#aerial ladder | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lyjen · 5 months ago

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Just a minute

Summary: Evan and (Y/n) are due to get married, but when an accident happens on scene during a thunderstorm, the lives of the two are completely flipped upside down.

A request by: @shauna-carsley

9-1-1 Masterlist

Taglist: ( @oliviah-25 @shauna-carsley

______

“I still can’t believe you’re actually getting married, Buck” Hen said as she bumped her shoulder against Evan’s who was sitting next to her. “Yeah who would’ve thought that..” Evan mumbled as he gave Hen a small smile as he looked down at his hands.

Their big day was coming closer with every second, minute and hour. They will get married next week. They weren’t the kind of people to throw a massive wedding, they would just invite their loved ones and some friends, and have an intimate wedding.

“Well I certainly didn’t expect it to happen for at least what, ten more years?” Chimney sounded through the headset while the truck hit another puthole on their way towards the location of their call.

Laughs sounded through the headphones as Evan was still with his head on cloud nine, even though he popped the question months ago. He still couldn’t believe he was engaged with the girl he loved desperately for these past years. They went through hell and back, from Evan getting crushed by a firetruck, to being targeted on duty by a sniper.

(Y/n) was sitting on Evan’s right side, and noticed his absent look. She placed her hand down onto his right hand, which was resting on his right thigh. When her skin touched his, he looked up and glanced at (y/n).

“Well, believe it because the proof is right here” (Y/n) said as she pulled the collar of her navy blue LAFD t-shirt forward and showed her engagement ring between her thumb and index finger of her right hand.

Her engagement ring was hanging on a small chain so she could wear it as a necklace.That was the solution if she was working, she couldn’t wear her ring around her finger if she was on shift. But she was determined to wear it, even if she was on duty. Tucked underneath her shirt so it wouldn’t get in her way as she would perform her tasks.

The truck pulled to a stop as (Y/n) placed her necklace safe and sound underneath the fabric of her shirt. She yanked off her headphones as grabbed her helmet off the floor and placed it underneath her arm, so she could easily jump out of the rig after everyone else.

She placed her helmet onto her head as soon as her feet met the wet ground.

It had been raining all day long. You’d think after a whole day with only rain, the clouds wouldn’t have any water left to send down to the ground.

But no, here they were.. in the middle of the night, getting called out to a warehouse fire, not exactly the kind of night she was hoping for, not when you haven’t slept at all in twenty four hours.

Hatches of compartments were pulled open, as she followed her captain. “Okay, Miller, Stafford, Mckenzie! Start evacuating the building!” Bobby ordered one half of his team. The three were preparing to collect everything they needed out of the truck. Such as oxygen tanks and halligans were getting snatched out of the compartment.

“Buck, Eddie and (Y/n) you are on ladder duty” he said as he pointed at the other three persons walking right beside and behind him. “(Y/n) I want you to raise the aerial, Buck and Eddie get up to that window and hit it. Let’s go!” Bobby called out as he clapped his hands together.

(Y/n) fastened towards the compartment where they stored the metal plates that go underneath the two arms on the side of the truck. She quickly grabbed two metal plates out and handed them over to Evan, as she grasped the two other metal plates and placed them on the right spot on the asphalt.

While Eddie gathered whatever Evan and Eddie needed for going up that ladder. (Y/n) and Evan expanded the side arms of the ladder truck.

As soon as she grabbed the metal side of the small ladder on the side of the truck to get on top of it and raise the aerial.

She flinched at the feeling of a hand pushed down onto her lower back. She was so focussed, she didn’t realize her fiancé - and soon to be husband - was behind her.

“I’ve got to harness up” he said as his hand remained on her lower back. His wet curls were flattened by his helmet and sticking to the skin of his face.

He softly patted his hand against her lower back, “See you in a minute” he said as he tried to make himself intelligible over the pouring rain. She sent him a small smile, which made him smile as he retrieved his hand and turned away from her.

She watched Evan walk away for a second, as she looked down to the ground. Still smiling. Making her realize that she has found the love of her life and she was really going to marry him.

This has been the happiest and blessed she has felt in years. Life couldn’t get any better than this.

A small and soft laugh left her lips, as she placed her hands onto the soaking wet metal pipe and pulled herself step by step up the ladder on the side of the truck.

When she reached the top of the fire truck, she directly turned to the left where the control panel of the aerial was placed. Her hand found the lever to raise the aerial while the other hand found the lever to extend the ladder.

A slight color change in the skies above her caught her attention as her hands were still pushing the levers.

It was like the sound of the rain was being muted and some kind of soft static sound filled her ears. She turned her face towards the still pouring clouds above her.

“What the hell…” she stumbled as she saw the bright blue colors through the dark night sky and dark clouds. She stopped pushing the levers as she took a step back.

Her stomach turned. This wasn’t good. It felt like some kind of demon could enter their would any second. But demons did not exist in this universe.

The sound was growing louder and louder, basically screaming into her ears.

Within a blink of an eye she felt a roaring pain through her body and her body tumbled backwards. Down to the ground.

The electricity entered her body through the hands, making its way up to her shoulders and made its way down her torso, down to her legs.

She wanted to scream, cry, do anything to make some sort of sound as a call for help. Even if it was just a little yelp, what would’ve given her hope. But she couldn’t.

She couldn’t make a sound. It was almost like her lips were sealed, stitched together, glued together with super glue.

Evan was just securing the red webbing around his waist, but the dreadful noise of the thunder and lightning made him stop his movements.

Evan jumped back and ducked as he heard a loud thunder sound roaring through the air.

“What the-“ he cursed as the truck he was standing next to started to smoke and move back and forth like it was possessed.

His eyes were locked on the firetruck. This never happened before. The rain did of course, but lightning that struck so close to him and his team didn't. Evan’s eyes grew wide as he realized who was standing on top of the truck before it got struck.

Adrenaline entered his veins as his heart started to beat faster and faster, pumping blood through his veins along with the adrenaline. His eyes searched for his fiance, standing on top of that truck. But it was hard to see with the rain drops dripping into his face. “(Y/n)” he stumbled, as the thought of her being in danger or being hurt entered his thoughts.

“(Y/n)!” he called out louder as his eyes couldn’t find his girlfriend on top of the truck. His legs were moving faster than his mind, which made him almost trip over his own body. Almost falling to the ground, Evan used one hand to push himself back up as he quickly made his way to the otherside of the truck where the small ladder was, to get on top of the roof of the truck.

When he rounded that corner, he saw her lifeless body lying on the ground. Arms spread wide across the asphalt, eyes closed and her helmet a few feet further than where it’s supposed to be.

Her name fell multiple times off his lips as he screamed like he was being tortured. He may be not being tortured physically, but mentally this was a whole other story. He dropped onto his knees next to her body as he cried out her name.

“(Y/n) can you hear me?” he tried to say through his sobs as his loud voice became softer with every sentence he spoke as he saw the raindrops falling from the sky onto her skin. “Please” he cried, he wanted to hold her in his arms, but he was scared.

“Coming through!” Chimney’s voice said, he kneeled down on the other side of (Y/n) and placed down the medic bag he was carrying with the strap over his shoulder.

Evan felt how a shadow of Chimney’s partner was in the corner of his eyes. But Evan refused to leave. He wasn’t going to leave (Y/n)’s side, not voluntarily.

Evan placed his index and middle finger against her neck to see if he could feel a pulse. But before he could sense a pulse, he felt two hands landing on both his shoulders.

“Buck, let Chim and Hen do their jobs” Bobby’s voice said. “No” he said, determined to stay, while the tears were welling up in his eyes. He couldn’t leave her, he wanted to do everything in his power to help her. But he wasn’t a paramedic.

Hen placed her hand on Evan’s upper arm. “Hey.. it’s okay.” she reassured him. “We got her” she continued as she locked her eyes with his. Evan’s eyes softened as Hen’s hand gently rubbed up and down over his upper arm and she gave him a small nod.

Evan glanced once more at his fiancé, as he squeezed his eyes closed to make some kind of quick wish, and moved out of Hen’s way to make room for her. His legs straightened as he felt two hands grabbing his shoulders and pulling him close.

He didn’t know who pulled him close, probably Bobby but that didn’t matter right now. His eyes remained on his girlfriend, his heart was beating so quick it almost felt like it could break through his chest and pop out of his body.

Evan let his fingers intertwine with his hair. He had so many emotions going through his body now, and didn’t know how to deal with it. He was sure he was about to pull some strands of hair out of his skull while he watched Hen and Chimney work.

Her eyes slowly opened as the ammonia from the little bag Hen had put right under her nose, entered her nose and triggered her brain to wake up. A groan left her lips as she turned her head and squeezed her eyes closed.

“(Y/n)? Are you in any pain?” Hen asked as she hovered over her, trying to get her attention. “Everything-” she said as a groan took over her sentence. “hurts” she cried as she opened her eyes again. “(Y/n), can you try to wiggle your toes for me?” Chimney asked as he focussed onto her feet.

With every small piece of energy she had left, she tried to wiggle her toes as she tried to catch Chimney’s reaction. She saw his eyes turn to Hen as he gave her a worried look. “It’s bad isn’t it?” (Y/n) said as she looked up into the dark night sky which still poured the rain into her face. “Hey, let’s not lose hope okay?” Hen tried to reassure her. But how could you not lose hope when there was as possible spinal injury?

“Pushing morphine” Chimney said as he already installed the IV in an artery in her hand. “Get a backboard and a gurney over here!” Hen yelled over to some of the other 118 team members, no one in particular.

“Evan?” she cried out, she knew he was there. How couldn’t he be? “Yes? I’m here baby” Evan said as he pulled himself free from the still resting hands onto his shoulder to keep him under control. Evan fastened towards (Y/n) as he let himself fall down onto his knees again as he took place above her head, still giving Hen and Chim the space they needed.

“I’m here” he repeated softly as he placed his hand down onto her collarbone and rubbed reassuringly his thumb up and down over her turnout jacket. “I’m sorry” she cried out the second she looked him in the eye.

“For what?” he asked her while a confused look was written all over his face. “Ruining our wedding” she sobbed. Evan sighed in awe, how could she be thinking of her wedding when the number one priority right now was herself?

Just a minute.. that was all that it took for the weather to turn and throw her in some kind of bad film or her worst nightmare.

______

“That went well, right?” Evan said as he closed the door of the car and locked it with the car keys. (Y/n) didn’t answer him and took the break of her wheelchair off and rolled herself over the threshold of their home. Evan just watched her rolling away from him as he slowly followed behind her.

They had just come home from one of the appointments of physiotherapy (Y/n) has twice a week. To treat her injuries, and train her muscles, but most importantly: to attempt to walk again.

The lightning strike had electrocuted her entire body, and touched her nervous system. While the fall off the top of the truck had damaged her spine. She could move her upper body, but from her waist down to the legs she was suffering from paralysis.

He went with her to almost all her appointments, if he could and wasn’t on shift. He wanted to be the shoulder to lean on or to cry on if she had to. He wanted to be a part of this journey, even if this was going to be hell on earth.

“Hey you okay?” Evan asks when he steps inside the house and closes the front door behind him. His eyes fell onto his fiance who was taking off her special gloves, which she got to protect her wounds and blisters, but also to give her more grip to push the wheels herself. Having everyone pushing you everywhere wasn’t going to make her happy.

She stayed silent as she put the gloves onto her lap, with her back still turned towards him. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. Not after the news she received.

Evan didn’t like the silent treatment, he never did. She only did this when they were fighting, or when she was upset. (Y/n) looked at the healing wounds on the palm of both her hands, as she softly let her fingers glide over the palm of her right hand, tracing the electrocution wound.

A sigh left his lips as he slowly came closer to his girlfriend. He stood in front of her as he kneeled down so he was on the same level as her. “What’s wrong?” He softly asked, his voice sounded almost broken.

Her eyes remained onto her wounds, as she emotionless kept tracing the same wound over and over again. He could sense that with every touch over those wounds, the spark in her eyes became less and less. As if she was losing herself.

Evan tries to make eye contact with her as he places his right and left hand onto her knee, folding both his hands over one another. “Please…” he sighed, knowing damn well what was going on. “Talk to me?” he begged her.

Her eyes kept being locked onto her hands. “What if.. all of the effort I put in to be able to walk again, won’t work..” she spoke silently, with a broken voice. Evan let out another soft sigh as he let both his hands wander and placed them carefully on both her thighs.

“All this work, and there still aren’t any results..” she said as he could hear her voice break, she was on the verge of breaking down. Evan went silent for a bit as the words she spoke broke little pieces off his heart. He wanted to react to it so badly, he wanted to tell her it was all going to be okay. But he didn’t want to give her false hope either.

“You just have to be patient.. and give it time, your ability to walk will come back. Im sure of it.” Evan tries to motivate her as he still keeps on trying to make her look at him, by using only his eyes. (Y/n) scoffed at Evan’s motivational speech. “Well, you may be the only one who thinks it will return.” she mumbled as she tried to look away from Evan.

Evan’s eyes narrowed at her reaction. “Okay, did something happen today? During your appointment?” he asks as he still tries to get her to look at him. Evan went with her, but wasn’t allowed to actually be in the room during the appointment. So he went and read some awful magazines -which probably didn’t get renewed much- they had in the waiting area.

“(Y/n).. look at me.” he said one more time. It took her a second, but then she found the courage to look her soon to be husband in the eyes. “And don’t even think about lying to me” he continued in a strict tone, as if he was talking to a child.

(Y/n) swallowed as she mentally prepared herself to tell Evan what happened. “We ran some tests. And he told me he wasn’t happy with the results.” her voice was trembling as if she was nervous to tell him the truth. ”He said he was doubting if I could walk ever again or hell even go back to work.” a tear slipped over her cheek as she quickly wiped it away with the side of her hand. She didn’t want to cry over it, but it was devastating news. How could she not cry over it?

“Oh baby…” the words fell off his lips like a whisper. He wanted to encourage her, but right now she needed to vent so it was best to just give her a shoulder to cry on. His thumbs gently rubbed up and down her thigh. “And.. I’m starting to think that he’s right.” she said as a voice crack took over her sound. “Maybe I’ll be stuck in this wheelchair forever, and we’ll never be able to do our first dance. Not the way I dreamed of all these years.” she cried as tears were running down her face.

