardust?” I joked.

“I would,” Zuli said, shrugging.

“Maybe full of shit,” Ruth offered from the driver’s seat. I kicked the back of it.

“Good night, everyone,” I said, standing outside the vehicle. I bowed with a flourish. “May we meet another time.”

“I’ll see your dramatic ass tomorrow after school,” Ruth said. “Zuli, you’re sleeping over. Get the door?”

Zuli waved goodbye as she pulled the door shut. I watched the pair pull away, then padded across the lawn, to the back door. I opened it with the spare key, stepping into the mudroom with all the presence of a ghost, wondering if I could get an early breakfast.

Not quick enough, I saw my father’s silhouette in the corner.

“Hello, Hana.”

His hand was on my throat before I could react, squeezing with only enough force to silence me. I dropped the act I kept for him, shock coursing through my system as the air drained from my lungs. His face didn’t break expression, voice carrying on in the same tone.

“You’re going to start acting right. You think because of this little spat I’m having with the state, you can go and be a tramp? A start up? That you can go off and undo decades of a good reputation in this town?” His free hand cracked across my cheek, pain bursting across my senses. “You are a little girl, and you have no idea what’s going on. Stop trying to nose your way in.”

“Is this,” I gasped, clawing at his wrist, “how a girl keeps her good reputation?”

He threw me to the floor, my head knocking against the wood. He kicked the section of wall next to me, seething voice filling the closed space. “A girl like you lives off of the reputation of men like me. So wisen up and start serving your greater good, or you’ll never know anything better than this.”

I coughed, propping myself up on my elbow. My hair fell in front of my face, blocking the demon in front of me. “I guess you don’t care about not leaving marks anymore.”

He grabbed me by the scalp, hauling me to my feet. “You think you’re tough?” he screamed, spit flying. He punched my torso; my chest, my gut. I brought my arms up in defense, stomping my foot over his. I swung my knee up, catching him in the groin. He dropped me and I grabbed at his belt loop. I ran through the house, to the only door with a lock on it.

He stopped just outside his study, panting and cursing under his breath. I gripped the keys I’d picked tighter in my palm, the metal threatening to cut. When he realized my deception, he hit the wood with all his weight, making the frame shake.

“You can’t stay in there forever!” he shouted. “I’ll get the damn saw!”

I didn’t say anything to that. Mostly because I hadn’t considered the possibility. I glanced at the window. I wasn’t looking forward to escaping that way twice. Especially not with what felt like bruised ribs.

I laid down while my father ranted, eventually leaving to tear things apart in the house. Vases shattered. Knick knacks broke. The dog barked, while my mother screamed back and forth with her husband. I curled up and tried to ignore them.

I passed out on the carpet, to haphazard dreams of blood and dirt. A circle of girls pressed their foreheads to the forest floor, the mud and mushrooms swallowing their heads. The moon was a disco ball, lighting up a macabre ritual. They tilted themselves up, straight up, feet pointed to the clouds. They became the trees, branches erupting from the skin of their legs and thighs. Their trunks became mold-covered and grown over as the seasons raced by. They rotted and went to ruin, forgotten by the world. But as I laid my ear against the mossy roots, I heard women whispering to each other about the sky.

Then the dream shifted. The evening fell to smoke and fire. Screaming and silver. The sky was blood, and I was covered in it. I saw a face that I knew, decomposing and being replaced by wildflowers. And I watched my mother tend the garden it created as my father loomed, his hands covered in black powder.

Lightning cracked across the sky, startling me awake.

I sat up, the bright color of fall morning in full swing disconcerting. I stood, wobbling over to my father’s desk. I used the grey key to open the locked drawer, pulling out yellowed articles with our name on it. They were dated from a the end of a golden era, shifting from when we were revered, to pitied. Then, reviled.

My brother’s face, now removed from the house, stood out: Eternally youthful; the prime target of tragedy. An angry bulletin about work safety accompanied his obituary. His body had been crushed by rocks, on a midnight shift in the mines. They were never able to recover him for a proper burial. All they had for confirmation of his identity were fading cries for help, and his frantic father, who had called the accident in.

