#Mh rocky

[dolorum-magne]

A sketch of Alex I did this morning as well as a small drawing of Amy and Alex taking Rocky on a walk (might turn that second one into a digital piece because I think it’s cute)

[rattfreakk]

I might make human designs for the mh pets.

[drrealityslenderverse]

Into the Ark pt. 112

Doggo page! Two random search & rescue pups, Alex's dog Rocky, and Seth's dog who I've decided to call Midas! (also, irl screenshot of Seth's dog below cut!)

<- Previous

Next ->

Beginning

Joseph posted a pic of the irl dog on the anniversary livestream earlier this year, so that's what I based Midas on! The name however, I came up with since a canon name wasn't given.

[yumenosakiacademy]

awww it was going so well w me not having 2 block any1 whod rbed my latest mhy/k gifset til now wompwomp.. what was it, like 45-46 notes in or smth? still p good of a record.

[flannelshirtandjeans]

I designed my own Monster High ghoul doll! She is the daughter of Näkki, a water spirit that can camouflage itself as rock or driftwood and drowns people who are careless in water. She is Finnish, loves metal music and coffee, and cares deeply about sustainable fishing practices and protecting lakes and ponds and rivers. Her pet is a skeletal seal pup, who once died in fishermen's nets, but was brought to a new life by Lumme's sadness and anger. She's a part of the metal club at MH, but doesn't play or sing, more just enjoys listening to it and bonding with her fellow students. She my seem quiet and reserved, but won't stop talking if you get to know her properly!

Some design notes under cut:

Also I'd like to add design notes to this:

- fishing nets and hooks & related things are a big design note in her doll because she did almost die by drowning stuck in a fishing net, and she has Feelings about questionable fishing practices.

- there's a permanent tangle of netting around her neck to represent the way she technically died

- her purse is a glass float

- her hair is a light ashy blonde-brown - dirt road brown as we call it in Finland, which is a common hair color in Finland, with accents of darker brown, green, and blue.

- blue eyes, cloudy iris, dark eye whites. Netting eye-shine

- her base skin tone is a light grey, but she has rocky camouflage and birch-tree camouflage on her limbs, ears, and forehead to represent her camouflage/shapechanging abilities

- Luunappi is a skeletal "kuutti", baby northern ringed seal, who died of getting stuck in nets, and Lumme's anger and sadness at the injustice magically revived it

- frappe bc Finns drink ridiculous amounts if coffee per capita but I didn't want to give her straight up black coffee

- Karelian boo-strie is a Karelian pastry but made to look like a fish with big teeth

- her object heel is a fishing loom stone, a type of a fishing weight

- her phone is not an iCasket bc she's _Finnish_ and obvs reps Nokia instead. Hence Noakiasket

- sea glass bottle bottom sunglasses. Seaglass is frosty so that's a little funny for sunglasses but listen.

- the CD is "Nemo" by _Nightfish_ which is obviously a silly riff on Nightwish, which is a Finnish metal band, and she loves metal (Finland has so many metal bands. We just really love metal.). I decided on a CD-player purely for nostalgic reasons.

- "Land of a thousand lake monsters" refers to Finlnd, and you can see the shape of Finland on the cover. Finland is called the land of a thousand lakes, so we probably have a lot of lake monsters too.

- yellow comes a little out of nowhere for this, but I like raincoat yellow and it reminds me of fishers, so I can have it.

[have-you-seen-my-sanity]

Hiiii, just a thought: Poe with an inexperienced reader... there's so many Poe fics out there, but I haven't read this kind of before 🤔

Of course I can do that, Poe's a sweet lad to write that for. <3

Don't be afraid

Poe Dameron x fem!reader

Warnings: P in v, a bit of fluff, nsfw, smut, oral f! receiving, wholesome.

The Resistance was finally able to settle down and get some much needed rest, some were still doing their duties, but most of them were just relaxing. Poe and you were currently in a small cave further away from the temporary camp, ever since you came together there hasn't been a lot of alone time, so you two made the most of it now while everyone got to take a seat back.

Poe was already kissing his way along your jawline, with his hands roaming over your body, snaking their way down to slip underneath your shirt, "You're not uncomfortable here, are you?" He asked, pulling back to look into your eyes.

"No, but can we go a bit slower?" You replied with a concerned face, hoping this wouldn't hurt his feelings.

Poe smiled warmly, "Yeah, of course." His hands immediately slipping out of your shirt as he leaned back in to resume kissing your neck and collarbone. A few moments later Poe pulled back again, "Hold up, are you..." He trailed off but you knew what he was about to say.

You shook your head, "No but I haven't had much experience with this." The heat in your cheeks rose and you tried to hide the creeping blush.

"That's okay." Poe smiled, kissing you softly before he discovered the slight blush on your cheeks, "Look at you, you're blushing!" He cupped your face, nuzzling his nose against yours and grinning from ear to ear, "Am I getting you all heated up, honey?"

"No, it's the planet." You lied, laughing.

"The planet got hot because of me, sweetheart." He grinned, moving his hands to grab your lower back and lowering you slowly but surely backwards on the rocky ground. Some rocks pressed against your back, causing you to shift into a more comfortable spot.

"What's wrong?" Poe asked, leaning over you.

"The ground is hard as hell." You replied, getting comfortable in your new spot.

Poe leaned in close to your ear, whispering "Well, the ground isn't the only thing hard as hell here." you could practically hear the grin in his voice as he said that. He began working on your pants, gently opening them and pulling them down to your thighs. Poe got back on his knees, pulling your pants off and throwing them back before peeling your panties off of you and spreading your legs.

He lowered himself dangerously close to your aching core, his hot breath hitting you "Wanna feel what I'm the best at?"

Poe didn't even gave you time to respond before he went in to lap at you, slurping up your juices.

You instantly folded into him, tangling your fingers into his loose curls, "Oh god, Poe!"

Poe looked up at you, his mouth curling up at the corners before "Keep doing that." Poe moaned, his tongue thrusting into your leaking pussy, making you tug at his hair.

"You're so good at this, Poe..." You moaned, already starting to see stars.

Poe pulled away, admiring the mess he made of you while you let out a needy while at the loss.

"Now you're nicely wet for my cock." He unzipped his pants, pulled his rock hard cock out and positioned himself between your legs.

"Ready for your first time with the hotshot of the Resistance?" He asked, pressing his cockhead against your slippery entrance.

"Yes." You nodded, before Poe pushed his girth inside you with a swift thrust, stretching your channel nicely.

"Fuuck, Poe~" Your eyes lulled back, feeling him move within you.

Poe groaned, pulling back to leave only the tip inside and thrusting back into you, burying himself completely "Such a tight pussy you got there.." He speeded up, hitting your spot with every deep thrust.

"I can feel you getting close." He grunted.

"Mh-mm, yes I am~" You let out a needy whimper as his cock brushed against the spot again, causing you to arch into him as you felt the pleasure swelling up.

"I'm getting close too." Poe grunted, pounting into you, feeling you tightening down more on his cock, "There you go, let that sweet pussy milk my cock, come on."

"Poee, I'm about to cum!" Were the last words before your pussy clamped down, gripping onto Poe like it didn't wanted to let go.

"That's it, here it c-comes.." Poe's hips snapped into you and he came hard, emptying his load inside you. "That was perfect." He murmured, lowering himself to lay on top of you with his face buried in your neck as he pulled out and rolled to the side.

After a while of calming down you broke the silence "Is there wildlife on this planet?" You asked, looking out into the lush-green covered surface.

"We saw some fluffy bird looking things with claws." Poe replied, resting his arms behind his head "They look scary but they are actually quite curious and a bit shy."

"Did you met some?" You looked back at him, getting another blanket from the bag you brought.

"Yeah, those guys came up before you got here, Finn and Chewie brought some pork meat and they showed up." Poe rolled onto his side, seeing you all curled up in the blanket. He couldn't help but smile, "Well, and Finn fed one of those and a minute later there were like 5 of those showing up."

"Oh, they sound like some pretty good company then." You laughed.

Poe snorted, "Yup, until Chewie took the pork with him into the Falcon and locked himself up in there so he could eat in peace." He chuckled.

"Aww, Chewie didn't share with Finn?" You laughed.

"No, Chewie was pissed at Finn and forced him to eat from the supplies." Poe scooted closer to you, "Let me get in there, I wanna cuddle up." He tugged on the blanked.

You chuckled, lifting the blanket for Poe to get under it too and cuddled up to him "You know it's already getting dark right?"

"I know but we can sleep here. We will tell the others we were too drunk to get back. Who knows maybe one of those birds will show up and join us. Or maybe eat us, I dunno." Poe laughed, pulling you close against him.

"Poe!" You smacked his shoulder playfully who only smiled and squeezed you in return as he was about to drift off, "Come on, shut your eyes and get some sleep, sweetcheeks." Poe smiled, running his fingers through your hair.

The gesture made you melt and withing a second, you drifted off into sleep, curled up against Poe, who made you feel warm, loved and safe.

[creepypasta-fan-page]

“Ice-scream„

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

-:Jeff the killer: Mango ice cream is his go to. He usually puts Chamoy in it. Masky thinks that is absolutely disgusting. Now Jeff goes out of his way to make sure he eats it when Masky is in the Manor.

-:Eyeless jack: Jack is a Cherry Garcia guy. He doesn’t like chocolate or super sweet sugary things so the sweet fruit ice cream flavors are his favorite.

-:Laughing jack: Cookies n cream. He can’t help the fact that he has to stick to his aesthetic. He also may just really like the Oreos in the ice cream…

-:Jane the killer: Orange sherbet ice cream. She prefers popsicles but some sherbet every once in a while is nice.

-:Sally Williams: Chocolate! She really likes the taste and it’s been her favorite since she was a baby. It was also the first ice cream flavor she ever tried.

-:BEN drowned: BEN is an average discord MOD. Mint chocolate chip. He thinks it makes up for not brushing his teeth.

-:Slenderman: He doesn’t eat ice cream. He eats kids. But he prefers the ones that haven’t gotten a vaccine.

-:Masky MH:Like the old man he is, pistachio. Literally no one understands why he likes it. It was just a popular flavor when he was growing up and he grew accustomed to it.

-:Hoodie (MH): He likes salted caramel flavored. Bonus points if there are caramel chunks in it. He also gets annoyed when people pronounce it “cara-Mel” and not “car-Mel”

-:Ticci Toby: he’s a slut for coffee flavored ice cream. He loves the smell and isn’t aloud to have coffee so it’s a win-win for him.

-:Clockwork: Clockwork was raised in the outskirts. She can’t help it that Rocky Road is her favorite. It has multiple different flavors packed inside, who wouldn’t love that?

-:Nina the killer: Neopolitan. She either mixes all three flavors or eats them individually.

-:KageKao: Matcha. Since he is Japanese he grew up eating a lot of matcha stuff. He prefers the strong matcha over the sweetened.

-:Bloody Painter: Oh how he loves some blueberry ice cream. He also only eats ice cream in those chocolate dipped cones.

-:X- virus: Our neighborhood science freak loves ube flavored stuff. That purple potatoe flavor just gets him everytime.

