#and they'll talk about how they went out shopping even when they knew they were sick and did have someone who could have done it for them

[dailymanners]

IF it can be helped at all, stay home when you are sick to prevent your illness from spreading to others, even if it's not a "serious" illness and is just a common cold, a common cold can still be really detrimental anyone with a weakened or compromised immune system from conditions including, but not limited to, leukemia, HIV, and hepatitis. And you can never know if one of your co-workers or a customer or a random stranger at the store has or lives with someone who has one of these conditions.

Not everyone can help it, some people risk losing their job if they call in sick, and not everyone has someone they can call on to run to the store for essentials while they're sick.

In these cases at least consider wearing a mask while you're in public so as to prevent spreading your sickness to co-workers / customers / random strangers you encounter while out in public. There are several cultures where even pre-COVID times it was considered rude to go out in public without a mask even if you had a simple cold because of it being inconsiderate to spread your sickness to others.

Now, if it can be helped at all, if you have a job where you can call in sick without losing your income, or if you have a job where you can work form home, or if you have anyone at all you can call on to run to the store for you to grab essentials, use that!

"Oh but I don't want to inconvenience my co-workers by having them down a person today, what if they really need my help?" You know what's going to inconvenience them more is when you make everyone at work sick, and some of them might either have a compromised immune system or live with someone who does.

"Oh but I don't want to inconvenience my friend by asking them to grab some essentials from the store for me while I'm sick!" You know what's going to be more inconvenient is when you spread your sickness to that dad you stood in line behind at the store who has a child at home withe leukemia, or a spouse with HIV.

And again, of course not everyone has an option. Some people risk losing their income if they call into work sick, or they don't have anyone who they can call on to get essentials from the store for them. But again, at least consider masking up to mitigate the risk of spreading your illness to vulnerable people who could be seriously harmed by even a common cold or mild flu.

[yanchive]

Tsundere turned Yandere?

Listen, I reaaallly don't like tsunderes, I find the concept to be annoying, having someone essentially treat you like shit because they can't grow a pair and accept their feelings for you.

But, the concept of a tsun going yandere sounds pretty interesting.

Surely, after dealing with so many snarky comments and polarizing experiences, not knowing if they genuinely enjoy your presence/friendship or if their just tolerating you because you two share an overlapping social circle. There's only so much you can take recieving gifts from them only for them to turn around act like it was burden to go all the way to the store to buy you it even though you never asked. Like, who does that? Gets mad at YOU for giving YOU gifts...?

It makes you stressed. The contradiction of verbal abuse and caring, affectionate actions leave you confused and annoyed. Eventually, the only right thing to do for your sanity is drop them as a friend. Yeah, you'd probably have to drop the other couple friends that are part of each of your social circle, but if it meant not being overwhelmed with gifts, affection, and berating comments, then so be it.

You break the news to them after another encounter. They had called you stupid for being cold one day(it was the middle of winter, why tf wouldn't you be cold!?). They began dragging you to the nearest café for a cup of hot chocolate, but you pulled away and confessed how your feeling. You wanted to do it as cordial as possible, but that uneeded insult had you being a little harsher than you liked it to be.

To be honest, it made you feel bad for a second, when you saw their resting bitch face melt away, their eyes going wide as they flinched away from you when you raised your voice. A look crossed their face that you couldn't quite discern, but you can tell it fell under the line of surprise and sadness. Heartbreak, maybe? But why would they be heartbroken? They've been nothing but a pain in the ass to you.

You fled before they could shake themselves from their shock and respond. They called after you, but you can tell by their fading calls, they were not following after you.

You blocked them on everything, and explained the situation to your friends before leaving all groupchats that had the little brat in them, and took the week off to settle your nerves and hide away. Not because you thought anything bad would happen, but just to hope whatever possible attempts at contact would wash over when they'll eventually(hopefully) give up. You knew a few times you got them coming to your door, but you never bothered to respond.

Once the week ended, and you decided to enter back into society, the first few days went by smoothly. Only to be awoken one morning to barrage of texts and missed phone calls from an unknown number.

The texts started off tame. A wave of apologies and begs of forgiveness. Confessions of love and compliments, telling you how they never meant to hurt you. How they were terrified of you finding out they were in love. The fear of rejection was so bad that they completely overlooked how their actions would affect you. It got more and more incoherent and unhinged until it was nothing but a massive load of photos taken of you throughout the past few days. Distant photos. You're in a grocery store in the first few photos. Going down multiple aisles. You're getting milk and eggs in one, chips and soda in another, deodorant, and body wash in these one. At the checkout lane in the last.

You're at a gas station in the next. Someone was taken the photos from within their car. You're stepping out of your own. Heading into the station. They're zoomed into the window, getting your blurry silhouette at the register. And dozens of you just standing at the pump filling your car.

They have you at your workplace, on a walk, at a restaurant, and a coffee shop. They put little quips of how amazing you looked in the photos, how you made them feel. They talked about wanting to snap the neck of the waiter who took your order when they made you laugh.

Voicemails were them alternating from having straight up mental breakdowns, sobbing uncontrollably as they tried to plead for forgiveness between each gasp of air. Others were just straight rambles, detailing their stalking and reiterating the same affectionate compliments found in the texts. They went on about how they dream of dates with you, how your wedding would look. It was such a 180 from how they used to be. Did that one argument seriously have them snap this bad?

You told them off before blocking their number, attempting to continue your day, albeit so much more paranoid that you liked it to be.

It was terrifying. No matter how much you looked over your shoulder, studied every single person in your vicinity, and tried to blend yourself in the crowds, you could never catch a glimpse of their face, nor shake the unnerving feeling of eyes burning into your body.

Gifts would start showing up at your doorsteps and workplace. Almost every day you were continuously blocking new numbers to try and get them to stop sending you messages and photos of you with no such luck.

You were at your wits end. None of your friends could help. Hell, several of them just seemed to disappear. They just quit contacting you. Police were only minor help, actually taking it a little bit seriously until they came back and told you they talked to your alleged stalker and determined it couldn't possibly be them and that you should contact them when this alleged stalker began getting aggressive. (Hello?? You have voicemails of their fucking voice what do you mean its not them!? You knew this town was shit...)

Though, one good thing came out of contacting the police. It seemed to have scared them enough to halt their harassment. All phone calls and texts came to an end. No more gifts. You could finally breathe.

This continued for a couple weeks. Life returned back to normal. So normal, in fact, that you finally felt safe enough to attend a bar party with a few coworkers one night, just to celebrate what you thought was your new found freedom.

Its just... such a coincidence you weren't the only one invited. Not that you knew. No, not until the next morning after a horrendous hangover. A hangover you weren't expecting. You had one drink, didn't you? Why does it feel so much worse than a hangover? And why can't you move your body? When did you have so many photos of yourself in your room?

And why is their a familiar face looking down at you with that unsettling grin?

[kiankiwi]

Husband Jacob comforting hormonal pregnant reader 🩷

You had no ideas why you were crying. You just were. There was often no point to your tears at this point in your pregnancy so you often just had to feel your feelings until you calmed down and were able to go about your day.

Jacob was up and on set before you even got up so you were used to waking up alone. Because he didn't get to see you in the morning, he would facetime you to say good morning and have a little chat because he had missed out on his morning with you.

He just so happened to call when you were mid sob. "Baby? What's the matta?" (his R's sound like a/aw to me lol) He asked, his eyes filling with concern. "You just--" You continued to sob and Jacob put his hand up, "Breathe baby, you're okay, breathe with me." He helped guide you through a few deep breaths so you weren't choking and coughing as you cried anymore.

"Just give it a second and then tell me what's up okay? Do I need to come home?" You shook your head in silence as you put your sleeve over your hand and wiped your face. "Take a deep breath." He took a breath with you to calm you even more so you didn't feel as silly.

"It's stupid..." You chuckled, laying back down in bed. "No, no baby, your feelings are never stupid okay. Can you talk to me, tell me why you're so sad?" That made you chuckle again because you felt so silly. "I'm not even sad! I just... you didn't wake me up when you left so I didn't get a goodbye kiss and then when I went downstairs to make a bagel, we're out of cream cheese and I'm too tired to go to the store and the store feels too public anyway, I feel like everyone's gonna be staring at me with this huge bump and I just.... argh!" You screamed out your frustration into Jacob's pillow which of course smelled like him and that sent you into a new wave of crying.

"What baby, what?" "Argh, your pillow smells like you!" You yelled, frustrated still. Jacob couldn't help but smile at that.

"Here bub, I see your water bottle is behind you on the nightstand can you take a drink please?" You nodded, guiding the straw into your mouth and taking a long pull. "Good, good job, keep doing that today okay?" You nodded.

Jacob got closer to the camera of his phone, so close that you could only see his mouth and facial hair. You laughed. "You wanna know a secret?" He asked, looking off somewhere on set so now you could only see one of his eyes. You grabbed Jacob's pillow and cuddled it. "What?" "I did give you a kiss goodbye, I tried to wake you but I knew you were probably gonna be sick as soon as you woke up so I left you be. I still gave you a forehead kiss though, I promise." You nodded. He was right, you did puke as soon as you got up for the day. "Thank you. I was really tired, I was up late reading again." Jacob smiled. "Is the book good?" You nodded, grabbing the 800 page monstrosity off your nightstand and showed it to him where you had left off.

"Damn baby, you can kill someone with that thing?" You quirked your eyebrow. "Don't piss the pregnant lady off." Jacob nodded. "Here how about I send an uber eats out for the cream cheese and maybe some chocolate too and they'll drop it off so you don't have to go anywhere?" You nodded, wiping at your eyes again. The nice gesture caused your eyes to well up again. "I'd really like that, thank you."