I was at home when it happened. I stayed in the living room while my mother fled, leaving the phone off the cradle, to go hear her son’s voice once more.

The newspaper said that the mines collapsed with such a boom that it echoed, like a gunshot.

The funny thing was, in my nightmares, the gunshot always came first.

You made it to the end!!! Wild ride, huh?

See you next week!

[despairstation13]

The SpaceX Factor || Day Two

Once again, you had all been pushed into the Restaurant, and once again you all were being forced to watch another couple performances. This time, there was a pungent scent in the restaurant. Something was definitely cooking. Or was it already cooked? You weren’t sure, but your attention was grabbed away as the lights dimmed.

Shirokawa stumbled up onto the stage, holding two buckets and what appeared to be a giant canvas. She set down the two buckets, and rested the large canvas against the back of the stage. She turned to the others, and tried to figure out how to formulate her words.

“So. Making wine would take. Too long. So I’m not. Gonna do that. I’m gonna paint instead. With, uh. Wine. I’m gonna paint with wine. So that’ll be … something.” she spoke slowly and softly. She pulled a paintbrush out of a pocket on her cape, and stared at it for a moment. “….Yeah.”

With that, Shirokawa turned around and began to work on her painting. Her movements were rather choppy and disheveled, but she didn’t seem to care. She only had two or three shades of one color to paint with, but she was managing alright. You were pretty sure, anyways. She didn’t speak to the audience, simply focusing on her painting. She wasn’t generally one to speak much in the first place, so it made enough sense.

Finally, after upwards of 15 minutes of just watching Shirokawa paint, she stopped and stepped aside. The painting was rather sloppy, and depicted in different shades of red and pink. However, if you squinted, you could tell that it was supposed to be a painting of the assistant. Shirokawa sort of gestured to it, trying to look proud.

“I painted Mr. Assistant Dude. Mostly because. I wanted to test something.” she gave everyone a few more seconds to look over her painting, and then suddenly kicked the center of the canvas as hard as she could. She wasn’t able to actually break through the wooden backing, but managed to make a solid tear in the canvas itself - directly in the stomach of painting-Assistant. Shirokawa looked around, namely at the Assistant, and sighed. “…Damn. Voodoo doesn’t work after all. Okay. This, then.”

Shirokawa picked up the bucket of wine, and carried it over to where the Assistant was standing. With some clear effort, she hoisted the bucket up and splashed-slash-poured it all over him. A little bit of it got on her, but she didn’t seem to care.

“…There. Now you can beat him up. And pretend it’s a painting. Since no one wants to ack-know-ledge he exists.”

And with that, she walked off. See you space Shirokawa.

Ciel may be relieving her most traumatic memories, but she knew one thing for certain - There was a talent show, and she was going to bake a pie. She walked up onto whatever stage was in front of them, stumbling only a bit, over to a counter already prepared with ingredients - She supposed the Assistant at least had the decency to give her that - and she set to work. She was going to make a blueberry pie, so she set all her ingredients into categories. Dry, wet, filling ingredients and the like. Ciel didn't speak as she baked, just set about losing herself in making the dessert. Despite her wavering hands, and how she stumbled about ever so slightly, Ciel’s movements were precise and knowing.

She kneaded the pie dough, cut out a top made of a braided pattern, put the crust in an oven and set to work making a filling with blueberries, lemon zest and sugar. She boiled it in a pot until it was soft, and took it off the heat. She pulled her crust out of the oven and filled the crust - which she had only half-baked - with the blueberries, and placed the top on, then set it back in the oven. When Ciel brought the finished pie out, she cut it into pieces and pushed it forwards, placing a dollop of whipped cream on each slice - there was enough for everyone. And Ciel, who had been so silent while she was baking, said only one thing; "There's enough for everyone." And she took her own slice, a fork, and took a bite.