-**Special~

-:Lane the Lurker: Lane kinda gives me moose track vibes. The vanilla ice cream with crushed Reese’s and fudge? Sign him up.

Lane the Lurker is an OC by @raythekiller ❕

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

[mouwrites]

Creepypasta/MH - How They’d Ask You Out

Characters: Eyeless Jack, Nina the Killer, Clockwork, Jane the Killer, Tim/Masky, Brian/Hoody

Eyeless Jack

I don’t think it would take him too long to ask out someone he liked

As long as he was sure that he really did like them, and that they didn’t hate him or anything, he’d be comfortable at least asking

He would bring flowers for sure

He’d show up at your door late at night, bouquet in hand

“Would you care to join me for a walk?”

You’d stroll through the woods, talking a bit about yourselves

It’d be a pretty deep conversation, both of you staying serious as you exposed vulnerable parts of yourselves

He’d hint at being romantically interested in you, but he’d wait until you were back at your house to pop the question

“You’ve probably noticed by now, but I really do think you’re amazing. I’d love it if you’d be my partner.”

If you say yes he’ll be absolutely radiating joy and he’ll promise to treat you well before bidding you goodnight

If you say no he’ll understand, thank you for your time anyway, and disappear into the night

He’s okay staying friends, but he’ll be sad about it for a while

Still, your companionship is more important to him than being yours

Nina the Killer

It won’t take long at all for her to ask out someone she’s interested in

As soon as she knows she can trust them, she’ll go for it

She’ll use something homemade to actually ask the question

Like a kandi bracelet that says “be mine?”

Or maybe a cake she baked herself

Either way it’s bound to be something decorative made with lots of love

She’ll find you at school/work/home and tell you she has something to show you

She smiles hugely when she reveals her little project, but inside she’s buzzing with anxiety

“So..? What do you say?”

If you agree she’ll literally drop whatever she’s made and throw her arms around you

She will proceed to take you out shopping to buy something to commemorate the occasion

Matching shirts, bracelets, a new piercing, maybe even a pizza to share

Just a little something to celebrate :)

If you say no she’ll be devastated

“Oh… well, thanks anyway…”

She probably won’t talk to you for a while, if ever again

Clockwork

She’d have to know you for a VERY long time beforehand

She has trouble trusting people, as well as trouble finding someone she’s genuinely interested in romantically

You’d know pretty much everything about each other by the time she decides to ask you out

That just means that she knows the way to your heart though

She’ll make a beautiful sketch of you

Maybe there’s some gore incorporated, but hey, if you’ve stuck with her this long you’ll be used to it

You’ll be hanging out one day, her drawing and you distracted by something else, and she’ll suddenly tear a page from her sketchbook

She hands you the drawing while saying:

“Hey, Y/n, so… I really like you. You’re my dream partner. I want you by my side always.”

If you agree to be her partner, she’ll grin, turning back to her sketchbook with a little pinkness on her cheeks as she mumbles “cool”

When you leave she’ll peck your cheek before slamming the door in your face, giddy that she had the courage to do that

If you reject her, she’ll frown

Probably won’t want to be friends anymore :(

She just doesn’t want to be around someone she loves knowing they don’t love her back

Jane the Killer

I think it depends on the person when it comes to Jane

If you guys click really well, she’ll probably try to advance the relationship quicker than if your relationship started off rocky

But either way she’s going to plan something romantic

She’ll buy you something nice and deliver it in secret

Like, one day you’ll just find a box of chocolates or a necklace with a note attached telling you to meet her someplace

Personally I like to think it’d be a blossoming cherry tree, or perhaps a scenic overlook

You’ll find her there waiting for you, hands fidgeting nervously behind her back

She’ll get straight to the point:

“Y/n, I like you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but if you do… wanna be my girlfriend?”

If you accept, she’ll get a huge smile and run over to you, throwing her arms around you and twirling you around

You’ll sit together at the scenic location for a while, leaning on each other with your fingers intertwined

If you decline, she’ll just nod with a sad smile

She’ll be sad for a while, but ultimately she’s got other things in her life to worry about, so I don’t think she’ll wallow for too long

Might keep talking to you, might not; again, it really depends with her

Tim/Masky

Another one who’d have to know you a while first

He needs to make sure he trusts you, yes, but he also needs to start trusting himself around you

Once he’s sure that you can both handle yourselves, he’ll take more time to hype himself up to do it

He questions bitterly whether you’d even accept if he did ask you out

Eventually he gets so exhausted from the constant will they/won’t they in his head that he spontaneously blurts out:

“Do you want to go out with me?”

You’ll be taken aback; you guys were literally just chilling in silence

Plus he would’ve given next to no hints that he liked you at all

If you accept, he’ll sigh, slouching severely in relief

Finally some peace of mind… and heart

He’ll murmur a thank you for giving him this peace, but won’t elaborate

If you decline, he’s going to beat himself up about it so hard

He won’t blame you at all; no, every ounce of blame is going into the anvil that he’s crushing himself with

Probably won’t want to keep contact for much longer

Your presence is just a constant reminder of (what he sees as) his failure

Brian/Hoody

He didn’t know you for too long before deciding to ask you out, but he knew a lot about you

If he’s interested in you, he’s going to find out everything he can

He prefers outside sources, but if he absolutely cannot find something he wants to know, he’ll begrudgingly just ask you

That being said, he knows how to charm you

He’s a pretty naturally charming person regardless, but he wants to do something special just for you

He’d leave a gift for you; something he knows you love

Jewelry with your favorite gemstone, your favorite flowers, a nice new fluffy blanket… something on the luxurious side

Plus a note saying:

“Y/n, please be mine. With love, Brian”

He’ll approach you later and ask for your response

If you agree, he’s got a whole nice evening planned out already, and he’s more than eager to take you on this first date

If you decline, he’ll probably “cut contact”

I use quotations because he’ll probably still keep tabs on you in secret for a while

He’ll get over it eventually, but until he does that’s his way of coping

Thank you for reading!! Take care of yourselves pumpkins <33

(divider by saradika)

[tortillasconsal]

Day 1. Cold Breakfast

Ssssssuuuuper late, but I didn't miss it so it counts

My first idea was EJ eating some fresh organs from a cold dead body, but I figured it was too predictable so I switched it up to Tim and Brian eating some cold Hot Pockets 👍

I like it bc I have an excuse to babble about these two in my AU

Disclaimer: I want to keep most of the MH lore intact, but I can't promise I'll be very exact on the events that happen since I don't know much about the series other than what I learn from YouTube video essays.

So here, they're not Slenderman's proxies but they have an interesting relationship with him, especially Tim. From what I understand Tim has cought Slenderman's attention since he was very young and has been following him close for a very long time, I like to interpret this as Slenderman becoming fixiated on him and growing desesperate to have him as one of his most loyal followers.

Hoodie survives de events of MH and joins Tim on his journey to I-don't-know-where. They now engage in a never ending roadtrip trying to escape from The Operater and his Proxies (and also hiding from the cops). And while they're at it they do their best to investigate about this damn demon and see how they can escape him for good.

They don't have any meaningful relationships with the rest of the characters, they actually don't know anybody else besides their chasers. At most they would know about certain killers from around the country, but that's it. Not even other supernatural entities like LJ or Slender's brothers.

All they know so far is that they have no one else to rely on but each other.

So we're starting rocky with this piece. I had lots of crisis working on this because I haven't done anything this finished in a very- very long time. I wouldn't call it the greatest piece I've made but I'm still proud of it, like I said- it's been a while since I have done a full piece with shadows and lights and backgrounds and everything, so it's nice to see that I could do it in a day.

I might have to tone the effort down for the rest of the month so I don't burn out too soon. I'm so excited to see what I do tomorrow!!!

[mouthsfullofsharpteeth]

hm. monster high mh au. what monsters/cryptids whatever are they atlas?

what an EXCELLENT question omg omg omg i love monster high, this is perfect

there are literally so so so many possibilities of what could fit them, but heres my general list

alex- gargoyle. hes stone faced, cold, and has got a helluva chip on his shoulder. his dog is named rocky. plus i think he would look hot in that kind of design. the gargoyle designs go HARD

i know everyone normally says werewolf for tim (just like alex is usually a vampire) BUT if this is a monster high au then im gonna think outside the box and say

tim- boogeyman. if youre familiar with twyla, i think he would be pretty much like her, except he would be the introvert side instead of shy side of this meme

going on,

brian- zombie, though im hesitant and can be swayed to something else. i just think it sort of fits his hoody vibe. shuffling and grim and sulking in graveyards. dirty and leaves in his hair. he would make suchhhh a cute zombie, especially if he combined parts with a frankenstein monster situation and stitched his limbs back on and got electricity boosts!

jay- invisible man. like invisibilly. he uses his powers for evil and for stalking and stuff. its awesome. he pranks alex so much and alex hates it HSDKJGFHKGJ

jessica- skeleton. reference to her dynamic with skully in the comics, plus i feel like it just Fits her

seth- voodoo doll. i know the character hoodude voodoo was technically "made by frankie" and wasnt "born" like the rest of them, but just consider this: white doll reference, and brian makes him? is this anything?

amy- ghost. reference to her haunting the narrative of season two marble hornets. also she totally fits being all floaty and creepy and ghoulish. i think she would be some kind of banshee type ghost. very horrifying and screamy. ohohoho this is good stuff.

sarah- im gonna say vampire, BUT she would look a lot more like a batsy claro style vampire with wings and stuff, she isnt pink like draculaura or valentine.

[thebindingofpillo]

Hi! The previous anon who asked about your bio here. Kind of random but I'm curious what the fav ice cream flavors of the cast are. And since I'm bored, I'm gonna give my guesses Isaac: Chocolate

Magdalene: pistachio

Cain: Vanilla Judas: hot fudge Eve: Cookies and cream Samson: strawberry Azazel: rainbow sherbet (not ice cream but seemed fitting idk why Lazarus: black walnut Eden: Prob doesn't eat but if i had to guess butter pecan Lilith: doesn't like ice cream but gets chocolate chip cookie dough for Fwendy Apollyon: believe they were confirmed to not eat in an ask years ago but if they could uhhhhh strawberry Bethany: Mint chocolate chip Jacob: peanut butter Esau: ghost ice cream Neapolitan

all of these were just done off of vibes and little to no thought went in to them

Hiiiiii I love all of these, tbf I haven’t really thought about their favourite ice cream flavours either but it’s fun! Here’s my thoughts. Disclaimer: I don’t really know a lot of American ice cream flavours lol

Isaac: he’d probably like chocolate ngl. A bit basic but alright. Nothing that stands out too much. I feel like he would also like vanilla. Either that or something stupid like bubblegum. He’s too done to care, he’ll get whatever he pleases lol.

Magdalene: something rich like salted caramel, or a very fancy vanilla. Rocky road. Cookie dough. Or all of the above, together. She has a huge sweet tooth and likes mixing and matching.

Cain: He likes it simple, so I guess vanilla could go. Or rum raisin because he’s an old man.

Judas: doesn’t really like sweets in general, so he doesn’t really have a favourite ice cream. If he had to choose he’d probably go with coffee or something not overtly sweet, like pistachio or dark chocolate. Always gets the smallest cone/cup available.

