#and that if she refuses to even try what the doctors and ot told her to try than what's the point of me trying to help
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jedi-bird · 11 days ago
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I did a lot of thinking tonight while waiting for my stomach to settle (it never did and in fact now has stabbing pains that might be an issue with my pancreas or spleen). Fingers crossed I'm well enough to go to the signing tomorrow, but it was only ten bucks so if I have to miss it I'll just be very sad but not out much. On Monday I'm going to call my doctor and try to change my appointment date; it'll be very last minute and might incur a fee but I don't care at this point. On Monday also I need to figure out if AAA can replace my battery or if not can they jump it so I can get it to a car parts place and replace it. There is just too much shit right now and my appointment was supposed to be a routine checkup and I just don't want to deal with the stress. And anyway, if the pains persist I'm going to have to go to urgent care anyway, so no point in trying to keep an appointment that can be put off.
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ladyeroway · 11 months ago
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Gideon, my boy my disaster, nothing ever goes right for him!
We are now in the Citadel of Mu and with the list of tasks being - stop our former boss, stop an Avatar of Yig being born and try reverse the Hybridisation on 3 of the characters (the Captain, the Spy and Gideon who wanted it the most) we wound our ways through changing halls as the Citadel fluctuates wildly.
Eventually we found ourselves in a Gene therapy lab. Being we are in the 30s we didn't actually understand what that meant. The doctor, the spy and Gideon went through some of the medical files and realised this was where we could reverse the Hybridisation.
We argued a bit back and forth about whether we had time to do it. Gideon wanted it badly but at the same time wasn't willing to sacrifice humanity for himself. There was also the possibility that because he was hybridised by magic he could break the machine and not allow the others to change. We were erring on the side of leaving when the Captain said she would go through it so we would know if we had time.
She lay on the machine as these massive mechanical arms surrounded her and injected 12 massive needles into her. The doctor was controlling the experiment. The captain started screaming as the pain was horrific and Gideon held her hand. The doctor almost lost control but pulled it back. The light scales on her arm melting away leaving her tired but no longer hybridised.
Gideon asked the spy if she wanted it but she refused. She didn't hate the serpent people the way Gideon did and she felt she needed the Hybridisation more than she wanted to be rid of it. If we made it back after taking down our boss then she would.
Gideon lay on the bed as the machine whirled to life once more. The machine acted differently with him, the doctor thinking it was due to his progressed state. The pain was excruciating as multiple needles entered his spine and body. He couldn't even scream it felt like his body was on fire. Gideonill was asked to roll his Con Gideon botched his Con roll and the Captain came to his aid holding his hand and he squeezed as magic rebelled against the machine. Gideons rolled again and it was a fail.
The doctor was trying to get on top of what was happening. He passed his medicine but only just. So he stopped the machine from worse complications, Gideon had to roll his willpower which was a success. (The group made me roll with brand new unsullied dice)
His left arm that the Captain was holding went white, then turned to dust. Taking it off at the shoulder. Then the machine started "working" on replacing what was there with a liquid silver replacement. We all rolled sanity and luckily Gideon didn't go into temporarily insane but he noticed that as he freaked out the arm started to lose form. A warning that if he is stressed ot may cause problems and he will have to hide it for the rest of his life.
It's odd to say but he can deal with that. He is no longer turning into something he hates. He knows that this isn't ideal and in some ways is just as bad. But he is a firm believer that you have to stand by your choices. So as much as it's horrifying he can deal with it.
Other fun highlights from the session was trying to lie to the serpent priestess cause she didn't recognise the spies voice but she realised Gideon was there as he coached her on what to say. She almost seemed proud that he was. She told us about another way we could get to the Temple of Yig but it meant going over the sleeping body of her god that is nestled in a volcano. However the amulet she gave to him and the amulet that Gideon found and gave to the spy would let them get in through a vent hopefully meaning we could cause enough discord to allow the others through the front door.
Gideon summoned a Formless one and again got a crit success. The others in the party kept calling it his child. He gave it the orders to kill pur previous employer. The doctor, Spy and psychic running behind it and using it as a shield.
Gideon and the spy made there way through the roasting hot vents. Making multiple rolls to get through blindfolded so they wouldn't see the Sleeping gods form and send them into insanity or petrified or both.
We ended with Gideon and the spy getting out as the Formless one broke through the door.
Depending how this goes, next week could be the final session!
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kalimagik · 4 years ago
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Strawberry
Fred Weasley x Pregnant!Reader
Word Count: 5k
Requested by @coffee-wihtout-caffeine​ - “Can I request Fred x reader where it’s throughout her pregnancy with supportive Weasley family? Like the entire pregnancy just bits through each month and dealing with the symptoms. Tia”
A/N: I had SO much fun writing this. I was so excited the whole time (i love babies and think pregnancy is beautiful, so I may have gotten carried away). It’s super fluffy, has something for each month, and a whole lot of cute Fred and a supportive Weasley family! It’s not my usual writing style, but still so fun. Feedback is always welcome! Comment, like, reblog! Happy Reading <3 (also, I got too excited to wait til tonight to post it, so its coming early)
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Month 1
It had to be the stomach flu, what else could it be? Fred left you in bed that morning after you spent most of the night with your head over the toilet. You racked your mind, trying to figure out where you would have caught the stomach flu. That’s when it hit you. Running to the nearest convenience store, you bought the tests, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
You looked at the pregnancy test again and the other 3 that sat on the vanity, all positive. No, you and Fred weren’t trying for a baby, but you weren’t not trying either. A baby…you were going to have a baby, Fred’s baby.
The butterflies in your stomach were going to have a roommate. The thought made your lips curl into a grin as you looked into the mirror. A baby! Now you just had to tell Fred. Knowing you had a few hours, you rushed around the house like a mad woman. The rest of the day consisted of picking up, making dinner, and making yourself look presentable and not like you had spent most of the day in bed. The day also included throwing up every now and then, but you were actually kind of excited each time because it was just a reminder of the little boy or girl growing in your stomach.
When Fred walked through the door, you had your favorite “Love Songs” playlist playing, the dinner table set, and candles lit throughout the entire flat. “Is someone feeling better?” Fred called out above the music.
“Freddie! I’m in here,” you sang, still cleaning up pots and pans from dinner.
“What is all of this?” Fred asked, eyes widening at the sight laid out in front of him. “Did I forget an anniversary or something?” he chuckled, knowing very well that he didn’t. “This is wonderful, love. But, what did I do to deserve this?”
“Just sit down and you’ll find out!” You beamed, bringing Fred’s favorite food to the table, his mother’s meatballs with onion sauce with a treacle tart and cream puffs on the side for dessert.
“24 hour stomach flu pass?”
“Uhhh, for the most part,” you skirted around the subject a bit. You had a plan to tell him about the baby.
Dinner went by with your usual conversations about the day, the shop, and how George and the rest of the Weasleys were doing. When tart had been dished out, you stood up from your seat and went behind the couch to get your little gift.
“Okay, what is going on?” Fred asked, now confused as to why he got his favorite dinner, dessert, and now a present. “Did you do something I should be angry about? Did someone else do something that I should be taking credit for?”
“No, silly,” you giggle, sitting the present in front of him. “Just open this!” You watch him intently while standing as he takes the tissue paper out of the bag and unwraps the first little gift. The white tissue paper fell to the floor as he unfolded a little white onesie that read “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”
“What’s this for? I’m not going to be an uncle or something am I? Is George around here trying to punk me?”
You just shook your head, an amused, close lipped smile set on your face. “Open the next one.”
Fred stuck his hand back into the small, blue bag and pulled out the long box that had probably once held a bracelet. When he pulled the lid off, there was the 4th and final positive pregnancy test that you had taken earlier in the day. Fred looked up at you, eyes wide. The hand not holding the box with the test reached for the onesie as he put two and two together.
“Are you- Is this? Does this mean-” You just nodded as he stumbled over his words.
“I’m pregnant,” you told him with a laugh/cry. Honestly, you weren’t sure what the noise was, but it was a happy one. Fred flew out of his seat so quickly to embrace you that his chair fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
“You’re pregnant?” he asked again once he finally let you go and stopped kissing your face. You could only nod as the happy tears streamed down your face. “Oh, I guess I shouldn’t hug you so hard. Wouldn’t want to hurt the little lad or gal would I?”
“I think the little Weasley will be okay,” you smirk, hugging Fred a little tighter.
“So when can I tell George?”
You laugh as you kiss Fred’s cheek. “Not just yet, darling. Let’s see a doctor first”
Month 2
“So I can tell Georgie right after this right?” Fred asked as you sat in a room at St. Mungo’s waiting for the doctor.
“I enjoy you pretending to wait for my permission when I know you already told him,” you laugh, squeezing Fred’s hand while he helps you onto the chair for the mothers to be. “He was not very subtle when I came by the shop the other day. He was talking about inventing baby friendly products for the shop.” You rolled your eyes sarcastically at the memory.
“Okay, I may have apparated to our little flat above the shop where he was at the time after you fell asleep the night that you told me.” He pouted, looking for forgiveness from you.
You had to stifle your giggles when the doctor knocked on the door to let you know that she was entering.
“Good afternoon Y/N,” she smiled at you as she pulled out the contraption for looking at the baby’s growing form. “I see you have Fred Weasley with you again.”
The last appointment, he may or may not have dropped a dung bomb that made its way into his jacket pocket accidentally on their way out.
“Hello there, Dr. Woodson,” Fred grimaced. “Good to see you again. Don’t worry, I double checked my pockets before coming this time.”
“Very good,” your doctor nodded curtly. “Well then, let’s get started, shall we?”
Your doctor talked you through the images that you and Fred saw on the screen. “Your baby is now about the size of a pomegranate seed since you’re in the 6th week,” she finished. You sat and watched in awe. The baby was so much bigger than just a few weeks ago when you were in for the first visit that confirmed your pregnancy. “Do you have any questions for me?” Dr. Woodson asked at the end of the appointment.
You shook your head, already having read all about it in the pregnancy books you had bought a few weeks earlier. Fred was the one to pipe up. “So, my brother’s wife was pregnant a year ago or so, and she got really, really cranky. Is my wife going to do that too?”
“Fred?!” you scoffed, playfully slapping him in the arm.
“You see, it’s already starting a little bit and I was just wondering how bad it will actually get.” He continued ignoring you.
Your doctor chuckled slightly before she stood up with your charts in hand. “It was good to see you both again. Y/N, you can schedule your next appointment at the front desk on your way out. Send me an owl if you have any questions or concerns.”
After saying goodbye, Fred helped you off the chair, even though he didn’t have to, and you dressed back into your clothes that were not yet maternity wear, but starting to get a little snug in some areas.
“All ready, love?” he asked after you dressed.
“Let’s go.”
Month 3
“Are you ready?” Fred asked as you stood at the door of his childhood home. He was grinning from ear to ear. Today was the day that the two of you had decided to tell his family about the baby. You told your parents a few days earlier and they couldn’t be happier, but that was two people. Now it was time to face Fred’s parents, six siblings, and all of their significant others.
“Very ready,” you smiled back. Fred had been sitting on the edge of his seat for nearly a month whenever you visited. It was the end of your third month and therefore an appropriate time to start telling the family.
“Mum! We’re here!” Fred called out as he opened the door.
“OHHH! Y/N, Fred! Welcome. I’m so happy you both could make it!”
“We always come for Sunday night dinner, Mrs. Weasley,” you laughed while being buried into one of her notorious bear hugs.
“Woah there, mum. Don’t want to crush Y/N and our-” Fred cut himself off before he let the word ‘baby’ slip. Luckily, Molly was a blur around the house that she hadn’t even noticed. After giving Fred a quick hug, she called up to the rest of the family and feet began stampeding down the stairs.
“Wow, it is getting a little crowded in here,” you laughed as you hugged Ginny, Hermione, George, Ron, Harry and then Bill, Charlie, Fleur and little Victoire. “Even Teddy is here!” you smiled as you hugged the 3 year old with bright blue hair.
“The more the merrier is our motto!” Arthur Weasley boomed as he came into the kitchen as well.
“It’s a good thing that you think that way, dad!” Fred beamed, sharing a quick glance with George. At this rate, the family was going to learn the news before everyone even sat down for dinner.
Pre-dinner chats ensued and then Mrs. Weasley called them all from the living room to the table. That’s when she started handing out the wine. She had decided it was a special occasion because EVERYONE was at dinner. Bill and Fleur were in France the previous week and Charlie was back from Romania for a period of time. Even Percy managed to pull himself away from his busy work life. You looked at Fred with a small, close lipped smile, letting him know that it’s time to spill the news. Everyone would find out soon enough when you refused the wine.
You took your seat next to Fred with Ginny on your other side, leaning into Fred as he wrapped his arm around you and kissed your temple. Then, he cleared his throat to get the 12 other people’s attention.
“I’d like to make a toast,” he announced, raising his glass. “I can’t imagine this night being any better. Spending time with my amazing family, the extensions included,” he nodded to Harry, Hermione, and Fleur. “It’s a big family, but it’s about to get a little bigger. Currently a plum size bigger.” You nudged Fred slightly. He had been making fun of you for announcing which food your baby’s size matched each week.
“Oi, cut to the chase down there. I can’t hold it in for much longer! I’m bursting at the seams over here!” George hollered from the other end of the table.
Your smile grew as you made eye contact with Molly. You could tell she already knew what Fred was going to say, but was letting him break the news.
“Y/N and I are pregnant!” Fred’s signature grin was plastered on his face and you didn’t think that he’d been wiping it off anytime soon.
“This is brilliant!” Ginny cheered as she wrapped an arm around you. “I get to be an aunt, again!” she smiled at Victoire.
“Victoire,” Fleur got the little girl’s attention. “Yoo are going to be a couzin to a ittle boy or girl. Eesn’t zis exciting?”
“Ronald and I can babysit whenever you need a break,” Hermione offered, Ron nodding along, even though he wasn’t too sure if he wanted to be with a baby around his fiancé just yet.
The congratulations and excitement lasted all through dinner. By the end, Bill and Fleur offered you Victoire’s baby clothes if you had a girl, Arthur said he could fix up the cradle they used for all their children, Molly had already started knitting a little hat and bootie set. It was crazy and chaotic, but you loved every second of it. This was your wild family now and the wild family that your baby would get to grow up with.
Month 4
You paced around your flat with a hand on your forehead and one on your stomach. You had just gotten back from your appointment, the high of telling the Weasley family about the pregnancy two nights ago still lingering. Of course, once you went to see Dr. Woodson, the feeling changed.
-
“Oh, that’s interesting,” Dr. Woodson had said as she ran her wand over your stomach to look at the baby.
“What?” you asked. She’d never said anything like that before.
“It seems we may have missed something.” She pulled an image up. “Normally we would catch this earlier, but see that there.” She pointed and you nodded. “Well, there appears to be a second fetus and a second heartbeat that I must have missed before. Y/N Weasley, you are having twins!”
-
Laying down on the couch, you thought about what having twins would mean. Two of everything really. Fred and George’s shop was doing great again and they were acquiring Zonko’s in Hogsmeade too, so money wouldn’t technically be an issue. But, twins! They could be a little Fred and George exactly and that would be a handful. The doctor never said that they were identical necessarily, so you could have a boy and a girl.
“Honey! I’m hoooome!” Fred sang opening the door.
“With your favorite brother-in-law!” George sang after him.
Both twins sat grocery bags on the table. “What’s all this?” you asked, mind still focused on the news you got earlier in the day.
“We have decided to cook you dinner!” George said triumphantly.
You looked at the identical faces that stood before you, both grinning at you. “Fred, we’re having twins!” you blurted out at them, not able to hold it in any longer. Fred dropped the bag he was still holding, apples and oranges rolling all over the floor.
“Twins.” He said, eyes glazed over, looking past you and at the wall, where the onesie that you gave him the day you told him you were pregnant was hanging.
“You’re going to have a mini Fred and I?!” George squealed in excitement. He shook Fred’s shoulders, bringing him back to the present.
“That we are!” you smiled, appreciating the enthusiasm. “Well maybe, we could have girls, or a girl and a boy. We won’t know until the end of next month,” you explained, rambling.
That’s when Fred went into total care mode. “Do you need to sit down? You should be sitting down. Mum always complained about what Georgie and I did to her body and how hard carrying twins was.”
You couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Freddie,” you giggled, “maybe YOU should sit down!”
“Yes, perhaps I shall, love.” Fred plopped down onto the couch as you went into the kitchen to grab him a cup of water. “Twins, wow.” You heard him breathe out in the living room.
“He is happy about it, just processing,” George whispered to you as he started to put your groceries away.
“I know,” you smiled, “he is going to make a great dad!”
Month 5
Your stomach was really bulging at this point. Two little ones growing in there. You were beyond excited as you slid on a maternity dress with sunflowers plastered all over it. It had become your favorite dress, comfortable, stretchy, it had pockets. But, today, you put it on for your gender reveal party. Originally, you and Fred were going to wait and be surprised by the sex of the babies, but Molly and even George changed your minds.
They agreed that once they received the news, Dr. Woodson would write the genders on pieces of paper, seal them in an envelope, and send them with an owl to Molly. Now, you were getting ready for that party. You were more going along with Fred when you originally said you’d wait to find out the sexes, but now you were giddy!
“Love, are you ready? Everyone is downstairs,” Fred knocked on his childhood door as he opened to take in the room that hadn’t changed in years. You followed Fred down the stairs, him holding your hand the whole way to ensure that you didn’t trip down the stairs. He may be loud, boisterous, and reckless usually, but since he learned about the twins, he treated you as if you were a china doll, it was so sweet.
“Surprise!” a hoard of people called when you exited the Burrow. The Weasleys had completely decked out their yard on the spring evening. Twinkle lights flooded the area with light as the sun set to the west. Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom had brought in tons of flowers that surrounded the tables. All the pinks and blues were bright as can be, signifying the news that was about to be shared with everyone, even the parents.
“Merlin! It’s beautiful! Thank you,” you beamed, taking in as much of the yard at once as possible.
The party was a blast. Blue and pink food. Cute little presents left out with yellows and greens. Tons of little Gryffindor attire, even though you’d be okay with your children being in any of the houses. But the time for the reveal drew closer.
“Y/N, Fred. Stand here,” Molly ordered them. “George is out back setting everything up.”
You were shaking with excitement. Your family and Fred’s family all held sparklers that lit the darkness. The colors reflected off of your and Fred’s skin. He glanced over at you and whispered, “You’ve been glowing this whole time, but you’re really glowing now,” before leaning down and kissing your cheek.
“Everyone ready?” George called from behind the hedge. “3…2…1!”
The sky exploded with fireworks of blue and pink. Your hand flew to your mouth as you took in the sight. “We’re getting a little boy AND a little girl, Freddie,” you laughed, happy to now know. Fred hugged you tightly, leaving just enough room for your protruding belly.
“We’re having a boy and a girl,” he repeated, grinning ear to ear. Everyone let the two of you have your moment before flooding you with hugs and congratulations.
Month 6
“Psssst, Freddie.” You whispered, peaking at the clock quickly. It read 1:30 AM…oops.
“Yes, love,” Fred whispered as he yawned before turning over and lazily slinging an arm over your body.
“I’m hungry…” you said, big, pouty, pleading eyes already in place as Fred opened one of his. “Will you pleeeeease get me some chocolate covered strawberries and the cheesiest nachos you can find?”
“That is the strangest combination that I have ever heard.” Fred grunted as he pushed the blankets down. “You sure you can eat both of those things?”
So far, you had found that you could no longer even look at any kind of fish, tuna was WAY out of the question, the smell of tomatoes made you gag, and turkey was a big no go. In fact, most meat was starting to make you queasy and you could only eat it sometimes.
“It’s what I’m craving, so I think so?”
“Sounds good, love. I’ll be right back.” Fred threw on some pants and a jacket and apparated out of the flat. You laid back in your bed, feeling extremely content as you pulled the blankets up to your chin just to throw them off. You’d been going from freezing to feeling like a million degrees every few minutes.
That familiar pop could be heard as Fred brought the food to you in bed. “Nachos and chocolate covered strawberries for my beautiful, glowing wife. We can never go back to the Spanish restaurant on the corner or the market next to it ever again. You don’t want to know how angry the owners were when I woke them up.”
You had already dug into the food before Fred could undress and get back into bed again. “Are you going to save me any?” he chuckled, sliding back into the sheets.
“Yes, you can have some.” You told him, mouth full and chocolate dribbling down your chin.
“Let me run to the loo before I go to bed again,” Fred told you, getting up once more. By the time he walked back into the room, you were there fast asleep, box of chocolate covered strawberries on one side and box of nachos on the other. Fred couldn’t stop laughing as he picked up the open food and wiped off your face before kissing your forehead and pulling you close to him.
Month 7
“FRED!! It’s so hot!” you complained. You could feel the sweat sliding down every inch of your body and you felt disgusting. You felt huge and being pregnant was not fun anymore. You were big, couldn’t move easily, and your ankles had swollen to three times their normal size.
In the July heat, you just felt terrible.
