#and you're one to call someone weird asher

[mayashesfly]

I've been thinking of making my own rain code persona for a while now (I definitely won't use them for oc x makoto things, definitely)

And I've been bouncing around Forte ideas that might fit them the best that's also unique. Currently, I'm thinking of giving them UV Sight.

UV Sight gives them the ability to see anything under blacklight, the type of UV light used in investigations, making it easier for them to spot evidences that may be missed by the naked eye.

They can turn this vision on and off willingly and also have sunglasses they can wear to act as filters if needed provided by the WDO.

Overuse can cause them headaches and temporary light sensitivity. Thankfully, their eyes are adapted so that they won't suffer from any damages from UV light (or else they might've develop cataracts early on)

This next part isn't real but- There was this thing I read in a fanfic once about how a species that could also see UV light saw that there were patterns on human skin because of normal human cell growth and called them "pretty".

Back then, I thought that was so cool that it completely rewired my brain and somehow I thought that meant human skin glowed in their eyes and emitted pretty patterns in the air when new cells grow within the skin.

Some google searching now showed that this is false and my thoughts on how it actually looked like was completely different.

BUT I think the concept I came up with is still really cool. So I say fuck reality and I'll give my oc the ability to see people's skin glow and emit pretty patterns when new cells grow.

When it comes to normal humans, they can see them normally glow and emit patterns when new cells grow, however these patterns fade when cells decay. On the other hand, homunculi glow brighter and the patterns doesn't show any sort of decay because they don't fade.

My oc would be quite confused by it at first but think nothing of it because it's such a small trivia thing. However... there is someone who glows brighter than the rest....

[skunkox]

"Until he gets tired of me."

That's was Darlin's answer anytime someone questioned their relationship with Sam. A pircing but deep pain would shoot through their chest every time they said it. But it was always said in a joking tone and a movement to distract the other person from their face.

No one needed to see how that thought may have hurt them. They knew what they were getting into from jump. Darlin' felt safe. Safer than they had felt in a long time. They found that safety in Sam and were grateful for it. Nothing is promised, and to have had Sam in their life at all was a blessing and a mercy.

As much as they hated the thought of Sam ever leaving them, Darlin' could never blame him. They'd fucked up so many times in their life. People had gotten hurt. They were reckless. In being so, caused Sam to strain himself to care and worry for them.

There were day they wished Sam would just pack up and go. To rid himself the headache of their presence. But whenever they woke, he was always right there, holding them close and tightly.

He'd never do that, though. It was obvious to anyone who actually bothered to see them together. The tenderness in his eyes. The gentleness of his touch. The vampire was beyond sprung for the wolf. He was happy. Like he was finally healing.

Sam wouldn't be going anywhere. Sam learned that about himself very quickly after the first couple of meetings. Darlin' knew as well. A part of their brain screamed to believe otherwise. They hadn't done anything to deserve his grace. His patience. His love. Love that was promised to them until the end of their time.

"Do you think Count Yee-Haw will stay?"

The question had been asked once again. This time, by a young boy named Carlos. He had gotten attached to Darlin' as a toddler and was one of the few pack members that was genuinely happy to see them back.

Count Yee-Haw was the nickname the the pack kids had given Sam. Only they could call him that, though. It was a name bestowed upon him after the collective decided to put his vamp strength to the test. The poor man was literally dog piled and left to hold and stumble around with a minimum of 8 kids hanging off his frame like ornaments. It was a title he was growing fond of.

"Probably. At least until he gets tired of me." Darlin gave the boy a half-hearted smile and pulled forward the hood of his jacket.

"I heard some of the adults talking. They said that he wouldn't stay when you get older." Carlos admitted, frown all too clear on his face. "It's stupid. He obviously loves you. And you're happy now. Isn't that enough?"

The words spoken came from a place of care. Carlos had missed his favorite rebel and defender of Asher's antics. Truth be told, he was worried Darlin' would become uneasy around the pack again and got MIA again. They were more stable with the southern vamp at their side.

Darlin' was about ready to hug the kid in an attempt to soothe his nerves. But a single thought ran through their head. Carlos was a sweet kid. But what he said was just a little nice? Too nice to come from a tween.

