#absolute bad luck meow meow who dies a lot

[ninjasmudge]

some graphic tee kuo's bc i havent drawn him in a while and he brings me joy

[fallingstarnovel]

Chapter One

Evan Golightly didn't consider himself an unlucky kind of guy. It wasn't like he was wandering around winning the lottery, but he also wasn't getting hit by chunks of blue ice from the sky from a passing airplane.

This week was just like every other week he had experienced so far. As he walked to his lecture across the university campus, he saw the same people he usually did and went to the same places as always. He didn't step on any cracks in the pavement, and he didn't walk under any ladders. He didn't find any four leaf clovers either, and he didn't have a lucky rabbit's paw on his key chain. He had a coffee cup in his hand – medium sized, not big and not small. 

He was a little late, because he had stopped to pet a black cat that lay on the pavement in front of him, but that was okay. The lecturer was very forgiving, and most people were a few minutes late anyway due to a clash in timetabling. 

Evan couldn't remember if seeing a black cat was good luck or bad luck. As the kitty purred and rubbed itself up against his fingers, he couldn't help but smile and talk to it quietly.

"Oh, you like that? You like the scritches? You're so handsome, such a handsome boy..."

Someone behind him coughed disapprovingly. A little embarrassed at getting caught, Evan straightened up and kept walking, forgetting all about whether black cats were lucky or not. 

As he approached the building where his lecture was held, Evan started climbing the concrete steps up to the entrance.

If luck could be charted on a bell curve, with some people being extremely lucky, and some being extremely unlucky, then Evan considered himself to be slap bang in the middle. If he entered the lottery, he might win one of the smallest prizes, but not very often. If he got onto a crowded bus, there would be a seat available, but not a very good one. If he chose answers at random on a test, he would get a 50% grade at the end. 

There was a meow from down by his feet. The black cat was following him. It had big green eyes which were staring at him as it meowed again. 

"I'm sorry, I would love to play with you, but I'm late," Evan said. He knew the cat didn't understand, but he still felt like being polite. 

The cat meowed very loudly and then started walking in between Evan's feet as he climbed the stairs. He started to worry that he was going to trip, slowing down and trying to shoo it away with his foot. It meowed again, but ran away, standing at a distance and staring at him. 

Evan had always been weak for cute things. He bit his lip. "Ahh, I'm sorry! Wait until my lecture finishes, I'll come back and give you scritches then!" 

He was almost at the top of the stairs now. Evan turned away from the cat – only to see a small black shadow out the corner of his eye down by his sneakers. He felt something brush against his leg, and then he tripped over something, and before he knew what was happening, he was falling backwards down the stairs. 

Evan let out a sharp cry, his arms windmilling around him as he went into freefall. 

Not the stairs... not the stairs! This was why he hated stairs! He always knew they would kill him one day! 

Before he could fall any further and roll down the stairs and smash like a boiled egg, he felt someone grab his arm and hold him still. His bag hit the ground and his coffee cup went flying, bouncing down the steps and spilling coffee everywhere, but Evan...

Evan was being held up at the top of the stairs by a strong, sure grip. 

He looked around in surprise. Holding his arm was a smiling youth with curly blond hair, tumbling in cherubic whorls around his ears. The youth looked just as shocked, his eyes big and wide as he stared at Evan. As he stopped Evan from falling. 

There was a moment of silence. The youth pulled Evan forward onto the flat ground at the top of the steps, and let go. 

"You..." Evan said in a rush. "You saved me! Thank you so much, I thought I was a goner..." 

The youth hesitantly smiled back, his eyes flickering down the stairs. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just tripped on a–" Evan said, gesturing to the cat. 

The cat was no longer there. It had disappeared. 

"... Huh. Guess I tripped on nothing. Um, thanks. Oh, man, my coffee..."

The youth picked up Evan's bag and handed it over to him. His eyes were wide, like he was recovering from a sudden shock. "Sorry. I'll buy you a new one."

"Don't worry about it, it was my fault," Evan said with a laugh. "I owe you for saving me. I should buy you a coffee!" 

The youth looked at Evan. He couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were light grey, bright and cold, crinkling at the corners in a warm smile. "There's no need to thank me. You don't owe me a thing."

Evan had heard those two sentences before many times in his life. He had heard it from friends who had done him a favour, and from customer service workers who helped him get a discount for his broken laptop, and from the nice woman in the corner shop who sent his mom flowers when she heard his grandfather had died. 

They had always been said with varying levels of sincerity. A lot of people said "no need to thank me", but secretly wanted to be thanked very much. If you didn't thank them, they wouldn't help you in the future. People were weird like that. 

But when this guy said it, for some reason Evan understood that it was the absolute truth. Like it wouldn't matter if Evan thanked him or not – he would still help him. 

Feeling a little flustered, Evan scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I have a lecture now, so I better... uh, you're sure you don't want a coffee afterwards?"

The youth seemed to think about it for just a second too long, before shaking his head. His smile was apologetic. "It's fine. Enjoy your lecture." He started walking away. 

"Ah, uh, you too," Evan said in a panic, before quietly smacking his own face. He had no idea if the guy even had a lecture. Stupid, stupid, stupid... 

The youth came to a stop. He slowly turned around, an angelic, apologetic smile on his face. "Actually, I'm a little lost. Could you tell me where room M42 is?" 

"That's – that's where I'm going now! That's where my lecture is!" Evan gave him a wide grin. "Astro 228, right?"

The youth nodded. "Right."

"Just follow me, then. Huh... I didn't know we shared a class, sorry I didn't recognise you!"

"That's okay," the youth said quietly from behind him as they entered the lecture building together. "I tend to stay quiet." 

Watery winter sun did its best to shine through the floor length windows of the lecture building. It shone off the back of Evan’s pale neck, the black hair that fell in every direction. It reflected off the otherboy’s grey eyes, making them seem more luminous, more pallid, as they watched Evan with keen, unwavering interest.

Evan walked slightly ahead to lead the way. "Well, I definitely won't forget you now. You saved my life! What's your name?"

The youth was quiet. Evan waited for an answer for an uncomfortably long time, before wondering if he had spoken too quietly. He was about to repeat the question when a soft voice from behind him said "Ruth."

Ruth? Wasn't Ruth a girl's name? Was this guy actually a girl? "Oh, Ruth? Ahh, that's a cool name."

"You don't think it's weird? That a guy has a girl's name?"

Oh, thank god, he didn't have to try and subtly ask awkward questions about pronouns. Maybe the guy was used to this kind of thing and anticipated the awkwardness. "No, I don't think so. As long as you like it, then that's all that matters. I'm Evan by the way." 

The youth hummed. "I know." 

Now Evan felt guilty. He didn't even remember seeing this guy around, but he remembered Evan's name. Ah, this was too bad. He would definitely make an effort to remember him now. "Well, here it is. Just in time–"

"Actually, you go ahead," Ruth said suddenly. "I need to use the bathroom."

Evan turned around and blinked at him. "Oh. Sure. I'll see you in a bit, then."

The youth nodded. He hesitated, before speaking again.

“It was nice to talk to you.” 

He gave Evan one last beatific smile, before walking away and disappearing around the corner. Evan quietly let himself into the lecture and scurried to the back, mouthing "sorry" at the lecturer, who ignored him. 

He made sure to keep the seat next to him free for Ruth even as other students trickled in. 

The lecturer coughed several times to get the attention of the class. 

"So, last week I opened the lecture with the following quote: God does not play dice with the universe. This is oft quoted and attributed to Einstein himself in a letter to a friend criticizing what he saw as the unacceptable flaw in quantum mechanics, that is, the possibility of unpredictable random events on a molecular level. In many ways, he was right. We have been learning how to chart the movement of objects in a vacuum – predicting the orbits of distant planets and stars around the insatiable black holes that are, themselves, in a perpetual state of movement. I know that most of you have grasped the basics of this particular module very quickly. Predictability is a magnetic lure – one gets lulled into the false sense of security knowing that we can work out the trajectory of some far flung meteor to a high degree of accuracy. As if space can be imagined as some unfathomably large clock, each cog in place, every heavenly body caught in an eternal, rational, predictable waltz to the swing of a baton that, if only we have the numbers, might one day understand the rhythms of. If you turn your attention to the notes we made on how you can work out the speed of rotation of a planet..."

Evan tried very hard to concentrate and make notes. There was always a buffer at the start of the class where this particular lecturer went on a long tangent about random things he thought were interesting, and he usually zoned out through them, but once the actual maths was brought in, there was no possibility of daydreaming and letting it slip by. If you missed anything, you ended up being more confused down the line when the more complicated stuff got brought in. 

The poor girl next to him was doomed. She fell asleep almost immediately, and Evan lit a candle in his mind for her. RIP your grades, you snoozy bitch. At the same time, he was envious. Why couldn’t he take a nap instead of doing work?

He tried to concentrate, but all through the lecture, Evan couldn't help but keep looking at the doorway, wondering when Ruth was going to appear. How long did it take to use the bathroom? Did the poor guy have a stomach upset? 

By the time the lecture was over, Evan had accepted that Ruth wasn't going to appear. He lit a candle in his heart for the guy's bowel system. Clearly, he had been having some kind of toilet trouble and decided to skip the lecture. 

What a shame. He seemed so... interesting. 

After the lecture was over, Evan slowly clambered out of his seat. The lecturer had set a bunch of exercises to do at home, and the library was calling for a study session. Time to shuffle into Tesco to get a £3 meal deal and sit down for several hours to pound his brain into submission! 

"Hey, Evan," someone called out as they left the lecture. "Evan, wait up!" 

There was a girl chasing after Evan. She had warm brown skin and an infectious smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement. 

"Oh, sorry Aliya," he said, slowing down so she could catch up. "Did you enjoy the lecture?"

Aliya pouted. "No, are you insane? Enjoy it? Why did I do an astrophysics course again? There's so much maths. I genuinely think I would drop out if I didn't think my mum would kill me."

Evan nodded in agreement. "Sometimes I think about switching to an art degree instead. I won't do it. But I just think about it sometimes."

"Wait, wait, I wanted to ask you something," Aliya said, slapping his arm lightly. "House party. I've been invited, but I don't want to go alone. It's a bunch of people I don't know very well, and..."

Evan rolled his eyes. "If you don't know them, why are you going?"

"Because I don't know how to say no!" Aliya moaned. "It's a pretty casual thing, don't worry. You know I don't drink, so I'll probably be dipping early. Please? Please please please? Please just come for a little while, just to keep me company..."

Evan wasn't a prude. He liked a good party. The thing was that he liked a good party with people he knew. "And I don't know anyone there?"

"Probably not, they're all from netball club. But hey – you'll know me!" 

"I don't know you. Who are you. Why are you following me."

"Evaaaaan. Please! I'll do anything."

There was a long silence as they exited the lecture building together. Evan watched the students stream out of the building on their way to other classes, or the library, or their rooms to go back to sleep. 