“Let me get you another fan and some lemonade.” Fred offered.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so cranky with you,” you apologized to Fred when he came to sit back down next to you, handing you a glass of lemonade.
“You have every right to be cranky with me,” he smiled, kissing the side of your head as he had been doing so often now. “You’re carrying my babies. Speaking of which, we should come up with some names. It could be fun!”
You took a deep breath, trying to relax on the couch. “Yes, let’s do that!” Fred had already begun preparing the nursery and Molly and Fleur had sent over hordes of clothes. Planning was tiring you out, as fun and cute as it was, so maybe brainstorming names would be a blast.
“Now, George thinks we should name at least one of them after him. If we did that, we should name the girl Georgia because I think George would throw a fit if the girl was actually named after him. And then the boy could be Fred Jr.”
You looked dead eyed at Fred, not thinking his ‘joke’ was funny. “We are not making, no excuse me, forcing our twins to be mini-yous. Nope, not happening. Veto, next.”
“Okay, geez,” Fred chuckled as he took your hand in his own, knowing you would complain about being hot if he put his arm fully around you.
“Mhmmmm,” you thought out loud. “What about Andrew for the boy. You know, for my brother? I’d like to honor him after losing him 2 years ago in the war.”
“I think that would be nice,” Fred smiled softly at you. “Andrew it is. Andrew Weasley has a good ring to it. We can call him Drew for short too.”
“I think so too,” you agreed.
“Now, for a girl, this is a serious suggestion,” Fred prepared you. “Olivia. I’ve always liked that name.” he played with your fingers.
“Andrew and Olivia Weasley. I think it could work. That was much easier than I thought it was!” You laughed with joy.
“Fred, Y/N, Andrew, and Olivia. Our little family. You like your new names, kids?” Fred spoke to your stomach.
Month 8
“Nope, do not get out of bed!” Fred ordered after you tried to get out of bed. “Doctor’s orders. Plus, Mum is already here.”
Molly Weasley had been coming to your flat nearly every other day to help you and Fred around the house. Dr. Woodson placed you on bed rest the previous week and it was complete AGONY.
“But, Freddie, there is so much we still have to do. I can help.”
“Nope, George and I have it covered. Plus you know the rest of the family will help with whatever we need. You just sit here and rest. Liv and Drew are still growing in there.”
“Yes they are,” you giggled, rubbing your stomach. “I swear they were wrestling in there last night! They were being so active! Kicking and moving around. If these two fight during their entire childhoods, we will be in for some rough years!”
“I bet they will be best friends,” Fred smiled. “Look at Georgie and I! And, if they have any younger siblings in the future, they can team up against them.”
“I should hope not!” you scoffed. Your banter settled as Molly hurried into the room with a breakfast tray.
“Mum will take good care of you today and Ginny mentioned stopping by later, okay?” Fred told you as he kissed you goodbye. “I won’t be too late tonight. Everyone on Diagon Alley seems to know that you’re expecting, so even though business is booming, the shop is ready to be closed at closing!
“Sounds good, dear.” You replied, pushing the eggs to the side. You forgot to tell Molly that you weren’t eating those now because of the babies.
“I’ll take those for you,” Fred chuckled, eating your eggs, sipping some water, and kissing you one more time before leaving. “Have a good day!”
“Bye, hun,” you giggled again as she left. At least you had the company of all the Weasley guests throughout the days when he was gone.
Month 9
“They’re due any day, Freddie!” You squealed. You had attempted to jump a little, but that just made you have to pee, so you stopped that immediately. “When they get here, we can hold them all the time and I’ll be able to move freely!”
You had secretly begun doing the things that you hoped would speed along the delivery date. You were eating spicy foods, walking around when no one was watching you and forcing you back to bed, drinking raspberry tea, everything! Well, not everything. You had try to convince Fred to have sex with you the night before, but he refused. Said it was weird with two babies in there, even though you looked beautiful and he would love to.
You had just rolled your eyes at him in response, but you did try!
“You going to come out soon, little ones?” You asked your stomach. “At least one perk of being so large is that I can sit the box of chocolate covered strawberries on my stomach.” You hummed happily, eating another one of the treats that had been your favorites during your pregnancy.
You had eaten them so many times that Molly just started making them regularly for you so that Fred didn’t have to go buy them at all hours of the day randomly.
“Can I come to Diagon Alley with you today?” you asked hopefully. “I need to get out of this house. Everything is ready and I’ve been cooped up for too long.”
Fred stood there thinking, but you pleaded some more, getting him to finally give in. “Only if you promise to not walk around too much.”
“I promise! I’ll sit at Florean’s the whole time!” You drew and X over your heart to seal the promise.
You breathed in the air deeply as you took in the atmosphere of the Alley. The newer owners of the ice cream shop brought you more ice cream each time that you asked for some and whenever you tried to pay, they refused. Yet another perk of being pregnant.
Numerous people had walked by and chatted with you while Fred was at the shop and he came by every so often to check on you. It was a pleasant day. That was until an excruciating pain occurred in your stomach.
“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” you whined, hands immediately holding your stomach. “Excuse me,” you pulled one of the waiters aside. “Would you run down to the joke shop and get my husband, please?”
The trip to St. Mungo’s was a blur. Fred was holding your hand the entire way, helping you into your hospital gown, and just being an overall sweetheart as per usual. Molly Weasley and your mum filtered in and out of the room. It wasn’t until Dr. Woodson announced that just those going into the delivery room could stay that the chaos slowed. Even if it was just you and Fred in the room, you knew that every single Weasley and Y/L/N was in the waiting room and would be until your two children entered the world.
Four hours later, you had finished pushing, you had finished working your body to exhaustion. Four hours later, you held two little babies in your arms and they were beautiful. Fred’s smile was so wide and he was so proud as he took Andrew from you and then Olivia.
“You did beautifully, darling,” he whispered, looking at the two children in his arms. The tears were still streaming down your face, stupid post-birth hormones. “Are you ready for the family? They’ll come back in small groups.” You nodded laying your head back on the pillows. It was September 8th. The day your little family had its first addition of many.
You could see the little heads of Olivia and Drew peaking over the blankets as different family members held them. Their hair was strawberry red, just like your favorite snack.
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just2bubbly · 3 years ago
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Cursed Souls
Masterlist
TLC Ship Week 2021!
*written for tlcshipweek2021- kaider for the prompt 'Cursed'
@kaiderforever
Summary:
"Thorne, Do you think I'm cursed?"
"What?"
"Uh- like do you think I'm cursed? that Cinder- s-she is-"
"Is suffering because of you?"
"You really love Cinder."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
...
Grief can make your mind think distressed thoughts, Kai with a haywire mind turns to Thorne for help- feeling overwhelmed just moments after the rebellion as he waits to hear news of Cinder.
A snippet of Kai alone with his thoughts as he waits outside the OT following the brutal injury of Cinder in Winter.
Ship: Kaider
Words: 2.5k
Genre: Angst, Hurt-Comfort
Prompt: 'Cursed'
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*Sort-of canon-divergence.
Kai's Perspective:
Saying that he was anxious would be an understatement of his (let's assume long) lifetime. Everything around him was intense. After making sure that the Earthens were in a secure place, Kai followed by Torin had hastily returned to the Throne room. He could not focus on anything after Iko had told him that Cinder had gone to face Levana- alone.
Kai was praying to anyone who would listen- he prayed for Cinder's safety. Everything around him had been so rushed in the last few days- he had been high on adrenaline since the time he had helped Cress stick to the plan, coming back for crowning Levana as the Empress, to the sudden outburst of Lunars, the rebellion, him being captured and later escaping.
Kai was not sure how he remained on his own two feet walking through the pale halls of Artemisia Palace.
"Kaito, she shall be fine", Torin assured.
Kai was not going to buy it- how could Cinder be fine with a tyrant like Levana, who was likely trying to kill her?
He yelled at his own mind for letting Cinder go alone to confront Levana.
All of a sudden the sound of gunshots was heard, followed by a cry of pain making Kai look in horror at his advisor. He hoped it was anyone but Cinder. His heart was pumping loudly- at some inhuman speed and the rush of adrenaline forced him to walk faster than humanly possible. As the elegant and large doors of the throne room became visible, memories- horrors of incidents that would likely haunt him for the rest of his days flooded in Kai's mind.
Now was not the time to be sentimental- it was the time to be brave and help Cinder... if she was in a position to be helped.
The sight that was before his eyes stopped him in his tracks. Kai was dumbstruck at the sight of so much blood pooling in the throne room- the red a stark contrast to the pale marble floor and the real condition of the usually-disguised face of Levana- the face behind the glamour was enough to make him go stiff and be rooted to the spot.
However, Torin shook him out of his reverie to point out things- people. No, not just any people, his newly made friends.
He exhaled sharply when he saw Thorne, Scarlet and Wolf alive. He could not say the same when his eyes fell on Cress and Cinder. A sob escaped his shaking lips as Kai ordered Torin to call for doctors.
As he ran towards her with a thumping heart, he hoped he would not collapse at the sight of Cinder's misery.
A pool of dark red blood had surrounded her, her bosom had a knife- it did not take much to conclude that Levana had stabbed Cinder. His cheeks were damp with moisture as he huddled next to her- not sure what to do. Cinder coughed blood, her face gone pale because of the loss of so much blood. She could not cry but the worried lines along her forehead full with beads of sweat as she nibbled on her lower lip to think of anything but the wound- to avoid screaming with agony were enough to speak about her misery.
"Cinder," he cried through trembling lips.
"Kai, help Cress first. I won't-" she said through irregular words. Even in death, Cinder thought about saving others above herself.
"Shh, she is going to be fine. You're going to be fine." He said with questionable certainty. He had never known any person who had been stabbed to know how fine the after-effects were. Yet he refused to lose hope.
"Kai," she said smiling a bit sarcastically. As if both of them knew that they were lying to each other- to console, to convince.
"Don't speak I'm here- help is coming. Try to breathe. You're going to be fine." He said trying to assure him more than her.
"No- listen, Kai, look at me I might not have enough-" she hacked blood mid-sentence. Her stuttering words were cut short due to her current state. However, Kai very well knew what she was to say.
"All my ears to you, Cinder." He smiled at her, the same cheeky smile he had shown her at the garage, where they had met for the first time.
"Don't mourn for me Kai," she said. "-And I know I will not make it. My time as the revolutionary is over. I was not meant to be Queen or Princess. I trust you to do what you can for everyone," she muttered through ragged breaths, stopping from time to time to inhale sharply.
Kai would mourn for her death even if she prohibited it, even if it was forbidden. His throat ached as he tried to form sentences, probably not the last one she would hear.
"Cinder you are going to live through it. You will live long enough to rule yourself and do what you can for Luna." He said as his voice threatened to quiver, to cry out loud. He knew she was slipping away from him, as her glazed eyes rolled at the back of her head, eyes that would spontaneously shake looking at the ceiling. He would not lose her- hadn't he suffered enough grief to last a lifetime?
She closed her eyes and as calm resided over her features, Kai thought he had lost her. He could not hold it anymore, he cried not giving a damn- the Emperor of EC was crying for his beloved who was in his lap. Dying.
"No, Kai. I am a lowly mechanic. The Emperor should not cry for someone like me- Be h-happy Kai," she said with her eyes closed. It felt like she could bear to gaze into his eyes.
Kai begged for a miracle. How he wished that he would wake up and all this would just be a bad dream. He hoped that Cinder would live to see that she was never just a lowly mechanic. How she was always more than someone to him!
She cleared her mouth to say something instead a sharp breath was inhaled. Her lips now red with her own blood.
"You were the happy ending to my tragic life, Kai. I hope you remember that," She murmured.
He did not know if it was her or fragments of his own imagination speaking to him. He watched over as the others raised her and lay her across a stretcher. She was taken out to someplace where Kai followed blindly. They argued over something with Torin in the corner as he kept losing his mind- little by little.
He wanted to tell her, wanted to say them till she believed it.
"His ending without her would no longer be happy."
Still, he could not mutter any words as he choked on his own sobs. he was not brave enough to think that Cinder was dying inside. His haywire mind failing to register the happenings around him.
Torin appeared beside him and held him tight, unknowingly muttering soothing words- not knowing how to comfort the grieving Emperor. He stood outside white doors while Cinder lay inside, he cried his heart out on Torin's shoulder having had no clue if she was alive or not. He refused to listen to anything, he refused to talk- to ask about her state.
His mind played back the whole scenario over and over trying to make sense of his messed-up present.
Selene had been a mystery to him, she was a lost princess born out of his imagination, Torin used to describe it as a lost cause once. When he gave up on her, Cinder walked into his life. When the matter was revealed, he had hope. Selene and Cinder- just different names had been his hope for a long time, his ray of hope was struggling indoors. She was far away from him, from the world. He clutched on tightly to Torin trying to make sense of his falling apart life.
"T-Torin, is she a-a- okay?" he inquired.
"She will be."
"You think so?"
"Yes, Kai. She is a strong woman."
He remained silent for a long time- staring at the doors that would not allow him to enter. Trying to avoid thinking about the 'what-ifs'.
He did not move from his position for the entire day, keeping himself rooted to the seat before the door, with Torin beside him.
"You killed her, Kai. You are responsible for her fate... if not for you she would have never been drawn into this mess-"
"-She would not be dying right now"
"How selfish of you to use her for your own gain!?"
"She was just a poor girl aching to be loved- and look what you did!"
"You cursed her"
"'She is dead because of YOU"
He opened his eyes- panting for breath. All the voices sounded like Levana... she was dead right? He had never bothered to check if she was alive or dead, as he was in the haste due to Cinder's state- could she have survived?
Realizing he was just hyperventilating, it was a nightmare- nothing about it should trouble Kai into thinking that the tyrannical Queen was alive. He might have dozed off, sitting in the medical chamber of the palace, he thought trying to make his mind stray away from the loud thoughts of his mind.
'Was he cursed?'
Kai did not have many people in his life that he would have claimed to love, but the ones he did were either dead or dying.
'He had loved his parents, hadn't he? And where were they now?', He thought bitterly.
They hadn't even be buried like royals ought to, their goods burnt down to prevent the spreading of the disease to Kai or others. Their bodies were cremated in an incinerator as a precaution. Kai could not even be near them, being asked to see the whole ordeal from far away for his own safety. He had lost both of them to Leutomosis.
He loved Cinder and there she was a few metres away from him, perhaps already gone on another journey beyond life.
Maybe he was a cursed person, otherwise, why would all his loved ones die? Was he not capable of love? Could he not love anyone without having to lose them? And the ones he loved would all wither and die, while he watched them from far away?
Or was she the cursed one?
The girl who could not be loved, the one who would have a near-death experience, every time someone tried loving her. Cinder and Kai- were they two cursed souls?
Didn't she say, 'You were the happy ending to my tragic life.' and hadn't he thought, 'His ending without her would no longer be happy'?
Did she think he was responsible for her tragic life- her death? Hadn't she been an outcast for a major part of her life thanks to Kai, who failed to realize the sorrow of the cyborgs living in his own nation?
Were they just going to be each other's broken, sorrowful endings?
Not able to cope with his overwhelming thoughts, he looked around for Torin, only to find him nowhere.
He gawked at Thorne, who sat adjoining him and asked, "Thorne, Do you think I'm cursed?"
Thorne was confused, to say the least, maybe he was being too vague so he briefed, "Uh- like do you think I'm cursed? that Cinder- s-she is-"
"Is suffering because of you?" he provided, as Kai failed to continue. He nodded slightly, confirming that he was thinking the same thing.
Much to his surprise, Thorne smiled, not the flirty smile that usually did but a genuine smiled that reached his eyes and said, "You really love Cinder."
Taken aback by his remark he asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You are so alike, I can only imagine if the roles were reversed she would be here thinking the same thing."
"You think so?"
"I know so"
"What makes you so confident?"
"You had no idea how tensed Cinder was when you decided to marry Levana to prevent the wolf-hybrid soldiers from doing more damage. She never said it but she thought that she was responsible for all the mess created in your life."
"Okay," he replied, not knowing what else to say.
"Kai, what makes you think you are cursed anyways?"
"It's just- you know, all the people that I have cared about are dead and I do care about Cinder and she is inside fighting to stay alive- I just think I'm cursed, not capable of loving people," he explained.
Kai, would not admit it but saying it aloud made it seem foolish. Thorne would likely laugh at him for feeling he was 'cursed'- like was he even thinking through before popping the question to Thorne.
"Really Kai, sometimes I wonder the future of your country if you happen to be sentimental- how did we get two so feeble-minded monarchs to look after us?!" He asked, dramatically- can always rely on Thorne to disguise his sorrow with charm.
Kai rolled his eyes thinking to himself, 'why did he bother in the first place?' and looked away.
A sigh escaped him and he stated, "You are not cursed, Kai."
Now Thorne did have his attention, it might have been the first sincere thing he said after Cress was taken in OT. Kai realized how he was not the only one waiting for some news outside the medical chamber, not the only one who was afraid.
"You care about your advisor, umm what's his name?"
"Torin," Kai provided.
"Yeah Torin- you care about him, probably look up to him as well and he is neither dead nor trying hard to stay alive. You care about your people and I don't think all of them are dead right now, now are they?"
"No, they are not," he said even though it was a rhetorical question.
"I'm just afraid," he admitted after a long time to which Thorne honestly replied, "Me as well."
He looked at Thorne, trying to understand his grief- if Cress did not make it, Thorne would not be able to live with the guilt- knowing very well that he was responsible for her loss, that if not for him stabbing her in the stomach she would be alive.
"They would make it, right?" he asked, terrified of what Thorne would say.
He did not reply just pressed his lips in a thin line and looked before him. None of them was capable enough to answer it. So, Kai looked ahead as well and prayed because that's what all he could do. Pray.
"Kai stop thinking about bullshit things like being cursed."
Kai nodded, pointing out that he was listening and likely not going to think about how he might be cursed.
He thought before saying it aloud, rolling the words over and over before finally saying them.
"You are really a nice guy, Thorne. No wonder Cress really likes you."
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A/N: I had promised I had come up with angst, and see here I am- keeping my promise to you guys.
I know I have knocked a lot of medical facts, I know she should be unconscious within seconds but I just choose to overlook it for my plot. I wanted some deep farewell/ goodbye shit before Cinder becomes unconscious (builds up the angst you know).
I wanted to this idea for a long time now, Cinder's almost-death through Kai's POV. This fic was likely going to have a different ending than one the it has now- I was just going to live the ending in grey area but I had to change it to keep up with the prompt 'Cursed' for ship week. Don't blame me writing angst, I am just writing ship week prompts- and apparently all of them happen to be angst!
Tell me what's on your mind after reading it!
Votes and comments are always appreciated.
Thanks for reading!
Taglist: @cinderswrench @gingerale2017 @linhcinder686 @shellyseashell @ladyvesuvia @shelbylmkaider @levanariddlebackup @cindersassasin @kaider-is-my-otp (Tell me if you wanna be added/removed)
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imagineaworlds · 4 years ago
Text
I Love You (Part Twenty-Eight)
Written By: @desperately-bisexual​
Request: None.
Warnings: SMUT!! Cursing. Unprotected sex. Wrap it before you tap it, ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinary sibs. Dom/sub relationship. Sir kink. Impregnation kink. Fingering. Oral (fem receiving). Over stimulation. Soft sex. Emotional sex. The reader does go by they/them pronouns, however, Hotch refers to them as female when saying “good girl”.
Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Greenaway!Reader
Word Count: 5005
Timeline: Right after part twenty-seven.
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An uninterrupted, speed limit obeying road trip from Cincinnati to Quantico would have taken me and Hotch about eight hours to complete. The team probably figured that was our plan, but we actually took up Rossi’s advice to take back roads, and to take our time. We chose the long route, which went South, through West Virginia, which added another hour to the “scheduled” trip time. But what should have been only a few hours’ drive quickly turned into a three day adventure. We split up the drive into three days of two to three hours of driving, then stopping in a city to take some time to ourselves. Hell, we even did a little site seeing, even though that wasn’t really our thing. It was just nice to slow down for a bit. With everything that had been going on recently, I liked spending hours stuck inside a car with him, holding his hand, kissing his knuckles, singing along to music that he didn’t know. I enjoyed being in his company because there was a good hour or so in New York where I thought that I would never get moments like these. Every second with him mattered more now. Every fleeting moment was appreciated tenfold. I would never forget that.
On the first day, Hotch and I made a stop in Huntington, West Virginia. We found a hotel to hole up in, and we spent the day just relaxing, sleeping, and eating. We discovered a cute diner around the corner from the place we were staying at, and we learned for ourselves that they had the best milkshakes we ever had. It was there that we called Haley and Jack to let them know that “a case was running a bit longer than anticipated”, and we wouldn’t be home as soon as we thought. Haley was understanding, and just asked that we would call whenever we were about to fly home. She still didn’t know that Hotch wasn’t in good shape, and that was probably for the best. We didn’t want to worry her and Jack. I was already worried to death about him, they didn’t need that pressure, too.