Before Evan could think of what he was doing, he pulled her closer and locked his arms around her back. (Y/n) put her arms around his neck as she desperately sobbed with her face buried into his neck. She cried until there weren’t any tears left to cry. Evan could feel the fabric of his shirt sticking to his shoulder as a wet spot was created by her tears. “I’ll never be a firefighter ever again” she sobbed.

As soon as Evan heard her say that, he broke free from the state he has been in for the last few minutes, just letting his girlfriend cry onto his shoulder. His right hand wandered from her back towards her shoulder as he placed his left hand onto her cheek. “No.. You can’t think like that!” Evan said as he let his thumb cleared the wet strokes of tears from her cheek.

“I can’t do this..” she cried as she closed her eyes and shook her head. “But I’m tired Buck, it’s like i'm running towards the light at the end of a tunnel, but whenever I take a step, the light moves with it. It goes further away. ” she continued as she tried to help Evan imagine what it felt like, being stuck to that chair. (Y/n) placed her hand around Evan’s wrist of the hand that was connected to her cheek.

“Hey..I know it’s hard but we have to stay positive” Evan said. “Being a firefighter is my life! But I can’t do that while I’m stuck in this wheelchair! I want to do our first dance at our wedding, but not like this Buck!” she started to speak up louder. “And I know that, but that's why I said we have to stay pos-” Evan couldn’t even finish his sentence as he felt his hand being pulled down by hers, which was resting around his wrist. “Ugh! Would you stop saying that!” her loud voice echoed through the space of their home. She held her hands up as some kind of stop sign for Evan. ��You’re not the one who’s stuck to this wheelchair twenty four seven!” she said loud and clear as she tried to keep Evan on a distance from her.

She rolled herself backwards as she turned away from him. Arguing and being mad at him was easier if she wasn’t looking at him. “You are not the one who needs to constantly ask for help or the one who has been electrocuted or fell off a ladder truck!” she said, trying to calm herself down.

A silence filled the room as Evan got off his knees and stood up straight again. He has been where she is now. He knows for a part how much it sucks to not be able to do what you love the most, and being stuck at home. But she was right, he didn’t know what it felt like to be stuck to that chair, or not being able to walk no matter how hard you try and how much you want it.

Evan swallow was audible through the house, that’s how silent it was in the house. You could even hear a pin drop. “No, you’re right. I’m not that person..” he sighed as he leaned with his hands down onto the kitchen island in their house. ”But I am the one who almost lost my fiance when she was in the OR” he said as he looked her way, trying to get her attention.

He could see her head tilting to the side a little bit. She was still listening, even though she wasn’t looking. “You coded on the table.” he said as she could hear his voice practically breaking. A silence filled the room. “I was in that waiting room for hours, you were in the OR for hours. And when I saw that face of your doctor when he came through the doors, I almost thought I lost you.. again.” (Y/n) could only sense by the tone of his voice that he was struggling.

“And I didn’t tell you that, because I didn’t want to upset you. But I wanted you to have hope, because if you survived that.. I’m sure you can survive this too.” Evan tried to explain as he pushed his body from the kitchen counter.

Another silence.

Evan was ready to stop this conversation, to just.. walk away from it. But he didn’t have the heart to do it. He was sorry for her, that she has to go through all of this. Sorry for mother nature choosing the ladder truck as its target, with (Y/n) on top of it. It was just bad luck.

He could hear her breathing and hear her arms move, followed by a click of (y/n) taking the brakes off her wheels. (Y/n) turned the wheelchair so she was facing her fiance again. “You should’ve stopped me before I went up that ladder” she said, blood cold as she looked him in the eye.

Did she really still blame him for something he didn’t do? He understood she was angry, with herself, mother nature, physics, and Evan. A scoff left his lips as he let his hand run through his short curls.

He was thinking of what he should say next. He had so many words to say, and yet.. there weren’t any words popping up in his head. So he decided to go with the words he had already written.

A soft sigh left his mouth as he dropped his arm next to his body. “You want to know one thing that was written in my vows?” he asked carefully as he felt the tears trying to push their way out of the tear ducts.

(Y/n) looked him in the eye, an expression filled with confusion. She just blamed him for everything and he wants to talk about the wedding? About his vows?

“That no matter how hard life would get, I’d still be here.“ he said as his eyes connected once more with his, something that didn’t happen a lot during this conversation. Evan slowly moved forward, towards (Y/n). ”Whether you like it or not, I’ll be here in the good times and the bad ones.” he continued as he reached her wheelchair, and kneeled down in front of it.

Without breaking eye contact, he reached her level and took a breath. “You can try to push me away. But I’m not going anywhere. Because that’s what you do for someone you love so desperately.”

______

(Y/n) felt the sunshine kissing her skin as she leaned with her head against the window of Evan’s Jeep while she was sitting in the passenger's seat.

“Where are we going again?” (Y/n) asked with an annoyed tone as she glanced at her fiance. Evan could feel her eyes burning into his skin, his eyes remained on the road as he quickly glanced at her in the corner of his eye. He just smirked, as a reaction and continued his focus on the road.

She rolled her eyes as she let her head fall against the window again, just to see the sidewalks and buildings around her flash by. She hated surprises, and not knowing what was planned. Evan didn’t ask her to come with him, he commanded it.

“Hey I’m back! How was your doctor's appointment?” Evan said loudly as he closed the front door behind him. He shrugs off his jacket as he places his jacket onto the backrest of one of the chairs, which were placed by the dining table. When he doesn’t receive an answer, he calls out her name again. “(Y/n)?” he repeated as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

No answer, again.

Once more, he called out her name and slowly entered the living room. She couldn’t have left the house, right? That was something she hated to do these past few months, especially now because of the wheelchair. When his eyes fell onto the wheelchair being parked next to the couch, his eyes wandered back to the couch which was in use by his girlfriend.

She looked like a corpse, lying completely silent.

Step by step Evan came closer to the back of the couch, his eyes burning into her back as he was trying to see if she was asleep or just staring into the deepness of their home.

“(Y/n)?” His soft voice called out her name, trying to see if she would react to him. The only sound running through his eardrums were her breathing sounds.

Evan reached the back of the sofa as he stood on his toes, trying to get a look of her eyes. Only to realize that they were wide open. She was zoned out. Her arms crossed over one another, looking like she was hugging or comforting herself.

“Baby?” his soft yet concerned voice sounded through the living room as he placed a hand down onto her arm. “Are you alright?” he continued. He knows she isn’t fine. She hasn’t been in weeks. Since she lashed out at him, it’s like some kind of switch has been flicked.

She hasn’t been to any of her physiotherapy sessions as she did before. Normally, she would’ve had appointments twice in the week. On Tuesday and Thursday. But at some point, she just stopped going. She wouldn’t answer the calls and texts of her friends and colleagues, and people were getting concerned. Buck was getting concerned.

It was like she was falling into a well and he was trying to keep her up with his strength, but he wasn’t strong enough. He never let go of her, but she did let go of him. Instead of holding on and locking her hands onto his wrists, she just suddenly let go. As if she was sick and tired, and was fine with everything.

Evan walked around the couch, gently placed her legs closer to the back of the couch and sat down on the sofa. “What’s going on (Y/n)?” he asked as he placed his hand onto the side of her thigh.

He waited patiently for an answer. “Have you ever thought about how life would’ve been if we did get married months ago?” she sighed. Part of him wanted to smile, he could already imagine seeing her walking down the aisle, reading their vows and saying their “I do’s”. “Everyday” he whispered as he slowly rubbed his hand over a small piece of her thigh.

“I just… wish my legs would start working with me instead of against me.” she said as she kept on looking into the deepness of their home. A sigh leaves his mouth, as an idea crosses his mind.

"Okay, that's it. Get up.” Evan says as he shoots up and points at her to get up. “What?” she says as she only moves her head to look up at her boyfriend. “Get up.” he commands her, but he gets nothing but an annoyed scoff back from her.

Evan places his hands on his hips as he waits for his fiancé to push herself up from the couch and move herself into her wheelchair. But she just goes back to the position she has been in for the last few minutes, maybe even hours.

A small okay fell from his lips as he placed his left arm on her lower back and his right arm under her knees, carrying her into her wheelchair. “Buck! No, no, no!” she groaned as she felt his arms underneath her body and before she knew it, she was being placed into her wheelchair and he was pushing her towards the front door.

“Where are we going?” she sighed annoyed, like a child that doesn’t get what she wants.

“We’re going for a ride.”

“Keep your eyes closed” Evan’s voice sounded through her ears as she was being pushed in her wheelchair. “Buck I really don’t-” she says as she gets cut off mid sentence. “Just wait for my sign” is the only thing Evan says as he keeps on pushing her wheelchair, maybe even going over a few thresholds. She could hear one of their favorite songs playing softly in the background.

“Okay and… open your eyes.” he says. (Y/n) uncovers her eyes and lets her eyes adjust to the lights that finally make their way into her eyes again. Evan smiles as he moves towards the middle of the space they were in.

They were in the ballroom where they were supposed to have their first dance in, filled with light strings, lighting up the room.

“Buck, what are we doing here?” she asks him, not amused.

He decides not to answer her question, at least not yet. He walks towards (Y/n) as he simply holds out his hand in front of her. “Take my hand” he softly says as his eyes connect with hers. “What?” she stumbles, unsure what to say.

Was he out of his mind? He was actually asking her to stand? After all these weeks of no sessions, and practice? “Am I speaking spanish? Take my hand.” he tells her again. He wanted her to try so bad. But he could see in her eyes that she was afraid. Afraid to fall.

She shook her head, “I…can’t” she says as she looks down to the ground. Evan squatted down so he could look her straight in the eyes. “Come on, I’ve seen you standing during the sessions. You can do this.” he tries to motivate her.

She shakes her head again as she starts looking around in the room they were in. There was no one else. “Hey, hey, hey… I’m here” he reassures her. Evan places his hand down onto hers as he softly squeezes her hand.

Her heart was beating like crazy, “Im scared” she whispers softly. “I’ve got you” he reacts as he pushes a lost strand of hair behind her ear again. Evan places his hand down onto her cheek. ”I won’t let you fall, I promise.” he continued.

Evan stayed at eye height, crouched in front of her. Hesitantly she looked at his hand which he was holding out to her again. A sigh rolled off her lips as she closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the sudden nerves.

She placed her left hand into his right hand, as a jitter made its way up her arm. Evan quickly got her feet off the little steps her legs and feet were resting on. Her feet were on the ground now, as he gently assisted her to stand straight upon her feet.

Her face was completely focussed onto her feet as soon as she was standing up straight. She couldn’t trust her legs, that’s why she keeps on looking at her legs. Evan smiles bright as he looks down and carries the weight she pushed down onto his hands.

Evan brings her hands towards his shoulder, as a sign for her to put her arms there and lean on him, like a real dance. When she gets the hint and places her hands onto his shoulders, his hands wander down her body to her lower back.

This whole time, they didn’t say a thing. (Y/n) places her head down onto Evan’s chest as she clung onto him like she could fall any moment. He places his warm red lips onto the top of her head and leaves a warm comforting kiss. “I’m so proud of you.” he whispers as he reeled her in. “I know it’s not the first dance you imagined..” he sighed.

“It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m with you..” she said as she kept her head tight against his chest. “I’m not the best dancer, so maybe it’s for the better that we do it this way” Evan said as a grin was spread across his face. He could feel her body shaking because of the laughs she was letting out.

Evan pressed his lips into a thin line to suppress his laugh and swayed both their bodies from side to side to the rhythm of the music.

They were going to get through this, together.

#911 #911 fox #911 abc #911 imagine #buck imagine #buck x reader #evan buckley imagine #evan buckley x reader #evanbuckley #imagine

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canonicallyobserving911 · 2 days ago

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Buddie: Episodes 6x10 vs. 8x7

Last Thursday when I watched the promo for this week's episode, I noticed a lot of similarities to 6x10 and since then I've been wondering if the callback to the lightning strike will have any significance along with an effect on Buck and Eddie. Aside from the obvious of a firefighter hanging from a ladder truck's aerial, there are several others that are blatant and appear to have been done on purpose.

Since season 8 began, there have been numerous callbacks to previous seasons and they include emergency calls the 118 has been dispatched to. In 8x6, they were sent to a home where a young boy was trapped in a pipe and it looked similar to the well Eddie rescued Hayden from in 3x15. However, before Eddie could be pulled up to safety, the well collapsed and Buck lost his mind and started clawing at the ground and trying to dig Eddie up with his bare hands. Now, even though the 8x6 callback to the well didn't appear to have any obvious effects on Buck and Eddie, it's possible the call in 8x7 might.

An actor from the TV show set of "Hotshots" gets injured and he ends up hanging from the 119's aerial. It's too eerily similar to a call the 118 was dispatched to in 6x10 and it's when Buck got struck by lightning and he died for 3 minutes and 17 seconds. However, this call seems to be more than just a similarity because all of the 118 team members are standing in positions and doing the same things they did in 6x10. It almost seems like TM (showrunner) is setting up something big and he's trying to jog someone's (Buck's) memory (it makes me think my Buddie Crack Theory [linked here] is still in play).

Reminder Buck was dead, so he has no idea what happened after he got struck but everyone else does. In CANON, no one has told him about that time period that he was hanging in the air and the look on his face in the promo makes it seem like he's trying to figure something out.

Let's get started.

After the 118 arrives on the scene, one of the first things I noticed is Eddie, Chimney and Buck are all standing in the same positions they were in before Buck climbed up the ladder in 6x10. Eddie and Chimney are right beside each other and Buck is standing away from them. In 6x10, he was preparing to go up the ladder.

The second thing I noticed was Bobby looking up at the Hotshots' actor the same way he looked up at Buck after he was struck.

Hen was looking up too the same way she did in 6x10.

Furthermore, Eddie's (it looks like Eddie on the left and Buck on the ladder on the right) position on the ladder in 8x7 appears to be the same as it was when he climbed up without a harness to save Buck.