"I'm happy to help baby, is there anything else you want?" "Nutella... and maybe some cheetos? The jalepeno ones..." Jacob expected some weird items to be added to his shopping list. "Got it bub. I gotta get back now but by the time I get home, I want you to have drank that whole water bottle okay?" You nodded and just to make him smile took another long drink from your straw.

"Thank you, I'll see you in a few hours okay? Go and get my Rugby sweater if that'll help too?" Your eyes lit up at the mention of his old sweater. He blew you a kiss "Love you baby! Give the bean my love."

"We love you too!"

***

I meant for this to be a ficlet but then I got inspiration and it was quite fun! I hope you liked this

@eee-lordy @mooodyblue

[worriedvision]

My first Honkai ask.

Honkai men when you walk in on them kissing an acquaintance of yours who's a chronic boyfriend-stealer.

Okay so I have tweaked this a little where the friend is someone who keeps stealing the readers crushes when they're about to make a move, like full on being supportive and all that to humiliate them. I've only gone for Dan Heng, Gepard and Sampo - well, Sampo's goes a lot better than Dan Hengs and Gepards. Obviously kind of angst for Dan and Gepard

--

Dan Heng:

When he was kissing your friend, it was after she convinced him you were not actually into him. Twisting your interactions with him intricately so that you sounded horrible, telling him you saw him as a piece of man candy you'd brag about before saying how she would treat him oh so well.

As the kiss had intensified, you opened the door.

Your mouth flies open, a myriad of emotions coming to mind. Devastated, angry, numbed. The friend was never truly kind to you, you realised as she was kissing the man you told her you were going to confess to. She knew the time and place you planned, and she went a couple of minutes in advance. She fails to hide her smirk when she pulls away, looking slyly at you.

"...So that's how it is." You nod, your lips forming a thin line. "Fine. Have fun."

Dan Heng had also caught onto the mischievous look your friend flashed, as well as how conflicted and hurt you looked as you watched the whole thing. She turns back to Dan Heng, leaning in to continue the session before she's cut off by him firmly planting her away from him.

"Aww, whats-"

"Leave. I was foolish for listening to you, I don't know you." Dan Heng admits, rubbing his temples.

"My friend would have bored you, just saying." Your friend giggles as she leaves the room, no sense of shame as she leaves him to figure out how to act next.

Gepard:

"C'mon, just a kiss." Your friend asks, Gepard trying to figure out how to let her down nicely. "I want more practice, and you're the ideal height."

"Look, I'm flattered by your request but I have feelings for someone else." Gepard replies, her rolling her eyes before pulling him in closer.

"If you make them jealous, I'm sure they'll act on their feelings if they return them right?" Your friend giggles, Gepard processing what your friend had just said, your friend glancing over as you walk in on the moment starting.

She pulls him in, wrapping her arms around his neck as she cuts him off. As guilty as Gepard felt about not finding another way to stop your friend, he did enjoy the kiss. His hands go to her waist as you see him leaning in and closing his eyes, deepening the kiss. You rush off to his sister, the person who also told you he liked you back.

Serval was concerned when she saw you running into her shop, knowing your plan to confess to Gepard. When you explain to her how your friend was starting a makeout session with Gepard, Serval was gobsmacked. She knew her brother well enough to know he loves you, why would he even let your friend close?

Pulling out her phone, she types in a series of messages explaining how he really stepped in it before deciding to spend time with you, trying to keep your mind off her foolish brother and your terrible friend.

Sampo:

Your friend was silly to think Sampo wouldn't confess his feelings and embarrass her publicly when she tries to kiss him in public, the place you planned to confess.

Sampo wasn't stupid, he knew damn well your friend was a bit of a bitch. He heard all about her from various people, and when she started her usual talk he knew her plan. She always did this right when the other friend was about to confess, and he wasn't foolish enough to fall for that trap. She begins to put on the flirtatious comments, and Sampo can see you out of the corner of his eye.

"As much as Sampo Koski enjoys receiving compliments from strangers, he only has feelings for one _! He has no room in his large heart for a woman he knows nothing of."

You heard the whole thing, as well as everyone who was out at the time, and your friend is shocked.

"There they are, the one who I love and cherish!"

[charlewiss-writes]

first meetings / george russell

masterlist

day 14: nephew (part of one-word november prompts!)

pairing: george russell x reader

summary: george had been begging you to meet his nephews, but you had plenty of doubts: what if they didn't like you?

word count: 0.6k

warnings: the names of the kids are clearly made up, I thought it was weird to actually look for them (? hope it doesn't bother anyone!

author's note: sorry that's it's late again 🥲 day 15 should be late too since I want to do a long one given that it's about my boy mick<3 but it'll be coming anyways!!!

george and you had been together for quite some time now, getting to know him through a mutual friend while you still were in college, and him starting his f1 career. even though it meant that his schedule was getting busier by the minute, he still found time to hang out with you, which lead to your relationship rapidly evolving from friends to something more.

you began dating in 2019, and by the time the pandemic hit, he suggested that you should move in with him so you could still spend time together. of course, it had been a great challenge for the whole time that the strict confinement lasted, but you got to know eachother even more and it definitely brought you closer. on the downside, you still had to get to know parts of his family, like his nephews oliver and amelia.

"but love, what if they don't like me?" you were anxiously picking up your nails, sign that indicated just how nervous you were about meeting the kids that he so deeply adored. "how could they not? george said, while taking his left hand off the steering wheel to grab your palm, so you could stop hurting yourself.

a few days ago he had convinced you to join them to the karting spot where his niece would be racing for the first time. it seemed like a good idea back then, but as the day had come closer you grew more anxious. of course you wanted them to like you, after all, getting their approval mattered as much as getting his parents'.

"I don't know, george, you know them best!" you said, fidgeting now with your hands, and returned his hand to him so he could park the car. once he was done with the task, george turned his body to look at you, and quickly the blue of his eyes managed to calm you a bit, along with his sweet words. "they're great kids. i'm sure they'll love you".

against your worst thoughts and scenarios, it went surprisingly well. they warmed up to you quicker that you would have expected, with oliver hugging you as soon as he got close. amelia, on the other hand, was a bit colder, but you figured it would be because the nerves from the race were setting in. after all, you saw how george was on the track too: silent, determined and focused on his goal. but thankfully, the little race went great for her, and you and oliver were cheering nonstop for the girl.

after the event ended, joined with three very-happy-russells, you all went to eat some ice-cream and enjoy the buzzing feeling of a race gone right, as amelia had reached the three higher steps of the podium, ones that his uncle knew very well after the great season he was having at mercedes.

"you'll replace me in no time!" said george, nonstop moving the little girl that was on his arms while on the way to the shop. "i'll definitely tell toto we should hire you as a reserve driver". at that, the little girl laughed and hide her little face on your boyfriend's neck, clearly embarrassed due to george's encouraging words.

when it was getting late, you dropped the kids back to their home, where their father, george's brother, greeted you warmly, as their whole family always did.

coming back home after a long day, you plummeted on the couch, too tired to even make your way to your shared bedroom. george had gone to the kitchen to make something for you two to eat, but you could hear how he was talking to someone on the phone. when you finally gathered a bit of energy and managed to carry yourself to the cooking area, to help him with whatever he was doing, you recognised the little voices of the kids coming through your boyfriend's phone, when they asked him something that made you warm inside.

"g, can you bring auntie y/n more often?"

[momoyukirin]

Momo's "An Idol's Daily Life" Rabbitchat Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Preference survey

Momo: Maneko-chan, is it okay if I drop by Takanashi Agency today?

Tsumugi: Thank you for your hard work! Of course it is, is this about the dumbbell matter?

Momo: Yep that's right! (*´∀`)b I ordered two sets online by accident and Mitsuki agreed to take one off my hands!

Tsumugi: Thank you for going to all that trouble! Mitsuki-san has a shoot and won't be here today, so I'd like to ask if it's okay for someone else to receive them in his stead.

Tsumugi: I'm sure you're busy, so please let me take them if you don't mind...!

Momo: It's just an excuse to be on the move, so don't worry about it! I also want to see Kinako-chan since it's been a while☆

Momo: They were a big nuisance even if I kept them in my room, so Mitsuki did me a big favor~!

Tsumugi: He was excited to give his all in his home workouts, after he receives the dumbbells!

Momo: Since Mitsuki is already really strong, he'll get an even bigger power-up!

Tsumugi: It appears he wants to build even more muscle than he has now!

Momo: I'll do my best too, in order not to lose(っ`・ω・´)っ)))

Momo: Welp, it's evening already, but I'll drop by later, okay!

Tsumugi: We'll be expecting you!

Tsumugi: I may be away for a while to attend a meeting, so in that case is it okay if Banri-san is the one to welcome you?

Momo: Ehh!?!?!?!?!? Ban-san will be there today!?

Tsumugi: Yes! I informed him that you'll be visiting this evening!

Option 1:

Tsumugi: He said he looks forward to seeing you!

Momo: Eeh!? Can you let him know I'm looking forward to it too!? We had really bad timing when we met during MEZZO"-kun's recording last week, so I didn't even get to greet him (｡>д<。)

Option 2:

Tsumugi: He said he really wants to talk to you, after all this time!

Momo: Wait a sec, I'm getting nervous all of a sudden!! I'm very happy I get to catch up with Ban-san too! I'll be there asap, okay!? -==Σ((つ°∀° )つ

Option 3:

Tsumugi: Is Yuki-san going to be coming as well?

Momo: Not really, Yuki has another shoot to do, so I'll be by myself! I really hope he can come with me next time there's a chance to meet Ban-san though.

Momo: Wah~~~~ I'm kinda excited now!

Momo: Maneko-chan, thanks for telling me beforehand. If I'd come over there without knowing, my heart might not have been prepared! ><

Momo: By the way, can I ask you something?