The next person to come on stage was Kuukai. Two by Two, he had silver platters in his hands, setting them down next to each person sat at a table in the restaurant. In and out the doors to the kitchen he goes bringing more and more platters. Judging from the context clues, its increasingly likely that he seemed to have cooked something for them. Despite being a reserve course student, surely he had to pick up some kinds of redeeming talents. He seemed to be hurryingly speaking as he ran back and forth.

“Uuuh… Today… I decided… to make… you all… a classic dish… from my childhood!”

Eventually, all of you had your platters. It seemed that Kuukai had created one of these dishes for himself as well. He looked really proud of himself, but he was also very visibly nervous. He gestured towards the platters, urging you all to lift up the lids.

“Behold, Torus et Gnocchi au Beef du Tomato Carbonara!”

You all lifted your platters to see… something that was quite more disappointing than the fancy words he had said led you to believe. Little ringlets of pasta in a thick, watery, red paste. You wanted to like it, you really did, but it was all so… mediocre. You weren’t entirely sure what to say until Toki, from the back of the room said what was on everybody’s minds.

“Kuukai this is Spaghetti-O’s”

Kuukai immediately snapped back at Toki. “NO IT ISNT!”

Candela snickered from the back of the room. “And what was with that name you gave it? Nice little chimera of Italian and French. Gold Star. You didn’t even make it sound convincing.”

Ciel poked at it with her spoon. “Its… Its already gone cold. I'm not eating this.”

Kuukai was starting to get visibly worked up. “I made it! You have to believe me! I did!”

If you looked to your right, or left, or back depending on where you sat. You would see Kitao, already with an empty bowl and a satisfied look on his face. “Wow Kooky! Your Cooking is Amazing!”

Kuukai had a surprised look on his face. “W-Wow… You… You think so?”

Mi was also eating some at a slightly lower rate. “Subarashiiii!” Mi cried out. “Onii-chan’s cooking is good!!”

Dexter, also took very slow, reluctant bites. “Hmph, These people uuh… Don't know… How to be as good of a friend and as lovely as a person as I am.” You could tell he didn’t like the Spaghetti-O’s at all, but was trying to fake a smile in order to make himself look better.

Kuukai’s smile however, was everything from fake. He was beaming, even blushing a little bit. 

“Th-thank you… I know my cooking is… its kinda garbage but… i'm glad you like it anyways…” And with that, Kuukai returned to his seat to eat his own Spaghetti-O’s

Well. It was time for Saruhiko’s act, and boy was he ready. It was actually kinda thrilling, being able to do whatever he wanted. Most people would probably expect him to just model some sunglasses, but he had a background in theater and so he figured he would put on an act from a random musical. And the one he picked just so happened to be Heathers.

Strutting out in front of everyone in a trenchcoat and a sinister grin, he was ready to go.

“Hi! I’m gonna be performing Meant To Be Yours, with a little help!”

 Saruhiko beamed. He gestured to his left, and upon doing so, out walked the Assistant in full Veronica Sawyer costume, even wearing a wig. Saruhiko took the foreground while the Assistant was more towards the back.

“All is forgiven, baby! Come on, get dressed, you’re my date to the pep rally tonight!” 

Saruhiko’s cheerful demeanor was replaced with a wicked grin as he got into character.

“You chucked me out like I was trash, for that you should be dead! But, but, but! Then it hit me like a flash, what if high school went away instead? Those assholes are the key! They’re keeping you away from me! They made you blind, messed up your mind, but I can set you free!”

From the way he was singing, and his on-the-spot improvised choreography, it was apparent that he had been in a number of productions before. He wasn’t entirely the best, it’d be his talent if he were, but he was solid enough to sell the role and make the performance enjoyable. And of course, it was certainly odd to see him singing this at a Veronica Assistant.

“I was meant to be yours, we were meant to be one! Don’t give up on me now, finish what we’ve begun! You were meant to be mine, I am all that you need! You carved open my heart, can’t just leave me to bleed!”