He wasn't exactly great at making friends. Aliya was the only person on his course that he talked to regularly. It was why he was pretty excited to get to know Ruth, except he disappeared, so that was a bust. He tried a few clubs and societies, but none of them had really clicked so far. 

He hadn't been to a party in ages. He was wasting the best years of his youth in university, and he wasn't even going to parties. What was the point? He was living like a grandpa and he was only twenty one! 

He wasn't an old man yet! He didn't have a pension! He still liked electronic music!

Maybe this was the chance Evan needed to make new friends. How hard could it be? 

"Sure, why not." 

Aliya cheered. "Yay! Thank you, big guy. I owe you one. Oh, wow, watch your feet, it looks like someone spilled their coffee down the stairs... haha, poor them..."

Contents | Next Chapter

[issamhysa]

Catboy! Hvitserk would include...

A/N: I will never understand how you people could want more of these but okay! I guess!

Tagging @piratecult cause teamwork makes the dream work or however that saying goes. Thank you again for helping me with this, you crackhead.

Gods above, if you thought Ivar was a riot

Let me tell you, Hvitserk is WORSE

Ivar’s an asshole, yeah

But unlike Ivar, who does things to spite you and his brothers, Hvitserk does them for fun

And, he’ll admit, to annoy his brothers

Out of all of them, he’s the most energetic one

You’re surprised he hasn’t started bouncing off the walls yet

Unfortunately, his energy makes him more of a troublemaker than his brothers

He has this habit of grabbing your wallet before you leave

It doesn’t matter where you’re going, if Hvitserk knows you’re leaving, he’ll grab your wallet and make a run for it

Good luck trying to catch him

The little bastard can RUN

He won’t stop unless he gets tired

Or unless he can tell it’s an emergency

Or unless Bjorn gives him the look™

He likes hiding your things and blaming Ivar for it because he knows Ivar is the one that usually pulls that kind of shit

For obvious reasons, this gets on Ivar’s nerves

Hvitserk loves sleeping

The majority of the time, he really falls asleep by accident

He tires himself out

He usually falls asleep with his butt in the air

He’s a really heavy sleeper, it’s kind of insane

So far he’s slept through a tornado, a hurricane and Bjorn and Ivar screaming at each other for a half-hour

The only thing that wakes him up? Your 6 am alarm

How he fucking hates that alarm

If he wakes up to the alarm before you do, he’ll grab your phone and either attempt to smother it with a pillow

Or he’ll bite it until it stops ringing

Anyway, due to his hyperactivity, you sort of figured there has to be a way to tone him down a bit

Right?

A good friend once offered catnip and,,, OH BOY

Those were the worst ten minutes of your life

So, you turned to CBD-infused cat treats

I have good news and bad news

The good news, they kind of calm him down a bit!

The bad news, now he’s fucking obsessed with them

He will NOT eat any treat that isn’t CBD-infused

Congratulations, Hvitserk is now a stoner kitty

Good luck with that

Hvitserk isn’t as clean as the rest of his brothers

If he were a character in Sims, he’d be the one walking around all day with that little green cloud of stink all over

To make things worse, he DESPISES baths!

You’d practically have to wear a hazmat suit to bathe him without getting entirely soaked

He’ll just yell the entire time

Ivar will occasionally sit nearby and just watch in amusement

After the bath, he won’t let you dry him

Instead, he bolts out of the bathroom and rubs himself on the first soft surface he sees

Whether it’s the bed, the couch, the carpet or a very unhappy Bjorn

But he won’t complain if you manage to catch him to dry him off

Mostly because it means you’ll have your hands all over him

He rivals Ivar in his desperate need of attention

And affection

Sometimes he’ll just sit in front of you and meow until you give him attention

Or he’ll break something to capture your attention if you’re working or doing schoolwork

He’s very paranoid at night

It’s kinda funny

He’ll be walking around the house at night and accidentally knock something over and lose his shit

He’ll be back in your room in 5 seconds flat

Ivar likes to mess with him

He’ll jump out of corners or knock things over whenever Hvitserk’s near just to scare the shit out of him

He thinks it’s hilarious

But you, the person that has to wake up to comfort poor little Hvitty, do not think it’s hilarious

Poor baby is a trembling mess!

He does get a kick out of you scolding Ivar over it

Hvitserk likes going on walks

A lot

He’s like a dog

As soon as the word “park” leaves your lips, he’ll be sitting by the door

Thankfully, he doesn’t need a leash

Hey, he can be civil SOMETIMES

When he’s not trying to provoke the dogs in the park, that is

One time, he got chased by a particularly pissed off Corgi

He ended up sitting on a high branch of a 60 feet tall oak tree

You had to call the fire department to help get him down

Needless to say, he was very embarrassed

And that Corgi couldn’t have been more pleased about the entire situation

Loves playing with hangers

Nobody knows why

His favorite part is when the hangers get stuck on his head

He’ll walk around looking very pleased

And his brothers are so over it

You’re not, though

You’ll never understand his obsession with hangers

Absolutely terrified of ALF

An ugly, cat-eating alien?

Coming into HIS house? To eat HIM?

Nothing terrifies him more than the thought of that thing crash landing into your home and trying to stuff him into a sub sandwich

Of course, Ivar uses this to his advantage

And, once again, you end up having to comfort Hvitserk before he dies of nerves

He has nightmares about it, so you had to come up with a solution

Your brilliant solution? Alien repellent

It’s literally just salt water in a spray bottle

He watches you go around the windows and spray it around to make sure aliens don’t come inside

Okay, overall, Hvitserk’s just kind of a scaredy-cat

Your friend once brought her pet bearded dragon over to visit

Hvitserk lost his mind when its little snout touched his leg

He jumped 7 feet in the air and bolted out of the room

He didn’t come out until he was sure that thing was GONE

He’s so dramatic

Oh well, you wanted this

[i-just-love-spop]

...and then I found you. [Part two]

Part one | Part three

“Good luck?” Adora mumbled.

Was that a thing you said in a situation like this?

She wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, and, uh... Don’t die?” Catra added, more as a joke than anything – then she gulped. She’d never thought about that much before, but... “Can you die during childbirth? Is that- is that a thing that can happen?”

Judging from the look Asa was giving them, that was apparently actually a thing.

The brunette felt her blood run cold.

Melog curled up at her feet and wailed.

“You can?!” Adora shrieked.

“IT’S NOT VERY LIKELY, AND NOBODY IS GOING TO DIE!” Bow yelled.

“Oh, you might be wrong about the nobody dying part,” Glimmer grumbled under her breath as her pain once again eased off a bit. “If these two keep it up, there might be a murder.”

—

Actually less a request than just the result of me and @darkmasterofcupcakes talking about Glimbow (and stubborn Glimmer that would insist on still working until literally the last minute of her pregnancy) for way too long that spiraled into a huge fic. This is the second out of three parts because this spiraled into another almost four thousand words and would have been way too long if I added what I have planned for the last part.

Companion fic to “One night, I wished upon a star...” which completes the title.

There’s a bit more Catradora in this chapter than there was in the last one, but this is still mainly a Glimbow-fic.

Fun fact about the healer’s name, Asa, by the way: it’s a gender neutral name that means “healer”/“physician” in Hebrew, so their name is also a pun, just not as obviously as everyone else’s.

Summary: Glimmer is very freaked out and having her baby.

Bow is extremely worried and trying to stay calm.

Adora and Catra are trying to help, but are actually just stressing their friends out even more.

Asa really, really wishes they’d picked a different career.

(There is also cursing in this part, unsurprisingly.)

—

“No, you don’t understand! Glimmer is having the baby!”

Adora was panicking. And she was also really, really bad at explaining the situation to the poor healer, who was shaking their head and just extremely confused at this point.  

“You said that already. And tell me again why you’re running around as She-Ra?”

There was no real need to panic that much, but telling Adora that wouldn’t have been of much use – she had an immense lack of medical knowledge when it came to most topics, and explaining things to her properly often took hours. Asa had learned that the hard way over the course of the last few years.

“I- uh-” Adora gulped and hid the sword behind her back. She was so nervous she didn’t even remember she had the ability transform back if she wanted to. ”I might have destroyed a wall on the way here, because the corridors led the other way and I needed to be fast, but it wasn’t a supporting one? I think?”

She was full-on rambling now, grinning sheepishly.

Asa just shook their head.

“Why did I even ask...” They looked at She-Ra again. Nothing the young woman had said so far had explained anything about the situation, and the healer was extremely confused now. “Tell me again why you came here instead of Bow and Glimmer if she’s having the baby?”

Asa still didn’t understand what was going on.

Adora gave up.

“You know what? Forget it. Just... grab the medical supplies.“

They listened, despite their confusion, and grabbed a first-aid set.

“...okay? Now what?”

She-Ra just grabbed Asa by the arm and dragged them along after her.

—

Bow was pretty sure he hadn’t been this freaked out since they’d traveled to space to save Glimmer from Horde Prime’s ship so many years ago.

He needed the others to be back, immediately – especially Adora because there was absolutely no way he could do this without a healer.

He would if he had to, but he really, really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Glimmer was in so much pain, and it was terrifying.

She was usually way too stubborn to admit that she was in pain at all – he vividly remembered that one time when they were younger that she’d broken her arm on a scouting mission and had insisted the entire way back that she was okay and it barely hurt despite the fact that she was unable to move it. ...and that was just one out of several similar examples.

He could, however, only remember about two occasions where he’d actually seen her scream or cry in pain that were even close to comparable to this – one of them had been a teleporting mishap when she was younger, and the other had been when she’d taken a blast to the chest to protect him, which he still felt guilty about so many years later. Both of these incidents had involved several broken bones and had required immediate surgery... and she’d almost died in the second one.

So that she was in this much pain right now was, well... terrifying, to say the least.

He’d read several books on the topic, and they all said that labor was painful, but ‘painful’ wasn’t exactly a great measuring unit for anything.

Was it supposed to be this bad? Was she supposed to be in so much pain? Or was something wrong with her or the baby?

Stars, he was having a really hard time thinking straight at the moment.

Especially since Glimmer was somewhere between screaming and crying the entire time.

“I’m dying. I’m dying! I DON’T WANT TO DIE ON A FUCKING TABLE!”

He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand.

“You’ll be okay, I promise. And you’re not going to die.”

He was trying to calm himself down as much as her. Stars, he’d not expected this to be so scary.

...and maybe it wouldn’t have been, hadn’t it happened in the meeting room instead of her own room or the healers’ chamber.

But that didn’t matter now. The situation was what it was, and they kind of had to work with that. ...no matter how much the thought of maybe having to deliver the baby himself made him panic.

“You just need to remember how to breathe, okay? Just like we practiced.”

Bow’s smile felt weak even to him.

Glimmer squeezed his hand a little too tight and let out another scream, but slowly, very slowly, she started breathing steadier.

That was something, at least.

What was taking the others so long?

‘I swear to the stars, they saved Etheria faster than this...’

—

The door flung open.