Eve: isn’t really one for sweets in general unless she’s feeling really down, in which case she’d eat a whole tub in one sitting. Likes chocolate chip, but when she’s feeling especially shitty she will branch out with stuff like caramel, chocolate etc. always with chunks tho, she loves chunks.

Samson: I know Americans make a difference between ice cream and gelato but I literally never knew what it was. Anyway Samson likes gelato. Probably cherry idk. There’s a super good cassata gelato at my local supermarket and I feel like he’d like that one but I don’t really know how to describe it lmao.

Azazel: another sweet tooth. I feel like he wouldn’t really have a favourite flavor bc he’d like way too many to decide. He’s always loved human food and is always down to try anything. I feel like he’d be interested in more uncommon flavours like popcorn (idk if its common over there, but I’ve never seen it here) or that raspberry and rosemary one i tried once. Or sea salt. WAIT almond ice cream with dried figs. That’s the one.

Lazarus: I have no idea how black walnut would taste. But I trust you.

Eden doesn’t eat, you’re right, but they might partake in the Human Activities from time to time. And when they’ll become human (spoiler) they’ll get to try a lot of different things! I feel like they’d have a very limited palate tho, kinda like a small child. So nothing too complicated, like strawberry.

Lilith: STRAWBEBBY one time I had a very good strawberry float with prosecco and it was so her. Fwendy would appreciate the cookie dough chunks tho, they can munch on them together u.u

Apollyon can’t eat :( but he’d like very basic flavours. There’s a flavour over here called fiordilatte that’s even more basic than vanilla, it literally tastes like milk, I think he would like that.

Bethany also strikes me as a mint chocolate chip girlie, I can see that. Lazarus knows that and always keeps it in the freezer so she doesn’t have to go without u.u

Jacob: mhmmmmmm very hard to figure out. I don’t really remember if he liked sweets or not, but peanut butter strikes that balance of not too sweet but still great so I can see him liking it.

Esau: isn’t Neapolitan like three flavours together mhmmmm he feels like a frozen yogurt kind of guy. With extra protein and fruit toppings.

[ufo-thetimesareripe]

BLC-1 may be an intelligent non-human signature (from MUFON Newsletter)

Simon Holland, a NASA-linked filmmaker, claims insiders have told him two groups of scientists are racing to publish reports claiming a technological civilization is right next door to us orbiting a planet around the star Proxima Centauri just 4.25 light years away from Earth. It is part of the Alpha Centauri three-star system. Discovered in 1915 it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. It is a red dwarf. It is known to have one planet and possibly two more. What is special about planet Proxima Centauri b is that it orbits in the star’s habitable zone and is a rocky world just slightly larger than Earth. It is capable of sustaining liquid water on its surface.

Radio Signals dubbed BLC-1 were first discovered in 2019 and thought to be either human interference noise reflected from our atmosphere or a natural interstellar source. Reanalyzing the signals now suggests they exist in a narrowband electromagnetic frequency at 982 MH that could suggest a technological origin. That frequency lies outside normal parameters for known natural sources. Oxford University Scientists are working with Australia’s Parkes Radio Telescope and Mark Zuckerberg’s Breakthrough Listen Project. Dr. Andrew Siemion of the Breakthrough Listen Projectmay have tipped off Holland as to what is coming. Siemion has stated that the signal is, “undoubtedly one of the most intriguing signals we’ve seen to date". Holland believes that Chinese Scientists working at the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is also readying a paper for publication claiming that BLC-1 may be an intelligent non-human signature. So, is disclosure just around the corner, or will we find out in the next few weeks that we have been served yet another nothing burger?

Credit to Bob Spearing

[majesticwren]

due to high demand - me. I'm high demand. this entire project is being written entirely for my pleasure, be warned I'm being extremely self-indulgent - I've decided to write a little prequel to the events that take place here. this is set in 2018 and is the beginning of Fletch x OFC. billy will have his own little prequel at some point. enjoy.

Trigger Warning/s: OFC is her own trigger warning she is damaged goods and slightly toxic and emotionally unavailable, mention of addiction, mention of heroin abuse, mention of sex, mention of trauma, angst, mainly friends to lovers/impossible relationship dynamics.

nuclear season: part I -> | part II -> | part III -> prequel: <- part I | <- part II | part IV -> Masterlist

Beginning of April 2018

Erika sat on the porch swing, comfortably curled on herself. She was slowly rocking herself, naked foot pressed on the wooden patio floor, as she enjoyed the sundown of that exceptionally hot evening. She sipped on the cup of homemade peach iced tea she was so proud she made, deciding to accept that as something small to be grateful for today.

She was melancholically watching some of the neighbour’s kids playing on their familiar street. Their excited little voices, breaking through the evening, mixed with the noises of the place she called home. It was music for her soul. Something that resonated through her, always reminding her where she came from. She didn’t need to like Brisbane, to always have her inside compass pointing to it.

Her gaze cruised over the street cutting across the residential uptown area she grew up in. She could see herself, as clear as day, wearing her new pink helmet, on her birthday, learning to go on her little pink bike as Mark taught her how to ride all afternoon. And then again, when she was just a little over twelve, he did the same teaching her some skating tricks. She remembered how they used to walk over that road together every morning and every evening, as he was used to getting her to and from the bus stop to go to school or practice. Later, years later, she could still see them two sitting side by side just outside their garden, on the pavement. Erika had touched her first rock bottom and had asked him for help.

“You look so sad, honey,”

Erika huffed softly, moving her attention to her mother, who looked over her from the other side of the porch. She was still wearing her straw hat and was holding an old empty flower pot, in her cute gardening outfit.

“I am ok,” Erika tried to reassure her, offering a small smile, stretching on the swing. “I promise.”

The woman softly chuckled, putting the vase down and removing her gloves, walking to her, “What mother would I be if I believed you when you have a broken heart?”

Erika simply smiled, making space for the woman as she sat next to her.

For years, Erika had convinced herself to resent her mother for the flat life she thought the woman had. The life many would consider a good life. Housewife, happily married to a good man, carrying a family, caring for the house and herself. And Erika, especially in her teenage years, hated her for it. Considered her stupid and much worse things.

She was a sweet woman. A good woman. A good mother. And Erika still had to find the courage to apologise for how difficult she had been and how rocky she made their relationship. Not that her mother ever expected her to. That woman still loved her, Erika was her child and she never missed an opportunity to remind her. Though it was stronger than her, Erika felt more awkward than anything else around her.

It was shame. It was inadequacy. It was everything she regretted, knowing her mother was one of the many victims she had taken down in her path of destruction over the years.

“Mum,” Erika sighed, looking away. “Please, I am fine.”

“Mh,” Erika felt the woman looking at her with the wisdom of someone who just knew better, “Mark called. Again.”

Erika flinched.

Her chest was still broken. It was undeniable. Her heart was in a thousand pieces. Thinking about her brother hurt her too much. It was still such a sore, open wound. The longer she spent apart, the more it felt as if she was missing part of her.

After what happened, Erika left. She left the job at RevPro and she left England for good, not saying a word. Not leaving a message. She changed her phone, her number, everything and tried to continue with her life.

The only thing she dared to do, breaking her own rule to become a ghost, was to steal one of Kyle's t-shirts. Just because she wanted to have something that smelled like him. It didn’t carry his scent anymore, now, but she still kept it safe under her pillow and slept hugging it or wearing it.

When she disappeared without leaving a trace, she knew Mark lost his mind about it. Especially in the first forty-eight hours she spent flying over to Australia. But she wasn’t interested in his concern. When she landed and surprised her parents, she didn't care whether or not they had let Mark know. It wasn’t her responsibility to make him feel better.

She hadn’t talked to him in a couple of weeks. And she had no intention of doing so. Not yet. She wasn’t ready.

There was so much she needed to fix before she even decided to consider forgiveness. But, like it or not, he was always there with her. She’d see him around the house and in all the familiar places they grew up together. And he’d still be her voice of reason, even despite the terrible things he had said the last time they spoke.

Her anger had calmed by now, leaving behind only pain. Pain, she had to learn to deal with. It wasn’t something she had done before. Before, she would have tried to do anything to numb it, cancel it, erasing herself in the process. Even this time, as soon as she landed back home, she went close to embarking on yet another self-destructive trip. She was there. She almost went to see her old friend who’d always have a fresh fix for her. But this time, differently from ever before, Erika understood consequences and she just knew she would have seen the end of it either in a hospital or six feet under.

So, she was learning to deal with her emotions being clean. She was learning to become her own person, doing a lot of healing and mending in the process. And it was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. However, there was no other way forward. She needed to fix herself to fix it all.

She was still mad at Mark, and she would have been mad for a long time. But he wasn’t the only one she was upset at. She was angry at herself for proving him right. For doubting her own choices and abilities. And for having caused pain to the only person she was supposed to love. And she had no intention to let self-doubt ever bring her that close to ruin her life again.

“I don’t care,” she finally replied, shaking her head. “I don’t want to know.”

“He is so worried for you, honey. You-”

“Mum,” Erika snapped in a gentle warning, looking over to the woman by her side, “Please, leave it alone. Please. You don’t know what happened and you can’t understand it. I am not ready.”

“Then tell me what happened, sweetheart. Help me understand,”

Erika's chuckle was dry, maybe even cruel, even though she didn’t mean it to be. “You can’t understand,” she simply said, shrugging. “Ask your son to tell you what he did.”

“I did.”

“And?”

“He cut me off.”

“See?” Erika chuckled, shaking her head. “Leave it alone, mum. It’s ugly and it’s between us.”

“I can’t stand having my two children not talking. You were so close. It was my only joy,”

Erika had to bite her tongue and think twice before abruptly replying. “No,” she gently placed a hand on her mother’s. “Mum, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you for kicks. I won’t tell you what happened because I can’t have the responsibility to put you in a position to reconsider your son’s worth or choose sides or whatever.”

“After everything you have done, I still consider you so highly, my child, do you think what he did is worse than that?”

Erika took no offence to her mother’s honesty. She wasn’t wrong, after all. “To me it is,” she simply replied, “It is a matter between me and Mark, and we are both adults, we’ll figure it out, one day. He’s still my brother.”

Her mother cupped her face in one hand, making her look at her. The two looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment, as the older woman smiled softly at her. “I am proud of the woman you are becoming. I am sorry it is all so painful to you.”

“I’ll be fine, mum. Thank you,” Erika squeezed her hand.

End of April 2018.

“Mum?” Erika called as she entered her childhood home. “Can I have a hand?” She wondered, balancing herself as she carried as many bags of groceries under her arms as she possibly could. “The car is packed full. I’ll help you put it all away, I promise,” she still chirped moving through the still big house, receiving only silence in response.

As Erika moved to the kitchen, she finally began to hear two low voices chatting from the back porch. One was her mother, who now was chuckling the other Erika couldn’t recognise. In the background, she heard the noise of the lawn mower too, but it was far enough she wasn’t sure if it came from her garden or the neighbours’.

She left the grocery bags on the counter and popped her head out the door, looking for the two women with a certain urgency and curiosity. They were both comfortably sitting on the two garden chairs on the deck. Both wore sundresses, facing the pretty garden her mum was so proud of, sipping on fresh lemonade. They both watched closely the young-looking gardener working at the end of their lawn, cutting the grass.

