#and then the bus driver yelled at an elderly man for not waiting at the right place

[thesmokinpossum]

Didn't felt like mentioning it immediately but shoutout to my sick and twisted brain for getting so triggered by an unexpected Christmas parade that I ended up havin the absolute worst panic attack of my entire life (potentially the only real one? I've had a couple other episodes I thought of as panic attacks but they were not even close to that so who knows) to the point where I spent the very last day of my 30th year on this earth in the ER, good times, good times 😊

[koreofkore]

Pilot episode | chapter 1

ᥲsᥱᥒᥲ іs іᥒ 𝖿᥆r ᥲ sᥙr⍴rіsᥱ ᥕһᥱᥒ ᥲ ᥴһіᥣძ kᥒ᥆ᥴks ᥆ᥒ һᥱr ძ᥆᥆r ᥴᥣᥲіmіᥒg 𝗍᥆ ᑲᥱ һᥱrs.

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Fairytale world

Prince Charming (Tony) rode on his horse along the stretch of the land towards a forest. In the forest, he meets seven dwarves gathered around a glass coffin. "You're to late." Wong says. He looks at Pepper in the coffin. Her skin pale and her chest unmoving. "No. No! Open it." He ordered. "I'm sorry, she's gone." Strange said mornfully. "At least let me say goodbye." Tony begged.

All seven men remove the glass top. Tony leans down and kisses her lips and a wave of magic pulses throughout the kingdom. No one notices except the birds that leave the branches they perched on. Pepper wakes up with a gasp. "You... You found me." She said breathlessly. "Did you ever doubt I would?" Tony asked her. "Truthfully, the glass coffin gave me pause." She joked.

"Well, you never have to worry. I will always find you." He assured. "Do you promise?" She asked. "I do." Tony says at their wedding. "And do you, Pepper Potts, promise to take this man to be your husband, and love him for all eternity?' The priest asked. " I do she says. " I now pronounce you husband and wife." The priest says. Everyone applauds and cheers. Pepper and Tony lean to kiss each other when the ballroom doors swing open by a magical force. "Sorry I'm late." The red head stated.

She goes to approach the newlyweds and the guards try to stop her. She flings them away with magic. "It's the Queen. Run!" Someone in the crowd yells. "She's not the queen anymore. She's nothing more than a evil witch." Pepper said grabbed her husbands sword pointing it at her.

"No, no, no. Don't stoop to her level. There's no need." He consoles. Tony takes his sword from her. "You're wasting your time. You've already lost. And I will not let you ruin this wedding." Tony said. "Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything. On the contrary, dear, I've come to offer you a gift." Natasha smiles. "We want nothing from you." Pepper says in anger.

"But you shall have it! My gift to you is this happy, happy day. But tomorrow my real work begins. You've made your vows, now I make mine. Soon everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you. Forever. And out of your suffering, will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness if it is the last thing I do." Natasha turns around after her speech and heads for the door.

"Hey!" Tony calls after her. Natasha turns and he launched his sword at her. She disappears in a puff of black smoke letting the sword crash on the ground.

The real world

A young girl Yelena is seen with a book that contains illustrations of Tony and Pepper on the page. She's seen getting on a bus to Boston. "That a good book?" An elderly woman asked. "This? Is more than a book." The young girl says her little accent coming out. "Oh?" She asked.

Boston, south station. "Thank you for riding Greyhound." The bus announcer said. Yelena gets off the bus and finds a taxi. "You take credit cards?" She asked holding up the card. "Where to, chief?" The driver asked.

╬╬═════════════╬╬

Asena sat in a restaurant waiting on her target to come for their 'date'. She takes a sip of wine knowing that she'd need it. She wore a pink dress with matching heels and her hair was curly. She sat crossed leg to stop her shaking. To be honest she was scared the guy wouldn't show. But he finally did. "Asena." He greeted.

"Ryan? You looked relieved." She said. "Well, it is the internet. Pictures can be..." He pauses trying to find the right word. "Fake, outdated. Stolen from a Victoria's Secret catalogue." She finished.

He nodded. "Sorry I'm late by the way." He says sitting down in the seat across from her after they greeted each other. "It's totally fine." She replied with a forced smile. "So... Um... Tell me something about yourself, Asena?" He asked nervously. "Oh. Ah, well, today's my birthday." She answered. "And you're spending it with me! What about your friends?" He asked.

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐈'𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐕𝐨𝐝𝐤𝐚. She thought.

"Kind of a loner." She answered. "And, you don't like your family?" He asked. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. She thinks holding her facade.

"No family to like." She said taking another sip of wine. "Oh, come on. Everyone has family." Ryan says. "Technically, yeah. And everyone knows who they are? Ready to run yet?" She replied. "Oh not a chance. You, Asena, are by far, the sexiest, friendless orphan I have ever met." He said.

𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐧? 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡. She thought. "Okay. Your turn. No wait let me guess. Umm... You are handsome, charming." She started internally gaging. "Go on." Ryan says.

"The kind of guy who— now stop me if I get this wrong — embezzled your former employer, got arrested, and skipped town before they could throw your ass in jail." She fake laughed. "What?" The man asked playing dumb. "And the worst part of all is your wife. Your wife loves you so much that she bailed you out, and how do you repay that loyalty? You're on a date." She finished off.

"Who are you?" The man asked. "The chick that put up the rest of the money." Asena answers. " You're a bails bondsman." Ryan realized. "Bail bondsperson." She corrected. Ryan flipped the table spilling everything on her and took off running. "Bloody Hell!" She groans.

Ryan runs across the street dodging cars and Asena just casually walks through traffic. He tries to start the ignition and looks to find a boot on his tire. "You don't have to do this, okay? I can pay you. I got money." Ryan bargained. "No, you don't. And if you did, you should give it to your wife and take care of your family." Asena said crossing her arms.

"The hell do you know about family, huh?" The man asked. "Nothing." She replied smashing his head against t he steering wheel. When Asena arrived home she kicks off her heels walked to the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of Scotch and opened a box with a cupcake inside.

She opens the bottle and then puts a star shaped candle in the cupcake. "Another loner year." She lights it then closes her eyes and makes a wish. Theres a knock on the door and Asenas head snapped to it. She opens the door and sees a child. "Are you Asena Montgomery?" She asked. "Yeah?" She answered skeptically. "I'm Yelena and I'm your daughter." The younger blonde says. Yelena pushes past her and into the apartment. "Woah! Hey, kid! Kid! Kid! I don't have a daughter! Where are your parents?" Asena asked.

"Ten years ago. Did you give up a baby for adoption? That was me." Yelena explained. "... Give me a minute." The woman said going to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror trying to compose herself. She didn't think that her past would catch up with her ten years later. Plus how could that little girl know that she was her mother?

She had a closed adoption which meant the kid shouldn't even know that she existed. "Hey do you have any juice? Never mind, found some." Yelena hollered from the kitchen. Asena leaves the bathroom after taking a deep breath. She sees the little girl drinking her orange juice straight from the bottle. "Gross." She said taking the bottle from the child. "You know, we should probably get going." Yelena realizes.

"Going where?" Asena asked confused. "I want you to come home with me." Yelena clarified. "Okay, kid. I'm calling the cops." Asena picked up her phone. "Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me." Yelena fired back. "And they'll believe you because I'm your birth mother." Asena huffed in realization. "Yep." The child hummed. "Fair played, but you and I both know you aren't gonna do that." Asena tilted her head in protest.

"Try me." The ten year old challenges. "You're pretty good. But here's the thing, there's a lot I'm good at and a hell of a lot I'm terrible at in life. I have 840 confirmed kills so murder obviously isn't one of them. Let's call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone's lying and you, kid, are." Asena explained to the girl. "Wait... Please don't call the cops. Please come home with me." Yelena begged.

"Where do you live?" Asena sighed. "Storybrooke, Maine." Yelena said. "Storybrooke? Are you serious?" Asena asked. Yelena hummed and nodded. "Alright then." Asena rubbed her temples.

Fairytale world

In the castle in the forest Pepper stood near the balcony, and a bluebird lands on her finger. "What's wrong?" Tony asked. "Nothing" Pepper snapped out of her daze. "You're thinking about what the Queen said again, aren't you? Pepper, please. I can't keep having this conversation. You have to let it go. We're about to have a baby." Pepper turns her head ashamed of being caught thinking about the threat.

She had agreed to try and move past that but how do you move past something like that, especially after you know that she will be true to her word. Pepper knew that Natasha would try everything in her power to take away her happiness. "I haven't had a restful night since our wedding." Pepper pointed out. And it was the truth, she hadn't slept well at all she felt as if she had to look over her shoulder consistently again. "That's what she wants - to get in your head. But they're only words. She can't hurt us." Tony reassured pulling her in.

"She poisoned an apple because the thought i was prettier than her. You have no idea what she's capable of." Pepper argued pulling out of his hold. He didn't get it and she needed him to get it. This woman has made her life hell for years. Natasha has had it out for her and wanted to see her dead and now this. " What can I do to ease your mind?" Tony asked starting to realize that he wasn't going to win this argument and that she wouldn't sleep until she got some type of clarity.

"Let me talk to him." Pepper answered. He was the only one who could give her that reassurance that her child would be safe. "Him? You don't mean..." Tony asked with a hint of fear. "I do." Pepper answered back with a look of determination. "No, no, no. It's too dangerous." Tony shut down the idea immedi ately. She couldn't be serious. She knew how dangerous he was. "He sees the future." Pepper points out. Tony made a face. He was scared he would admit that to no one but himself because he had to be strong for Pepper.

But that didn't mean he wanted help from the person he helped trap. that was suicide. "There's a reason he's locked up." Tony said logically. Pepper placed a hand on her swollen stomach. "Can you promise me that our child will be safe? Can you guarantee it? Because he can." Pepper questioned. The look on Pepper's face was enough to make him cave. Seeing her look so unlike her normal fearless self. "Alright. For our child." Pepper smiled in relief and Tony leaned in for a kiss. She had no idea how much power she had over him, and maybe that was a good thing.

Real world

Asena and Yelena were driving and the former had no idea what time it was. The drive was silent for the most part until Yelena broke it. "I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?" The girl asked. "This isn't a road trip kid. We aren't stopping for snacks." Asena replied. Yelena closed her book. "Why not?" She pestered. She was hungry she could feel her stomach growling.

She could also tell that they were close to home and she wasn't ready to go back yet. "Quit complaining, Kid. Remember i could've easily put your ass on a bus and let you go the same way you came." Asena said annoyed slightly. "You know i have a name right? It's Yelena." The blonde child pouted before opening her book again. "What's that." Asena asked just now noticing the big old looking book. "I'm not sure you're ready." Yelena flips through the pages. "Not ready for what? A bunch of fairytales?" Asena questioned scrunching up her face.

Yelena makes a face. These weren't just fairytales they were a truth and even if they were which she was pretty sure they weren't, they were a history, her history. "They aren't just fairytales they are a truth. Every story in this book is a truth, someone's truth. Every story in this book actually happened." Yelena deadpanned. "Of course they did." Asena sighed. It was a long night and this kid has made it longer. Yelena on the other hand was just huffing. How dare she not take her seriously.

"I know I sound crazy, but use your superpower, see if I'm lying." Yelena dared. Asena did and the girl was telling the truth. She wasn't about to let this kid slide though. "Just because you believe in something doesn't make it true. " Asena looked over at the page. "Uh no that's exactly what makes it true. You would know more than I would." Yelena scans through a page. "Oh really now? Why is that?" Asena asked. "Because you're in this book." Yelena flipped to the next page

"You have problems." Asena chuckles. This kid was crazy but so was she so she had no room to say anything. "Yep. And you're going to fix them." Yelena snorted. Asena laughed before switching lanes.

Enchanted Forest

Pepper and Tony are walking behind a guard with cloaks on their heads. The guard has a torch in his hand and he stops them just before they get to the cell. "When we reach the cell, stay out of the light. And whatever you do, do not let him know your name. If he knows your name, he wil have power over you." The guard warns, Pepper and Tony nod at him. "Loki. Loki! I have a question for you." The guard calls to the man in the cell.

Loki comes out of the shadows of the cell. "No, you don't They do. Pepper Potts and Tony Stark..." Loki rasped coming closer to the bars of the cell. "You insult my abilities. Step into the light and take off those ridiculous robes they don't suit you." Loki beckoned.

Pepper and Tony step into the light and slowly lower their hoods to reveal themselves. "Much better." Loki praises. "We've come to you about the..." Tony started before he was cut off. "Yes, yes, you idiot i know why you're here. You want to know about the queen's threat." Loki giggled before turning to the walls of the cell. "Tell us what you know and skip all the taunting." Tony deadpanned.

Loki was finding this amusing he could tell they were desperate. "Ooh tense, are we? Fear not! I can ease your mind. But... It's going to cost you something." Loki was playing with them he wanted nothing big they couldn't give him what he really wanted. Toying with them would be easy. "No he's just a waste of time." Tony turned to leave and Loki faked offence. "What do you want?" Pepper stepped forward and Tony spun around quickly. "Oh...The name of your unborn child." Loki said leaning against the stone of the wall with his arms crossed. "Absolutely not!" Tony protested.

"Deal! What do you know?" Pepper rushed out quickly. She needed to know she didn't have time for Tony's paranoia. Loki giggles and says, "The queen has created a powerful curse. And it's coming. Soon, you'll all be in a prison. Just like me only worse. Your prison, all of our prisons, will be time. Time will stop, and we will be trapped. Someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us while we suffer for eternity. While the Queen celebrates, victorious at last. No more happy endings." Loki explains with a smile on his face. He laughs at the fact that they remain absolutely clueless and the fear that he could feel radiating from them. "What can we do?" Pepper asked with a sense of dread in her chest.

She was scared of the answer, well not the answer an answer one that could break her heart. "We can't do anything." Loki emphasizes the we. Because in truth they couldn't there was nothing Pepper, himself, Tony could do. "Who can?" Pepper asked again with that same feeling of dread. "That little thing, growing inside your belly. " Loki moves his hand, in a gesture, towards Pepper's stomach. Tony draws his sword quickly and slashes at his hand. "Hands off reindeer games. Next time I cut it off." Tony sheathed his sword and placed a hand on his wife's lower back. Loki tsks and glances at his hand. "The infant is our only hope. Get the child to safety. Get the child to safety and Ion it's twenty-eighth birthday, the child will return. The child will find you and the final battle will begin." Loki says in a sing song voice before spinning on his heel and moving away from the bars.

Tony didn't like that answer and he made it clear by saying, "We've heard enough. We're leaving." And he guided Pepper to the exit. "Hey! No! We made a deal! I want her name! We had a deal! I need her name! I want her name!" Loki growls and angrily hits the bars. "Her? It's a boy." Tony rests his hand on Pepper's bump. "Missy... Missy... You know I'm right. Tell me, what's her name?" Loki asked in a much more calmer voice. "Asena. Her name is Asena." Pepper sighed and started to walk again. "Asena..." Loki mumbled.

[kareniliana]

Jeremy: Meet Again

A//N: a little different and low key long. not really first time meeting but you'll see the connection when you read it. Also if you want to request something just let me know! I hope you enjoy this one!

xx Karebear 💛🧸

Being a sixteen year old in high school is stressful enough but being a sixteen year old witch, with little to no friends and absentee parents makes it harder for you to get your emotions in check. But you were able to find something that helps calm you, weed. You don’t necessarily need it but when the moon is full, your powers are enhanced and a little out of control. 

okay that's a little bit a lie, they become too much for you to control. Thats where the amazing marijuana plant comes in handy, it calms your anger. You've always had problems controlling your anger. At one point your parent’s noticed too many holes in the walls of your personal rage room and sent you to anger management.

It helped for a few weeks but when the full moon was in effect, all that progress- everything that you learned, it went down the drain. You slowly became more and more angry and uncontrolled during the day but at night. It only seemed to get worse for you.You don't sleep because it gets too hot upstairs. You go down to your basement, where your parents moved your rage room to, for this reason exactly. Over the night you continually get fed up and release the pain and anxiety and anger against the four walls of your rage room. You thought you were helpless and a waste of energy to help. 

You were contemplating on your life, if it was ever even worth the trouble to get to know or help. Having no real friends doesn’t help either. As you lit up a joint in the stoner pit you see the regular groups of people who use drugs to escape from everything but that wasn’t you. You weren’t escaping reality, you were reverting back to the median. Your emotions sometimes gets the best of you and with your magic you start chaos.

“Y/n Y/l/n” Your one and basically only friend comes up to you and sits with you before school starts.

“Jeremy Gilbert, to what do I owe the pleasure” you joked and laughed as you passed the small joint to Jer.

“So I found some stuff out these past few weeks. I just need someone to talk to.” He said almost awkwardly, hitting the J and passing it back to you. You looked into his beautiful chocolate brown eyes, almost getting lost in them. You shake your head of any intimate visuals your brain is coming up with.

Jer smirks, almost as if he knows about your little crush for him. “but uh, You cannot tell anyone, not a single soul.” He looks at you with soft and adoring eyes, almost making you think maybe he likes you too? 

“Who am I going to tell, my weed?” You joke, lifting the joint to your lips. “Seriously though, what is it?”

He sighed deeply before looking at you with worried eyes, “Vampires and werewolves and witches- they exist. They’re real, we have students who are supernatural creatures.” He drops the bomb, studying you for any kind of reaction. You held a straight face, you’re a witch. But you didn’t know about werewolves and vampires, you really only know about witches because why the hell else would you research more on the supernatural spectrum?

“You can’t be serious Jer.” You stared into his eyes looking for a hint of dishonesty, but he wasn’t budging.

“Why would I lie to you? We think someone here is a new incoming witch, and we need to find them and help get their magic under control before something big happens.” His voice sounds worried and caring but who else here is a witch.

“What makes you think that?” You asked, a little worried because you can admit sometimes you lose control at school but you never knew if it was noticeable or not. You’re a loner, no one really cares if you’re having a panic attack or whatnot.

“You cannot tell me you haven’t noticed all the bizarre shit that’s been happening here? Just yesterday before lunch everyones locker in the halls opened. Everyone heard the sound of them opening simultaneously, it sounded like a canon!” You realized you were the witch they were looking for, you had birthday dinner set with your parents but they called you during class to inform you they were sent on a business trip to New York for a client. Which meant they were canceling on you. For the third birthday in a row. You lost control of your emotions and you let it out as a scream, you heard the echo of the lockers burst open from the basement of the school. 

“A few days ago Stefan and Caroline were mind tased that only a witch can do. And-” Jeremy looking to the two vampire from a few yards away, your face tinging with guilt, every time you went to let your anger out, you did something to the school or something around you. 

“-Wait, why only Stefan and Caroline? Are they..” you interrupted.

“Vampires. Luckily no one else was in the halls...” your head falls in disappointment, a frown and sad eyes very evident. Jeremy looks back over to you, instantly concerning himself. 

“Whats wrong? Wait, hey Y/n, what happened?” Jeremys hand reaches for your face, lifting your head to look at him. Tears formed, threatening to spill out. Guilt was written all over your face.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone I swear I just get so angry. I- I -” Your bottom lip started to quiver, almost sobbing you looked over to the vampires, “I’m really really sorry.”

“Hey wait, what are you...” He tried comforting you as he realized it was you they are looking for. “oh... it- it’s you. You're the witch.” You nodded your head, leaning away from him. He’s gonna see you differently now. He’s gonna hate you. He’s gonna leave, and you'll be all alone... your breath quickly increased, becoming into a panic attack and it’s beginning to become too overwhelming.

As your breathing increases, clouds roll in slowly covering the sun, then the wind starts raging around you all, you were doing this without even realizing it. It scared you more. 

“Y/n? No, hey hey its okay.” he tried reaching for you, but you were too fast. Jumping off the deck and running to your car. Then suddenly the clouds begins to crack with thunder, you can see the lightning across the clouds, ready to strike the earth.

You saw Stefan and Caroline begin to run to you but without really thinking you wave your hand at them, sending them flying into a bus. You ran without a second look back. Getting to your car and driving home, down the lonely winding road to your driveway, passing other driveways to the very few neighbors you have. 