There weren't any shots of Chimney looking up in 8x7 or of how he will be involved in the rescue but his role was key in 6x10 so I'm anxious to see how it will all play out.

Gerrard and Bobby are standing side by side and they're both looking up so I want to know if Bobby will have a flashback to Buck being struck and I also want to know if he'll have to tell Gerrard the best way to get the actor down.

I also noticed Chimney and Eddie are wearing sunglasses but no one else is. They all have them and since the sun is out and Buck's squinting when he looks up, it seems like he should be wearing a pair. Hen has eyeglasses that have lenses in them that transition to sunglasses but she's not wearing them. Also, I've noticed Eddie only wears sunglasses when he doesn't want anyone to see his eyes 👀.

When Buck (on the right) and Eddie (on the left) start trying to rescue the actor, Buck starts yelling "No, no, no, no!" and it sounds similar to the yell he let out after he was struck by lightning.

Just saying.

It's unclear what TM is doing and no one will know until the episode airs but I'm excited to see if Eddie being in the same position he was in after Buck got struck will have an effect on him.

I'm excited for 8x7 and I hope the obvious call back will have some meaning and allow the 118 to remember what happened to Buck and hopefully, Buck will ask questions about what happened to him. Reminder, he STILL HASN'T PROCESSED HIS DEATH.

#buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #hen wilson #chimney han #bobby nash #911 abc #911 on abc #911 season 8 #911 season 8 speculation #911 meta #911 spoilers #911 speculation #118 firefam #tw: flashing lights

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hometoursandotherstuff · 11 months ago

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Small 1965 A - Frame time capsule in Idyllwild, California. 1bd, 1ba, $475K. Already has a pending sale, b/c it's so cute.

The living room faces the lovely deck and mountain view. In the center is a classic mid-century modern red fireplace.

There's room for a table and chairs to the side of the living room, in front of the kitchen. Above is an open loft.

Has a cute galley kitchen with a lot of storage for a small kitchen.

Stairs to the loft- regular stairs, no ladders.

Technically, it's a 1 bd. home, but the loft sleeps more.

This bed has a great view.

The primary bedroom & bath are on the main floor.

It has a nice bathroom with black tiles around the tub.

The deck isn't huge, but it's got room for some seating.

There's a flat yard area. This is the back terrace off the loft.

From the aerial view you can see that the house is in the middle of a very rocky terrain. The lot is .66 acre. There's a road right in front, so it's easily accessible.

Not sure how you get up here, but I imagine you park somewhere below the rocks.

So cozy lit up at night.

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Idyllwild/54220-Northridge-Dr-92549/home/5770152

#A frame homes #houses #house tours #home tour

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lover-of-mine · 8 days ago

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Idk why but this is just making my brain itch. Last time we saw them using this was in 7.4 when Ravi went to get the person stuck down the manhole. The obvious triangle formation as they were discussing Tommy. And now it’s back in 8.6 and instead of separated in triangle we seem them together in the same position.

No, because the thing with the tripod, is that it is a piece of equipment that we are introduced to during 304 and the person setting it up, is, you guessed it, Eddie.

Then my good friend Gold Tripod disappears and comes back for Eddie begins, where again, Eddie is the one on the tripod.

It comes back during 402, this time Buck is also there.

Then we just don't see it again for a while, because they are either using the grey floor winch or the aerial ladder.

Until 704.

The interesting thing about the 806 still is the way both of them are inside the tripod, in contrast to the way the tripod reinforces the triangle imagery with the negative space and the legs between them. Obviously, we need to wait to see how the scene will play out, but with the promos and stuff, the idea there seems to be that neither of them is being lowered and usually the only person inside that area is the one going down. We don't know how the framing of them in there will look in the episode, we usually get different angles, but the idea that they may no longer be outside playing with the negative space to create the idea that something is missing or in the middle is intriguing the fuck out of me considering the only major rescue around this particular structure is during Eddie begins before s7. And the fact that it's fucking gold makes me a bit insane lol If we get an aerial shot that plays with the same idea as the 704 one but from above and with both of them on the same section of the cone, I'll lose it a little bit. Using the conical shape to play with the triangle imagery from inside now will make it for some killer shots.

#911 #911 spoilers #i really need a tag for asks #911 meta #911 speculation #and it is all interesting with the hurdles

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heart-of-the-card · 3 months ago

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You're the ring master of a circus. Which smosj cast member do you let in as an artist and what do you make them do?

I FUCKING LOVE CIRCUS

Anyways, Smosh

Cast that I would let in as artists: Shayne, Damien, Amanda, Angela, Chanse, Keith and Olivia (because their professional backgrounds)

- Shayne would be our strongman/stuntman (shooting him out of a cannon, fire eating/jumping, physical stuff aka cfm. Also stage combat as the chosen)

- Damien’s our magician/stuntman (sword swallowing, escape artist, cards, illusion type stuff also knife throwing)

- Amanda would be an acrobatic clown (hair hang, Roman ladders, rolling globe)

- Angela would be a clown (but also doing balancing acts, ie plate spinning trampeeze walking and works with animals but we’re also blowing her out of a cannon),

- Chanse is a aerial dancer/acro character (silks, acrobatics, tumbling, hoop diving, parkour, aka jumping over a car)

Keith is a acrobat (tightrope walking, trampolines, stilts, cloud swing)

Olivia aerial (silks, strap, hair hang, does a lot of physical comedy as well)

Cast that later become a performer (some different versions of joined as something of else later became an artist)

Ian: clown (also a knife thrower, rides the unicycle, trampolines)

Anthony: clown/trapeze (also body mod, general tumbling, Contortionist, also hoop diving)

Courtney: trapeze/aerial artist (did the wheel of death with Shayne once, flying/static/duo trapeze , cloud/Russian swing

Arasha: aerial artist (Spanish web, silks, stilts, sometimes trapeze with Courtney, flag spinning and baton twirling)

Tommy (cyr wheel, German wheel, hoops, s stilts, other general acrobatic skills, but also dj and bartender)

Spencer: tech that the cast has banter with throughout the show (idk man)

Trevor: mixed (does trampolining, stage combat, trapeze, general acrobatic and clowing skills, and over all a Jack of all trades guy)

All my circus thoughts, sorry if anything’s inaccurate or I missed someone. I really like circus stuff lol

#smosh #smoshblr #anthony padilla #ian hecox #shayne topp #amanda lehan canto #angela giarratana #courtney miller #spencer agnew #trevor evarts #arasha lalani #keith leak jr #olivia sui #chanse mccrary #asks open #anon ask #my posts

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larryshapiro · 1 month ago

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Brevard, NC - Seagrave RA-100 RML

#larry shapiro #larryshapiroblog.com #shapirophotography.net #larryshapiro #larryshapiro.tumblr.com #fire truck #firetruck #Seagrave #Marauder #aerial ladder truck #Brevard NC #BrevardFD #Brevard Fire Department

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swayingluv · 8 months ago

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Prey of Hell - Chapter 1

Alastor x Buné (OC) Chapter 1: The Happy Hazbin Hotel Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Word Count: 5195

Seven years. Alastor had been gone for seven years, abruptly leaving everyone in his life alone. There weren't many people in his life, but those few people included Buné. With that came conflicting emotions, they had become extremely close during those years since he had arrived in Hell. She couldn’t exactly call herself mad or upset, more so confused.

So, now she stood alone in her territory during extermination day, which she had faced by herself for the past seven years. This wasn’t a difficult task for her, for she had climbed her way up the ladder, obtaining the title of an Overlord. She never took interest in such frivolous statuses because titles meant nothing to her, she was only interested in doing as she pleased and living for pure amusement. Buné had many different types of sinners’ souls in her possession, but she rarely felt the need to use them. Just knowing she had someone’s life in her hands was enough for her, never find a situation to use them for violent activities. However,

Buné watched with a grin on her face as she observed the situation unfolding below her, sitting atop a building’s roof. She swung her legs off of the side, kicking them back and forth in enjoyment. Sinners below her repeatedly got pierced by angelic spears, angels flying down and mercilessly killing anyone they saw. Her eyes ticked back and forth between angel and sinner, wondering how someone could let themselves be so weak. They didn’t even put up a fight, only trying to run and escape those that attacked them. On the other hand, sinners were fighting sinners. Buné thought this was incredibly stupid, they were on the same team. For now, at least. It was angels versus sinners, and sinners were fighting amongst themselves. They must be mad!

Buné couldn’t help but laugh a little at the sight, of sinners losing their cool over another extermination, as if there hadn’t been one yearly for Satan knows how long. She had enough of just waiting around, deciding to stand up on the railing and before she could even think about it, she jumped. Pulling out her whip, she swirled it into a circle as an aerial net appeared beneath her, catching her easily. As she bounced, she adjusted herself, landing on the surface of Hell, and began humming as she walked around.

Everything was on fire. The extermination had only a couple of minutes before the angels were ordered to return to their heavenly paradise. Buné looked left and right and the poor souls that were struggling to keep themselves alive. She tilted her head in thought, wondering for a moment. She stopped in front of a young sinner, appearing to have arrived in Hell not too long ago. The sinner lay on the cold sidewalk, breathing heavily with blood covering multiple wounds. Her hair was long and disheveled, fox ears sitting on top of her bright orange hair. Her clothes looked as if she were from the modern times on Earth, for Buné had no clue what she was wearing. She must be so lost and confused, so Buné decided it was the perfect time for a deal.

Buné put her whip back into its holder, crouching down to the level of the young sinner, who was gradually losing her life. She gave her a wide smile, showing off her sharp teeth. “Oh my, looks like that one hurt!” Buné said, poking at a wound on the sinner's shoulder. The woman flinched and groaned, not having enough energy to scream out in pain. Buné retracted her hand, giving her a closed smile.

The young sinner looked up with one eye at Buné. Her green eyes narrowed as she quietly hissed in pain. “Fuck you.” She said, trying her best to get up from the ground.

Buné let out a loud laugh at how ironic the situation was. “How rude! You know, you should be nicer to people that could very well help you. Now I’m not so sure I want to!” She said, surveying the sinner as she tried to get off of the cold and hard sidewalk of Hell. After a few seconds of no response, Buné’s eyes lit up. “You know, you don’t have to go to double hell just yet, you not-so-sly fox!” She told her, quickly poking her nose as the sinner gave out another low growl of pain.

The fox demon looked up at her, eyebrows furrowing. “What do you mean?” She asked, her voice low and raspy. She was obviously in a lot of pain.

Buné gave a sweet smile, although her eyes were completely unreadable. “I can help you live to see another hellish morning, but you must help out with my beloved circus from time to time!” She offered out her hand, thick and black antlers gradually rising from her head, knocking her hat off to the ground. The fox demon looked up at her in confusion and anger, somewhat unwillingness.

“And if I don’t?” The young demon asked, her eyes filled with uncertainty and caution. Her fox ears pressed back against her head and her fur became prickly, debating this choice that could affect the entirety of her eternal afterlife.

Buné withdrew her hand, giving the woman a shrug. The antlers that were once on her head, almost like a jackalope, disappeared as she picked up her hat that had fallen to the ground. She looked down on her as if she were nothing but an insect; she didn’t care if she lived or died. “Then I guess you’ll just have to lay here and slowly die with no one around you! Such a tragic ending to such a gorgeous, young lady, wouldn’t you say?” Buné snickered, beginning to stand up. It was almost as if she was trying to bait the sinner in, giving her no choice but the one in front of her.

The fox demon hissed in pain and shook her head. “Fuck, fine!” She looked up, noticing a glimmer of something flash in Buné’s eyes as she heard those words. Her bunny ears twitched, a smile forming on her face.

Buné crouched down once more, those antlers appearing once more. Her eyes glowed a violent pink and seams of stitching began to make themselves present on her limbs. She reached out her clawed hand, offering the poor sinner her hand. “Oh, perfect! We have an arrangement then, yes?” She said, giving an almost terrifying smile. Everything around her seemed malicious, including what appeared to be a ring of pink fire manifesting itself in between the two of them.

The fox-like sinner huffed and shook the rabbit demon’s hand through the ring of fire, confetti bursting from the ring as the deal was sealed. The fire grew brighter than ever and then died down, the rabbit demon giggling with delight. As everything returned to normal, the young sinner tried retracting her hand, only to jump in surprise as Buné’s hand fell off and remained in the fox demon’s hand.

The ginger sinner gasped and her eyes widened, looking back and forth between Buné’s hand that was now off of her body. Buné stayed silent for a bit, looking just as surprised as the poor woman on the ground. Then, out of nowhere, Buné burst into laughter. “Oh my gosh, I really got you! You should have seen your face!” She laughed, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. The fox demon snarled and dropped Buné’s hand. After she had stopped laughing, she picked up her own hand and put it effortlessly back onto her wrist. “Isn’t that such a breathtaking party trick?” Buné giggled, picking up her hat and putting it back onto her head, for the antlers were no longer present.

The fox demon was speechless, only managing to get out a small response. “Right…” She trailed off, silently crying in pain from the injuries that were still very much present. “Aren’t you going to help me?” She asked, looking up at Buné.

“Oh, my apologies! Of course!” Buné responded, tapping the large wound on her shoulder. “Poof!” She said, the wound being stitched just as Buné’s own limbs, a bright pink seam being formed on her shoulder. As Buné did the same to the rest of the fox demon’s injuries, the young sinner felt herself become lighter and more energetic. Buné finished up, standing and giving her a bright smile. “I always keep my end of deals!” She announced, offering the sinner a hand so she could get up.

The sinner took her hand, standing up and nodding towards the rabbit demon. “Thank you.” She murmured, getting up.

Buné grinned widely. “But of course! Now, I do need some assistance back in my circus, so you better prepare yourself to work lots !” She informed the young sinner, pointing in the direction of a large pink and white circus tent. “Now, I will meet you there later! Cambion, my dear assistant, will be there to welcome you into our little family. I will return later, at least I hope so!” Buné giggled, shoving the fox demon into the direction of the giant circus tent.