“Hey,” Erika began, quickly losing interest in the view the other two seemed to be so lost in. She didn’t even want to think about it too much. “Was looking for you,” she hinted to her mum, “been talking to myself a while.”

“Hello honey,” her mother chuckled, “I’m sorry, couldn’t hear you from out here.”

“Is this her?” The other woman wondered, looking at her mother first and then back at her. She studied Erika with such interest she felt the need to shy away.

“Yes,” her mother too looked up at her with certain pride in her eyes. “She is so pretty, isn’t she?”

The second woman smiled, nodding silently. “Pardon me, sweety, you are probably wondering what kind of rude manners I must have, I am Pamela, and I live a few doors down, pleased to meet you,”

It was beyond Erika. The way the woman spoke, sitting in her lovely yellow dress, with her legs elegantly crossed and her glass of lemonade at hand made her think about a sophisticated housewife from the sixties. She still smiled politely, trying to mirror the approach that the woman was showing her. “Nice to meet you too, I am Erika, but you must know that already. You must be a friend of my mum’s?”

“Yes!” The woman and her mother exchanged a little look, giggling to themselves. “We met at Pilates only last year!”

“Can you believe women our age are still making friends like teenagers?” Her mother giggled, sipping on her lemonade, all pleased with herself.

“As soon as you two don’t go create a Burn Book for the neighbourhood, I think we are safe,” Erika chuckled with them, doing her best to indulge her mother and her small joys.

“She is a beautiful young woman and a funny one too? Jackpot.” Pamela giggled, clinking her glass with her mothers in a silent cheer.

“I told you. My daughter is a catch,”

“Must have boys coming for her left and right.”

“Oh,” her mother chuckled again, “You don’t know the beginning of it.”

For a moment Erika felt like they forgot she was standing there, even though both women still studied her like a prized pony or something.

Pamela giggled, nodding. “It doesn’t surprise me,” she then turned over to Erika, rosy cheeks and the largest smile she had ever seen before, “you know? I have a son.” The woman hinted to the boy in the garden with pride, “He’s really nice. Kind, handsome and very smart.”

As any son is to any mother. Erika thought it but didn’t dare to say it. She now understood so many things and started to suspect the two women’s words in an entirely different light. Instead of saying what she truly wanted to say, which was that she didn’t need her mother to fix her up, she smiled politely, gently shaking her head. “I am sure he is, ma’am, don’t doubt it for one second.”

“Ah,” Pamela's smile only grew as she and her mother exchanged a complicit look Erika didn’t like. “You’d like him. Your mum tells me you are single. See, my son is single too. We thought that it would have been nice to introduce the two of you.”

Erika had to bite her tongue hard. Their idea of introductions was to have said boy on parade, cutting the grass shirtless, of course. “How thoughtful of you,” this time Erika only pretended to be polite but wasn’t doing much to hide her slight irritation. “But I am not looking for-”

“Oh, God, honey, of course not! Who do you think we are?” Her mother jumped over her words, gasping, as if Erika was the one who misunderstood the situation. “I only thought you just moved back and don’t have many friends. Then I met Pamela, and one thing led to another, we thought maybe you two could hang out like kids do?”

Erika may not like her mother’s behaviour sometimes, but she still pulled out an amused smile, looking at her trying to find a way to justify herself and digging herself a deeper grave. It was somewhat funny though.

“Yes!” Pamela innocently agreed, “Who knows where things lead, I say.”

She cleared her voice, trying to ignore their silly behaviour, justifying it as the ways mums went about their kids sometimes. “Anyways. Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but mum, if you could give me a hand with the groceries that would be lovely.”

“Oh! Trevor can help you with that,” her mother chirped.

Pamela immediately followed, nodding eagerly. “Yes! What a nice idea,” she was up in a second and, even before Erika had the time to catch a breath and ask questions, she already hopped in the garden, waving at the guy handling the lawn mower.

“Mum?” Erika wondered suspiciously, “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do I feel like this is going to be a set-up?”

“Don’t be silly, dear,” her mum giggled some more. Erika started suspecting the lemonade could have some gin in it. “This is just one of those friendly neighbours’ moments. Pamela’s son so kindly offered to help out with the lawn since your father is always busy with work and,”

“And I am getting introduced,”

“Well, yes, we thought you needed a friend.”

Erika rolled her eyes, still smiling. “Who’s conveniently a shirtless guy cutting your grass, mum?”

“Well, it is about thirty degrees out there. God knows how hot the poor thing is under the sun.”

Before she could reply anything, Pamela was back and her son trailed her. He too, looked somewhat feeling as awkward as she did. At least they could both agree their mothers were being embarrassing.

“So,” Pamela began, pushing her son forward, “This is Trevor.”

He was still catching his breath, as he offered Erika a smile. “Hi, how do you do?” He threw her a hand that she felt obliged to accept.

He was her age, maybe just a little older. He was attractive, that was undeniable. Quite tall and fit too. But Erika looked at him with the same interest she’d have for a lamp post. It wasn’t because she was rude. It was simply because it did nothing to catch her interest.

“Hi, I’m Erika. But I am sure my mother already said that, didn’t she?”

“She did,” he nodded, “they are terrible sometimes, aren’t they?” He wondered, catching the first opportunity possible to give her a complicit look.

This time it was their turn to talk about their mothers like they weren’t standing there.

Erika smiled. Only for that, she was warming up to him. “Yes. Did they convince you to do this?”

“Well, I was allured in with the request of cutting some grass and the promise of some lemonade,”

“Ah,” Erika shook her head, chuckling, “I think your payment is a hot date.”

He hissed, only pretending to be annoyed. “That won’t do. I rather the lemonade.”

They both turned to their mothers, finding both women looking at them with the utmost pride as if they had just won a prize or something. Erika felt like they didn’t catch on to their humour.

Pamela leaned into her mother with a proud smile. “See? What did I tell you?”

Erika huffed and then decided to do the only sensible thing and turned to Trevor, “So, are you helping me with the grocery? It won’t put itself away and I’ve got places to be after.”

“Sure thing,” he chirped willingly, “anything to get away from my mother trying to find me a girlfriend.” The look he sent his mum was pure banter.

Erika wondered if he truly was unaware, or if he was simply trying to charm her into a plan, he was well aware of. Either way, she didn’t care too much.

They unloaded the car as quickly as possible. Erika had no time to lose. Especially if it was to linger and mingle with a shirtless, sweaty, guy placed in her house only for her to look at him.

She grabbed the last two bags and, before she could instruct Trevor to just shut the door, he already leaned in to grab the heavy bag containing all her camera equipment. It’s been left in the car since she came back to Australia. It was the only thing she hadn’t unpacked yet. And she pretended, lying to herself, that it was simply too heavy to carry upstairs.

“No. That, leave it there, please.”

“What is it?”

“None of your business,” she snapped before she could even realise how uncalled it was. Erika immediately regretted it and rolled her eyes, looking back at Trevor. “I am sorry. That wasn’t nice to say. It’s my camera, I am a photographer.”

“You are?”

“Yes. Good at it too. But I haven’t worked in a while now,” she cleared her voice, shaking her head “It’s complicated to explain but I just don’t want to have it in the house.”

“You kidding?”

“No.”

Trevor looked down at the black back he carried, “It might get ruined left in the car under the sun all day, you know?”

“Yes. I am aware,” she huffed, feeling cornered. “Fine. Bring it into the house. Leave it by the stairs, please.”

“Yes ma’am,” he chirped and followed her without saying a word as they returned to the house. “So, how is it you haven’t worked in a while?”

“My field of expertise is very specific,” Erika explained, knowing how lame that excuse was. She could have done anything. The problem was she hadn’t picked her camera up in weeks. Not once.

“And what’s that? Wildlife?”

“No,” she chuckled, “I wish. It’s actually pro wrestling.”

“You shit me!?”

“No.” Erika frowned. “I moved to England some time ago to follow my brother and worked for one of the biggest companies in the UK.”

“Your brother is a wrestler?”

“See?” Erika chuckled, “My mother thought to introduce me and left out all the juicy details. He is,” she then explained, a smile crossing her lips, “he loves it. Always loved it. So, now, that’s what he does.”

“Who’s he? Is it possible I’ve heard of him?”

“It’s possible you know him since he lived around here up to a few months ago. Mark Davis?” She dropped, not hiding the pride she felt for her brother even despite everything.

“Fuck me, Davis!? You are Erika Davis?”

“In the flesh,” Erika smiled, nodding, “guess the neighbourhood is a big place after all.”

“Nah, yeah, it is. I went to school with your brother. Not the same year. He was a senior when I started. Didn’t know Mark or anything but he was known in school.”

“Yep,” Erika sighed, shaking her head, “and no one ever let me forget that.”

“So, he’s a wrestler now, uh? That’s crazy. Is he making a name for himself or something?”

“He is trying, yes. He’s working with the UK's biggest pro wrestling company and doing some indie stuff on the side. He’s in a tag team called Aussie Open with another Australian wrestler.” She didn’t say his name on purpose. Her tongue was tied.

“Wow! I still can’t believe that.”

“I know. So, are you a wrestling fan?”

“Well, not so much, no. I grew up watching it like everyone else through the Attitude Era but then I grew out of it.”

“Oh,” she shrugged, “shame, I find wrestling extremely underrated.”

“Yeah,” he paused, looking at her closely, “so, you said you are a photographer for this stuff?”

“Yes. I get booked to events and my job is capturing every second of the show, making the boys look as good as possible as they do their thing. It is mostly for advertisement.”

“What’s the schedule of a job like that?”

“Busy. I used to work almost every day in different venues every time so it’s a lot of travelling and living in hotels. Usually, I’d follow Mark and get booked to his same shows.”

“Sounds hard.”

“Yeah. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but I liked it. It’s part of the business. You travel around and after a while, it becomes the same people and the same places you see so you get used to it.”

“How the hell did you end up back here?”

“Well,” Erika busied herself putting away some stuff in the cupboards. “That’s a long story for another time, perhaps.”

“A’right,” Trevor hung by the kitchen counter, passing her stuff, “consider me curious, though.”

“The short version is that I fucked my brother’s best friend. It ended up badly.” Erika didn’t even look behind her back to see Trevor’s reaction. She didn’t care. And things didn’t exactly go that way. But there was part of her that wanted to clarify the fact that she may look like a good girl and her mother may have presented her as a good girl, but she was far from it.

“Ok? That doesn’t necessarily justify leaving a career behind, does it?”

Erika rolled her eyes and turned to face him, shameless. “It does when said boy I fucked was my roommate and coworker. He’s the other half of Aussie Open. So, I had to take myself out of the equation.”

“Right,” Trevor was avoiding eye contact, slightly intimidated by her honesty. “There’s wrestling in Australia though, right?”

“Yes. But doing weddings and whatnot is a much easier gig to get back into.” Which was a fat lie. She had good expertise and the references to back her up, if she needed, to land a job in any of the Australian companies. But she didn’t want to. She needed to stay away from wrestling.

“Is that what you want to do?”

Erika just looked at him for a long moment, before taking a step back, deciding to rummage in another grocery bag and hide herself in the fridge as she put away some more stuff. “What is this? A job interview or something?”