“Okay, calm yourself!” You shouted at yourself as you hit the steering wheel, causing the storm to hail down rain. Suddenly you got the feeling os pins and needles all throughout your body, every muscle you felt a stab or slicing. You can feel your skin warming up.

“No, no, no, no, no, this cannot be happening!” You gripped the wheel and let all hell loose, screaming at the top of the lungs. A wave of power and force struck out from your body, feeling a wave of calmness come over you. You stopped the car, keeping your eyes closed hoping you were able to hold back the storm in your brain and above you in the dark sky.

You got your breathing under control, opening your eyes you see the storm is rolling away, and the sun is shining through. You chuckled, you were able to pull it back. “I did it, I really did it?” You smiled at yourself, letting out a deep breath. You got out of the car to really look at the sky.

As you got out, you look ahead and see tire skid marks on the road, they look fresh. You following the trail to a crash and totaled car, thrown again a wall of trees. Bringing tears instantly to your eyes, you hurt someone.

“Please be alive, oh, please be alive!” You scream trying to open the door but it’s at a weird angle the side doors aren’t opening and you're not climbing the death trap to the top. You can see blood on the windshield and drivers window, anxiety making your hands begin to shake.

“Okay... Think! Think!” You yelled and hit at your head. “You're a Goddamn powerful witch, start acting like it!”

You took a deep breath, standing a few feet away. You concentrated all of your magic to lift and stabilize the wrecked vehicle. Closing your eyes and feeling the earths pull on the car resist you, smirking at the feeling of power for good and not an emotional outbreak. 

“Y/n! Y/N!! WHERE ARE YOU?” Jeremy, Caroline and Stefan followed after you in Carolines car. Jeremy convinced Stefan to let him go look after you alone. You trust him, you know him, you don’t trust Stefan- you barely know him. And Caroline has a reputation, you make it your mission to avoid her.

You opened your eyes seeing the car is now on all four wheels, you exclaimed in excitement. “I’m here, their bleeding! Come help me!” you walked into view, he stood at the road near your car. Jeremy saw you emerge from the trees and ran to you.

“Help me get them out!” You didn’t even give Jeremy a chance to get to you before you sprinted to the car. You can’t be responsible for killing someone.

“What happened?” He asked as you try to pry the doors open.

“I happened! What else?!” You exclaimed as it finally gave in and opened. The bloody elderly man in the passengers seat had cut’s everywhere, he lifted his hand just for it to fall again, letting go of his last breath.

“No, no! Stefan!!” Jeremy screamed the second we got the door opened. The vampires showing up not even a second later. “Help him!”

Stefan listened for a heartbeat, but there was nothing. “I’m sorry, he’s gone.” Stefan says sadly.

“But, no...” You said sadly, “I killed him? I actually killed him?” You looked to Jer.

“Can you explain to me what kind of witch you are? ‘Cause I’ve never seen just one witch make that bad of a storm and especially not that fast.” Stefan asked nicely but worried. You looked to Stefan with a scrunched up face, wondering how he could jump from you killing an innocent man to your supernatural abilities. But it slowly made sense, he’s probably an older vampire than you thought and has more experience with this than you did. 

Your face relaxed into a frown, “I don’t know, just a regular witch. I don’t even know that much. I don’t know anyone in my family who could be a witch. I have some control of it... except..” You sighed deeply, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.

“Except when?” Stefan said a little more sternly than before, taking a step towards you. Caroline grabbed his arm holding him back and interrupting.

“This seems like a witch problem for Bonnie. She can help you get control, no matter what it is, we can help.” Caroline said with a nod and soft smile. You returned her a smile of your own.

“But what do we do now? About him?” You asked about the dead man in the totaled car. Stefan walked towards the door, seeing the man drenched in his own blood but none of the windows are broken.

You brought Stefan’s attention away, “What am I supposed to do? Should I turn myself in?”

“Y/n, when do you have the least amount of control?” He asked sternly and worried, like he was depending on my answer to be best case scenario. 

You gulped loudly, “during the full moon” you muttered, everyones eyes on you. They looked confused yet scared.

“Y/n, look at him. Tell me, how did he die by this much blood loss without any broken windows, the car I trashed but the windows are for the most part intact.”He spoke softly, almost guiding me through his thought process. You looked up at him confused by the scene in front of you.

“What were you feeling when the accident happened?” Jeremy asked, almost catching on to what Stefan was trying to conclude. 

“I... first, I felt this overwhelming feeling of fear and self anger. Then I felt almost like something was slicing into my muscles, kinda like pins and needles... And I was hot, like I kept trying to stay warm but I couldn’t...” You looked down before asking, “Instead of me feeling that pain, I passed it to him?”

Jer sighed sadly,“Yeah. but his body doesn't heal like yours, because he's human... and you’re...” 

“A witch...” You finished, looking down with a frown on your face and sad eyes.

“And a werewolf.” Stefan added, causing your head to whip up at him. Confusion and sadness written on your face.

“What? Is that even possible?” You asked looking back and forth between Stefan and Jeremy.

“We’re not sure but if we’re right, you just triggered the curse.” Stefan said point-blank.

“No, I can’t be!” You raised your voice at Stefan.

“You have trouble controlling your anger, you lose control of your magic on the full moon during the day.” He said quickly, almost scared of you losing control again. “What happens at night? Huh?” 

You thought back to those sleepless nights of complete chaos, you’re starting to think he’s right.

“Tonight’s a full moon. What can we do to help?” Caroline spoke up, worried for you. 

“I need to figure out how to control it, what if now that I actually triggered it, it’s only worse from here?” You asked, worried out of your mind.

“Don’t think of it like that, I think you can do it. You just have to believe in yourself. Okay?” Jeremy brought his hands to your shoulders, comforting you. “Maybe now, you’re not bounded. You can shift and feel it instead of passing it on.”

Jeremy hugged you, trying his hardest to help keep you calm. He was worried for you. He was scared this would be too much for you and you’d end up hurting yourself instead.

“Okay, Jeremy get her out of here. We got this okay.” Stefan said, suggesting he would make it go away or at least make sure nothing points to you or Jeremy.

Jeremy takes you home, you showed him your rage room with all it’s damage and glory. He thought it would be best to stay here where you’re most comfortable and your parents were still out of town. Being worldly known defense lawyers means, business trips to New York or L.A. or Seattle. Really anywhere but Mystic Falls.

“Okay So I called Tyler and Bonnie. They should be here soon.” Jeremy sat down on the sofa with you, looking over to you. You sat up and looked confused to why you needed Tyler.

“He’s a werewolf, he can help guide you through the shift. He’s probably going to say something like ‘accept the pain’ blah blah.” He joked, making you laugh a little.

“Can you stay with me?” You asked shyly, after the laughter died down a little.

“You sure?” He asked looking at you with worried but loving eyes, getting lost in your y/e/c eyes.

“I’m basically going to go through the shift with strangers, I don’t think I could do it without you there. But if you don’t feel safe-”

“I’ll stay” His hand reached for yours, giving it a little squeeze. “You need me, I’m not leaving.”

You looked up from your hands to his eyes, you smile softly. You opened your mouth to say something but then the doorbell goes off. Almost scaring you both, you go to the door. Opening it to see Tyler Lockwood and Bonnie Bennett. You never in your life expected to ever see them at your front door, let alone being the supernatural creatures that they are. Crazy how life turns when you found out you're not human.

You showed them your rage room, and ensured them that your parents will not be in town for a few days. Then Tyler pulled out sets of chains and some restraining equipment, Tyler drilled anchor points on three of the wall and ground. Bonnie began to assemble the wrist clasps and what looked like a collar but metal. This all began to start to scare you and you could feel your magic begin to storm. But shortly after the magic spark, you could feel your body radiate extreme heat. Jeremy was helping Tyler connect the chains to the anchor points. You stood there confused, in pain and beginning to lose yourself. But then you’d catch a glimpse of Jeremy and you came back to the median. When this cycle of pain and anxiety came, you'd look to Jeremy and you'd look back to you with a smile, and you seemed to get control. 

Until suddenly, your bones begin to break. You screamed in pain and fell down to the floor. “Jer!”

“It’s starting already?! But the moon isn’t even at in effect yet!” Tyler exclaimed, helping you get up from the floor.

“Oh yeah? Well why did it start nearly an hour ago! Ahh!” Your arm breaks, you’re a panting sweaty mess. Tyler, Bonnie and Jeremy are trying chain you up but it’s a little difficult when you’re in the middle of shifting. Then the agonizing pain of your fangs coming out causes you to roar in pain, your eyes glowing an iridescent yellow. Claws and wolf hair growing out of everywhere. 

Tyler pushed Jeremy towards the wall, getting him out of harms way. Jeremy watched in amazement, he’s never seen a shift like this one. It was oddly controlled. You moved as if you’ve done this before, but everyone knows you haven’t. Jeremy didn’t realize he was the reason why she was so relaxed and accepting, he would look at you and you’d remember what he said. just believe in yourself.

Bonnie and Tyler moved back once they finally closed the last cuff. You roared, but held onto your humanity, you stayed in this half way form, holding Jeremy’s gaze.

“Yeah that's it Y/n, you got it. Just accept it, embrace it, don’t fight it. Okay?” Jeremys calm voice led you do letting go of your fears and you let yourself finish your shift. Your clothes ripped into shreds as you transformed into a white wolf with your bright iridescent eyes- even your fur seemed to glow a yellow tint. You glowed, truly glowed. The three of them stared in amazement, this was their first time experiencing something so magical and boundless.

Once they realized you were shifting back to human they left the room for you and bonnie, she brought down some clothes of yours that weren’t shredded to pieces. She released you from the restraints and handed you the clean clothes. As you got dressed you talked about your magic and how in control you seemed, she goes on to say that maybe your problem isn’t losing the control it’s that you get scared and make yourself lose it. You’re scared of what embracing the magic can do to you. She mentioned she also was scared of fully embracing it and letting herself be powerful.

“Last night you were too focused on your shift that your magic was controlled. You never wavered. You should be proud of yourself.” Bonnie praised you and had left a few spell books with you to help you get comfortable using your magic. 

You followed after Bonnie to the front door, walking Tyler and her out. “Thanks for everything, I know who to call if I’m in trouble with the shift.”

“Call me for anything.” Bonnie smiled and got into her car, Tyler opening the door and nodding at you before getting in. He rolled the window down.

“You got this, if you ever need anyone to let off some steam, come to me. We can figure out healthy ways to release that anger.” Tyler waved and they were off. Jeremy came out from the bathroom, grabbing his jacket. 

“I have to get home to shower before school.” He pulled his phone out as he received a text from Elena. You turned around as you heard her car pull up before you can see it. This werewolf hearing is gonna take a while to get used to. 

“I’ll see you there?” He asked, worried you weren’t going to school. 

“Yeah, of course. I- I feel good. I think I got a good handle on it now.” You smiled proudly in yourself. He smiled with you.

“I’m proud of you too.” He went down the steps and climbed into his sisters car, as they drove off you could hear Elena tease Jeremy about you.

You ran upstairs getting to finally shower off this exhaustion and soreness, shifting was painful but once you’re through it, it feels like a huge relief. You’re at peace and calmed. but now you’re back to human form, and it’s like your personalities of each are at each others neck. You were able to control it and keep them at bay. You weren’t helpless, you’re not a lost cause. You were helped, after all those terrible sleepless nights and the pain, the feeling of being alone in your pain and agony. You were found, you found yourself. You’re more you than you’ve been.

You cleaned up your rage room and put a lock on it, that way your parents don’t get curious and check it out- not that they have but just a precaution. Getting everything locked up and squared away you got int your car and went to school, driving past the site of the accident there was police tape a little ways into the woods. Stefan and Caroline had told the sheriff the truth, seeing as she knew about the supernaturals and helped cover up some major instances. Much like the accident you caused, which you will never stop feeling bad about. You don’t think you’ll be able to look at a human life the same again. Because you had to take a life to finally feel free and like yourself. You never knew being a were-witch would be the answer to your emotional health. 

You pulled into a parking spot, getting your things together before getting out. Seeing Jeremy leaning on a tree, waiting for you nearby. You smiled at him and walked to him. 

“You seem different.” Jeremy pointed out once you reached him. You smiled up at him.

“Yeah I feel different. I don’t feel like the same Y/n as before.” You chuckled, embracing yourself for the first time is empowering.

“In that case. Hi, I’m Jeremy and I'm a Human.” Jeremy held his hand out, meeting you all over again.

You laughed and played along, “Hi Jeremy, I’m Y/n. A Were-witch.” You giggled, feeling a sense of self.

You gave him your hand, not letting go of your gaze. He smiled at you and pulled you into a hug.

[sunsetcurbed]

you showed me faith is not blind (miracles happen)

Pairing: Alex/Willie  Words: 4,415  Rating: T  Chapter Warnings: BRIEF mention of animal death, only a sentence in passing.  Chapter: 2/11  read on AO3 

Chapter Summary:  "Then you would be Alexander Charles Taylor Mercer, Prince of Beasiga."

Alex bobs his head some more. "Yup. Exactly. That. So I'm pretty sure you've got it wrong, at least the father part."

His grandmother—maybe not?—laughs lightly and shakes her head. "I'm quite sure, Alexander. You have your father's eyes."

(2) 

The rest of the school day passes uneventfully—just Julie and Alex getting some homework done early while discussing possibilities for their next gigs, that is, the ones they'll play after their Halloween gig at Drake's and their gig at Camelot just two weeks after that. Just as Alex finishes his biology worksheet, the final bell rings signaling the end of the school day. Footsteps thunder throughout the school as students hurried to lockers, and then to busses and cars, but Alex waits patiently at the table with Julie. She frowns at this. "Don't you have to catch your bus?"

"Not today. I'm getting picked up," Alex explains. "But I told them three so all the busses would be gone by then."

Luke joins them then, moving immediately over to Julie to press a kiss to her cheek sloppily, yelling, "midterms are done!"

She laughs, and pats his chest. "Yes, they are. Congratulations."

"Thank you, you too. And Alex! You did i—"

"No," Alex and Julie say at the same time.

Luke frowns and looks between then. Julie glances up at him. "I'll explain on the way home. Alex, do you want us to wait with you?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. You two get home. It's been a long week."

"Definitely," Luke agrees. "We'll see you tomorrow at practice."

Alex nods, and then the two of them take their leave. Settling back down at the table, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and messes around on it until he glances up in the right hand corner and sees it's two minutes to three. He gets up and makes his way outside, relieved to see that he was right about his timing—the busses and the majority of the student traffic are all gone, so whoever is picking him up should have no issue.

He's been standing along the sidewalk for less than three minutes when a polished black limo pulls into the parking lot—purple, gold, and grey flags sticking out of the front and back of the car. He raises an eyebrow as it drives into the student pick up area, and then looks around for whoever it might be here for. In the back of his head, he knows there's a possibility…

There's a girl walking out of the school with her head down, looking at her phone and he really, really hopes—

"Mr. Taylor?"

Shit.

He turns to the voice and sees the driver of the limo out of the limo out at the back door, holding the back door open for him. "If you may."

"Uh, thanks."

It's an awkward ride over—the partition is up so he doesn't get the chance to speak with the driver like he'd (maybe) hoped to, and his phone can only keep his mind so occupied when he's riding in the back of a limo. It's not like he'd about to post this on social media or text his friends about it, anyways. So he's left mindlessly scrolling through instagram, which is boring after a while. He shuts his phone screen off and leans his head back against the headrest. He has no idea where his grandmother is even staying during her visit to LA. It could be a while.

Sooner than he expects though, they're pulling into a drive way for a… a… house? mansion? palace? castle? Alex honestly isn't sure. None of the words feel right. He looks at the surroundings. Whatever it is, it feels out of place here. It's on a normal street, with normal houses and buildings next to it—normal houses that are towered by its reaching gates and normal buildings that are put to shame by its elegant architecture. He sits up and collects his bag that some how drifted to the middle of the limo during the ride and opens the door, slamming it into the driver, who was just about to open the door for him, in the process. Alex gasps. "Oh, my god, I am so sorry!"

"No worries, sir," the driver nods, stepping further back from the door, allowing Alex to push it further open so he can step out.

From there, he makes his way to the front door where he and his backpack are patted down. When they're given the all clear, he's ushered through marble tiled hallways, past a wooden floor library, until they reach a living room with a plush, golden carpet. Alex feels like he should take his shoes off but the person leading him doesn't take theirs off, and doesn't ask him to take his off, so… Alex's shoes stay on.

"Please, have a seat," the man says with a motion at the overly white couch to Alex's left. Alex sits carefully on the couch, resting his bag next to his feet between the table and the couch. He looks back up at the man who is still standing in the entryway. "I am Alden, an attaché for Beasiga."

"Cool," Alex nods. He has no idea what that means. He'll Google it later. "Hey, uh, Alden? What is this place?"

Alden reaches an arm out and gestures around, which Alex thinks is a little unnecessary, but. Well. "This is the Beasiga Consulate."

"Oh," Alex frowns. That, he does know. Well, sort of. He knows it's something similar to an embassy, and he knows an embassy is for diplomats. So—his grandmother must be a diplomat. Meaning she must take much pride in Beasiga meanwhile Alex couldn't even remember the name of the country until Alden said it a minute ago. He certainly wasn't going to know any pub trivia about Beasiga to impress her.

"So—my grandmother… is she—"

"Am I what?"

Alex's neck cricks at how fast he whips it around to find the source of the new voice. At the other entrance of the living room stands an elderly woman in a grey dress that is both simple and elegant. He can see from looking at her from where he's sitting that she's much shorter than Alex, but the way she holds herself makes you doubt that. Most importantly, she has a wide, toothy grin on her face that makes Alex relax into the couch. She looks so genuinely welcoming that he can't help but forget about his worries about Beasiga and pub trivia.

"Alexander," she says. Somehow, it sounds like she's singing and commanding it both at once.

Alex stands from his seat and crosses the room to her. "It's nice to finally meet you," he greets. He's not sure if he should go for a handshake or a hug, but she solves his issues by stepping into his space and reaching up to hug his neck. He leans down and hugs back.

"It's long overdue," she tells him as she steps back. "Now come, sit with me, please. We have much to catch up on, yes?"

For the next while they talk about Alex's life and somehow he doesn't feel overwhelmed about it. He tells her about growing up in Los Angeles, about meeting Luke and Reggie in kindergarten, and then Julie and Flynn in seventh grade. He tells her about forming their band in eighth grade and then about befriending Willie in ninth grade. He goes on to talk about his siblings—Ava and Austin—that his mom has with his step dad, and then his love of English and reading and his inability of all things technological. They some how end up on the topic of his dancing, and he explains that he doesn't dance often, but he loves when he gets to.

Conversation shifts at some point to her life in Beasiga, though she is much more vague than Alex would like her to be. She tells him about her dogs (two Dobermans, Mia and Sophia) and her horses, an entire stable full. They talk about his dad for a while—just superficial things for now, like the fact that he'd never gotten remarried or had another child, and like the fact that his favorite horse was named Charlie, for Alex's middle name. She speaks briefly of her work with the government, just small asides here and there about projects they're working on, and countries they're working with. There's a lot of history that she brings up, but she never seems upset when he doesn't understand her references, at least, not until…

"I don't suppose you've heard of Frederick Alexander Louis Mercer?" his grandmother asks with a deep frown, crossing her ankle behind her other foot carefully.

He frowns. Here's that pub trivia he doesn't know. "No, I can't say I have."

"Frederick was Beasiga's crown prince," she tells him with a meaningful look, which he doesn't understand. She leans forward. "And Frederick was your father."

Alex's mind blanks. "That's… okay," he says, bobbing his head in a quick nod as he presses his lips together and bites the insides of them, trying to will some thoughts back into his mind. "I don't think—I'm not sure you're quite right on that. Because if you were, then—"

"Then you would be Alexander Charles Taylor Mercer, Prince of Beasiga."

Alex bobs his head some more. "Yup. Exactly. That. So I'm pretty sure you've got it wrong, at least the father part."

His grandmother—maybe not?—laughs lightly and shakes her head. "I'm quite sure, Alexander. You have your father's eyes."