She scurried off, leaving Buné alone to once more travel in peace. She continued on the same sidewalk, looking at the results of the extermination. Many were dead on the streets, fire was as present as ever, and screams were heard for miles. The scent in the air smelled like one of burning flesh and decaying bodies, causing Buné to recoil in disgust. Nonetheless, she continued down the sidewalk, hoping to perhaps find another unfortunate sinner clinging to life.

Buné paused after walking for a bit. Ahead of her was a group of sinners gathered around a store window, presumably streaming something on the multiple TVs that sat inside. She tilted her head in confusion, walking closer to the cluster of demons that watched whatever was presented on the television. Her heels clicked against the concrete sidewalk, watching a few demons turn their heads, noticing Buné approaching. Even fewer of them began to awkwardly start walking away once they saw who was approaching them. After all, not everyone knew who she was, and that was completely fine by her.

Buné looked up at the TVs once she had caught up to the crowd, seeing an interesting scene unfold. The channel was 666 News, a news station used to broadcast to the entirety of Hell. Katie Killjoy, the host of the station, as well as her partner, Tom Trench, were discussing a certain passion project with the Princess of Hell, Charlotte Morningstar. Buné immediately became interested, listening to this.

“Well,” Charlie began, clearing her throat. “as most of you know, I was born here in Hell, and growing up I always tried to see the good in everything around me.” She continued, Katie Killjoy stabbing an insect that was crawling on her desk. Buné recoiled in disgust at this. Gross.

Charlie continued with her segment. “Hell is my home and you are my people. We- we just went through another extermination.” She sighed before continuing her speech. “We lost so many souls and it breaks my heart to see my people being slaughtered every year. No one is even given a chance!” She beamed, slamming her fist onto the desk. “I can’t stand idly by while the place I live in is subjected to such violence! Sooo, I’ve been thinking. Isn’t there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through… redemption?” Charlie continued, asking rhetorical questions to the people around her. “Well, I think yes! So that’s what this project aims to achieve! Ladies and gentlemen, I’m opening the first of its kind, a hotel that rehabilitates sinners!” She stuck up her arms, inspired and ready to show everyone what the hotel could do. There was a painful silence that followed after her little monologue, Buné no exception to allowing this silence to continue. Charlie continued to ramble on about her hotel, earning a laugh from Buné.

Buné giggled quietly to herself. Oh, what an interesting idea! No one would even actually consider redemption, but this could be fun! placing her hands behind her back as she continued watching the TV segment.

Charlie continued with her little rant, starting with a sigh. “Look, every single one of you has something good deep down inside. I know you do.” Her eyes then lit up with an idea, causing Buné to tilt her head in confusion at this. “Maybe I’m not getting through to you,” Charlie smirked, standing up the table, and snapping her fingers. All of a sudden a piano appeared and she was sitting on it, reaching her hand out to a mysterious light. Then, she began singing. Singing? Huuuh? Buné thought, observing as she continued to explain her idea through song. It was painfully long and somewhat embarrassing, but Buné couldn’t help but laugh at her naiveness.

Everyone else joined in laughing, all collectively agreeing that the idea was silly and it would never work. Buné giggled along, but something told her that this would be the start of something amusing. If she could get something to amuse her, she would wholeheartedly help with it. Buné decided then and there to start making her way to the hotel, not bothering to watch the rest of the broadcast. She began walking casually down the sidewalk, the hotel being quite the walk away. Buné pulled out her phone, quickly dialing Cambion, her assistant who helped manage the circus with her. As he answered the phone, he could hear her smirk through the call. “Cambion, be a dear and take care of the circus for me, as well as that young demon I picked up earlier today! I’m afraid I have some… matters… to attend to!” Buné giggled, hanging up the phone and humming as she walked down the street, filled with flames and garbage.

───────── ∘°𖤐°∘ ─────────

Buné shortly arrived at the very hotel that was presented on the television back at the window, causing her to hum in delight. She skipped up to it, looking at how run down and almost sad the hotel looked. Buné grinned, knocking on the door. She waited a few moments before the girl on the TV opened it, her eyes widening. Charlie shut the door quickly before Buné could speak, causing Buné to let out a “Hm?” and tilt her head. She heard Charlie on the other side, talking to someone named Vaggie.

“Now Stellar Buné is here, Vaggie! What do we do?” Charlie asked, panic lacing her voice. Buné smiled to herself, honored that the princess knew her name. Another voice was heard in response, but Buné couldn’t make out what it said. Then another, and the quick opening of the door, cracking it slightly. Charlie answered once more.

Buné gave her a sweet smile, looking up at Charlie. She was shorter than her, although not by much. “Hello, princess! My name is Buné, although I think you are familiar with me through my marvelous circus shows!” She cheered, taking off her hat and giving Charlie a bow.

Charlie laughed awkwardly, giving a half-assed smile. “Yes, I do! What, uh, brings you here?” She asked, keeping the door cracked slightly.

Buné beamed at her response, already knowing exactly what to say. “I’d love to help you with your silly hotel! I’d say I’m quite good at this whole entertainment thing, and I could provide that to your guests!” She offered, giving her a bright smile. A voice could be heard in the back, one that sounded all too familiar.

Charlie sighed, opening the door completely. She kept a smile up though, presenting the hotel lobby to her. “Welcome to my Happy Hotel, Buné!” She encouraged, moving her hand to show the room.

A static pricked at the air, creating a sense of uneasiness. This caused Buné’s ears to twitch, looking around the lobby. Before she spotted the source, a familiar voice spoke up. “Oh, Buné, dear!” The voice said, Buné immediately connected the dots.

“Alastor?” Buné questioned before locating him, standing near the center of the room. Her eyes lit up and she ran towards him, hugging him with a giant smile on her face. “Oh my, it’s been so long! Seven years, yes? That’s far too long to disappear without saying anything! Why were you gone? And why was it for so long?” She began, Alastor hugging her back with a laugh. Buné pulled back, eyes narrowing at him, still holding his arms. “Most importantly, why didn’t you tell me? Such a boring seven years alone might I say! No one was able to commentate my circus quite like you could!” She frowned, her rabbit ears drooping at this.

Alastor’s eyes were wide with amusement as he laughed. Buné released her hold on him, backing up slightly. Alastor leaned down and gently patted her head. “Don’t you worry about anything of it! Maybe one day I’ll be able to inform you, but that day is not today.” He chuckled, standing up straight once more.

A feminine-looking spider demon was sitting on the couch next to a moth-like woman, their eyes darting between Alastor and Buné. The woman’s eyes were wide, almost as if her jaw was on the ground. On the other hand, the spider demon’s mouth was closed but was just as confused as everyone else. The spider demon spoke up after a few long seconds of awkward silence. “You two know each other?” He asked, pointing back and forth between the two demons.

Buné’s eyes lit up and she giggled. “Why, yes we do! Alastor and I go way back, even to our living days! His radio shows were always so amusing to tune in to.” She explained, putting her hands on her hips with pride. She nodded her head after finishing her explanation, looking over to Alastor as he began to speak.

Alastor looked down at Buné and gave her a wide smile, looking back to the two on the couch. “Such a charmer, Buné is. I announced for her dashing performances! She is quite an interesting woman, as well as the most outlandish death possible! I do remember reporting it, a tragic tale indeed.” He spun his microphone around and rested his hands atop it.

Buné looked away in embarrassment, sighing into her hand. “You really must stop mentioning that, Alastor! You know I’m not proud of it.” She shook her head and looked up at the other people in the room.

Alastor did the same, realizing they were rambling on about nonsense once more. “I do apologize! Back to business.” Alastor started, making his cane disappear into thin air. He hummed as he walked over to Charlie who was still awkwardly standing by a broken couch. He spread out his arms before leaning down to Charlie’s height. “So, where is your hotel staff?” He asked, a huge smile present on his face like always.

Charlie looked away and fiddled with her hands. “Uhhh… well,” She stammered, looking over to the moth woman. “Vaggie?” Charlie said shyly.

Vaggie gave a death glare towards Alastor, narrowing her eyes in suspicion and anger. She then flicked her eyes over towards Buné, who threw her hands up defensively and flashed a smile.

Alastor laughed as he adjusted his monocle, staring right back at Vaggie. “Oh, you’re going to need more than that.” He said, walking over to the spider demon who was sitting at the ‘welcome’ area. Alastor leaned down to the sitting demon, reaching out his black and red hand. “And what can you do, my effeminate fellow?” He asked, the typical sinister grin on his face.

The spider raised one eyebrow in curiosity, looking down at Alastor, below his belt. “I can suck your dick.” He smirked, responding with mischief in his voice.

Alastor froze, no telling what was going through his mind. A loud shatter noise was heard, creepy enough. He then laughed out a second later. “Ha, no!” Alastor shook his head and walked off, the spider demon smiling with pride in his act.

The spider demon laughed, huffing out. “Your loss.” He shrugged and leaned his head on his hand.

Alastor walked over to Buné, who was contently standing in the corner with a smile on her face. Buné glanced around the room, meeting Alastor’s eyes again. “This place is rather dull! I feel as though we need more staff and most of all, more lights! Add some sparkle in here.” She jested, a mischievous grin on her face. Buné then clapped her hands, pink sparkles coating new lights that appeared out of thin air. “Poof!” She giggled, walking around the room as she took in the new lighting.

Alastor nodded in approval, walking over to the fireplace. “I’m afraid only that just won’t do! I suppose I can cash in a few favors to liven things up.” He offered, snapping his fingers. The fireplace cleared itself of any dirt and a fire was started, an ash-covered critter being dropped into the fire. He walked over, leaned down, and picked up the entity by what was presumably a shirt. The creature quickly opened its eyes, looking around the room. Charlie, Vaggie, and who Buné learned was Angel Dust, were now surrounding the fireplace, observing with curiosity. Buné smiled once she realized who it was that he summoned. The ash then cleared itself off of the small woman with a funny sound, revealing a tiny and very cute little maid.

The radio demon leaned in closer to the crowd, still holding the woman. “This little darling is Niffty!” He then dropped Niffty, in which she landed on all fours.

Niffty stood up, introducing herself. “Hi, I’m Niffty!” She gave a little wave, looking around at everyone there. “It’s nice to meet you! It’s good to see you again, Buné, it’s been so long! It’s been a while since I’ve made any new friends.” She then looked confusedly at everyone, wagging her finger between everyone back and forth. “Why are you all women?” She frowned, picking up Charlie and looking underneath her.

Vaggie took this offensively and wielded her spear for whatever reason. Angel Dust raised his arms in surprise. Niffty continued, “I’m sorry, that’s rude. Ohhh, man! This place is filthy.” She began running around the lobby, grabbing bugs and other things. “It really needs a ladies’ touch. Which is weird because you’re all ladies, no offense.” She shrugged, grabbing a duster out of nowhere. “Oh my gosh, this is awful!” Niffty ran around the room, dusting and ridding the place of cobwebs. She let out a series of “nope”s, continuing her cleaning.

Buné laughed at Niffty’s tendencies, she thought it was so strange. “Oh Niffty, you are just the oddball I remember you as!” She smiled, looking over to the sound of another person appearing.

“Woah, the hell? What the fuck is this?” It was a cat-like creature, almost taking the appearance of a bat. He wore a top hat and overalls, with very big eyebrows. Buné quickly realized who it was and she rolled her eyes. Husk pointed to Alastor in annoyance. “You.”

Alastor was quick to retort. “Ah, Husker my good friend! Glad you could make it.” He cheered, placing his hand on Husk’s shoulder.

“Don’t you ‘Husker’ me, you son of a bitch. I was about to win the whole damn pot!” He growled, pointing to the stacks of cash that disappeared in front of him.

Alastor smiled, clearly getting on Husk’s nerves. “Good to see you too!” He quipped, leaning down to Husk.

Husk facepalmed, sitting down. “What the hell do you want with me this time?” He hissed.

Alastor put his arm around Husk’s neck. “My friend, I’m doing some charity work, so I took it upon myself to volunteer your services! I hope that’s okay?” Alastor asked, but Husk already knew the answer. It was rhetorical, it had to be okay.

Husk looked at Alastor with anger. “Are you shittin’ me?!” He growled with hatred.

Alastor gave a closed smile to Husk. He gave a hum, “No, I don’t think so!” A laugh track played in the back, Alastor letting go of Husk.

Husk pointed his finger at Alastor, his red wings spreading themselves. “You thought it would be some kind of big, fuckin’ riot just to pull me outta nowhere?! You think I’m some kind of fuckin’ clown?!” He yelled, shaking his fist with anger.

Alastor tidied up his coat, placing his hands behind his back. He blinked slowly, obviously hiding a laugh. “Maybe!” He replied, another laugh track playing in the back as he walked away.

Husk lowered his head and crossed his arms. “I ain’t doin’ your fuckin’ charity job.” He boomed.

Alastor appeared behind Husk, causing Husk to jump in surprise and he widened his eyes. “Well, I figured you would be the perfect face to man the front desk of this fine establishment!” He nodded, pointing his microphone to the front desk, which had alcohol in the back. “With your charming smile and welcoming energy, this job is made for you!” Alastor continued, walking over to the bar. “Don’t worry my friend, I can make this more welcoming, if you wish?” He held out both of his hands, making a bottle of cheap booze appear atop the bar, giving a smirk.

“What, you think you can buy me with a wink and some cheap booze?!” Husk accused, picking up the bottle of alcohol, and looking at it. “Well, you can!” He admitted, swiftly drinking the bottle. He moved to the bar, standing behind it.

Buné’s eye and ear twitched as she realized Husk too would be staying here. She ran over to Alastor, grabbing his coat, and pulling him to the side. “You are such splendid help, but did you have to bring… that cat here?” She asked, pointing to Husk.

Alastor gave her a grin, shrugging his shoulders. “I couldn’t think of a better face to be tending to the bar here! I do apologize, I know how much you dislike our feline friend.” He replied, looking as Angel Dust tackled Vaggie.

Buné sighed, shaking her head and facepalming. “I suppose you’re right, but that still doesn’t change the fact that he could become vicious any moment!” Her bunny ears drooped onto her head, letting out a sigh.