“Sorry, no. I was just trying to know you better.”

“Well, I don’t want that,” she simply explained, shrugging. “Sorry, you look like you are a nice guy. You got the looks too and everything. But I am not looking to meet anyone.”

“Ah,” Trevor nodded wisely, “the best friend?”

Erika turned pale, glaring at him for the longest moment, unsure if she wanted to run, throw something at him or just disappear into the ground.

She opted for a grocery bag, digging in it like her life depended on it.

“Right,” Trevor continued. “Well, I am around, if you ever fancy hanging out.”

Erika had to give it to him, the guy had balls. But, at the same time, she was quite done with that conversation. Any of it. Anything that brought her even remotely close to thinking about Kyle was banished from her mind.

She wasn’t ready.

“Thank you,” Erika cleared her voice, this time, even if she felt awkward as hell, she looked straight at him. “I won’t take you up on that, you know it, right?”

“One can only hope,” Trevor offered her a small encouraging smile, nodding.

Erika shrugged it off, turning around to put away the last thing. “Don’t get your hopes up, mate,” she explained with a tired sigh. She was trying to be nice. She could have just told him to fuck off. That would have been much easier and much more directed to make that guy understand that despite whatever their mothers have said, she had other things to think about. And despite it all, she wasn’t being polite to him for his interests. She was doing it for her mother. She was happy with her new friend; Erika had no intention of causing them any problems because, yet again, she was gonna be selfish.

No. She was going to be a controlled, polite adult. That’s how she was supposed to behave, right?

“Maybe you should go finish cutting the grass for my mother now,” Erika suggested, dropping in a massive hint for him to catch. She was done chitchatting.

Trevor pulled out a massive smile. His dark eyes glimmered with amusement as he looked her up and down. “Wow, I never thought being treated like a little errand boy could be fun.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. But you know what I meant, don’t you?”

“Sure,” he nodded, still smiling. “Absolutely no offence taken, by the way.”

May 2018

“It’s on!” Her father’s voice called from the living room as everyone in the family buzzed through the house, responding to his call and running to gather in front of the TV.

Erika took it easy. She casually held back in the kitchen, pretending to make herself a fresh cup of coffee, just so she had an excuse to delay her attendance as much as possible.

“Erika! Quick, you are going to miss it.”

“What a shame,” she whispered to herself, deciding not to reply directly to her mum’s bubbly excitement.

It was not even six in the morning in Brisbane. In London, it was almost eight in the evening the day before. Their entire family, including unrelated so-called uncles who were only good family friends, were gathered around to watch a live episode of Ring Of Honor featuring Aussie Open. Everyone was there to see Mark on the screen, doing the thing he had left the country months ago to go and do.

Even Trevor was there. Not by her invitation. Her mother had taken a liking to seeing them hanging out and, despite her attempts to get her to stop, she kept inviting him around.

Erika was trying not to think about it and did everything in her power not to pay attention to him, even though he kept coming onto her.

“You're not interested in seeing your brother on TV?” He wondered leaning against the door frame, looking into the kitchen.

Erika hid behind her cup of coffee, trying her best not to roll her eyes. “Coffee,” she simply explained, hoping that would be enough.

“Oh, fair enough,”

“You can go watch it though. My mother invited you over for that reason,” she didn't want to sound rude but it was too early in the morning for her to deal with unrequited interest. Especially when she never led him on.

Yes, both their mothers had tried to find every excuse to have them hanging out, but Erika had never stopped reminding him how not interested she was. Although, politeness and awkwardness aside, she started suspecting he was taking it like a challenge. Which she was more than happy to let him do. She was the one who would have won in the end, anyway.

Erika approached him, hinting to move to the living room, encouraging him with a little look only pretending she would have followed him. Instead, she kept herself in the back. By that point, as soon as Trevor took a seat in one of the chairs placed around the room, expecting her to sit by his side, it was too late for him to realise she didn’t follow him.

Erika’s lips bent in a small grin that she hid behind her cup of coffee.

Her attention then distractedly moved to the TV screen. She was only pretending she didn’t care. She knew how big of a deal a match in Ring of Honor could be and she wished she could be there with them.

By now, everyone knew she wasn’t talking to Mark, so no one would have second-guessed her weird behaviour. She only needed to keep appearances up, like her biggest problem was Mark on the screen. It was more than convenient for her to stay behind everyone so that everyone’s eyes were pointed at the TV and no one would have noticed the way she pined over the tall Aussie boy playing pretend fighting by her brother's side.

She was working so hard to become someone she could be proud of. Someone she would think worthy. Someone who could consider apologising. But she felt like her way was still long. And she wasn’t ready to see Kyle, yet.

She barely allowed herself to think about him. Because only the thought of him was enough to destabilise her. She missed him so much it was unbearable. And thinking about how things went was a wave of regrets that rolled from the inside of her, ripping her chest open.

At night it was worse. When she was alone, trying to sleep, the thought of him crept into her mind, leaving her breathless, and Erika would find herself grasping on that lousy piece of clothing she stole as if it could ever replace the real thing. Often, she’d cry herself to sleep, suffocating her pain into the pillow.

Her entire body ached anytime she thought about what she had ruined and how there was a chance she’d never get it back.

She wasn’t ready to see him now, doing his thing, working on his dream. It was too easy to take the image on a TV and filter it off the truth, convincing herself that he was happy with his life as it was and she’d only ruin it even more if she ever dared to get closer to him again. Even just looking into a TV screen made it so easy to convince herself it would have hurt him, somehow. It would have surely ripped her apart. And she couldn’t afford to have a breakdown in front of her entire family.

Erika held her breath as she focused on the screen, definitively losing the battle with herself. She watched the boys circling the ring. They had just been announced. Both walked with their typical cocky stride, filling up the space.

Mark looked imposing and casual as usual, confident smirk printed on his lips, in line with his character who wasn’t afraid of anything only because he just knew he was stronger and bigger than most. Erika’s heart still trembled looking at him and a small, sad smile popped on her lips. She hated to think about it. He didn’t deserve it. But she missed him.

Then, her attention shifted to Kyle. He was just as pretty as she remembered. Maybe even more. He had a black strip around his bicep, making his arm muscles pop. That was new. And it made her heart stop. The way just looking at him walking around, all serious, trying to be imposing, as Aussie Open were generally heels, made her feel inside was impossible to describe. Her heart leapt out of her and through halfway across the world, reaching for him. God, how much she wished to be by his side. A shiver crossed her as the memory of knowing exactly how his lips felt on her skin haunted her.

If only her problem was simply longing for him. The worst part was knowing how she had him in her arms, to keep safe, to respect and love. And she just broke his heart out of stupidity.

As usual, he wore his hood up, only so he could cock his head back and kick it off himself on the top buckle, presenting himself to the crowd in his archer pose.

“Why does he do that?” One of the older cousins asked distractedly as everyone looked at the boys and commented on their entrance.

“He’s known as the Aussie Arrow,” Erika explained, keeping her arms crossed to her chest, ignoring the few that turned to look at her. Trevor was studying her particularly closely. She had to try everything in her power to remain as stoic and detached as possible. “Fast, lean and sharp, get it?”

“Oh!” He wasn’t the only one replying with that, putting Erika’s words together.

She had witnessed maybe thirty seconds, top. And she already couldn’t handle it anymore. Kyle and Mark crossed in the ring and exchanged an affectionate fist bump. That too, made her chest ache.

“Such a sweet boy he is,” her mother started, “spoke to him on the phone just the other day,”

“Don’t say that, auntie!” The younger of all cousins, only eight, complained, warning her, “We need to believe he’s evil!”

“Oh, sorry!”

“He’s so cute though,” her cousin giggled, hugging her pillow. Them two were the only girls spawned in between all the family kids. She wasn’t much younger than Erika and yet she felt like there was an abyss in between them.

“Yes,” her mother agreed, “very pretty young boy.”

“What do you mean you spoke to him?” Erika intervened between their chattering, letting her question roll out of her chest before she could even think about it.

Her mum popped her head up, looking at her from over the sofa. “Sorry, darling? What’s that?”

“What does it mean you spoke to Fletch?”

“Hey,” one of the uncles cut through, “we are trying to watch Mark here, take your gossiping somewhere else,”

Erika ignored him, pressing on. “Mum?”

“Why do you care, honey?” The woman looked at her for a long moment, “We had some light conversation as Mark couldn’t come to the phone, so he was kind enough to entertain me in the meantime.”

Erika’s chest ached.

Of course, he was. He was a delight.

She wished so badly to hear his voice. She wanted him to talk to her. To whisper sweet things into her ear just like he did that night, as they giggled in between the sheets.

Her mother was still looking at her, waiting for an answer that didn’t come. Not with words. Erika bit her nails nervously, looking away. And then something seemed to strike the woman as recognition sparked through her eyes. “Darling? Do you have anything to do with the boy?”

“No,” Erika lied badly. “I mean, yes, of course, he is my friend,” she tried to correct herself, not helping her case at all.

As more and more people’s attention moved on her, Erika tried to hide only for her mother to gasp softly. “But you aren’t talking to him, I take it.”

Erika grumbled, rolling her eyes. “Can we just go back to watching?” Erika pointed at the TV. “Look, you are missing it.”

“Now I understand why he asked about you.” Her mother smiled, “I thought it was for Mark at first, but it wasn’t, was it?”

Erika was hit so deeply that she didn’t even realise how evident her reaction to her mum’s words was. “Did he?” She gasped, breathless, even before she could bite her tongue and force herself to shut up.

The entire family was watching. Everyone now knew or suspected there could be some drama. And their attention only grew, like bees on honey.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. And I don’t care about that stuff either,” she dismissed them all and, with her coffee mug, proceeded to leave and exit from the backdoor, finding some peace on the patio.

Erika dug her hand into her cardigan pocket and picked up the cigarettes, feeling the need to calm her nerves.

She sat down on the steps of the back porch, leaving her cup of coffee by her side and lighting herself a cigarette. The moment she inhaled the hot smoke into her lungs, was the second she found herself able to breathe again.

Her eyes were stinging because of the tears she was desperately trying to keep back. She squeezed herself into the light cardigan she was wearing, curling up on herself. Everyone was going on with their lives. Everyone was still existing. When she felt like she was stuck to a single moment from two months ago and had no guarantee she’d ever made it out.

What if Kyle had moved on? But then why would he ask about her?

What if she was only fooling herself and would have never changed? Never enough to be good for him, anyway.

The back door opened and closed as the wood of the patio creaked under someone’s weight.

“Go away, mum,” Erika warned, looking straight in front of her, not in the mood to have a conversation. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Good thing I am not your mother, sweetheart,” Her dad's soft chuckle slipped right through her. He sat by her side on the steps and gathered his hands on his knees, not saying a word more. He just sat there, with her, looking into the garden.

He was a sweet man. Maybe oblivious sometimes. A perfect match to her mum. He wasn’t too good with small talk, but he was there and that was what counted, even when Erika didn’t ask for it or want it. That’s where Mark learned to be so caring, most of the time.

He wasn’t a bad father, but Erika did find herself to hate him in their youth since he was more at work than home. Now, she knew it never meant he didn’t love his children, but at the time, a lot of the bad stuff she was doing she did also to get his attention.