"Lots of people have similar features, I mean, only so much diversity can realistically be expected, honestly," Alex rambles. He thinks it makes sense. He's like. 60% sure it makes sense.

"A paternity test was done because of your heritage."

Alex sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth. "Yeah, that one's a little harder to contest."

His grandmother—apparently definitely—smiles at him like he's not making a fool of himself right now. She reaches across the gap between the chair and the couch and places her hand on his. "I am Queen Louisa Mercer, and you, Alexander, are the natural heir to the Beasiga throne."

"… okay."

"Okay?" his grandmother repeats, quirking an elegant eyebrow and drawing her hand back.

Alex shakes his head, getting himself back into it. "I mean—I—uh. Actually, I'm not… really sure what I mean. I… you know I can't be a prince, right? Being a prince means eventually being a king, well, at least in this case it would I think, and being a king means ruling a country and ruling a country means leading people and the only thing I can lead is a beat when I'm with my band. I mean you do realize I have absolutely no experience with… princely or… royal affairs, right? I wouldn't know how to act, or talk, or… no, no. I'm not a prince."

"But you are, dear Alexander," she smiles, "and don't worry about how you speak or behave for now, we have plenty of lessons planned to help with that. Oh, it will take plenty of work but you are certain to become a magnificent prince, how could you not? And oh, you'll love Beasiga, the palace is a beautiful place to live—"

"I'm sorry," Alex cuts her off, "but LA is also a 'beautiful' place to live, with my friends, with the added bonus that it comes without the crushing pressure of ruling a country. And you're speaking as if you know me. You're certain I'll become a magnificent prince? How? Did you get to know me so well in the first year of my life? Because you missed the next fifteen years of my life and if you were to ask around, people who actually know me would laugh at the idea of me ruling a country. Like I said, I'm not a prince. I'm barely even a functioning human."

Without waiting for a response (though he hears her vehement protests), he gathers up his backpack and shoves himself off the couch and hurries through the halls to the front door. He doesn't wait for the doorman to open the door, instead flings it open himself in his rush to get out, out, out.

From there, it's a matter of running down the drive way, out the gate, and as far away from the house (mansion? palace? castle?) as he can before he collapses to the ground and curls in on himself, breaths coming and going raggedly. He pulls out his phone and swipes through his contacts, looking for the least stressful person he can think of. He taps the name and listens to the phone ringing, hugging his knees to his chest as he counts his breaths, in—2, 3, 4. Hold—2, 3, 4, 5, 6—

"Alex?"

"Julie," he exhales, a second too early, but he thinks Julie is more likely to help him now than a breathing exercise. "Julie," he repeats.

"Alex? Shit—what happened?"

Alex laughs mirthlessly. "Oh. So, so much, Jules. I can't even begin… I can't… I don't—It's all—"

"Okay, we don't need to talk about it then," Julie says. "Hey, is anyone with you? Can you tell me where you are? Just—I need to know you're safe." Alex looks up and finds the intersection he's near and rattles it off to her. She's quiet for a moment. "Thank you," she murmurs. "Do you need to do a grounding exercise or do you just need someone to talk to?"

"Just need someone to talk to," Alex says, dropping his head so his forehead is resting on his knees. "I—as much as I'm freaking out, I still feel like everything that happened was a joke or something? So there's anxiety, and it's bad, but it's not… it's not debilitating yet."

"That's good," she says, and Alex can imagine her nodding with her words. "Do you… do you want to talk about what happened? We don't—oh, wait. Willie just texted me back, I texted the group with where you were and he's ten minutes out. He's going to pick you up."

"Oh."

"Do you want me to tell him not to?"

"Uh—no, it's. It's fine." He looks back down the street in the direction that he came from—where his grandmother was currently staying. He's actually surprised no one had chased after him, but he supposes that it's not urgent as they have ways to find and approach him later. He huffs at that, right into the phone, reigniting Julie's worry. "No, no, I'm fine," he reassures her when she asks again if he wants her to call Willie off. "It's not that. It's… I… don't know. It's been a long day, Jules."

"I'm sorry," she says, and she's so sincere that her apology alone makes him feel a little bit better. He smiles, and feels his breathing even out a little bit. "I'm going to stay on the phone with you until Willie gets to you, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Alex nods. He searches his brain for anything that could possibly take his mind off of what just happened. He's not surprised when his thoughts land on music. "Did you and Luke figure out the second verse of Finally Free yet?"

"Oh, my gosh! Yes! I can't believe we forgot to tell you today! We cracked it last night…"

He listens to her babble on excitedly about their new song for the next few minutes until he hears the crunching of tires on pavement. He looks down the street and sees Willie's forest green '02 Accord—completely out of place in this neighborhood—pulling up and smiles. He interrupts Julie in the middle of her sentence, which he knows she forgives him for the exact moment it happens, and thanks her for talking with him and for sending Willie. She bids him goodbye and he pushes himself off the ground and grabs his backpack once he's on his feet. Willie rolls to a stop when he's in front of Alex and Alex can hear the click of the doors unlocking. He looks in the car and sees Willie flash his eyebrows up and down quickly and grin. He smiles back and gets in the car, setting his bag at his feet before buckling himself in.

"Thank you," Alex says in greeting.

"You know I'd do anything for you," Willie shrugs, looking back at the road as he shifts the car into drive. "I was just driving around listening to music anyways."

"Still, I appreciate it. I would have had to call my mom otherwise and I don't really want to speak to her right now."

Willie laughs. "What? You came all the way out here with no way of getting back? And what'd your mom do?"

"Oh, no, someone from… someone was supposed to drive me back but—well. Uh. Anyway. And my mom—she. Let's just say she hasn't exactly been honest with me." Alex fiddles with the ripped threads on the knee of his jeans and tries to ignore the looks he can feel Willie throwing at him every few seconds.

"Hasn't been honest in what way?"

Alex hesitates. On one hand, he really doesn't want to talk about this. It is an especially bad idea to talk about this to Willie because he doesn't want to tell his crush that he's a prince, where it might seem like he's trying to make himself seem impressive for his crush, which he certainly does not want to do. Then again, Willie would have to assume Alex has a crush on him to jump to that conclusion and if Willie assumes Alex has a crush on him, Alex has bigger problems. However, if there's anyone to tell, it would be Willie. Sure, Julie might be the obvious choice, but she'd push him to be honest with Luke and Reggie as well, which he… doesn't want to do. He's not sure if they'd resort to teasing him about it or ending up weird about it, and right now, he doesn't want to deal with either of those things. Willie though. Willie can keep a secret like no one's business. Julie still doesn't know that Alex's little sister accidentally killed her hamster when Julie asked Alex to watch her while Julie's family went on vacation over spring break in the ninth grade. Alex called Willie in a panic and Willie drove him to seven different pet stores until they found an identical hamster with a similar temperament. So, Willie could be trusted.

The question is, though, did Alex want to tell him? To a degree, yes, because this was Willie and despite being scared of saying things that would embarrass himself, Willie always made him feel safe and he wanted to share things with Willie. But also, telling Willie would make it more real. Telling Willie would bring it out from his grandmother's house (mansion? palace? castle?) and into the real world and Willie knowing about it would make it more personal. Right now, the further Willie drove from Alex's grandmother's house (mansion? palace? castle?), the further the anxiety got from him. He worries that if he tells Willie, that anxiety will come back.

But the anxiety will come back anyways, won't it? It's not likely that that's the last he's seen of her and her… crew? And he's going to have to face his mom too, who must know exactly what was happening today. So, maybe it would be nice to have someone on the outside to talk about it with… right?

Alright, so that's decided. He's going to tell Willie.

Alex sucks in a deep breath and it wavers. He goes to speak, but instead, he just lets out a small whimper instead. Willie looks to him, alarmed, and then back to the road. Alex hears the turn signal tick, tick, tocking, and then the car is turning, and then stopping. Willie puts the car in park and twists in his seat to face Alex. "Hey, Alex," he says, reaching a hand over to grab Alex's left hand off his thigh. "Can you look at me?"

Alex looks at him.

"Cool, thanks. You having an attack?"

Alex blinks. Willie is still in focus, and he can feel Willie's hand in his, can feel Willie's thumb rubbing against the back of his hand, can hear the traffic on the streets rather than the blood rushing in his head. He shakes his head no.

"Great. That's great. Do you want to talk about what happened today, or do you wanna go watch me crash and fall off my skateboard at the park while I try and do some gazelle flips?"

Alex laughs and draws in a steadying breath. It's still shaky, but less so. "I want to."

"Okay. Take your time, okay? We've got all the time in the world, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Willie smiles and squeezes his hand. Alex smiles back, but he doubts it comes out looking much like a smile. He looks away and looks out the front window of the car. They're in a drug store parking lot, parked far off to the side away from the clump of all the actual customers' and employees' cars. It gives them some semblance of privacy, yet it also draws attention to them by making them separate. Alex wonders if somehow, him now knowing he's a prince, if he's also somehow separate from everyone else. If something about him has changed, and people's eyes are going to be drawn to him the way they are to a car parked away from the others in a crowded parking lot. On some level, he knows that's ridiculous. Nothing about him has changed. Hell, he hasn't even fully processed or accepted this fact. And yet his world still feels fundamentally altered and he thinks that, somehow, everyone will be able to see that on him somehow.

"Two days ago my mom told me my grandmother was in town and wanted to meet with me," Alex starts, not giving himself any more time to think. He's staring at a license plate number but even looking directly at it he couldn't tell you what it was. "It—well, my paternal grandmother. I know you know that Mike is my step-dad but when I was a year and a half my biological dad and my mom got divorced and I never heard from him, or my paternal grandparents, again apart from the yearly birthday and Christmas gifts. And you might remember I got the news that my biological dad passed away at the end of July." Here, Willie hums. "I thought, maybe my grandmother wants to connect with her only remaining family. That's how it started out, too. It really seemed like that was her intention.

"But then she asked about—fuck, I can't even remember his full name. But she asked me about the prince of Beasiga. The prince of Beasiga, who was my father." Willie's thumb stops rubbing Alex's hand but Alex doesn't let that stop him. "Now, she mentioned earlier in the conversation that my father never remarried, that I was his only child, that he was her only child, so that made… so I'm a prince? Of Beasiga. And the natural heir. And she wants me to take prince lessons so I can one day become king and rule Beasiga, which I doubt she'd think would be a good idea if she could see me now. Sure, give the kid with panic attacks an army!"

It was quiet for a long moment and then Willie squeezes his hand. "Beasiga doesn't have an army. They only have a national guard." Alex snaps his head around to look at him. "I did a project on the country in tenth grade world history."

"See?!" Alex cries. "You know more about this country than I do! And they expect me to lead it?!"

Willie frowns. "Well, they'd give you lessons—"

"You—what you think I should go lead this country?" Alex gapes.

"Wha—n-no! I just meant that if you took those lessons you'd learn what I had learned. They wouldn't send you in empty handed," he says, and Alex notices Willie's thumb has started rubbing circles on the back of Alex's hand again. He feels some tension seep out of his body and he relaxes back into the car's seat and closes his eyes.

Alex sighs and brings his right hand up, pressing his thumb and forefinger into his eyelids until he starts to see white. "My mom… She never told me. Sixteen years. Even after he died and she probably knew there was a possibility of this happening. How is that fair? I deserved to know about this."

"You did," Willie agrees.

The car grows silent after that. Only the noise of the stalled engine fills the air. Alex brings his hand away from his face and looks over to Willie, who is watching him with warm eyes. The weight of Willie's hand in his is comforting, enough that Alex has the split second thought of leaning over the gearshift and kissing his friend. That thought is shoved out of his mind as soon as it comes. His friendship with Willie is something he's never willing to risk. Well, 'risk' implies there's a chance that Willie might return his feelings, which Alex is sure he doesn't. Kissing Willie would be purely self-indulgent and Alex can't do that. It'd be nice, but—

"You're taking all of this very well," Alex says, breaking the silence of the car while also silencing his thoughts. "What are you actually thinking?"

Willie grins and squeezes Alex's hand. "Oh, yeah. Very well. My best friend is a long lost prince, I'm not freaking out at all," Willie rolls his eyes. "I'm… thinking that I've always thought you were regal, so this—"

"Oh, come on," Alex rolls his eyes.

Willie leans back laughing, eyes crinkling at the edges and Alex's stomach flips. After a few seconds Willie sobers up and his laughter subdues into a soft smile. He sends a wave through his arm, shaking Alex's in turn. "I'm thinking that this is a stressful situation but that you're gonna get through it. And that I'm gonna be here for you, okay?"

Alex squeezes Willie's fingers. "Okay."

Willie slips his hand from Alex's and readjusts in his seat so he's sitting facing forward again. His hand falls on to the gearshift. "I think you've had enough for one day, huh? Wanna go get tea?"

"Fucking please."

[snusbandxknifewife]