On the second day, we drove from Huntington to Roanoke, Virginia. We knew that the way we planned the trip, it was only going to last three days and two nights, but that was better than nothing. Granted, it was already more than we should’ve taken off, anyhow. We would have to get back to work and Jack sooner than later. Anything more than three days would’ve sent the whole team into disarray. If Rossi were having trouble keeping them from sending out a search party for us already, I couldn’t imagine what would happen after seventy-two hours of not hearing from us. Rossi wouldn’t be able to hold them back very long, and that was alright.
I didn’t let Hotch drive at all. He kept insisting that he wanted to switch off, to give me a break, but I still refused. His hearing wasn’t necessarily getting better, but it wasn’t getting worse anymore, either. If the music were too quiet, he couldn’t hear it. If I mumbled something under my breath, he couldn’t hear it. If his phone started ringing, he couldn’t hear it. He was trying. I could tell that he was spending all of his energy on getting better for me and on acting like everything was normal, but I knew him. I knew when something was wrong, and I knew when he was lying to me. That was why I couldn’t let him drive. It wasn’t safe. Besides, I needed him to just take a break. After the bombing and his surgery, his body was still trying to heal. If he were behind the wheel and needed to make a sudden, calculated move in the case of emergency, I couldn’t trust that he’d actually be able to do it. Therefore, he was forced to sit in the passenger’s seat at all times.
Driving wasn’t the only thing I babied him over. Since telling me the truth about his ears and what the doctors told him, he had shown me the medicine that he was meant to be taking. There were a couple of different pills from his surgery, one to help with his headaches, and there was a bonding agent ear drop bottle— which happened to actually be the most important thing. At first, he insisted that he could do it himself, but when I caught him struggling to get the drops in his ear before we went to bed in Huntington, I made the executive decision that I’d be keeping track of his medication and that he was actually taking it. Hotch was surprisingly squirmy when it came to the drops. When I tried to help him for the first time that night, he fought against me until I sat on his lap and told him to just hold my hips. It managed to calm him down long enough for me to squeeze the drops in and move onto sorting out his pills. He was a little stubborn— actually, very fucking stubborn about me babying him. But I had to keep telling him that this was what happens when he would refuse to take care of himself. He proved that he wasn’t willing to do it, so I was having to do it for him. I didn’t think he appreciated the fact that I was bossing him around when he was used to that being his job in our relationship. I kind of liked it, though.
When we stopped in Roanoke for the second night of our trip, we stopped to grab lunch at a pizza place just a few blocks away from our hotel. After getting our food, I got Hotch’s pills out and started sorting the ones he needed to take in the afternoon, especially the ones he needed to take with food. He reluctantly took them, popping them in his mouth and drowning them down his throat with a swig of iced tea. He wanted a soda, but I glared at him and told him, “Over my dead body”, and I ordered a tea for him instead. Like I said, babying. But it was also like I said, he did this to himself. If he just would’ve obeyed the doctor’s original orders, then I would have never known that something was wrong, and I therefore wouldn’t’ve gotten involved. But now I was worried twice as much as before, and now I was spending all of my time making sure that he was only going to get better, and that he wasn’t going to do anything dumb to put his health in jeopardy again. Drinking a soda wasn’t the end of the world, I knew that. But if he wanted one so damn much, he shouldn’t have lied to me. It was as simple as that.
At the hotel, Hotch and I showered to get rid of the disgusting feel that came with sitting in a car all day. Hotch was taller than me, I’d be the first one to admit that, but that didn’t stop me from trying to wash the back of his hair when he seemed to struggle with that simple task. It was hard to miss how he cringed every time he rose his arms above his head, and how he still had to limp because his right leg wasn’t healed. His arms, chest, and left leg were all working overtime to try to keep up with me and prove that nothing was wrong. Every time he tried to wash his own hair, he’d bring his soapy hands to the front, and he could manage to lather it on slightly before giving up and deciding to let the water just rinse it through the rest of his hair. It wasn’t exactly the most effective way to do it. When I noticed his trick, though, that was when I jumped onto my tip-toes and tried doing it for him. He held my waist in his wet hands to keep me steady while I stretched to run my soapy fingers through his hair. That was much better than whatever the hell it was he was trying to do. It also didn’t hurt that it seemed to relax him.
I kissed him under the water as we spun around to face me so that he could wash the soap out of his hair. “I love you,” I mumbled against his lips. He kissed me harder, ignoring how the soap was dripping down his face. He squinted to make sure it wouldn’t sting his eyes. I smiled and wiped his face with my hands, using the water to help me wash it all away. “There. That’s better.”
He opened his eyes before kissing my cheek. “I love you.”
I reached around him to turn off the water. “Better?” I asked.
Hotch nodded and opened the shower curtain to grab us a towel each. He stepped out first. After he had his towel wrapped around his waist, he held his hand out for me to help me out. When we were both out of the shower, towels tight around our bodies, we headed to the bedroom to get changed into comfortable clothes. Then, when we were done, we crawled onto the bed to lay down for a couple of hours.
Hotch was laying on his back to my right while reading a book that he had picked up at a store a couple of small towns back. I was right beside him, my head tucked under his left arm, my torso pressed against his side as I hugged him close. One of his hands was holding his book open, the other one was on the outside of my left thigh, slowly and lightly rubbing circles over the bare skin. It was meant to be an innocent and comforting touch— and originally it was— but the longer he did it, and the wider the circle got, the more I took notice of how it was anything but innocent. Maybe in his mind he figured it was nothing, but his hands were clearly wandering, and I wasn’t naive.
At first, I tried to just ignore it and stay still in order to not give him the satisfaction of earning a response from me, but when his fingers slid their way up to my hip bone, it sent a chill down my spine that made me shiver and whine quietly. His fingers slid back down to my thigh and continued to circle slowly. Every second that passed, I could feel my stomach twisting into knots and my clit was throbbing with need. I let out a quiet sigh into his side, trying my best to hide it from him. He halted his movements and asked me if something was wrong, but I shook my head insistently, so he continued.
My hand that was flung over his chest and resting on his other side started inching back onto his body. I slid it up to the collar of his shirt and fisted the fabric in my grip as he slid back up to my hip bone again. I whimpered again, but he didn’t stop. He spent a few more agonizingly long seconds on teasing my hip with his fingertips before he laid his entire palm against my thigh, squeezed gently, and pulled my left leg over his. My shorts rode up higher on my thighs and he held me in place like that for a minute.
“Your fingers are cold,” I croaked.
“Maybe you should warm them up for me,” he responded, though he was still focused on his book.
Hotch’s left hand released my thigh and slowly slid down between my legs. I hissed at the feeling of his freezing cold fingers making space for themselves between my warm, shaking thighs. He was so close to where I needed him most. I wondered if he knew that. I wondered to myself if he knew that I was already soaking my panties and I was on the verge of begging for him. Maybe he did, because he began kneading the inside of my right thigh carefully and I finally let out a quiet moan.
“Sir…” I gasped, hiding my face in his side again.
“Shh...” he cooed, “I’m trying to read.”
I whimpered again and tried to pull my left leg off of him, but he trapped my ankle between his calves so that I couldn’t escape. I sighed, knowing that this wasn’t going to be good for me in the long run. Hotch had me stuck in a position that wasn’t realistic for letting me move or giving him access to where I needed him most. He wanted me exactly like that because there were so many ways he could play with me that didn’t include touching me where it would feel the best. He had proven to himself and me that just touching my skin slowly and lightly was enough to set me on fire, and he wasn’t about to give that game up yet.
The hand I had fisted around the collar of his shirt carefully let go. As his hand continued to grope the inside of my right thigh, I moved my hand down his chest, feeling how he tensed at my touch, and I rested it just below his belly button. He stayed tense, but he still didn’t look away from his book. In fact, he used his thumb to flip to the next page rather than tear his hand away from between my thighs to do so. I thought of a thousand different curse words that I wanted to throw at him, but I kept it all to myself as I dared to use my hand to wander down his body further.
“I’m trying to focus,” he said to me. His breath hitched and his hand grabbed my thigh roughly as I ventured under the waistband of his pajamas and felt how hard he was. “Baby…” he mumbled, biting back a moan.
I tried to pull my leg away again, thinking that he had let his guard down enough to allow me to do so, but when I made my attempt, his calves only captured my ankle again and with more force. The moan he had been holding back left his throat as I took his length in my hand and slowly pumped twice. Without warning, he threw his book to the side carelessly and pulled his hand out from between my thighs and used it to pull my own hand off of his length. Holding my wrist, his legs let go of my ankle, and he pushed me onto my back as he shifted on top of me.
He held my wrist against the mattress, but he stared at me with passion rather than uncontrollable lust, unlike what I was so used to. His eyes looked between my eyes and my lips before he finally said what was on his mind, “Can we just…” He swallowed hard. “Can we go back to basics for a second?”
I searched his eyes for a moment to make sure that he was okay. I didn’t want to pressure him into anything, and I certainly didn’t want to push him when he was still physically and emotionally recovering from New York. If he wasn’t ready, then he wasn’t ready. I wasn’t about to make him do anything he didn’t want to. I wanted whatever he wanted. If that meant just going back to cuddling, I was fine with that. If he wanted to fuck me into the mattress until I couldn’t walk, I was fine with that, too. Whatever he wanted. Whatever he needed. I figured that I’d let him take the lead, so I nodded.
Hotch leaned down and kissed me gently, his hand releasing my wrist. Both of his hands were planted on either side of my shoulders now, his knees were resting between mine, and his lips were gently pressed against mine, no tongue yet. My hands went up to his face and I cupped his cheeks earnestly. His hips dipped down and he grinded desperately against me through both of our pants. I moaned into his mouth, finally giving him access to dominate the kiss with his tongue.
He was so hard, and I was so wet. I just needed him inside me… I bucked my hips up against his, a plea for more, and he listened. He balanced his weight on his knees and one hand as he brought the other between us and snaked his fingers to my shorts and panties. He pulled them down with one effortless tug. He smirked as he threw them to the floor. I bit my lip while looking up at him, my eyes following his as he leaned over me again.
“Aaron,” I moaned when his fingers found my clit.
“Manners still,” he begged while grinding his hips down.
“Yes, Sir,” I nodded, holding his face in my hands.
“I love you.”
I swallowed his words as he slid two fingers into me, and I moaned a string of curse words before he kissed me deeply. Every inch of me was on fire— more than before. Hotch hovered over me with his mouth on mine to silence my words, his fingers working in and out of me at an intricately slow pace. They curled as they pumped inside of me slowly again, and as a result, my back arched off the bed, my head falling against my pillow, my eyes screwed shut. I was so used to Hotch either going so painfully slow in order to tease me for hours on end or so fast that as he was racing to catch my orgasms one after the other, I could see stars. There usually wasn’t any in between, and that was fine because it was fun to see where my games with him would land me on the spectrum of punishments to rewards. But this…
My hips bucked again as his thumb pushed against my clit and started rubbing figure eights.
This was absolute bliss and euphoria. He wasn’t trying to tease and edge me or force multiple orgasms out of me. His pace, mixed with the way he would spread and curl his fingers while buried deep inside of me were all for the sake of telling me: “I love you more than the moon loves the stars you see behind your eyelids right now.” And I had never felt more breathless in my life as my orgasm began to approach.
Hotch’s fingers curled right into my g-spot, and once he found it, he didn’t stop going for it. My mouth was agape as the back of my head buried itself further into the pillow underneath, and I cursed and cursed like it was the only thing I knew how to do besides moaning. When his thumb changed page and direction on my clit, that was when I was a goner. Hotch sat all the way back on his heels so that he could use his other hand to hold my hips still as I cried out his name, clenched my walls around his fingers, and came as hard as ever.
He smirked to himself and his little victory as I continued to buck around wildly, despite his attempt to pin me. Next thing I knew, after I had the strength to tell him to wipe that grin off his face, Hotch shrugged and leaned down to replace his thumb on my clit with his tongue. I yelped, thrashing around in response to the sensitivity of my throbbing clit and his unrelenting fingers inside of me.
“I know you can handle it, baby girl,” he whispered before licking a long, slow stripe up from his fingers in my core to my aching clit.
I nodded eagerly. “Yes— Yes, Sir—” Another moan broke away from me just when he added another finger and he spread me open ever so slightly. It certainly didn’t feel like being as full as when his cock was inside of me— nowhere near that length and girth— but when he spread them apart in order to stretch me… Fuck… “Please, Sir.”
“Please what?”
“Please make me cum again for you, Sir.”
“Good girl,” he complimented.
In an instant, his lips wrapped around my clit, and he used a mixture of licking and gentle sucking to set me on fire again. God, I loved learning the U.S. State Capitals. By Denver, my fingers were tangled in Hotch’s hair in order to keep him where he was, a silent plea to make him keep going. And he didn’t stop. Tallahassee sent me over the edge for the second time that night, but he didn’t relent. The three fingers inside of me ignored how hard I was squeezing around them in order to keep rubbing against my g-spot. My orgasm had barely just ended, and I felt the desperate need to cum again; but I just wanted him. I wanted every inch of his cock inside of me. Nothing else. I could keep learning the State Capitals all day, but we had only just reached the end of Atlanta and I never needed him more.
“Sir,” I moaned, tugging on his hair lightly to gain his attention. “Fuck me. Please.”
Hotch looked up at me through his lashes, still halfway through Honolulu, and I felt a third orgasm approaching, the knot in my stomach tightening, and my thighs tried pressing together around his head. The ‘B’ in Boise was what did it for me.
“Hotch, please!” I cried out. “Please, baby… Just fuck me. Please.”
Hotch’s fingers stilled inside of me once he was sure that I had come down from my high, then they carefully slid out. I gasped at feeling so empty suddenly but caught my breath when he brought them to my open mouth. I sucked on all three of them, focusing on the task he had given me rather than the fact that he was trying to clean up the mess he made with his tongue, which would surely make me cum again if he just added a little more speed and pressure— which he wouldn’t… but he could… if he wanted to.
He pulled his fingers from my mouth after he finally sat up again. “Baby girl,” he cooed.
“I know. I’m sorry.” I softened my eyes. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to say his name, but it had slipped from me while I was nothing but puddy in his hands and unable to think about literally anything. If I could have, I wouldn’t have said anything to him at all, but my desperation for him had been so strong that I knew that saying his name was a sure way to catch his attention. “It won’t happen again.”
Hotch smiled and tucked some of my hair behind my ear with his dry hand. “You did so well, baby girl,” he complimented. “I’m not mad.” That was a relief. I watched him, my hips still grinding against the mattress with anticipation, while Hotch struggled to get out of his pants. Once they were around his ankles, though, he gave up, figuring that it was good enough since he was just desperate to be inside of me. “I love you,” he whispered while hovering over me.
After I leaned up slightly and grabbed his face in my hands, I whispered, “I love you, too.” And in an instant, I felt his tip circle my clit then slide down to my entrance. “I love you, I love you, I love you…” I kept going as he entered me with everything he had to offer.
He groaned roughly as he bottomed out inside of me. “Fuck, baby girl. How are you still so fucking tight?” He pulled his hips back, nearly pulling out of me entirely, then he slid back in. “God…” he buried his face in the crook of my neck.
There was a point in New York, when Morgan and I were still in the car after getting the call about the bombing and we weren’t sure if Hotch and Kate were involved yet, that I asked myself if I would ever know this feeling again. I was so terrified that I had lost him, and I wondered if I would ever feel the warmth and kindness of his kiss, or if I would ever get to feel at home in his arms, or if I would ever get to feel on cloud 9 with him buried to the hilt inside of me ever again. He was the only person I had ever met who mattered enough to me like that. And the fear of nearly losing him still hadn’t left me yet, but getting the chance to be trapped in his arms as he hugged me close while his hips did all the work and he kissed me as passionately as he could… that was all I could ask for. That was only the tip of the iceberg of what I was scared of losing when I thought I had lost him forever, but I had him, and I wasn’t about to let him go ever again.
Crying during sex was less than ideal normally, but there was something about that evening. Between us, we usually spent our time in the bedroom fucking each other until our games could come to an end and we were entirely worn out. But that evening, there was a silent, mutual understanding that we weren’t there to play or just fuck. This was the truest, strongest way of telling one another: “I love you. I can’t lose you. Ever.” And I felt that with how fried and strained our emotions had been since New York, we were both just… broken, tired, and so grateful to be with one another. So as he lifted his head from my neck and I saw how soft and red his eyes were, so similar to mine, I kissed him before it could get out of hand.
Hotch’s right arm pulled out from underneath my back and he brought his hand to my face. After wiping away a tear from my cheek, and I returned the favor, he drove into me again with a little more force. “I love you so much,” he gasped against my jawline before nibbling down slightly. His cock hit just the right spot after stretching me further than his fingers ever could.
“Shit—” I moaned. “Please… Oh, fuck…”
He was going fast and hard now. Not like usual, but certainly a noticeable improvement from his slow hip thrusts only seconds ago. He was chasing his orgasm now, wanting to cum deep inside of me, and I wanted nothing less than that. He had given so much to me between the gingerly placed touches, the orgasms that just didn’t seem to stop, and showering me in so much love that could last a thousand lifetimes. I wanted all of him. Everything. I didn’t want the kisses to ever stop, I never wanted to leave his arms, and I wanted to feel the fullness he gave me every time.
He huffed as his muscles flexed while holding me. “I’m gonna…” I wiped my hand over his forehead as it wrinkled with concentration. He was so close; I could feel him tensing while his thrusts got increasingly sloppy. “Y/N,” he moaned my name into my mouth, and I begged him to do it again. “Y/N, Y/N, Y/N, Y/N…”
“Aaron—” I whined, almost as a warning. Once again, I was so close to the edge, too.
He let out an animalistic groan as his hold on my check tightened slightly and he came inside of me. I writhed around, holding him tighter, my hands moving to his back and clawing stripes into his skin as I came, too. He held me through our orgasms, moaning with every twitch his cock gave. When he stopped moving, he collapsed slightly, still careful not to crush me. I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling both the sexual and sensual relief waving over me.
He was there. He was with me. He was in me. He loved me. I loved him. We were going to be okay. I wasn’t going to lose him. I wasn’t going to let him go.
“I love you,” I whispered into his ear, feeling his arms snake around me so that he could hug me. “I’m here.”
After taking another moment to just hold me close, Hotch rolled off me, pulling out slowly, then falling onto the bed. His arms continued to stay wrapped around me, keeping me close to his chest as he laid down. He adjusted his head on the pillows, trying to get comfortable. I put my head on his chest, returning to the original cuddle position we had started out in the first place.
“Basics...” I patted his shoulder. “Basics is good.”
He let out a slight chuckle, “Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah,” I sighed, relaxing in his arms once more. I looked up at him slightly. “I love you, Aaron. I feel like I don’t say it enough.”
He pouted his eyes and wiped a tear from my cheek. “Every time you look at me, I know you’re thinking it. When you’re not saying it, I know it. That’s all I can ask for.”
“I love you.” I leaned up and kissed him. “I love you.” I hugged his shoulders. “I love you.” I wrapped my legs around his hips. “I love you.”
He held me close. “I love you.” He kissed me passionately. “I love you.” He grabbed my hips. “I love you.” He flipped us over again. “I love you.” He kissed my lips again. “I love you, Y/N. More than anything.”
We both leaned in for a passionate kiss.
“I love you,” we both said.
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the-walking-memelords · 5 years ago
Text
Allegiances: Chapter 19
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 |Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 20
Series is rated M
Word Count: 2958
Sometimes you just need to do what you need to and try to live with the aftermath.
Read it on Ao3!
Read it on Wattpad!
AJ ran until his lungs burned as tears streamed down his cheeks, cutting tracks through the smears of walker guts. The boy heeded Clementine’s advice, the sun’s hot rays burned against his back as he let his shadow guide him until he stood before a giant metal fence. The original bars were bent and busted, sheet metal affixed to block the wall’s occupants from outside view.
The small boy heaved and wheezed as he tried to catch his breath, his mind feeling fuzzy and dizzy as he stumbled forward. AJ tried to call out, form any words at all, but the sentences came out broken in shards as he struggled to remain standing. Completely exhausted, he sank to the dried leaves below, looking up and seeing a thin figure leaned over the wall.
“Mitch! Louis! It’s the kid!” The boy’s raspy voice carried loudly through the air. AJ wondered why he would yell like that. Monsters would hear him even from far away.
A smaller gate off to the side let out a metallic shriek as it was quickly swung on its hinges, clattering loudly against the brick. Two figures bolted from the opening, one wearing a big coat he remembered was Louis. Louis fell to his knees next to AJ, putting his hands on the blood-soaked boy’s shoulders.
“AJ, are you okay? Where’s Clementine?” His eyes darted wildly to the forest around them, frantically searching for her.
“C-C...lem go… got…” AJ coughed out, wheezing and choking on the smell of his own gut-smeared clothes.
We have to go back for her!
Louis sent the other boy a concerned look before AJ was scooped up into his arms.
“It’s okay, buddy. I got you.” He assured as AJ struggled to stay awake.
Louis called out for someone as he placed the boy down at one of the picnic tables, most of the others immediately crowding around. AJ still shook as his breathing began to calm, though the words remained clogged in his throat. Not even he knew what to say, however, as a flurry of faces he had mostly only seen in passing before had now surrounded him.