Tsumugi: What is it!

Momo: Do you like Lemon cheese tarts*?

Tsumugi: I love them!

Momo: (*^_°) b

Tsumugi: Um, why do you ask?

Momo: It's kinda like a survey of Maneko-chan's preferences! (*>∀・*)/

Momo: It seems that a popular Lemon cheese tart shop opened recently, so I was wondering if you knew about it!

Tsumugi: Are you perhaps talking about the shop that recently opened near the TV station!?

Momo: Yeah yeah, that one! The staff told me it's delicious and that there's also pistachios in it!

Momo: Have you tried it yet?

Tsumugi: Not yet, unfortunately... Banri-san and I went there during our break the other day, but it was sold out so I couldn't get it.. ><

Momo: Thought so, it's really popular after all (ノ_・。) I heard people were lining up for over two hours on opening day.

Tsumugi: That's right..! I heard it's relatively empty on weekday mornings, but I can't really go then...

Momo: Some good news for you, Maneko-chan! (oノ∇ `)ノ:* • ° ° • *

Momo: They'll be accepting reservations, starting next week!

Tsumugi: Is that so!?

Momo: Apparently, if you make a reservation online you can skip the line!

Tsumugi: Wow! I'll be sure to check it out! Momo-san you're really well-informed!

Momo: Eeh, you think so? I just happened to catch something about it in the wind that's all (・´3`・)

Momo: By the way, how many people are in the office todaay?~*

Tsumugi: Huh?

Tsumugi: Including myself and Banri-san, there should be 5 people...

Momo: Understood! (・∀・)ゞ

Momo: I'll go buy some souvenirs so look forward to it✩

Tsumugi: Could this be..!

Momo: Fufufu, you'll have to wait and see ･･･(¯ー+¯)

Tsumugi:

1)Also known as Hokkaido cheese tarts apparently, this is what they look like

2) In this bit, Momo uses -nya instead of -na, like he usually does, though it wasn't possible to integrate it in the sentence itself without making it sound cringey (the original isn't, by the way) so just imagine him saying it with his >:3 mischievous cat voice lol

[goldenavenger02]

Kid lloyd gets sick and the ninja take care of him??

Or- Jay and lloyd doing silly antics and the ninja being so done with their crap??

(P.s. get well soon!❤️)

Thank you for the well wishes! I went with the first idea since I immediately had inspiration for it (thank you, Darkness Shall Rise, AKA one of my top three episodes of the show) and I hope you enjoy!

Buzz. Buzz.

Cole knew he couldn't get on his phone as he stood outside of the front steps of the bank.

His boss was already upset with him for stopping that elderly woman, no matter how many times he explained that she was acting suspicious, so answering his phone was only gonna get him in more trouble if not straight up fired.

And he couldn't afford to lose this job, not when the only one making more money than him was Zane, even if it was only by two dollars.

Buzz. Buzz.

'Maybe it'll go voicemail, or they'll just give up and text me. I can check it on my lunch break.' Cole hoped as he observed the sidewalk.

Buzz. Buzz.

"Oh, screw it," Cole muttered, taking a look around to make sure his boss wasn't anywhere to be seen before pulling his phone out and answering it, not even bothering to look at the number, "Hello? I'm at work-"

"Do we have Tylenol?" Lloyd's congested voice cut him off and stopped annoyance from continuing to build in his chest.

"We don't have any children's, I don't think. Zane's going grocery shopping after his shift though, I can ask him to pick some up on my break," Cole explained quickly, "are you okay? You sound snotty."

"My head hurts, but I'm-" Cole winced at the sound of Lloyd's coughing fit coming through the phone and was greeted by a much more hoarse voice finishing his sentence, "I'm okay."

"No, you're sick is what you are," He retorted while trying to calculate who would be off work the soonest in his head and simultaneously trying his best to not think about her since that was the last thing he needed right now, "look, I can ask to clock out early-"

"No! We need the money!"

Cole sighed because Lloyd was right; if they didn't save up the money for rent, they'd be homeless which would be another obstacle that stood in the way of them stopping Lord Garmadon and the Serpentine.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay," Cole agreed even though every congested sniffle made him want to leave and get back to the penthouse so the ten year old wasn't alone, "but I'll ask the others, see if one of them is almost done with work."

"I really don't need-"

"Yes, you do. You're sick and can't even reach the medicine cabinet," Cole argued and when he only got a huff in response, he continued, "I gotta go now, squirt. Can you go lay down until one of us gets home?"

"Yeah."

"Alrighty. Be good." Cole insisted before hanging up, only to be met with the scowling face of his boss. 'Shit.'

"So now you're taking personal phone calls on company time?"

"It was an emergency, my little brother's sick-"

"This is your second strike, Brookstone," his boss cut him off with a hand held up, "do not get a third."

Cole waited until the man was out of earshot to say what he was really thinking, "I need to get a better job", before he pulled out his phone and opened the group chat to type a quick message.

"Lloyd's sick. Needs meds and someone to watch him."

And with that, he put his phone on silent and pocketed it; after all, he had done everything he could, he just had to hope that one of the others had access to their phone.

…

"How do we even take care of him? He's Garmadon's son, what if he has a completely different recovery process?"

"Jay, what the actual fuck are you talking about?"

"What did the thermometer say again?"

"100.4, but I would not be surprised if it has risen since we returned."

Lloyd's eyes burned as he tried to open them; after calling Cole, he figured that the best thing to do was lay down on the couch until one of the others got back with Tylenol but after taking a nap, his clothes were stuck to his body with uncomfortable sweat despite just how cold he was.

Even though he felt it building in his throat, the deep cough that made his head pound and his chest burn caught him off guard, as well as effectively silencing the bickering that had started in the other room before bringing what sounded like two sets of footsteps right to him.

"Lloyd? Are you awake?" A hand pressed against his forehead and gently brushed his hair away from his eyes, one that was warm and calloused against his soft skin, "he's burning up."

Lloyd finally managed to open his eyes, craning his neck to look up at Cole's face looking down at him before looking right at Kai who still had his hand against his forehead and turned his tight frown into a smile that anyone could have seen right through.

"Hey, buddy. We got you some medicine and Zane's making dinner."

"Not hungry."

"You gotta take some medicine regardless," Cole cut in as Kai pulled his hand away from his face and walked towards the kitchen, "plus, chicken noodle soup, especially Zane's recipe, is a surefire way to clear out that sinus system of yours even if you just drink the broth."

"Hey, what are we making Lloyd take right now?!" Jay called from the kitchen which made Cole sigh while smacking his hand gently onto his forehead in annoyance.

Lloyd had to fight back against the cough that built up in his chest from giggling at the action.

"I'll be right back. Stay awake, okay?"

The nod only made his head pound harder behind his eyes, but he kept it to himself until the last of the ninja made their way into the kitchen when he draped a hand over his eyes.

"You wanna sit up for a sec and take this?"

Cole's voice was gentle, almost in a parental way but Lloyd did not want to sit up; not when his head felt like a bowling ball,his limbs felt like jelly and he could barely keep his eyes open with how much the light burned them.

"Not really."

"Lloyd-"

"Everything hurts."

"I know. I know you feel like shit and I'm sorry that I wasn't here sooner, but the medicine will help you feel better and we're working to get shifts arranged so someone can keep an eye on you-"

"Is that gonna mean less money?"

Cole pulled in a sigh as he rubbed a hand over his face before his dark brown eyes pierced into Lloyd's green ones.

"Lloyd, this whole job and house and money thing, you don't have to worry about it. We'll figure it out, all you need to worry about is getting better, okay?"

Despite how much he wanted to protest, about how the only reason they had to work this hard was because they wanted to make sure he got the best training possible, his head hurt too much to push back against Cole's statement, "okay."

"Alright, then let's get you medicated and in bed. Sleeping on the couch cannot be good for your back."

…

It hadn't taken long to get Lloyd in bed.

Kai remembered when the kid used to fight, punch, scream and even bite on a few occasions when they had first brought him aboard The Bounty every time they tried to get him to bed.

Sensei and Zane were the only ones who ever had any luck getting him to lay down and go to sleep at a reasonable time, even though he was still convinced that Jay had let Lloyd stay up past his bedtime multiple times.

He knew that most of it was because he was sick and barely able to sit up to take the medication that he had called Cole to get, let alone bicker with the others about how he should be allowed to stay awake past eight thirty p.m.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if some of it was the boy grappling with how serious his destiny was.

It had been different when Kai thought it would be him to defeat Lord Garmadon, that it was just like any other ordinary battle despite the heavy weight of it, but now that they knew that one day it would be his very own son that would stand in front of him and strike him down.

Kai just hoped that Lloyd's gi would no longer have to be cuffed around his ankles and wrists before that happened.

He was relieved when his phone alarm went off, announcing that it was time for him to free Cole from beside duty, even if it was just so he could escape his thought process.

When he walked into Lloyd's bedroom, he wasn't surprised to see Cole's head resting against his neck in the armchair that sat in the corner of the room; seeing the youngest of their team sick was stressful on all of them, but knowing just how close it was to home for Cole added another layer of worry to Kai's already frayed nerves.

Despite how peaceful he looked and how tired he had been from standing for nearly twelve hours straight for the last couple of days with the exception of a half-hour lunch break, Kai knew that if he didn't send him to lay down in his real bed until he left again at five that his neck would regret it in the morning.

"Cole?" He whispered, only getting a response in the form of an aggressive jerk when he rested his hand on his shoulder, "sorry."

"No, no, you're good," Cole shook his head, standing up and twisting his head to the right until his neck let out a small 'crack', "be careful with that chair, it'll do a number on your neck."

"Noted."