"Besides. I don't think you'll ever stop being weird. A d he already talks like an old ma-." Darlin' cut him short with a smack to the back of his head.

"If you think that, why even ask?"

"Because I know you hear them too. And I don't want you guys to go anywhere."

🦇🐺🦇🐺🦇🐺🦇🐺

If you read all that, I'm sorry.

Labeling this as part 1 cause I'm tired. Sorta been drained all week. Hoping to get actually rest this weekend and do a part 2. I have a habit of starting things and not finishing.

AO3 scares me, so small shit will remain here for the time being.

[messenger-of-stupidity]

Redacted Incorrect Quotes

Redacted Masterlist

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Baabe: seductively takes off glasses Wow, you're… blurry.

~~~

Angel: If I see a bug, I simply leave the room elegantly and require someone else do something about it. Angel: If no one fulfills my wish, I simply never go back in there.

~~~

David: If karma doesn't hit you, I fucking will.

~~~

Baabe: Quitting! It's like trying, but easier.

~~~

Angel: My favorite outdoor activity is going back inside.

~~~

Asher: Hello, McDonald's, I would like to purchase 130 chicken nuggets. Prepare yourselves.

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Sweetheart: To everyone who has treated me poorly; I am sexier than you.

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Angel: If we were in prison you guys would be like my bitches.

~~~

Angel, on the phone: So no head? Angel: Throws phone and breaks skateboard

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at the supermarket Angel: All right, the last item on the list is "virgin oil." Angel: Angel: Wow. Imagine being an item and still being called a virgin. David: Please stop

~~~

David: Plants are basically the ideal friends. They are quiet, friendly, and easy to please. All they need is a little water and fresh earth, and they are perfectly happy to lie there all day in the sun. And they don’t make increasingly awful life choices, or hide their relationships. They have never, as far as I know, fucked a bee.

~~~

Sweetheart: Life keeps fucking me and I can't remember the safeword.

~~~

David: The next time I open up to someone, it'll be my autopsy.

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Baabe, looking at a dead phone: How do we bring this thing back to life? Magic? Live sacrifice? I know a guy in town-

~~~

Asher is ordering a cake over the phone Shop Employee: …and what would you like your cake to say? Asher, covering the phone to look at the others: Do we want a talking cake?

~~~

Sweetheart: I am literally evil incarnate. Sweetheart: I’m not actually, I just enjoy being evil. Sweetheart: Which I think actually makes it even more evil because I’m making a conscious effort.

~~~

Milo: In case you haven’t noticed, I’m weird. I’m a weirdo. I don’t “fit in” and I don’t WANT to fit in. Have you ever seen me without this stupid hat on? That’s weird.

~~~

David: The path to inner peace begins with four words… not my fucking problem.

~~~

Angel: The waiter at Olive Garden has been grating my cheese for 6 hours now, waiting for me to say when. Customers are screaming. Three people have died. Angel: I will not yield.

~~~

Sweetheart: I don’t need to touch grass, I need the fall of capitalism.

~~~

David: What doesn't kill me better start running, because now I'm fucking pissed.

~~~

Baabe: I'm yet to properly begin my history notes BUT!!!! I got 100 Baabe-percent on a quiz about european countries so who's the REAL winner here.

~~~

Darlin: I’m the sexiest bitch in this therapy waiting room.

~~~

Milo: trying to buy a Father's Day card at Hallmark Milo: Excuse me, do you have any that just say "You are my dad?" Associate: Well, I- Milo: How about "You banged my mom?" Associate: No… Milo: You know what, I'll just get a blank one. Milo: writes You are a father. This is a day. Here is a card.