“Alright, all y’all give the kid some space!” A loud and commanding voice came from a chubby girl with bright orange hair. Her imposing tone immediately vanished once she kneeled down in front of him, her eyes turning soft and trusting. “Hey there, sug’, I’m Ruby. Are you hurt at all?”
“No.” He breathed out, rubbing away some of the guts on his face with his sleeve.
“But Clem is.”
Ruby and Louis both froze. They stared at him with eyes filled with even more worry than before.
“She got bit.”
Everyone around him became quiet and still. Horror across their faces hidden with varying levels of obscurity.
“No…” Louis broke the silence as he stood, hands gripping tightly at his dreads, a mannerism he’d seen in Clem many times.
“That’s not fucking true. No fucking way. Not her. Not her.”
Louis paced in a small circle as a few tears cascaded down his freckled face. Another tall boy with an angry red cut stitched up across his cheek put a hand on his shoulder, pulling Louis into a half hug.
“Clem said you’re a doctor.” He pleaded with the girl.
“So you gotta help her. She’ll die if you don’t.
“AJ I can’t fix a bite. Nothing can.” She said solemnly, her voice beginning to break.
“I got rid of it though!” He argued.
“What do you mean?” Louis stepped forward, face painted with pain and confusion.
“How did you ‘get rid’ of a bite?”
“I cut her leg off.”
---
AJ lead the way as Louis followed quickly beside. Ruby with her medical bag and a boy named Aasim with a bow in his hand brought up the rear as the four of them raced through the trees to find their lost friend. Birds soared through the branches overhead, twittering almost mockingly as if trying to make the people below jealous of their speed and freedom.
What remained of James' barn sat in a clearing at the end of the path, the walls having had huge holes torn into them by the onslaught of walkers that now lay dead around its perimeter.
"What the fuck happened here?" Aasim asked in shock as he checked for any around them that might still be moving.
"Clem got too sick to run, so we hid." AJ jumped over each rotting corpse, having previously made sure none would come back again.
"I stopped them from getting in."
Louis didn't stop to listen to the boy's response as he threw open the double doors. AJ was hesitant to enter, not entirely sure what he'd find inside. He watched Louis look around before rushing down to where Clementine had been laying with Ruby following him in. Were they too late? AJ felt he owed it to Clem to see for himself, no matter the final result of what he'd done to her.
She's gonna live. Stop thinking like that, dummy.
Clem's the toughest ever.
AJ forced every step forward until he crossed the threshold. Louis crouched next to her, muttering lowly into her ear, his voice catching every few words. The older boy ran his thumb across her pale cheek, eliciting no response from the unconscious girl. The shallow rise and fall of her chest being the only sign of life.
AJ couldn’t watch her deathly face any longer, his eyes instead moving to where Ruby sat on the other side of Clem. She unwrapped the blood-soaked hoodie from the stump he had tied it to, the infected segment of her leg laid detached less than a foot away. Everything about this looked so wrong to AJ.
“You… cauterized it?” The girl said with a tone of surprise. The smell of burning flesh still emanated from the wound.
“Where’d you learn that?”
AJ just crossed his arms and shrugged. He knew the people at the Delta were bad, and they taught him a lot of things. AJ feared if he told them too much they might think he was bad too.
They must have thought Clem was bad.
Clementine told him when you do bad things you have to ‘atone’ for them. Maybe this is why they helped her now because she ‘atoned’ for the bad things she did because of the Delta.
AJ recognized the bottle Ruby held in her hand. Medicine for cleaning. He remembered how horribly it burned whenever he got a bad cut. He watched Clementine’s face intently, disheartened when she showed no reaction to touch.
“She’s so cold…” Louis croaked, his voice barely above a whisper as he rubbed Clementine’s frozen fingers in his hands.
“This is all I can do for now.” Ruby declared as she fastened the final bandage.
“She’s no doubt suffering from hypovolemic shock, and if she was as sick as AJ said she was, she could still turn.”
“She’s gonna make it!” AJ refused to believe otherwise.
“None of you know Clem like I do. She’s stronger than anyone.”
The redhead looked at him with eyes of pity as she let out a disappointed huff, looking back at Clementine's expressionless face.
“Only time will tell I suppose.”
---
The walk back felt excruciatingly slow. Louis held Clem tight as he carried her with AJ holding the girl’s limp hand.
“Keep an eye on her breathing.” Ruby reminded. Casting them a nervously worried glance.
She just doesn’t get it.
Aasim waved to the same boy who was on watch before, signalling for him to open the gate. Upon entering, they were greeted to a rather distraught welcoming party.
“Is that them? Is she alive?” A blonde girl with bandages wrapped tightly over her eyes stood from her spot at a picnic table and tried to wander to way over to them, her arms waving wildly in front of her.
Violet, that was her name.
She was stopped by Tenn as he ran up beside her, grabbing firmly to her slim arm and narrating what he saw to the blinded girl.
“They all came back, and Clem… her leg really is gone…” His voice began to stutter.
“Clem? Clementine?” She tried to approach further, crying out to her friend.
“Is she dead? What happened?”
“She… ain’t out of the woods yet.” Ruby announced to the group.
“We just gotta wait and see if she wakes up… or if she… turns.”
“She’s gonna fucking make it, Ruby.” Louis hissed.
AJ followed after Louis as he took Clem into one of the school’s buildings. The hallway was littered with graffiti and bits of debris. Each wall was lined with rows of doors. He followed the older boy until he stopped outside a specific one.
“Can you get the door?” He asked to which AJ obliged, finding the sparsely decorated interior.
Louis placed Clementine on the bunk to the left, handling her as if she was made of glass. He watched him stroke her hair for a moment before stepping back to take in the horrid sight. The older boy fiddled with something in his pocket as he scanned her uncertainly, finally shaking his head and pulling out a roll of duct tape.
“What’s that for?” AJ asked as he hesitantly approached.
“Something that’ll at least get Ruby off our backs a little.” He said as he took her left hand, rubbing his thumb across her palm before bringing it to the metal post of the bed frame. AJ flinched at the sound of the ripping tape as Louis firmly attached Clementine’s wrist to the post.
The boy jumped up onto the bed next to his protector, his feet swinging off the side. He pinched her side in a spot he knew she was ticklish, begging for any response. The dark circles that hung under her eyes almost seemed to weigh them shut.
“How did this happen?” Louis’ voice was barely above a whisper.
“Right after we split up.” AJ answered.
“We tried to climb the rocks but she was already hurt and slow.”
It’s all Minerva’s fault.
AJ had never spoken to Minnie directly more than a couple of times, but the way her ice cold eyes always stared into him gave him a weird feeling. He always knew there was something weird about her, but he couldn’t have guessed she was that crazy. She was supposed to be the friend of these people, but she attacked them, and tried to kill her own brother! Clementine always taught him that family protects each other no matter what.
“Goddammit.” The tall boy stomped his foot as he began to pace around the room.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry.”
“She wouldn’t blame you, y’know.” That got him to stop pacing.
“She wanted you to protect Tenn, and you did. So she wouldn’t be mad.”
“That doesn’t make abandoning her like I did any more right.” Louis sniffed as he wiped his nose with the sleeve of his coat.
“That’s bullshit.”
Louis suddenly coughed, choking on nothing but air. He stared down at the boy and let out a small chuckle.
“I find it highly unlikely that Clementine lets you cuss, so I don’t think I should either.”
Damn.
“But thanks, kiddo.” He smiled.
The moment of levity in the air seemed to diminish as quickly as it appeared. Blowing out the window as they both glanced back at their reason for being in this room.
“What do we do now?” He asked Louis as he sat down hunched over on the opposite bunk, elbows resting on his knees and his head hung low.
“I guess we wait.”
And wait they did. Long minutes of silence quickly turned into hours as the room remained quiet with nothing but the soft wheezing of the girl in the bed to fill the void. They waited. Waited for her to show any signs of anything, but the girl’s small noises and shallow but steady breathing played over and over like a song on loop. A song that felt nothing like the music AJ knew. The sickly tunes held no resemblance to the sweet melodies she used to sing to him. All he could do was wait and hope that soon a more cheery theme would begin to play. Until then, they sat until the room began to grow dark with the setting sun.
A humble knock at the door was enough of an atmosphere change to cause them both to jump. Ruby entered holding a couple bowls of water in her hands, each with a tattered cloth hanging off the side.
“One for Clem’s head and the other to clean you up, little mister.” Ruby stated in a hesitantly cheerful tone.
AJ had forgotten about the state of himself. His loosely-fitting shirt stuck to his skin with the dried walker blood. The same stuff smeared dry and cracked on his face and hands, caked around his nails. He sat cross-legged on the floor with the bowl in front of him, dipping his hands into the cool water and watching it become tinged with red as he scrubbed his hands.
Ruby made her way over to Clementine and placed the back of her hand against the girl’s forehead, then moved to check her pulse.
“She ain’t runnin’ a fever which is good, but her pulse and breathing are still weaker than normal.” The redhead furrowed her brow.
“We’ll have to keep a close eye on her through the night, but there’s nothing we can do for her right now but let her rest.”
“How long until she wakes up?” AJ asked from his spot on the floor and was met with an apologetic look from the girl.
“If she does, It’ll either be sometime tonight or tomorrow. Which is why we should just make her comfortable and let her heal.”
Louis opened his mouth to speak but Ruby answered his question before he could even ask it.
“I don’t know, Louis. I wish I could tell you there was more I could do, but there just isn't.” She let out an exasperated sigh as her resolve began to crack and she turned away from them, heading to the door.
“Omar said dinner’s gonna be ready soon. You should see if Tenn or Willy have any old clothes for AJ, I’m gonna go check on Violet.”
AJ caught the edge of tears in her voice.
Louis left as AJ continued to scrub the blood from his skin. The chill of the evening air was amplified by the cool water. He stared at the now stained cloth sitting in the red water in front of him. He pushed it to the side, getting up and sitting on the bed next to Clem.
“Clementine?” He asked in a small voice.
“Can you hear me?”
Of course, no response came, but AJ wasn’t about to let that stop him.
“Ruby said you need to sleep a lot to get better, but don’t stay asleep too long, okay? Everyone’s really scared.”
AJ remembered something she had told him a long time ago.
“You’re the toughest boy in the whole world, AJ.”
“I’m not scared though. You taught me how to control my fear. How to be brave.”
“It’s okay to be scared, but never let it control you.”
“So I’m gonna be brave for everyone else. Just like you were brave for me all the time.”
AJ walked over to the dresser and pulled the fresh cloth out of the cold water, squeezing it and letting it drip back into the bowl. He carefully brought the damp cloth to Clementine’s face, wiping away Lilly’s blood.
Thinking about that evil woman gave AJ an odd feeling in his stomach. A feeling of something rotten and twisted. She made Clem do all kinds of bad things to people. All he wanted was to keep Lilly away from her. To protect her, just as she did for him. So AJ washed the remnants of Delta from Clementine’s skin.
They can’t touch us now.
The door creaked open again as Louis entered with a stack of clothes folded under his arm.
“These are from Tenn, back when he first got here. They should fit you.”
“Thank you.” AJ said as he put the cloth back into the bowl.
“Chef Omar, the cooking god of Ericson’s himself, has worked through the pain of the bullet hole in his leg -to Ruby’s dismay- and prepared us his signature rabbit stew.” The worry behind his smile was painfully obvious.
“If you don’t want to sit with the other kids yet that’s okay, I’ll bring you a bowl after you get changed.”
“Are… you gonna eat in here too?” Part of him didn’t want to be alone.
“Of course, little man.” He chimed optimistically.
“It’s up to us to look after Clem while she gets better.”
It’s our turn to take care of everything.
Louis held his hand out for a high five, to which AJ happily obliged. Louis cast the sleeping girl one final glance before heading off to the courtyard.
AJ rooted through the pile of clothes Louis had left behind. He chose a pair of plain blue jeans and a green t-shirt depicting what used to be his favourite toy.
Discooooo Brrroccoli!
He grabbed the rest of the pile and unceremoniously threw it into the bottom drawer of the wooden dresser, leaving the blood-stained garments piled against the wall. He stopped at the door just before he went to follow Louis, turning back to the girl on the bed.
“I’ll be right back.” He said to Clementine.
“I promise we won't talk too loud.”
You get to rest now.
Just like you always wanted.
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fullstop-official · 5 years ago
Text
A Scheduled Four Hours of My Local Drugstore Hell
AKA: Chapter Two
Once upon a time, two high school sweethearts were married. They’d already fallen head-over-heels in love, so they tied the knot, bought a house, built successful careers, and even started a family together.
Then, they got divorced when their son was in seventh grade.
Since the divorce, I’ve lived with my mom in the Valley. Not too long after their marriage dissolved, my dad got a job offer to teach English at Purdue, and he couldn’t possibly pass up such a sweet deal, so he moved to Indiana. I only get to see him in person a few times a year, less and less since he started teaching spring and summer courses. At first, it was pretty tough and kind of hit me hard, but it probably could have been worse. It was a fairly clean break – there wasn’t really a lot of fighting. Instead, they just both sort of realized they’d married the wrong person. They’re still friends, which is better than what Bryson had to deal with when his parents split up, so I figure I’m one of the lucky ones.
***
After band practice, I’m back in the Gator’s passenger seat with an altered mood and the dread caused by the clause of a hastily written contract looming over me. At the very least, Travis is always musically prepared, so I don’t have to sit through the overplayed crap on the radio. Not all of his stuff is particularly to my taste, but it’s absolutely nothing like Selena’s so I can deal with having to hear a Nickelback song every once and a while.
I don’t have a car of my own, so this is all commonplace. Travis is basically my ride everywhere. We usually aren’t too far apart anyway. Both of us live in Woodland Hills in the third quadrant (as bisected by the highways and major streets) where the roads start to mercilessly curve in order to work with the mountains. The bends, levels and hills made it an equally exciting and terrifying experience learning how to drive, so more often than not, I graciously decide to leave that part up to Travis.
I live in one of the two-story homes, which is pretty rare because Woodland Hills is basically made up of single-story ranches that were definitely built during that bold period between the fifties and the eighties – low, gradual rooflines, giant stone on the same building as ugly siding, the whole nine yards. I wouldn’t be too surprised if half of them still have shag carpets, faux wood panels, and flower power wallpaper from the seventies.
Travis pulls into my driveway behind my mom’s car, and we both climb out of the Gator. We head inside through the front door. The smell of spices and grease hits me the instant we step from the LA summer heat into air conditioning. The scents waft from the kitchen in through the living room.
“We’re home!” I call out as Travis and I kick off our shoes. We follow the aroma, and the crackles and pops that start to become clearer, into the kitchen.
My mom’s still in scrubs which means when she got home the hunger and thought of dinner overruled everything else, including changing clothes. She’s standing before the stove with stir fry sizzling on the element.
“Doctor Scott!” Travis uses his standard greeting – a high, breathy, surprised gasp in his best impression of Janet from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It does not suit his voice at all, but it’s been his go-to hello for my mom since we first saw the movie back in middle school. I’m sure that must be why it’s one of his favourite scenes because, honestly, it’s thirty straight seconds of people yelling names. And it repeats.
“Travis is here,” she states, half sarcastic and wearing a grin. “Big surprise.”
“Yeah, I just can’t seem to get rid of him,” I joke.”
Travis scoffs back teasingly as he drops into one of the chairs at our kitchen table. “Em fo dir teg ot gniog reven er’uoy, Nagrom,” he says in reverse.
“Taht tuoba ees ll’ew, Sivart.”
“Stop speaking in tongues or I’m hiring an exorcist,” my mom chimes in. She turns a bit to look over her shoulder while I open the fridge. She asks, already knowing the answer, “Are you staying for dinner, Travis?”
“If you insist.” I don’t have to see his face while I’m digging around to know that he’s smirking as he says it.
“Intercepting my leftovers before they even had a chance,” she sighs playfully.
“Is it vegetarian stir fry again?” I ask, only because I notice from the corner of my eye that her pan seems to lack protein. I kick the fridge door shut, hands occupied by two sodas. I toss the Cherry Coke to Travis and he, thankfully, catches it. There have been a few tragic instances where one of us has missed, and the can exploded as a casualty, and it really isn’t fun cleaning liquid sugar off of every surface in a seven-foot radius.
In response to my question, my mom lets out a little disapproving hum. “It wouldn’t be if you’d ever listen to me and take the chicken out of the freezer when I ask you to.”
Travis laughs as he cracks open his can.
“At least I know it means you’re eating your vegetables.”
“I mean, I don’t really have many other options. Between driving to somewhere for a burger or staying and eating your rabbit food, this one’s the simplest.”
“Kind of an Occam’s Razor for food choices,” Travis interjects.
“Precisely.”
“You two are weird.” She looks up from stirring the pan and focuses on me. “Work tonight?”
I nod. “At six. Short shift. But I wouldn’t be stuck in CVS purgatory if I already had a car and didn’t have to save for one.”
“I gave you a choice. Car now or tuition later.” She points the spatula at me. “And you, my friend, picked the smart option. Even if it means Travis gets to steal my food and camp out in my home. Will I be seeing him later, too?”
“Likely,” Travis answers. “I am his ride everywhere, after all.” It’s his small attempt at helping my cause and rescuing me from part-time retail, but it ultimately doesn’t end with my mom seeing the light and offering to buy me an alternative mode of transportation.
Travis changes the subject after taking another sip of his drink.
“Coming to the gig Friday night, Doctor Scott?”
My mom has told him many times that he can call her by her first name, or even just call her mom at this point. Travis refuses. She’s stopped trying to fight it.
“Nope. Date night.”
My mom has seen a few other guys since the divorce, but she’s been with her current boyfriend, Derek, for about six-or-seven months now, I believe. Ironically, he was my dad’s best friend all through high school. They were even in a band together back then, too.
“Besides, Ray’s Underground is kind of sketchy. Don’t they pay you in beer?” She gives me a “mom look,” one brow raised.
“They pay us. We get about four-fifty a show. Bryson funnels it back into the band.”
“The free beer is just a perk, not currency,” Travis adds with a grin.
“Why can’t you be like normal teenagers and just lie to me about your illegal shenanigans?” She shakes her head. Her hair is still pulled back, so the low ponytail flops between her shoulder blades. “I’ve heard you guys a hundred times anyway. You’re good. I don’t have to go watch every show.”
“Too bad. You’ll miss Morgan’s lead-singing debut.”
I feel the physical part of me freeze up, and others inside die instantly with that kill shot that came out of nowhere. My mom’s head whips up from the stove and her light, wide eyes spend a second bouncing between me and my best friend. He’s still wearing a smug face. I’m just trapped in that “stay perfectly still and nothing bad will happen” mindset like some stunned piece of prey. Eventually, after what feels like an eternity, her gaze settles on Travis in disbelief.
“Morgan?” she asks. “Morgan Scott? Morgan Jamie Scott the Second?”
My parents are both uncreative, naming-impaired, cruel narcissists. I have my dad’s first name and the middle is my mom’s, so I guess it’s a good thing they were both stuck with unisex names. I’ve been told it would have been reversed if I’d been a girl: Jamie Morgan.
“My son?” The spatula tip is pointed my way again. The tenseness has begun to fade away and now I just want to roll my eyes at her theatrics. “Him?”
“Even signed a contract,” Travis confirms. “He’s going to sing our encore, front-and-center.”
“Wow,” she remarks. “I’m almost sad I’m going to miss that.” Her curious stare briefly finds its way back to me before her focus moves back to her cooking again. “What are you singing?”
Travis jumps in and answers before I can. “Blank Space.”
I notice a second too late that he refused to elaborate on which version we’re doing.
I feel that sinking pressure of remorse mixed with something that’s bordering on annoyance because my mom bursts out laughing after putting the title to a song, and the song to the original singer’s face, and then probably that face on my face. She’s obviously thinking about the overplayed pop version she’s heard a billion times.
“Thanks, Trav.” Monotone. Sarcasm. In response, he just raises his can of Cherry Coke to me like a small, mischievous salute. He’s grinning and practically glowing with schadenfreude.
When she stops mocking me, my mom turns. She shoves her spatula into my hand. “Watch the food, Taylor Swift; I’m going to go get changed.” As she steps around me to leave, she reaches up the height I’ve got on her and messes my hair, only adding to the humiliating taunting. “God, you need a haircut.” She says this about once a month to me, and every few days to Travis – not that it accomplishes anything.
I sigh silently as I take her place before the frying vegetables, and she disappears from the kitchen. I hear her laughter start up again – she isn’t finished basking in the sheer hilarity everybody except me seems to find in the deal I was bribed into making.
“She’ll be calling me Taylor Swift for the rest of my life.”
“No doubt.”
“I hate you,” I say.
“I know,” Travis replies, definitely still smirking.
***
When I get off of work at ten after a scheduled four hours of my local drugstore hell, Travis is waiting for me in the Gator, parked in a space by the door and blaring Sum 41 so loud all of Winnetka is liable to complain. He turns the volume down when I climb into the passenger seat to something more suitable for conversation.
“Fun night?” he asks to tease me.
“I think a piece of my soul died.”