He was getting way too into this.

“Veronica! Open the, open the door please. Veronica, open the door! Veronica, can we not fight anymore please? Can we not fight anymore? Veronica, sure, you’re scared, I’ve been there I can set you free! Veronica, don’t make me come in there I’m gonna count to three! 1, 2, fuck it!”

Honestly, it’s kinda surreal to hear Saruhiko cursing like this. This performance is ruining his good boy image. Regardless, the stage is dark as he approaches the back. Then the lights return and “Veronica” is very clearly faking a hanging. Saruhiko falls to his knees.

“Oh my god… No… Veronica..! Please don’t…leave me alone… You were…all I could trust… I can’t do this alone… Still, I will if I must!”

He’s suddenly cut off by another voice from stage right, when out walks Ciel with a blueberry pie in hand. “Veronica? I brought you a snack!” Saruhiko turns and flees the other direction. “Veronica?” After one last call from Ciel, she spots the hanging Assistant and SCREAMS. The Assistant yanks off the makeshift noose and begins screaming too until eventually the performance ends with one last line from Ciel.

“That’s not funny!”

Saruhiko jogs back out and bows, all bright smiles, the previous maliciousness of J.D. no longer there. Afterwards, he motions towards his two helpers, letting them bow before helping Ciel off stage.

Well, out of all the things one could expect from this talent show, a corpse certainly wasn’t one of them. The corpse of the Assistant most certainly wasn’t one of them. The truth was, at the announcement of the talent show, Himori came up to the assistant with a once-in-a-lifetime request. 

“Kill yourself so I can put it on Liveleak.”

While said streaming website was unavailable to the students, she amended her statement to “Kill yourself so I can figure out your cause of death and display it to the audience for the talent show.” At the very least, the sight of the assistant dead would win the hearts of some of the audience members.

So, the stage opened up to a crime scene. Excellent. It’s not like any of these people are still recently recovering from seeing the corpse of a murdered acquaintance. Excellent job, Himori.

“Well, whatcha see now here is a case waiting to be solved! By taking pictures of the crime scene and pieces of evidence, I can put together exactly what happened before!”

Where was she during the trial, you may ask? Dissociating probably. Gee, her skill sure could have been useful.

After taking a bunch of pictures and posting them in an “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” conspiracy theorist pinboard style, she spoke to the audience.

“Judging from the puncture wound in his arm and the weird… residue along his gas mask where a mouth should be, I can deduce that he most likely injected some substance in an attempt to overdose or poison himself. The empty bottle of pills makes me believe he crushed and diluted them, though not enough to kill him. The evidence would be more severe. Besides, he had time to dispose of the syringe.”

Himori paused for a second and looked closer at her photographs.

“Judging from the chafing and the bruising on his neck, in addition to the mild discoloration on his face, I believe the proper cause of death is strangulation from a cord or rope. The marks are consistent with a rope of medium width that created friction and caused rope burn as well as bruising when it tightened around his neck. Judging from everything, a knocked over chair and whatnot, it appeared he attempted to hang himself but failed at that too. Eventually he just let the rope choke him to death. Tragic.”

The girl bit her lip in contemplation.

“The real question is, however, who removed the rope if that’s what killed him? And the answer? A different clone of the Assistant! If I’m correct, the rope used to kill him should be in his possession. So… am I?”

The Assistant, once again, clapped as he walked out on stage.

My My! Someone’s brushed up on the rules! Thats correct, if one of me dies, then another will come and replace me. Of course, since im running this game, I can’t be punished or tried for a murder I commit,even if said murder is killing myself to help with a talent show. I’d be careful though. With that kind of deductive skills, I’d say you painted a nice target on your back. Figuratively, of course.

Now Scram! All of you! You did quite a number, and once again I have to spend the night tidying up! I even have to clean up his corpse, and I don’t get a trial out of it! Don’t you have some dying to do? Out! All of you! Out!