“Sorry, I wanted to be here sooner, but Melog was trying to be helpful, and, spoilers, they weren’t, so I spent several minutes collecting the pillows from the floor again. Twice,” Catra mumbled sheepishly as she entered, arms full of pillows.

Melog meowed in protest.

“I- listen, we can discuss this later, okay? Now is not the time.” She handed Bow the pillows and a sterile blue blanket that was still packaged. “Here you go.”

He let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you.”

This was a start, at least. The situation was still more than awful, and he really, really needed Adora to come back quickly... but it was a start.

He took the next few minutes to make his wife as comfortable as it was possible to be on a meeting room table.

Meanwhile, Catra got closer to the table and awkwardly forced herself to maybe try and have a normal conversation, despite the situation.

When she looked at Glimmer’s ashen face that was distorted with pain, the brunette’s heart dropped to her gut.

“Shit, you...” She gulped. “I thought you looked bad at the meeting, but... holy shit.”

The brunette was immensely startled by how awful her friend looked.

“Thanks Catra, THAT IS IMMENSELY HELPFUL RIGHT NOW!”

Glimmer knew she looked awful, considering how awful she felt, she didn’t really need anyone to tell her about it to remind her of it constantly.

Maybe Glimmer would feel bad for yelling at everyone around her so much later.

Right now, she didn’t.

In the slightest.

Catra flinched.

“Right. Sorry. You look great...?” She grinned sheepishly. “I really like what you, uh, did with your hair?”

She had no clue how to deal with the situation.

Glimmer just grimaced.

“...would you please just shut up?“

She groaned.

“Right. Sorry.” Catra rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m... not great with stuff like this.”

“You don’t say.”

This was probably the most deadpan way Glimmer had ever spoken.

“...should I give you guys some space? I’m going to give you space, I should check what’s keeping Adora so long. I’ll be right back.”

She waved awkwardly and backed out of the room.

Melog followed her immediately.

—

“Is this better?” Bow asked when he was finished setting the pillows.

“A little?” Glimmer sobbed, hugging one of the pillows to her chest. The one under her head did a lot to increase her comfort, and the blanket also helped a lot, but... “I just want my bed.”

“I know, sweetie. I know.“ He kissed her forehead. “Later. I promise.”

“But I want it now...”

Her husband sighed.

“Yeah, I know that, too. And I swear, if we could arrange that, I would do it in a heartbeat. But we kind of have to make do with what we have.” He squeezed her hand. “Tell me again why you scheduled a meeting one week before your due date in the first place?”

Maybe distracting her with talking to her would help a little. And even if it didn’t help much, he was still genuinely curious.

He’d already made a mental note to check with their friends and the guards more often when they had their next child – they’d both agreed they wanted more than one relatively early on –, because he was not going to be surprised by another ‘oh by the way, we have a meeting tomorrow at six in the morning’ one week before his wife’s due date ever again, especially not after this.

Glimmer groaned, but she responded anyway.

“Well, I didn’t think we’d spend a week discussing stuff, or that she’d be early...”

Bow raised an eyebrow.

“You know she might not even be early because the due date is just an estimate, right?”

“...huh?” Now that she thought about it... “Shit, Asa did say something like that in one of the earlier checkups and I completely forgot about it.” Glimmer groaned. “I’m such an idiot...”

Really, she had no one but herself to blame for the situation – but she was having a hard time dealing with the pain, and screaming at the world made it a little easier.

When the next contraction hit, she squalled in pain and squeezed his hand again, way too tight, and she knew if she kept this up she would probably end up breaking his fingers, but he just smiled through the firm squeeze and rubbed the back of her hand again.

“It will be okay. And you’re not an idiot. A bit forgetful? Maybe. Way too stubborn? Definitely. But I wouldn’t have you any other way. ...even if it results in our first baby being born in the meeting room.” He chuckled at the absurdity of the situation and squeezed her hand. “I love you Glim. Always have, always will. No matter what.”

“I could just about strangle someone right now because HOLY FUCK THIS HURTS SO MUCH-” She forced herself to take a deep breath and smiled weakly. “But I love you, too, sweetie.”

—

Maybe one minute passed, maybe five, but it felt like an eternity of anxious waiting until the door finally flung open again.

“So, uh, the good news is, I found Adora. And she brought Asa! And medical supplies!” Catra reported when she came in.

“Stars, thank you,” Glimmer sighed.

That was a huge relief.

“The bad news is, uh-“

She-Ra entered after her wife, waving awkwardly.

“Hiii.”

She hid the sword behind her back.

Bow and Glimmer stared at her for a moment.

“Why are you transformed?” Adora was about to reply when Bow lifted his hands. “You know what? I don’t even want to know. Please just keep the weapon away from my wife and the baby, thank you.”

“Yeah, of course. And good, I won’t tell you! Good! I was just...” She stopped mid-sentence. “Holy shit, Glimmer, you look-”

She broke off when her wife gently nudged her in the ribs and shook her head. Instead of finishing the sentence, Adora just gave an awkward thumbs up.

Glimmer groaned and glared at her friends.

“I hate you both.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Bow said, shaking his head.

“Does anyone else want to remind me how awful I look? Bow? Asa? Anyone?!”

Asa, who had entered just after Adora, facepalmed and shook their head as they walked up to the table.

“No, thanks, we’re good.” They looked at Glimmer. “So, judging from the pillows and her apparently extremely close contractions, we’re delivering the baby on the meeting room table, aren’t we?”

Everyone nodded.

Asa facepalmed again.

“...I’ve known you guys long enough. Honestly, what was I expecting.”

“...well this is going to be the fastest delivery I’ve ever helped with,” the healer murmured after they‘d checked Glimmer, choosing to put off asking why the couple had waited until the baby was crowning to call for medical staff.

Their best guess was probably Glimmer‘s stubbornness. That was how they explained most things that had happened since they’d first met Glimmer back when she was ten.

“I- uhm... we’ll be... waiting outside? I guess? Call us if you need anything?”

Adora backed away slightly.

She had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation. They’d never really talked about who was supposed to be present during the birth of the baby – not that that was a topic they’d discussed a lot in general, and even if they had, the situation would have been way different if the place the baby was being born wasn’t a meeting room table –, and now she wasn’t sure if they were supposed to leave or to stay, but she also knew that listening to Glimmer scream was freaking her the fuck out, and she couldn’t take it anymore.

Judging from Catra’s facial expression, her wife felt the same way.

“We‘ll be right outside the door, so just call if you need us, okay?”

Catra added, and Melog meowed some sort of reassurance that no one except Catra understood.

“Good luck?” Adora mumbled.

Was that a thing you said in a situation like this?

She wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, and, uh... Don’t die?” Catra added, more as a joke than anything – then she gulped. She’d never thought about that much before, but... “Can you die during childbirth? Is that- is that a thing that can happen?”

Judging from the look Asa was giving them, that was apparently actually a thing.

The brunette felt her blood run cold.

Melog curled up at her feet and wailed.

“You can?!” Adora shrieked.

Her face went chalk-white. The thought made her so sick she felt like throwing up was very definitely a possibility right now, and her emotions were completely all over the place, so much that She-Ra disappeared and regular Adora was back – which, all things considered, was probably for the best.

“IT’S NOT VERY LIKELY, AND NOBODY IS GOING TO DIE!” Bow yelled.

That was not something he wanted to be thinking about right now, and despite knowing that it was extremely unlikely, the fact that Catra had just brought it up made him freak out all over again and the mental image would probably be haunting him for weeks, even if Glimmer was fine afterwards.

Which she would be.

She’d be fine.

Bow closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

‘I think I just forgot how to breathe for a moment.’

“Oh, you might be wrong about the nobody dying part,” Glimmer grumbled under her breath as the pain once again eased off a bit. “If these two keep it up, there might be a murder.”

Asa decided now was probably the time to interfere.

“Glimmer is going to be okay. I know the pain she’s going through right now seems scary, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary given the situation. You two can stay in here if you want, or you can wait outside, but please just decide now, and whatever you do, don’t stress her out even more by talking about the possibility her dying in front of her. She will not die, and this is not exactly helpful right now.”

“Yeah, I- Right. We‘ll be- outside or something,” Catra mumbled, just as shaken up by the information that apparently, there was a possibility – however small it might be – that Glimmer could die, as her trembling wife was.

She put an arm around Adora and rubbed her back when they left the room, both knowing that they wouldn’t go very far because if something went wrong while they were away, they’d never forgive themselves.

—

“Can I have some pain meds? Can I please have some pain meds?” Glimmer begged as soon as they’d left the room.

She hadn’t really dared to ask while her friends had still been in here, considering how terrified they’d already been, but she couldn’t take the pain a second longer.

Asa looked at her deadpan.

“My apologies, your Majesty.” That already wasn’t a very good sign. The healer usually just called her Glimmer because they’d known each other since Glimmer was little, and when it came to formal titles, they were usually only brought up when Asa was either annoyed or about to tell the then-princess and now-Queen something that she didn’t want to hear, or both. “I could have done that if you came into the healers’ chamber, like, two hours ago. By the time they would start working, you’ll be long done with the delivery.”

Glimmer felt sick. She was terrified. There was absolutely no way she could do this without medication.

“No, that’s fine. Just give me some pain meds. The baby can stay in there a little longer until the meds kick in!”

It wasn’t a rational or realistic idea, and somewhere deep inside her head, she knew that, but she was so freaked out that she would have done pretty much anything for at least a gleam of hope that she wouldn’t have to do it like this.

She was also in massive denial, plain and simple.

"Keep telling yourself that, because that's really not something you get to decide...“

Realistically speaking, the Queen had up to a couple of minutes at max, probably less, until her body would do the job for her, no matter how much she tried to resist. No matter how stubborn the Queen was, she couldn’t go against her body’s natural instincts. That wasn’t how that worked.

Asa shook their head. They really, really should have chosen a different career.

Glimmer just sobbed.

"Please... You have to give me something, because it literally feels like I'm being torn in half right now..."

“Isn’t there anything you can do?” Bow asked, squeezing Glimmer’s hand again.

He couldn’t stand seeing his wife in so much pain.

Asa shook their head.

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t have anything that would take effect before the baby is born, so that would be kind of useless... that won’t change, no matter how often or how nicely you ask.”

Bow was actually a reasonable, sensible guy most of the time – he was probably the only one out of this group of four friends that was; at least when it came to injuries.

Asa liked him a lot.

That didn’t change the fact that there wasn’t anything they could do about the situation.

Glimmer just sobbed. Her husband rubbed her hair.

“I’m such an idiot. I should have realized something was off with the whole practice contractions-situation...”

Bow felt awful.

“Yeah, or maybe I should have just told you what was going on when I figured it out, but what difference does that make now?!“

The love of her life feeling guilty about something out of his control just made her feel worse, not better.

She just wanted this to be over...

“It will be over soon, Glimmer, I promise,” Asa said and smiled at her encouragingly. “Just stay awake, breathe and push when I tell you to, okay? Your body will do most of this on its own, anyway. You’ll get through this.”