Travis chuckles in response – he’s heard enough of my CVS horror stories to know I’m not exaggerating. He encounters some idiots at his job, sure, but there’s a special brand of general-public stupidity that I’m exposed to every single time I walk into CVS wearing a nametag and a polo.
“What did you do while I was being tortured?”
He’s wearing another conceited look as he backs out of the space in the vacant lot. “I met up with Sweet Caroline Wu for a little while.”
Sweet Caroline Wu goes to our school and had a major Neil Diamond obsession back in the tenth grade, hence the nickname. (She’s hot too, which is also pretty sweet, in my opinion.) Travis and Sweet Caroline have been hanging out as a pair for a couple weeks now, usually whenever I’m working. They both say they’re not dating or fooling around, but they absolutely are. Travis talks about her a lot in that dopey, smitten way. I end up hearing a lot about how her lips taste like strawberries, and how her hair smells like coconut, and how her breasts feel (perfect, according to him).
So, yeah, they’re totally dating.
“Is she coming on Friday?” I ask. I know Sweet Caroline doesn’t really like the kind of music we play, but she likes Travis enough that she’ll sit through an entire band practice just to fawn over him.
“Of course. I promised her a backstage tour after the set. And she can be another witness when you dump your girlfriend.”
Those words sound like a choir of angels to me. I almost expect the night-darkened heavens to part, and a beam of light to shine down on the promise of mine and Selena’s contractually-destroyed fake relationship as it’s so close to coming to an end. It’s the clause of my agreement with Bryson, however, that stops this from happening. It weighs heavily on me like a cloud of smog blocking the Godly illumination’s full radiance.
By the time we’re back in Woodland Hills and pulling into my driveway, the music has shifted to blessthefall. Travis shuts the Gator off in the middle of Hollow Bodies. He hauls a familiar overnight duffel bag over his shoulder as we walk to the door, which means that, at some point between making out with Sweet Caroline Wu and coming to pick me up from work, he went home, at least for a few minutes.
“How is it over there?” I ask him.
“Not safe. Have to wait it out another month.”
Travis’ older brother, Tyler, is home for the summer. He’s majoring in structural engineering at UCB, which means that Travis’ parents are asking him about his courses, and also asking Travis what his plans are after he graduates high school. They don’t like the answer that he gives.
Both Longfield brothers got in part-time at this garage during the summers, and, while Tyler sees it as a source of a few extra bucks, it’s what Travis wants to do – I mean, not the cleaning and administration stuff he’s stuck doing, but the fixing part. His parents think he can do better than “just a lowly auto mechanic,” even though he’d definitely have an apprenticeship lined up after vocational school, and a guaranteed full-time job after that. When his brother is home, that all goes out the window, and he has to spend most days and nights over at my place. He’d end up in a straightjacket otherwise.
My mom is still awake in the living room when we enter. She’s sitting in front of the TV, watching one of her recordings of some drama on NBC that makes her cry. I always tease her and tell her she should stop watching if she can’t handle the tragedy they’ve scripted, but she holds true to her claim that it’s all just too beautiful, and intricate, and deserves to be viewed. She keeps watching and crying over fictional characters.
“How was work?” She’s already dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
“Hell.”
“That’s nice.”
She’s not really listening.
Travis and I go upstairs and leave her be.
I think my bedroom is relatively normal for a teenager – posters, books, clothes, a mother who’s constantly trying to make me clean it all up to no avail. The only uncommon thing is Travis’ bed. It’s a futon, but it’s never put back into couch mode, nor do the extra pillows and blankets ever leave it. Travis sets his bag down at the foot of it.
“What magnificent wonders of the past are you forcing me to watch tonight?” I pull off my polo – my glorified prison uniform – and toss it aside. I’d burn it if I didn’t need the money in my car fund.
Travis already has three DVDs in hand. He’s sort of a movie buff, which means I’ve seen just about every piece of cinema produced between 1927 and the present, regardless of whether or not it’s actually good.
“Psycho, The Searchers, or Casablanca?”
“Psycho.”
“Shower scene. Implied nudity,” he remarks. He’s smirking, mostly because he’s an ass, and also because he isn’t wrong.
“Beats cowboy racism and a movie I’ve watched a hundred times.”
“Casablanca is a classic,” Travis defends, already putting in the disc for Psycho. “Three Academy Awards.”
“I know,” I say, teasingly, “Because I’ve seen it a hundred times.”
He flips me off playfully, and we fall into something familiar and comfortable, despite the creepy motel vibe and plenty of chocolate syrup blood.
Chapter: 1
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elyseviolette · 6 years ago
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Birth To Three: One To Two
Riley had already overcome a huge hurdle, that we quite frankly, weren’t sure she would make. In our hearts and faith, we hoped and prayed she would, along with others and by God’s grace she did it. She made it to one. 
There are many milestones that a child goes through between the age of one and two. We realized very quickly that Riley was not hitting most of these milestones. She was hardly rolling over and was not even close to crawling. She was having a hard time sitting up at all. So as we worked with her occupational therapist, we realized Riley would need more help. Her OT suggested that she get a physical therapist to join our team and work with Riley. So in doing what was best for Riley we had a physical therapist come and evaluate her. After her initial evaluation with the PT it was decided that Riley would benefit from a lot of physical therapy. So her PT was added to our team and began seeing Riley every week. 
One of the things that we loved about Riley’s physical therapist was that she knew all of Riley’s tricks. She could tell when Riley was having and off day, trying to “cute” her way out of work, or simply not bothering. Riley’s PT was amazing and within what seemed like a few weeks had her up and moving more than we knew could be possible. She helped us understand that Riley would have spikes in her development and plateaus. It was during these spikes that she would work Riley harder to gain as much advancement as possible. She started sitting up on her own and even hand feeding herself. 
We did notice a few things though. Her hypotonia was an issue with her eating and ability to stand and crawl. We started realizing Riley was choking on her drinks and towards the end of meal times she would refuse to eat. She was sent for a swallow study. Her swallow study showed that every so often when Riley went to swallow, the liquid would go down her lung pipe. Essentially, she was choking. We had no idea this had been going on because she had shown no symptoms of it. Her liquid diet was changed up to see if it would help the problem. We realized after this study as well, that she would refuse to eat towards the end of a meal because her body was tired. She didn’t have the muscle strength or energy to chew anymore. So, we had to address that. There were many days when her meal would be finished with a bottle instead of a finished dinner. At least we could make sure she was getting the nutrition she needed, even if it was in liquid form. 
When it came to standing and crawling, there was another realization made. Riley’s PT told us that she may need braces on her legs to help give her hypotonia balance. She was very strong, but her muscles were very flimsy. So, we when to the doctor and she ended up with two different sets of custom braces. One set was specifically for her feet and ankles and the other was for her legs. She was also given a special “walker” to use while she worked on building up muscle strength. The walker had her strapped in a standing position and it had a table she could play at to help her continued work with occupational therapy. 
We noticed again, a large difference very quickly. Once she had those braces Riley began to crawl. She saw her PT once a week and her OT every other week, so she was getting a lot of help that was very much needed. In just one year, Riley went from having a  hard time moving to becoming obviously a hard worker, and unstoppable. We were excited to see her not only beat expectations, but to start thriving as she did. 
She was about to turn two years old and we were so happy. The doctors she had could not explain what was going on. They had never seen a case like Riley’s before. They were baffled at how she was able to do all she could do and was seizure free. There was even talk about changing her diagnosis, because she was just too healthy for all of her traumatic symptoms. So, we knew her she would have to go through more testing, but for the time being we were all happy to celebrate Riley and second birthday. 
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cntcrtainmcnt-blog · 6 years ago
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Okay so, classes are starting on Monday, meaning I’ll probs be slower(or faster, it’s also a definite possibility). In any case, I will most likely slow down when it comes to bringing new muses in so hopefully this is my last intro post in a while. If you’d like to plot with any of them, please like this or just message me!
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EDWARD “EDDIE” HALE is a 23 years old CISMALE who looks just like LUKE BENWARD. He has been described as ALTRUISTIC yet SUPERSTITIOUS.
Eddie is the younger brother of Terrence, and from the moment he was born, he was expected to be just as good as his brother was. While he did try to live up to it at first, it also gave him some issues, mostly relating to confidence, since he was always compared to his brother and felt like he wasn’t good enough.
Being 6 years younger, at least, he was mostly the one Hale kid people knew in his school year. During that time, mostly in elementary school, it was a relief, since he had a break of living up to everyone’s expectations.
Then, the closer he got to high school, the more people started to hear about his brother and everything.
All through high school, he tried to just blend in, and not get linked to his brother. By that time, people knew all the things he did, Terrence was basically like a legend in their high school, and Eddie was definitely not the same type of character.
Every single time his brother brought a girlfriend home, he’d end up surprisingly bonding with her, enough to care and try to help them after his brother broke their heart. But he personally didn’t have a girlfriend until the very high of his senior high school year.
By the time he graduated, Terrence had moved out to Kola, looking for good job opportunities. Eddie still doesn’t know what happened in his mind, but at one point, he received a text from his brother asking if he wanted to move in with him in Kola and open a confectionery with him. Since he decided to not go to college and was just working a shit job, Eddie accepted. Not like his relationship with his parents was that good anyway.
So moved to Kola when he was 19, and he lives there in an apartment with his brother. Since he never studied, Terrence thought he’d be better running the front shop, greeting people, selling stuff, managing the employees, while he was working mostly backstore with finance and all that.
Not a day passes without him regretting his decision to move to Kola.
While definitely help you if you’re in trouble, even if he doesn’t know you or won’t get anything out of it.
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STYLES MCKINLEY is a 28 years old CISMALE who looks just like BEAU MIRCHOFF. He has been described as GENEROUS yet SAD.
So Styles. Is. A. Sad. Puppy.
He was the second son, his brother being about 5 years older than him. When he was only 3, his mother passed away. He was told it was a certain disease, but he was never told what.
Anyway, he grew up looking up at his dad and his brother, and never really minded not having a mom. Although after a moment, he started getting upset whenever someone would mention his mom, and then they’d apologize when they learned about her fate. It’s not like he really knew her, and yes, it’s sad, but it’s something he’s gotten over a long time ago.
When he was 12, his father(43) remarried with a woman that was 24. It was... weird to have a step-mom this young, but it was weirder for his brother. Anyway, they already knew the woman, she was their dad’s secretary, and actually babysat both boys when they were a little younger. So she was already well acquainted with the family.
Anyway, a year later, she was caught cheating on her husband with no one else than Styles’ brother. That completely tore the family apart. His dad divorced, his brother was kicked out, and his step mom was fired and he never heard of her again.
And when he started high school, his father(who’d started abusing alcohol) was deemed ot good enough to care for him, so he went to live with his brother(who was now 19 and had a steady job in a restaurant). But that wasn’t the rockiest part of his high school experience.
See, Styles was a rather talented soccer player, and so quite popular. But unlike his friends(who tended to be cruel and manipulative), he was just the most caring person, he just never showed that side often. Or at least, people would mistake him as just another cruel boy.
Anyway. Early in sophomore year, they started picking on this girl, Louise, who was, really, just minding her own business. But they didn’t like that she was never mingling with people, and they really wanted her to like... do it with them. Well, Styles never said anything out loud, but she categorized him as one of them, and he totally gets why, since he never stepped in to stop it. Which he was kind of sad about because if he was honest, she seemed really nice and he thought he could definitely like her.
Well, he did end up stopping them, about a month and a half later. It was a party(which she surprisingly decided to go to), his “friends” had cornered her in a room. He was standing in the back at first, but when he realized what their intention was, he just want ahead and got them, not so pacifially, to leave. That was the beginning of his story with Louise, and honestly the end of his popularity(and soccer career, since he quit, refusing to play with such jerks).
At first, Louise and him were distant, mostly because he was grumpy he went from everything to nothing, but he quickly warmed up. And that was the beginning of a wonderful love story that would’ve lasted for ages, had it not been a horrible diagnosis.
It was during senior year, she was getting sicker and sicker, so she went to the doctors. And when she got her results, she was devastated. So was Styles, when he learned she had cancer, and it wasn’t an early stage, and it was almost terminal.
Well, anyway, they decided it wouldn’t stop them. The next year, while she was transferred to a better hospital and he decided he would go into medicine in a close by hospital, they did the most impulsive thing either have ever done, and they got married. She just wanted to live as much as she could, before it was too late.
She was strong, lasted for a very long time, but the more time passed, the more they realized the day was going to come. Louise passed away 3 years ago, when they were 25. Styles was devastated, but at least, he knew she had a good life. She had the life she wanted.
So he kind of knew he wouldn’t be able to stay in that town much longer after her death, so he decided to head back to Kola. He’s now a resident in oncology, and his biggest dream would be to help cancer patients.
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TAMI SULLIVAN is a 20 years old CISFEMALE who looks just like SHANNON PURSER. She has been described as MAGNANIMOUS yet SELF CONSCIOUS.
Tami is the youngest sister of a pageant queen who went out to become a model. She was originally expected to also follow in those steps, but she had no interest in beauty contest, and much prefers imaginary worlds.
While her sister would always be out partying with friends, Tami would just stay home and read books after books. Literally never stopped, it’s all she did. So while she wasn’t so good in classes such as sciences or maths, she was skilled in English or Literature classes.
So she’s not really popular? Never has been? But she’s also got a bunch of friends. You know how it is, unpopular kids tend to bond together, and they nearly always have more genuine friends than popular kids. So she’s really happy being unpopular but with real friends.
She’s currently studying to become an editor, since she loves reading and it would be a perfect job for her. She would totally write her own stories, but she’s just lacking a little in the imagination skill.
While she lives well being unpopular, constantly being compared to her model sister has given her body issues. She knows all shapes are pretty, curves are pretty, people tell her she’s pretty, but it’s sometimes just really hard to believe when you’re sister is tall and skinny and poses on magazine covers.
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TERRENCE HALE is a 29 years old CISMALE who looks just like GLEN POWELL. She has been described as AESTHETIC yet COCKY.
Born from two overachiever parents, Terrence was expected to do good. And while he had an immense ego and self-confidence, he was also surprisingly smart. So of course, when his brother was born, he was taken as a model.
To not look like a complete nerd, Terrence acted like a real brat in school, hanging with the popular kids. Hell, he was one of the most popular kid out there. He just made sure to study double the amount at home so his grades would stay up.
Definitely did a lot of shit, dated countless girls(often now more than a few days), did all kind of crazy dares, which ended up getting him suspended quite a few times, but also gave him a name in the school, which would end up lasting for years.
Once he graduated high school, he went on to study accounting in Kola University, keeping up the same game he played all through school, aka he was a frat boy who acted like he gave no shit about classes, but definitely had the best grades in the class.
After graduating, he didn’t really know what he wanted to do. He knew he would never go home, somehow being far from his parents felt good, so he just looked around for jobs, but nothing really interested him.
Until he was binge-watching all of the Harry Potter movies, with a gigantic bowl of candies. He then realized there weren’t that many confectioneries in Kola, and that was definitely something the town needed more. (he might have been high when that happened...)
It was really on an impulse that Terrence looked around for a place to rent, to found one, and called Eddie to know if he wanted to join. Honestly, that confectionery was going to happen whether he said yes or no, but he definitely wanted his brother to be a part of it. He was just always close to him, and he knew he was most likely looking out for a good opportunity career-wish.
The confectionery, called Candy Hale, was opened about 4 years ago, and its popularity keeps only increasing. Terrence mostly works the accounts, but he also doesn’t mind helping up front if needed.
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half-mer-child · 7 years ago
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Yeah how *does* Reader's (if female) biology work? All I can picture is the mers losing their collective shit in a fit of protectiveness and terror when she comes into work smelling like that much blood.
In the a.u the collective gender is female but that’s because transformers-4-life who does most of the writing is female. If your uncomfortable with that, that’s okay just change the pronouns in your head. For this imagine though there will be female parts involved along with a period cycle.
There are the mers you know who’ve been around humans or have know humans long enough to know that females for about a week every month smell strongly of blood while their body goes through it’s menstrual cycle and then there are the new mers who flip absolute shit. Who HUrt FRIEND?!?!
Megatron has been around you long enough to know females do this and your not dying. It makes him slightly uncomfortable to know your in pain and bleeding almost constantly but he knows it’s normal and just does what he can to keep you out of pain. Uncle Megs got you. Laying on his stomach as he floats through the water he rubs your shoulders and tummy soothing cramps and keeps you calm so your stable.
Rodimus… he knows it’s normal but he hates it. That is not how mers work. Your half mer you shouldn’t work like that either. It’s painful. Primus you smell like blood and… it irks him. His protective instincts kick in he hugs you tight body overwhelmed with your scent telling him his future mate is hurt. If your with him for a couple hours it’ll tone his instincts down and you can continue work in peace.
Getaway knows. He’s a halfer so he’s more or less educated in how both landers and mers work and just leaves it. He pins after and follows you a bit more but says nothing. Still he swoops in if you need something really anything because he knows how painful it is.
Drift used to be a bad mer like really bad. When he was DeadLock it was yeah… bad times. You not only reached out to him but told him you knew and forgave him. He’s gonna do whatever he can to repay that. So when you come into work smelling like blood he’s suddenly going back to DeadLock mode the moment your even close to his tank he drags you in. Confused you scream at him only for him to hold you close and hiss at anyone who gets to close. Why do you smell like blood. Why do you smell like blood. Why?!? He won’t let go until you explain in detail what’s going on and why and then tell him you’ll take it easy. He finally lets you go after Rodimus confirms that what you said is true even though it’s strange. He learns how to ease human cramps and does some exercises with you if you feel to stiff. Whenever ot rolls around though he doesn’t like you working as much.
Magnus curls around you scared as he smells blood. The mer whale isn’t letting go anytime soon. He preens you messing with your hair straightening your clothes as he looks for possible wounds. He finds none so where is the blood coming from??? When you explain he’s grossed out. He lets you go staring at you uncertainly. What? Okay now he knows he doesn’t ask questions he just does whatever you ask within reason and tells you he loves you.
Cyclonus goes to all hell. The first time he sees you the day your period start he smiles waving at you in greeting but stops. There… there… There bleeding?! Who did this what does he have to do??? He will kill anyone who touches his niece! Dragging them in his tank cuddling them close no one goes near them. Whoever hurt them is dead but for now he churrs hugging you close. It takes hours to calm him down with you telling him it’s okay and Tailgate cooing from the tank over. No one can come near you. Cyclonus needs you in front of him right now and will get very aggressive if you some how escape. He’s just so worried please… please stay with him. Just let him know your okay he’s lost so much your not about to be on that list.
When Cyclonus calms down enough to be approached Tailgate swims closer before jumping tanks. Only to stop when he smells the blood. All but tackling his friend no he does tackle his friend he starts chirping and churing in a worried frenzy. Calming him down the best they can your stuck with the task of explaining human biology and why you smell like blood. Taking the explanation Cyclonus stops worrying but rumbles sadly holding you close. Tailgate is a purring mess curled up in your lap. Lesson learned tell the mers about things like this. Seriously your drowning in mer cuddles. You need to do your job. Help!
Whirl becomes dangerous. He starts fighting anyone and everyone near him as he smells your blood. Who was stupid enough to hurt you?!?! Who does he need to rip to shreds?! Holding you almost suffocatingly close he churrs nuzzling into you. You’re not leaving the tank for awhile even if you explained why you smell like blood and that your fine he keeps you close and will beat up anything that comes into the tank he’s in with you know. Let him have this he thought you were hurt. He thought he’d lost someone else.
Swerve is more or less knowledgeable in human biology but smelling blood all knowledge goes out the window as he becomes a stuttering crying wheezing mess demanding if readers dying. Turning at the commotion everyone stares at reader. She’s confused??? So she doesn’t answer. What’s going on? Swerve then sobs taking their silence as a yes. Oh boy readers mind is taken off cramps while they rub Swerves belly the poor flounder a mess. Finally calming him down he floats with them on his belly sniffling and staying in complete silence. Reader just keeps assuring them their there and there okay. Well now he knows something new about humans at least.
Skids smells blood and he gets a random sudden flashback. It’s bloody it’s gorey and he doesn’t know the context behind it. Grabbing the reader he cuddles them close refusing to let go churring soft things in their ear. There confused at Skids sudden attitude change and try asking him what’s wrong but he wont answer. Concerned trying to say something he holds them tighter. “Don’t leave me to…” Reader ends up falling asleep with Skids and much to their relief he calms down enough they can explain the next day but they wander what he meant when he said don’t leave me to in that haunting voice. There not sure if they want to know.
Chromedome and Rewind are highly unsettled. Usually Chromedome doesn’t touch anyone in fear his claws will prick them but smelling blood he’s ready to start war and Rewind is with him. Someone hurt their friend! And it’s not gonna end well!!! Rewind starts growling witch is actually terrifying as he holds his friend close meanwhile Chromedome is plowing anyone who tries to stop him as he gets Ratchet. Eventually they calm down with the liaison soothing them explaining her cramps and such and why she smells like blood. Crisis haphazardly avoided. Whoops.