"Jay set his alarm?"

"Yeah, I watched him do it," Kai nodded, leaving out the part where he hovered over Jay's shoulder as he set multiple alarms due to the fact that he was notorious for hitting the snooze button and ending up being late, "go get some sleep."

Cole nodded with a mumbled "night" as he left the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving him alone in the dark room with Lloyd who was still asleep despite their hushed whispers.

Kai couldn't stop himself from brushing the hair out of the boy's eyes before resting his hand on his flushed cheek and letting the feverish warmth seep into his skin for a moment before sitting down in the armchair.

Maybe he couldn't stop Lloyd's destiny from hitting him way too soon and way too fast, maybe he didn't have his elemental powers anymore thanks to the lack of a fire sword, and maybe he couldn't get enough money being a party entertainer, despite doing the human pinata, that wouldn't pale in comparison to the others salaries.

But, he was able to sit in the darkness on the off chance that Lloyd woke up and needed someone there to comfort him, give him more Tylenol or even just let him know that he wasn't alone; for Kai, given everything else going on, that was enough.

[paisholotus]

Now playing: When I Look At You~ Miley Cyrus

Shia's Pov

Miami, Florida

Two weeks later

Today, Brian was coming over to have dinner with my parents. Brian is officially my boyfriend now. After that first date we went on a lot more dates and after the 5th date he asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes.

I'm an old school girl even though I'm only 23. I believe if a man wants to date you, he should take you on a few dates, get to know you real good, and then ask you to be his girlfriend. That's how I believe men should be with every woman. Because I honestly can't stand this hookup culture shit. I was raised by a father who told me I shouldn't lower my standards for no man. That I shouldn’t stand for the bare minimum. But, let me tell you something, Brian goes beyond the bare minimum. His fine ass makes me wanna yoke his ass up, but we gotta have some decorum round hea. Make him work for it.

I pulled up in my parents' driveway. My dad was still at work, but he was coming home early. My sisters were out grocery shopping. My brother's Quez and Cole were married, so they won't be coming down with the kids till later. Quez lives in Virginia and Cole in California. I don't get to see them a lot, so when they come down, they stay for at least a month. Especially so we can have time with the kids. Lemir is engaged to his girlfriend, but they live in here in Miami, so they'll be here before dinner. And my youngest brother and sister Huey and Najia. He's a senior, and she's a junior.

I looked over at Brian, who softly bounced his leg and seemed to be deep in thought. I placed my hand on his leg, making him look at it as he smiled, nervously biting his lip.

"What's wrong, bubba?" He shook his head and cleared his throat, "nothing, I'm fine. I'm just excited." I snorted and unhooked my seat belt, climbing into his lap as he placed his hands securely on my hips, holding me in place.

"You know you're not a good liar. Well, at least not to me. I can see right through you. But, I promise you absolutely nothing to worry about. My mom is the sweetest person ever. My dad is a little rough around the edges, but what protective father isn't? My family is overprotective, but they are loving people. So you don't have anything to worry about."

I looked into his eyes, watching his body relax some, as his hands squeezed my hips. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed his jaw softly.

"You okay now?" I asked, smiling sweetly at him. He nodded and gave me that smile that turned my stomach into knots.

I laughed and patted his arm, "Okay, sweet boy, let's go."

We got out of the car and walked up the driveway. I already talked to my mom as we were on our way over here. And I knew she would be in the back gardening. One thing about my mom is that she had an amazing green thumb. Grew her own fruits and vegetables and plants. My dad built a green house in the backyard just for her.

I held Brian's hand, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles as we walked in the backyard, seeing my mom gathering tomatoes.

"Hey, Mama." I greeted her, as she smiled up at me getting up.

"Hey, Mi love, how are yuh?" She hugged me, swaying me from side to side. She then looked at Brian, giving him a big smile as he stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Brown." She looked down at his hand, and waved him off.

"Wi hug inna dis family. Suh gimme a hug." She said, holding out her arms as she gave him a hug.

I stood at the side them watching them and smiling. I already told my mom about Brian, and she said she had a good feeling about him, even without already meeting him.

"Okay, wah don't we inside, huh?" She said, leading us in the house. As we walked in Brian looked around at the family pictures, and said how warm it felt.

"So, Brian, Shia tells me yuh from Barstow?" My mom asked, Brian, setting down the tomatoes on the table.

"When mi was in college, I once knew a woman from Barstow. She was di smartest person, and i knew. She had dark brown hair an blue eyes. She really neva get along wid her family. But, her an her mada had a great relationship."

I brought over some lemonade for them watching Brian interested, listening to her story.

"She was mi best friend. We practically did everyting togetha, she had dis boyfriend dat mi absolutely despised, No gud for her. Would boss her round an belittle her. One day she tell mi she pregnant an mi was happy for her, because she was happy. But mi neva like dat she got pregnant by dat man."

I brought over some of the new fruit tart she just made. And cut a slice for Brian. Even though he's not gonna eat it right now, he was too focused on her story.

"Mi had to move away, suh wi kinda lose contact. But mi receive pictures in the mail of her two boys she had. Afta dat mi couldn't get in contact wid her anymore." Mama finished her story looking Brian with nothing but love in her eyes.

I looked in between them, trying to put two to two together and smiled softly when I realized.

"Yuh, look just like Angie." She said, softly making Brian stiffen in his seat. His eyes began water, making her reach over and grab his hands.

"Yuh, haven't seen her in a long time have yuh?" She asked, lowly.

He sniffed and quickly looked down, wiping his eyes, shaking his head. "No, I haven't." I walked behind him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and kissing the top of his head.

"Mi, no know what yuh did. Or what happened. But, yuh need to go see her and your brother. It's like too short to dwell on the past. I'm sure she thinks of yuh everyday."

I lifted Brian's head back so he could look at me and wiped his eyes. I could tell he's never been this vulnerable around people. I whispered it was gonna be okay and told him he needed to see his mom and brother.

"What y'all in her -" we looked to see who walked in, and it was my little sister, Najia, walked in coming from school.

"Oh, my bad, I didn't know I was interrupting." She said lowly, looking at Brian as he cleared his throat and smiled at her.

"Hi, I'm Najia, you must be Brian, right?" She asked, sticking out her hand, and he gladly shook it.

She looked at our mama and smirked, "You making people cry with your kindness again, ma'am"

We laughed as Mama rolled her eyes and told her to go do her homework. Mama and I got started on dinner as Brian talked to her.

I couldn't help to wonder if this was fate or not.

Angie

As

Angela O'Conner

[horrorslu7]

jealous “pre michael” corey fic??? 👀👀👀❤️❤️❤️

Hiii, thank you so much for requesting 💕 I hope you like it, sorry if it turned out kinda short or too angsty.

Jealousy.

Summary: Corey was an amazing boyfriend but sometimes his insecurities could make him say things he didn't really mean.

Pairing: Corey Cunningham x fem!reader.

Trigger warnings: -

Corey wasn't really jealous. I mean he trusted you and knew you were loyal. But he was very insecure and always thought that there were plenty of people out there better than him.

And maybe that was true, maybe there were people that were better than him in many things but you didn't want them, you wanted him. And you always made sure to tell him that.

He would be lying if he said that dating you didn't help with his insecurities. You made him feel loved for the first time ever.

But he couldn't just silence that voice on the back of his head that told him that you knew many people who were richer, prettier and more charismatic than him.

And you may not straight up cheat on him but you could realize how better others were and, eventually, leave him for someone else.

He really tried to not have those thoughts, he really did but he couldn't help it when you started to talk about this coworker of yours whose birthday was coming soon.

You were really nervous about it because you were fairly new at this job and it was a corporate job which just made you feel even more awkward and nervous. Everyone seemed to be way more formal, way more rich and way more "adult" than you. You were an adult but it didn't feel that way when you were surrounded by others who just seemed more serious overall.

All you could talk about since getting that job was how you were so nervous about fitting in. You couldn't stop talking about other people and what they might think of you.

You couldn't stop talking about other guys and what they might think of you. At least that's how Corey saw it eventually, and it wasn't fair but he didn't mean for it to happen.

The birthday of your coworker was on saturday and you had asked Corey to go shopping with you for a gift. He loved to do anything and everything with you but he didn't really appreciate a whole evening of hearing all about this guy and how he was and what he might like.

You have told Corey before to tell you if he ever felt bad or sad and needed to vent and help, and he should've told you but he didn't.

He told you last minute. You came out of your bedroom fixing your hair and looking for something.

"Hey babe have you seen my phone?" You asked Corey, who was watching something on the TV, as you looked for your phone.

"I think is in our bedroom." He said and then looked at you, he was instantly mesmerized looking at you, you had a beautiful blue dress on, high heels and a jacket. It was casual overall but pretty. You turned around and saw his expression to which you shyly laughed. "You look gorgeous." He complimented.

"Thanks baby." You answered and then "fixed" your dress by pulling it down and running your hand through it trying to flatten it even tho it was already flat. "Do you think they'll like it?"

He couldn't help but sigh to which you immediately looked at him and he cursed himself mentally. "What's wrong?" You asked and went to sit next to him.

"It's just..." He thought what he would say before talking but that just made him realize he was being jealous over nothing. But those were his feelings and he couldn't help them so he decided to tell you. "Lately all you've been talking about is this other people and especially this other guy this last couple of days. I know I'm being ridiculous though, they're just your coworkers but they're your much richer, much smarter and perfect coworkers."

You couldn't believe what you heard. "Corey you're not being ridiculous by feeling this but, if I'm this nervous it's because I think they're better than me." You said as you took his hand on your own and caressed it. "I don't care how much money they have or how smart they are. If being with you would mean that I have to sleep under a bridge I wouldn't care as long as I got to sleep next to you. Maybe you're not better than everyone in general but you're better than anyone else to me."