Have a field trip fic I finished at 6am I’m sorry y’all lol

~~~~~~~

Field trip fic 1–York’s Wild Kingdom

“ Vivi, no!” I hiss, setting down the itinerary my sister kept insisting on handing me. “I can’t just leave Faerie to go on some zoo trip, just because you feel like laying in bed!”

“Oh come on,” she turns and points to Heather in exasperation. “I won’t just be laying in bed. She’s got the flu, and I can’t chaperone this trip without her!”

“But you expect me to go alone?” I’m incredulous, the list of my duties back in Faerie flitting through my head at lightning speed.

Heather opens her mouth to say something, but closes it again and sinks back into the couch with exhaustion written in every line of her body. Vivi’s eyes shoot to her girlfriend, obviously concerned, but I don’t let it sidetrack me.

“You expect me to watch a gaggle of children—“

“Oak’s friends.” Vivi interrupts.

“—alone? Vivi I have a thousand different things I need to do, none of which involve wrangling a hundred little demons. Why not tell Madoc to go?”

She fixes me with a tired look and I have to admit that maybe suggesting Madoc, of all people, wasn’t my smartest move. Honestly, I don’t think I can picture any scenario involving Madoc and a field trip that doesn’t end with at least one person in the emergency room.

I sigh and bury my face in my hands, my elbows resting on the breakfast bar in Vivi’s kitchen. Out in the living room, some reality show blares and Chinese food containers are stacked miles high. With Heather sick, all she’s wanted was takeout food and sleep. Vivi looks at her wits end, clearly far more worried about her girlfriend than the field trip that she’s assured me Oak has been looking forward to for weeks.

“I glamoured Oak’s teacher already. She thinks you and Cardan were the chaperones all along.” 

My eyes go wide and I shoot to my feet, ready to wring my sister’s neck. “You want me to bring Cardan? Vivi you expect both the King and Queen of Faerie to just leave for some stupid—“

“It’ll only be for the day, which is night for Faerie.” She sounds exasperated. “Nobody will even have to know you’re gone and you’ll be back by eight, long enough to get some shut eye for the next day.”

And because she’s right, we would be gone in the middle of the night, I don’t really have anymore reason to argue with her; especially given how Heather chooses that exact moment to make a run for the toilet in the hall bathroom.

I sigh and admit defeat, grabbing the itinerary for Mrs. Walker’s third grade class field trip to York’s Wild Kingdom Zoo and Amusement Park. Scowling down at the times and picking up Heather and Vivi’s chaperone t-shirts, I walk out of the apartment and make my way back to where I parked my ragwort steed.

Two days later, I’m standing between my little brother and my husband, both bouncing with excitement in Mrs. Walker’s classroom as we wait for the call to line up to go to the busses.

Cardan and I match, mostly because we’re both wearing pairs of his dark canvas breeches and identical chaperone shirts, dyed the world’s most neon shade of orange to attract attention. His ears and tail are glamoured away, only visible to myself and Oak. He passed well for a mortal man, though his pale skin and ethereal beauty have already earned at least one open-mouthed stare from Mrs. Devins, a housewife who also happens to be chaperoning.

“Mrs. Greenbriar, can I go to the bathroom?” Emily, a little girl in our group, asks for the second time this morning.

I leave Cardan and Oak looking over a map of the park and walk Emily down the hall to the third grade bathroom, waiting for her to finish and walking her back without a word. By the time we return, both boys are sitting in little desks with their heads all but pressed together, Cardan’s legs stretched out in front of him because they’re far too long for him to sit properly.

I reach into my pocket and pull out the itinerary, on which I have written a list of all the kids we’re responsible for today.

Oak

Emily

Derrick

Thomas

Annabelle

Kelly

The entirety of the third grade is going on this trip, so we’ve gotten off easy only having to watch six kids, especially since we were allowed to chaperone together. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d had to turn Cardan loose in the mortal world with a gaggle of children.

We’re here at six o’clock in the morning, two hours before school starts, because it’ll be a long drive to the zoo. We’re set to arrive at about nine o’clock and we will depart at five to be back by eight. Cardan and I don’t typically wake up until ten at night, so we’ll do well if we sleep on the bus ride back.

“Jude! What’s a wallaby?” Cardan asks, wonder glimmering in his tar black eyes.

“I think it’s Australian.” I announce, sitting down beside him as Mrs. Walker starts to call groups to head to the busses.

“What’s an Australian?”

I’m saved from answering that glorious question when Mrs. Walker tells us to head to bus 560. I stand again, counting the kids in our group and grabbing our bag before waving them out the door and down the hall.

When we get on the bus, I set about grabbing a seat for Cardan and myself at the front of the bus, because I remember every field trip in the mortal world involving kids sitting behind the chaperones. Oak and his friends confirm my memories by running as far back in the bus as they can, already getting loud and rowdy despite how early it is.

I sit Cardan by the window, knowing he’ll want to look out as we drive. His eyes are already wide, his nose wrinkling at the overpowering scent of gasoline. He still holds the map in his hands, focusing intently as I go through the bag to double check that were given an epi-pen because Emily is allergic to bees.

“Did you inform The Bomb about our whereabouts?” I ask him, whispering so we aren’t heard over the sound of the bus. “Is everything all taken care of?”

“Faerie won’t burn down because we leave for one night, wife.” He rolls his eyes at me, pressing a kiss to my temple. “And, yes, I told Bomb we were going on a field trip.”

His mouth curls around the words, almost like he isn’t sure he’s saying them right. Still, I don’t miss the teasing, so I glare in his direction before turning once more to the itinerary, which I already memorized two days ago.

Our bus driver, an elderly man named Ian, climbs on and greets us. The whole bus is full of third graders, more than just Mrs. Walker’s class, and it’s already nearly deafening. Within thirty seconds, some teacher I’m not familiar with is yelling at the kids to quiet down.

Cardan folds up the map and puts it in our bag as the bus drives away, absentmindedly grabbing my hand and watching out the window.

The bus ride passes quickly, likely because I, against all odds, fell asleep sometime before sunrise. When I’m awoken by Cardan’s fingers running through my hair and his delicate whispers of my name, I reach for my knife in a panic.

“You weren’t allowed weaponry today, my darling villain.” He laughs in my ear and I finally process my surroundings, remembering that we’re chaperoning for Oak’s field trip and I have no reason to pull a knife on a bunch of third graders.

At least, not yet.

“Are we there yet?” I groan, sleep thickening my voice as I rub my eyes hard enough to see stars.

Cardan smiles at me, telling me that Mrs. Walker said we were about ten minutes out. “I figured you’d like to go over your schedule once more, for good measure.”

I can’t tell if he’s being genuine or if he’s making fun of me, but I do look at our papers one more time to be safe. The last thing I want to do is lose a kid or go somewhere at the wrong time.

“I’m not sure who this Wendy lady is, but she seems to have an affinity for eateries.” Cardan announces as we pass a Wendy’s, likely for the bazillionth time this trip. I smile and ignore him, triple checking out epi-pen and reorganizing our bottles of water before closing the bag once more.

Behind us, another chaperone asks how long we’ve been married. When Cardan tells her it’s been more than a year and she visibly blanches, I remember that mortals don’t tend to marry as young as we did. It’s strange, being surrounded by humans who all show their ages so obviously.

To them, we’re barely adults. They likely think we’re going to college or working small jobs. I suppose I can’t blame them for being surprised, out of our normal clothing, you’d never suspect Cardan and I rule over a kingdom. We don’t really look the part of a King and Queen when we’re forced to wear traffic cone orange shirts and sit in a smelly old school bus.

Ian pulls up to the front of the zoo and I have to hold Cardan down to keep him in his chair as other groups file off. Our kids are in the very back, singing along to some repetitive song about baby sharks, clearly just as impatient as my husband.

When I finally get everyone off the bus and their wrist bands around their arms, I do another headcount and roll call. Cardan slings our bag onto his back, bouncing on the balls of his feet and looking around as fast as he can, trying to take in all the bright colors and loud noises.

I go over our schedule with the kids, telling them how we’ll be spending the morning at the zoo and the afternoon at the amusement park. The hour in between is reserved for eating and any shopping that they might want to get done, as well as our scheduled trip to the butterfly pavilion.

“No, Derrick, you can’t pet the tigers.” I sigh as the little blond boy raised his hand, mischief in his eyes. He’s asked me this question at least six times since I met him. If his tiger printed shirt and matching tiger baseball cap are anything to go by, I’d assume he has a favorite animal.

I wrangle the kids and allow them to walk in front of us, one eye glued to Oak and the other watching everyone else as they run ahead.

“Ok, but can I pet the tigers?” Cardan whispers in my ear as we snake through the rides, heading back towards the zoo.

“Cardan, if you so much as look at a tiger I will kick your ass.” I hiss back, my heart rate spiking as my mind plays images of Cardan getting mauled by tigers.

Quickly, the visions morph into him standing naked, surrounded by the gore of a slaughtered snake. My throat threatens to close and tears almost prick at my eyes. “And we aren’t looking at any reptiles, either.”

“There aren’t any, I checked the map.” He’s so caught up in the park around us that he thankfully doesn’t notice my change in tone, allowing me a few seconds to compose myself again. “But there are lions, I want to see whose tail looks nicer.”

I can’t help the snort I let out. “More like whose mouth is bigger.”

“Oh my nemesis, how you wound me.”

We make it to the zoo entrance and all the kids are instantly fighting over where they want to go first.

“I want to see the camels!”

“Ducks are cooler!”

“You can see ducks anywhere!”

“Give me tigers or give me death!”

“Derrick get off the picnic table!” I yell, upon seeing that the little boy has climbed up on an extremely rickety table. “Cardan, please go get the tiger enthusiast.”

“Mrs. Greenbriar, I need to go to the bathroom.” Emily pulls at the hem of my shirt.

Cardan, now with Derrick on his back and a tiger baseball cap covering his eyes, returns to my side. “I believe a trip to the bathroom is wisest, then we’ll circle around the park.”

Oak grabs my hand and Emily stays attached to my shirt hem as we walk to the bathrooms. Ten minutes later, we’re all looking at the tigers and I think Derrick may be having an aneurism.

“Jude, is that what I sound like when I wax poetic about my wine?” Cardan stage whispers in my ear as Derrick begins his third long-winded speech about the majesty of the tiger.

“Your speeches are far more pleasing to the ear, my king.” I smirk as Derrick slips up, mispronouncing a word and deciding that the mistake warrants starting all over.

Below us, a few tigers jump around their enclosure, one playing with a pumpkin full of ground beef. Thomas is goading Derrick into a fourth speech and Oak is pointing excitedly, Annabelle and Emily hanging off every word he says.

I smile, wrapping my arm around my husbands waist and leaning into his side as another tiger attacks the one with the pumpkin, rolling into the side of the enclosure with teeth snapping.

I wish I’d taken a moment longer to revel in the calm, because three hours later, I am at my wit’s end.

Cardan is pouting because he severely misunderstood what a sea lion was, Kelly is crying because she dropped her iPhone—what kind of a third grader even has a smart phone—Oak is on my shoulders, Derrick is pissed that we won’t go back to the tigers, Emily has been to the bathroom four times, Thomas won’t stop trying to do handstands, and Annabelle is whining that she’s starving.

On top of all of that, my husband’s face is turning the color of roses because he is entirely too pale to be walking around without sunblock on.

“Just watch them!” I yell at Cardan as I pull the wallet out of our bag and go stomping in the direction of the closest souvenir shop. I hear Kelly’s crying switch from complaining about her phone to complaining about not being able to shop, but I’m a woman on a mission right now.

A little bell rings as I duck into the shop, taking Oak off my shoulders and giving him the order to only look for what we’re here for. It takes a few minutes and I know my husband won’t be happy with the final outcome, but Oak grabs the perfect hat, glamouring a handful of leaves into dollar bills so I can buy it and leave.

I find the group back by the camels, the kids sticking their fingers through the fencing in the hopes of getting licked by one of the large animals.

“Jude, what are you holding?” Cardan’s voice rouses me from my thoughts, thankfully distracting me as Kelly screeches about getting spit on by a camel.

“A hat. For you.” I hold it out. He takes a step back, his face contorting in horror.

“Jude, my wife, that article of clothing may be the worst I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he announces with a quiet, nearly tear-filled voice. “The very pits of fashion, certainly not suitable for my current outfit!”

“Nothing is suitable for a shirt that orange, certainly not cheeks as red as yours have gone,” I snort in response, throwing the monstrosity atop his head and stepping back to examine my work.

It’s a large floppy hat, similar to the fabric ones you’d see on the beach, but it’s printed with terrible drawings of all types of zoo animals as well as having the park’s name and logo emblazoned across the front. It covers Cardan’s whole face, the shadows showing just how badly he’s already been burned.

He reaches up to take it off, obviously seconds from flinging it away in disgust.

“Cardan you have a terrible sunburn and I won’t have you bitching about peeling skin tomorrow. You’ll wear the hat or you’ll regret it,” I warn, enough fire in my eyes to make him put the hat back on with a pout.

“I think it’s,” Oak starts confidently, aiming for a compliment but faltering in the middle, “a hat.”

Cardan laughs, his rosy cheeks squishing up with his grin as he picks up his nephew. “Oak, my friend, you’re far too old to twist your words so poorly,” he smiles. “I’ll have to teach you better ways to flatter insincerely before your first court appearance.”

I roll my eyes and turn back to the other kids, having to drag Thomas down from where he’s begun to climb the camel enclosure. He whines, as do the rest of the kids when I tell them it’s time to leave the zoo, but they all perk up again when I say it’s also time for lunch.

Cardan fishes out the envelope full of meal vouchers as I take orders. A chicken strip meal for that one, two burgers for them, a grilled cheese for her, a hot dog for him, and nachos for Oak. Cardan wisely takes my advice and settles for a burger, openly fascinated by the very concept of mortal cuisine.

I personally take chicken strips and french fries with ketchup, a delicacy from my youth that I so sorely miss in a land where salt is toxic to its inhabitants. Cardan pouts when I don’t let him steal a fry—the last thing I need is to have him puking on fair rides this afternoon—but greatly enjoys the bite of chicken I offer.

He is yet again far too tall for the table and his fingers are laughably large for the burger he holds, but the kids all seem to be enjoying the “act” that Mr. Greenbriar puts on where he pretends not to understand basic things around him. They absolutely have a riot when he asks me what ketchup is.

Then it’s cleanup time and off to the butterfly enclosure. Something I, for one, am actually looking forward to. Cardan wraps his arm around my waist once more, his stupid hat shielding me from the sun too, and watches with me as the kids clamber inside the first door.

An attendant warns us to be delicate with the butterflies because their wings can get hurt easily and then she lets us inside. All my stress from earlier melts away for a moment as the room opens up to a rainforest utopia, butterflies of all shapes and sizes and colors fluttering about our group.

Thankfully the kids are quiet and well-behaved in here, too busy being awestruck by the butterflies to start doing stupid things like climbing walls. All but Oak, who walks back towards us with a small frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, my fingers brushing through his hair and over his horns.

His shoulders slump but he doesn’t say anything.

“Your queen commanded you to speak, it is your duty to obey her,” Cardan lightly reprimands, his fingers going under Oak’s chin to force him to lift his head.

A monarch floats by on a lazy breeze, crossing right between us and drawing all of our attention for a moment.

“Sometimes I miss home,” he finally admits, his eyes hollow in a way I haven’t seen in him before, a way I know I used to sport often in my youth. “The mortal world has things that Elfhame doesn’t, but when I watch everyone else get excited over pretty gardens or animals, I remember that home is far prettier.”

Cardan lets go of my waist, grabbing Oak and putting him on his hip before walking deeper into the garden.

I can’t hear what they say, I can only watch as my husband calls butterflies, first to his open palm, then to my brothers. I feel my heart clench as he whispers something in Oak’s ear that makes my little brother smile again. My eyes follow him as Cardan sets him down once more, allowing him to run back to his friends.

“What did you say?” I ask, reaching a hand out to my husband as he returns.

“Merely that beauty isn’t inherent in a place or thing,” he smiles, reaching out his hand in turn and allowing a little blue butterfly to hop into my palm. “That it is what we cultivate, and he has more than enough magic to make some here.”

I blink back sudden tears at the way he looks at me, the open and pure adoration in his eyes. He pulls me into a kiss as a few more butterflies settle on his hat and in my hair.

Then Emily asks about the god forsaken bathroom and the moment is ruined.

“I swear that child has a urinary tract problem,” I hiss, turning back to the kids as Cardan laughs at me.

We leave the butterfly room behind and head to the bathrooms. Again.

The kids are running circles around Cardan when I return, leaving him openly concerned and visibly longing for a wine goblet. Oak is studiously sat at his Uncle’s side, looking every bit the little prince that he is but wasn’t raised to be.

“My mommy gave me forty dollars!” Kelly yells at Derrick, the two seemingly in the midst of a fight about buying stuff at the gift shop.

“Kelly, some of that is for dinner,” I warn her. “We have to eat on the way back so you need to save your money.”

“My mom said I can buy two tigers!” My warnings go out the window as Derrick distracts Kelly once more, the two descending into a fight about which is better, tigers or cheetahs.

My eye twitches as I grab a water bottle from our bag, leaning into Cardan’s ear and whispering, “oh my husband my darling, do save me before I challenge a child to a duel.”

He laughs at me, standing up and grabbing Oak’s hand. He then assures me that it can’t be too bad, we already survived Annabelle trying to jump into the sea lion pool, surely we can handle shopping with a few children.

At least Oak had my back in that shop, because gods know my husband lost his mind the second he got inside.

I don’t honestly remember what happened, I think I blacked out about the time Thomas took a running leap at a stuffed animal display and I had to catch him mid air.

“I don’t think it was too bad,” Oak says as he holds his brand new assortment of little stuffed butterflies. “You didn’t draw any blood when Kelly tried to buy a four hundred dollar necklace.”

“You checked the map, does this place have bumper cars?” I grind my teeth, watching Cardan stuff an insanely large plastic bag into our little black bag. He keeps refusing to show me what’s inside, insisting it’s a surprise.

“It does,” my brother confirms.

“Good,” I nod, herding him out of the store last. “Because I’m going to put some of these kids into a wall.”

And put them into a wall I do. By the time we make it off the bumper cars and to the Ferris wheel, Mrs. Jude Greenbriar is well on her way to being a legend in Mrs. Walker’s class, purely for her ruthless approach to bumper cars. Cardan, who insisted on standing aside since Emily didn’t want to ride—something about it making her need to pee—looked increasingly more horrified every time I spun around and sent another kid’s cart flying away from mine.

At least it calmed the nerves a little bit.

“My villain, my gorgeous, bloodthirsty little god,” he whispers in the shell of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine as our Ferris wheel cart rises up into the sky. “I expected a modicum of mercy for the mortal children.”

“Cardan if I ever have to take another child to a bathroom it will be too soon,” I snap, the sudden motion of me turning to face him causing our cart to rock dangerously.

He grins at me.

I raise an eyebrow.

“Good thing our children won’t need bathroom breaks,” he finally supplies. “I wouldn’t want you putting them into a wall.”

My eyes widen in shock. It’s not like we haven’t discussed children before—we’ll need to produce an heir to the throne at some point—and it’s not like I haven’t thought about having kids with him—we do share a bed every night—but to hear him so casually mention it is a rare thing indeed.

He looks concerned, opening his mouth, likely to apologize for upsetting me, when his words really register in my head and I collapse back against the seat with a joyous little sigh

~~~~~

Tag list: @cardan-greenbriar-tcp @hizqueen4life @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @thewickedkings @aelin-queen-of-terrasen

[technicolor--dreams]

The object of her affection - chapter 4

chapter 1 here

chapter 2 here

chapter 3 here

After two exhausting miles under the scorching july sun, Susan finally made it to the bus station. She dropped her luggage on the ground with a thump, and sat on a bench. Oscar woofed from inside the leather bag and stuck his little tongue out, his beady dark eyes begging for some refreshment. Susan pulled out a bottle of water and a bowl from one of the luggages. She took  Oscar out, and after she filled the bowl, he drank excitedly, wiggling his little tail left and right.

According to the schedule on the far wall the next bus from New Haven to New Bedford, where the ferry would sail to, would be in another hour, at around twelve-thirty. She sat Oscar back inside his bag, pondering what to do in the meantime. She looked over at the cafe next to the tickets office, but she decided she was too nervous to eat. Besides, she had her own ration of food and drinks already. Noticing a newspaper on the other side of the bench, she picked it up, and began flipping through it without much interest. After having quickly exhausted her favorites - the Arts and Leisure, comics, and Lifestlye sections, she moved to the World news and Economics pages. Somewhere between the Irish General election, and Hindenburg accident consipracies, though, she began losing focus, and between the summer heat and her own exhaustion, she started dozing off. She would have fallen asleep like a log, If she hadn't been roused quite suddenly by the sound of tinkling brass bells, followed by a high-pitched squeal.

Susan shook herself out of her reverie just in time to see a tan colored shadow running away in the distance, skirting between a befuddled elder lady's legs to follow a tall man carrying a travel bag.

"Oscar!" She shrieked, dropping the newspaper on her lap to chase after her beloved pet. "Somebody stop that dog!"

She zig-zagged through the crowd, yelling to no avail. Oscar wouldn't listen, and the crowd even less so, everybody too busy getting to their destination to pick up the stray dog.

"Hey, you, Sir! Tall man with the bag! Stop!"

Susan continued her chase for what felt like a lifetime, but was probably a little more than a minute, until the man reached the platforms area, stopping in front of a shiny, green bus.

"You!" Susan mustered all the breath she had left, resting one hand on her left hip, and pointing her finger his direction.

He turned around, knitting a pair of sandy blonde brows that matched his wavy hair.

Susan drew out a breath, getting closer. "You know how long I've been following you?"

"Well, I can't say that I'm not flattered -" the man began speaking, before realizing that Susan wasn't talking to him, but to somebody else. A Somebody that at the momently was most definitely chewing on his bag.

"Hey, get off my bag!" he pulled the dog by his sides, trying to get his grip off the leather, only to get bitten in the process.

"Ow!" he yelped, retreating in defeat.

"I'll take care of it." Susan said matter-of-factly, before crouching down. "Oscar, be a good boy now. Get off the gentleman's bag and I will give you a big, fat, cookie, uh?" she said in a soft-spoken manner.

Oscar didn't budge.

"Fine, two. Last offer."

Oscar growled, slowly letting go of his grip. Susan picked him up and cradled him in his arms.

"Cheeky! How many times have I told you not to run away!" she admonished him.

"You oughta put him on a leash. It's not safe." the man spoke up, rubbing his hand.

"I could never do that to him," Susan said, petting Oscar tenderly, "he's meant to be free. I would be no less animal than him if I restricted him like that."

"He's an animal alright. Look what he did to my hand!" he raised the offended appendage. "Not to mention the bag."

The bag in question now sat on the concrete pavement, slighlty slumped on the side, a couple of bite marks evident in a corner dripping with dog drool.

Susan raised her eyes from the bag, taking a better look at the man. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five, and at least six foot two, if her estimation was right. With sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, he had the homely appearance of your typical corn-fed, all-american male you would see on advertisements. He could pass for handsome, she supposed, If you squinted your eyes, though he had nothing on Joseph. His jaw was too squared, his nose not aristocratic enough, his figure too broad. He lacked any kind of sophistication, in short.

"I don't know what's gotten into him." she explained, "He never behaved like this before. It must have been that bell on your bag that set him off. He's very sensitive to noises."

"I suppose the biting is just a fun bonus." the man deadpanned.

Susan was about to retort, when something stopped her in her tracks.

"Mr. Murphy!" a male voice called from the bus.

Susan and the man turned around at the same time. An elderly gentleman sporting a bowler hat and monocle was peeking out of one of the bus' windows, a scowl on his face.

"Yes, sir?" Murphy replied.

"What's taking you so long? I don't have the whole day, young man! This bus is leaving in ten minutes."

"I'll be righ there, Mr. Sullivan." Murphy said, showing his pearly whites.

Mr. Sullivan retreated back into his seat, muttering to himself.

"So, that's not your bag." Susan winced.

Murphy shook his head. "No."

"Oh."

"You better hope Mr, Sullivan doesn't see that."

Susan tilted her head "It's not that visible."

"It's not not invisible, either."

Their conversation was interrupted once again by Mr. Sullivan, this time bangin out of the window with a cane.

"Hey! I'm not paying you to pick up dames! Let's go!"

"Yes, Mr. Sullivan." Murphy said, finally picking up the bag and stepping onto the bus.

Susan watched the window as the two men talked a bit inside the vehicle, before Murphy put the bag on the suitcase compartment.

"Did he notice?" she asked, once he was back.

"No, thank God, but he will soon. Let's go before he does." he took her by the arm and led her back inside the station. "By the way, where are your bags?"

Susan stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening in horror. "My bags! Oh, my God, I completely forgot about them! You don't suppose they got stolen while I was away?"

"I don't suppose. I know."

Susan sprinted away just as she did before, this time with Oscar safely tucked into her arms and Murphy following them in tow.

Just as she suspected, the bench where she had sat up until a few minutes before was now empty, save for the newspaper she had been reading and Oscar's tin bowl.

Susan dropped Oscar and sank on the bench, resting her elbows on her knees and holding her face with both hands. "This has to be the worst week of my life."

"Oh, cheer up." Murphy sat beside her ."Your life ain't half over yet. There might be worse weeks coming."

Susan turned around to face him, "You have a very twisted sense of humor, you know that?"

"But it keeps me going."

"You know, this is all your fault."

"Mine!?!"

"Yes," Susan poked him in the chest. "Yours. If you had just stopped the first time I called you -"

"Wait a minute! I though we already went over this! You left your dog without a leash. It's on you."

"But you held me up."

"Ever thought about getting a parakeet, or a nice goldfish?"

Susan arched an eyebrow in his direction."You like giving an awful lot of advice, for someone I don't even know."

"That's easily fixed." Murphy conceded, holding out his hand. "I'm Connor."

"Susan." she replied, but she didn't shake his hand. Instead she turned her head, looking around conspicously. "You think he's still here?"

"Who?"

"The gentleman who stole my bags."

"I'd hardly call him a gentleman. But, no. "

"That's just perfect. I got no money, no clothes. No dignity." Susan pouted.

"Say, where are you going?" Connor asked.

"Martha's Vineyard."

"I could give you a ride if you wanted."

Susan furrowed her brows. "Why?"

"I'm a taxi cab driver. I have to get the old clunker back in New Bedford – I can drop you at the port on my way."

"I could still go by bus, you know. I've got ..." she took out a few pennies out of her skirt pocket and began counting. "fifty cents."

"I hate to burst your bubble, but that will only cover you for the bus ride."

"Not if I can manage to pass myself off for a twelve years old."

Connor shook his head. "Would you really rather spend six hours on a smelly bus packed with sweaty European tourists, than spend three hours with me?"

"Three hours?"

"Hmm hmm. I can have you on that Ferry by four."

Susan pondered what do. The stakes were too high to hesitate. Oh, What the hell, If she had to hitch a ride to get to her destination as soon as possible, so be it. What was the worse that could have happened?

"We have a deal."