The Queen got on their last nerve sometimes, but Asa had known her for a long time, and at the end of the day, Glimmer was a good person that they liked a lot, even if she drove them crazy most of the time.

“You can do this,” Bow said, squeezing her hand again.

Glimmer took a deep breath and closed her eyes, still immensely terrified, but also determined now.

“Okay... Okay. I can do this. I can do this.”

—

“Do you think we should go check on them again?”

Catra and Adora were sitting against the door just outside the room, leaning against each other.

The blonde was anxious.

Glimmer being in pain freaked her out, the whole possibility of death during childbirth freaked her out even more and that she was unable to actively help made things so much worse.

Catra was hugging Adora with one arm and petting the equally terrified Melog with the other arm to calm them down a bit.

Neither of them wanted to be far away from Glimmer and Bow, especially in case something went wrong, and they needed She-Ra’s healing powers, or more pillows, or-

The fact that Catra was just about the same level of scared and anxious and restless as her wife and Melog definitely didn’t help the situation, either.

The brunette nodded as her body tensed up again.

“I mean, maybe they need something!”

They had to check on them to make sure Glimmer was still alive. Immediately.

“Right?!”

Both of them got up simultaneously, Melog jumping up and exchanging some worried words with Catra as their emotion indicator fur turned red again, and all three of them all but broke down the door together when they entered the room.

—

Asa groaned when the door flung open.

‘Not this again...’

This was the third time that Catra and Adora had walked in during the past five minutes, and each time they’d only taken a quick look at their friends to then immediately walk out again.

"Listen, you two, I really do need to concentrate right now, and so does Glimmer, and this distraction of you constantly entering the room to then leave it again is not helping, so either you take a seat and stay or you remain outside from now on."

They were really getting on Asa’s last nerve.

This was the second time today that the healer really, really wished they’d picked a different career.

"But-" Catra started.

She didn’t even get close to finishing the sentence, however, because this was finally the last straw for Glimmer, who had, all things considered, taken a surprisingly long time to blow up at her best friends.

“YOU TWO ARE STRESSING ME OUT MORE THAN THE ACTUAL CHILDBIRTH!” That was not really true because the whole situation felt much more stressful than everything Glimmer had ever experienced and everything hurt way too fucking much, but Adora and Catra were making things way, way worse. She’d had it with these two for today. “SHUT UP AND SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN IMMEDIATELY OR GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE AND STAY OUTSIDE!”

That did it.

The two of them jumped a mile in fright at the time of her voice, then sat down on the floor immediately.

The Queen smiled through her pain in a really weird, but immensely satisfied way.

“Thank you.”

The two women were instantly reminded why they’d continuously left in the first place despite wanting to constantly check on Glimmer when the latter let out another anguished cry.

Catra and Adora just pulled each other close, burying their heads in each other’s shoulders. This was scary.

This was really, really terrifying.

They winced at each of Glimmer’s screams, neither of them daring to look.

Melog was curled up against Catra’s back, whimpering.

It felt like an eternity passed in what was in reality just a couple of – albeit terrifying – minutes.

—

“Just a couple more pushes, okay? You can do it.”

Asa gave the Queen another encouraging smile.

Glimmer groaned, then screamed and clenched her fists. Just a little more. Just a little more and this will all be over.

Bow stroked her hair gently. He had no idea how much pain she was exactly in right now, and he really, really wished it wasn’t this painful for her... but he was also so, so incredibly proud of her.

“It’s almost over, okay? You’re doing great.”

She smiled at him weakly, took a deep breath, let out another scream and closed her eyes to gather every bit of strength left in her body.

—

The next couple of minutes passed in a blur.

And then finally, finally, finally the pain let of and a loud cry filled the room. Soon afterwards, the pain was gone almost entirely.

Glimmer let out a sharp breath.

“Well that was a lot more exhausting than I thought it would be,” she mumbled weakly, sinking back into her heavenly soft pillows.

Then the world went black.

[ablogcalledrevenge]

Never Really Over 

(a Gabriel O’Malley x Reader Insert Multichapter Fic, Rated M)

Chapter One

There’s a knock on your door around 7pm on Friday night. You’re not expecting anyone and you freeze on the couch, knowing the episode of Wonder Woman is loud and clear. You grab your gun from the table and shove it in the back of your shorts, the metal cold against your skin. It might be nothing, but better to be safe than sorry. Los Angeles in 1978 was a seedy place and you weren’t an idiot. It’s also interesting to note because you live in a gated apartment complex; no one can get in without you letting them in first. So whoever’s at your door means business.

You unbolt and open the door, see who it is, and immediately slam the door in their face.

 “Hey! Fuck (Y/N), let me in! I gotta talk to you. Open the damn door!” He yells through the wood, not doubt alerting your neighbors. Unfortunately it was now that you regretted living with so many secretive people; they knew not to call the cops. While most of the time that was a good thing, now you wish they would. He deserved a long stay in some holding cell after what he put you through. But you also knew he was stubborn and would probably stay there all night yelling if you let him. So with a sigh, you open the door and let him in.

Gabriel O’Malley steps over the threshold and back into your life like nothing ever happened. Like you’d never told him you loved him, and like he never left you without a word. Like a year hadn’t passed without so much as a phone call. You were a little surprised by how much it hurt to see him, how much you still weren’t over him. It was embarrassing.

He sits down at your kitchen table, quiet and waiting. There is a brief standoff where you just stare at each other. Throwing up your hands, you turn on the stove to boil water for tea. You grab mugs from the cabinet, unthinkingly taking his favorite- blue and green swirled porcelain- without even realizing. 

“You know, you got a lotta of nerve coming back here. Everyone knows what you did to me, you’re not going to find many sympathetic friends.” You say as the tea brews. He doesn’t say anything, content to watch you. You’re annoyed that he caught you in your pajamas. It’s a cute set, a pink satin tank and shorts your sister gave you, but he doesn’t deserve to see it. You should plug him full of lead right now, the absolute nerve!

“Yeah well, I couldn’t stay in New York. Shit happened.” He finally says, as you give him his tea. You could doctor it up just the way he likes, you still remember, but instead you place milk and sugar on the table between you. He doesn’t look bad if you’re being truthful. He looks like he gained a little bit of weight, which was good since he was such a beanpole, but he’d lost a lot of the beautiful color he’d gotten working in LA. Everything else is the same. His hair, his stubble, his clothes, the mole on his cheek you used to kiss for luck. It’s all there and you can feel your heart shriveling in your chest.

“Oh I know. We all know what went down in New York. It’s a fucking mess, is what happened. I mean, I’m all for girl power but you completely dismantled Hell’s Kitchen. Apparently the broads you backed couldn’t even keep themselves together. You stole the Hasidim from the Italians, which was a risky move, and you’re gonna hear about it for sure. But then, the girls start to split; one of ‘em died and the other is trying for Harlem? Yeah, good luck with that.” You snort into your tea. He looks pained at the mention of Claire’s death but it’s true. If she were smart, she wouldn’t have died.

“And now you’ve come crawling back to us. You backed the wrong horse and you know if you show your face in Midtown, they’ll cut your throat. I don’t know what’s more stupid; that you came back at all, or that you thought this would work? Did you expect me to open the door and fall into your arms with gratitude? Think you could just walk into Zayde’s office and get your job back? Are you outta your fucking mind? They’ll kill you when they find out you’re back.” You promise, trying to keep your voice down. The walls between apartments were insulated and people minded their own business, but this was still a touchy subject.

“Look I know I messed up! I was trying to help. They’re my people, some of them family and they needed help. The guys in charge were running it into the ground. You should’ve seen the way they treated their wives, it was disgusting! Believe me, even with all the bullshit, the Kitchen is better with the women in charge. But I got too invested and Cathy told me to leave, so here I am. They’re not gonna kill me, I’m no rat. I just, you know, abandoned the family and broke your heart. Sorry by the way.” He shrugs, looking sheepish but not worried. You see red and stand up from the table.

“Sorry by the way? Sorry by the way! You fucking schmuck! You broke my heart! You left without a word, without a reason. I didn’t know what happened to you or where you were. I thought you’d been taken or killed! And then I hear that you’re in New York, helping the Irish and screwing some married bitch! The same one I’ve been in the shadow of since we met! You expect me to be okay with a sorry?” You accuse, the anger practically steaming off your body. 

He sips his tea and you almost lunge across the table. Your cat tinkles in from the other room and meows at Gabriel, who peers down with a very soft look. Your heart cracks again.

“Since when do you have a cat? She’s cute.” He asks, picking up Magenta and letting her snuggle against his chest. You glare at the traitor, as if you didn’t cry into her fur about the man holding her. 

“I got her about 6 months ago. It helped to have someone around, even if she couldn’t really talk back. I just got really lonely here.” You admit, finger running along the lip of your mug.

“What? You haven’t dated anyone since I left?” He asks, looking genuinely confused. Which surprises you considering he’s here to apologize and possibly worm his way into your heart. But his surprise that you weren’t seeing anyone didn’t add up with the other stuff. Why would he want you to date other people? Maybe to make him feel less guilty?

“No I did, but it was never that serious. I just didn’t feel like getting involved with anyone like that. It felt like I was betraying you, even though you would’ve deserved it.” You can hear the faint sounds of Lynda Carter stopping bullets from the other room. Then a beer commercial starts and you bite your lip to stop yourself from crying. With him in the apartment, it’s like everything is reminding you of before. Before he left for New York and took your heart with him.

“Yeah well, looks like we’re both back to square fucking one.” Gabe scoffs, draining his cup and letting Magenta jump down from his lap. He glances around your apartment, though it hasn’t changed much in a year, before leaning back in his chair.

“So, where am I sleeping?” He asks and you pull the gun from your shorts and point it in his face. You’ve reached your tipping point with him, clearly.

“Un-fucking-believable. If you think you can just come back here and everything will go back to the way it was, you’ve got another thing coming. Now get outta my house.” Your gaze is deadly and your hand doesn’t shake. Gabe gets up slowly and walks towards the door, hands up in a placating gesture. The barrel follows him. He opens the door and steps out of your apartment and into the warm night air.