She pushed her cigarette packet over to him, offering a smoke that he accepted gladly. “Your mother can be intense sometimes, I know. She doesn’t do it intentionally.”

“I know.”

“And sometimes she doesn’t read the room either,”

Erika still found the strength to chuckle, nodding. “No. She doesn’t, does she?”

Her dad leaned against her, giving her a small bump shoulder to shoulder. “She only means well. She wants to make sure you are ok.”

“But I am ok! I’ve been saying it every day,”

“Yeah?” Her dad looked right at her. Both she and Mark were a spitting image of the man. “I don’t want to overstep, but it looks to me like you are always so sad.”

“But I am ok, dad,” Erika still pushed out a soft smile, looking at him. “I could be so much worse,” she didn’t need to explain, “instead I am here, sober and doing my thing. I am ok.”

“And I am proud of what you are doing. I have to admit when you came back so abruptly, I was scared you’d fall back into the old habits. But you can’t just take care of your responsibilities.”

“What am I supposed to take care of?”

“This,” he tapped his chest, sending her a meaningful look. “You do not have to talk about it with me. But find someone to talk about it, because what you are carrying will eat you up, one day.”

Erika thought her dad’s words would have hurt her. She was ready to react her usual way, closing up. Instead, she took a deep breath, feeling some sort of release abandoning her chest. “I don’t have friends here. Mum only keeps trying to fix me up with Trevor who’s now convinced he has a chance.” She chuckled, but it wasn’t funny, “I used to talk about this stuff with Mark.”

“I know, sweetheart,”

“But then I fell for Kyle and,”

“That Aussie Arrow boy?”

“Yes.” Erika felt the boulder pressing on her rolling off her chest. It was the first time she admitted to someone else what she felt for Kyle. For the first time in months, she felt empty and free. It wasn’t relieving enough to push her pain off, but it made it so she could breathe easier. “I didn’t tell Mark. I kept it a secret for maybe too long. In the beginning, I thought I could pretend it wasn’t happening. I knew I wasn’t right for Kyle. But it got progressively worse and I just couldn’t stay away. To the point, Mark became suspicious first and protective after. Kyle is like a younger brother to him. He wants to protect him from harm, I know that. I respect that. Only he thought I was going to be harmful.”

“Is that why you don’t talk anymore?”

“He said some pretty bad things to me about my past. Made me think I wasn’t good enough. So, I bolted. Breaking Kyle’s heart in the process. And now, here I am, trying to keep it together. So, I am fine, dad.” She tried her best to smile, even though her chin was shaking and her eyes were glossed by the tears she couldn’t keep back anymore. “I fucked up. I had something good going on and I ruined it.”

Her dad left her the space to cry, rolling an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to his side, cradling her softly. “I am sorry, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead once she calmed down, trying to lift the mood slightly. “And what did Kyle think about you not being good enough?”

“He would have skipped backwards for me.” She smiled distractedly.

“I like this boy,” her dad smiled proudly.

“He doesn’t know what I did though. He doesn’t know who I was I couldn’t tell him.”

“But he didn’t meet the girl you were. He met you for you.”

“But I am still so ashamed. My past doesn’t stop existing just because I decide to change.”

“But look where you are now and all the things you accomplished, honey.”

“And look all the bad I did, too. Mark wasn’t wrong, doubting me-”

“Don’t justify Mark.” Her father simply and calmly huffed, as if he was settling a quarrel between two kids over a toy, “Your brother should have known better. He should have expressed his fears differently trying to be more understanding, not making it so to scare you off and making you burn bridges.”

“Maybe. But what if he’d end up being right? What if I don’t deserve that kind of happiness? What if I keep fucking up?”

“But what if you don’t?” Her father made her look at him, pulling out a sweet smile, “What if you are sober, keeping the pieces together and doing ok?”

“That’s so scary, dad.”

“I know, honey, I know.” He patted her on the shoulder then, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, passing it over to her. “Call your brother.”

Erika froze, looking down at the black screen of the phone he handed her. She held her breath, trying to find a way to put her thoughts in order and find some common sense. But she had none left. It was either keep running away and ignoring things or decide it was time to grow up and forgive.

“He’s having a match right now.” She hesitated, trying to find an excuse.

“We both know he’ll be done soon. If not already.” Her father released the soft sigh of someone wise enough to know better. “Call Mark, darling. It doesn’t need to be to reconcile. But you need to unload what you have inside. And that’s the only way.” He pushed the cigarette butt into a soil pot and then leaned in, kissing her temple, before standing up.

There was something unspoken going on with her parents. The less they reminded her of what she did in her past and the bad she caused, the easier it was for her to feel at ease enough to feel like she belonged with them. It wasn’t enough to let her forget and she still didn’t like the idea of living in Brisbane in the long term. But for now, she was already juggling too many plates, she didn’t have the time or focus to think about the future that way.

“I’ll be inside, making sure no one is disturbing you,” her dad continued, “Especially that Trevor guy.”

“Thank you, dad,” she didn’t necessarily refer only to that last part. She was truly grateful.

Her father replied with a simple yet meaningful nod before disappearing into the house, leaving her all the time and space she needed.

[sunny6677]

The Haven.

(A small drabble of Epic!Hermes and Epic!Sunny.)

Summary:

Awaking from an incident with the God of Thunder and the King of God's Himself, Sunny finds herself awakening in the arms of another deity—being slowly flown toward the direction of an unknown forest.

@rebootgrimm

————

All Sunny began to hear, as consciousness slowly streamed into her mind, was the ambience of faint wind—an odd silence to the very sound as if she were somewhere up high. The air warm, yet filled to the brim with harsh gusts of wind. Each gust practically rammed against her body like a knife stabbing into the skin of a living being—yet no matter how much it did, all Sunny was capable of doing was simply keeping her eyes shut, feeling an odd sense of something warm in her chest. The feeling of practically being bound to the chains of slumber. Perhaps she was.. considering something was quite literally restricting her movements. Or maybe there wasn't? It was hard to tell—being carried through wherever she was.. a part of her thinking it might have been Odysseus, or one of the other members of the crew. Carrying her away frantically from the scene. The idea that maybe she'd open her eyes and see the muscular shoulder of a crew member carrying her over them sounded oddly relieving. At least even if frantic, they'd still be alive.

She was sure that it was that. It must have been.. the sharp sound of something along with the gusts of wind—it almost sounded like the wings of a bird flapping harshly. Perhaps it could have been the racing footsteps of another crew member. Perhaps, in the firm grasp of whoever this was, it was Odysseus who held her—with Eurylochus and the surviving members following behind.

At the very thought, she clenched her small, pale hands—letting herself hold onto the fabric of.. Odysseus's clothing. She could hear what she thought was the sound of his breathing, so it must have been. Or was it her own?

"..mh.."

She grumbled, barely lifting her head on the firm shoulder which she rested her chin upon. "..Odysseu.." She exhaled, "Cap—Captain.."

She expected to be met with the sound of his gruff voice speaking to her. The sound of his quickly mumbling for her to hush. That they'd be to safety soon. That they found another island to stay on, and they had somehow escaped the grasp of the God of Thunder himself.

But—she found her hope met with the crushing weight of a voice that was.. almost unfamiliar.

"...hohoho..! There you are.."

..that was the laugh of an old friend which she already knew. Despite it filling her regularly with such joy and odd relief, her heart felt as if it were being struck. Hearing not the sound of the Captain she had come to trust, but the sound of a deity's.

Grunting, she grumbled again. "..wh—wha.. whuh.."

A hue of brightening blue was what began to seep through Sunny's vision as she forced her eyes open—her face enveloped with an odd tingling flush that went over her milky white skin. Rays of bright yellow streaming down the blue void like a river with several connecting ends. Like sunlight, almost.

Though—maybe it already was sunlight. It wasn't shining down onto the rocky ground if an island as she had expected. Rather, it was glowing onto a void of endless blue, and.. puffs of bright white. An idea of where she could have been formed in her head. And desperately, tiredly, she almost wanted to deny it. But she couldn't entirely push the idea away in her head—as her eyes caught a glimpse of a large, brown wing rising and then flapping downward.

She couldn't see the face of who held her—with their arm tightly wrapped around her waist and holding her close against the tall, muscular, almost comforting but firm surface of their own body. And another with their hand on her lower back—the only thing she could have thought of in this moment being that they must have been carrying her nearly over their shoulder. Flying into the sky, with her in their arms.

At the very idea of being in the sky though, an adrenaline of fear rushed into her mind, and her eyes became momentarily wide.

"Wh—agh.. ho—holy shi—!"

She nearly cursed—the inside of her chest beginning to pound heavily. Without thinking, she would have nearly fallen out of the grasp of whoever held her. Yet instead, she found the large hands on her back grow tighter in grip, the feeling being relieving—even if she was being carried through the high skies at this very moment.

"Ah-ah! Language, darling.."

"..wh—what.. what the.. what—"

"..I see you're finally awake. Hohohoho.." The voice cackled—she could sense their head slightly turning to cast a glance at her. "Good morning, sleepyhead.."

"Where.. why—why am I in the sky..?!"

"Why, we're flying, little one! That's why!"

"..of—of course we are. But why—"

She swallowed, a dryness in her throat near the intensity of realization. And the realization that washed over her—made her seem to finally really notice the absence of her captain.

"Where's.. where's Captain Odysseus?"

"Hohohoho.. he's somewhere else at the moment! You don't need to worry about him though."

"What—? No, I.. where's the other people in the crew? Where'd they go?"

"..."

"..why—where'd they go? I need to—I need to get to them.."

"Why would you need to?"

"I need to help them. I need to save them! What if they're on another island?"

"..well, they're not, dearie. I don't see any point in worrying about it. Besides—I'd say you're more of the concern here.. it's a good thing I even found you at all."

"..how.. how am I the concern? I.. wh—wh.."

She made another glimpse at the sky below, and her hands clenched onto the fabric of white which he wore.

"..I suppose that means you agree with me! Hohoho.."

"...hgh.. hhnn.."

She squeezed. Hermes went slightly quiet.

"..do you feel afraid?"

"..ye—yeah.."

"..mmh.. no need to worry. I've got you. If anything happens, I'll catch you, alright?"

"...o—okay.."

As if wanting to shield herself from the world, and from the beads of tears that were eager to slip from her eyes, she lowered her face—hiding her nose into the frame of his squared shoulder. And eventually, hiding her pair of eyes—her vision going black as she tightly shut them.

"..good." She could practically hear him smile—feeling his face slightly look back towards her yet again. The warmth of his face approaching the left side of her head. She felt him smile against her scalp, before puckering his lips, and gently gracing her with a paternal kiss. At the very touch of his lips, she briefly opened her eyes and then shut them again with a (admittedly) childish cry of fear. Not because of him, but because of the knowledge that she was all the way up here, even if she was being held.

"..it's alright, little one. Just wait a moment. We'll be down from here soon.."

She would have nodded if she wasn't so afraid, paralyzed with fear in his arms. Letting his warmth envelop her as he simply flew through the skies. Even if he was another deity, something about him made her feel safe in a way she couldn't explain. Like she could rely on him to care for her. Almost like a father, in a way. Maybe right here in this moment, she just wished he was—even if her real one had existed and been dead long ago.