Corey couldn't help but automatically kiss you, and you gladly kissed back. When you two broke apart, you took off your heels.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he watched you take off your heels and also your jacket.

"I don't really feel like going." He tried to insist for you to go, he felt better and he was gonna be waiting for you when you came back but, you told him you rather spend the night with him than with people you didn't even know. Plus you were so busy trying to be liked by them, you weren't sure if you liked them.

[elfdragon12]

curious, how did the couples from your humanformers meet?

Tracks/Raoul: similarly to how they met in G1, Tracks had gotten caught up with some roughs while trying to have some fun while he was stationed in NYC. Not to be cliché, but he loves New York (hehe)! He was trying to catch his breath/gather himself from the pain of a possibly broken arm when Raoul, looking for decent cars to jack for the Geddis, spots Tracks's supposedly unmanned vehicle, and sees him leaning on the opposite side in clear pain. His conscience reigns supreme and hijinx ensue.

Needlenose/Horri-bull: Horri-bull was drinking at a beastman-tolerant bar (money's green, even in the hands of a beastman) and he watched the same pair of guys that were giving him a hard time follow after some hipster-looking soft boy (who stuck out like a sore thumb) and decided he'd work off the angry buzz that built up. They were starting to mug Needle when Horri-bull intervened. The two are standing there, breathing hard as they stand over the muggers, when Needle asks Horri-bull if he'd... Maybe like a drink or a meal or something?

Fort Max/Cerebros: These two meet after Cerebros escapes the Decepticon camp she'd been staying at (she left them a copy of her work so those doctors could continue the research, while her stay wasn't entirely voluntary, she wasn't going to deprive anyone of the medical research that could help them). She's in the Autobot medbay, talking shop with whoever was on duty, when Fort Max walks in for something or another. Okay, okay, big handsome man, hello. The two are introduced, he's a squad leader and she's a surgeon that came to them from a Decepticon camp. He tells her something about admiring her bravery and welcoming her to the camp--if she needs anything, he'll be happy to help her.

Swindle/Madeline Pynch: They meet while he and Onslaught are present for a company board meeting, talking business expenses. Swindle spots her and the guy has some sort of 6th sense for rich people because he can tell immediately that she's rich and has power. After the meeting is over, he tells Onslaught to go ahead, he has some extra business to take care of. He walks up to Madeline before she can get too far and hands her a business card. Yeah, sure, he and the Combaticons do corporate security, but that doesn't mean they'll refuse private employers with an extra wink. If she hadn't seen him negotiate, she would have shrugged him off simply a creep, but the guy clearly prioritizes a good paycheck.

Blast-Off/Cosmos: They met up in a European airport, both sitting down in the same airport cafe. Cosmos, kinda lonely and enjoying making human connections anywhere she can, strikes up a conversation with him as they sit by each other. The conversation is light and easy. He says he does work in security and she says she does work in photography. He asks if he can see her portfolio and she shows him. Her flight gets announced and she passes him a card with her email on it, saying it'd be okay if he contacted her if he wanted to see more of her photography.

Afterburner/Lightspeed: They meet in wrestling school, training under Grimlock. They started to click during after-training pub sessions with the rest of the Technobot stable and Grimsy. Particularly when Lightspeed caught onto Afterburner knowing a surprising amount of Winnie the Pooh trivia.

Brawn/Cover Girl: These two met while Cover Girl was in Mexico on a mission regarding terrorist activities. He was called in as a local expert plus demolition. They met one on one while in one of the garages/hangars talking about vehicles. He likes a strong woman who knows her way around hardware.

Loudpedal/Exhaust: Exhaust kinda knew Loudpedal because she was a fan of his music as C Shadow. They passed by each other in hallways and such without thinking much about the others. Then she overheard him fiddling around with a synthesizer and recognized some of the more common motifs and general style C Shadow uses. She went back to listen for a bit to double-check before going back. Either he was C Shadow or a fan, either way, she had to meet him. Loudpedal was pretty surprised, like, yeah, his pieces tended to do numbers but actually meeting a fan? In the army??

Powerglide/Astoria: Astoria was invited to an air show that Powerglide was performing at and really enjoyed his skills. She likes to find people/causes to fun while masking it with the superficial spoiled rich girl act. However, when she went to the little sponsor dinner afterwards, she was still in that headspace when she introduced herself to Powerglide and the dismissive way she spoke really rubbed him the wrong way.

Seaspray/Alana: These two met while Seaspray was on shore leave. He'd been tracking some marine life across the Atlantic and this was the big stopping point on the other side of the ocean. He visited the center sheworked at and was introduced. He was smitten pretty soon after. She was also smitten pretty soon after he spoke of how he worked with the marine beastmen to get accurate results without a single ounce of derision (he'd already been a respectful and intelligent man to this point that had no ability in hiding his attraction, if he feels positively towards them, he would likely be chill with her other form).

I don't have enough for Greenlight yet to have figured out how she and Lancer met yet, nor enough of Jumpstream/Dust-Up.

[truecrimetime]

A Deadly Obsession: The story of Dave Kroupa, Cari Farver, and Liz Golyar

In 2012, Dave Kroupa was working at an auto repair shop in Omaha, Nebraska. He was casually dating a woman named Liz Golyar with whom he meant on a dating app. Like Kroupa, Golyar had children and said that she was okay with his interest in seeing other people. Kroupa first met Cari Farver when when she dropped off her Ford Explorer for maintenance and the connection was immediate.

Farver was a single mother looking for a casual relationship that would fit into her busy life. When she met Kroupa, an unattached bachelor with two kids of his own, things seemed to be going well.

It was on their first date that Farver informed Kroupa that like him, she wasn't looking for anything serious. Later that evening, while leaving Kroupa's apartment, Farver ran into Golyar in the hallway. The two barely acknowledged each other, but that moment would lead to something far more sinister.

In November 2012, Farver was staying with Kroupa because she was in the midst of a work project and he lived close to her office. On the morning of November 13th, Kroupa gave Farver a kiss goodbye and they went about their days.

A few hours after leaving his apartment, Farver texted Kroupa saying she wanted to move in with him, something neither of them had talked about previously. When he politely declined, the texts grew angry and continued to escalate.

Farver's mother, Nancy Raney, as well as her 15-year-old son, Max would also receive bizarre texts from Farver. In them, she claimed to have found a job in Kansas and would make plans to pick up Max, but she never showed up.

Around this time, Kroupa began seeing Golyar again, who was also on the receiving end of rage-filled texts. Occasionally, Kroupa would receive a text detailing what he was doing at that exact moment.

On November 23, 2012 - 10 days after Kroupa last saw Farver - Golyar gets home and finds spray-paint on the inside of her garage. Someone had broken in and painted "Whore from Dave" and also stolen some checks. Golyar freaked out and called the police and filed a police report.

Months pass and Farver missed her son's 15th birthday, her own birthday, thanksgiving, stepbrother's wedding, and her father's funeral. This is when Farver's mother knew that something was wrong and she filed a missing person report.

In January of 2013, Dave got home from work and saw Farver's vehicle in the parking lot of his townhouse. He snapped a picture of the license plate and sent it to the cops who came and pick up the vehicle. They looked it over but the only thing they really find is a mint container in the front seat console. There were two fingerprints on the container, only one was useable but it didn't come back as a match to anyone in the system (and it didn't match Farver either).

More months pass and Farver's mom got a call from a man calling himself Dave saying that Farver was at a homeless shelter, wanting her mom to come and pick her up. Nancy and the cops go to the homeless shelter but Farver has never been there. They also check in with Kroupa who said he never made the call.

On May 18, 2013, Cari puts up a post on her Facebook page. She says she's sick and tired of all the questions that she's getting. She's done proving herself - she left of her own free will and she is not interested in coming home.

While all of this is happening, Kroupa continued using Plenty of Fish. However, he is impressed with how Golyar has stuck through this all with him so they start getting closer than ever - in fact they get so close that Kroupa gives Golyar a day of the week...Wednesday.

Despite all the time that has gone by, the messages haven't stopped coming in to Kroupa and Golyar - sometimes they'll even get messages when they're in the same room. At one point, Kroupa got a picture message of a woman tied up in the trunk of a car. He couldn't really tell who it was, but the message that came with the picture said that Kroupa needed to call Golyar and leave a message that he was breaking up with her and hates her or else Golyar would die in the trunk. Kroupa doesn't respond, instead, he texts Golyar to make sure that she was okay and she was.

In August of 2013, Golyar came home to find her house on fire. Unfortunately, her 2 dogs, cat and snake all died. The firefighter at the scene said it was obviously an intentionally set fire, and Golyar mentions the woman who's been stalking her - her boyfriend's ex-hookup of 2 weeks.

Nancy Raney had told police that her daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her 20s, but after working the case, they didn't believe this had anything to do with her disappearance. However, ABC News reported that Golyar quickly became a person of interest after they realized she was only involved in Farver's life after she disappeared.

Before long, a digital forensics administrator at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office was brought in to help. When Kroupa and Golyar had the "content of their phones downloaded in 2013 for the initial group of investigators," that's when authorities found something. A digital trail that is too wild to believe led them back to Golyar who, according to the digital forensics investigator, spent 40 to 50 hours a week impersonating Farver.

The detectives then concocted a story they fed to Golyar, who had been claiming that Amy Flora (Kroupa's ex and the mother of his children) was involved in Farver's disappearance. Golyar would come into the police station under the guise of answering questions that could pin the case on Flora. The police would tell her all things they needed to know in order to make an arrest.