Alastor let out a laugh, grabbing her shoulder. “Oh, dear, you are quite silly sometimes! Even if he does attempt to attack poor you, I wouldn’t allow it! I still have him under contract, after all.” Alastor leaned down and smiled at her before returning to the crowd. Buné shrugged and followed him.

Angel Dust was already flirting with the new bartender, which was no shock to Buné. Charlie leaned onto the bar and ecstatically introduced the hotel to Husk. “Oh my gosh, welcome to the Happy Hotel! You are going to love it here!” She beamed with excitement, leaning over to Husk.

Husk took his booze off the corner and backed up a little. “I lost the ability to love years ago.” He said, taking another chug of the bottle.

Alastor approached Charlie and Husk. “So, what do you think?” He grinned.

Charlie ran up to him excitedly. “This is amazing!” She squealed, rubbing her cheeks with her hands.

Vaggie was to the right of Alastor, annoyed. “It’s… okay.” Was all she said.

Alastor pulled Charlie and Vaggie into a hug, laughing loudly. “This is going to be very entertaining!”

Buné let out a laugh as well, prancing over to the three of them. “Quite! Finally, the amuser gets amused for once!” She giggled.

Alastor nodded and raised his hand, shoving Vaggie out of the way. His outfit then turned into a tuxedo, a hat adorning the top of his head. He took Charlie by her hands and twirled her, beginning to dance with her. He then spun his hand above her and transformed her outfit and hair into one that was popular during the 1930s. He grinned and took Buné’s hand, transforming her outfit into her old flapper outfit that she wore occasionally on outings with her friends. She gave a smile of enjoyment, watching Alastor sing and transform the hotel and everyone else into something more lively. Alastor’s shadows appeared as well, taking Buné’s hand and offering her a dance.

Not too long after this began, it ended quickly. The door exploded and Niffty was hit by it, sending her flying. Buné gasped and looked at Niffty, everyone else staring at the door in shock. Everyone returned to their normal attire, peeking out of the hole in the wall. A giant machine was floating through the air, a serpent demon located inside of it. Alastor tilted his head which cracked creepily.

“Ha! Well, well, well. Look who it is harboring this Strymon freak! We meet yet again, Alastor.” The demon declared, reaching his hand out of his war machine.

Alastor tilted his head in confusion, looking at the demon. “Do I know you?” He asked, causing the serpent demon’s hair to fall.

“Oh, yes you do!” He hissed, backing into his machine. “-And this time, I have the element of surprise!” With that, a large gun made its way out of the giant war machine. Pink clouds filled the area as it presumably charged up, causing Alastor to snap his fingers. “I’m so evil!” He let out an ‘evil’ laugh, just as a hole formed underneath the machine.

Alastor’s tentacles appeared out of said hole, grabbing the machine and throwing the snake around inside of it. Buné looked up and let out a laugh as screams were heard, she thought they sounded goofy. Alastor continued his work and blew up the machine, his forehead glowing with an X on it. Buné stared at the machine as it disappeared, her mouth slightly agape. “Well, don’t you think that was a bit over kill , haha!” She awkwardly laughed, looking around at everyone else.

Alastor switched from terrifying to his normal demeanor in a second. “Well, I’m starved! Who wants some jambalaya?” He turned around and held his arms out, a wide smile on his face. “My mother once showed me a wonderful recipe for jambalaya!” He began walking back to the hotel, still talking about the recipe. “In fact, it nearly killed her! You could say the kick was right out of Hell!” Alastor laughed, not giving up on his jokes. “Oh, I’m on a roll! Yes, sir, this is the start of some real changes down here. The game is set. Now, stay tuned!” Alastor murmured, a lightning bolt striking down at the sign of the hotel, changing it from the Happy Hotel to the Hazbin Hotel.

Buné smiled as she walked back into the hotel with her new friends, excited to see what could happen with this strange group of sinners and the Princess of Hell. As she walked in, she shot a glare toward Husk, who didn’t pick up on it.

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bellshazes · 2 years ago

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companion to my bdubs best-of, here's a cheat sheet of my personal favorite etho mindcrack episodes. going to organize this by topic, then miscellaneous stuff by season under the cut. because there is so much.

king of the ladder is one of the best, although you might want to watch the sky shrooms prank episodes leading up to it too. best hour you'll ever spend watching people climb a ladder over and over. sick aerial maneuvers.

boat prank with doc - boat boy! boat boys.

team canada - the first big prank on zisteau, and the painting one - payback will be a bitch. also, ???.

obsidian coffin prank - bdubs falsely claims etho pranked him, so etho builds bdubs a numbers puzzle. of death.

onion pranked - team boobee gifts etho one of his favorite foods.

fun house prank and von sway - a new architectural design style is born.

death games - in order to avenge pause, etho hunts his friends for sport but says if they kill each other, they can increase the amount of times etho will kill the other person. sometimes fails, but also this absolutely spectacular kill on nebris using respawn mechanics to surprise is so good. see also hostility rises.

death games 2.0 - now server-wide opt-in event in the following season. bdubs (and guude) try to kill etho. civil war and an arkas kill.

mass pvp - arena fight night, LENS BATTLE. spawn UHCs, arkasdam pvp,

horsegirl activities - the horse drive-thru, beyonc? and taylor swift, a horse timer, doing wheelies,

season 1

nether project - taking one for the team, etho begins his first nether hub construction in classic nether brick and sandstone. later expanded with help from the b-team.

nice prank - please enjoy this kevin mcleod speed cleaning montage. if you can.

bdoubleo - just before the trial, etho and bdubs discuss their upcoming court case while making trees, 3D cubes, and a big hole at spawn. tune in next to the etho vs the b-team trial to find out why he's got chocolate on his knees.

the underside - etho finds out he's got a roommate and continues his quest for an anvil kill.

the pet shop - etho prepares to open his extremely legitimate, fully-licensed, no illegal activity pet shop and feels just so bad for the poor b-team. also, this is the first episode hoppers existed, which has nothing to do with his new quartz generator.

king of the boat - a bunch of people come together to fix bdubs' flammable arena. shenanigans ensue.

seinfeld fans - etho shows beef his new trivia game.

pvp lesson with generikb - etho teaches pvp skills and learns a new word.

season 2

nether hub again - the nether hub falls on etho again but bdubs pitches in this time. ghost zombies, quartz tragedies, etho's little buddy (betrayal)

i feel fine - etho is NOT sick, tells firework stories while helping with doc's perimeter and helps bdubs fishing rod kill a piglin.

canadian killers - etho's escort service, live, from pauseunpause's gaping hole.

this one just for the wither kill at the end.

workers shack - i literally just love this build fr. he steals bdub's color scheme. for more arena work, see capture points, the layout, bed respawn, death counter, arena chit chat,

#are we all needing etho recommendations. i have a couple #mainly go watch the lens battle and also the kevin mcleod cleaning montage #AND WORKERS SHACK. it's important to me.#etho #mindcrack #don't mind that s3 isn't on there i've been meaning ot add it for like eight months and i will someday.#oh and the nebris /kill attempts those are sooooooooo good. please #masterpost

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stagkingswife-services · 2 months ago

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Targeted Scrying for @spiritualcuriosities

@spiritualcuriosities asked: Hi there, I would like to get a targeted future scrying reading about my career, though more in an advice way if that's possible. Perhaps things or signs to look out for or types of roles (it's ok if it's vague).

A good thirty minute session netted me 5 distinct symbols/images for you, some of which I think can be interpreted two ways, depending on if we’re taking them in the “signs to look out for” direction or in the “types of roles” directions. I’m going to start by just listing what I saw:

A Leaf - similar to a monstera leaf in shape.

A Ladder - one of those two legged ones that you lean up against something.

The Letter H - Capital letter H

An Aerial Antenna - like for TV or Radio.

The Letter E - Lower case letter e

As “signs” I think all of these can be taken mostly at face value. Watch for them in company logos and names, in offices if you go in for interviews, in the backgrounds of video call interviews, etc. I didn’t get any indication of positive or negative on any of these, so I couldn’t say if a job associated with these signs would necessarily be a good one, just that it’s a possibility in your future. It could suck worse than my last MSP for all I know, so still do your due diligence.

In terms of types of roles I think we can exclude the letters and focus on the more pictograph symbols. Please keep in mind that I like to go into my readings “cold” - I don’t know your schooling, or your current field, your interests, nothing about you except what you sent in the ask. So what I’m suggesting here is entirely based on the scry and what I saw. You might have to bridge the gap a little to make it work practically in your life.

The Leaf - the leaf would indicate outdoorsy and nature focused careers. Think gardening, landscaping, park services, etc or maybe something in the conservation/environmental sciences realm if you're more on the STEM side.

The Ladder - to me the ladder indicates a role, and a company, with good growth opportunities. There’s not only someplace for you to go with your career, but someplace that you want to go. Even if you start someplace at the entry level there’s a clear path of how you can move up in the company if you choose to.

The Antenna - This one to me is obviously an indication of communication. Either you would be in a communications heavy role, or the company is heavy in communications - even if your specific role is strictly internal.

(Honestly the Ladder one is something I, as someone in a director role in my day job, would just say as regular mundane advice, you want an employer that invests in their people and aims to develop them from one role to another. It shows that they view their employees as valuable, not as disposable or replaceable.)

#divination services #divination readings #scrying

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starsandgutters · 2 months ago

Note

Good morning! May I ask for prompt 42 "true love's kiss/breaking a curse"?

Also can't wait to see the secret project, have a good day! :)

42. True love's kiss/breaking a curse [read on ao3]

I was still debating what curse to go with for this while I was writing for my Grease AU prompt. I accidentally typed Geese AU in the summary for it and so divine intervention (my clumsy typing) demanded I turn Aaron into a goose.

Aw thanks, it's my fall exchange piece so secret because of that hehe

CWs: Goose inflicted violence

There is an annoying honking sound in Kevin’s dream. The longer it persists, the more annoying it gets, until Kevin realises it is actually his alarm. He reaches out blindly for his phone, fumbling with it. Squinting open his eyes, Kevin glares at his phone screen when the honking fails to cease. There is no alarm currently on his phone. He blearily looks to his side. There is a bird standing right next to his bed. It honks at him.

Kevin does the only reasonable thing his sleep hazy mind can think to do. Which is squawk loudly in alarm and try to escape the menacing figure which has teeth what the fuck.

Nicky finds him almost at the top of the bunk bed ladder, still yelling in alarm. Also maybe a bit of hope the sound will scare off the bird. The bird has tilted its bird head and is watching Kevin. Birds don’t really have expressions, as far as Kevin is aware, but he does feel like he’s being judged.

“Holy shit,” Nicky says. “Why is there a goose in our room? Hey, Aaron, why is- Where’s Aaron?”

“I don’t know,” Kevin says, kicking out a leg at the goose. His foot comes nowhere near it, as it has not moved from where it is standing by the bed. The goose looks at Nicky and honks. Nicky squeals, and Kevin feels better, because at least he didn’t scream like a four year old girl.

“Move, Kevin, move. Let me up.”

Nicky has to text Andrew SOS BIRD EMERGENCY BEDROOM PLS HELP. Andrew finds them both huddling on the bunk bed, staring down at the goose. The goose tilts its head back and looks up at them. It shuffles, feathers puffing up like it is annoyed. Turning, the goose pushes the desk chair back. It jumps up, wings fluttering, sending papers spilling off the desk in a flurry. The goose then hops up on the desk. It stretches its head to look into the bunk bed. Nicky squeals and Kevin squawks and Andrew slowly pushes the door open.

“Why is there a goose in your dorm?” Neil asks. The goose hisses at him in response.

“It’s attacking us. Andrew, get rid of it,” Nicky says, pressing right against Kevin’s side. The goose honks again and hops off the desk. It waddles over to Andrew. Andrew pulls one of his knives from his armband. The goose takes a step back. It hisses. It looks around the room, before tapping its beak against Kevin’s laptop.

“Hey.” He sticks his head over the side of the bed. “Stop that.”

The goose taps more insistently.

“Hey! Andrew, stab it.”

“I’m not going to stab it.”

“Why not? It’s threatening us,” Nicky says.

“I’m not killing a goose in the dorm.”

Giving up on Kevin’s laptop, the goose starts pushing things around the desk with its beak. It finds a pen and fumbles, trying to catch it with its creepy goose teeth. Clearly having some trouble.

“It’s armed,” Kevin says. “If you kill it now it’s self defence.”

“Wait.” From the aerial view of the top bunk, they can see the goose is trying to scribble with the pen. Nicky gasps. “I think it’s trying to write.”

“How did a goose even get in here?” Neil asks. Andrew steps forward across the room. The goose has managed little more than a squiggly arrow. It turns its head to check its work and makes a sad goose noise. With some effort, it scratches a line across what it has already drawn. Maybe Kevin is dreaming after all. Andrew lifts the shape of paper. He rotates it. Neil steps up behind him. “Kind of looks like an A.”

The goose honks, pen falling free from its mouth. Andrew lowers the paper and stares blankly at the goose. The goose makes a low rumbling sound and goes back to pecking at Kevin’s laptop, trying to push it open. Neil, because he is an instigator even when it includes poultry apparently, reaches out and pushes the lid of the laptop open.

“Hey! If it eats any of my keys, you’re replacing them,” Kevin says. The goose stretches up and starts to peck a series of keys. It repeats the pattern over and over.

“Oh shit,” Nicky says. “It’s typing Aaron.”

The goose lifts its - his? - head and honks victoriously.

“No,” Kevin says. The goose - definitely not Aaron, surely - looks at Andrew, then crosses to the other side and pokes at a pile of clothes on the ground. Aaron’s clothes. That they all overlooked with the big bird distraction.

“Oh my god, Aaron’s a goose,” Nicky wails.

“He’s not a goose,” Kevin argues.

“It would be so funny if he were a goose,” Neil says. The goose hisses at him in response. Andrew says nothing.

“Okay, if you are Aaron, honk twice,” Nicky says. The goose does so. “See?”

“That could just be a coincidence,” Kevin says.

“Okay then, honk twice for yes, once for no. Are you Aaron?”

“Honk honk.”

“That doesn't mean anything.”

“Are you just randomly making noise?”

“Honk.”