~~~

Darlin: It's not like I try to blow things up, exactly. It just sort of happens. You've got to admit though, fire is fascinating.

~~~

Baabe: My dad has a spiked collar. Baabe: *dog

~~~

Asher: I know what a prism is! It's where you put bad people.

~~~

Angel: Two bros! Angel: Chillin' in a hot tub! Angel: Zero feet apart 'cause we're GAY AS FUCK!

[angel-noaxod]

even MORE incorrect quotes of the Shaw pack mostly angel in honor of Angel and Davey getting fucking HITCHED. YEAH

okay enjoy :)

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angel's friend: be honest with me, what is the real reason why you are not dating rght now?

angel: because my rommate doesn't like the idea of me bringing men home.

davey: for the last time, we're not roommates we're married!

angel: i didn't know you were in here..

- - - -

angel: you have exactly three seconds to explain why you just woke me up!

davey: because it's morning and you should be awake

angel: oh.. interesting..i didn't know you wanted to DIE today

davey: angel you can't kill me

angel: it's too late i've already decided how!

- - - -

angel: you're stupid!

asher: well you're dumb!

angel: ..

angel: i don't like your hair!

milo: *gASP* ohmyGod they went there-

- - - -

asher: okay this one's really simple!

milo: uhh.. water?

asher: no no no hot!

davey: lava?

asher: no no no think hotter!!

angel: oh oh! davey's dad!

tank: oh my God ew what..

asher: YES THAT'S CORRECT

davey: wait what the-

- - - -

asher: two best friends sitting in a tree!

babe: yup

asher: they might kiss!

babe: no

asher: they might?

babe: no they won't

asher:

asher: why'd you have to say that..

- - - -

*ash and angel playing a game*

angel: THE FUCK YOU CALL ME DAWG

angel: IM GOING FULL MEXICAN ON YOUR BITCH ASS

angel: *ANGRY SPANISH NOISES*

asher: DAVID TELL ME WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

davey: pf-

asher: WTF THEY SAYING BRO I DON'T SPEAK TACO BELL

- - - -

angel: when first met you, i thought you were weird and annoying

asher:

asher: and?

angel: and you are.

angel: i've just grown to like that about you

- - - -

angel: goodmorning my gorgeous fiance

davey: leave me alone

angel:

angel: SOMEONE woke up with an attitude!

- - - -

asher and milo singing loudly in the car: TOMOROW!! NA NA NA NA NA

angel: ash there ain't gonna be no tamananananana

angel: if you don't put your fucking seat belt be belt be belt ON!

davey, holding on to angel for dear life: we're gonna die-

- - - -

asher: how old are you again?

angel: uhh..

angel: it's 2022 right?

asher: yeah..

angel: yeah okay hold on..

angel: *starts counting on their fingers*

milo: ???

angel: [age]

asher: did you really just have to calculate your own age?

angel: well i didn't think i'd MAKE IT THIS FAR

- - - -

quinn: i could kill you right now if i wanted to.

angel: i..i mean like..so could anyone else..

quinn: . what?

angel: i mean like, so could a horse.. a cat..

angel: like i really ambitious duck..

angel: you're not special...

davey: oh my God.

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and now i give you

✨ angel hating christian for the rest of this post ✨

i know he got some character development but i still don't like him :)

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christian: you really shouldn't joke about your parents' deaths

christian: that's really disrespectful

angel:

davey: angel don't-

angel: what're you gonna do?

angel: tell my mom?

asher: pfft-

angel: tell my dad?

davey:

angel: go ahead! they're listening!

angel:

angel: they said SHUT UP

christian:

- - - -

christian: i think i pulled a muscle

angel: you can't pull what you don't have

- - - -

asher: what should we get christian for his birthday?

angel: talent.

milo: HA

davey:

- - - -

christian: thought you guys were my friends.

angel: IM not your friend :D

davey: Jesus angel

- - - -

angel: welcome to dating advice with angel!

angel: christian, what's your question!

christian: how do you tell if a girl likes you-

angel: she doesn't!

- - - -

christian: okay how do i get a girl to ask me out?

asher: uhh

angel: mm.. well you know how everyone says "just be yourself"?

christian: yes..?

angel: well don't do that!

- - - -

christian: you can't think of one thing that you like about me?

angel:

angel: i like when you're sad

- - - -

christian: this martini is delicious

angel: that's fucking fanta!

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my personal self-insert of angel is my favorite. interesting way of making you love yourself 💀

[dilfhwa]

Garden Kisses Chapter 4

Hey y'all.. I know it's been a while, but welcome back !