“You look real beautiful (Y/N), fuck it’s good to see you.” He says wistfully before you slam the door in his face again. What an asshole. Still, you can’t help but smile at his boldness. Gabriel O’Malley wasn’t a loud man, didn’t care about being in the spotlight, but he was always bold. It was nice to see some things hadn’t changed.

  ~~~~~~~~

  He ends up taking a bus to Tony’s house, happy to still remember where everything is. The house looks the same, pale green siding with blooming flower boxes under the window. It looks like the hydrangeas finally grew, that was nice.

Taking a deep breath, Gabe knocks on the door as the fireflies buzz around him. Shit, it was late, wasn’t it? He should’ve come at a different time. But before he could flee, the door opens.

“Gabey! Oh Gabey, it’s so good to see you! Come inside and eat something, I made stuffed shells. Here, I’ll get you a plate.” Mrs. Petrillo says, ushering him into the house. Even if he wanted to argue, he wouldn’t. You didn’t argue with Mrs. Petrillo. She was 5 feet of pure Italian dynamite and he loved the old broad to pieces.

A huge plate of food is set in front of him, along with wine and bread, and he eats happily as Mrs Petrillo putters around her kitchen. Her house slippers make scuffing noises on the laminate floor and the sound is comforting to him.

“Gabey patatino, how are you? What are you doing back? How was New York?” She asks, sitting next to him at the old diner style table and patting his hand. 

“I’m good Mrs. P, I’m good. New York was… well some good things happened and some bad things happened but I’m doing okay.” He explains in between bites. She makes a sympathetic noise and gives him another slice of bread.

“Hey Ma, who was at the door? Was it… Gabriel O’Malley, you sonuvabitch! You know, you gotta lot of nerve coming back here.” Tony says, entering the kitchen with a grimace. Gabe gives a tight smile in response.

“Anthony Michael, is that any way to talk to your friend? Let him eat before you start yelling in my kitchen.” Mrs. P shoots back. Her son looks abashed for all of a moment before rounding back to Gabe, his gold cornicello swinging on his neck.

“Friend? This chooch fucks off for New York without a word and breaks (Y/N)’s heart with it and we’re supposed to let him back like it’s nothing? Ma, he doesn’t deserve the stuffed shells.” He yells, rightfully so; Gabe thinks as he wipes his mouth. 

Tony’s mother starts yelling about language and hospitality but the sound of Gabe pushing his chair back makes them quiet.

“He’s right Mrs. Petrillo. I’m a real jerk. I did a lot of things wrong. I was trying to help who I thought was my family and I ended up hurting the real one I had here. I made a lotta mistakes, the biggest one being how I treated her. But that’s why I’m back. I want to say I’m sorry, sorry to everyone, and fix things with her. I know it’s a mess, I don’t even have a place to stay or money.” Gabe sighs, rubbing at his forehead.

Mrs. P makes a soft sound of commiseration and hugs him. 

“Don’t worry patatino, everything’s gonna be fine. You can stay here until you get back on your feet. Right Anthony?” She offers, shooting a glare at her son. He glares at Gabe before nodding in concession. 

“I can’t stay mad at you, you leprechaun. Stay here and work on getting your life together.” Tony says, joining his mother to wrap Gabe in a hug. 

For the first time in months, Gabriel feels safe, he feels comforted. In New York, despite the power he had and Claire in his bed, he always felt so antsy. Like he was just waiting for everything to fall out from under him. When it did, well, it was probably a good thing that no one was in the train compartment with him on his way back to California.

“So what do I do Tony? Got any jobs for me? You know I’m good for it.” He finally says when he sits back down at the table to eat and his throat doesn’t feel so tight.

“Well, there is a wedding next week.” Tony says and he grins over his wine glass and Gabriel can’t help but laugh and raise his own glass in agreement.

Chapter Two Coming Soon...

Tagging: @babbushka​, @theold-ultraviolence

Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future chapters!

[reellykenzie]

This Is Heartache

In which Kenzie finally confesses everything going on inside her head and her heart to her mother.

After Kenzie’s breakdown at school when she had been attacked by the girl and all the things her friends had said, she had finally decided to call her therapist for an emergency session. There, she had yet another breakdown, discussing so many things, including things she hadn’t really talked about before or even realized. After so long, her therapist suggested what Kenzie considered to be the worst thing ever... telling her mom how she felt. At first, she had said absolutely no, but after even more talking, the doctor convinced her it would help things, that her mom could handle it. 

Despite agreeing to it, she was still terrified about everything. Her hands shook as she drove to the apartment, trying to come up with whatever reasons she could to not tell her mom all her secrets. The biggest way she could avoid telling her mom anything would be if her mom was already at work. She couldn’t say anything if she wasn’t there after all. Of course there was no such luck. As soon as she walked into the apartment, she could tell her mom was home. As soon as she walked through the door, Victra ran up to her, meowing and demanding attention. She couldn’t help leaning down, scratching the cat behind the ears and kissing the top of her head. 

“Kenzie?” Maggie said, coming out of the kitchen when she heard the door. She was surprised to see her daughter at the apartment. She hadn’t told her anything about coming over for a visit or anything. “I didn’t know you were coming over today.”

The young woman winced, standing up straight. The bruise on her jaw wasn’t that bad any more, but there was still a bit of a scab where her lip had bled. Instantly, her mom ran over, concerned as she examined her daughter’s face. “What happened?” Maggie asked, tilting Kenzie’s face to the side as she looked at it. The concerned tone of her mom’s voice was too much to her, instantly bringing the tears to her eyes. She had cried so much over the last few days and for the last two hours with her therapist. She didn’t know she had any tears left. It immediately worried Maggie, who never saw her daughter cry. She hugged her taller daughter, bringing her over to the couch. “What’s going on?”

“I... I’m sorry Mom. I just... I can’t do it any more. I can’t,” she said as she started to cry harder, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. “My therapist said I need to tell you all this stuff that I’m thinking, but I can’t. I’m so scared to. Everything I have ever done has been to protect you.”

Maggie was instantly concerned and saddened when she heard those words. What did she do to make her daughter feel like she couldn’t speak to her? No matter what, she would always love Kenzie. There was nothing she could say or do that would make her upset or anything. “You can tell me anything, sweetheart. You don’t have to protect me,” Maggie said, tucking her hair behind Kenzie’s ear.

Kenzie nodded, looking down at her lap as the tears fell. “Ever since... Ever since Dad died, I’ve tried to be strong. I’ve tried to be tough and not let anything bother me. I felt like I needed to so you wouldn’t be so worried or sad. Any time you were sad or something, I felt like it was my fault. That I didn’t do something right or I failed. And then I just started seeing everyone that way. That I have to protect everyone and be strong for everyone no matter how I am feeling. I have put every single person I have ever met before myself. I just pretend like I’m happy and nothing hurts me, but I’m so miserable. I don’t even feel happy any more,” she admitted, sobbing harder as she let it all off her chest. 

“The truth is, I think of myself as this awful person. That everything bad that happens is my fault. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but I can’t help thinking it. The thing is... All I want is to feel protected and loved. I know you’re not supposed to put your self worth on someone else, but for so long, I’ve been the one made fun of, the one people rely on. All I want is someone that takes cares of me and makes me feel safe and secure. Every boy I have had feelings for just laughs in my face. They think I’m too much of a boy or I’m too tall or whatever else makes them not like me. They call me ugly and everything else they can. And recently, I... I was in a relationship. It was sort of a polyamory thing. I was dating two guys and we were all sort of dating each other. I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure if you would understand. Mostly, I thought that it wouldn’t last long enough to tell you anything. I expected it to end eventually and it did. One boy felt left out of things and apparently I acted like their mom to them and there were all these rumors... I broke up with them because I thought it was what they wanted and I wanted to make it easier for them, give them someone to hate. It wasn’t what they wanted though. I made the choice for them and I just made everything ten times worse. I really had feelings for both of them and once again I just ruined everything,” Kenzie said, babbling on and on about everything and the way she had been feeling. “After getting my heart broken and ruining things yet again, I just thought it was pointless to hope that any guy would ever want me, so I just started having a lot of random sex. I figured it was the only thing anyone would want from me and if I was having sex with guys, I could pretend in my head for a bit that they cared for me, that they actually wanted to be with me. It was never true, but I just wanted to pretend like it was possible. But even that was a total failure. It made me feel worse and worse and then everyone started spreading rumors about me being a huge slut and that I get paid to have sex and everything is just a mess,” she said, taking a deep breath as she was racked with more sobs. 

Every word Kenzie said just broke Maggie’s heart more and more. How had she not seen how sad her daughter was? Of course after Neil died, she had been devastated, but she hadn’t expected Kenzie to be strong and take care of her or anything. She hadn’t ever thought her daughter needed to be the one to take care of her, but apparently she had done a poor job of making sure her daughter knew that. The way she saw herself made her even sadder. Maggie was one of those parents who thought their child was absolutely perfect and amazing in every way. Of course she loved Kenzie’s strength, but she also loved and appreciated all the other qualities that Kenzie had. Her mind, her imagination, her passion... all were wonderful things. The fact that her daughter couldn’t see those things in herself, couldn’t love herself as much as her mother did. All the relationship stuff was new and a bit of a shock. She hadn’t realized that her daughter was with anyone, let alone two boys at once. As long as she was happy, that was all that was important, but apparently it didn’t last that long. And of course all the casual sex concerned her, though she wasn’t naive enough to think her teenage daughter wasn’t having sex. They had that talk ages ago. But for her to rely on sex to feel things... it wasn’t right. 

“Kenzie, baby, I’m so sorry you felt this way and thought you couldn’t tell me. I’m sorry you had to feel like you needed to take on everything after your dad died. I know I was sad and a mess, but that didn’t mean you needed to take his place. I can take care of myself. I’m supposed to take care of both of us. And you are so worthy of love. You know I had no luck with love when I was your age. It’s not just you. When you find the right person, like I did, you can make it work. It can take hard work, but it’s possible. You are not just some sex object. You are smart and strong and kind and I love you so much. I wish you could see yourself that way,” Maggie said, wiping the tears from her daughter’s face. 

As her mother spoke, she felt a bit better. A weight had been lifted from her shoulders, a weight she had carried for far too long. Nothing had really changed, but just admitting it all to the one person she had tried to protect the most did seem to make a difference. Her therapist had been right after all. Despite feeling better from talking and her mother’s words, she couldn’t help it as she kept crying, curling up in her mother’s lap. She just needed her mom and only the comfort she could bring. Maggie stroked her fingers through her daughter’s hair, humming softly as she rubbed Kenzie’s back and held her until she stopped crying.

[sirfluffkins]

On Litte Cat Feet (AO3)

(5671 words) boy do i hope the read more shows up on mobile

Summary: Maybe Andrew has a soft spot for cats, or maybe he just sucks as refusing Neil anything no matter what form Neil takes.

Thanks for @sapphirablue and @unabashedtrashcollector for helping me with my English! Any remaining mistakes are mine alone!

Neil was going through the garbage behind what appeared to be a nightclub, looking for food. He could have just turned back to his human form to buy an actual meal, but ever since his mother died being a cat seemed so much safer. He didn’t mind eating thrown away leftovers anymore, by now he was more than used to it.