[warpofthewords]

Cycle of Futility

I’m riding my bike to work; whizzing past stationary cars.  I’m going to be on time.  There’s the boss Mr Frank parking his white Range Rover right outside the building, he’ll pay £20 a day for that space.  What the hell!  I’m suddenly lying in the road on my side, a car swerves to avoid me.  Mr Frank stands over me; ‘Sorry, Grant, didn’t see you there,’ he says cheerfully, closing his car door and picking up my bike, ‘it’s a bit dangerous cycling on the road; people open their doors without looking.  At least you’re on time.’

Discovered a cycle path, bit of a longer route, but I’m careering along, in a space just for me.  No cars, no chance of being doored.  Round a corner I go and I’m down, face in the gravel.  There’s a terrier and extendable lead wrapped round my bike.  I get to my feet and the dog owner punches me in the face.  I detach the animal from my bike and run for it – I can’t ride because the chain’s come off.  I turn up with stone imprints on my face, oily hands and a black eye.

‘Not a good look, Grant!’ shouts Mr Frank as he emerges from his 4x4 unscathed, ‘at least you’re on time.’

Trying the pavement today, taking it easy, ringing my bell as I pass an old couple. There’s a shout, I look over my shoulder.  The elderly lady has collapsed.  I go to help immediately, only for the old man’s walking stick to ricochet off the side of my helmet.

‘You’ve given her a heart attack!’ he yells, hitting me again, ‘sneaking up behind us like that and then ringing your bell!  Menace!’

I jump back on my bike and pedal for it, sick with guilt.

They’ve opened the new bike lane.  This is truly where I belong.  Alongside the buses and cars, away from the pedestrians.  Suddenly my face is in the back of a bus, my front wheel buckled and my helmet broken.  The driver grabs me by the collar; ‘What the fuck were you doing?  There’s a bus stop ‘ere!  Look where you’re going!’

I can’t reply, there’s blood pouring from my mouth and my front teeth are loose. He shakes his head and drops me in the cycle lane.  I arrive at work covered in black diesel dust and blood.

‘I’d give up if I were you,’ advises Mr Frank as he emerges pristine from his Range Rover.

I spend the day miserably texting Ellie.  She sends me a link – a water bike, cycling’s new frontier!  I order one by express delivery.

This is so civilised, peacefully pedalling along the river to work.  No cars, pedestrians, buses, dogs … What the hell!  Passing close to me, engine roaring is a speedboat.  Its wake wave hits me and I capsize, just as the river ferry appears.  I swim for it only to see my water bike get caught in the ferry’s undertow and dragged down to be mangled in its engines.  I arrive at work soaking, shivering and covered in water weeds, my work clothes at the bottom of the river.

‘Do try to be more presentable, Grant,’ says Mr Frank, climbing out of his all wheel drive.

There is a box waiting for me at home, a note attached to it.

‘You really can buy anything off the internet these days, even extra-terrestrials!  Here is the solution to your problems, love Ellie xxx’

In the morning, I place him in the basket of my newly repaired road bike.  He sits wrapped in a white blanket, muttering and juddering as I pedal into the middle of the road, among the cars and lorries.  Horns blare. Sensing danger, E.T. does his thing and we’re suddenly flying, above road, river, pavement and cycle path, flying on my bike to work!  Far below I can see Mr Frank’s white Range Rover in traffic, I’m going to get to the office before him.  There it is below. Suddenly, a drone flies directly at us, I try to steer to avoid it, but it catches E.T. directly in the head, rendering him unconscious. The bike tips and E.T. and I are falling.  My outstretched hands grasp the guttering of the office roof and hold on for dear life.  I watch E.T. hit the pavement with a whack and Mr Frank’s white Range Rover drive over his lifeless body as he parks.  My bike has landed on top of the bike rack.  Mr Frank emerges and looks up; ‘What are you doing up there, Grant?  At least you’re on time.’

[pinesconessecrets]

Secret Santa for Trustintoast

((Happy Holidays @trustintoast ! I’m your secret santa! You wanted “Awkward Nerd Love”, mixed with “Casual Everyday”, and “Pinescone vs. Disney World”, So I tried to combine them a little. I’m sorry that it’s Disneyland, instead of World–I’ve only been to DisneyWorld once, but I’ve been to DL multiple times, so I thought it would be easier to explain. I’m also sorry that I cut it much shorter. I wanted to make sure you got your gift, but I initially had more planned with them at the park. I hope you still like it. And if not, I could come back and fix it up for you. Thank you for the wait. I hope you had a happy holidays. Enjoy your gift!))

—

“Sunscreen?”

  “Check!”

“Change of Clothes?”

  “Double Check!”

  “Money for Souvenirs?”

  “Triple Check!”

  “Backpacks for everyone to carry their supplies?”

  “Check Check Check! We’re good babe.”

  “Well, I would expect nothing less from my favorite organizer.”

  The man in the passenger seat blushed at the compliment, hiding behind his phone. 

  From the backseat came, “I want to get some Mickey Mouse Ears!” followed by a thump thump thump!

  The driver scowled in the rearview mirror at his brother, “Greg, we’ll get you your Mickey Mouse ears, but please stop kicking the back of my seat. It’s not going to make me drive any faster.”

  Another voice from the backseat exclaimed, “I WANT BABY YODA!!!” followed by an even louder THUMP THUMP THUMP!

  “Ahhh! Mabel, what are you, five? Don’t kick the back of my seat!”

  “Why do you get shot gun, Dip n Dots!” The female voice, now identified as Mabel Pines, pouted.

  “Because I’m the one with the map!” The passenger, her twin brother Dipper Pines, explained.

  “Your map is literally your phone, open to google maps! Anyone of us could have done it.”

  “But no one would look as cute as Dipper,” The driver, Wirt, said with a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

  “Ewwwww, gag me with a spoon!” Mabel groaned, sinking into her seat.

  “No being gross and mushy on this trip,” The last rider, Greg, huffed. He gave his brother’s seat another thorough kick.

  “Hey! Greg! Knock it off! I can still turn this car around!” Wirt warned.

  Greg rolled his eyes, leaning over to whisper in Mabel’s ear, “Yeah right. We’re stuck in traffic. We’re not going anywhere.” Mabel snickered.

  “I heard that!”

  The two backseat passengers snapped to attention, biting their bottom lip to keep from further chortling.

  “Also, we’re going to Disneyland, the “happiest place on earth!” I think a little mushiness is to be expected,” Dipper said, turning to look back at his sister.

  “Yeah, but we’re in a car for the next 2 hours, and if I have to listen to you two flirt, I think I’d rather walk the rest of the way.”

  “You’re just bitter cause you have no one to flirt with.” Mabel gasped, a hand to her chest, “You wound me dear brother! How dare you say such slanderous and true words!”

  Dipper rolled his eyes, turning back in his seat.

  “Hey! Why aren’t we playing Disney music? This is a road trip to Disneyland! Shouldn’t we be jamming out to some classic hits?” Mabel leaned forward, trying to grab the aux cord.

  Dipper smacked her hands away, “Ugh, no Mabel! How tacky can you get!”

  “You’re tacky!” Mabel snapped back.

  “YEAH, I AGREE, THIS CAR IS TOO QUIET! WE NEED SOME DISNEY MUSIC!” Greg shouted, siding with Mabel.

  “We’re going to be there for hours! We’ll get plenty of Disney cheer at the park,” Wirt tried to protest. He just knew that if they played that music, he’d wind up with a headache.

  But both his and Dipper’s words were quickly drowned out by the two excitable chantings of “Disney Music! Disney Music! Disney Music!”

  “They’re not going to stop…” Dipper muttered.

  Wirt groaned, wanting to slam his head on the steering wheel, “I know…”

  Dipper whipped back around, glaring, “Fine, you heathens! You win!”

  “YAY!!!!”

“YAY!!!!” The two simultaneously cheered.

  Mabel leaned back over, triumphantly taking the aux cord as her prize, and plugged it in to her bedazzled phone. She turned the volume up to the max.

  “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” from Lilo and Stitch filled the car.

  Dipper slammed his head back into the headrest, “Hooray~” He droned.

  Mabel sneered evilly, “Oh don’t pretend like you hate it Dipstick! In fact, If I remember, I believe it was you who wanted to play the Frozen 2 soundtrack in the car, on the way back from the theatre.”

  Dipper lit up like a Christmas Tree. He began stuttering weakly in Wirt’s direction, as if trying to save face, “T-that’s only because the soundtrack was really good this time, and had an air of folk that the first movie severely lacked. It made Frozen 2 feel more genuine to the original story. I was just really impressed this time–” 

  “Right…Right…Oh but wait…which song was your favorite again?” Mabel asked, putting a finger to her cheek, pretending to think. Then that wicked smile returned, full force, “Oh yeah! It was “Lost in the Woods”!”

  “Mabel, NO! STOP! Have mercy!”

  But there was no mercy for those who cursed Disney music.

  “Wait…which one was Lost in the Woods again?” Wirt asked. He thought back to the movie, trying to remember which of those songs would be Dipper’s favorite. Was it the lullaby song? Or the one Elsa sang?

  Mabel and Greg’s eyes sparkled with ill intent; Dipper ducked low into his seat, but there was no escaping, no hiding.

  Not when Mabel had control of the radio. And with that innocent question, the song that followed was an 80’s-esque rock ballad.

  “Oh…Oh. Y-yeah…this makes sense,” Even Wirt couldn’t hide the slight curl of his lips. He cast his boyfriend a sidelong glance.

  Dipper looked out his window, longingly. He wondered if it wasn’t too late to throw himself out of the passenger side door, into oncoming vehicles.

  …But they were stuck in the deadlock of traffic, so that plan was quickly, and regretfully, forgotten.

  ��

  “Hi, can I get 8 breakfast Jack meals–”

“Wirt, I want pancakes!” Greg whined.

  “Greg, they don’t serve pancakes–” “Actually they do. You can do the mini pancakes, or the Jumbo Breakfast platter,” Mabel pointed out.

  Wirt looked at the menu, eyebrows rising, “Wow, when did they add that?” It had been a very long time since he’d eaten here. This fast food chain was more recognizable in the west coast then the east.

  “I want the Jumbo Breakfast!” Greg shook the driver’s seat.

  “Greg, are you going to finish that? I don’t want to buy something unless you’re sure you’ll eat it.”

  “Silly ol brother o’ mine, I’m a growing boy! I can totally eat all that,” Greg patted his stomach like it was a djembe drum. His stomach growled back, as if to second it’s owner’s proclamation. 

  Wirt muttered dejectedly to himself, “And the syrup in the car…that’s just an accident waiting to happen…” 

  “Sir…you’re holding up the line…” the timid voice on the speaker mumbled.

  “Yes, I’m sorry. I’m very sorry! Just give me one more minute,” Wirt apologized; he didn’t expect breakfast to be this stressful. He was almost certain that when he was little, ordering breakfast on a road trip was a simple endeavor.

  Then again, Wirt easily accepted what his parent’s ordered for him.

  “Can I order a milkshake?”

  “Mabel, It’s 7:30 in the morning,” Wirt looked at her in abject horror.

  “…And?” Mabel so eloquently put it.

  “Guys, come on, can’t we just make it simple?…Dipper you’re fine with what I ordered, right?”

  Dipper flashed his lover a guilty smile, “Well, um, actually, I was going to ask if I could order from the lunch menu instead…I prefer their lunch over their breakfast…”

  Wirt was utterly betrayed, “E tu?”

  Dipper put his hands together, mumbling a soft, but pleading, “Sorry, and thank you!”

  Wirt sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Everyone hurry up and tell me what you want–exactly what you want! Because I really don’t want to waste this poor lady’s time any further, and the cars behind me are starting to angrily honk their horns.”

  And suddenly the car was filled with a cacophony of different requests.

  “One at a time! One at a time!” Wirt cried, trying to figure out whose request was who’s. 

  Was this what it was going to be like from now one, being the driver of a road trip? Endless chatter, constant bickering, and indecision when ordering food–topped off by off key singing to the same playlist for the next couple hours. Oh this was not looking good for his sanity.

“…Sir…” the voice on the headset whimpered, sounding even smaller.

  “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Just one more second. I promise!”

  The car behind him rammed their horn. When Wirt peeked in the rearview window, he could see an elderly woman flipping him the bird.

  —

  When he pulled up to the window, the lady who handed him the food was shaking, her eyes big and fearful. She shrunk back when Wirt took the bags from her hands, as if she was expecting him to yell at her.

  Wirt understood that anxiety so well, he once more apologized for the commotion, and slipped a 20 dollar tip into her hand.

  When he pulled away, the lady seemed a little less on edge.

  —

  An hour later, and Wirt’s resistance was starting to crumple.

  After 20 songs, food sitting comfortably in his belly, and more than a couple loving looks from his boyfriend, Wirt was beginning to enjoy the ride. 

He even did the unthinkable, and turned up the dial on the radio when “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” started up. The look of shock– quickly followed by glee– from his family’s faces was priceless.

  And when he joined in singing “When Will my Life Begin” with the rest of them, he knew he was doomed.

  Goodbye Sanity. T’was nice knowing you. Come back soon.

  —

  As soon as they arrived, Wirt had to keep a tight hold on the back of Greg’s shirt, because the teen was desperately trying to run off.

  “Greg, I don’t care if you’re 13 now, you stay by my side until we get inside the park. I don’t want to lose you on the bus, or have some weirdo try to kidnap you.”

  “Ugh, Wirt, stop treating me like a child–” Greg huffed.

  “Well, you have a habit of getting us into trouble,” Wirt said, though he quickly realized the person usually getting them into trouble was himself.

  “No you!” Greg snapped, though his smirk was playful.

  “No You!” Wirt snapped back, also smiling.

  They stuck their tongues out at one another.

  Meanwhile, Mabel was dragging her brother violently towards the buses, her excitement having reached critical, “Come on Dipper, quit dragging your feet! We’re here!!! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

  “Mabel, stop pulling, I need to tie my shoe. I’m gonna trip. M-Mabel! Wirt, help me! She’s gone mad!”

  “Mabel Madness! I’M COMING FOR YOU BABY YODA, YOU WILL BE MINE!” Mabel cackled, sounding like a disney villain.

  “Wirt!!!!”

  —

  “Okay, so we should start at heading for Adventure Island and work our way around,” Wirt traced the map with his finger, showing their destined path.

  “I think we should go counterclockwise, cause the more popular rides will get populated in the evening, as more guests arrive,” Dipper argued, tracing the map opposite Wirt. 

  “BABY YODA! We gotta start with Galaxy’s Edge, because that’s going to be the most crowded of all! We want to get in a few rides early,” Mabel chimed in, vigorously pointing at the newest area.

  The three bickered about what to do, until they realized there was one more person with them, and turned to Greg to be the tie breaker.

  Greg looked at the three expectant faces, trying to decide who would be the right choice.

  He should side with his brother…but then again, Dipper was well organized…on the other hand, Mabel was his best friend…but Wirt usually knew best…but Dipper and Mabel had been to Disney before…but– “Um…Um…Maybe, we could…flip a coin?” Greg finally suggested.

  The three young adults groaned.

  “Greg, there’s three of us, and there’s no such thing as a three sided coin,” Wirt reprimanded.

  Greg squinted at his brother, then turned to address the twins, “Well then we’ll flip for Mabel and Dipper’s plan, since Wirt has been eliminated from making a choice.”

  “Hey! Wait! What? Greg!”

  —

  Galaxy’s Edge was packed when the four walked through the gates. Like a can of sardines, the group shuffled slowly through the crowds, trying not to get separated. Wirt kept one hand tightly on his brother’s, while the other hand clung to the back of Dipper’s jacket. The waving bodies made him feel nauseous and claustrophobic, but he swallowed it back, determined not to get sick so early in the day. 

  Everything would be fine as long as they stuck together.

  At least, until Mabel saw her baby yoda plush hanging from one of the open stall shops–at which point, she made a mad dash for the store, barreling a way through. Many people ducked out of her way as she ravenously charged for her prize. 

  Within seconds, the path she had carved was swallowed up by the park goers.

  “Mabel, get back here!” Dipper yelled, but she was already gone. “Wirt, can you–?”

  He didn’t need to be asked twice. Wirt craned his head to keep his eyes on her. It wasn’t hard when she was wearing a glittery red sweater, and matching sparkly headband.

  However, just as he spotted her long brown hair fluttering, he felt his brother’s hand slip out of his hold. 

  He whipped his head back around, catching a glimpse of green as his brother slipped under people’s legs, heading towards the giant Millennium Falcon building

  “Greg! W-wait! Get back here!” His voice croaked– but just like his brother, and Dipper’s sister–it was swallowed up by the crowd. 

  Panic began to bubble up in his stomach. Wild thoughts flitted through his head–one after the other, each one worse than the last. Getting lost in a big place like this– this was not good! And Dipper was dragging him in one direction, while his brother was running in the other. He stuttered over his tongue, trying to find the words to stop them, but bit his tongue in the process. The bodies swayed to and fro, pushing him and pulling him; his hands were clammy, and he could feel his own grip loosening. The feeling of anxiety mounted, as his vision grew spotty.

Not good, not good, not good, not– Dipper intertwined their fingers, squeezing, and all the previous anxieties melted away. They were stopped in the middle of the walkway, with a few annoyed people passing them by, but Dipper was looking at him with a composed smile. Dipper wasn’t often composed–they were both nervous, stuttering messes in the worst of situations. But right now, seeing Dipper’s relaxed composition, and having the man’s hands tightly holding his, he could see those few glimpses of bravery, of excitement and calculated analytics–one of the many reasons he fell for the man in front of him.

  “Don’t worry, everyone’s got cell phones. Nothing’s going to happen. We’ll grab Mabel, and then find Greg. He’s right, you know? He’s not a baby anymore–you don’t have to worry so much about him. It’s going to be okay Wirt, just breathe. I’m here. We’re going to have fun today, I promise. So relax, and just breathe.”

  Those simple words were a great start, though Wirt knew it was still going to take some convincing.

  He took a deep inhale through his nose, releasing a shaky exhale from his mouth.

  “Right…fun. We’re here to have fun.” He inhaled once more; his second exhale was steadier, “…Okay. Let’s go save the poor sales clerk from your sister.”

  Dipper’s smile turned to something more bubbly; it was clear he was just as excited to be here as the other two. After all, this was Dipper’s whole childhood, of course he would be geeking out–especially when his favorite franchise finally had its own area. But he was still trying to stay cool for his lover, and Wirt truly appreciated that level headedness right now. Dipper squeezed Wirt’s hand one more time for boosted confidence.

  The bodies swayed, but Dipper and Wirt swayed with them, keeping afloat in the massive ocean of Star Wars fans.

  — 

  From there, the group went from each area to the next, riding the different attractions, and exploring the many stores offered. Lines were long, sometimes 40 minutes long, but the group kept distracted with playful banner, and dumb word games. 

  Mabel lugged her new Yoda doll in her arms, cradling it like a newborn baby. Dipper swore he could even hear her cooing to it from time to time.

  Greg ate a churro that was sprinkled with blue candy powder–the “light side” churro saber. 

  Wirt was spooning the last of his frozen lemonade into his mouth, reluctantly wearing a pair of Sorcerer’s apprentice, Mickey Mouse ears that Greg had put on him.

  Dipper stared at his family, feeling a calming bliss that he often didn’t get to experience by himself. As he watched his family, trying to decide where to go next, what to do next, Dipper blessed his lucky stars–When you wish upon a star playing in the back of his mind–that he had such a perfectly crazy, but loving family.

  Wirt looked over, noticing Dipper’s stare, and he smiled bashfully, cheeks pink. “What are you looking at?”

  “Nothing, just…I’m having a good time,” Dipper replied.

  “Even with this heat, and this crowd?” Wirth inquired.

  Dipper leaned his head briefly on Wirt’s shoulder, and for a second–just a second– he braced his hands around Wirt’s arm, holding him like they were a lovesick, brand new couple, “Yeah…Is it preemptive to say that I don’t want this day to end?”

  Wirt laughed, the blush rising to the tips of his ears, “Well, it’s barely noon, there’s still plenty of time left in the day–so, yes. But I think I know what you mean.” Wirt ducked down, kissing Dipper’s sweat soaked, bang covered, forehead, “For my first time here…I thought it was going to be a lot worse. But I got to say, with you and Mabel here–it’s still pretty hectic…but much more enjoyable.”