“You’re just projecting the answer you want to hear,” Kevin says, and suddenly the goose starts flapping his wings and hissing, raising his neck up towards the top bunk. Andrew looks at him evenly. He kneels down. The goose stops flapping. He stares back. Andrew holds a hand out. The goose tilts his head, staring at the hand. He makes a soft whistling sound, taking a step back from Andrew’s hand.

“You have the same eye colour,” Neil says, looking between Andrew and the goose.

“And it does seem to especially not like Neil,” Nicky says. The goose hisses in assent.

“We’re going to have to come up with a rota,” Andrew says, rising to his feet.

Being a bird sucks ass. Aaron is used to being overlooked and talked about like he is not there, but usually he can just go about his business by himself. It is very hard to get on with things when he has no arms. He’s currently waddling around the kitchen of the dorm, trying to work out if he can feed himself, since no one else seems to have considered the fact he did not get to eat either breakfast or lunch as a goose.

“No Coach, I am not fucking around,” Nicky says over the phone. “I’m not! Andrew will back me up. Andrew.”

Nicky hands the phone across to Andrew. Andrew lifts it to his ear, looking blankly at Aaron as he answers: “Yeah. He is.”

A beat of silence.

“I’m certain.”

The volume of Wymack’s voice picks up over the line. Aaron can’t hear what he’s saying, but he can imagine it is plenty colourful. As Nicky takes the phone back and discusses with Wymack that he’ll need Abby to cover Aaron’s absence from classes until they can work out how to “ungoosify” him, Kevin brings his laptop out and sets it on the kitchen island. It had taken him far longer than Nicky to come down from hiding on the top bunk, and even now he looks wary, standing at the far side of the kitchen from Aaron.

“What do you even do with a goose? We can’t keep you in the dorm.” Kevin looks back at his screen. Aaron stretches his neck, waddling closer. Kevin clutches his laptop and steps away with a distressed sound. Aaron pauses. Part of him wants to lunge at Kevin because it’s hilarious, but he fears he is going to have to rely on other people until he gets his hands back again, so probably best not to make an enemy of one of his best allies. Aaron steps back, making a low, unhappy sound. He doesn’t entirely know how his vocalisations work. Half times the noises that escape his throat surprise even him. “Tch. Fine.”

Kevin tilts his laptop towards Aaron, and Aaron can see he is researching geese. He shuffles closer, arching his long neck to get a better view.

“Apparently geese are really social birds. Doesn’t sound like you.” Kevin huffs. Aaron tries to give a stern side eye. He is not sure how effective it is with his bird eyes. It doesn’t feel like he can narrow them, but he can definitely blink. “Bet you didn’t think you could get any shorter.”

Aaron hisses. Kevin frowns severely at him.

“Hey. Stop that.”

Aaron pads closer. Kevin retreats again. Aaron wishes he could roll his eyes as a goose, but instead he takes advantage of Kevin abandoning his laptop to try and type on it. Kevin does not like this either, trying to shoo Aaron by waving a hand at him. Aaron parts his beak and bares his teeth. Kevin swiftly pulls his hand back. Aaron types out: casnj geersee b link n The result flags up: Including results for can geese b linkedin. Aaron honks in displeasure.

“Good job,” Kevin says sarcastically, and retypes: can geese blink? Aaron is quietly satisfied that Kevin knows what he wanted, even if Google didn’t.

Do geese blink? The answer is yes, but they do so in a way that is quite different from the way humans blink. Geese keep their upper and lower eyelids open and instead draw their third eyelid, called the nictitating membrane. This special membrane sweeps across the eyeball and helps to keep the eye of the bird moist and clean.

“You have a third eyelid. That seems excessive,” Kevin says. Aaron bites his arm. Kevin yelps and pulls away from him, even though Aaron definitely only caught his hoodie sleeve. “Is it safe for us to have him in here? What if we get bird flu?”

“Wouldn’t Aaron have to get bird flu first? He hasn’t been around other birds,” Nicky says.

“It would be pretty funny if he got bird flu,” Josten says, grinning when Andrew sends him an unamused look and Aaron hisses at him. Aaron turns back to Kevin and honks, trying to explain that the chance of getting bird flu even from an infected bird is pretty low. Of course, because he is currently a bird, the message does not really translate.

“Stop making that noise at me,” Kevin says, while typing signs of bird flu in geese. “Sudden death. Helpful.”

“He does not have bird flu,” Andrew says.

“You know, geese apparently only usually live around twenty years,” Kevin says quietly. A hush descends over the room. A heavy moment of realisation of what that might mean if Aaron is stuck as a goose. It’s an entirely unhelpful line of thought. Aaron tells Kevin as much, hoking loudly.

“Don’t be sad, Aaron.” Aaron would like to tell Nicky he is not sad. He is irritated. He thinks that should be clear in his tone of honk. “We’ll get you back before you die.”

“And the oldest goose in captivity was forty nine,” Kevin adds in a voice that suggests he thinks this is helpful information. “So even if you’re stuck as a goose, you could have a good twenty plus years still.”

Aaron moves to bite Kevin again. He squawks in protests and takes off across the room to hide behind Andrew.

Kevin opens the door when the knocking that has been persisting for the past three minutes does not stop.

“What?” he snaps, door halfway open, only to freeze when he sees who it is. Katelyn puts her hands on her hips, expression one of fierce annoyance Kevin has never seen on her pretty features.

“Is Aaron here?”

“Uh.” Technically, yes. “No.”

“Honk honk!”

“What was- Do you know where he is? Or if he’s okay?”

“Oh, he’s just not feeling great at the moment. Maybe he’s at Abby’s.”

“He’s not. I already checked with her, and he’s not replying to my messages. Even if he were sick, he’d get back to me.” Her expression softens into concern. “Is he alright?”

“Ah. Yes. Maybe he doesn’t have his phone-”

“Honk!”

Katelyn yells out in surprise as Aaron sticks his goose head past Kevin’s leg. Kevin tries valiantly to push him back. Okay, maybe he kicks him a bit, but come on. How are they supposed to explain this? Surely the less people that know, the better. Aaron seems to disagree, biting Kevin on the soft flesh at the back of his thigh. Kevin makes an undignified sound. Aaron didn’t bite hard, but he’s sensitive there, and even the light nip is enough to have him jumping aside.

“Is that a goose?” Katelyn takes a hesitant step back, but she looks interested in the bird.

“Yes.” Kevin’s teeth are grit. He glares at Aaron, but Aaron is ignoring him, waddling slowly closer to Katelyn, head lowered. Katelyn goes very still as Aaron walks to her side. He leans his head against her waist, looking up at her. Kevin’s unimpressed frown deepens. Oh, so he gets bit, but Aaron is going to be all cute with Katelyn? Double standards. When Kevin was the one that actually looked up what geese eat and made sure Nicky didn’t poison Aaron.

“Why do you have a goose?” Aaron honks softly. Slowly, Katelyn lifts her hand. When Aaron doesn’t move away, she brushes two fingers over his feathered head. Aaron makes some weird, quiet, guttural sounds of contentment, and a brief smile flickers across Katelyn’s face. Her voice softens, low and sweet. “Hello you.”

Kevin folds his arms and looks at Aaron with all the disapproval he can manage.

“Oh, Katelyn. Hello. You told her about Aaron then,” Nicky says as he comes through from the bedroom.

“What?” Katelyn’s head snaps up. “No, that’s what I’m here to ask about. Where is he?”

“Uh, right beside you.” Nicky points at the goose.

“You’d better come in,” Kevin says, sighing as he puts a hand to his face.

“So I’m supposed to believe Aaron turned into a goose.”

Aaron has stuck close to Katelyn’s side since she came into the dorm, protective. When she sits on the couch he positions himself by her feet like a loyal guard dog, or guard goose, eying Nicky and Kevin. Kevin looks incredibly pissed off. If he even thinks of taking his bad mood out on Katelyn, Aaron is going to bite him again.

“Yeah, it’s a bit insane,” Nicky says.

“A bit?”

“But it’s true,” Kevin says, voice sharp. Aaron gives a warning hiss.

“He can type,” Nicky says. “Get your laptop, Kevin.”

“Why does it always have to be mine!”

Aaron explains that it is because none of them have had the good sense to give him access to his laptop, but since this comes out as a series of honks, he goes ignored. Kevin stomps his way through to the bedroom in a huff, but delivers his laptop, opening up a word document. Aaron works very, very hard to purposefully type one key at a time, going slow to try and not overlap others with his beak.

Hio

“Sometimes he hits extra letters. Due to the beak.”

Aaron doesn’t think it’s necessary for Kevin to explain this, but since Kevin is good at correcting his typing, he lets it go. He might need Kevin’s assistance.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Katelyn says, pointing at the laptop. “You could have just trained a goose to do that.”

It nis mew

Kevin reaches down and corrects Aaron’s typing to it is me. Aaron bobs his goose head in agreement. Katelyn arches one eyebrow, focusing her no nonsense gaze on him. It is a look she knows he always caves beneath. Aaron stares back unfaltering, because he is not lying to her.

“Prove it. Type something only you would know.”

1sr anniversssrt earringvfs

“I think he’s trying to say-”

“I get it,” Katelyn cuts Kevin off. “The earrings he gave me for our first anniversary. Shit. It is you.”

“Honk honk.”

“Two honks mean yes,” Nicky says. “One means no.”

“How did this happen?”

“We don’t know.”

“Oh, Aaron.” Katelyn very gently takes his little head in her hands, smoothing her thumbs over his feathers. “Are you okay?”

Aaron considers this. On one hand, no. He’s very much not fucking okay, because he is a goose. That’s not great. He doesn’t love that. On the other hand, he’s physically fine otherwise, and he doesn’t want to worry Katelyn.

“Honk honk.”

“Being a goose aside?”

She gets him. Even now. Even since they split up six months ago and Aaron turned into a goose, Katelyn still gets him. He adores her for that.

“Honk honk.”

“Can I do anything?”

Aaron nods. He turns back to the laptop. He types clkass noites. Katelyn laughs, a breathy, disbelieving sound. She kneels down beside him on the floor, wrapping her arms around his torso.

“Yeah. Yeah, Aaron. I can get you class notes, but you’d better get back to yourself, okay? We’re supposed to be doing this together, remember?” Katelyn draws back. There are tears in her eyes. Aaron ruffles his wings, wanting desperately to reach out and stroke her cheek, wipe away any of those tears that may fall. All he can do is flap his wings helplessly. “I don’t know that they’ll let a goose into med school.”

Aaron honks softly. He presses his head to her cheek, nuzzling against her. Katelyn sniffs, but she blinks the tears back, smoothing a hand over his back feathers.

“You’re gonna come back, yeah? I’m not giving you a choice.”

“Honk honk.”

“Yes. That’s the attitude I want to see.”

“Do you want to be on the rotation?” Nicky asks. “We have a timetable for taking care of him.”

Kevin is afraid at some point someone will check the Fox Tower CCTV and they’re going to get in shit for taking a goose in and out of the building, but, well, they can’t really keep Aaron cooped up all the time. Pun unintended. Kevin carries him downstairs, ignoring Aaron’s initial protests when Kevin scoops him up.

“Fuck off, Aaron. Can you not put your beak near my eyes? Do you really want to try and walk down the stairs with your bird legs?”

Aaron makes a fuss of honking, clearly trying to communicate something, but goose is one language Kevin does not speak, so he ignores him.

“Yeah yeah, honk honk.”

Aaron hisses. Kevin jostles him an unnecessary amount in response for a few stairs, but he is concerned about actually hurting him, so after that he slows down and readjusts Aaron more securely in his arms. Since, you know, he could turn human again at any point, and if he gets injured as a goose, that might carry across to his human form, which would impact his ability to play exy. No other reason.

“What are you doing?” Neil asks when Kevin comes out of the building carrying Aaron, his jacket thrown over him to obscure him.

“Well he can’t walk down the stairs.”

“Elevator,” Andrew says bluntly, and Aaron honks twice in agreement. Ah. So that’s what he was trying to say earlier. “Why have you dressed him? We told Nicky not to do that.”

Nicky had decided it would be hilarious and adorable to try and dress goose Aaron in his human clothes, until Kevin had pointed out he probably needed his wings to balance. Having them pinned inside a t-shirt was putting him at risk. Aaron biting Nicky had also been discouraging. They’re not actually true teeth that Aaron has. Kevin has learned this in his goose research. They are serrated cartilage protrusions on the tongue and beak called tomia, but they function similarly to teeth. Kevin constantly wishes Aaron could have turned into a bird with a less destructive peck. A chicken, for example. He would be much easier to transport as well, and Kevin feels like in general people would ask less questions about a rooster than a fucking goose.

“I was just trying to hide him from the cameras. We’re not supposed to have pets in the dorms.” Kevin sets Aaron down. Aaron steps away from him, ruffling up his feathers, hissing in protest. “Yes, I know you’re not a pet, but other people won’t know that.”

“Why are you talking to the goose?” Neil asks.

“I’m talking to Aaron.” Kevin pulls his jacket on, frowning at Neil. Just because Aaron can’t talk back in a way Kevin always understands doesn’t mean he should just ignore him. Andrew is watching him with an expression Kevin can’t read, eyes moving over Kevin’s face. It makes Kevin’s skin feel a touch too tight. He clears his throat.

“So, we should probably take him somewhere he can run around and get some fresh air.”

“I don’t particularly want a bird in my car,” Andrew says, and Aaron ruffles his feathers again, wings and neck extended. “You’ll have to go in the trunk.”

Aaron hisses.

“What if I go get a towel to lay over the back seat?” Kevin says. He can see the point of putting a goose in the trunk, but then he thinks of doing the same thing to Aaron, and it feels kind of shitty. Andrew hums thoughtfully, then nods. Kevin sighs, but turns to jog back upstairs again.

They take him to a park. It’s late enough there’s no one else there. Aaron feels awkward with them all watching him as he waddles around, but it actually is nice to get out of the dorms for a while. He always has to be so careful. There’s not much room for him to spread his wings without hitting into something. He can properly stretch out here, flapping experimentally.

“Oh my god, Aaron, can you fly?” Nicky asks.