Velocity is not a happy mer. Why are you bleeding??? What’s going on??? What’s wrong with you? She hisses and threatens to scratch anyone who comes near you. She looks everywhere before looking you in the eye and demanding where’s the wound??? Sighing you explain and she finally calms down when she gets conformation from First Aid and Ratchet. She makes sure you have chocolate and other things on hand so your cravings are met and finds it funny when other mers look horrified because cravings in their culture usually means pregnant. She stays quiet about the true meaning leaving all the mers curious who knocked up their friend and who they need to be jealous of.
Nautica is a worried fish who immediately starts fretting over you trying to drag you to a doctor. Nautica no. Biology saves the day when you explain​ to Nautica what the heck is going on. Once she understands you get trapped in a purring churring nuzzling mess that is Nautica. She rubs your belly to sooth the cramps and refuses to let you go. Nope your stuck cuddling now good luck as death by cute is accurate.
Brainstorm wonders why your bleeding and pulls you in a tank ready to dress a wound. But he’s more calm as you start explaining and stops trying to bandage you. So your hurt and bleeding heavily but not dying? Weird. He’s overdramatic at first but but the more you explain the more he just stops and listens. Science calms him down like that. Then he makes a pass on you when your done. Brainstorm no.
Perceptor smells blood and the second he does his rational side takes over and he tries dragging you away. No. No. No stop. Perceptor I’m fine. Similar to Brainstorm once you explain his panic stops. But instead of making a pass on you he hugs you close whispering he’s glad your okay before letting you go so you may continue your day.
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bloojayoolie · 7 years ago
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Af, Anime, and Apparently: , Okay Ibl, story ame when I wss younger, had this Irish friend who pred our school when w as like 17, Dude ded recently nd here丐the ballad of the merveeus bsstard be average as fuck 17 year old Bribong Some foreign guy has just joined, his family just moved here city called Dery in Mgved here with his dad and his lite sister, his mum died when he was younger He gets put in my class and ends up stting nest to me This is howl met Eigh-Beers Mgee the all him Call him a hippo because of his fucking industrial size frant teeth and his big flucking lps Greg uses his adism to get out of doing and saying whatever the fuck he wants noing EB wth she lke Greg has his desk very paricularly arranged, pens on one side in a straight ine pencis on the other Dude is OCD as fuck with his pencilcase and shit Goes nuts i anything gets moved, so this desk is sightly apart from everyone elses We all get in shit twe fuck with him an purpose, We ought to know better The sutistic hippo keeps trying to get a reaction out of EB the whole class All af a sudden EB just casualy raises a foot and pushes the Hppo's desk right the fuck over Teacher hurries oer and trying to explan to EB atma Gregs autism while Greg teaks the tack G in his chair, breathing reawy ss thoug gh nong bd sheer辍tstie resentment EB looks at Greg and betsthe teacher "Oh sorry, wedant have Wid bump with more nenhinbeland' h on EB's third day at our school He's a pretty cool guyikes the 쑈me vidya and movies as me and is a big fan of Rugby, was captan of his team back iieland ell hem the school has s rughy searn he says EB goes to check it out, starts off on the lower team because hes think theyire ston of kind of fast runners gets recks fucking everyone that next hal f hel take him Jumps on him, grabs him by the neck to pull him down and iterally rolls on him ike a fucking rolling pn -EB didniteven have the bal What the fook you playin at son I didnt even have the ball, do you even know how to fookin play the game lad EB grins You know over in Ireland you have to be fit to play sports, the fatties get leit on the sideline EB grabs his amn and tosses him to the ground dude twists his anke or something and starts twitching and squeaking lke a baby elephant with parkinsons EB gets put on top team Anonymous (D wHTHOgC) 03 19/14(Wedj20 28 25 UTC-5 No 538041137 Reple 41T months without inc dont give long as youre cool to him dents aside from a few close cals with Greg the Mildly Autistic Hppo e pretty close Apparently ㅲ Ireland they don't have gangs they have paramitanes fighting between whether Northern lreland ts Britsh or hsh >He plays 4down a kal, bd ican tell some shit mu have Pagpened because he always changes the subject when gets clos·tohame Edgy fapgot Luke comes back to school Luke hangs around with a pack of riggers who are all apparenty in a gang, he les to pretend he's part of this "gang" and carries this fucking Stanky e around that he panted red and bue for some reason aOne day at lunch Like corries up to EBied o ofnotere starts askrig his datisalcoholc Nope aound Tm guessin your mam had a far lew belore you were born though mate Well tuck Ind wanna sift speI had to sht out a dat bastardlke yourset. Jog on ン"You win t)4ck with the wrong person t y inst, boy?" EB starts laughing, IHeraly loses his sht at the ste of this Itle fagpot in a trenchc oat with a stanley knfe and actualy presses EB grabs his wrist, takes the fabled blade from the hands of the chosen one tosses t over a fence and punches him straight in the face We're out geting beer, Tm with a 7/10 GT that Ive had a crush on for tucking months Her and EB get along realy wel, athough I sort of think she only hung out with us because EB did That right when we're all drunk, me and QT end up fucking Leaving out my side because this is the ballad of Eght Beer, not me Spend ages taking with QT,estabǐshthat shè apparenty seat, ikes me back EB heads up to bed, I stay down with the other guys to watch TV, QT was askeep when 1 came down QT comes running do wwith a towel round her, soaking wet, and rung out the ont door Apparently EB sleeps naked, not surpnised since Ive found him naked before after a night of drinking Says she came on to himeven ater all he shit she said aLaugh숨 and says he took aprt to bed with hm,awas cn e tablo and when she ed onwth him he lossed all over her Threw her clothes out the wendow into the rain and told her to go and fetch Two weeks later he takes me to a pub and hooks me up with a 910 Anonymous (TDwHT HOC) 03/1914(Wed 20.43 59 UTC-5 No 538044014 Raps.4380408044772 332420 EB and me are total bros after being fnends for a few years 가%aving hm as a best friend is Ike havngtose nasty trainers as a kid Shit get pretty he avy >Him and E汨were close, mostly because EB would buy him vidya and act super interested in the anime sht he lied because nobody else other than me would loses his har chermo aGotovst him, EBisgung me there >He thinks rs awesome get our photo taken together witout any har EB lets him draw all kinds of dumb sh on his bad head, lets him draw a dumb moustache on him o Spend ages just dicking a >Son of a bitch luke who R is, Dukey the Rookie is across the bar in the same tucking trenchcoat he wore back at school >EB says hi chats away to him lbe nothing ever happened >We head home and EB spend the night sitting up with me playing Batlefront on my old P52 and drinking, just trying to cheer me up me every time Sorry for that 2sad4me post, but iti make sense later Anonymous (IO woitth%) 05/19/14(Wed)20 52 46 UTC-5 No 530045357 Reeses 씌38amsrme esaaa Lving together in a let with some chick and her boyfriend The one song I remember is "Uncle Tommy by The Rumjacks, because it played when sht went down EB told them that he "ain't lookin any trouble lads, have a beer and forget that tripe for the night aye? 4 of them jump on him, start beating the shit out of him -l tackle one of them to try help him, get the fuck beaten out of me but fuck that it's goddamn E8 in there EB broke the dudes fucking am He gets up, bleeding out of every pore in his beaunful iwish body Bouncing around with his fists up, Ieraly looks ike he could fly around the room he's bouncing that much The skinheads keep going for him but back off every time aher he swings, it looks lke he could knock a building down with that sh Babbling some incoherent shit in lrish rage, nobody understands the words but everyone understands the meaning pack up there sht ike a scene from a fucking move Eight tucking beersl You splied eight of me fucking beers you hairless tuckin mongrels Eight beers lad, eight fucking beers What's the fucking craic there lke Anonymous (D: wHTiHOgC) 031914(Wed]21:6 02 UTC-5 No. 538047326 EB sgoing back to Ireland to vist his nan, she's real sick 기we lar dr, Befast-thritrs the captal of the oth but not of Ireland ckhow t wori ed EB never eaty expla edit, 5ad you wont understand the bullsh politics unless you grew up there go 1o vist his nan with EB' Sweetest tucking old lady ever, says that EB was always a rough lad but awk he'd never hurt a sour greedy fucker This woman is clearly the most infuenial famly member in the Eight Beer famly EE shows me round Derry, tels me about how 5pIt relgusy and shows methes bg ass wall cood place Takes me to Belast agan and shows methe pace wherethe ttanc was bu -we end up going to place caled The Crown Bar Ger pretty drunk, or Tpped as EB calls it Walked around Belfast for a bt, he tells me about the history of some stuf »Spend a few nights there, have a fucking blast but decide to head home don't wanna be an inrusion on the whole nan stustion Lad you're practicaly a part of the famly Anonymous D wH7HOQC) 03/19/14Wd21 18 48 UTC-5 No 538040230 Getting close to the end now Shits hard to wrte, I miss hat fucker Life is prety uneventful for a wle pparentty some Kiddy Fiddler called Wilm Whight fucked EB when totally agan family home a load of sht, fucks 2EB spends all nut there next to her, nearly gets wolent when staff ask harto leave so doctors can sort some 닸官out calm him down and we wat r, hosptzd for brig bme B's Sister gets beter, but is pretty fucked for life Never taks never leaves the house she's pretty much a goddarmn vegetable EB spends all of his time off work with her, never comes out anymore, just sts in with her. We sometimes come ound and drink with him but he refuses to leave the house -One night while he's sieeping, EB's fucked up sister C's faul, that's pretty much the main subject of t. I don't get why she'd need to say that but whabever Tels me he waan't that close with his family back home his dad is fucked up with grief and everythings just a mess ie doesn't want to go home because he has nothng there other than remnders, but doesn't want to stay here because of what has pened Does his best to be the usual bi9dck coolguy that he always was, puts on a brave face but f you c h him on his own he's luckn9 merable ite gets in 갠 few fights when we're ot dmkrg ry one who gnestmamy 5hvt gets m edistety fucking amidated none ofths ads everyone on" that he used to do s fighting back tears already guessed, but he starts teling me about how he blames himseffor what 거had pened to his sis have tucking known better >Lterally carrot change his mid anthis shit, looks like he has himse#1uly convinced th this is his taut we talk about old imes laugh a be things actualy seem back to normal for whie Ainight mabe. Let's have one for old tme's sake, ae? Hie eventualily leaves, but before he goes he tells me that 'You've been a good mate from day one mate. Honestly out on a limb rd do fuckin' anything for ya Take t easy lad speti ong tme EB doesn't reply to teats or Cutign place doeant answer B tucking hung himsel is fanly tatoo many things that I don't need thanked every tme fucker
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asryakino · 5 years ago
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Fucking ignore this
When I was about fourteen, I began having these incidents. Where I would be laying in bed, scrolling through the internet and my heart would suddenly start going nuts. My chest would hurt, I couldn’t breathe, my skin would get clammy and I’d get sweaty. The incident would last about ten minutes, and things would calm down...
After the first few, I told my mother, who took me to the doctor. A new pediatrician took over my file from my old and immediately declared the incidents were panic attacks. My mother suggested it might be related to the asthma I had been diagnosed with as a baby, and the doctor announced that no, it absolutely was NOT asthma, it was PANIC ATTACKS and she had EXACTLY the medicine for that. Where I would have developed asthma she had no idea. All those doctors from years past had no idea what a PANIC ATTACK looked like and she knew. I didn’t have words to ask if it was my heart. I was 14, I had been getting my period, I was scared of the world, I hated everything and I couldn’t breathe right or play because I was allergic to pretty much everything in the world. Why would I know how to ask someone to look at my heart? She demanded we go to a therapist and be diagnosed for my OBVIOUS anxiety and panic attacks, and she refused, outright to look for any other solution. So we went ot hte therapist I had been going to since I was 8... and he wrote a not-so-kind letter back to the doctor requesting she kindly not diagnose his long time patients with conditions they did not have, and to look for a PHYSICAL reason as she was NOT a psychology doctor she was a physical doctor and to kindly stay in her lane in the future and take a look for a medical reason for these incidents.
The incidents continued, after being told off by the psychologist, she reluctantly admitted the incidents COULD possibly be asthma, and I just needed to take my asthma medication when they happened.
Except, I had been. the medication made them worse, and I would end up shakey, disorientated, and uncomfortable because my heart would thud in my ears.
Side effects of the asthma medication, you’re having asthma attacks. You have asthma, so it’s nothing but that.
I learned to hate my asthma medication. It made my chest hurt worse, I could breathe, but my head would pound I felt like the world was caving in around me, I was paranoid (I didn’t know the word) and jittery...
The incidents continued. Every doctor would take a look at my medical history and announce it was asthma.
Not one ever looked at my heart.
The incidents get worse under stress, physical or mental. Most times I won’t be doing anything though. I’ll get excited, and happy... and it’ll happen. I’ll be mostly calm and see something that makes me superbly happy... it happens. When I get stressed my heart feels like it’ll jump from my chest, like it’s beating against my ribs and I feel choked. My lungs tighten up, my blood rushes and pounds in my ears, and my body goes clammy and cold and then I begin coughing and choking because there isn’t enough air. I black out sometimes, because there’s no air. It turns into an asthma attack. I take my inhaler. I can breathe, but the thudding heart remains, the headaches change, but stay, my skin doesn’t get warm, and I shake.
Every medical professional declared the same thing. It’s just your asthma. You don’t have anything else wrong with you. It’s allergies and asthma. When I got older, I got overweight. Now the diagnosis is that I’m too fat. I need to lose weight, and everything else is nothing but asthma. You have asthma, so that must be it.
I learned control. When the incidents begin, I stop, I control my breathing, I close my eyes. I force my breathing to go a certain way so the muscles push against my heart and force it to stop beating so hard. I breathe, I take deep breathes and concentrate on which parts of my lungs to inflate most, to squeeze my heart for seconds at a time, to make it stop feeling as if it’ll burst out of my chest. I flex my pec muscles to squeeze everything down, I rotate my shoulders to align my ribs so I can push against my own chest and stop my flighty organs from going haywire.
I got electorcated at work, twice in the same day. My boss was forced by OSHA to take me to the hospital. He dropped me off at the ER door and drove away. The ER nurses declared I hadn’t been electorcated, because they couldn’t find K in my blood. By the time OSHA forced my boss to take me to the ER, it had been nearly an hour, my back was locked up, and I had felt the electricity go through my heart. The ER said my heart was fine, my lungs were clear. But I had asthma, so breathe this nebulizer. The chest pains were nothing but asthma.
My dad pushed a factory job on me, the stress of being on the assembly line caused it again, I passed out that time. I whited out. I was fine and looked away from the line, but everything wouldn’t stop moving and I couldn’t concentrate on my method for stopping it. My dad insisted it was dehydration and undernourished. The doctor said it was asthma. We paid 200$ for the doctor to ignore my pleas to check my heart. Something was -wrong- would they please just LOOK at my heart... something was WRONG. You have asthma, this was nothing but an asthma attack. You need to keep your inhaler on you and take it. That’s all.
I’ve had “walking pneumonia”, and I’ve had lower pneumonia. I’ve had pleurisy... I’ve had lots of respiratory illnesses over the years. My mother, father, grandparents, great grandparents, several uncles and aunts, and even great aunts and uncles have all had heart issues. My mother has 3/4 of a heart, one chamber doesn’t beat properly, particularly when she gets stressed.
My father’s had two bypass surgeries already.
I continue to have incidents. And I’ve been sick for over a year, never -really- getting better. Only a week or two of good days.
My lungs feel like when you try to blow a balloon up underwater, and when I do get air in them, it feels like there’s only half as much as there should be.
I saw a doctor about 6 weeks ago, he heard me coughing. It was bad, a hard barking cough that threatened to make me pass out again. I’ve had it on and off for a year. If I laugh too much now, I start coughing and then I have an incident.
I told him that.  I told him I’ve been sick for a while, but can’t do anything about it, I told him my chest hurts, if I laugh or get stressed I start coughing, and I told him sometimes I’ll just get excited and my heart will start going weird and wild, then I start coughing.
“Have you been tested for asthma, that breathing problem sounds like asthma”
“I’ve had asthma since I was a baby.”
“Oh well there you go, it’s just asthma attacks.”
Now. Covid-19 is around, everyone is going off. “You should get that checked out, it sounds bad.”
“You should go to the doctor”
“You should get ot the hospital”
Why?
all they are ever going to tell me is that I have asthma. Because after 36 years of very distinctively different feelings when I have an asthma attack and ~an incident~ and now this sickness. I clearly don’t know what my own asthma attacks feel like. But every fucking doctor out there will know it in thirty seconds from looking at my health records.
I’m fat. I have asthma.
They will never check to see why asthma meds don’t help. They will never check my heart. They will never test me for a virus. They will never test me for pneumonia, or flu, or anything else.
I have to INSIST for a strep test when I get strep because:
“You have asthma”
“It’s just an asthma attack”
“Take your inhaler”
If I go to the doctor I pay for the privilege of being told, for the millionth time, that I have asthma.
Because if it was ever anything else, they would have to do actual work.
I have NEVER had a stress test, I have only ever had one EKG (when I was electrocuted) and since becoming an adult I haven’t had a single chest xray.
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one-of-us-blog · 7 years ago
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Robot of Sherwood (Doctor Who S08E03)
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Today Drew is forced to watch and recap “Robot of Sherwood”, the third episode of Doctor Who’s eighth series. Clara’s in the mood for some men in tights, and that means it’s time to take a trip to Sherwood Forest. The Doctor is convinced that the man calling himself Robin Hood is a fraud, but what does he have to do with these hunky robots running around?
Keep reading to find out…
Eli, first of all, I’m so sorry this is so late! I had a great time at Gen Con, but it’s really got my schedule out of order! Plus my dog needed a tune up and then I had to recharge him on the way back from the shop, and you know how much of a hassle that is. Anyway, you did a great job with your last recap! I’m thrilled you enjoyed that episode so much, and I agree that it’s a great showcase for a side of Blanche we don’t always get to see. I always get a bit of a kick out of seeing Sophia carrying that giant phone book, but I agree that the A plot was much meatier overall. I don’t want to delay any longer, so I’m gonna dive right into my recap!
Buttocks tight!
Episode directed by Paul Murphy and written by Mark Gatiss
In an unusually friendly gesture for his current incarnation, the Doctor tells Clara that she gets to decide where and when they’ll go on their next adventure. Anywhere in the universe and any point in time, she just has to pick! She has an idea, but she thinks the Doctor will make fun of her for it. She finally admits that she’s always had a thing for Robin Hood, and, as predicted, the Doctor shuts her down by pointing out that there never was an actual dude named Robin Hood who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. He’s just a folk hero, like John Henry or Fong Sai-yuk or Steven Seagal. He tries to sell her on some adventures to real places with real people, but Clara insists on heading to Sherwood. He relents and they head to ~1190, all the while assuring her she’s in for some disappointment. The TARDIS appears in Sherwood Forest and is immediately hit with an arrow, which was fired by a man who appears to be Robin Hood.
After the credits, Robin is trying to figure out how the Doctor made the TARDIS appear out of thin air, and then informs the Doctor that he’ll be confiscating the TARDIS. He’s a thief, remember? Clara emerges from the TARDIS in some time-appropriate garb, and Robin Hood is instantly smitten. Clara’s feeling pretty squishy, too, but the Doctor insists this cannot be Robin Hood. Robin takes offense at this and again insists he’s going to steal the TARDIS, leading to a fight between the two. Robin Hood is armed with a sword, the Doctor, for some reason, is armed with a spoon. The Doctor loses a button from his coat, but he wins the fight. They both end up in a stream, and Robin and Clara have a good laugh.
In a nearby village, the Sheriff of Nottingham and a squad of burly helmeted knights are harassing some peasants, stealing gold and kidnapping people to come and do hard labor at the castle. The young ward of an old man named Quayle is being taken to work in the castle, and Quayle begs the Sheriff to take him in her place. The Sheriff refuses, and kills Quayle after the old man lashes out. The young ward is dragged away, along with all of the village’s gold.
Back in the Forest, Robin Hood introduces Clara to his #squad. There’s Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck, Alan-a-Dale, Little John and some other guy who never gets identified. Is he Munch the Miller’s Son? Arthur a Bland? David of Doncaster? Who knows! Clara is thrilled to be with the real Robin Hood and his real Merry Men (a name the boys take quite a liking to), and the Doctor’s had just about enough of it. He’s figured out these guys aren’t holograms, but he’s still got plenty of theories that could explain all of this away as a big, fat hoax. Clara talks to Robin about the dark days that have fallen on Sherwood, and we get the usual set up to a Robin Hood story: King Richard the Lionheart is away, his evil tyrant of a brother, Prince John, is abusing the throne in his stead and Prince John’s lackey, the Sheriff, is running amok and terrorizing peasants.
Clara’s picking up that Robin is a pretty sad guy, and he explains his tragic backstory (which she already knows). He used to be Robert, Earl of Loxley, but he spoke out against Prince John and lost his lands and title. More importantly, he lost his beloved Maid Marian. Marian told Robert he had to stand up for what he believes in, and now he has to be the hero Marian wanted him to be by being Robin Hood. The Doctor interrupts all of this by asking about the time of year; Robin says it’s autumn, but the Doctor points out how green and sunny it is in the Forest. Robin tells his Merry Men about the contest the Sheriff is putting on to find the best archer in the land. Clara says it’s a trap, but Robin already knows that and it’s not going to stop him from winning.