Not long after those interviews, Golyar would return to the police station with emails she had received from "Flora," laying out all the information the cops needed. In those emails, the murder of Farver was described in gruesome detail. However, it wasn't Flora who sent the emails, but Golyar herself. Realizing that only the killer could know the kinds of details that Golyar did, police arrested her and charged her with murder on December 22, 2016. The judge gave her another 15-20 years for setting fire to her own home a year after the murder.

[annaphoenix1994]

Ch.84 - British Teddy

Previous Chapter - Masterlist - Next Chapter

This is mainly just a filler chapter with pure fluff. I have more plans with this story that I'm working on at the moment and am excited to present it to you all!

Price entered Simon and Kiera's home with a warm smile, oblivious to their flushed tone of sex as Simon greeted him with a handshake, seeing a large gift bag in Price's free hand. "When'd you get a dog, mate?"

"That was Kiera's doing," He chuckled, glancing down to see Kimber sitting at the Captain's feet. "She got a dog and a cat during the months I was gone." 

"She's adorable," Price chuckled, having so sense that a dog had ever been in their house, not one bit surprised that their house was as clean as a whistle with their military habits and Kiera's natural housekeeping habits. He soon became comfortable with the warm and inviting smell of apple cider filling his senses. "How are the kids?" 

"Sleeping soundly, thankfully." Simon huffed. 

"I'd say they didn't like their check-up?" 

"No. It broke my heart more than it hurt them," He sighed. "Evie was restless for a few hours after we got home, but she finally went to sleep about an hour or so ago." 

"I hate to hear that," Price shook his head. "Good visit aside from their shots, yeah?"

"Grew a couple of inches. Too fast for my liking, but I can't do anything about it." He frowned. 

"Before you know it, they'll be running around the house driving you mad." 

"I doubt they will drive me mad, but in a way, I look forward to it - teaching Jacob how to hunt, taking Evie on her first date, taking them on vacations." 

Price smiled, setting the gift bag on the nearby table, "You? Taking a vacation? I'll believe that when I see it, mate." 

"Kiera was talking about a beach in the future, excited about how they'd react to sand and water," He mused. "Although I'm nervous at the thought as I've never been to a beach to relax." 

"That could be your honeymoon spot." He poked. 

"Maybe, but as much as I'd like to take the kids with me, I'd want to take her somewhere special where we can enjoy our time together after being married. I was thinking Spain or Italy." 

"Extravagant, Simon," Price chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "Definitely didn't expect that." 

"I don't want to be cliche and take her to Florida or California for a honeymoon," Simon shrugged. "I want to take her somewhere we've never been before that wasn't a deployment." 

"I understand. I took Alice to the Bahamas for our honeymoon." 

"Didn't expect that," Simon mocked, arching his brow. "Figured you would've taken her to Brazil so you can shop for expensive cigars." 

Price laughed, "Believe me, it was on my list. Didn't even pick up a cigar the entire time we were there." 

"I call rubbish on that, old man," Simon chuckled. "There's no way you didn't pick up a cigar your entire trip." 

"She said it leaves a weird taste in my beard. Couldn't risk fucking up my honeymoon without any festivities with a new wife. The cigar can wait." He smirked. 

"Bloody hell, Price," Simon shook his head. "I could've gone the rest of my life without hearing that." 

Price nodded, arching his brow, "Just like I could've gone the rest of my life without hearing you two when I stood outside at the front door. I just got out of the shower and she's feeding Jacob my arse." 

He chuckled as he watched Simon's face flush and his gaze immediately darting to the floor. He gulped, then shrugged, "I don't know what you're talking about." 

"How stupid do you think I am?" 

"I don't think you're stupid at all." 

"Although I must say I'm quite surprised." 

"About what?" 

"When I came up to the front door, I heard you more than her," He poked, chuckling at Simon's embarrassment. "Don't worry mate. I'll never tell."

Price knew Simon was trying to cover up his embarrassment, chuckling at how he kept his gaze on the floor and immediately fidgeting with his fingers by pressing his thumb against his ring finger. "Why were you listening, old man?" 

"It wasn't by choice," He scoffed. "I stood at the front door and called after a few seconds. At least you two are comfortable given the circumstances." 

"I worry about it every day," Simon admitted, his tone low as he knew Kiera was still in their bedroom freshening up and ridding any evidence of lust before she appeared before Price. "I'm sometimes afraid to come up behind her and just hold her in fear of reminding her of that day. After I got back, we were distant romantically for a while, but I knew why and just wanted to be there when she'd cry or just need me - I got anxious about it." 

"I'm sorry, mate," Price nodded. "I'm sure it's been hard for the both of you-"

"-Especially her, but what constantly worries me is that she goes on like nothing happened. She still finds a way to smile and laugh. I can't wrap my head around that." 

"People handle trauma differently." 

"I know, but it makes its presence at night in her sleep." 

"Has she tried beta blockers?" 

Simon shrugged, "No."

"You should talk to her about it. Have you been having your terrors still?" 

"Not recently, but I ignore mine when I do have them." Simon shrugged. 

"I think you both should consider it."

"I'll mention it to her. Could they be addictive?" 

Price knew Simon had only asked this due to his paranoia of taking medication only to abuse it due to his substance abuse in his past, proud of Simon for being clean for years, but also knowing that it was also very easy to get back to in the wrong circumstances. "No, but they're also used for anxiety. I think they'll benefit you with your paranoia of large crowds and episodes you've had." 

He huffed, knowing Price was right about his concern. Simon hadn't experienced a post-traumatic stress episode in about a week, an episode being triggered by a stressful situation at his job that involved having to shoot down a teenager who was conducting a bank robbery in the middle of the night as well as threatening to disperse homemade bombs. He hadn't talked to Kiera about his experience as he didn't want to not only remind himself, but to keep her worry about him and his line of work at a minimum. "I'll think about it." 

"Will you?" Price arched his brow, subconsciously knowing that Simon was agreeing with him just to halt his conversation about it, knowing that Simon would not in fact think about it.

Simon nodded slowly after excusing his reply when he noticed Kiera entering the room, a soft and greeting smile on her face as Price stood to hug her, "Nice to see you, love." 

"You too, John," She smiled. "I'm sorry I don't have dinner ready yet-"

Price chuckled, knowing she'd give an excuse in hopes that he had no suspicion about the intimate encounter he had heard, Price chuckling softly as he glanced at Simon, arching his brow playfully as if he were saying: "You two can make excuses all you want, but I still won't say anything. Rascals." 

"Don't worry. Gives Simon and I some time to talk."

She nodded, "Okay. The kids are sleeping and I'm making steak tips. Is that alright or would you rather a regular steak?" 

Both Price and Simon knew that Kiera was babbling - babbling because she subconsciously knew that Price knew about their intimate affair when he had called to announce his arrival and was afraid that he would mention something about it.

But he didn't. 

And he never would. 

"Just fine with me, love." Price chuckled, sitting back in his chair and crossing his right ankle over his left knee. 

Kiera nodded, washing her hands at the sink before restarting the process of cooking dinner that was brought to a halt over an hour prior. 

"How are you liking your job?" Price asked Simon, changing the subject to give Simon the chance to hide his embarrassment from being confronted about his intimate encounter. 

"It pays the bills," Simon huffed. "I do enjoy it, though. Some days are better than others, but it's part of it I guess." 

"I understand. I feel it's a very fitting job for you. What's Soap doing now since he moved?" 

"He works on the ranch as a wrangler."

"That's surprising." 

Simon chuckled, "Yeah, I know, but I think it's how he can be close to Teeter throughout the day."

"Probably." 

"I brought something for your two little ones to grow up with," Price grinned, reaching for the gift bag that sat on the table and handing it to Simon. "All the way from London."

"What is it?" 

"It wouldn't be a gift if I told you, you bloke. Open it." 

Simon scoffed playfully, setting the bag in his lap before he opened it slowly, pulling out two stuffed teddy bears - each embroidered with a British flag on their left leg and personalized for Evie and Jacob. 

Evie's was a tan bear with a pink bow on its right ear while a pink sink dress decorated its body:

Jacob's was a tan bear dressed with a red plaid set of pajamas with an embroidered British flag on the breast pocket of the pajama shirt:

"Oh, wow. They're going to love them. Thank you, Price." 

"You're welcome, Simon. Gaz helped me pick them out," He admitted with a chuckle. "I was just going to get them a basic bear that way they wouldn't fight over them when they got older, but Gaz insisted that personalizing them would be better so they knew which one was theirs." 

Simon nodded, chuckling at Price's confession, "They're great. I already know that Evie will stare daggers at Jacob if he tries to take her bear." 

"Of course, she has your eyes. I'm sure she'll learn the death stare rather quickly." 

"Probably," Simon chuckled, looking towards Kiera in the kitchen. "Love?" 

"Yeah?" She chimed, her back turned to them as she washed potatoes in the sink.

"Come look at the gift Price brought for our children." 

"Just a second!" 

Within a few moments, Kiera walked into the dining room with a genuine smile on her face, a sparkle appearing in her eye once her gaze fell on the stuffed bears - a sparkle that Simon loved so much about her. 

One of the many things he loved about her. 

"These are so beautiful! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart." 

"Are these from Build-A-Bear?" 

"They are," Price grinned. "Squeeze its paw." 

She smiled, reaching across Simon's lap to squeeze one of the bear's paws:

"Hello, little one. Keep being good for your mum and dad. Sending much love, Uncle Price."