The backdoor opened and two men came out, the smaller one wasting no time in pressing the bigger one against the door. Neil abandoned what he was doing immediately to dash under the nearest trashcan, making himself as small as possible.

He couldn’t see much from where he was crouching, but his hearing was a lot better than in his human form, so he had no trouble hearing everything that was going on. Neil hoped there would be no bloodshed, or worse, the police showing up to ruin his chances of getting a meal from here.

“Don’t touch me,” said the smaller man and it became clear to Neil that they were making out.

He was pretty annoyed about that. Someone had just thrown away a few perfectly good burgers for whatever reason and Neil was intent on being the first one to get to them. The two men being there was a hindrance but Neil could wait.

“Andrew,” the taller man said, sounding breathless.

“I said don’t touch me,” Andrew repeated and stepped away. Neil would have thanked the taller man for fucking up if he could, but as it was he just watched him sigh and disappear back into the club.

Andrew, as was apparently his name, stayed behind and lit a cigarette. Fuck.

Neil had to decide what to do. He could hear crows cawing somewhere in the distance and he had no intention of sharing his meal with them. But he also didn’t know how Andrew would react to cats.

There were three main reactions to Neil as a cat: one was absolute indifference; the second was anger, usually followed by some kind of effort to chase him away; the third, and in Neil's opinion the worst, was instant adoration. The people who seemed to think he was cute saw his disheveled fur and dirt-covered paws and decided they needed to rescue him.

A warm place to stay where his father's men would never find him sounded good in theory, but most people wanted their cats neutered, and Neil wasn't about to deal with that. It wasn't like his father or his men even knew about the Hatford family secret, so as long as he managed to survive out on the street he would be safe from them.

Since Andrew didn’t seem to have any intention of going back inside, Neil risked poking his head out from under the trashcan to survey the situation. There were other trashcans in the city he could scavenge, so it wouldn’t be a big loss if Andrew turned out to be a cat-hating asshole, but he was nothing if not persistent and those burgers would be a nice change from half-rotten meat.

Andrew saw his movement and turned his head to look at him, his gaze unmoved. Their eyes locked for a long time but Andrew made no move to do anything other than smoke his cigarette. Neil deemed such indifference safe enough and dashed out towards the bag of burgers, dragging it under the trashcan as fast as he could. There he could eat in peace unless another animal like a raccoon or the crows tried to steal his meal from him again.

He could almost feel Andrews eyes on where he had disappeared but he was too hungry to mind. He didn't bother to separate the meat from the rest of the burger. He may have taken the form of a cat, but luckily he could eat the same things he would be able to as a human.

He was about halfway through his meal when he heard the door open and close again and he was alone in the dark alleyway.

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

Neil didn't spend all of his time as a cat. He was trying to finish high school as fast as possible, that meant finding places to shower, and using the internet in various places that had free WiFi. He had just arrived in Columbia, and although the city was really not that big, he should be able to stay for a while at least.

He was tired of running, of never talking to anyone because he didn't want to be remembered, of constantly fearing for his life. He was playing with the idea of going to the FBI with all the information he had on his father, but his father was powerful, and Neil didn't trust the FBI to be able to protect him.

As soon as he was done with classes for the day he turned back into a cat and either went for a run or looked for a place to nap. The way his two bodies interacted was weird but it was enough for Neil that he could take a run as a cat and feel the effects of it as a human. Neil didn't know much about how the transformation worked in detail, but it was definitely magical. When he turned into a cat, he did so along with everything he was wearing or holding. It was a relief that he didn't have to hide his clothes and duffel somewhere.

He was back at the nightclub - the area obviously wasn't popular with other city scavengers, which was good for Neil, because even as a cat, he was better at starting fights than ending them.

He wasn't there for long when Andrew stepped out again, alone this time. They had seen each other more and more often during the last few weeks and Neil knew Andrew enough that he only spared him a glance before going through the trash again.

He was unlucky tonight. The trashcans were for once empty of any food and Neil felt hungry and sticky and disgusting. Neil was not happy about having to clean himself with his tongue, but he felt so dirty there was no way around it.

It tasted as bad as he imagined, if not worse, but he soldiered on. Halfway through he realized Andrew was still there and watching him, looking blank but faintly amused. Neil chose to ignore him.

That was, until Andrew took out a sandwich that smelled absolutely heavenly. It might just have been the contrast to the stench of garbage, but Neil could smell chicken, and he wanted it. Maybe he could make Andrew drop it - no sane human being would eat something that touched the floor behind a shitty nightclub. He'd just have to sneak up to him and be fast. Being fast was one of Neil's strong points. He could do this. It'd be a hit and run. Easy.

Plan made up, he crouched low and slowly sneaked up on Andrew, who wasn't even looking at Neil. Neil felt confidence rise up in him but it was crushed when Andrew spoke.

“Whatever you're planning, don't even think about it,” he said, eyes snapping to Neil.

Neil stopped in his tracks and went for plan B.

Begging.

He started meowing, trying to appear as cute and as hungry as he could while keeping a safe distance from Andrew at all times. His message was clear though - give me food.

Andrew looked like the type of person who hated cats, but then he wouldn't have stayed to watch a disgustingly dirty cat clean itself, so Neil was hopeful.

“You're a pathetic creature, begging strangers for food like this,” Andrew sneered. If Neil could talk, he would have said something about pathetic people talking to cats, but he was too busy pretending he didn't understand while appearing hopeful and cute.

Looking at Neil as if he hated nothing more in the world than this cat, Andrew sighed and took a chunk of chicken off his sandwich. He stared at Neil some more before throwing the chunk onto the ground where Neil was still pacing and meowing.

“There you go, now shut up,” he said.

Neil was busy chomping down the chicken, so he had no problems following that order. It was probably the best thing he had eaten in a long time.

Neil finished as fast as he could and then sprinted off into the darkness, not looking back at Andrew again.

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

“Come here, kitty! I'll give you a wonderful home!” the woman shouted somewhere behind Neil.

Even though he was fast as a cat, he had to pay attention to the people in the street who naturally didn't clear a path for a running cat. The woman didn't seem to have such problems. Her shouting alerted most people to step aside out of sheer instinct and the rest were just rudely run over. Neil hoped someone would confront her and give him a chance to finally escape, but no such luck. Despite her small and slight stature, the woman intimidated every passerby around her.

The day had started nice enough; Neil had found a sunny spot on a branch and spent most of the day napping. It was a peaceful few hours that were rudely interrupted by a delighted screech.

Neil knew screeches like that, and they always meant a cat-crazy person had found him and deemed his cat form cute. It happened more often than he liked.

So Neil took off running, only to be followed.

At this point, Neil was desperate. This woman must have been running marathons for a living. It was the only explanation why he hadn't lost her yet. He was desperate enough that when he saw a familiar face in the crowd he didn't even hesitate.

He made a beeline for Andrew and climbed up his side until he was perched on the man's shoulder. Anyone would think twice before trying to pluck a cat off someone else's shoulder. They naturally would assume the cat and the human belonged together and Neil was counting on that. Andrew, who hadn't flinched, even as Neil used his claws, shot a curious glance at Neil.

Neil was tense and ready to fight. Andrew might have given him food that one time, but he had no idea how Andrew would react to such physical closeness. This was an act of desperation, but Neil was relieved that it seemed to be working out. Andrew opened his mouth as if to say something but was cut off by the woman's voice.

“Where are you, kitty?” she shouted and Neil tensed further.

She spotted Neil on Andrew's shoulder and to Neil's dismay made her way over to them.

Neil hissed at her as she approached.

“Oh no need to be shy, my little cutie! Is that your cat, sir?” she asked, ignoring Neil's show of hostility completely.

Neil prayed to every god he didn't believe in that Andrew would say yes. That he wouldn't push him off his shoulder and abandon him to deal with this crazy cat lady. He watched as Andrew eyed the woman up and down.

“None of your business,” he said and while Neil would have wished for a more certain answer, he'd take it. He licked Andrew's ear in a moment of thoughtless gratitude. Andrew started a bit.

The woman looked put upon now.

“Well yes it is, if the cat doesn't belong to you I'll take it home with me,” she said.

“He doesn't seem to like you very much,” Andrew replied and Neil hissed at her again to prove his point.

“He'll change his mind soon enough. Tomcats always get friendlier once they're neutered,” the woman said. She was obviously insulted by the sheer thought that a cat wouldn't like her. Neil started to yowl threateningly.

Andrew didn't even grace that with a reply, instead turning around and walking away. The motion jostled Neil a bit but he held on. He carefully twisted around to see the woman's reaction and wasn't disappointed when he saw her gaping after them. This had gone better than he expected.

Andrew walked for a few blocks and Neil was sure the woman wasn't following them. He was finally rid of her. Just as he started thinking about what to do next, Andrew spoke up.

“Is the stray planning on sticking around now?” he asked. He was clearly not expecting a reply, though few would when talking to a cat.

Neil took this as his cue to leave, but just to be annoying he didn't jump off of Andrew's shoulder before bumping his head into Andrew's temple and licking a strip up his cheek.

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

The employees of Eden's Twilight, as Neil had found out the club was called, remained wasteful as always. This led to more and more meetings between Andrew and Neil. Andrew was obviously fond of Neil, if reluctantly so. Whenever Neil begged for food - which was often because he was an instigator, and the muted emotions on Andrew's face when he did it were funny to watch - Andrew would eventually give in. He always insulted Neil while doing so, but Neil could tell it was an act - when he realized Neil preferred chicken to any other meat, Andrew started bringing that with him more often.

Tonight Andrew was tense as he left the club. His face was blank, and he lit three cigarettes before giving up and just sinking to the floor, uncaring that it was absolutely filthy. Neil had never seen Andrew like this. Something had obviously shaken him and he was doing his best to hide it, even from himself.

Neil didn't know what to do. It had been a while since he had this much contact to another person, and despite knowing better, he found himself caring about Andrew. He also knew that Andrew didn't like to be touched, but he was unsure if that only extended to humans, or if it included animals as well. Since Neil had apparently lost his sense for self preservation, he approached anyway.

Maybe he just trusted Andrew, he thought, but buried the thought immediately. Don't trust anyone, his mother had made him promise with her last breath.

He walked slowly and meowed to announce his presence. Andrew looked up and stared with blank eyes. He made no move, just kept staring, so Neil soldiered on and gently bumped into Andrew's outstretched foot. Andrew still didn't react, so Neil grew a bit bolder and placed his front paws onto Andrew's shin. When that still didn't get a reaction, he planted himself on Andrew's lap and started purring as loud as he could.

That finally merited a reaction. Andrew scoffed, like he did every time he called Neil an idiot, but nonetheless started running his hand along Neil's soft fur. Neil forgot how good it felt to be petted, so without meaning to, he just kind of melted and purred even louder. He didn't know he could do that, but at least it seemed to distract Andrew, whose thighs lost some of their stiffness.

Neil lost track of time while Andrew kept petting him. He moved his hand in a repetitive motion, from Neil's head to the base of his tail, occasionally stopping to give a few scratches behind his ears. Neil could have stayed like that forever.