  Dipper’s eyes widened, “This is your first time here at Disney?” “Dipper, I lived in Massachusetts for most of my childhood! Of course it is!”

  Dipper eyes started to sparkle, “Well then, I got a lot of lasting memories to leave you with.” He liked the challenge already.

  Seeing the adorable, childlike expression on the 19 year old, made Wirt laugh even harder, “Well I look forward to seeing what you pull off!”

  Dipper started babbling excitedly, “Oh man, we have to go on the Matterhorn next! It’s pretty fast, and a little wild, but really fun. And it’s two to a seat…so maybe you and I could share a—AH! Ohhh, I just remembered. The matterhorn macaroons are the best–you have to try them, although that’s located at the Jolly Holiday Bakery! But we’ll make sure to get some. I’ve got the perfect plan for hitting all the rides and best locations in the most amount of time, even with the long lines. Hmm, I guess I have to show you “It’s a Small World”–it’s not super fun–kinda annoying, but it’s a Disneyland staple. But if we’re going by Disney staples, then we gotta do Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain. Ohhh I gotta figure out what to do for lunch. There’s so many good choices–but also really crappy ones, so be careful. Don’t worry, me and Mabel know the best…Mabel–Hey, hey, Mabel! Where should we go to lunch!? It’s Greg and Wirt’s first time at Disney! We gotta make it special! Mabel, did you hear me?”

  Hearing that it was their first time, Mabel squealed excitedly, and began babbling alongside her brother, the two practically speaking codes. Greg and Wirt watched the two in amazement, both intrigued, and horrified–well, mostly Wirt is horrified– at the shift in fanatics.

  “I wanna go on Indiana Jones! And Oh, Pirates of the Carribean, we have to ride that too! I wanna see Jack Sparrow! Hey, hey Wirt, should we get autographs since we never got them before?” Greg chimed in, the enthusiasm contagious. This gets Dipper and Mabel squawking even more eagerly.

  “Is it true that they have giant Turkey legs here? And something called “Hidden Mickeys?” Wirt asked, trying to keep up with the rest of his family. He didn’t want to feel so out of the loop, but maybe playing along was a little much, considering the effect it was having.

  The twins looked like they’re going to explode at this point, ready to burst with all their Disney trivia and knowledge.

  Wirt sighed, mumbling softly to himself, “I’m just thankful I didn’t plan a trip to Disneyworld. I’m scared to see you guys planning out your day there.”

  The conversation stopped dead. Dipper and Mabel turned, eyes wide, pupils dilating. Wirt realized too late, that they had heard him.

  And suddenly, the conversation turned to plans for next year, and tickets to Florida, and overnight stays at cheap hotels. Epicot, and Animal Kingdom, and the water parks in summer–all the special foods and treats that Magic Kingdom had over Disneyland. His mumblings had gotten Greg excited, thinking they were really planning to go there next summer.

  The idea was ludicrous, but watching Dipper’s face, red with nervous joy, the gleam in his eyes, and his dimples deepening as he laughed, the idea didn’t seem so irrational.

  Although, Wirt would prefer a trip with just the two of them, if they were to do something that huge. Much as he loved his brother and Mabel, a place that big would be too much stress, and Wirt would really just like to focus on one thing at a time: that one thing being Dipper, in this instance.

  In order to stop the delusions from continuing and hope from blossoming, Wirt clapped his hands, and declared, “Before we start making plans for next year, let’s worry about today. We’re only burning daylight if we stand here talking about what ifs. Dipper, you promised you’d make today memorable, so let’s make some memories. I…I want to know more about this…Matterhorn macaroon.”

  It sounded strangely mature, but also incredibly dorky. He flushed as the words left his mouth.

  But Mabel had run and taken Greg’s hand, dragging him off, and Dipper had wrapped his arm around Wirt’s, pulling him along, which must have meant that his little speech had worked.

  He didn’t know what was going to happen next, or if today would be anymore hectic–of course it is, Wirt, you’re at a theme park, and you don’t even like rides–but, if nothing else, today would be an adventure.

  And Wirt quickly learned through dating Dipper Pines, that any adventure, big or small, was always going to be worthwhile, so long as they were tackling it together. And unlike Gravity Falls, there was likely to be less crazy, paranormal anomalies happening around them; they were less likely to get hurt, or fall into danger here at Disneyland–hopefully.

  They would cross that castle bridge when they got to it.

[elisaphoenix13]

Far From Home Ch.3

"What's with the glasses?" MJ asks when Peter pull the case out of his bag and opens it. 

"Huh? I dunno...Dad gave them to me when he dropped me off at the airport." He slips them on and reads the note Tony left on the case. "Say Edith?" The glasses activate and Peter blinks. "Whoa."

As Edith explains her functions to him, Peter looks toward Ned and Betty and their text screens pop up. They were texting how much they missed each other even though they were sitting right next to each other. Their relationship was extremely...gross. It was another thing he hoped he never found himself guilty of with Cassie.

"You have a text message from Cassie Lang. Shall I open it?" The AI asks and Peter's eyes widen.

"No no no! Dad will know!"

"Mr. Stark already knows about your relationship with Miss Lang."

Peter throws his hands up. "Of course he does! Does Mom know too?"

"Not that I'm aware."

"Well that's something I guess."

Peter takes off the glasses and puts them away as Michelle gives him a curious look and he slumps in his seat. He should have known that keeping the relationship secret would be damn near impossible with his father. Tony wouldn't have actively asked or looked for evidence but it could have been something as simple as FRIDAY letting it slip. Peter was just a little surprised that the engineer kept it to himself instead of telling Stephen as soon as he found out.

"Dad knows about me and Cassie."

MJ snorts. "Are you really surprised?"

"No. I guess not."

Their bus stops for a bathroom break and the driver stops him when he steps off and points toward an open doorway where he finds someone waiting. They disappear from sight and he makes his way into the building to find a woman who immediately demands he take his clothes off. Peter freezes up until the woman hands him a black suit and again demands he gets undressed, and hesitantly relents. Of course that's when his classmate Brad walks in on him with his pants down and chases after him when the other teen snaps a picture with his phone. Peter zips up his pants and catches up with Brad and yells to him to get him to stop.

"That totally wasn't what it looked like!"

"You don't need to explain Peter. I get if you want to hook up with a European chick, but I know you want to get with MJ so I have to show her the truth." Brad says.

Peter gapes and stammers. "I don't want to get with MJ! I have a girlfriend man!"

Brad gives him a look of confusion before returning to the bus and Peter returns to it himself after getting everything with the lady that gave him the suit settled. After accidently calling in a drone to eliminate Brad when he was trying to get Edith to delete the picture from his phone (he did not want that ending up on social media), and having to take care if said drone, successfully had the picture deleted and sat back quietly for the rest of the ride. When they finally made it to their hotel in Prague, they were taken to a really nice hotel that Tony would definitely approve of. It was a huge upgrade from the one they stayed in while in Venice.

His cell phone vibrates and he answers it, Maria Hill giving him directions before promptly hanging up just as Ned walks over.

"I just wanted to apologize if it seems like I'm focusing on my relationship with Betty."

"No. It's all cool. Don't worry about it." Peter says as a reassurance. 

"So where's this fire monster going to appear?" The darker male asks.

"Uhh...here. In the city."

"What?! You have to do something Peter! We're all counting on you!"

No pressure, Peter thought as his best friend rejoined the group. He leaves when they're given free time to settle and makes his way to the location Fury and Hill told him about and zones out while the adults talk about this and that. They had told him the plan as soon as he arrived and now they were nit picking and talking about attempts to evacuate the city to no avail.

"Stark! Are we boring you again?" Fury asks, startling the teen out of his daze and causing him to turn from the unused fireplace.

"He's not bored. He's just thinking about how you kidnapped him." Beck quips.

Fury ignores the other man. "What's your job?"

"I'm to sit on the cathedral tower and look for the fire Elemental, and radio you guys when it arrives. When it arrives, that's when Mr.Beck and I will--"

"My name is Mysterio." Beck interrupts and shoots Peter a look of amusement who laughs a little awkwardly.

"Okay then, Mysterio and I will move in." Peter finishes.

"Look Peter, your best bet, only bet, is to stop it here. You can lead the civilians away but most importantly, don't let it near metal. Otherwise it will grow, and if it gets big enough, it can draw energy from Earth's core."

"Look, I don't want to put my friends in danger."

"You're afraid of us bringing danger to your classmates when you're the one who called in a drone strike on your class tour bus?! Tony gave you a multi million dollar weapon interface and that was what you did? That makes me think you're not ready."

Peter already knew what he did was wrong even though it was an accident,  and he didn't need Nick Fury calling him out on it. At least Beck seemed to be on his side. He probably felt bad that they had dragged Peter away from his summer vacation if he was sassing the ex-director of SHIELD. Usually people who did that had a death wish...or they were Tony Stark.

Hell, Peter had sassed him back in Venice, but the teen didn't have a death wish no matter what his parents thought. They always said he looked for trouble when, for once, he didn't this time. Trouble found him and he had tried to get out of it.

Now he found himself fighting off Elementals with a wannabe magic user and previous members of SHIELD, and only one person out of that group bothered to show him some kindness and empathy. Beck made all of the trouble Fury was putting him through, just a little bit bearable. He didn't want to worry his parents because Fury was right. One was still recovering and another had enough to deal with.

Beck was the one who found him sitting on the roof later on. "Nick Fury asked me to come up here. See how you were doing. He felt bad about snapping at you."

Peter looks up at the floating man. "Really?"

"...you guys do have sarcasm on this earth right?" The teen laughs half-heartedly. He should have known better. "How are you feeling?"

Peter huffs out a sigh. "I didn't think I would need to save the world this summer. I know that makes me sound like such a jerk...I just...wanted a break from the superhero stuff. Not have a reason for my parents to worry. I can't even say anything to them because they deserve the rest."

Beck floats down and sits next to him. "You're not a jerk for wanting a normal life kid. It's a hard path." The elder looks over at him. "I like you Peter. You're a good kid. One part of me wants to tell you to run away and ignore this, but the other part knows what we're fighting. What's at stake. For now though, you worry about your friends."

Peter nods. "Yeah...see you out there." Peter jumps down from the roof, landing a few feet behind an elderly couple he startles. "Scusi...sorry...that's Italian. God, I'm so glad Dad isn't here. He would never let me hear the end of it."

___________________________

Once Peter managed to get his class tickets to the opera and slipped out, he changes into the stealth suit Fury gave him and climbs up to the cathedral tower. It was a good place to look out for the fire elemental, although he didn't think it would be hard to miss. He scopes the carnival from the top before flipping down to a ledge, landing in a crouch and confirming that he's in position.

"How's the suit?" Fury asks over the comm.

"Uh...the suit's great. It's awesome. It's a little tight around the old web shooter though."

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" The ex-director asks.

"I don't kiss my mother."

"It's a good thing. Might ruin that maternal side you drilled into Strange." Fury says sarcastically.

Peter rolls his eyes and it only took a couple more minutes for the elemental to show up. It destroyed a statue in the process, and the teen immediately tells Mysterio. The man swoops in and holds it back with his green mist while Peter jumps over to the building across the way to web a nearby fire hydrant and yank it out of the ground. The water sprays the monster, unfortunately not doing a thing except anger it, and Peter has to flip away from the punch it throws. He lands on the carousel, having precious seconds to avoid another punch, which he barely did since it sent him flying to the ground and into a wall.

When he looked up, he was horrified to find that it was absorbing the metal of the children's ride. He warns Beck about it as the monster grows bigger, and he suddenly hears a shout and looks up to find Ned and Betty stuck in the tilted ferris wheel. In a panic, he shoots his webs at the elemental, only for fire to burn them all the way down to his wrists as the monster approaches and Mysterio flies over just in time to hold up a misty shield.

"Plan B?!" The man shouts over the guttural roars and Peter pats the flames out on his arms.

"Yeah! We gotta hit it with something it can't absorb!"

Beck pushes the monster away with his shield to give them the split second they need to go their ways and Peter climbs a building to avoid more flames before flipping back, webbing a broken stone, and hurling it at the monster. Beck follows up with an attack of his own and they repeat the process until the elemental goes for the ferris wheel that his friends are still in. Mysterio holds it off just in time as Peter shoots some webs at the ride, only for the webs to hit something invisible.

What the hell?

He pulls back and whatever he had was thrown back into an alley, but he had to return his attention to saving his friends. Mysterio wouldn't be able to hold the monster back for long, so Peter tries webbing himself up again proceeds to connect the ride to the surrounding buildings to keep it up. As he plants himself against the wheel, Beck continues to fight the flaming monster until it gets backed up into metal and grows even bigger.

Peter's heart drops when Beck's fishbowl helmet falls away and the man looks toward the teen. "Whatever happens...I'm glad we met."

"Beck! No! What are you doing?!"

The helmet forms back over his head. "What I should have done before."

The teen continues to yell to the man in an attempt to stop him, but Beck starts to overpower himself with magic before flying right into the elemental's chest. It did the trick, destroying it and sending out a shockwave of green mist, and when everything cleared, Peter secures the ferris wheel when he spots the man's body on the ground. He jumps down and approaches the motionless body with his heart hammering in his chest, and heaves out a sigh of relief when Beck looks up at him.

"Oh thank god." Peter says as he helps the man to his feet.

Fury and Hill talk to Beck after that, confirming that was the last of the Elemental threat and ask him to join them in Berlin for possible future threats. He also asked Peter, but thankfully didn't ask for an answer right then and there. Fury gave him the choice. Turn him down and finish his vacation, or actually commit to be an Avenger that his father had made him all those years ago? Before the teen could really give it some thought though, Beck invited him for a drink and took him to a bar even though Peter had said he wasn't old enough (something else Tony would probably laugh about because of the honesty). Peter takes off his mask before the enter the bar and orders a lemonade, lazily sipping at the straw as he let his thoughts wander.

"Fury was right. You've got gifts." Beck says.

Peter rubs his eyes. "Dad has done a lot for me. I owe it to him and everyone else."

The elder tilts his head to look at the teen. "Do you?"

Peter sits up a little and looks at his hands. "Yeah. Of course." He replies instantly. "He's helped me through so much, he took me in when I had nowhere else to go after my Aunt May died, and even Mom has stepped into a role I accidentally gave him. Doing this so they can sit down for more than five minutes is the least I can do."

"Okay...but what do you want?"

"What do you mean?" 

"What do you want?" Beck repeats. "Right now. I know you're thinking about--"

Peter stands up fully and turns toward Beck. "I want to finish my summer vacation...and be able to go home like a normal kid for once. Spend time with my parents and...and with my girlfriend freely. Her dad is an Avenger too and almost as overprotective as my mom is of me." Beck chuckles and the teen blushes. "Shut up man."

One of the employees approaches them and bends over briefly to pick up the EDITH glasses and returns them to Peter. He hadn't even realized that he dropped them in the first place. Beck asks about them before having Peter try them on, and the man stares.

"Can I be completely honest with you?" The man says.

"Please."

"...you look really stupid. Maybe there's a contact version of them."

Peter yanks the glasses off and holds them out to Beck. "You try them on then."

The man laughs and refuses at first but the vigilante insists and Quentin finally puts them on. Peter looks away when it only reminds him of Tony and he starts to doubt himself. Why would his father give him multi million dollar glasses that controlled weapons as a just in case? Tony was always griping about how he could barely handle the functions of his suit, so maybe Beck was better off with the glasses.

Peter laughs shortly. "Maybe you're better off having them."

"What? I'm not following. How many lemonades have you had?"

"I'm serious." The teen sighs out. "I don't know what my dad was thinking when he gave me those and Fury was right. I'm not ready for them."

Beck sighs and takes off the glasses before sliding them across the counter and back to Peter. "Come on Peter..."

The teen says nothing and puts the glasses back on, asking EDITH to change the controls over to Beck. Mysterio had more experience and was a born leader, so handing the glasses over to him felt like the right choice. The right thing. When he confirms his choice after some argument from the elder man, he hands the glasses back over to Mysterio.

"Welcome to the Avengers." Peter says.

[theaquarianphoenix]

Cattails on the bus

This morning, as in most mornings, the four of us stand at the end of the driveway in some puzzle-like formation and wait for the school bus. When we file on, the bus is mostly empty, so we get to choose whatever seat we want. Because we live so far out in the country, we are some of the first kids to embark. The bus scoops up more kids and fills as it gets closer to town. If you’re one of the last kids on, you don’t get much choice in where you sit.

I like to sit by the window, on the side where the bus door opens. Once I got to stand next to the bus driver and work the lever that opens and closes the door. It was absolutely thrilling, and I thought about how fun it would be to work that lever every day. But I can’t do that anymore because all the kids wanted a turn and Fred, our bus driver at that time, said it’s not safe to stand up there like that.

Anyway, the reason I like to sit in the window is to get a good view of everyone when the bus pulls up. Then I can watch them get on. Some days I talk to the other kids and make string patterns, like Jacob’s ladder and cat’s cradle, with my Chinese jump rope. But most days, I prefer to observe and watch everyone. There is an older boy who gets on near the end of the route. Whenever he gets on, he practically jumps up the steps. Then he grabs the pole at the front of the bus and swings himself into the aisle and plops himself in an open seat. It’s all one fluid motion that reminds me of letting a rope slide through your hands. Once he swung into the seat next to me and sat down. The girls behind me snickered and I turned my head toward the window so he wouldn’t see me and made a yucky face.

My friend Kristi also lives on a farm. It’s about two miles from ours. She has three older brothers and whenever the bus pulls up her brothers are combing their hair. They each have a little comb that they slide into their back pocket. I think it’s funny the boys are always combing their hair and not Kristi who is a girl. I suppose it’s to impress the older girls that ride the bus. If they asked for my opinion, which they don’t, I’d tell them that Shelli and Cleo are the prettiest.

Anyhow, back to my story.

This morning when we get on, as usual, the only other passengers are three older boys that live on the farms down the road from us. They also happen to be my cousins. My cousin Jerry is the oldest and he is quiet and gentle. Sometimes he talks to me, even though I’m just a little kid. Once he let me look at his high school yearbook. I read some of the things his classmates wrote inside. There were a few swear words and I thought that was rather delicious.

My two other cousins are Tim and Andy. I think it’s both accurate and fair to say that they are mischievous. But they are fun and friendly and they both laugh a lot. They treat me a bit like a kid sister. It makes me feel important when I get to sit next to them. They usually sit in the back of the bus and I assume this is so their shenanigans are easier to hide from the bus driver. But I am only 9 and don’t really know why. Anyway, they always have cool things in their pockets to show me, like interesting bottle caps and knives that have little forks and spoons that flip out so you could use them as utensils if you went camping in the woods.

This morning, my little sister, who is 5 years old, has brought a bundle of cattails with her for show-and-tell in her kindergarten class. There is a pond on our farm near the edge of the woods and in the springtime, hundreds of cattails grow there. All spring and summer the pond is noisy with croaking frogs and trilling red-winged black birds that perch on the cattails. The crows like to gather there too and cackle and caw. I imagine them at night, turning into witches that churn steaming caldrons of potions filled with scary objects like eyeballs and snakes. My little sister is going to tell her classmates all about the cattails and the pond and why they grow there.

I don’t know exactly how it happens. I think it’s because my older brother takes a cattail to poke at the older boys in the back of the bus. It’s nearing the end of the route and the bus is full of kids. Tim and Andy have gotten hold of a cattail and they are whacking it at each other and against the seat. If you’ve ever broken a cattail then you understand what is happening right now. With each whack, the bus is filling, rapidly, with billowy, white clouds of fluff! The white puffs are raining down everywhere, falling in our hair and eyelashes and sticking on our clothes. Kids are standing up now and jumping around in the feathery, fluff-filled air. Some are yelling and some are laughing. The entire bus is chaos!