[darthbreezy]

A Scarlet Letter Day(fic)

Note - this is inspired (admittedly a bit overdue as it's rattled around in one form or another since I first read the story) by 'Idiot'

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49224499

by the Blessedly Talented theyellowestmustard - I'd strongly suggest reading it first, not only because it's brilliant, but as it's a direct springboard to this tale - Idiots, spoonerisms and Idioms inclusive... * This is a rough daft because I really want to have a nice, well thought out accounting of this scarlet letter day before I journal it in the nice book Crowley gave me for my personal thoughts away from the flying eyes of Heaven. I'll make my official report later - I'm still officially a level 37 Scrivener and every once in a while the Head Office wants a report. OK, so it's been a long time since they've asked (Not since the Metatron put me in charge of the Bookshop) but since the Supreme Arch Angel 'quit' (!!!) surely they'll want a record?

That will be different than what I write for myself (Is that a sin? Is it Vanity? I'll ask The Supreme Arch Angel The Traitor Aziraphale (I think for brevity and clarity, I'll just call him 'Mr. Fell' as that's what the other shop keepers (like Maggie and Nina) call him. I can't wait to go chew the facts with them about what happened! But I have to wait until Crowley and Mr. Fell leave before I can go over. Crowley said if they knew Mr. Fell was back, they'd ''be on them like a flock of quacking ducks'' (Crowley normally likes ducks, so I don't know why this is a problem?) and that ''he and Angel'' (that's what he calls Mr. Fell when he likes him) ''needed a few days alone to get re-acquainted.'' When I asked if they were going to have 'make up sex', or was that just a one time think, Mr. Fell's whole corporation seemed to go almost purple while Crowley just snort-laughed and told Mr. Fell to wait for him in the Bentley, and that he'd miracle everything they'd need for the trip. He didn't answer my question though, but considering I haven't heard him laugh since we were bees in Heaven, so that's OK. I don't know if it's 'proper' for me, an angel (37 level scrivener) to care about a demon, but Crowley has been kind to me (he can deny all he wants. but angels like Michael used to look at me like I was something dirty on the bottom of their shoe even though Heaven is always clean, unlike the streets here on Earth.) It's so nice to see him so happy. I just hope Mr. Fell doesn't hurt him again. I don't think he really wanted to the first time, but Heaven doesn't tell me anything. Some things shouldn't be examined too closely I think. Of course, Crowley would tell me otherwise, but he is a demon after all.

SO!

Mr. Fell came back from Heaven! There was a bit of a clock up (or was it a wind up? I was in any case.) I got locked and miracled out of the bookshop all night. I was worried scared for Crowley, but it turns out he was asleep on Mr Fell's new (BIG!) bed. I was glad that he was safe (and sleeping! He hasn't slept in a long time. Sleep is a human thing living, Earth-Creature thing, which makes me wonder how much of a demon he really is, now?)

Once I made sure that Crowley was really safe. Mr. Fell and I went downstairs to talk.

He said he appreciated how well I kept the bookshop, I told him how Crowley helped make sure we never sold a single book, and that made him sad for some reason. I didn't want to him to think we just just didn't sell books, but added some new things to make it look nice, including the 'Quote Board' that was by the till. Nina had given it to me when I took over the shop and until yesterday, it had said ''You're only as strong as the drinks you mix.'' but now there was a new message in Crowley's hand. It said 'The Supreme Arse-Angel has left the building.'' I went to erase it, but Mr. Fell smiled and said to leave it.

He made a nice cup of tea and we talked about, well, me!

What I might want to do (stay on Earth of go back to Heaven - I really think I want to stay here, it so nice and I like having people to talk to).

I know Crowley's apartment is a possibility (did he even ask Crowley? I guess having that bedroom with a big bed means he's going to stay here.) I tried to tell Mr. Fell that I really liked Earth and would probably want to stay, but he got all anxious, and wrung his hands and said not to be 'rash' or 'hasty', so I said I would think about it.

I asked him to tell me what happened last night and at first he didn't want to tell me anything, saying it was ''water under the bridge'' and it was between him and Crowley but I reminded him that I was the one locked out - miracled out! all night, and I deserved an explanation. He sighed and said there had been a lot of shouting, and more than a few tears, then finally some real talking and perhaps a bottle between them...

I was going to ask whether they were going to go have their 'extremely alcoholic breakfast at the Ritz' when we heard Crowley's voice calling for his Angel from the main part of the shop.

You'd think Mr. Fell's wings were on fire by how fast he ran out to meet him. I was only a few steps behind but by the time I got out there, Mr. Fell was already standing really close to Crowley, with his arms around the demon's waist. he was wearing a silky robe that looked like (I couldn't be sure because Mr. Fell was standing right up against him) it was completely open. I guess he realised I was there really quickly, because all at once he snapped his fingers and was fully dressed. He looked nicer than he has in months!

''You still here, you little Treacle Tart?'' he asked, so I said ''yes you, you Lizard Lounger!'' which surprised Mr. Fell, but I think Crowley's snort laugh surprised him even more - (Oh, I guess it's 'Lounge Lizard' but in any case, it was funny to us.)

So the short and fat of it is, Crowley and Mr. Fell are going to spend a few days 'on the coast' together. Crowley said not to ring them even if the Anti-Christ shows up on the stoop or he'd tie all my fingers into knots (which is a really low level 'threat' from him - I guess he was too excited to get going, and Mr. Fell said Adam was a lovely young man anyway.) I'll be watching the shop, and not selling any books until they return. Maybe when they get back, I'll go someplace myself! All by myself!! Maybe even as far as Greenwich!

As Crowley said, it's time to leave the Garden,

I think I'm ready!

M.

[thethrillof]

AU where Ghost runs a coffee shop?

hmmmmmm

ghost is significantly older than they look. as in, they're immortal, apparently? they're not sure how that happened but alright. this means they've had a lot of time to learn random skills. some of that is a business sense. so when they decide to open a coffee shop in a formerly-thriving town, they don't expect a roaring success, but they think they can get it running for at least a little while.

within the first week of opening, they find a young lady in red standing in their shop while they're setting up an hour before they unlock their doors, who is strange and threatening, but who they manage to drive off. this would stop most. they just keep their nail close at hand and set the incident aside. did she clock them so easily? whatever. they can handle an immortal hunter.

they hire a few pretty quick. a purple moth calling herself Seer. a scarab named Ogrim, who isn't super suited to a lot, but they wouldn't send off. a lady known as Iselda, who's apparently passing through with her husband, but who'd apparently gotten distracted by urban exploration of the many, many empty places in town. Cornifer ends up being one of their first regular customers. ghost chalks that up to a success, as he always buys a few coffees, even if most of his time lingering is to playfully flirt with his wife.

they start getting weird customers soon enough.

Quirrel, who cheerfully discusses macabre things and how fascinatingly creepy the town is. (ghost honestly barely noticed.) Hornet, the one from before, who rarely buys but usually loiters, watching them oddly. (they expect to be murdered and/or robbed. eventually, enough time passes that they doubt that's it.) ze'mer, who seems to only show up after sunset and who their employees whisper about being an actual ghost.

there are more average customers as well, of course. sly, who shows up to talk business, or at least to obviously scope out theirs. lemm, an antique shop curator who regularly singles them out when he orders and has a lot to say about his customers. three brothers who show up at random times, but never the same, with Sheo lingering there the longest to sketch at their table while chatting with other customers.

it's a routine.

and then hornet breaks it one night.

night, well after everyone went home, except for ghost, who lives above the shop. she webs her way up through their window and starts talking, frankly, about what they apparently are, and that they have a sibling--siblings.

who are trapped beneath the town. turns out the place is cursed, somehow. ze'mer knows some. ogrim knows more, and is guilty, but not as much as hornet.

they keep their shop running and start asking questions. there's a fountain in the middle of town, dead empty. an elderly gentleman who rarely comes for coffee tells them about it, how it's a crumbling danger.

it's an interesting night when they decide to try going into it.

their employees insist upon waiting up for them. as do their odder regulars. ghost isn't sure how they knew that was the night they were going to try--apparently they were acting strange.

they go in. they find the remains of the old mayor, and the souls he sacrificed trying to settle the curse, an immortal something-or-other.

ghost doesn't actually care about her. they just care about their siblings, who they and hornet drag back to the shop, even the sickest, most miserable one.

if a light god or demon or whatever can be killed with kindness and coffee, they'll learn soon enough.

if not, they have their nail and all the ones they care about to help back home.

[dopaminergicaddictions]

3/11/24

2:25 a.m

So I'm worried about my circadian rhythm and getting to my doctors appts... I have my insomnia appt Tuesday and my t shot Wednesday.

Anyways, to make today productive I realized I hadn't edited or even read my report about Kristen in a couple months. I hit the ground running. I submitted a 11 page report to the FLIS.

I added the last edit, a paragraph accepting my responsibility and how I chose to take the capsules. She never encouraged it and as an adult who makes my own choices I abused marijuana... but that she should have listened to my symptoms. And told me I was hallucinating..I felt that paragraph needed to be at the top. So it's the second paragraph.

Well I edited the whole thing and spent a few hours on it. If you're here Elise... I wanted you to edit it for me bc you're so smart. I knew you'd take it seriously and make sure it was perfect. But I had no one to edit it. Fresh eyes matter. Either way.

I submitted the report as of 12:30 a.m today. I cried a little. I needed to do it for me. I hope I'm smart enough that there aren't a lot of mistakes. I had no fresh eyes to overlook it.

I made one mistake saying we met in person on September 22nd. I emailed the department and corrected it to September 21st. I know this bc I went to Newtown Stop and Shop and then Southbury Stop and Shop per my bank account... I remember the last in person session, I stopped at Newtown and got like lemonade and then went to Southbury for a chicken cause Newtown didn't have one.... at least I caught the mistake.

Everything else it well dated. My witnesses are my current therapist Erin and the doctor who diagnosed me with psychosis at the psych ward. I had to put two vulgar words/phrases in it. Brianna's pussy tree-which I'm sure the psych ward documented, as the voice told me I was on camera and I was about to be famous for being telepathic but if I didn't admit thinking about Brianna's pussy tree I would get sued. So I looked up at the corner of the room and loudly exclaimed Brianna's pussy tree and cried and shit... just to document how much I lost it. I know it must be in my report..