They were, however, interrupted by a loud voice ringing through the door.

“Andrew? Where are you? It's late and we want to go home!”

Andrew stiffened but before he could do anything the door opened and two men stepped out. One was tall with black hair, dark brown eyes, and dark skin, while the other looked just like Andrew. A twin then. They looked identical enough that Neil wondered if he always met with Andrew. But even twins smell differently, and he never noticed something off with Andrew's smell.

“What the fuck,” said the twin.

“Yes Andrew, what the fuck?” the taller man added,”You disappeared in the middle of the night and no one knew where you were! You'll be fired if that continues, no matter how much Roland likes you. And now we find you out here cuddling with a cat of all things. I'm surprised you haven't killed it yet.”

He turned to face Neil more fully and crouched down.

“Hey there, cutie, are you sure you want to spend time with this grump?” he said and extended a hand as if to pet Neil, who hissed and swatted at his hand.

“Okay then,” the man said and laughed,”the cutie obviously loves you, Andrew.”

“Shut up, Nicky.”

Andrew scoffed and stood up, without giving Neil the chance to get off first. Neil hissed, offended. The look Andrew threw him seemed to ask what Neil was going to do about it. By now, Neil knew enough about Andrew to be sure he wouldn't actually harm an animal, so he decided to be petty. He jumped at Andrew's leg and started climbing until he was once more perched on Andrew's shoulder. Once up there, he started purring and aggressively rubbing his head on every part of Andrew he could reach.

Nicky burst out laughing and the twin stared at them incredulously.

“What the fuck,” he said. Neil wondered briefly if he could say anything else. Andrew turned his head to face Neil. Neil had a good guess on what Andrew would do, so he licked up a strip on Andrew's nose to distract him. It worked, and in the moment Andrew's face screwed up in disgust, Neil jumped onto the floor and sauntered away.

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

Over the span of the next few weeks, Neil spent a lot of time with Andrew. Friday through Sunday, Andrew appeared behind the club without fail. He stayed out there for half an hour for his break and then disappeared inside again. Neil kept climbing onto Andrew's shoulder to annoy him, but he had to admit that it was a nice spot to be. Andrew's shoulders were broad for someone so small, and Andrew didn't seem to mind being Neil's new lookout spot.

Neil was pawing at a stray piece of hair when he heard it.

The voices weren't loud, but Neil could locate them roughly around the corner of the alley. They were hostile and Neil's attention was fully captured once he recognized Nicky's voice among them. Even from this distance he sounded scared.

Without thinking, Neil jumped off and started tugging insistently at Andrew's pant leg. When that didn't get a reaction beside a raised eyebrow, he started pacing in the direction of the voices, meowing all the while.

“If you think I'll follow you to some dirty place you want to show me you're mistaken,” he said and Neil hissed at him, still pacing.

Andrew sighed and pushed off from where he was leaning against the wall.

“Well?” he asked Neil, who ran towards the voices, checking if Andrew was following him.

Nicky cried out in pain and Andrew immediately took off running, Neil hot on his heels. The scene they arrived to was telling, four men in a half circle around Nicky, who was already lying on the floor and bleeding profusely from a wound on his head.

Andrew moved before Neil had taken in the scene completely. The first one hit the floor and didn't get up. From then on it was a full on brawl, three against one. The men didn't stand a chance, even though they outnumbered Andrew, and all had at least a foot on him.

Neil watched as if in a trance. Violence was nothing new for him, but he only ever saw this kind of protective fury from his mother. Until now, Neil didn't have the impression that Andrew was particularly fond of Nicky, but he clearly was wrong about that.

There was only one man left standing, though he was visibly worse for wear. Andrew had a few bruises already, but he was still standing strong, while his opponent was limping and uncoordinated. Neil got a look of Andrew's face and realized that he wouldn't stop when the last man went down. There was no triumph in his eyes, only cold fury.

Neil didn't make the decision consciously. He turned around and disappeared behind the corner, checked to see if there was anyone who could see him, and shifted back to his human form. Then he ran back towards the fight where Andrew had just defeated his last opponent. He stepped towards the prone form of the man, ready to kick him some more when Neil hauled him back from behind.

This was a mistake, Neil thought as the first punch hit him hard. He didn't even know why he was doing this, but apparently he was stupid, and had actually come to like Andrew during the past few weeks. He knew that if Andrew continued to take out his anger on the already unconscious men there would be no way for him to plead self defense in court. Inexplicably, Neil didn't want Andrew to face consequences for protecting someone.

It was easier said than done though. Neil only had to keep Andrew occupied until someone came to check out the commotion, but he didn't know how long he could hold out. After being caught off guard because Neil attacked him from behind, Andrew had taken out knives from somewhere and now Neil was bleeding from cuts at his shoulder and thigh. Neil had to fight the urge to run away and never come back. But he had started this and now he would see it through.

It had only been a minute but Neil felt like hours had passed when someone entered the alleyway and shouted. Neil turned around and ran, not wanting to be seen. There was nothing more he could do now and he had wounds to tend to. The next few weeks he wouldn't be able to move at full capacity.

This was a mistake, Neil thought again, but couldn't bring himself to regret it. He just hoped he had helped Andrew somehow.

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

Neil couldn't afford to be seen injured as a human, so he stayed as a cat and hoped he didn't get an infection. He didn't want to travel far with multiple cuts that could re-open at any time, and he definitely didn't want to be at the mercy of someone taking pity on the poor abused cat.

He knew he looked bad, and staying under a trashcan behind a club wouldn't make things any better, but he just needed to hold out until he could run without re-opening his wounds. Besides, food and water were relatively easy to get to from this position, so he couldn't really complain.

Almost a week later Neil started getting anxious. What if Andrew didn't return? What if he was fired? Then Neil would never know if his stupid sacrifice had been worth it. Neil was no stranger to making mistakes, but he was still nervous thinking about it. He went against all his promises to his mother just for a stranger that he wouldn't ever see again. She would have beaten him senseless if she were alive.

But then, if she were alive they would still be running from town to town without ever stopping to actually live. He felt guilty thinking that, but he enjoyed the time he spent with Andrew, the feeling of knowing someone, even if he was just a cat to them. Being recognized and maybe even missed should he disappear. But Andrew was the one that might never come back so Neil might just have to move on too.

He was still feeling sorry for himself when the door opened and Andrew stepped through. He looked around like he always did if Neil wasn't already waiting for him, but his face was even blanker than usual. Neil didn't think that was possible.

Neil felt self-conscious now. He didn't know how Andrew would react to his wounds and he didn't know if he even wanted to find out. He was still trying to decide when Andrew spoke up.

“I can see you under the trashcan, don't ignore me. I even brought you some chicken.”

Neil had survived during the last few days but chicken sounded heavenly. He decided to risk it. Maybe Andrew would feel sorry for him and bring him some more tomorrow.

He started limping towards Andrew and meowed. It sounded more pitiful than he intended. Andrew's gaze hardened and he crouched down. When Neil reached him, he bumped his head into Andrew's knee and immediately regretted it. He forgot the bruise on his face. It was better already but direct contact still hurt.

Andrew must have felt him flinch because he didn't touch Neil. Usually he would scratch behind Neil's ears for a bit, but today he was just looking. Neil felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny but he was hungrier than he thought so he meowed again. Still pitiful.

The chicken was laid carefully in front of him and Neil started wolfing it down. Andrew was still looking at him but he really didn't care right now. Out of the corner of his eye he could see one of Andrew's hands clench into a fist, shaking lightly. Maybe he should have felt threatened, considering Andrew was the one who inflicted these wounds, but in the end Neil knew what he had been getting into when he pulled Andrew back from the other men.

When he finished he looked up to Andrew's face. He looked stony but his eyes held an emotion Neil couldn't place. He wondered what would happen now. Would Andrew just leave him like this, or would he do something? Maybe he was the type of person that didn't care about animals being injured, but Neil somehow couldn't imagine that.

Stiffly, Andrew got up and walked towards the door. Neil felt disappointed even though he didn't want to.

“Stay here,” Andrew said before walking back inside. Neil was too confused to do anything but obey.

A few minutes later, Andrew came back outside carrying a carton box. He set it down and crouched beside Neil, who limped over to sniff at the box. A hand appeared in front of his face and then carefully wandered down his torso. Neil realized Andrew intended to pick him up when Andrew put two hands under Neil's rib cage. Neil didn't resist so Andrew lifted him up and set him down inside the box. It was cushioned with a sweater that smelled like Andrew. It had to be the softest thing Neil had felt in weeks and he curled up carefully inside the warmth.

He spaced out a bit, knowing that Andrew wouldn't let any more harm come to him, but snapped back to attention when he heard Andrew speak.

“Tell the boss I'm taking the rest of the night off, I'm going home,” he said into his cellphone. Neil could make out an outraged response on the other end of the line.

“I don't care, take a taxi or something,” Andrew said and ended the phone call.

The box was picked up, jostling Neil a bit. It didn't hurt thought so he kept quiet. Neil could only see the side of the buildings and the sky move above the rim of the box, but soon enough he heard a car door open, and then the box was strapped into the passenger seat of a car.

Andrew got into the drivers seat and by the time they started driving Neil was already asleep.

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

Waking up was painful, but in spite of the pain, Neil felt better than he had in quite a while. The surface he was sleeping on was soft and he burrowed a little deeper into it and let out a content purr.

“Aaaaaw, Andrew your cat is so cute,” a voice above him whispered. Neil stiffened on reflex when he didn't recognize it immediately. Hearing Andrew's voice reply made him relax again and Neil could have kicked himself for this kind of instinctual trust.

“It's a pest,” Andrew said. Nicky laughed quietly.

“Sure it is, that's why you brought it home with you.”

Andrew didn't reply to that, but Neil felt the ground under him move as his box was picked up. Neil made a noise of complaint that was predictably ignored.

“You're not going to take it back to Eden's, are you?” Nicky asked, sounding uncertain.

“Don't be stupid,” Andrew replied,”I'm going to the vet.”

Nicky seemed pleased by this, if the lack of reply was any indication. Neil tensed again. He couldn't move too well, and vets made him nervous, but he really needed some kind of medical attention. He took a moment to fiercely miss his mother, who would have taken care of his injuries.

The ride to the vet was silent and Neil could practically feel Andrew's displeasure while sitting in the waiting room. Neil was on edge the whole time but he kept still and endured. He had run away with worse injuries, he could flee if he needed to.

The actual appointment was shorter than Neil expected. The vet cleaned his wounds and gave Andrew instructions on how to care for them, while an assistant asked Andrew questions about how he found Neil and if he intended to keep him.

Neil would have thought that Andrew would gladly get rid of him the moment an opportunity presented itself, but Andrew refused the vet's offer to take Neil to the animal shelter. Apparently, Neil had been adopted. He found he didn't mind, as long as Andrew didn't get the idea that Neil should be neutered.

“It's great that you want to keep him, but we still have to contact local animal shelters to ask them if a cat matching his description has been reported as missing. As far as we can tell, he's an Abyssinian cat. Cats with distinguishable breeds like that usually aren't strays. For now you can take him home and we'll let you know if someone is looking for him. You should definitely come back to get him neutered if you're keeping him though,” the assistant explained.