She felt like curling up his arms, her thoughts beginning to wonder between her father. Between Hermes. How her father only ever saw her a few times in the past. How her father had once hit her in a shop once. Compared to the gentle, playful nature of this deity which she apparently always knew. Sometimes, Hermes felt more like she was told what father's were supposed to be like, rather than the impression her own father gave her. The gusts of wind felt like the blow he had once dealt on her sometimes, making her slightly flinch. Though it was one time. Though she had been so young then.

..she felt an odd feeling just then. Something that was a little hard to describe. As if her head were filled with a strange, ringing substance which caused her to feel as if her brain ached. The harsh winds slightly changing their direction. The near feeling of almost being dropped. She knew she wasn't of course, since she still felt the arms of Hermes around her. Despite this, her anxiety made her knowledge blinded, and she opened her eyes—and for a moment as her vision was dark, she felt a humid, wet air—like they were flying through something misty.

..white puffs were all she saw though, once her eyes eventually came open. Flatter now—a mild hole of blue made in the surface. The bright blue now a void beneath the crowded area of clouds just over Hermes firm shoulder.

Tightly, she shut her eyes again—seeing a mild glimpse of deeper blue. What.. was that? Was that the ocean? Pondering this, the little bravery she had left caused her to open her eyes again.

Met with brightness, certainly then, she saw it.. an endless sea of dark blue. An endless sea of rippling waves. Almost, she swore, she saw a rising shape—resembling a humanoid figure wearing armor, bearing a trident. And at this very thought, she winced.

"..it's okay.. we're about to get down.."

She heard Hermes gently whisper. He likely didn't know why she had just winced, and frankly, she didn't want to tell him. What was he even doing anyway? Where was he taking her? Olympus, the very place she shouldn't have been? Somewhere he happened to reside in? Another island? Perhaps even Ithaca, or.. finally home?

..a part of her mind was filled with the anxiety that he'd fly them both into the ocean. And though she knew it wasn't true, she wanted to at least look. To ensure he didn't grow so playful that he thought it'd be fun to scare her like that. The air grew less in intensity—much unlike her own anxiety.

Her eyes tensed, and finally, her lids barely opened. Expecting to be met with endless ocean. Expecting to be met with a splash, or maybe a raspy, roaring voice from below—screaming her name.

And yet, all she saw was.. blades of bright green grass on a short coast. Tall, dark strands of trees all lifted to the same high length—with their practically neon green leaves slightly rustling. Different circles of colors which passed by like a blur as they further descended, with Hermes grasp growing a little more firm. She could have only assumed the colors must have been flowers. But.. if not somewhere else, if in a forest rather than somewhere she had thought, where were they? Where was he taking her?

Dizziness slightly overcame her mind, causing her to look around. She couldn't process it all at once, of course. Long branches up in the higher areas of tall trees, which cast a green elegant light over the long blades of green. Over the moss decorated on each trunk. Over the large brown bird which she saw perched upon the branch, simply gazing as Hermes held her, zipping through the damp winds.

Flowers of different types. What she could have sworn looked like a tortoise. Something in the distance sat on a nearby branch. All of which became harder to view as Hermes pace grew quicker. Where were they about to land? He was clearly going to judging by how fast they were going, so where?

The rays of light grew brighter, into pastel yellow brightness as they shone like the beautiful nature of the Divine. She nearly shut her eyes again. And maybe she even did without even knowing from the sheer impact. Hermes wings seemed to be slowly decreasing in their speed. And as they sped over long strands of green grass, she squinted—catching a glimpse of a long, tall white pedestal. With beautiful patterns. Made in an almost pearly manner.

She glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of another made in a similar fashion. Holding what looked to be the engravement of a wing-like symbol on it. And faintly, she swore she smelt the scent of.. water. She even heard the sound of rushing water.

She then felt a sharp pull, causing her to nearly wobble in Hermes grasp. It was a firm feeling, like a car coming to a harsh stop. Herme's grasp momentarily tightened, and then after a few moments in the warmth of the sunlight, it became loose once more.

"There we go.. we made it, see? Here."

Nearly, she asked what he meant. Made it? Made it where? Back to Odysseus?

She opened her eyes, her mind still feeling as if it ached. Feeling like it had been spun around in several circles.

Though.. she then found her mouth slightly parting, her eyes lingering over bright shades of green with sunlight dancing over them. A dark green rippling pool with light lily pads, delicately floating among the sticky waters which pooled with streams of the suns glow. White, rocky ground which would be hot to touch. Bursts of plants emerging from each corner of the pedestals that surrounded each end of the pool. Moss-coveted pedestals, with several rows of them at the farther end with a delicate roof built over it, leading into some hallway-like place. Strands of hydrangea (pink, purple and blue) hung from different pedestals. And among the scent of water, the scent of grass. The sound of faint chirping from birds, and the pool running with ripples of water.

..she could only stare, the breathy words leaving her mouth on her own. "..what.. is this place?"

Hermes giggled. "Well, until I find a way to take care of things, dearie—this is going to be where you're staying!"

"..what..?"

[purplecatghostposts]

Playing around with Pokémon Teams for the Marble Hornets characters because I’m combining my interests and keeping the ones I believe were mentioned in a livestream? (Jay with Furret and Alex with Cyndaquil? Is that right?)

And a surprise to no one, I’m going ham with Hoody!Brian specifically.

It would be SO SO easy to make almost the entirety of his team ghost type but I’m spreading it out a little. I’m giving him a lot of Pokémon you would probably find in abandoned buildings (Joltik, Aron, Duskull) so far because it just fits so well. Most of his team evolves at least once because he has a lot of time to train them. He aims to beat Alex and it never feels like enough.

I gave him an Oddish/Gloom that eventually evolves into a Vileplume because him having a grass type Pre-MH feels very fitting for him but it eventually evolving into a Pokémon that’s best known for its overwhelming toxins because he wants to use it against Alex… yeah.

Speaking of, Alex also has a Lycanroc. It’s Rocky. Rocky gets stuck in Lycanroc’s Midnight Form after an incident with the Operator. Also Alex’s Cyndaquil commits a lot of canonical arson.

I definitely want Tim to end up with one of Brian’s Pre-MH pokemon and I might also give him a Cubone that eventually evolves into a Marowak because I feel like he’d take care of it well.

Jay is getting a Flaafy that eventually evolves into Ampharos who helps charge his laptop and is his flashlight in dark places.

Not sure if I’ll fully give Skully a team but if I do, Dusknoir is absolutely going on it.

Still deciding on the rest but you get the idea!!

[jaybutnotthebird]

Being Rocky’s dad like

(here’s the link to ao3) https://archiveofourown.org/works/47538889

"come again?" Asked Ivy "Mh. He's my second dad. I haven't seen my other dad since I was like, five" Ivy looked at Rocky like he had grown a second head "What do you mean your other dad?" "I got two" he continued, not even lifting his gaze from his syrup soaked pancakes "he was working far from home untill my mom got worse. Then they switched places: my first dad took mom to a hospital in another city and my second dad came over to take care of me. He even took on his same job" Ivy looked at Freckle, who didn't seem faced at all, like everything coming out of Rocky's mouth made complete sense to him. "What is he talking about?" "Mh" Freckle shallowed his pancakes and explained "my aunt had two husbands. After she died and one of them stayed working on another city, only one of them remained. He's the one Rocky means when..." "Hold on" Ivy interrupted him "you can't have two husbands. Its... Right? You can only marry one person. Unless they're dead. Is that what you mean? Your mom remarried after your dad died?" "No, no. My mom married both of them before she died. My second dad was working far from home until she passed away" "That doesen't make any sense" "I mean sure, it’s uncomon but lots of people have more than one dad" "No, they don't?" Ivy said slowly. Perhaps she was mistaken. Maybe some people did that, after all, she didn't know the diferent costumes that other people could have, nor how the laws difered in every state. Maybe she just didn't know some people could do that and she was just learning now? "Hold on" she said, and got up. She placed on the door of the cafe a little 'back in 5' sign and guided the boys downstairs real quick. There wasn't much people there at this hour, pretty much just Viktor cleaning behind the bar and the band playing cards at one of the tables "Hey Viktor" she said coming over "can a woman marry two men at the same time?" Viktor looked at her for a moment, then at Rocky and Freackle on each side of her, and his expresion turned from utter confusion to pure ire "NO" he answered, with such firmness that all three of them felt cold. Ivy realiced they'd asked the wrong guy and excused herself, de-puffing her tail as they walked over to the table where the guys were playing, Viktor's cold gaze still prickling the back of their heads "Hey boys" she greeted them "you have traveled a lot, have you ever heared of a woman having two husbands?" "Now what on earth are you talking about?" Asked Sy

"you see, uh, a friend of ours says his mom was married to two men at the same time, so he's got two fathers instead of just one"

the entire table just gave them this... look. Zib blinked one eye at a time, mozzy just sighed and turned back to the table "do you have any threes?"

"hey! Im talking to you, you traveled a lot, you must have heared of it"

"look, I've heared of many things, specially revolving relationships, ok? Relationships are complicated..." the others nodded and made agreeing noises "but actually geting married in a three way? That's just messed up"

"I mean, its not unheared of" said JJ "my cousin seemed to be fooling with two diferent men, and we all kept telling her it was dangerous, but then we found out, turns out they already knew! And they were ok with it"

"so you have heared of it"

"no no, fooling arround with two men is weird, but it happens. Getting married to the two of them? No way!"

"is that even allowed?"

"I've heared of men turning 'mormon' as in, they get married to one girl, form a family, and in secret in some other town they do the same with another girl... you think a girl could pull that off?"

dubious sounds ran arround the table

"my bets are in no. Not unless the husband agrees"

"you mean husbands, right? Haha"

the toms snikered, then Rocky cut in

"but it does happen. I mean, some people are just... not jeallows like that"

they all looked at him in silence

"I mean, sure maybe they could make it work between the three of them. But, get married? Oficially? I don't think so"

"but it did. I swear! Its not that rare, many people have two fathers"

the responses among the band were varied. Ben giggled. Mozzie and Sy gave each other a look. JJ's eyebrows rose as he inclined his head. Zib took the cigarrete off his mouth for a moment

"im sure that's what they told your... friend"

there were more chukcles

"yeah, Rocky. Your friend seems a little confused"

"does he have any photos from the wedding?"

Rocky didn't know how to answer. He was sure there where, but that felt a little like a retorical question. Freakle pulled his sleeve and started walking towards the door. Ivy excused them

"Im sure there's an explanation, right? Maybe you guys got things mixed up becouse you where little when it happened?"

that was a possibility

Rocky's memories of his early childhood were confusing up to that one moment, wich he remembered very well.

His dad was barely ever home, and he was allways grumpy and tired. His mom was nice and he remembered her playing the violin and smiling at him, but she got sick, and started going to the hospital a lot.

He remembered spending a lot of time with aunt Nina, asking for her a lot, feeling blue

then one morning he got up, went downsatirs, and found a stranger in the kitchen, a large black fluffy cat with irregular orange patches just making pancakes, like he had allways been there.