The next day the contest for the golden arrow is in full swing, and the Sheriff and Tom the Tinker, Robin Hood’s alter ego of choice, are the only ones left in the running. The Sheriff hits the bullseye on his turn, and Robin pulls his usual splitting the arrow nonsense. Tom’s about to claim the golden arrow, but then the Doctor fires an arrow that splits Robin’s arrow. He’s standing further back, so he says he’s won the contest. He tosses aside the golden arrow, though, and tells the Sheriff the only prize he wants is enlightenment. Robin Hood splits his arrow, and the Doctor continues this dick measuring contest by splitting that arrow. Robin Hood one-ups him again, so the Doctor just explodes the target with his screwdriver. The Sheriff is very impressed by the Doctor’s pyrotechnics, and orders his beefy guards to seize him. Clara’s ready to fight and Robin Hood, who reveals his true identity to the crow, declares that he’ll protect the Doctor’s honor. Robin slices the arm off a guard, revealing that the hunk is actually a robot. Whaaat!
The robot guards retract their helmets, revealing that they have some crazy face lasers at their disposal. The Doctor declares that Robin Hood surrenders, and, apparently feeling nostalgic, uses some good old Venusian aikido to disarm the rogue. Robin has his Merry Men flee to fight another day, and he, Clara and the Doctor are taken to the Sheriff’s dungeon. Speaking of, that ward from earlier is hard at work in the Sheriff’s castle. She tries to help another prisoner who’s reached the end of his rope, but the roboguards destroy the man in front of her. Elsewhere, Robin, Clara and the Doctor are chained up. Robin and the Doctor are still getting on each other’s nerves, and Clara’s had enough of it. The Sheriff has confiscated the Doctor’s screwdriver, meaning neither he nor Robin have any sort of plan of escape. A guard, who’s been listening outside to determine who the ringleader of the three of them are, comes in to take Clara, the only one not consumed with squabbling, away.
Back in the Forest, the Merry Men plan to rescue Robin, and Alan-a-Dale notices that the Sheriff only ever loots gold; there are gems and silver for the taking out there, but he only ever wants gold. In the castle, we see one of the roboguards forging a circuit of some kind from molten gold. Elsewhere, the Sheriff chats up Clara. He discusses the Doctor’s ‘wand’, and frankly asks Clara if she comes from beyond the stars. In the dungeon, Robin Hood and the Doctor hornswoggle the guard, but they’re still so consumed with their bickering that they kick the keys to their shackles down a drain. Elsewhere, Clara tries to pull a fast one on the Sheriff and gets him to spill the tea about how he saw lights in the sky one night, and from the crashed sky ship came the mechanical men. The mechanical men saw him as their natural leader, and will only obey him. The Sheriff says Nottingham isn’t enough for him anymore; once he’s taken the throne from the Prince, he’s going to take over the world.
Back with the two stooges, they’ve managed to make it out of their cell but they’re still chained together. Clara wants to know why the Sheriff is hitting up the peasants for gold when he has access to a sky ship, but he’s done answering questions. He says he wants her to be his consort while he’s king of the world, but she’s not feeling it. Robin and the Doctor manage to get out of their chains, and the Doctor finds an entrance to the sky ship. He checks the ship’s database and sees that its destination was the Promised Land. Wait, that again? The Doctor sees that this whole castle is actually the ship; it disguised itself as the castle and merged into the local culture in an attempt to keep a low profile. The Doctor says the engines are damaged and leaking radiation, and the radiation is keeping Sherwood in summer even though it should be fall. The Doctor says the Sheriff is just another part of the ship’s disguise, and Robin part of that disguise, too. He’s the hope the Sheriff’s workforce needs to keep going. Robin is offended at these accusations and the two start to fight again, but they’re interrupted as the Sheriff and his guards, with Clara in hand, bust in. The Doctor says the charade is over, but the Sheriff still orders his guards to kill Robin. Robin grabs Clara and jumps out a window, killing himself and Clara. Or, at least, the Sheriff thinks they’re dead, but the Doctor sees Robin carry Clara to safety.
Alone with the Sheriff and his roboguards, the Doctor realizes that he’s using gold to create a matrix to repair the ship’s engines. The Doctor says there’s no chance the engines can be repaired and that this ship is just going to be a giant bomb, but a roboguard knocks him out. He ends up downstairs with the ward as the castle’s engines start to rev up.
Clara wakes up in Robin’s camp, and Robin wants answers. The Doctor explains the situation to the ward, and the two begin to plot a riot. Robin demands that Clara tell him what she and the Doctor know about him as the Doctor, the ward and the other peasants begin to riot. They use gold surfaces to reflect the roboguards’ lasers back at them, and the guards start dropping like flies. The Sheriff figures out what’s going on and goes to personally deal with this pesky Doctor as the Doctor sends the peasants and the ward, who gives him a grateful kiss on the cheek, to safety before the ship can launch and explode. The Sheriff arrives and ignores the Doctor’s warnings, and informs the Doctor that Robin Hood isn’t one of the robots he’s been running with. The Doctor realizes, to his horror, that Robin Hood really is real, just as Robin and Clara arrive to rescue the Doctor as the Merry Men take the castle.
Robin and the Sheriff fight, and Robin gets disarmed. Using the same trick the Doctor used during their earlier fight, Robin gets the better of the Sheriff and sends the villain falling into a vat of molten gold. The peasants, the Merry Men, Robin, Clara and the Doctor all make it outside as the castle takes off. The Doctor says it can’t reach orbit and will explode too close to the ground, but he realizes that the golden arrow might give it enough gold content to boost its way into the atmosphere. Robin can’t shoot because he was injured during his fight with the Sheriff, the Doctor can’t shoot because he cheated earlier and actually sucks and Clara can’t shoot because she’s never shot an arrow before. Robin says the three of them can do it together, and, somehow, that works. The ship reaches orbit just in time to explode, and everyone celebrates.
Later, Robin gives Clara some archery lessons before she and the Doctor head home. Robin tells Clara that the Doctor is lucky to have her, and she says Marian is lucky to have him. He’s close to giving up on getting her back, but Clara tells him not to give up. Robin talks to the Doctor about how one day he’ll be thought of only as a legend, but Robin’s okay with that. Robin reveals that Clara told him all about the Doctor’s story, which the Doctor doesn’t like, and Robin says that even though neither of them are heroes they can pretend to be ones long enough to inspire other people to be heroic. The two of them shake hands, and the Doctor joins Clara in the TARDIS. The Doctor takes off, but he leaves Robin a present. The young ward, who was actually Maid Marian, appears, and she and Robin are joyfully reunited.
The End
~~~~~
This is a bit of an odd one for me! I thought the performances were all a lot of fun, but the story itself was… I don’t know, kind of lukewarm for me. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve never really had much of an interest in Robin Hood (even the cartoon with the sexy fox version) and I feel like that lack of preexisting fondness played a role in me not being in love with this one. The plot itself also didn’t really hold up for me; how did the golden arrow give the engines any kind of boost? The engines were repaired with a matrix made of gold, not just loose bits of golden junk in the vicinity of the ship. I liked the twist that Robin was a real guy who just got sort of Johnny Appleseeded by history, and like I said I thought there were some great performances, but I just don’t think this is an episode I’m going to remember in any sort of detail in a few months from now.
I give “Robot of Sherwood” QQQ½on the Five Q Scale.
Tune in Friday when Eli will chuckle it up with the next episode of The Golden Girls, “Comedy of Errors”, and the after that on Saturday I’ll be back to post my recap of the next episode of Doctor Who, “Listen”.
Until then, thanks for reading, thanks for laughing and thanks for being One of Us!
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shbettereveryday · 7 years ago
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Day 322, 323, and 324
Medical Frustration
The new bladder meds I have been trying were not working. We just started another and just in the first few days I have noticed constipation, which is a prevalent side effect. The first 2 days Wednesday and Thursday were good. Today not as good but still better than the last medication. It usually takes a week ot two to figure out if it will work. I may be looking at other solutions. Natural bodily functioning is the best for your body, but aside from that I am looking at all options. Finding a doctor to consider them all might be difficult.
One of the other frustrations is doctors and appointments. I am finding once you start care with a specialist it is difficult, if I want to change doctors, for a number of reasons. Insurance could have a problem with seeing another while you already have established care with one. That is what my PCP said anyway. She also said a doctor may refuse to see you since you have established care. I told her we would like to see a different neurosurgeon to pick up my care as the guy who operated on me is over 30 minutes away and it is a hardship during the week to make it there. I, as you might expect, have a little, warranted or not, bad feeling for him since it was from that surgery that I ended up in this condition. Anyway, the referred doctor refused to take me on, saying that my injury is so new they wouldn’t take on my care even though I want to separate from the surgeon that worked on me. I also have considered moving to a different Physiatrist (rehab doctor). She is difficult to see because she only takes outpatient office visits on one Wednesday a month in the afternoon, so her appointments can be months out. She is also slow to respond via phone, but my PCP said that a new one would probably be questioned hard by insurance as well as probably turned down by the doctor himself. I did get an appointment with a pain specialist which will probably be a regular person for me to have to deal with. I will have more added to my team of doctors when I am done. Currently PCP, Rehab, Neurosurgeon, Urologist, hand surgeon, and pain specialist. I have a few more body parts that need their own help (haha). I don’t know if these are problems for everybody or maybe people with difficult medical conditions. I don’t know.
In general I have felt worse than last week and not particularly great overall but we all are struggling to feel better, aren’t we? Eventually things come together and get worked out but it is a chore to have to keep on top of all that stuff with my schedule to just get through a week. Staying on top of it all helps me to be bettereveryday so I will try to keep up with it.
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jdroxburgh · 8 years ago
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Honeymoon Period
So this was a originally a one shot for Week 9 (Theme: Mistakes) for the #rizzlesfanficchallenge I was asked to extend it so here you go :) Happy Valentine’s Day :)
Chapter One.
Jane and Casey landed in the airport from their honeymoon and life bombarded them immediately; her phone buzzed with a zillion voicemails from her Ma and his commanding officer called him with an almost eerie timing as soon as he turned his signal back on. Casey looked at Jane with those puppy dog eyes he did before turning his back and hailing down a cab whilst succumbing to whatever instructions where being barked down the phone at him. Jane watched him climb into the cab and take off with a heavy sigh, so much for the honeymoon period! She hailed down a separate cab, gave the driver her address and took a deep breath before looking at her phone again. She winced as she looked at the sheer volume of voicemails her Ma had left her and locked the phone hastily, she could at least wait until she got home to call her Ma.
The cab pulled up at her apartment and she smiled at the familiar building with an almost sad nostalgia; whilst on honeymoon Casey had talked about getting a house, somewhere just outside of the city, somewhere cozy and warm, perfect for raising a family. she, of course, didn't let on the feeling of utter dread that that image brought her, she told herself it was just jitters, like she had on the wedding day, nothing serious, she just didn't always like change. She unlocked the door to her apartment and turned to close it behind her when she jumped out of her skin at a noise behind her.
"JANE CLEMENTINE RIZZOLI!"
"Jesus Ma!" Jane spun on her heels to glare at her Ma who was glaring right back at her with her hands on her hips. "What you tryin' to kill me?!"
"Me?! What about you? You don't let me know you landed safe, you don't leave the name of your hotel, you don't answer my calls, you don't tell me when you've arrived back?!" Angela shook her head at her daughter "I was worried sick! Anything could have happened!"
"Ma, I was on honeymoon! So sue me if I don't wanna talk to my mother every day!"
Angela was hurt by Jane's comments but shook them off; there was something more important to discuss. "Janie…"
Jane frowned at her apartment and it took her a second to catch onto why it looked so different, "Ma…why is all your stuff here…in my apartment…?"
Angela could feel the tears welling up and she wished she didn't have to have this conversation. "Janie…come sit down."
Jane eyed her Ma suspiciously "No, I'm good standing, what's going on Ma?"
Angela sighed sadly "It's Maura."
Panic seized Jane and she felt as if she were going to collapse, a lump in her throat made her feel sick and her ears began ringing, somehow she managed to speak over all of it "What's happened? Where is she?"
"I don't know."
The quiet honest answer her Ma gave her made her feel as if she had been stabbed through the chest "What do you mean? Where is she Ma? Where's Maura?" Saying her name almost winded Jane as emotions she didn't know she had coursed through her veins.
"She's gone…she sold the house…she quit her job…and just…left." Angela saw the heartbreak in her daughter's eyes and she recognised it; every time Maura had been hurt or in danger she had had that haunted, broken look in her eyes, Angela had never seen her look like that with anyone else, not even when Casey had told her the news of his accident.
Jane shook her head repeatedly "She just, left? no, Ma, that can't be right, I mean, she must have said something?!"
Angela stood up and attempted to gather Jane into a hug but Jane pushed her away angrily. "I came home from work and she was gone, she left me a note saying I had a couple of days to clear the guesthouse before the new owners moved in…that she was sorry but it was something she had to do. I called Sean and she had resigned that day, she begged him to take all her unused leave as a replacement for her notice…and that was it…"
Jane balled up her fists and gritted her teeth together "You must know something else."
Angela shook her head sadly and watched as Jane stormed out of her apartment.
As she sped to the BPD she constantly rang Maura leaving message after message telling her to call her. As she stormed into the bullpen she saw everyone avoid her gaze and she snarled at them in disgust before yanking open the door to Cavanaugh's office and slamming it shut.
He looked up at her unimpressed, "Detective Rizzoli. I trust you had a pleasant honeymoon?"
"Where is she?"
"Excuse me?"
Jane slammed her hands down on his desk "Maura! Where is she?!"
"Doctor Isles felt as if her services were needed elsewhere."
Jane leaned right into his face trying to hold back the hot tears "Where did she go?"
"Rizzoli, you know I can't reveal that information, she asked for it to remain private."
"I'm her best friend!"
"Then why didn't she tell you?"
His words slithered across her skin like a cold harsh wind, it seeped into her and sank to the pit of her stomach like a rock. She turned and left his office without a word. She walked out of the bullpen and down into the morgue. Doctor Pike was fussing about in Maura's office measuring things and she simply glared at him. "Get out." He opened his mouth to protest but seeing the dangerous look in her eye he scampered away.
"Then why didn't she tell you?" The words echoed in her mind like a cruel taunt. She picked up her phone and dialled that number that was so ingrained in her brain. "Maura…it's me…again…where are you? Let me come and find you…please…I need to talk to you, I want to talk to you…I miss you…I…I…I love you…" The last admission was whispered down the phone as realisation sank in and Jane suddenly realised what had been staring her in the face for all these years. "I love you." Her voice had grown in strength as the words warmed through the frost and hurt. "I love you Maura Isles, Doctor Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts. I love the way you get frustrated with me and tell me off when I guess. I love the way your nose scrunches up when you don't understand a saying. I love the way you talk to your turtle…I love the way it winds you up when I don't call Bass a tortoise. I love the way you always look like you're about to do a photoshoot. I love the way you always have my back, no matter what. I love that I'm the only one allowed to hug you when you cry, just like you're the only one who can hold my hands. I love you Maura and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did this to us. I'm sorry I was so blind I didn't see it. I'm sorry I married Casey." Tears were flowing fast and free down Jane's face. "Losing you is the worst thing that could ever have happened to me, letting you go without telling you this is my biggest mistake. I'll do anything Maur…anything. I will hunt the earth to find you just to tell you this, even if you don't feel the same, even if you never want to see me again."
Jane heard movement in the doorway and span in hope praying to see those beautiful hazel eyes that reassured her that everything was okay. Instead she face Senior Criminologist Chang's puzzled expression and she sighed heavily as she hung up her phone.
"Detective Rizzoli. You're back."
Jane frowned at her momentarily before remembering she had just come back from honeymoon. "Oh, right, yeah…" she swiped at her tears and went to brush past Susie when a gentle hand reached out and rested on her arm.
"It took you long enough." Jane frowned at her again and the other woman smiled kindly at her. "Doctor Isles told me to keep this strictly to myself, but I have a feeling she will forgive me in time."
Jane felt a piece of paper being pushed into her hand and unfolded it carefully. it was an address. Jane looked up to thank Susie but she had gone. Hope suddenly welled up inside Jane like a spring. This is it. You're about to either make another mistake, or rectify the biggest one you ever made. Either way it was about time Jane learned from her mistakes and she wasn't about to let Maura go again without a fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Chapter Two.
Jane sat behind the wheel of her car staring at the cursive handwriting that she knew almost better than she knew her own.  Seeing it comforted her, warmed her heart like it was proof she was ok but before that thought had time to settle a newer stronger thought harked at her.  But she isn’t ok. And it’s my fault.  She carefully folded the paper like the precious gem it was and turned the key in the engine.  As the engine roared into life and purred underneath her she drank in its power and strength.  She sat up straighter and pulled down the visor to give her chocolate eyes a glare “Time to man up Rizzoli.” Time to stop running. The silent afterthought made her slap the visor back with more vigour than was needed, had she really been running all this time? She didn’t need to answer herself to know that deep down somewhere she had always known there was something more to her feelings for Maura.  The countless times Maura would touch her, innocently, to reassure her or as a gentle no every time it sent shivers across her skin but she would never give credence to that feeling and just blocked it out.  That’s what she was good at – blocking things out, if she wasn’t she would never have come back from Hoyt, she was able to put walls up where they were needed.  She sighed and her shoulders sagged a little, they were never needed with Maura though and the honey blonde had always managed to smash through them somehow.  A lump formed in her throat as she recalled the fallout from Doyle, the intense hurt in those hazel eyes and Jane remembered praying to a god she didn’t believe in that Maura would forgive her because she didn’t know how she could live with Maura looking at her like that.  They had come past all of that, they had gone through so damned much together and yet the detective refused to see what was in front of her the whole time.  She thought about all the times they almost lost each other and she sat back up, tilted her head to one side with a satisfying crack and gripped the steering wheel with reinforced purpose.  I’m not going to lose her this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maura looked around the penthouse apartment with a heavy sigh for a countless time since she had gotten here; trust her name to bring such opulence.  She rolled her eyes, all she had wanted was a room, small enough to keep her contained and no room for her thoughts that she had no control over.  She opened the French doors and walked out onto the balcony taking in the breath-taking view – this was certainly a bonus of the unrequested upgrade, it was almost enough to take her thoughts away on the breeze.  Almost.  She felt the hot tears welling up again and clenched her fists in frustration.  I am Maura Isles, Medical Examiner, Queen of the Dead…I do not get consumed by ridiculous emotions.  But even as the thought floated around her head the sour taste in her mouth and heat across her chest told her that her body was having none of it.  She had been, she had lead an uncomplicated, blissfully ignorant “normal” life, unmarred by emotion, clinical and precise…and then she had walked into her life.  Maura smirked, or the coffee shop to be more precise.  There had been no question over her base attraction to Jane – she was a stunningly beautiful woman even in that horrendous undercover get up Maura was attracted to her.  A small laugh escaped her lips and was snatched away by the breeze, the brunette’s rude obnoxious snarky tendencies were not a turn on.  She lay a gentle hand across her heated skin below her neck and absentmindedly played with the necklace that lay there.  Ok she conceded, at first, they weren’t a turn on. But as her thoughts drifted to Jane’s fiery temper and block headedness and passion she found the familiar aches shiver over her body.  Even when they fought that passion did things to Maura that were never appropriate but it was just so Jane when she went all gung-ho or when she defended her like she was the most precious thing in her life.  She smirked at a memory in Giovanni’s garage when he asked her if she wanted to help him under the hood and she stood there helplessly stammering until an idea sprung to mind.  She remembered eyeing Jane to try and get her message across silently but all she could feel was her heart thundering in her chest as her mind screamed at her for this ridiculous idea.  When the brunette’s expression was blank the word “Babe” fell out of her lips for the first time in her life and it took all she had not to laugh but even as the giggle bubbled up her throat Jane’s eyes gained understanding and before she could process it she was closing the gap between them with this dark look in her eye that killed the giggle immediately and suddenly nothing was in her mouth or throat, not even saliva.  When Jane’s arms wrapped around her waist and she gave a little protective tug to pull her back into her body Maura’s mind melted.  She sank back and gave in to the amazing feeling of Jane’s body behind hers and could barely think straight as she rocked them, like they had done this a thousand times.  “Tell him.” The raspy command in her ear flooded parts of her anatomy, not that they needed it the strong arms she was feeling had already performed that job admirably.  It wasn’t until she tried explaining things to Giovanni that she realised just how short circuited her brain was, of course she could later blame it on not being able to lie but in that moment, it was all to do with Jane’s body.  She wished Jane had been going through the same thing as they equally fumbled over the terminology but she couldn’t help the lump in her throat hearing Jane saying the words life long and suddenly Maura was overwhelmed with want and not just the physical kind.  Nothing came close, however, to the sheer ripple through her body when Jane whispered “oh babe” in her ear completely unprompted – it was a good thing she was holding her upright because Maura’s knees would not have done the job.  Maura sighed as her body remembered the closeness but smiled sadly as she also remembered how quickly Jane had let go of her, true she had had to come right back hastily which had bumped her body right back against her own making Maura have to bite her lip to stop the noise she wanted to make from escaping.  She shook her head vigorously and swiped a hand at the tears she hadn’t realised were falling.  “Damn you Jane Rizzoli” she whispered into the air whilst feeling her skin tingle at the words, after all she had never told her, she let her go to Casey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jane drove like woman possessed and the truth is she felt possessed, she felt wild, alive, passionate, crazy all the things that the thought of losing Maura did to her – it amped her up her adrenaline was flowing and it occurred to her that every time she had saved Maura she put these feelings down to the danger, the job, that’s what she did, it’s what she loved but now she knew better it was all those things but overall it was Maura.  It was the fear of losing her forever.  She glanced down at her hands gripping the wheel and grimaced light was bouncing off her engagement ring which was now nestled with her wedding band and it was winking at her, like a reminder of all the wrong choices she had made.  She ground her teeth and felt her heart sink as she remembered that day with Maura.