Andrew offered nothing in return but the assistant didn't seem to mind. She just handed him a stack of papers and told him how much he had to pay when the appointment was over.

On the way back to Andrew's house, Neil already felt better. He hadn't noticed how bad his wounds had gotten while he stayed under that trashcan. After weeks on guard, he finally felt himself relax. Andrew was safe - if he had wanted to hurt Neil he could have done so before paying a frankly ridiculous amount of money to a vet.

Nicky was waiting for them when they returned, smiling into the box when they entered the house.

“You kept it!” he said cooing at Neil next,”Hello there cutie!”

Neil had dealt with overly enthusiastic people before, but he never had to live with one. He'd hoped that he could just sleep for a bit after returning to Andrew's house again, but that hope quickly died when Andrew deposited Neil's box in Nicky's arms.

“I'm going out,” was the only comment Nicky and Neil got before he was out of the door again. Neil felt vaguely betrayed for reasons he couldn't figure out.

“I guess it's just you, Aaron and me then,” Nicky said. Aaron must have been the name of Andrew's twin. Neil yawned and pretended to fall asleep, not willing to deal with Nicky right then. Nicky cooed a bit at the sight and gently deposited Neil's box on the couch.

A few hours later, Neil heard a car park in front again. He stretched and peered over the rim of the box to see if Andrew had come back. Sure enough, Andrew was carrying a big bag full of stuff in one hand and a litter box in the other. Apparently, he was taking this cat owner thing seriously.

Andrew had bought enough stuff to make two trips to the car necessary. While he was gone Neil ungracefully climbed out of the box to inspect the bag Andrew put down in the kitchen.

Neil heard steps on the stairs announcing two people and then Nicky and Aaron came into the kitchen to see what was going on, both sporting equally surprised expressions when they spotted all the stuff Andrew had bought for Neil.

Andrew walked past the kitchen carrying a tall cat tower, presumably taking it to his room.

“Wow he really likes you, huh,” Nicky said to Neil. Aaron shot Nicky a shocked look.

“What is even going on?” Aaron asked, ”Why is the cat from Eden's here and why did Andrew buy all this stuff?”

“Apparently Andrew adopted it,” Nicky responded. “

No shit, but why? He doesn't care about things,” Aaron said. He sounded as if he really couldn't wrap his head around the concept of Andrew caring about things. Neil felt slightly offended on Andrew's behalf.

“This little guy seems to be the exception,” Nicky said.

Neil didn't know how to feel about that, so he decided to look for Andrew. The way up the stairs was slow and kind of painful but Neil could deal. He sniffed out Andrew's room and was relieved that the door was already open. Andrew was inside setting up the cat tower.

When he saw Neil, he scowled.

“You're an idiot,” he said, the gentle way he picked Neil up a direct contradiction to his sharp tone. Neil meowed in response.

He was put onto Andrew's bed in the corner of the room and fiercely told to stay there. Neil wondered if Andrew knew commands would hardly work on cats, but he was tired and Andrew's bed was soft and smelled safe, so he curled up again and took another nap.

[universeinform-blog]

Kushner, Anbang end Manhattan tower talks, other talks emerge

New Post has been published on https://universeinform.com/2017/03/30/kushner-anbang-end-manhattan-tower-talks-other-talks-emerge/

Kushner, Anbang end Manhattan tower talks, other talks emerge

Kushner Agencies, the real property firm headed with the aid of President Donald Trump’s son-in-regulation till lately, said on Wednesday it ended talks to redevelop its flagship The big apple office tower with China’s Anbang Coverage Group.

Talks had targeted on Anbang offering as a whole lot as 1/2 of $2.5 billion in equity for the deliberate redevelopment of 666 5th Avenue in Midtown Big apple, a media file stated last week.

The failed talks are the cutting-edge twist in a tale that first of all involved Jared Kushner

Who’s married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka before he sold his hobby in Kushner Cos to a family consider at the start of the 12 months.

Three Democratic lawmakers puzzled the White House in advance this month over its coping with of potential conflicts of interest by using Kushner, given his position as a top adviser to Trump.

“Kushner Agencies is no longer in discussions with Anbang approximately 666 5th Avenue’s potential redevelopment, and our corporations have at the same time agreed to stop talks concerning the property,” a spokesman said in a declaration. The Kushner spokesman said superior talks are ongoing with other traders to redevelop the 39-tale constructing, valued for its proximity to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center.

Any plan could be hampered by the value of purchasing out tenants with long-time period rentals or Spanish store Zara’s keep at the nook of 52nd Road.

Zara is controlled via Amancio Ortega, the sector’s fourth-richest man in line with Forbes mag, who has no intention to promote, said a dealer who represented the billionaire when one in every of his Organizations paid $324 million for the locale in 2011.

“He never sells, he has hardly ever sold something in his portfolio and this is especially valuable for them,” stated Borja Sierra, a dealer for Savills while asked about Ortega’s plans for the prime actual estate.

“They may be superb glad about the belongings,” Sierra instructed Reuters when reached in Barcelona. “It is not a negotiating position.”

A few tenants inside the office part of the constructing have greater than 10 years left on their leases, and getting them to leave is unlikely to be cheap.

The Gotham City White House and The Manhattan White House

With the rise of president select Donald Trump, it is turning into an increasing number of apparent that he will be using his Manhattan trump headquarters as a major venue for governing inside the presidency.

It is also turning into more and more evident that there needs to be a brand new popular term or terms coined to explain this venue, for both reporting and populist usage.

I would like to be the first to officially suggest either “The New york White House” or the “Gotham City White House”.

Those two terms might serve nicely infamous usage, as soon as the general public realizes that Mr. Trump does not plan to also govern from his NY region and that indeed his son and the destiny first girl intend to still be residents of Trump Tower during his tenure as president.

Every of these terms safely describes the region, “Gotham City White Residence” has a greater sinister but folksy sense to it, and the greater mundane “Big apple White Residence” has the traditional ring of Pennsylvania Avenue with some of the glamor and glitz of Long island.

The entire rise of Donald Trump to the presidency has been punctuated with the uncommon

From his histrionic style throughout campaigning to his frequently troubling but charismatic persona. Nothing inside the US Constitution mandates that the president of the united states governs from 1500 Pennsylvania Road, although it has been the predicted norm, via a long time.

There are a predicted decorum and due deference to inhabiting the White House, but no longer all presidents have lived there. Creation of the ‘ people Residence’ began in 1792 and despite the fact that President Washington oversaw it, he in no way lived in it. President John Quincy Adams and his wife Abigail have been the primary to move in. And at some stage in the 2 centuries, many presidents had alternative venues from which to control, in the event that they so chose.

The glitzy charm of Trump Tower serves to at least offer a first-rate alternative to the White House,

Placed in the fast-paced environs of Long island. It’s gold and gilded style uploads a sense of the regal. despite the fact that the founding fathers desired to live far from the belief of a royal presidency within the design of the White Residence, to be honest, the White House, much like Trump tower, does comprise the prospers and patina of an Imperial style.

With a bit of luck, within the future years, most of the people, as well as the media, will make use of these two previously concept terms in connection with the NYC Trump compound, unconventional perhaps, but for an unconventional presidency.

What Makes Cats Different From Other Animals

There many differences among cats and different animals. All tom cats, from large wild cats to home small cats, have not unusual features. Scientists declare that the cat species advanced about 40 million years in the past from an animal just like weasels. To make an assessment, human rectus, the primary individual, advanced about 1, 8 million years ago.

the first domesticated cats are attributed to early Egyptian folks that lived in the Higher Egypt area of the Nile. These first domestic cats were valued because they chased and killed small rodents and snakes. These pest animals continuously damaged the grain which becomes the principle meals source of Egyptians. Cats were a powerful manner for them to address Those pests, so human beings kept them around.

As human beings and cats got to know each different and their worry disappeared,

A more potent and closer relationship between them evolved. The Egyptian humans had been surprised by way of cat’s agility, their physical and looking skills

. On the opposite face, cats loved a safe haven and received meals from humans. Similarly, Egyptians had been curious about the cat’s potential to see whilst it is dark and to flexibly break out dangers. Cats’ typical detached conduct also contributed to their multiplied repute.

The excessive position of cats allowed them to tour up and down the Nile River on grain ships. Their presence on ships ensured the safety of the grain from animals like mice, rats, and different small rodents. Below Those favorable conditions, cats accelerated and spread concept the complete Nile area.

Cats’ talents and values allowed them to be raised as high as royal individuals. Soon it became illegal to damage and kill cats. Egyptian human beings started calling cats Mau as this word resembles the meow sound.

Later on, this name turned into changed via the word Or chat. A Cat goddess referred to as The Past (much like puss and pussy) become Quickly created and Egyptians worshiped it. The modern names for cats that we use nowadays have evolved from the antique Egyptian names.

Romans continued cats’ domestication due to the fact additionally they valued tom cats for their capabilities to hunt. This allowed cats to spread across the Roman Empire

The autumn of Rome marked the beginning of an absolutely tough time for tom cats. Cats, and especially black ones were seemed as evil creations and had been related to witchcraft. Therefore, they were persecuted and killed.

In keeping with historians, cats had been so fast domesticated due to their ability to remove pests, their bodily flexibility and unique conduct. Usually, cats are completely impartial however they also can live in households and organizations.

Whilst dogs need to be with humans and require interest from people, cats can flawlessly do alone. tom cats are animals that don’t need unique emotional closeness or approval.

Flurry Of Interest In Jane Jacobs Writings Emerge After President Trump Is Elected

The left has all at once rediscovered Jane Jacobs as their hero of “range” and re-writers her works to fit their narrative in supporting rebuild the Democrat Party after its epic fail and loss to President Donald Trump. So who is Jane Jacobs? What works did she produce? What philosophy did she put forth? What perception can we garner from her expertise, if any?

In Jane Jacobs’ work: “Dark Age Beforehand,” 2004, more than one years earlier than she died, she talks approximately how within the United states and nations with rural regions, that 70-eighty% of the humans are bad, contrasted with vibrant cities wherein there are fewer bad people, when those cities are designed correctly.

Lamentably, and recognize I don’t simply to pick out on an old lady, just because she’s antique, or just because she’s a socialist, however in those statements and conclusions in her work she’s mixing and conflating results with perceived causality. You notice, cities suck from rural regions, suck away the cash, water, electricity, wealth, and tax monies. cities are limitless in their wishes; city transportation, low-earnings housing, and they manage markets to hold it going. Similar to our universities dwelling in a fake lot Angeles la land economy.

I would argue each point with Jane right here if she were still alive nowadays, and I’ve been to each town inside the US, and despite Schedule 21 and the socialists who want to % people into cities, questioning it is more efficient. Without the rural areas, the city could collapse as they require goods from throughout to make it paintings. Sorry

However, her claims are just nonsense, and if we are surely searching out a logician on a way to pass about human civilization, we might be a whole lot smarter to take into account the philosophy of Ayn Rand, now not Jane Jacobs. Similarly, if we study the city planning in Portland OR, where she had a hand, it is no longer all that feasible now in hindsight. Despite the fact that to her credit she did are expecting its fall.