"good morning champ!" he saluted him "did you sleep well?"

"who are you?" he asked

"why, Im your dad, doncha recognice me?"

"you are not my dad! My dad has grey fur"

"your other father, silly. You really don't remember me? I mean, it has been a long time since I last saw you. You were so small... we got lots of catching up to do"

"I have two fathers?"

"yes, you had never realiced that? Man. I should'a come by more often. Im gonna be staying here now, so I'll be seeing you plenty from now on"

Rocky had just stood on the kitchen, wondering if this was all a joke

"well don't just stand there, son! You want pancakes?"

Rocky had noded vigorously but he still fidgeted in place. The black cat made a thoughtful face

"tell you what: why don't you go see aunt Nina across the street? Ask her about me. And invite your cousin over for pancakes too. I haven't seen him since he was a baby!"

"okay!" said the kid, and he pretty much ran over to his aunt's place, and asked with a dubious tone

"aunt Nina? Do I have two dads?"

she gave him one of her suspicious looks

"you don't know?"

"well, there's a black cat in the kitchen. He says he's my other dad, and he's making pancakes!"

"ah, yes. He arrived last night while you were asleep"

"oh, ok. Really?"

"yes, he came all this way to take care of you while your parents are gone"

"you mean... my mom, and my other dad"

"yes, now stop asking silly questions and go greet him propperly"

"ok. He said Freckle can come have pancakes"

"hm. Fine, but come back soon, right after breakfast. We're going to church"

"ok!"

he remembered being excited as he dragged his baby cousing over, who was just as confused. His new father had seemed happy to see him.

"ah, there you are! let me take a good look at you" he said, as they stood one next to the other "ah, you've grown so much! Calvin, you can walk already!"

"aunt Nina says we have to go to church soon"

"well then, no use making her wait, let’s eat breakfast before it gets cold!"

He remembered that first day, after pancakes his father told him to wash up and show him what he had in the wardrove, and helped him pick a decent outfit, then the two of them had met Nina all dolled up and she had been quiet and distant the whole way.

When Rocky asked, his dad told him being so religious she wanted to make sure he was still a god fearing propper christian and get confessed first thing after coming back. He also mentioned tho having two fathers wasn't weird (many kids do) it was uncommon, and aunt Nina didn't want anyone in chusrch gossiping and making silly questions.

And from then on, Rocky's childhood had fallen back into normalcy. Well, as normal as it could get with him being a menace.

He still spent a lot of time with aunt Nina and his cousin, and she and his dad did their best to educate him. It was easy geting used to the new routine since his new father spent more time home. He was also very easygoing and good at telling stories.

He made sure to be allways in his best behaivor with Nina, going as far as to reprimend him harder if she was present, and winking an eye at him when she wasn't looking.

he remembered one time he did something bad, and his aunt started blabbering about sinners and god, but instead of just dragging him by the ear, his dad crouched down in front of him and tried to reason with him. He often remembered the explanation he gave him.

"Rocky, when people catch you doing bad things, they will punish you, but that is not the reason you are not supposed to do them"

"it's not?"

"no. See, I told you throwing trash in the street is bad, right? But you know why?"

"well... becouse its a mess?"

"its not just a mess. The more trash people litter, the more rats and bugs they atract, and the more illness. The cleaner the street is, the safer it gets in the long run for everyone. Some people will still litter, and that's why we must try our best to keep it as good as possible"

"...so that people won't get sick, like mom?"

"...yes, kiddo. That's just a simple example of why you must try your best to be good, to make the world a better place, even when its not easy, specially when its hard. The more you try, the better you'll get at it, like in your studies! Sometimes you will even feel stupid for being good, but you'll learn the diference between being bad and being smart. I know you can" his expresion had then turned mischevous and he made a gesture as to grab him, wich Rocky recogniced and anticipated "you have so much energy!"

and he tickled him, and then sent him off to have fun, but also be careful

Rocky's aunt, who had presenced the whole conversation had been a lot more cheerful since then. Often she would just discuss with his father when Rocky did something bad.

He had lots of memories from him taking them fishing, or camping, making a barbacue for a special ocasion... teaching them so many things

Sometimes, when he had to leave Rocky with Nina for a long time he would come back with flowers for her. Nothing special, just something pretty that he found on the side of the road that couldn't be found in her garden. Then he would nudge the kid and ask "now what did you do this time to test her patience?"

One time he saw Rocky's state after coming back from the swimming pit, and then took a look at the swiming pit itself, and started building a little swimming pool in the backyard. He edged the boys on to help, making the task into a fun project for all of them.

It took days of digging and the boys had fun playing in the dirt and keeping anything they could find on their excabation site.

Once he was satisfied with the shape and all he got cement and started finishing the surface. The boys had been so excited to see the project finally taking form.

He had insited they don't touch the cement until it was dry, except for the hand prints they left on the deeper side, with their names and the date. Then he had buildt a firm, tight fitted fence to make sure no critters crawled in.

To this day Rocky could still make some money or get free drinks from people who came to swim when it was hot

it had been a specially happy ocasion when his father informed him that he would spend more time at home, since now he would be working from there: he started writing from time to time for a newspaper, and told him to keep secret the source of most of their income: home brewed spirits that he sold somewhere else

Eventually, he too joined the speakeasy as a member of the band.

Things had been going a little south after the owner, Atlas, died and his wife took over. But right now Rocky couldn't even think of those worries.

The whole drive home he felt so... misplaced. It probably wasn't anything, right? Some kind of misundertanding

He walked in and shouted "Im back" into the house. His father's voice greeted him from the kitchen. He walked in. The cat in question was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. Such a familiar sight. Just like that first day, when it looked like he had allways been there tho it felt out of place.

"you're back early. How was work?"

"good, I guess..."

he recieved a suspicious look from behind the newspaper. There was no use delaying it

"dad... are you... really my father?"

Jasper took a moment to answer

"yes. Why do you ask?"

"oh, nothing it's just... I told a friend about you and mom... and my other dad... and they gave me this look"

Jasper just went back to the newspaper.

"...and I've been thinking... it just... something doesen't add up. Dad?"

Now his father wasn't reading the paper. He was thinking, considering. Rocky knew that expression, from when he asked for something, usually complicated or a bad idea and his dad considered it.

Eventually his father placed the newspaper on the table and told him

"why don't you sit down? I'll get some tea"

oh no. Rocky got a bad feeling. He retrieved the cookies while his dad prepared the kettle and then they were both sitting in silence.

"Its about time you knew. My name is Jasper, that much is true. I also knew your parents, somewhat.

Your dad use to come to my place after work. Got drunk, told me everything. How his wife was allways sick and his kid so... ramboutious, and he was tired of everything. I had to drag him home more than once. I told him, many times 'you have a beautiful wife and child, a wonderful home, you don't know how lucky you are...' truth is I was jeallows. See, I can't have kids of my own"

Rocky felt numb. Empty. Like nothing was there where usually he could stand. He couldn't believe it. His father or, the one who called himself so, continued

"One day he came to my place speacially upset. He told me his wife had died and he wasn't sticking arround for the kid. I was so mad. I called him a coward, an oathbreaker, we had a fight. I told him to never, ever come back if he dared leave. Then I went to your aunt, told her the bad news. I complained that the world is so unfair... and I had this idea, and begged her to let me help. Promised I would make her glad she let me"

"and she agreed?" Rocky asked. That was the most unbelievable part of this whole story. Jasper shrugged

"I appealed to her strong beliefs. 'god works in misterious ways' right? She would be doing a very good thing, giving someone like me the chance to have a family, and a home, and a poor kid to still have a father. I promished to help as much as possible, and if she didn't like it she could kick me out at any moment"

he croached forward then, and said in a more confidencial tone "tho between you and me, I wouldn't let her. I grew atached to you fast. If things went south we could have just, moved"

A chill run up Rocky's spine as he remembered that time, when Freackle messed up bad and he took the fault. Rocky had told his dad the truth, and he gave him a big hug and told him he was proud of him

"you did what you thought best and protected your cousin. We'll figure out the rest"

Aunt Nina hadn't talked to him for weeks, and his dad had been consulting the price they could get for their home, and considering wether to move to the country. In the end it hadn't been necesary.

"so..." Rocky asked "you are not my father?" Jasper took a deep breath and answered firm and calm

"yes I am. Family is not just blood. Sometimes family are the ones who stick by you throu thick and thin. This is my home, and you are the child I have raised since you were a kitten. ...do you feel otherwise?"

Rocky thought of it. For a moment he imagined that there wasn't actually anything conecting him and this stranger sitting across him who just showed up on the kithcen one day, but that was just not true.

It felt strange, finding out the truth, the lie he had been living. But in the long run, actually, it didn't make any diference. He supposed this sensation would fade, and things would go back to normal. He still knew this cat sitting across from him, he trusted him, he loved him.

If he had been telling him a big white lie... he supposed he could forgive that, specially after all the times he had made a mess and the other had stood by him.

Not the mean looking gray cat he barely remembered from his earliest childhood. This tom cat right  in front of him.

"I suppose not. Tho... you were never married to mom?"

Jasper sighed "no" and got up to fetch the kettle "I saw her a few times, I asked your aunt for some details... and made up the rest"

he placed right in front of Rocky a cup of tea with lots of syrup and milk, just the way he liked it. Rocky thought of the times he asked about his mom and got an answer

"oh, she was so sweet... and pacient. You know she played the violin right? You need lots of pacience and insistence to do that. That's how we met, actually, I heared some beautiful music and imagine my shock when I followed the sound and found a pretty girl at the source! You remind me of her"

Just another story. He was good at telling them.

His father drank some tea and took a bite of a cookie, gave him time to asimilate it

"tho if anyone asks, your biologic father died, then she married me and got sick right after. That's the story we're going with. I got a friend to fake us some papers. Any incongruences are explained by a mishap of papers"

"do you know what happened to him?"

"your other dad? no. He left and we never heared of him since, tho I would understand if you wanted to search for him"

"you told me he took mom to a new hospital, and then stayed there working to pay the debt"

"Im sorry, Rocky. That was a lie. Your mother passed away the day before I first came here. Your father left that night. Your aunt Nina and I managed everything else"

"you told me she died later"

"we didn't want to overwelm you, what with your parents gone and me here all of the sudden. We waited exactly one year to respect the date in wich she died and then we visited the cementery"

Rocky remembered feeling terrible becouse he hadn't seen his mom in so long and he could barely tell the diference after she died. His dad held him in his arms and comforted him, told him she loved him and he would allways have some of her. His aunt told him she would watch from heaven to make sure he would behave. They went to the cementary, they had some excuse for him not to be at the burial but the stone looked like it was new and Nina comented on how good it looked.

"did you buy a new gravestone for her?"

"no, I spent the day before cleaning it and removing the grass to make it look new. I even had an excuse prepared in case you noticed the date was wrong"

Rocky couldn't help to chuckle.

"Cat, you are good!"

His father gave him a smile and sipped some more tea.

"we should tell Nina you know now. She'll be glad the truth is out, at least within the family. Probably will want to go to church and confess again"

"I should thank her" said Rocky "Im pretty glad that she let you stay"

His father gave him a warm smile "me too"