At this time in the history of our bus riding we had a substitute bus driver. He was a substitute in that, Fred, didn’t drive the bus anymore and the substitute was filling in until a permanent driver was hired. How I knew this I have no recollection.  The substitute was a tall, thin, white-haired, quiet-spoken, elderly man. I don’t remember his name, but I recall someone telling me he was a preacher (or used to be) at the Evangelical Free Church in town. He managed, with great difficulty, to shift the gears on the bus, and had no ability to control anything unruly that occurred. He made feeble attempts to tell us to sit down or be quiet which were usually ignored or obeyed only flippantly, when we felt like doing as he asked. But, when those cattails broke open and began swirling around, I guess it broke him open too. He brought that bus to a screeching halt right in the middle of the road and raised his voice like he was calling down the thunder. He hollered out threats of punishment and told us to sit down. Which we did. The fluffs of cattail circled in the air like the last days of the dandelions on a windy summer day. And it got quiet.

I suppose this is all rather humorous. And perhaps it is. But it’s all just backdrop. It’s not the point. I don’t remember anything more about the cattails. But what I do remember, what has stayed with me most, that is what I want to share.

In the quiet that fell, my little sister started to cry. Not a slight sniff and a tear, but loud, uncontrollable sobs. I sat next to her and tried to comfort her. But I couldn’t. Because she was inconsolable. Everyone looked at us and asked me what was wrong, why was she crying like that. Someone asked, why is she such a “cry baby?”

I told them I didn’t know. But that was a lie. I knew why. I knew exactly why. I knew well the tone and timbre of that cry. So full of pain. And fear. A cry I’d heard many times before. It wasn’t about the cattails that still swirled about in the air. It was because the bus driver yelled. Because he raised his voice in anger.

And when a wolf snarls, the deer always runs.

I think sometimes we forget that we are just animals. Complicated, human animals. But animals still. And this was human animal survival. Instinct. Experience taught my sister that when someone yells in anger, something terrible inevitably follows; a fist or a slap or a kick or a punch or a look that cuts you in half. You don’t forget that. Because forgetting is dangerous. And though the preacher/substitute driver was no wolf, that was no matter to my sister. The body - and the brain - don’t distinguish. They just react. They call up all those dark experiences that are inside of you and lined in your veins like a thick, black resin. Your tail flies up, and…

You run (me).

Or cry (my sister).

Or cower (all of us).

Or stand frozen in fear (all of us).

Or piss yourself (all of us).

Or rear up and fight back, even if you know the wolf will rip you to pieces (my mom).

Ok.

I am taking a breath now. And releasing.

When I look back on many of these memories, despite the darkness, I see the divine in many ways. Did you know that cattails symbolize friendship and peace? What is more, they also symbolize cleansing. In mind, body, and spirit. They reflect an inner purging and ask you to acknowledge how far you have traveled, how much you have learned. They tell you that it is safe to move on. And in knowing that, I understand this: I guess the cattails got broken back then because we were broken. And we have traveled a long distance since then. We have grown. We have learned. And we will always be learning. Until we’re dust.

But we are safe now.

#theaquarianphoenix #domesticviolence #childabuse #tellingmystory #iamnotafraidanymore

[bodega-daydream]

November 22, 2019

It started out as kind of a nice dream. I was in a class and in the class there was an assignment to bake the best pie, and the old man teacher would rate them. I had a pie but for some reason didnt think its was worth having him rate it even though it looked pretty good. Finally at the end I was made the snap decision to have him rate my pie, but I had apparently blended it up into this really sugary red slushy drink. He tasted it anyway but couldnt really rate it because he couldnt see the crust. fine, whatever. I was then talking to people from school when Josh from BP came up and said that he, Tony, and two other BP workers were going to be on 8 out of 10 Cats and I was sooo excited to know someone who would be on the show for me to watch. Cut to later- I'm at the lake down the street from my house. I was looking through videos on my laptop and was showing Michael to see if he remembered them. Undetermined, but they involved me with shorter hair and a GIANT frog. I think this was based off my frog stuffed animal, but it was real in this video and I had taken him to the lake for a swim. I had had him for years and wondered how long he'd last and then the frog was like I haven't laid my egg yet so pretty much he couldnt die until he laid his one giant egg? whatever. Then I was cold and on the sand and I think we were heading back up to my house. It was dusk. We heard a scream from the neighboring property. There were already a few people over there that seemed to be looking for the source. It sounded like a little girl. I shouted to ask if anyone needed help. But they couldn't find anything. Toward to the top of the beach now, and at night, we saw a bunch of children in this fenced in area. IRL This woman is a swim coach, so it wouldn't be insane for her to have kids at her house, so in the dream, I didn't think anything of this. Yet. The longer you observed the kids, they were kind of running wild in this fenced in area. Then I noticed that one of the kids has smashed his head on a rock and his head was covered in blood. But I think it was suspicious circumstances because the cop lights were flashing in the background through the trees. Though no medical help was there yet. Starting that moment, I had been hanging out with Lewis who showed his EMT badge while walking over. I saw through all of the mess him trying to help out a different kid (for some reason no the kid with the giant hole in his head from the rock lol) but he didn't have any of his supplies with him (because we was just hangin out). At this, I ran over because I had a bunch of stuff that could help. Apparently I just keep a very make shift first aid kit on my person. Though when I got over there, this one kid we were helping looked absolutely fine but apparently had these invisible type of burning sensation on his cheeks. I looked into my bag but it was like kind of useless lol had a small bottle of tea tree oil and some other random stuff. I knew what kind of pain the kid was dealing with though. Lewis gave him something and I told him that I understood and that the best thing to do was to just take a cold hand (bc mine are always cold) and just hold it against it and feel the pain until it stops hurting, because it won't last that long. We then walked away and went back to the police station where I was apparently a detective there. This station was also the house across the street from the lake. Daytime now. One of my detective colleagues was this man who looked like John Krasinski meaning it actually was him, but not him. There were some kids outside (outside was now a city street) being lined up as witnesses or something. The other detective there, a woman, was taking statements from the kids. But then I overheard her make this plot to frame my John Krasinski coworker. I tried to warn him without giving away who was trying to frame him and he help trying to insist on telling his partner, this woman. I was like dude. no. and he wouldn't listen. The kids started walking through and that kid I had helped passed by and gave me this look. Then someone else came in and sort of yelled at me for encouraging his growing sexual love for buses lmao said I was too accepting and that I should have discouraged it from the beginning. My argument was so what, he loves to love buses. Anyway, I was trying to tell John Krasinski about the plot and then I was walking away and he grabbed my wrist. But then the other woman came over instead of letting go, we hid the fact that he was holding my wrist behind my back which also looked suspicious. Then there was another line up of kids outside. They had turned around and this one kid was looking up at us and was like I want to talk to her. I assumed he was pointing to the woman he had spoken to before, which was the 3rd detective. But when he came inside, he wanted to talk to me. I was surprised, but then it was the kid that kind of confessed to lying to the other cop about how the evidence she gave him (to frame John Krasinski) was a lie. But dude, the truth was like 20x worse. Instead of some tiny piece of metal sticking him from inside some box, he admitted that it was actually just part of this bracelet he was wearing. I asked to see the bracelet but it had no metal sticking out of it. Then he was like no, it's part of me. and then this series of spikes that had been implanted in his wrist stuck out through his skin like barbed wire. At this I was like nope! and took a step back. His father came rushing in but he had the same thing going on in his wrist. They could control when the spikes would come out. We learned that they were both extremely violent. The dad was bad, but the kid looked like he would be much worse because he was learning it all from his dad. I didn't want to be near this kid anymore because he seemed to fixate on my fear, as if he would come and find me one day to hurt me. I wouldn't look at him. The wife showed up and she was drunk because she was usually being abused by her husband. I think we let them all go because we couldn't do anything about the situation because she wouldn't accuse her husband of anything. Cut to me going to the live taping of 8 out of 10 cats starring my BP coworkers. Instead of sitting in the studio, there was a ton of outside seating that faced the studio that had large screens on it that was displaying what was being filmed. It opened with Kate McKinnan so this was apparently SNL instead lol but whatever. I was sitting out there in what seemed like stadium pews. The place was decorated in vines and leaves, kind of medieval. A lot of people were moving around the pews, but I had a large space open next to me. The drunk mom came and sat next to me. It made me so nervous because I didn't want to deal with an intoxicated person, but also her husband must be around. The show goes on and she gets up and walks to the doorway to enter the stadium. I somehow acquire this little girl that's sitting on my lap, maybe 7 years old. Turns out this is the daughter of the drunk woman. I'm very protective of this child for some reason. The mom and the husband are doing this weird princess knight act idk, I just know it's happening but I'm more focused on the crowd. Some tiny elderly people come and sit next to me and are asking about this girl (rightfully assume she's not mine bc this girl is blonde). Cut of after this performance, and I'm with/kind of am this woman. I'm on a bus and I'm heading to this beach area. I'm trying to get away from this crazy husband of mine. There was some floaties put out in the water and it was like yes, she's finally getting away. But then I'm like...no this is too easy, and I dive down underwater and I see this man with all of his evil friends waiting there to grab her. She manages to swim away. She's running and running trying to get away. They had this evil dog that was kind of also the husband and kept barking and biting her trying to alert him to where she was. Somehow we got the dog off and jumped onto one of those mini school buses (I'm with her now). There's only one seat and she takes it with her daughter on her lap and we tell the bus driver to gtfo of here. He knows the situation, and drives off. I'm sitting on the floor and looking out the window. Both me and her are in white spa robes, not significant, just random. There's this sense of relief as we're driving off. The dog had kind of handed me this piece of metal and I gave it to her. This apparently meant something as she looked at me and she was like "he really did love me." as in he let her go despite not being able to control his violent nature (even tho it was way worse than that). The mini bus pulls up to the back parking lots of the woodbury commons. We think we're safe until I see this man running a hot dog stand taking pictures of the bus we're in. The bus driver had pulled over and got out of the bus but then I yelled wait, we're not safe here and then her husband pops out from behind something and starts coming for us. The bus is moving and I think this dude some how offs the driver. The woman gets up and goes to the door of this still moving bus and shoots her husband in the head. I'm am #shook. I did not know she was going to do that with such ease or that she even had a gun. I took control of the bus because there was chaos now because she just shot someone and cars were appearing out of nowhere. I was like, flooring it and I was like OKAY I'm taking us straight to the police station. I was way more affected than this lady. Realizing now this was not a great decision and that we should have stayed put, we got pulled over at her parents house. We couldn't exit the bus without being processed by a cop (I was a normal person now, not a detective). I was instructed to head straight to the Montgomery police station to pay a $250 bail (I know, doesnt make sense) but I was compliant. I had to get there. I thought about calling Lewis to help me with the bail because I knew he would, but then realized I had that cash on my person and that I could just go over there and pay it myself. As I was walking toward the kitchen to get my stuff, I realized that I shouldn't be driving because I just went thru a trauma that hadn't hit me yet. I decided it was best to call Lewis after all and have him pick me up so I could freak out in the car and not be driving. But as I was going through my phone to find his contact, I noticed this woman's 3 sisters trying to slyly take pictures of me, just like the hot dog man and I started freaking out. And then my phone was going crazy, receiving every photo they took of me instantly. They didn't know what was happening and I was checking their phones and someone had set that to default and my phone was going crazy. I couldn't get to the call screen. I knew someone had bugged these phones so they could locate me or get my info. I decided to use someone elses phone to call Lewis. The mom was looking through the phonebook for his number when I was like Lewis can I just borrow your phone, you already have the number in it (only realized this flaw when I woke up lol) but I made the call and he answered. He had just said, "Hello?" when I heard the husbands voice in the background saying that he was a police officer to someone. And then I woke up, and I couldn't tell where I was for bit or if I was safe.

[plasmachaos]

In relation to my last post I wanted to make a quick list of some things I’ve witnessed first hand in relation to the bystander effect 

An instance of road rage, in which one driver attacked the other with his walking stick/cane; my mum phoned the police and myself and several others ran over to assist and offer support Five of us stayed with the couple until police arrived and one person stopped by after the attacker had left, saying she saw the whole thing but was too scared to approach immediately (wanted to offer herself as a witness, I believe)

Saw a group of bystanders holding off a man who was yelling because another man was performing CPR on a woman (who, from what I could gather, was on drugs- Man 1 considered Man 2′s actions a waste of time because of this)

A woman was attacked by a man in a central train/bus station- a group of teenage boys quite literally mobbed him until security came and dealt with him properly

Was involved in a cycling accident outside a construction site, 5 or so builders came out to assist me, wheeled my broken bike off the road, waited with me for the ambulance and bought me a sugary drink to raise blood sugar levels 

An elderly woman fell on the travelator (in this case, trolley/shopping cart escalator) in a supermarket; the two young men behind her swiftly managed to scoop her up and help her off before a crush could occur from the trolleys behind  

Witnessed black smoke coming from a neighbour’s oil boiler; within minutes, the other neighbours had come outside, ready to assist if need’s be (and confirmed it was likely a case for the fire brigade)

[thewritewolf]

Miraculous Fluff Month Chapter 20 - Wish

Heeeyyyy! Fluff Month is back, with a drabble about Nino doing his darnedest to make his date with Alya go perfectly! 

Enjoy!

Read on AO3

Nino stepped out of his house in his best clothes and as well groomed as he was going to get, having spent the last two hours getting ready for his date. There was a spring in his step as he reflected with pride that he only called his best bro Adrien four times for advice or reassurance.

He just wanted this date to go well, especially considering that the last few times he and Alya had tried to go out, they would be interrupted by an akuma. But not this time. He felt it in his bones - this time, he’d be able to treat Alya to the stress-free night out that she deserved.

With hope for the evening running high, he started his walk to bus stop. With how early he was leaving, he should beat her to the restaurant, no problem.

He made it ten steps before he had to stop. An old man was getting angry with the bus driver for demanding exact change. Nervousness pounded in his chest. If this kept going, the old man might get akumatized into some super villain, probably one that said stuff like, ‘exacting revenge on Paris.’ Then she’d have to cancel their plans, and the date would be off. Nino moved to intervene.

“Woah, dudes, I can cover him. I have enough for a ticket right here.”

The elderly man’s face cleared of anger, and he thanked Nino profusely.

Waving at the departing bus, Nino exhaled deeply. Okay. So I’m walking to the restaurant. I left way early, so I should be on time.

-------------------------

As he turns out, he was on time. But she was early. Annoyance shifted into relief when she caught sight of him.

“Where the hell have you been, Nino? I thought for sure you were going to beat me here.”

For a brief second he considered telling her about the situation with the old man, quickly deciding against it. He gave her a quick kiss. “Sorry, babe. I missed the bus. Ready for our dinner?”

Arm in arm, they slipped into the restaurant. Their table was unfortunately still in use, so they had to wait for a while longer before they could be seated. They passed the time catching up, exchanging stories from the last couple days, and news about the city. Alya had snagged an editorial position for a local newspaper, her years of work on the Ladyblog paying off.

“You know, Hawkmoth’s been pretty quiet recently. I hate to say it, but I bet we’re due for an akuma soon.”

Just as she said this, he caught sight of a customer shouting at a waitress, who seemed to be using her serving plate as a shield. The poor girl - probably mid-teens - was on the verge of tears. From the frayed hair and packed restaurant, it must have been a hell of a night. She rushed off to the balcony, clutching her tray to her chest.

“I, uh, I need to go the bathroom, babe. Be right back, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll just check on the Ladyblog while I wait. Hurry back.”

He went as fast as he could through the restaurant, trying to catch up to the stressed waitress before Hawkmoth could turn her into the Hatetress or something. Serving up Paris on a silver platter, which would probably be her akuma. Then he and Alya would get immediately caught up in it, probably trapped somewhere while the Hatetress said a pun. Nino shuddered. The puns were always the worst part of the akuma attacks.

It didn’t take long to find the girl wracked with tears. He leaned on the same railing she was, and when he started talking, it jolted her into the present.

“Dude, I feel you. I worked in customer service for ages. But let me tell you the best part - now you get to mock them with your coworkers for years. He will live on as the guy you imitate in a high-pitched voice forever.”

They stood there for a few minutes, Nino doing his best to draw laughter out of her. After all, Nino found that being able to laugh at a problem was the first step to letting go of it. Once she had pulled herself back together, he returned to Alya.

“Sorry that took so long.”

------------------------------------

Once they got to their table, their waitress came and started to ask for their orders, only for her and Nino to freeze when they saw each other. It was the same waitress as before, but before Nino could do anything, she smiled and continued on with what she was saying. She introduced herself as Nicolette.

The afternoon went beyond expectations for Nino, especially with Nicolette doing her very best to make sure they were well taken care of. After a delicious meal and a complimentary dessert, they were back outside, making their way to the park for the fireworks show. The date - and the day itself - was almost over, and nothing had gone wrong. Nino let his guard down.

This was a mistake.

But not immediately. The universe took its time before trying to ruin their date for the third time that day, having learned from its mistakes. It was an hour into their romp around the park when the universe made its move.

The yelling and screaming was their first indication of something wrong. When the akumatized villain showed his head, Nino knew the date was over. He hanged his head in failure, but Alya called out to him. “Hey, babe! Can you watch my back while I get some footage of this for the Ladyblog?”

Nino grinned. Maybe the date wasn’t a bust after all, so long as he was still side by side with the love of his life.

[thoughtsofmine97]

Traveling: Greyhound Bus Addition!

Everyone has at least heard of the greyhound bus line.

 If you live in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, and you have traveled on the highway, you may have seen one driving next to your car. Hell, you and your family members may have tried to be the first one to connect to the bus’s wifi before it got too far away or one of you got off at the next exit.

 But, if you haven’t, is is a form of mass travel (think of airplanes, but on the ground) that goes to over 3,800 destinations in North America (and yes, that means Mexico and Canada as well, and you need a passport for those trips), and it is an easy a cheap way to travel, if you don’t mind being in a sitting position for a long period of time.

 Here are some things that I wish I had known before I had decided to go this route (pun intended) or that I had to just figure out myself.

WARNING: This is my opinion, and I am in no way a professional since I had only taken this company once. This is just from my own experience. There is a man on YouTube by the name FrugalTravelGuru (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_NqsoFzUroeZ90ZZDdqSaA) who has good advice as well.

 I have also traveled by other means, and I will implementing tips from those as well!!!

Book your ticket well before hand

 You are going to want to book your ticket ahead of time.

Like a month or two before your travel date.

  Besides the obvious reasons (I.e. Cheaper, more seating options, and the fact the bus can fill up quickly), plans can change. And when plans change, you have to have ample time to change your means of travel.

  Lets say that you book your bus ticket two and a half months before the day that you leave, and it’s to go to a friends wedding. And a month goes by, and your friend (lets say the bride) Calls you and says that the wedding is moved up a week, and now you have to reschedule.

  If you give enough time between the booking of the ticket and the actual traveling date, you have more wiggle room. You never know when an emergency will pop up.

Keep your luggage in mind and what is a carry-on?

 No matter what kind of ticket you buy, the bus line allows you to have at least one free suitcase and one free carry on (This is just standard. Check online or your ticket to see which one you get and what it allows). 

  The weight limit for your suitcase is fifty pounds (50 lbs), and you do have to pay a fee if it is overweight. There are luggage weighing devices at the larger stations, but you can weigh them at home with luggage weighers that you can buy yourself or eyeball it (remember to keep the weight of the actual suitcase in mind) so you don’t get surprised when you get to check in.

 Just remember, your luggage goes underneath the bus in the luggage compartment, and you won’t have access to it until you get to where you are transferring to another bus, or to your final destination. I also suggest getting luggage locks from Walmart (Or your retailer of choice) to deter people from taking your things, and keep the key on you.

 Your carry-on is the small/medium sized bag that you can bring with you on to the main part of the bus. It has to be small enough to fit in the overhead bin, on the floor by your feet, or in your lap. Personally, I kept my most needed items in this bag to keep it close by. 

Here's a list of the items I personally think that you might need, but you probably don’t need everything on this list:

Your bus ticket

Passport (if traveling between the U.S. and Canada or the U.S. and Mexico)

Wallet

Phone/phone charger/headphones

Small travel pillow (they have these at Walmart with dust covers and cases that zip up and are in different colors or designs. They are perfect for keeping something between your head and the window)

Small throw blanket (It has be small enough to put back into your bag, and it comes in handy because the bus tends to get kind of cold)

Extra cash

Tylenol/allergy meds/other meds that you may need/cough drops

Gum

Some granola bars or small food items

Water

Hygiene products (small hair brush, toothbrush/paste, pads/tampons) I brushed my teeth when I had gotten to my layovers just to keep bad breath away. I also keep deodorant/body wipes on me so I can not smell bad. 