“Yes. Geese can fly long distances. They can also engage in unihemispheric sleep while flying. That’s when one side of their brain rests and the other remains active.”

“You’ve learned an awful lot about geese,” Josten says, narrowing his gaze at Kevin. Kevin huffs and folds his arms defensively.

“It makes sense we should do research.”

Geese cannot smile, which is probably a good thing, because Aaron fears he wouldn’t be able to hide his at that.

“Try flying!” Nicky runs over to him, flapping his hands like wings. Aaron takes a step back. He doesn’t know how to fly. He doesn’t want to fall, and he feels self conscious with all of them watching him. Most birds learn from their parents how to fly; Aaron does not have that generational knowledge. Despite this, a part of him is curious about what it would be like to fly.

“Honk.”

“Aw, come on. Everyone wants to fly. You actually have the chance, you’re not even going to try?”

“Honk.”

“Wasted opportunity.” Nicky throws his hands towards the sky.

“There’s a pond here. Geese are meant to enjoy swimming,” Kevin says, walking to the edge of the water. Aaron looks at him blankly. As if he is going to get in some cold, dirty pond. He doesn’t know what’s been in there.

“Go on, Aaron.” Nicky tries to shepherd him towards the water. Aaron hisses and flaps his wings in warning. He pads off around the edge. It’s the furthest he’s been able to walk on his bird legs, and he does feel a bit unsteady at the increase in speed. He makes his way over to Andrew, if only because he’s certain he won’t try to make him engage in any stupid bird behaviour. Aaron still leaves a safe metre between them, knowing Andrew doesn’t like to be crowded. Andrew observes him levelly.

“Do you even want to be here?”

“Honk.”

“We’re going back,” he says, pulling his key out of his pocket.

“What? But we just got here,” Nicky says.

“Now.” Andrew gets in the car without another word. Josten looks at Aaron like he’s going to say something, but decides against it. Nicky pouts as he makes his way back. Kevin uses the towel he brought to clean any mud off Aaron’s feet, then lifts him into the middle of the back seat.

Aaron settles himself down. He knows from his and Kevin’s research that geese can sleep with their head tucked in behind their wing, but it always feels unnatural to his human mind twisting his neck like that. He’s tried, but he has ended up mostly sleeping with his head resting on one of the beanbags or the arm of the couch. He tries it again now, but once again finds it uncomfortable. Kevin touches his neck, guiding his head to his thigh without saying anything. Aaron is in what would be concerningly close proximity to Kevin’s dick if he were human, but it feels less weird like this.

As they drive back towards the dorms, Kevin draws his fingers along the back of Aaron’s head and down his neck, a surprisingly pleasant sensation. Aaron goes still in the hope Kevin will keep doing it, and is rewarded as he pets him the rest of the way back to the dorms.

“Brought your notes from Katelyn,” Kevin says when he comes through the door. “Did Nicky just leave?”

“Honk honk.” Aaron waddles across the room to Kevin, biting the edge of his shirt. Kevin’s no longer afraid when Aaron races towards him, or puts his beak near him. Even though Aaron has bitten him quite a few times. It’s never that hard, usually just Aaron’s way of making a point rather than actually hurting him. The same way Aaron would punch him in the arm sometimes, but never hard enough to bruise. Right now Aaron tugs on his shirt.

“Show me what you want.”

Aaron makes his way to the bathroom. Kevin opens the door for him. Aaron pecks the glass of the shower. Kevin opens it and he hops in.

“Oh. You want a shower? I suppose we don’t have a bath. You do kind of smell.”

Aaron hisses.

“You do! I’m just telling the truth.” Kevin unhooks the shower. He aims it away from Aaron as he turns it on and tests the heat, then crouches down and holds it over Aaron. “Do you know how to clean your feathers out?”

“Honk.” Aaron tries to stretch his wings out, but there’s not enough room in the shower to expand them fully. He ruffles his feathers. He ducks his head up under the flow of the water, then shakes it rapidly, sending water droplets everywhere. Kevin laughs. He turns the water off. Aaron honks in protest.

“One minute.” Kevin strips off. Aaron starts to honk much louder when he reaches to remove his underwear. “Grow up. We’ve used changing room showers together before.”

Aaron hisses, baring his tomia. Kevin doesn’t really believe Aaron would bite his dick, but he thinks it is better not to test that.

“Fine. I’ll keep the underwear on if you’re going to be such a baby about it.”

Kevin gets in the shower, closing the glass door behind him to keep the water from spilling out. He sits cross legged on the floor beside Aaron, water seeping through his briefs. Aaron shuffles around to face him. Kevin turns the water back on and holds the shower head up, running it over Aaron. He uses his fingers to gently part Aaron’s feathers, running water between them. He’s not entirely sure if this is the right thing to do, but he read that geese preen themselves in water with their bills to get clean, so he assumes they must push through their feathers with their beaks.

“Apparently, you’ve got an oil gland around here.” Kevin touches the base of Aaron’s tail. Aaron puffs up his damp feathers. “And you’re supposed to spread that over your feathers to stay dry and keep parasites away.”

Aaron honks.

“Well, you’re probably safe from parasites. Considering you live in a dorm.”

When they get out of the shower, Kevin towels himself down first. Aaron ruffles his feathers and shakes off in the shower, but Kevin gives him a pat down when he gets out as well. He’s got the afternoon shift with Aaron while everyone else is in classes. He flicks through the TV channels until Aaron honks for him to stop. Kevin leaves the TV on for him and stretches out on the couch to read part of his book. Aaron flaps his wings, jumping up on the couch over Kevin’s legs. Kevin lowers his book, looking at Aaron.

“Did you just fly?”

Aaron puffs out his wings and honks.

“I think you did. Have you done that before?”

“Honk.”

“Do you think you could fly across the dorm?”

Aaron’s head turns, surveying the space. He shakes his head.

“I guess it is quite small. You would probably have enough room at the court. Don’t look at me like that. You would. Do you want to try? Wouldn’t be anyone else there at this time of day.”

Aaron is quiet for a long moment, before he honks twice. Kevin smiles.

“Right. Just have to smuggle you to the court.” This is easier said than done without a car. Kevin puts Aaron in his duffle bag, his head still sticking out. He drapes his jacket over him, hushing Aaron’s honking protests, and hauls him across campus. His shoulder does not love the increased weight, but Kevin has experienced worse pain. He manages. Once they’re in the court, he lets Aaron out. Aaron shuffles around for a few moments, stretching out after being trapped in the confined space of the bag.

“Okay. I think you need a running start for take off.” Kevin jogs along beside Aaron as he waddles down the court, expanding his wings experimentally. Aaron flaps them, catching small periods of air, but always landing back on his webbed feet. He stumbles the first few times, then seems to get the hang of landing after his airborne bouts. They make it to the away side of the court without Aaron flying any real distance. “Are you scared?”

“Honk!”

“Then stay in the air longer.” Aaron hisses and snaps at Kevin, but Kevin is used to the pattern of this by now. He steps back, a smile cutting across his face. “Come on, Aaron. You got this.”

Aaron tilts his head, observing Kevin curiously. It is not often Kevin is so encouraging, and he seems practically giddy in his support of Aaron’s flying endeavours. It makes him feel less nervous about it. Aaron turns himself around, fluffing his feathers up. He knows how to get into the air now, is familiar with the feel of his wings, but he lied to Kevin. He is scared. He’s afraid he’s going to get to a certain height in the air and then forget what to do, or have his wings give out, or not know how to stop. He doesn’t want to plummet down. His legs are not particularly sturdy. He’s not sure how they will cope with him crash landing from any height.

Aaron steadies himself, then takes off running. He stretches his wings out, honking as he flaps them, pushing off the court floor with his feet. This time he tucks his legs closer to body and flaps his wings hard, a bit unstable, but definitely flying. Kevin cheers, running alongside Aaron until Aaron outpaces him. He quickly remembers he’s in a court surrounded by plexiglass though, and he soon runs out of room. Aaron tries to turn, but he’s not used to navigating in the air. His body slams into the plexiglass, and he flaps his wings helplessly to try and slow his descent as he falls down.

He hears Kevin hit the ground, and he also slams into the plexiglass, having slid on his knees across the court to get below Aaron in time. He doesn’t so much catch Aaron as Aaron falls on top of him, but it breaks his fall all the same. Aaron honks weakly. Kevin groans. He shifts to lean his back against the plexiglass, gently adjusting Aaron until he’s upright in his lap.

“You okay?”

“Honk honk.”

“Should have known that wouldn’t be far enough. Geese can fly up to forty miles an hour, you know. Seventy if they catch a strong tailwind.”

Aaron is torn between affection and exasperation. On one hand, he really does not want to hear about this after he almost concussed himself. On the other, it is touching that Kevin is the only one in their group that has bothered to research geese for him. Well, the only one that admits to it. Aaron has a feeling Andrew also has.

“Do you want to play some exy?”

“Honk.”

“I know you can’t hold a racquet, but you could push a ball around with your beak. Could be good exercise. Ow, okay, okay! Stop biting me. We can go back to the dorms.” Kevin pushes himself to his feet, brushing off his clothes. He looks down at Aaron and smiles; a softer, warmer smile than Aaron is used to seeing from him. Aaron ducks his head. “You did fly though. Even if it wasn’t for very long. That’s pretty cool.”

Aaron bobs his head and honks softly. That is pretty cool.

“Mmm.” Kevin burrows further into his pillow, ignoring the soft, nasally, barely audible honks by his ear, and the cold sensation on his neck. For a wild moment he thinks it is Aaron, his fingers always so, so cold, before he remembers Aaron doesn’t have fingers anymore. The cold brush of contact turns into a bite, and Kevin shifts away. “Hey.”

He squints his eyes open angrily, rubbing the side of his neck. As usual, it is not a hard bite, but he doesn’t want to explain if he gets a bruise on his neck. Oh, sure, no big deal, just a hickey from my goose teammate. Don’t worry about it.

“What?”

Aaron pecks at Kevin’s blanket. Kevin tries to bat him away. Aaron bites and pulls the duvet down.

“Aaron, stop.”

Aaron honks softly, waddling back from the bed, bobbing his head. His white body is illuminated by the streak of light coming through the dorm curtains. He looks like a ghost. A goose ghost. Kevin rubs his hands over his eyes.

“Do you need the bathroom?”

“Honk.”

“Then what?” Kevin’s voice is whiny, but he does roll out of bed, pulling on a hoodie over the shorts he’s sleeping in. Aaron shuffles excitedly at the sight of Kevin getting up, waddling out to the living room. Kevin trails after him blearily, still barely managing to keep his eyes open. Aaron points his beak at the door. “You want to go outside?”

“Honk honk.”

“Why?” Kevin shakes his head, since obviously Aaron can’t tell him. He lifts Aaron, hiding his body inside his unzipped hoodie, pulling it around him as best he can. A half assed effort to hide him, but Kevin is too tired to care. He puts Aaron down when they get outside, and Aaron takes off with as much speed as his goose feet can manage. Kevin jogs after him. “Where are we going?”

Kevin doesn’t get his answer until nearly ten minutes later, when they arrive at the football field. Aaron runs ahead. He takes off into the air, and Kevin understands now. He wanted to try flying in the open air. Somewhere he wouldn’t hurt himself. Kevin tucks his hands into his hoodie pockets and watches as Aaron lifts into the air. He doesn’t go too high, not much higher than Kevin’s head, but he clears the length of the football field in little time. There’s a few moments where he disappears from Kevin’s view, and Kevin’s heart rate picks up. What if the longer Aaron is a goose, the more bird-like his brain gets? What if he instinctively starts to migrate now he is in the air, and Kevin has to explain to Andrew that he lost him?

While Kevin is worrying about this, the pale shape of Aaron’s goose form cuts through the night air, making his way back down the field. He tilts his body up and flaps his wings more as he approaches Kevin’s side, trying to slow down and land. He does not manage this with much grace, landing hard on his legs and tumbling over. Kevin can’t help but laugh. Aaron hisses at him.

“That was cool. Was it fun?”

“Honk honk.”

“I always wanted to fly. Used to imagine getting out of the Nest and just flying away.”

Aaron struggles back to his feet and comes over to Kevin’s side. He lingers, hesitant for a moment, before pressing his body to the side of Kevin’s leg.

“But the Master made sure to keep his Ravens’ wings clipped.”

Aaron gives a low, sombre honk.

“It’s okay. Over now. You want to try again before we go back?”

“Honk honk.”

“Go on then. I’ll race you,” Kevin says, knowing he has no chance against the swift power of Aaron’s wings.

Aaron is getting very bored of his goose diet. According to Kevin’s research, they mostly eat plant matter, and thus he has taken to cutting up raw vegetables for Aaron. To be fair to Kevin, he does make an effort to vary it. Putting chunks of carrot in with Aaron’s leafy greens, holding a banana for him to eat as a treat, he’s even scrambling eggs for him this morning.

“I mean, you’re supposed to scramble them so the geese don’t associate their own eggs with food and go cannibal,” Kevin says to Nicky. “Which isn’t an issue with Aaron, but I thought he’d rather have them cooked.”

“Honk honk!”

“It’s cute how serious you take your goose sitting duties,” Nicky says. Aaron hisses at him. He personally thinks Nicky could stand to take his goose sitting duties more seriously, rather than constantly trying to put Aaron in funny outfits and take cute photos of him. At least Andrew treats him largely the same as he did when they were human; which is barely taking much notice of him at all, but Aaron takes less offence from their silences when he can’t talk anyway.

“Aaron would do his best by us,” Kevin says quietly. Aaron’s not entirely sure if he would, but it’s nice of Kevin to defend his character. He shuffles over and presses against his leg. Kevin smiles down at him. “I’ll get some strawberries today. They’re supposed to be a good treat.”

“Honk honk.”

“Yes, I know you like strawberries. That’s why I’ll get some.”

“I think you just pretend to talk to him,” Nicky says, leaning down so his face is closer to Aaron’s. “There’s no way you know what he means.”

Aaron snaps at Nicky’s nose. Nicky almost falls backwards.