Then I brought up asshole face cause Kristen told me the cops called her from October 11th when I reported her for adding buttholes for eyes and a mouth on my profile pictures. When I talked about the delusion she laughed at me.

I hated having vulgar language in the report but these things are all well documented...

Also I brought you up. Cause it all started with you. Not your last name for the record. It started with you bc I thought you were the voice and I talked to Kristen about you talking to me for months and you being empathically connected to me. And Kristen never said a word... she never objected...she never said hallucinating or delusional or psychotic symptoms...

I didn't bring you up as a reportable person for the record. I had to talk about my experience truthfully. And it started with me thinking I could hear your voice (I really thought that you were the auditory hallucination) and that's what I reported to Kristen. I didn't bring you up when it came to "asshole face." I'm sure you got that call cause- I named you to the police station as starting a lawsuit to protect me..

I doubt they'll call you bc I didn't name you minus your first name. You're not the focal point of the report but I couldn't leave you out.

Cause when Kristen gets to defend herself, you're going to come up unless she straight up lies.

Kristen said that the psych ward was rude to her. I have a feeling I know why. I think she admitted that she thought I was hallucinating. Why else would they be rude? Well she could have saved me before I ended up with psychosis....

So yea. I gave them the right to contact the police station. The psych ward. Mike. Erin. My primary care about my insomnia and the drugs I need to sleep.

I doubt they'll call you. You're like a side story to explain how I ended up becoming "telepathic and empathic," but just a warning cause I mean it's possible.

I didn't say your last name and I didn't tell them they could contact you.. that doesn't mean they won't after they talk to the police station......

I hope if they call you'll mention how I didn't have fucking insomnia. And I slept like a baby. It's half my argument as to why Kristen should lose her license. When I lost my weed I microslept and ended up on benzodiazepines....

The bulk of it is that I ended up with psychosis. So I mean I don't think they'll call you but it's not impossible. I hope they don't. I left your last name out bc you're just the person I thought I was telepathic with and we didn't talk once we terminated therapy so I never got to ask you if you were talking to me in my brain.... And then when "Kristen" started telepathically talking to me I asked her and her giggle and shrug off made me think she was lying and I was empathically connected to her too.

Hopefully my diagnosis doesn't make them look down on me. Kristen Dew deserves to lose her fucking license for her fucking negligence.

I wrote a whole part about how I didn't want to report her while I had psychosis as she doesn't have psychosis and I worry the board won't look at me as an equal. I hope they take into consideration I am not delusional, I am functional and take care of myself but my d2 receptors are broken bc of a negligence therapist..

I hope Kristen loses her fucking license. My experience has to mean something. I can't be saved but I can save someone else.

When I asked her about empaths... I asked can empaths send messages to eachother, she exclaimed, "they absolutely can." She fucking fed the delusion that landed me here.

I've now got to start coping with the fact that they may let her keep her license. I couldn't sit on it any longer.

Elise you're this unresolved person in my life. You're not in my life but you live in my brain. You're always on my mind.... and idk if I'll ever get resolution from you... every dream I have references you, looking for you, not being able to find you. You're always ignoring me. Until it gets resolved, you're always going to be on my mind. And I can't do anything about it but cope with it. My subconscious will not rest when it comes to you. You're on my mind less now cause I accepted even if you show up for me it won't be anything significant. Maybe we will hang out every 6 months to a year. It'll be nothing significant. Bc as you always stated, "we are in different phases of our life," which I think is bullshit. I would have baby sat your girl so you and your husband could have nights together. I would have legit tried to be a part of your family. I would have gamed with your husband over Xbox live and your daughter who loves minecraft... but either way you're no where to be found and if I look for you I'm a stalker. I can't message you at work ever again cause you ignored me. I can't message you on Instagram or fb cause you blocked me. So all I can do it sit around and wait. I'm not a stalker or a crazy guy so imma do nothing. And you'll either be here one day or you won't and you'll continue to be on my mind constantly because I believed everything you said to me. I believe in dinners on the weekends. I believed you'd hang out with me. I believed we would know eachother. I believed, "you'll be there at my wedding smiling." And I still believe it. Every month, every week, every year that goes by I'll believe it less and it'll break my heart and you want to know what I'll do about it? Nothing. The ball is in your court and I'll just live like this. With this unresolved feeling and I will miss you.

Kristen has been this unresolved person who wronged me and the only person stopping me from resolving it was me. I wouldn't submit the report.

Now I did. She better lose her license. I could have gotten fucking schizophrenia.... psychosis is fucking life ruining. I hope they see me as person. I didn't lose my marbles. I just hear things that aren't real.

[beeindaclouds]

Attending Hogwarts w/ the DSMP: Year 6

Includes: Badboyhalo & Skeppy, Wilbur Soot, Punz

Click here before requesting, please ^^

Reader: GN - They/Them

Hogwarts Series || Previous Part

A.N: Honestly there's not much stuff to write about year 6, or the "Half Blood Prince" movie, so that's why there are only 3 people in here ^^'

❝ Badboyhalo & Skeppy ❞

You and, your now, boyfriend Bad had spent most of the summer togheter

And all those days spent playing with Rat and staying awake 'till 4am made Bad courageous enough to officially ask you out

Before school started, you went to visit Skeppy who now works with the twins

The shop was so lively and full off people, it was a great hit

You couldn't be more proud of your best friend and Skeppy couldn't be happier for the both of you

Yes, it was sad that he wasn't at school with you guys, but he was living his dream

Skeppy even gave you a 50% off discount for always supporting him

Bad and you didn't plan on buying anything, but who knows, maybe a few puking pastilles could come in handy

❝ Wilbur Soot ❞

You haven't heard from Wilbur for an entire year

It's like he was pushed off of the cliff of the earth to never be seen ever again

He was deliberately avoiding you and, this year, you were about to find out why

From the moment he entered the train, you had kept your eyes on him

Wilbur seemed to have become close to Draco, something that suprised you considering his judgement of said Slytherin a few years ago

Whereever Draco went, Wilbur was always close by if not right by him

But what had puzzled you the most was the weird way the brunette acted

Always looking behind his back, always checking the time, always gripping onto his forearm...

One day you had caught the two dissapearing into the Room or Requirements

Only to be back a 20 minutes later, talking about something not working

You knew that you had to talk to him

There was so much evidence in your head that lead you to one answer only, and you did not like it

So, it was time to confront the problem

And you found a good opportunity during Slughorn's Party

Wilbur was found with Draco, wandering around the castle when they shouldn't have been

After the blonde was pulled aside by Professor Snape, you ran after your friend

"Wilbur, we need to talk!" You exclaimed, rummign after him, the brunette wasn't slowing down one bit tho

"Wilbur please! You can't just ignore me and your family for a year, act like everything is ok and move on with you life without an explanation! Do you know how worried I am? Or your family? Heck, Tommy hasn't stop asking me about you-" "I don't care" he interrupted me

In a flash of anger I pushed him to the wall, stopping him from leaving "You don't care?! Last time I checked you were so proud of your little brother getting into Hogwarts. And now you just don't care? What is wrong with you, have you lost your mind! Do you even care about us anymore, you selfish prick!"

"DON'T CALL ME SELFISH WHEN EVERYTHING I'M DOING IS FOR ALL OF YOU!" he screamed, shutting me up

He looked tired, hopeless and in need of reassurance. In all the years I have spent with Wilbur, I had never seen him like this...

"I have to do this...I can't turn back, it's too late. They got me and they'll get Tommy and all of you if I don't obey, I cant..." He gripped his forearm again, tears streaming down his face

I silently took his arms, lifting his sleeve and uncovering the truth: the dark mark

"Please don't tell anyone...I have to protect you, I need to protect all of you" he said desperately, making me let out a dry chuckle

"Have you ever thought that, maybe, we can fight our own fights? Your parents have been through a war, Techno is one of the strongest wizards we know, physically and magically, and Tommy is growing up to be a great wizard like him." I let go of his arm "And as for me...I never needed you help. I'm not a damsel in distress like im your stupid immaginations Wilbur! We could have figured things out if you only got your head put of your ass and reached out. But instead...you went with your own decisions. Well good luck, see where that leads you "

You might've been too harsh, ypu do admit that, but you couldn't stand to look at the mark on his arm

To sell your life to such a group of people, when there could have been better ways to do so...

Wilbur was so incredibly stupid.

❝ Punz ❞

Punz had asked you for help to keep an eye on his cousin, Draco

Apparently he was acting very weird in the train to Hogwarts and was caught giving something cursed to a student, who was meant to give it to Dumbledore

You and Punz both knew what was happening, but you needed to be certain

Unfortunately, you caught him in the act too late

Punz had tried to warn Draco, about having another choice and not having to follow in his parents footsteps

But it was too late, as the closet shook in the Room of Requirements and Death Eathers came out of there

You came fave to face with Punz's parents

"Well look who came back...are you finally over your 'hero' phase and ready to join us?" his father mocked

"I wouldn't join you even if I were the last good wizard alive" Punz spat, making his mother laugh "How foolish" she said, pulling me into her arms, wand pointed at my neck

"How about now?" "You let go off them! They aren't part of this argument"

The whole conversation was a blur for you, too concebtrated on finding a way to break free.

'Thank god I tried to learn wandless magic last year..." You thought as an idea sparked to mind

"Bombarda!" You screamed, scaring the parents by blowing up the closet behind them and running into Punz's arms "Let's go, now!"

You two ran out of the room as fast as you could, ready to tell the teachers about what had just happened