“You gonna mention that diamond you’re wearing? Or do I ignore it?”
Jane felt her heart sink as Maura spent longer looking at the piece of paper in her hand than she did at her…but then when she did the brunette wished she hadn’t…that trademark beaming smile that always made her feel better about things wasn’t there…there was nothing there other than a faint forced smile and it was unsettling.  She had tried to lighten the mood with a joke about rom coms but she could see immediately that their normal banter was nowhere to be found.  Maura’s rebuffal was sadly self-defamatory and yet so reminiscent of old Maura, the Maura who wasn’t her friend, the Maura who thought she was odd, the Maura who distanced herself from people because she wasn’t like them.  It made Jane scared to see her slip back into that persona but Jane being Jane kept up the bravado, she remembered dismissing Maura’s behaviour by thinking she must be having a bad day.  She kept joking around but it wasn’t until she held out her hand and saw Maura’s face when she eyed the diamond that she knew somewhere deep down that nothing was ever going to be the same again.  The words that came out of the medical examiner were humourless and biting but Jane tried to make light of it again.  Now as she drove she glared at it Pretty?! The more she looked at it now the more she simply saw it as a colourless crystalline form of pure carbon.  She couldn’t help but smirk at that, Maura would be proud she remembered the terminology correctly.  She had tried to change the subject, switching back to the case in hand but Maura being Maura wouldn’t just let it lie. 
“So…you’re leaving?”
Those words, even now, punched Jane right in the gut along with the memory of those eyes, those eyes that looked so hurt, so betrayed.  She hated herself for having that conversation with Maura now but back then she was so blind she didn’t know…she thought it was just her friend not wanting to lose her but now she knew better.  She hit the steering wheel again “GOD! I am so dumb!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How are you gonna survive with one shoe?”
“How will I survive without my best friend?”
It was a rare moment of pure unfiltered emotion but the way Jane reacted…it wasn’t enough.  It was never enough, because she didn’t know…she didn’t feel the same but Maura couldn’t stop her love and emotions overflow at that moment and it was all too raw, too much.  So, she did what she always did, google mouthed her way out of it, or so Jane would have called it.  As she stood on the balcony now she felt the wave of overwhelming emotions hit her again but this time she didn’t have to run…this time she had already run.  She walked back inside and glanced at the clock.  They would be landing now. She cursed herself for knowing their flight details and itinerary, she wanted to blame Angela but she knew even if she hadn’t left the details lying around her old home she would have looked them up anyway.  She most definitely didn’t have a flight update app on her phone to notify her of any issues either.  She walked into the bedroom and rolled her eyes at the ginormous bed before she ungraciously flopped herself onto it.  She turned her head to one side.
“Are we having a sleepover or is this your way of telling me you’re attracted to me?”
She smiled in spite of herself, they had been dancing around each other right from the very beginning, she sighed heavily as she took one last look at her phone before she turned it off.  She was with him now, forever.  It was time to move on.  She turned the phone over and ejected the SIM card before inserting a new one.  Fresh start.  Even as she walked over to the trash can every cell of her being was screaming at her not to do it but she steeled herself and let the small item fall from her fingers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jane had Maura’s number on redial but it was just going straight to her voicemail each time.  Her gut was chewing itself to pieces but she kept repeating the same thought in her head She’s just busy, she’s ok. Not that it stopped her from pressing the gas pedal a little harder.  She kept trying to imagine what was going to happen, trying to prepare herself but she was sinking deeper into despair with every thought.  What if I’ve totally misjudged this? What if she doesn’t return my feelings? What if she’s met someone else? The other side of her kept rebuffing her inane fears. She loves you, you know she does, you’ve always known it, just like you’ve always known you love her you just couldn’t see it until now.  You’ve been on honeymoon for two weeks, she’s not going to have met the love of her life in two weeks.  She felt sick, she felt like she had heartburn even as she thought about it.  The trouble was, it was Maura.  As soon as you meet her you can fall head over heels, what if someone better had come along? Someone who realised just how precious she was, and showed her that…just like she had always done to Jane.
“You don’t know? You’re gorgeous my friend.”
As she drove she suddenly realised it didn’t matter what she said, as long as she said it.  Whatever the outcome she would live with it, she would deal with the fall out but she couldn’t go another day without telling her how she felt.  As if on cue Casey rang her phone and she felt the guilt sitting heavily on her chest.  That was not going to be a fun conversation…but it needed to be face to face, she owed him that much.  She reached over and turned her phone off before wiggling her rings off and guiltily sighing with relief as her hand felt instantly lighter.  Casey was a good guy, he had his flaws but he was a good guy, she hadn’t been good to him, she had denied him the big wedding he had wanted…she told him she couldn’t take the fussing from her Ma and that it was just for the two of them.  Truth was, not that she admitted to herself until now, she couldn’t marry someone else with Maura there, she couldn’t stand to see the emotions flicker across those hazel eyes.  That’s even if she would have come to wedding which Jane doubted.  So, she had run…run away from Maura just like she always had done and took Casey along for the ride.  He deserved better…so did Maura.  She chewed at her thumb and cursed the medical examiner for going so far away, it was making it hard to keep going every time she doubted herself.  Maura did deserve better than her, but more than that Maura deserved the truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Chapter Three.
She didn’t remember falling asleep but she knew she had been dreaming of a certain brunette as she was rudely awoken by a pounding on the door.  She groggily sat up and frowned at it.  She hadn’t ordered room service and no one would disturb an Isles in this establishment unless it was urgent – it certainly sounded urgent from the thundering sounds.  She half-heartedly raised a hand to fuss her hair but dropped it with a sigh, what was the point?  That thought made her heart sink a little, that was one of the things that made her her but she didn’t have the energy for it.  This time away was exactly what she needed she needed to find herself again.  Build those walls back up.  She straightened her back and made her way to the door that was still being pounded.  She took a deep breath and swung open the door only to let the breath out in a shocked whoosh like she had been winded.
Jane blinked.  She was there.  Just, just stood in the doorway. It was really her.  It felt like a million years since she’d actually seen her and her mind utterly blanked, all she knew was that in that moment looking into those hazel eyes she felt like she was home.
Maura thought she was dreaming, she genuinely wanted to pinch herself but as she gazed into those chocolate eyes she saw the layers of emotions; sadness, happiness, guilt, shock and she knew the brunette was real, if she was a dream it wouldn’t be this hard.  And it was hard, it was hard to swallow all of her emotions and instinctual words that were on the tip of her tongue.  Hardest of all was keeping the tears at bay, she didn’t know if they were happy or sad tears, which meant they were probably both.
She felt home but she also felt lost.  It felt like they had been apart for so long and there was so much unspoken between the two of them.  She cursed herself for not practising what to say.  She thought about stepping over the threshold and just gathering the honey blonde into a kiss but she found her feet wouldn’t move.  This was harder than she thought.  “Why do you always look like you’re about to do a photoshoot?”
The pair of women blinked at one another as the words broke the silence around them.
What the fuck Rizzoli? Really? Jane inwardly winced, god she was such a bumbling moron.  She tried to smile at Maura but only half of her mouth moved and she imagined it was more of a grimace than anything and she wanted to turn on her heel and bolt.
The brunette tried to throw her one of her trademark goofy grins but it didn’t fully form and she knew that Jane was feeling as unsure as she was.  She wanted her to come in but at the same time she wanted to beat her fists against her chest and banish her.  She knew, if she did that Jane would leave and never come back, she would respect her wishes.  That’s why she was still stood in the corridor awkwardly; she wouldn’t come in unless Maura asked her in.  She didn’t trust her words so she simply stepped to one side and held open the door.
Jane walked into a suite that was bigger than her entire apartment and couldn’t help but smile a little, Maura’s name had preceded her no doubt, as much as she loved the finer things in life even she wouldn’t go this far.  She didn’t trust her body and kept her back to Maura as she looked out the French doors at a stunning sunset.
Maura closed the door and the sound was too loud, it only heightened the silence between the two of them and she floundered.  What on earth can I say to her? “Is Angela-“
“She’s ok.” Her voice cracked and came out hoarser than she expected and she realised she was closer to tears than she thought.  She straightened her back and pulled on the Rizzoli armour before finally turning to the smaller woman who was stood with her arms wrapped around her.  “Susie, she-“
“Ah.” Maura inwardly cursed herself but also couldn’t deny that the thought had crossed her mind when she had given the paper to her former colleague.  She tried to regain some semblance of control by crossing to the bar and poured two glasses of scotch.
The tinkling of ice cubes took the place of the unsaid conversation and by the time Jane crossed over to take her glass the air felt less tense, still horrid and awkward, but the cursory small talk was at least bypassed…now for the real talk.  She gulped the burning liquid down her throat and couldn’t hold back the cough.
She couldn’t help it, the small crossed her lips before the thought of one did and she knew those chocolate eyes had seen it but she wasn’t ready to give in yet so she straightened her posture, jutted out her chin defiantly and proceeded to go and stand on the balcony.
Jane poured herself another generous scotch and gave herself a pep talk before turning to follow the medical examiner outside.  They stood for a few moments in silence, Maura staring into her glass chasing the ice around the bottom of the tumbler and Jane flicking her gaze between the honey blonde and the sunset still not quite believing her eyes.  She opened and closed her mouth like a fish several times as she floundered for the right words but everything she thought of just wasn’t enough, it wasn’t good enough.  That niggling thought plagued her again and she felt her scars flare up as they did when she was nervous or scared.  She absentmindedly rubbed her left hand over the rim of the glass to try and relieve it.
Maura caught the action out of the corner of her eye and she sighed, Jane was nervous…or scared.  She knew that action all too well.  She dared to allow her eyes to flick up to chocolate ones that were gazing out at the sunset the reflection of which made her eyes shine and cast a rosy glow over perfect olive skin and those damned cheekbones she wanted under her fingers.  She blinked the thought out of her mind.  We don’t know why she’s here, she might not be here for that… the other voice in her mind scoffed at her. Yeah sure, don’t pretend like you haven’t noticed that hand doesn’t have rings on it.
Jane was having an imaginary conversation with Maura when a feather light touch stilled her hand on top of her glass.  She froze like an animal caught in headlights not wanting to disturb the touch.  She didn’t trust her gaze not to give her away so she stared at the sunset willing her tears to vanish.  Her touch burned against Jane’s cold skin but it was so gentle like she was going to break it made her chin wobble.
She traced around the scar on top of her hand in circles as she had done countless times before.  Somehow this time was different, somehow this time was so much more intimate.  She took a deep breath and plucked up the courage to swipe her thumb gently across the puckered scar tissue and Jane hissed.
At the noise concerned eyes shot up to meet her own but they softened and the stilled digit resumed its work as she must have seen it was not pain that caused her to hiss.  She gripped her glass as hard as she could for fear she would drop it and tried to tear her eyes away from hazel ones but like a magnet she was unable to.
She didn’t know how long they stood like that but in that gaze she tried to convey all her feelings, she knew she didn’t have the words to do it and she didn’t trust herself to say the right thing, she never could say the right thing.
She could see fear in those eyes, fear of rejection, fear of getting hurt, all the fears she knew were shining in her own eyes.  She finally had her answer.  She knew why Maura had run, it was the same reason Jane had been running for all these years.  She turned her left hand and stilled Maura’s movements and held her hand for a moment.
She was the only one allowed to touch her hands like this, so intimate, she had known that for a long time but had always dismissed it as friendship and nothing more for fear of getting hurt.  As she was trusted in this moment she knew it finally meant more than that.  She felt her hand being lifted and she watched in wonder as her best friend lifted her hand to her soft lips and pressed them against her fingers.
Her heart was thundering and she was pretty sure she was sweating, it was just a kiss on the hand but she knew it spoke volumes more than that.  She could feel herself shaking as she peeled her lips away from that soft skin and she was overwhelmed by the scent of Maura.  It was a scent she knew from hugs and sleeping next to her but she hadn’t realised how much she had missed it, how much she needed it.
Maura could feel the brunette shaking and she knew she was also trembling.  She reluctantly retrieved her hand and took the brunette’s glass before setting them down on the table beside them.  With shaking hands, she turned to face Jane and took both her hands in her own and squeezed reassuringly.
The tears fell.  She couldn’t hold them back any more and she wasn’t the only one.  The pair of them stood silently crying until Jane couldn’t take it anymore.  She reached up and gently wiped a stream of tears away and then caressed that soft cheek.  She felt Maura echo her actions and sighed gently before relaxing into her touch. “Maur…I-“
Maura moved her hand to cover those soft lips and shook her head softly before moving her fingers to that magnificent jawline and guided her down to her level.  They stilled millimetres apart, breaths mingling knowing that if they took this next step it would change anything.  She wasn’t sure whose eyes closed first or who leaned in to close that gap but once they did all she knew was that this is where she belonged.
She kissed Maura.  Maura was kissing her.  Her mind blanked after those two thoughts.  She was vaguely aware that she had the honey blonde’s face in her hands, she was also semi aware that their bodies had stepped closer together at some point during the kiss and that they were made to be melded against one another.  She wasn’t aware of Maura’s hands until she received a tug to her dark curls pulling her lips away from the kiss.
There was a pout.  Jane Rizzoli pouted and Maura couldn’t help but smile.
Wow. That smile. It was unlike anything she had ever seen – it was wide, and beautiful and free.  She looked so happy and relaxed that Jane could practically feel her walls crumbling, she was putty in this woman’s hands and she had never been like that with anyone, she was always the dominant confident one – now she was a puddle.
Maura took in the contented face in front of her for as long as she could stand it before pulling the brunette back in for another kiss.  This kiss was less reverent but no less tender.  When Jane growled against her lips Maura gasped and the brunette took full advantage of that slipping her tongue between her lips and Maura’s eyes nearly rolled back into her head.  Jane Rizzoli was an outstanding kisser.  Strong hands left her face and anchored themselves at her waist pulling her impossibly closer and again she gasped before sliding the hand that wasn’t tangled in unruly curls down to hipbones that had always fascinated her.
Jane broke the kiss but stayed close, nudging Maura’s nose with her own in an uncharacteristically adorable move and she rolled her eyes at her own sappiness but it was worth it when she was rewarded with a small chuckle and kiss to her nose.
They hadn’t said what they wanted to, they hadn’t said those three words, they hadn’t spoken about anything that mattered…somehow it didn’t matter.  They had finally found each other after years of searching but not realising they were searching for one another.  Nothing else mattered, they could deal with it all when they had to go back to reality, but for now it was just the two of them, and that’s all that mattered.
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Amazing Spider-Man #12: ‘Unmasked By Dr. Octopus!’
Welcome to my blog where I’m trying to write about a Spider-Man comic every day for a whole year. There’s been a nasty rumour going around that I miss days sometimes (spread by me to nobody but myself). Look, it’s not that I missed a day it’s just that the temporal measurements that we use to measure the way we pass through existence from one day to the next erm…got all funky for a day.
Okay, I missed a day. Of course it’s going to happen sometimes, but I do still feel like I’ve assaulted the grounds upon which this very blog is built and so I apologise. After Friday’s super frustrated train journey post, I didn’t want to even attempt another one on the train back from Edinburgh and I was pretty tired when I got back, so I thought that rather than forcing something out, I’d just have to skip a day which is kind of a shame because the reason I’m trying to do this is to get me writing even when I don’t feel like it but as I said, it will happen sometimes.  After all that preamble let us commence Amazing Spider-Man #12: ‘Unmasked By Dr. Octopus!’...
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So it’s ot that this was a bad issue because it wasn’t. It’s just that I’m a little bit annoyed I’m going to be doing a full review of this pretty straight forward issue and I didn’t really get to write all that much about was last issue which featured: The revel of why Loan Sharks have been after Betty; Spider-Man’s first non-Uncle Ben ‘This is my fault even though I had good intentions’ death (In Betty’s Brother); The first returning villain in Doctor Octopus; Peter trying to reveal his secret identity to Betty; Peter realising he can NEVER reveal his true identity to Betty because she kind of blames Spider-Man for her brother’s death; The villain escaping Spider-Man at the end of the issue. There might be more, but there were loads and it was a really well told story.
Interestingly, even though Doc Ock is the villain again this issue, this isn’t really ‘Part Two’ of a story in the way I thought it might be. It’s just a second story featuring last issues villain and it’s a pretty straight forward story but as always, with some great tone setting art and fantastic character work from Ditko and Lee.
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The issue opens with a headline in the Daily Bugle calling Spider-Man out for letting Doc Ock escape last issue. It’s the first time we’ve seen Spider-Man not capture the bad guy and it’s interesting to see that there’s some fall out from that, even if it is Jameson’s usual attacks on a teenager trying to make the world a better place.
The basic set up of the issue is that Doc Ock is still at loose after escaping Spider-Man last issue. He’s committing crimes across the country to try and goad Spider-Man into attacking him so that he can prove who is the stronger of the two. There’s a nice little moment here where Ock is wondering why Spider-Man isn’t coming straight to whatever city he’s attacking to stop him. Cut to – Peter Parker in New York with narration reminding us that he’s still a teenager and just can’t always afford to travel. It’s a great way of reminding us that this kid might be able to lift a car, but still has to follow the same rules we all do.
Ock eventually realises he should probably go to New York if he wants to fight Spider-Man. So he does, he attacks the Bugle, kidnaps Betty because Spider-Man risked his life to save her last issue and then tells Jameson to print a headline asking to meet with Spider-Man so that Jameson can tell Spider-Man to go fight Ock. It sounds like they could just skip a step, but Peter is there when this happens and it’s clearly done this particular way to give him another obstacle when he goes to speak to Jameson already knowing what Jameson wants to talk to him about.
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So Peter goes to fight Ock and save Betty, but on the way there his powers seem to be failing him (this doesn’t come out of nowhere, Aunt May does mention he’s not been too good on like, the first page), So Doc Ock ends up beating the crap out of him because his Powers are leaving him due to a virus that ‘…’ which is a virus that seems to exist solely to make Spider-Man weak enough to lose to Doc Ock. Doc Ock beats the crap out of him and unmasks Spider-Man in front of Jameson, Betty and a Police officer!!!
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But since he was so weak in the fight, everyone decides that Peter was just trying to be brave and pretending to be Spider-Man and that the real Spider-Man just didn’t show up for the fight.
Now I actually think this is a pretty fun example of something comics used to do like crazy which is draw readers in with an exciting cover, only to get out of it by kind of cheating. It is 100% that as we were promised Spider-Man unmasked in front of everyone. What separates this from some of the more in your face lying examples is that we do get the moment where it looks like Peter’s identity is revealed. We’re told this isn’t the case even before we read the next panel, but because we’ve sent so much time with Peter, we know how devastating having his identity revealed would be and so it totally works as a character moment.
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From there Peter is bed bound until the next morning where he feels all better. Doc Ock has let some Zoo animals loose, Spidey stops them then fights Doc Ock again and wins.
It’s a relatively straight forward issue this one, though I do like how dramatic their final fight is. It ends with Dock Ock willing to have them both burn/be crushed to death as the collapses whilst burning down. Doc Ock really needs to prove he’s stronger than Spider-Man – which is something that will come back A LOT over the years.
The issue ends on a high note though. Doc Ock is arrested and Liz Allen asks Peter on a date, but he refuses because he’s finally with Betty and then Stan Lee brags about how sometimes Spider-Man can end on a happy note. Before promising it won’t always be this way.
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On the whole I thought that the issue was a little bit too straight forward and didn’t do anything super exciting. It was a nice change of pace from all the huge moments of last issue, I’m pretty sure the thing I’m complaining about is the way it is by design but I think the reason I feel a little let down is that it’s using the same villain from last week but because this issue isn’t as huge as the last one, it feels a bit like it’s pushing Dock Ock into a lesser role than the one he was in last time. Maybe if it wasn’t the same guy from last week it would feel a bit more like a change of pace and less like it’s deflating some of the excitement of last week.
Join me tomorrow for the introduction of Ol’ Fishbowl Head (Mysterio).
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