  Again, you don’t have to have everything on this list, but feel free to use it if you need to.

 Keep in mind that, more than likely, your gonna probably doze off or not have full attention on your bag, so get a luggage lock on it while you aren’t actually looking for something and keep the key on you (in your pocket). You might also want to keep your wallet/ticket in a hard to reach pocket just to keep your ID and ticket on you and no one tries to pick pocket you while you’re asleep or on the way to the bathroom.

TIP #1: I know that you may have heard this a thousand times, but get luggage that is brightly colored or had a different pattern on it (I’ve seen people get their faces printed onto their luggage). Stickers, paint, or bedazzling works as well, but keep anything that makes it look “expensive” to a minimum. The shinier and newer it looks, the more likely it is to be stolen (put a few dings and scuffs into it for good measure).

 This is because everyone and their 2x great Aunt Lucy has a black suitcase, and if your bag gets left at a station or stolen, they need identifiable features to find your bag(s). Don’t just put a luggage tag on it! It can be ripped/cut/torn off.

 Also, have a picture of certain items in your bag (I.e. a few of your shirts, a laptop, any personalized items, etc...). This way, if they located it, they can confirm that it is yours. Just remember that anyone can say that it’s theirs and walkaway with everything.

Have extra cash on you!

 Now, keep this in moderation. Don’t go around with large amounts of cash on you, especially at the larger stations in big cities where questionable people tend to hang around. Keep it under $100 if you can. Have two or three $20 bills, a few fives and a few ones.

 I say have extra cash on you because emergencies pop up, you can’t use your card for some reason, or other situations where cash is the best option.

  For example, if you have to change your ticket for whatever reason, the first time changing it is free, but each additional change has a $20 fee. 

 I had to change my ticket twice, and the second time was two in the morning in Nashville, and the card reader was off, and if I had waited for it to turn on, I would’ve eventually miss the bus I had my ticket changed for and would’ve had to wait four hours for the next bus in the morning. 

 Also, it’s just easier to pay in cash when at the vending machines or at the Cafes that are in the stations. 

HAVE PLEANTY OF WATER ON YOU!

 For the love of God (or whoever you pray to/believe in), bring some filled refillable water bottles with you onto the bus. The driver isn’t going to stop every hour whenever someone needs a drink.

  I went a solid nine to ten hours without a drink because I was stupid and didn’t bring any. It wasn’t until the driver had stopped at a McDonalds the next morning when I was finally able to get something to drink. 

  The drinks in the bus stations are expensive!! 

 Unlike airports, you are allowed to bring outside drinks (non-alcoholic!) onto the bus, So, put your favorite hydro flask(s) into your carryon!

 More than likely, your bus driver isn’t going to have trash cans/trash bags on board, so refrain from bringing plastic bottles or cans onto the bus. Plus, it’s just annoying to have someone else’s empty soda can roll down the middle aisle while you’re trying to take a nap at midnight (yes, this is from personal experience)

The Bathroom (dun dun dun!)

Now, I am talking about the bathroom that’s on board the busses themselves, not the ones at the stations. 

I’m just clarifying.

Wait, there are restrooms on board the greyhound busses?

Yes! 

 But, they are simply just port-a-potties put into the back of bus. They even have the blue toilet water that you normally see in them. The restroom is just a bit bigger than a port-a-potty, with just a toilet, a toilet paper dispenser, and enough room to stand up. That’s it. And the walls are thin, so the entire bus can hear you (to an extent).

 And, just as a heads up, the toilet doesn’t flush, so whatever you put in there, it stays in there until the greyhound employees drain it.

TIP #2: Bring hand sanitizer. There is no sink on the bus for you to wash your hands in, and who knows how many people have used it. 

TIP #3: DO NOT, and I mean DO NOT, attempt to stand up and pull up your pants in the restroom right as the bus starts to pull away (yes, I’m speaking from experience again). You may yell a four letter expiative that four Mennonites, an elderly woman, and the bus driver you are 100% sure saw clutching a rosary as you were boarding hears it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I hope this helps! I can do a part two if this becomes popular!

  Remember: 

Drink your water

Take the fourteen cups, five spoons, your cereal bowl from two days ago, and a million water bottles down to the kitchen.

And light your favorite candle (within sight and don’t catch anything on fire) 

[crowleyellestair]

Leonard Snart- Not today

AN/ I love Wentworth Miller, cause he is an inspiration. And did you know, that he is a great singer? Why can’t he be in the Flash musical then?!

Masterlist

I don’t get it. Why does he always stand like that? Hip out, while leaning against a table. His hand hovering over his gun. Just... So sassy. 

Leonard looked at me, his small crooked smile always making my heart melt. Head tilted. His soft, but long blink always making me question what he’s thinking. 

“What do you say about a date night?” I close the book I was ‘reading’, and raised a brow,

“What kind of date night? Like, a job type date? Or a date, date?” He looked back down to the blueprints he had sprawled over his ‘job’ table. He stands up straight, and walks over to me, plopping on the couch by my feet. His head rolled to my book, and he snatched it out of my hands, inspecting it.

“Job. But next week, we can go to any restaurant you’d like.” My fingers went to my chin, in a thinking position.

“Any restaurant?” He nods once, “Even the super fancy italian restaurant that you hate?” He rolls his eyes,

“The waiters are handsy. But yes.” I click my tongue. He’s really trying to win me over. What the hell is this job, anyway. It must involve something that I will be against.

“That sounds like an amazing offer. But it all depends on why you’re buttering me up.” He tosses my book on the coffee table, while pushing against my legs to help him get up. He doesn’t say anything till he gets to the crate that arrived earlier. I know it was Lisa who dropped it off, because there was playful banter when I woke up. And there is a giant gold bow on it, but that could have been there without her dropping it off. 

Len pulled the top board off, then pulls out a suit bag. He unzips it, revealing a dress.

“I need a date to the banquet.” I sigh, and throw my head against the back of the couch. I will do almost anything for Leonard, but wearing a very elegant dress to a job isn’t one of them.  

My role in our crime relationship is the non violent part. I don’t really get my hands dirty. Sure, I’ll go into the field, but I’m not one to do the breaking. I am the one who gets us places, hacks into systems, and also watch as Leo does the fighting. And a lot of the time, I’m the getaway driver, as well. 

I follow his command, then we come home, and I am his girlfriend. It’s the best that both of those worlds could get, and it’s all because I have leonard in both of them. 

I get up, and walk over to him, grabbing his face, and bring mine to his. Or lips connecting, but I break it off before anything could get farther. 

“The italian place it is.” Snart smirks, but it soon becomes a genuine smile.

We walk into the banquet hall. Rich, elderly folks walk, talk, and dance all around us. I look to my date, you had dressed to the nines. A black suit, and dark blue tie to match my dress. It’s form fitting on the top, but is flowing on the bottom for easy movement incase we need to run. Black lace works intricately down the whole profile of the dress, and never letting up, so every inch is covered in blue and black. 

He grabs my hand, and pulls me to the dance floor. We dance like two pieces that just came together. Both of us fitting the other just perfectly. That is until he broke off to dance with our target. 

Madame Rouge. 

I walk to the back of the hall, pulling out out my tracer. I had fiddled with it, taking off the casing, and replacing it, to make it look like a portable makeup mirror. I grabbed my lipstick, so I have a reason to have the mirror. The closer I am to the main system of the mansion, the greener the light on the tracker is. I walk until It’s flashing green. Target acquired. I walk into Madame Rouge’s room, and walk to her closet. 

Madame Rouge has a boatload of cash in secret accounts. But I need to trace them from her stationary to gain access, and snag the pass codes. So while I’m doing this, Leonard is distracting the lady of the hour. It’s her birthday today, so him trying to flirt and dance with her won’t be too weird. Everything should be going smooth. 

I walk into the closet, pulling down the last hanger to my left, activating the secret panel to move, and give me access. I walk up to her mean set up. I hate her. She’s an ass who takes money from the poor so she can test makeup products on animals. But damn, her computer setup is nice. About six monitors stare back at me, and I get to work on the two in front of me. I pop in a hard drive, so I can access her files later, just in case anything happens. I find the account holders and passcodes. I look to my left to find her personal laptop. That might come in handy later, so I’m taking it.

I reach out for it, when I hear a gunshot. I look to my right to see a guest shot, four body guards pointing guns at leonard, and him holding his hands up.

What the hell?!

I run to that monitor, and hack into the bodyguards earpiece,

“-Kay. He is  a level ten threat, so keep a look out for anyone else that looks like they work with him. We shot his girlfriend, so that is secure. I have called the authorities. Start pointing people out that he’s dance with and open fir-”

Oh shit.

I grab the laptop and flash drive, and sprint down the hall, stopping when I’m on the balcony. Three more guests shot. 

Aren’t they supposed to keep people safe?!

I grab my lipstick out of my bag, pull the bottom off, and throw it into the crowd. Smoke goes everywhere, and more shots are heard. Luckily the coats are up here, so they are out of the guests way. I run into the closet, rushing to find ours.

I grab Len’s coat, pulling out the cold gun.  I rush to the stairs, and sit on the railing, sliding down. The smoke is somewhat clear, and I see two of The guards. I shoot both of them, making ice spears appear in their chests. I spot Leonard on the ground and rush to him.

He’s been shot. I push on his lower abdomen, where the blood is coming from. His piercing blue eyes looking to me.

“Get out of here (YN). Go!” He tries to push me, but I kiss him. The smoke clears up a little more, and I see another guard coming towards us. I pick the gun back up and shoot him. His head freezes, and he falls backwards. The fall shattering his head into thousands of tiny pieces. I look back to Snart. He puts his hand on my cheek, with a proud smile. And so see that beautiful smile puts me into freak out mode. Tears start falling, and I can’t really see him anymore. I try and will my tears away. If this is the last time I’ll hear his smooth voice, see those oft but deliberate blinks, or sly smile, I want to actually see it.

“Everybody dies.”

This makes me cry more. He isn’t the most loving or gentle, but he is the strongest, hearty man I’ve ever known. 

I shake my head, and see my key chain sticking out of my purse. An idea!

“Not today, baby. I’ll get you out of this!” I pull it out, revealing my powerful laser pointer, and grab the pistol from the nearby guard. I fire the entire round into the air, and rip open his shirt.

“needy are we?” I laugh, but tears are still falling, making it sound more like choking. His hand comes back to my face, brushing away tears. 

“Okay hun, this will be painful. I need you to stay awake and no-”

“I’ve been shot before-”

“But not to the brink of death!” I yell. I have never yelled at him before, but now isn’t the time to be technical. 

I point the laser at the already read hot barrel. It actually turns red and is hot enough for what I need to do do.

“I love you.”

“What the hell?  This is hard for me to do as it is! Just... Ugh! Keep your eyes open, and know that I love you too.” I quickly press the barrel to his wound, but pull it away just as fast, successfully cauterizing the wound. 

“I would like spaghetti please and thank you.” I hand the menu to the waiter without looking at him. I look to Leonard, who had already been looking to me. He hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off me since our last job. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I smile and chuckle, “What?”

“Nothing.” I roll my eyes and smirk,

“Is there something you need to say?”

“Nope.” 

“Then what is it?!” He smiles, then looks down. His hand resting under his chin reached out to mine, and I squeeze it. 

“I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”

“Us.”

“Oh. Is that a good thinking? A bad thinking? A ‘Mick’ thinking?” At that he rolled his eyes, but looks back up at me. 

“I don’t like putting you in danger, bu-” I pull my hand out of his, and throw it in the air, 

“What? You were the one who was shot!’ I put my hand on the table, and he grabs it again.

“I don’t like putting you in danger, but I think you should also change your last name to mine.” I stare at his smirk, still caught up on the danger thing. The waiter brought out the food, and then it hits me.

“Wait, did you just ask me to marry you, because, yes.”

[notsoguiltykpop]

The Tenth Floor pt3

Min Yoongi had gone through 34 secretaries in the past 24 months, and each one of them left in tears. This fact alone should have warned you against taking the job, but the pay was too good to pass up. Surely you could put up with a billionaires temper-tantrums, right?

Reader x Yoongi

Genre: Fluff, humor, probably some angst

Warnings: Strong language at times, maybe some slight smut eventually

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

“So how’s it going with your new, crazy boss?” Jessica asked though your phone, and you rolled your eyes despite the fact that she couldn’t see you. “Has he interrogated you about what your ‘intentions’ are for working there yet?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t so bad. A little weird, though. They ran a background check on me before I was hired, so I don’t know what he was so worried about.” 

“I told you he was paranoid.” Jessica said, and she was right; she had warned you. Repeatedly. “While I was there, they caught this one guy selling plans to rival companies.” You heard her shiver. “I thought Min was actually going to kill him.” 

You were waiting for the bus as you talked to her. You had taken Kim Taehyungs business card out of your wallet, examining it for what felt like the hundredth time. Jessica’s voice seemed to fade away as you got lost in your own thoughts. There was something about the taxi driver that you couldn’t quite put your finger on, something that made him different...

“Are you listening to me?” Jessica said suspiciously. You realized that you hadn’t been, and winced.

“Not exactly?” You said with an apologetic laugh. 

“I said, don’t trust Jeon Jungkook.”

“Who’s that?” Your bus arrived, and you were only half-listening as you found a seat. You kept your voice down as you went, but several people gave you a pointed look as you went. 

“I just told you who he is! You’re impossible.” 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry... But I have to go, okay? I’ll call you during my lunch break.” The elderly women you sat next to was glaring daggers at you, her knitting needles clicking ominously. “I really need to get my car fixed...” You thought to yourself as you tried to give her a small smile.

“No, I’m serious--” 

You hung up before she could say anything else, however. You purposefully hadn’t told your friend that you were applying for the job until after you were hired, and had tried to tune everything negative she had to say about the place out ever since. You wanted to enter your new job with a positive outlook, without any pre-judgement of anyone else who worked there. You were fairly sure Jessica had tried to warn you about this Jungkook person last week, but you couldn’t remember what she had said about him. 

“You aren’t taking this seriously.” She had complained the night before your first day on the job. “I’m telling you, quit now. Save yourself the time and effort.” 

But you needed a job--and this one even payed well. Sure, maybe the boss was a little insane, but how bad could it be? It seemed worth it to at least give it a try.

“No heels this morning, I see.” Jimin stepped into the elevator with you, smirking at your black ballet-style flats. You didn’t have time to go out and buy a new pair of shoes after the heel on yours broke the previous night, so you slip-stitched the hem of your dress pants so they wouldn’t drag on the floor and hoped they looked decent. You thought that perhaps no one would notice, but you should have known better. “I see you’ve already given up on personal appearance, which means you’ll probably quit within the day.” 

“Don’t you have something better to do than judge me by my shoes?” You asked calmly. You wondered why Jessica hadn’t warned you about Jimin, he was much more of an annoyance than this Jungkook guy who you had never even met. 

“Not at the moment, no.” Jimin smiled innocently at you. You knew that he was probably just being rude because he wanted you to quit, but that didn’t help much. 

“I need this job.” You told yourself, biting your tongue before you said something you would regret. “And to have any hope of keeping it, I need to stay civil. I can’t make enemies in the first week.”

You bid Jimin a good morning before dropping your purse at your desk. Today was a new day, and you were determined not to let Jimin get you down this early in the morning.

There was a young man standing directly in front of the coffee pot when you walked over to it (this time, you’d have Yoongi’s coffee in hand when he wanted it). 

His hair was perfectly parted to one side, and his tie loosened somewhat. His sleeves were rolled up partially, just enough to show off his toned arms when he crossed them.

“Hello.” He said with a smile. He didn’t look like he belonged working in a biomedical engineering company, so much as in a magazine, or a fashion runway.

“Hi?” You hadn’t intended it as a question, and shook yourself. 

“You’re the new girl, right?” He tilted his head to one side as he studied you, his smile growing. 

“I suppose so.” You agreed. The way his eyes were following you reminded you of how wolves watched their pray. You pulled a mug that said “#1 BOSS” out of the cupboard and turned back to the pot of coffee--that the man was still standing in front of. “Could I get over there, please?” You asked politely. 

“No.” He was still smiling, and it was getting more strange by the moment. “You’re kind of cute.” 

“Uh, thanks. But I really do need you to move.” You made a shooing motion, and he grudgingly stepped aside, just enough for you to get the coffee without fully stepping out of your personal space. 

“I just got back from a business trip, so I wasn’t here yesterday... Did anyone give you a tour?”  

You shook your head, looking up at him. “Not really, but I’ve been finding my way around alright.”

He nodded slowly. “Well, if you’d like, I could show you around...” He leaned closer, and you took a step back. “There are lots of rooms that no one uses, we could...” He reached out as though to brush his hand across your cheek, but you caught his wrist. 

“No thanks.” You said flatly. 

“Jeon Jungkook, what the hell are you doing?” You looked over the man’s shoulder to see Seokjin, a file in hand. 

“So this is Jungkook.” You thought. That explained a lot. 

Seokjin hit Jungkook with the paper in his hand, before turning to you. “I apologize on his behalf.” 

You let go of Jungkook’s wrist after a moment, and he held it close, rubbing it with his other hand. “You have a death grip.” He complained before facing Seokjin. “We were just getting to know each other.” He smiled, and Seokjin hit him with the file again. 

“Maybe if you’d stop seducing all of Yoongi’s secretariats, they’d stick around a bit longer!” 

Jungkook rolled his eyes. “Don’t blame me when we both know it’s Yoongi’s shitty personality that chases people off.” 

“And the fact that you never call people back.” Seokjin grumbled. “Now go away. Don’t you have actual business to attend to, Dr. Jeon?” 

Jungkook made a gagging sound. “I’ve been working all week, and you want me to do more?” He began sauntering away none the less, however. 

“He’s a doctor?” You said incredulously once you were fairly sure he was out of earshot. 

“A good one, too.” Seokjin shook his head. “But also a total playboy-asshole.”

You knocked on the door once, twice, and a third time before you got an answer.

“What?” Came the gruff reply, and you put on your best smile before opening the door. You had Yoongi’s coffee (no sugar, just cream) in hand, ready to make the best impression you could this early in the morning.

Maybe yesterday had just been a bad day for Min Yoongi, and he would be more pleasant today. You highly doubted this, but it was a nice thought.

“Good morning, sir.” You said cheerily, which earned you a scowl from your boss.

“Are you saying that your morning has been good so far, or are you assuming that mine has?” There was something about the way he said it that made you suspect that it was another one of his strange tests. You thought carefully before responding.

“More of a hope that your day has gone pleasantly so far.” You said slowly. “Coffee?” 

Yoongi nodded, and you brought it over to him carefully. “You’re late.” He said, glancing at his watch. You wanted to tell him that you weren’t late, you were early, you just got a little held up by the strange doctor who wouldn’t let you past him to the coffee pot. There was no way you could think of to say this without it sounding like an excuse, however, so you nodded.

“Sorry sir. It won’t happen again.” 

Yoongi looked satisfied enough with this answer, took a sip of coffee. He made a face at it, but kept any negative comments to himself for the time being. “What does my schedule looks like for today?”

“You have an appointment at two with Mr. Ahn Minhyuk, and...” You began listing off all of his schedule--you had memorized it the previous night. Yoongi looked surprised as you spoke, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. 

“You sure are a try-hard, aren’t you?” 

It wasn’t the response you were hoping for, but it was better than yelling, you supposed. “I’ll take that as a compliment, sir.”

A/N Not as much with Yoongi this time, but I promise he’ll be in it a lot more from now on! Thanks for reading! I really appreciate all of you taking the time out of your day to read my odd, disorganized ramblings. Do you think Reader should have given Dr. Jeon a chance? Do you think he really is a good doctor? Is Jimin a pain in the butt who needs to back off? Haha, as always, let me know your thoughts and feelings! <3 <3 <3