“He’s quite good at letting me know.” Kevin tilts the pan down so Aaron can see it. Kevin is a disaster in the kitchen. The eggs are just barely a step away from liquid. “Does this look okay?”

“Honk.”

“Longer?”

“Honk honk.”

“Okay.” Kevin sighs, putting the saucepan back over the heat. Aaron moves back to stand by his leg again. Prime position for his sous chef duties, after all. No other reason.

“So, we found out what happened,” Neil says. His eyes are far too bright. Kevin doesn’t like it. It is the kind of expression Neil has when he’s enjoying something other people very much will not enjoy.

“What?”

“It was never meant to be Aaron,” Andrew grits out. He is the opposite of Neil. His expression is pure darkness. It doesn’t look much different from Andrew’s usual expression, but Kevin can sense the sheer anger beneath the surface. Aaron pads over to Andrew, his goose feet smacking on the ground. He looks up at him, honking inquisitively.

“Basically, Andrew offended this girl in his class-”

“I kindly informed her that her boyfriend was cheating. Which, as she later discovered, he was. I was being helpful.”

“And it turns out she’s like a witch-”

“Witches don’t exist,” Kevin says.

“Kevin.” Neil looks purposefully at Aaron. Aaron hisses at him.

“Yes, okay.” Kevin sighs and rubs his hand over his eyes. He would have argued people don’t get turned into geese a week ago. His knowledge of what are acceptable truths in the world is obviously no longer up to date.

“Anyway, she was trying to curse Andrew and got Aaron instead.”

Aaron starts honking loud and angry. Andrew looks at him flatly. Neil rolls his eyes. Nicky gasps, hand to his mouth.

“Stop that,” Kevin says. “That’s not solving anything.”

Aaron hisses at him. Kevin hisses back. Aaron tilts his head, baffled by that.

“So, what, he’s stuck as a goose forever now?” Nicky asks.

“We know how to break the curse,” Andrew says.

“Yeah, she so kindly told us with some… gentle encouragement.” Neil grins, a sharp and vicious thing. Kevin purses his lips.

“So?”

“True love’s kiss,” Andrew says grandly. He leaves it to hover in the air between them all for a few moments for extra impact. “Cliche.”

“But Aaron and Katelyn broke up!” Nicky looks at Aaron with big, wide eyes. Aaron shuffles backward, drawing his head closer to his body, looking between them all. He bumps against Kevin’s legs, looking at him upside down. “It would have been better if she’d got you, Andrew. At least you have Neil.”

Neil looks at Andrew with a barely repressed smile. Andrew purposefully does not look back at Neil.

“So what do we do?” Kevin asks.

“We should get Katelyn to kiss him anyway,” Nicky says. “Just in case. Maybe she’s still his true love, and this will show their breakup was a mistake, and they can get back together! I’ll go call her.”

Andrew exhales a long sigh out of his nose. He and Neil have some conversation with their eyes. Neil nods.

“We’re going to go talk to the girl again. See if there are any other potential fixes. She said she couldn’t lift the curse, but maybe we just weren’t persuasive enough.”

Aaron has gone very quiet at Kevin’s shins. Andrew looks back at him once when he’s at the door, before he and Neil leave. Nicky is talking to Katelyn on the phone in the kitchen. Kevin runs his fingers over the back of Aaron’s head. Aaron starts, looking up at him.

“We’ll work something out,” he says, with a confidence he absolutely does not possess. Aaron makes no noise. He shuffles to the living room and tucks himself small against the side of the couch until there’s a knock at the door.

“I don’t know that this is going to work,” Katelyn says, twisting her braid around her fingers. She looks at Aaron, her mouth pressed into a thin, grim line. “I hope it does, but-”

Aaron gives a small, sad honk of understanding. Kevin’s chest hurts. He really, really wants Aaron to not be a goose anymore, but there is a small, twisted part of him that will also be quite bitter if Katelyn’s kiss is what brings him back. Kevin knows how Aaron was in the wake of that breakup. He is still not entirely happy with Katelyn after that, even if she and Aaron seem to have moved past it.

“Come back for me?” Katelyn kneels down on the floor beside Aaron, taking his head in her palms. She leans in and presses a kiss to his head, leaving a pink lip gloss kiss mark on his white feathers. They all wait with baited breath. Nothing happens. “Maybe it has to be on your beak?”

Katelyn kisses him again, but it doesn’t work. She dots more kisses over his head and bill with increasing urgency, until Aaron pulls away from her with a protesting honk. Katelyn sniffs, closing her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she says, voice thick. Aaron presses his head to her cheek, nuzzling against her, murmuring small, comforting sounds.

“Aw, boo, there goes my rom com ending,” Nicky says.

“So what do we do now? We can’t just get random women to kiss him in the hopes one of them undoes the curse. How will that work? Just kiss our goose. It’s not weird, we promise. Tch.” Kevin folds his arms, expression sour.

“Kevin,” Nicky says, looking between him and Aaron, who has gone quiet and still in Katelyn’s arms. Kevin frowns. Aaron slowly draws himself back. He presses the side of his head to Katelyn’s cheek once more, then looks at her for a long moment, before shuffling off to the bedroom. Katelyn nods, getting to her feet.

“I’m sorry,” she says, voice quiet. “I really wanted that to work.”

“It’s okay.” Nicky walks her to the door. “It’s not your fault.”

Kevin feels horrible for the curling satisfaction in his gut, but guilt does not cancel out the fact the feeling is very much still there.

Aaron is hiding, which is not really a very mature way to deal with things, but he doesn’t get a lot of privacy anymore. The only time he really gets left alone is when everyone is at practice, or the very few occasions they all have class at the same time. He’s tucked himself under Kevin’s bed and is trying to read some of his class notes by the light leaking in from the room, but he can’t really focus. He’s too busy thinking about the fact that he’s probably going to be stuck as a goose forever, forever being his now limited goose lifespan, and that it’s a huge waste of his time to even be trying to keep up with his class notes, as geese can’t go to med school.

Despite his poultry melancholy, a part of Aaron is relieved. It shattered him when he and Katelyn separated, and it has taken a long time to piece back together the broken shards of them in a way where they are no longer cutting themselves against the sharp edges. Had Katelyn’s kiss worked, Aaron is not sure where they would have gone from there. He has processed their breakup. He has moved on. He is grateful to have Katelyn in his life as his friend now.

It’s just a shame best friend’s kiss can’t undo curses. No, it always has to be true love. Aaron is not sure true love exists for him. He’s half convinced he’s fundamentally unlovable, really, at the core of himself. Too much damage from his childhood.

“Aaron?” Kevin lies down on the floor, looking under the bed, and Aaron realises he’s been making soft rumbling cooing sounds without realising it. “What are you doing in there? Hiding?”

“Honk honk.”

“We’ll find a way to fix this.”

“Honk.”

“We will. We have to. I need my best backliner back. The freshmen can’t carry us.”

Aaron hisses. Kevin smiles; but it is a tight, unhappy kind of smile. He reaches his hand under the bed. Aaron stretches his neck out and rests his head on Kevin’s skin.

“Still no luck,” Kevin says when he comes in from class. Aaron is nesting in one of the beanbags. His head perks up when Kevin comes through the door. It feels strange to Kevin now that he was scared of him once. He finds Aaron’s goose form adorable now, automatically smiles at the sight of him. Usually. He doesn’t smile now, with the news he’s bearing. “Can’t find her again at all.”

Kevin drops his backpack by the couch and flops onto it, putting his palms over his eyes. He sighs, long and drawn out. He hears a fluttering of wings, then feels the warm weight of Aaron landing on his shins. Aaron fluffs up his feathers and settles between Kevin and the back of the couch. Kevin goes still at the close contact. The main weight of Aaron’s body is tucked in beside his thigh, but his neck is so long his head is resting on Kevin’s chest. It’s a bit of an awkward position. If Aaron would just move his weight to Kevin’s hip instead..

“Here.” Kevin pushes his thigh against Aaron until he’s forced to shuffle on top of it, then bends his leg to push Aaron further up. “Just- Here.”

When Aaron lies down again, his head is resting in the dip of Kevin’s collarbone, his feathers grazing Kevin’s jaw when he turns to try and look at him.

“There. That’s more comfortable for both of us.” Kevin pulls Nicky’s throw blanket off the back of the couch because he knows Aaron is always cold - or was always cold as a human, anyway - and he’s not sure if his feathers keep him as warm as he likes. Aaron honks softly, tilting his head up so his beak bumps against Kevin’s neck. Kevin draws careful fingers along the back of his neck, smoothing his hand out over Aaron’s back. He’s got a distinct bird scent, but Kevin’s gotten used to it. It doesn’t bother him anymore. “We’ll look after you. Even if you are stuck as a goose. But I really hope you’re not.”

Aaron pushes his head up, the top of it nuzzling against Kevin’s cheek. Kevin turns his head automatically. Later, Aaron will accuse him of doing it on purpose, but it is without thought that Kevin presses a kiss to Aaron’s feathered head. Just some secret soft desire to express affection making itself known. Aaron honks softly, and the suddenly he starts to feel very warm where he is pressed against Kevin. A bright flash beams in the room, forcing Kevin to shut his eyes against it. Aaron’s body is radiating an unnatural amount of heat, and then he is a heavier presence sprawled across Kevin’s chest, his breath shaky on Kevin’s cheek.

“Shit.” Aaron’s voice is hoarse with disuse. He clears his throat. Kevin’s eyes shoot open.

“Aaron!”

“Uh. Hi.” Aaron’s cheeks are pink, but he’s grinning as he looks at Kevin. “This is awkward.”

It takes Kevin a moment to realise what Aaron means. Of course his clothes fell off him when he turned into a goose, so in reverse… Kevin tightens the throw blanket around his shoulders.

“That doesn’t really change the fact my dick is against your thigh,” Aaron mutters, but he’s still smiling, like he can’t help it. Giddy relief is pouring out of his body language.

“After you wouldn’t even let me in the shower naked with you.”

Aaron tries to press his face against Kevin’s shoulder, but the significance of this has just occurred to Kevin. He catches Aaron’s face in his hands, tipping it up.

“Hey. You’re back. You’re human again.”

“Well noted,” Aaron says dryly. His tone is contradicted by the fact he is rapidly going from pink to bright red, freckles popping against his flush. Kevin can’t help but return his grin.

“You turned back when I kissed you,” he says quietly. Aaron tries to turn away again, but Kevin keeps his face in place. “That means-”

“Shut up.”

“I won’t shut up, because I’m your true love.”

“Oh my god, maybe the bane of my existence also works,” Aaron says, pushing Kevin’s wrists down so he can burrow into the space between him and the couch. Kevin twists them so Aaron ends up trapped between him and the back of the couch.

“Hey!” Aaron grabs at the blanket, fixing his glare on Kevin, but Kevin only sees it for a second because then he is kissing Aaron. On his mouth this time. His very human mouth. Lips warm and soft, tongue tasting of strawberries when Kevin finally gets him to open his mouth for him.

Aaron initially resists when Kevin kisses him. For the principle. Though his hand has kind of already been played, considering the whole magical transformation thing. Can’t really keep your cards close to your chest from the person who broke the curse only true love’s kiss can break, can you? Aaron’s still a bit put out that, out of everyone, it is apparently Kevin Day he is stuck with as his true love, but the way Kevin is kissing him with full enthusiasm may be swaying him. By maybe two percent. Kevin’s going to have to keep working hard for a long time if he wants to get that percentage up to one hundred.

“You are so annoying,” Aaron murmurs.

“I’m your true love,” Kevin repeats, sounding way too thrilled about that.

“That means I’m your true love too.”

“Does it? I mean, I broke your curse. You’ve never broken a curse on me.”

Aaron tenses immediately. He presses himself back from Kevin, but there’s nowhere really to go with the couch at his back. He’s very, extremely aware of his nakedness, feeling at a distinct power disadvantage in this situation.

“What?” Kevin’s eyes flick over Aaron’s face, concern creasing his brow. “Aaron.”

Aaron shakes his head. He starts to sit up. He feels like a damsel clutching the blanket to his chest. It is all very demeaning, which is saying something, considering he has been a goose for the better part of the past week.

“Aaron.” Kevin sits up with him, hands on his shoulders through the blanket. “What is it? Do you just want to get dressed? Why have you gone all quiet?”

“Doesn’t matter. This is stupid. Thanks for degoosifying me, I guess. Whatever.” Aaron swings his leg over Kevin and stumbles off the couch. It feels weird to be on human legs again. He staggers on his first step. Kevin jumps up after him, sweeping Aaron into his arms bridal style. Aaron shoves at his chest.

“Put me down.”

“Aaron. Come on. You have your mouth back. Talk to me. Did I do something?”

Aaron looks Kevin directly in the eyes and very purposefully and flatly says: “Honk honk.”

Kevin’s nose scrunches up, and then realisation dawns.

“I was just being a dick. I mean, I don’t know that I believe in true love, but I do… I do love you, Aaron. Obviously. I mean. Do you know how much research I did on geese? I wouldn’t do that for just anyone. And I was kind of happy when Katelyn’s kiss didn’t work, even though I shouldn’t have been, because I didn’t want you to be a goose anymore. Geese don’t make for good backliners.”

“Oh my god.” Aaron turns his head and bites Kevin’s shoulder. He’s glad to have his human teeth back. He can feel the solid meat and bone of Kevin better as he presses them into him.

“Hey.” Kevin laughs, drawing his shoulder back from Aaron. He shifts to hold most of his weight with one arm - Aaron really shouldn’t find that as attractive as he does - and tips Aaron’s jaw up with the other, bumping their noses together. “Some things never change, huh? I’ve missed you.”

“I was right here.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I missed me too.”

“Are you going to say it back?”

“Do I need to? Does you breaking my curse not say enough?”

“I’d like to hear it.” Kevin noses at Aaron’s cheek. Aaron tries his best not to smile. He fails.

“Ugh, I love you, you annoying asshole.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t get dressed,” Kevin says, securing both his arms back around Aaron and shifting him further up in his arms. “Maybe I should just get undressed too.”

Aaron rolls his eyes, but he’s still smiling as he curls his arms around Kevin’s neck and kisses him again.

#kevaaron #fox fics

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