For as long as aaliyah could remember, as long as anyone could remember, the girl had been in awe of jeremiah fisher. and she didn't think that anything could change that, but seeing the boy walking around with his arms around a girl's shoulder made her realize.

he'd never actually been hers. of course, there had been moments where time had stopped, butterflies filling her stomach at each glance they shared. the way her eyes would light up like the fourth of july whenever jeremiah was near, but that moment made her realize that all those moments had been in her head.

—————————————————

she walked away before he could realize she was there, wandering off further onto the beach.

she made a stop at the cooler first, grabbing a can of soda—making sure it was soda and not alcohol, and continued her walk.

she wasn't going to let that little episode she had in her mind distract her from enjoying some time out of the house, even if she wasn't going to talk to anyone. she stopped and sat down near the water, staring at the beautiful sight in-front of her.

she hadn't noticed the person who had sat down next to her. only opening her eyes when she jumped at the feeling of someone tapping her on the shoulder.

"woah— i'm so sorry i didn't mean to scare you like that." the voice called out as aaliyah turned towards them.

the girl had gotten a better look at them, "no you're good, i just wasn't expecting anyone to come here." motioning to the spot the two had been sitting at.

"yeah, no, i just, i saw you by yourself and wanted to check up on you." the boy offered his hand, "i'm asher."

the girl returned the gesture, grabbing his hand and shaking it, "aaliyah." she smiled.

"that's a really pretty name." asher flashed the girl a smile.

"thank you." this boy's smile has aaliyah week to her knees.

"so," he leans closer to the girl, "what are you doing all the way out here? the party not interesting enough?" he questioned, scrunching his nose up whenever he finished his questions.

aaliyah let out a laugh at the boy's faces, shaking her head she replied.

"nah the party's fine, i'm just not the party type of person and the music's kinda... ass." the girl replied honestly as the song that had been playing was some weird edm mix of country and pop.

asher threw his eyebrows up, "what's wrong with the great words of taylor swift and megan thee stallion." he said in mock defense.

"i love a good megan thee stallion and taylor swift moment— don't get me wrong, i'm just not really in the party mood. and this one kinda blows." the girl shrugged.

"damn i guess i'll have to talk to the guys about that, maybe change the playlist into something different."

it had taken aaliyah a second to understand what the boy had said but when she got it she had to do a double take.

"wait, wait. this is your party? oh i'm sorry. i didn't mean it blows, i meant like it's a good party but it's kinda boring. and i'm not really helping my case, it's not that boring just—"

the girl began to ramble, asher looked at her with a smile on his face. god, she's really cute. the boy thought as she continued to both insult and compliment his party.

"it's all good," he said interrupting the girl as he placed his hand on top of hers, "it really does blow. and the music isn't my playlist some random guy got a hold of my phone and started playing random shit." the boy patted his pockets before his eyes went wide.

"as a matter of fact i probably should go look for my phone." the boy began to stand up, wiping the sand off of his shorts.

he looked down at the girl, her looking up at him.

"actually that can wait, would you like to dance?" he gave his hand to the girl.

"there's no music playing that remotely romantic enough to dance to." aaliyah eyed the boy.

"we can imagine it, come on." the boy threw back earning a smile from aaliyah.

the girl grabbed his hand, standing up with his help. when she stood up she noticed how much taller the boy had been.

asher had wrapped his arms around the girl's waist as she wrapped hers around his neck. the two swayed to the rhythm they had created, but had begun laughing at the song that was actually playing.

we at the hotel, motel, holiday inn we at the hotel, motel, holiday inn

the pair stood there in each other's arms for the next two songs, neither paying attention to those around them or back closer to the bonfire.

while aaliyah had been dancing with asher, she hadn't noticed that belly had joined the bonfire. nor did she notice steven trying to take the girl back home, her fall, and her talking to conrad and jeremiah. the girl had actually stormed off away from the bonfire as well, heading opposite to where aaliyah had been.

when the small group disbursed, jeremiah noticed a couple slow dancing closer to the water, he smiled. gathering the attention of whoever was close to him saying how they were so cute before turning away.

aaliyah and asher had pulled away, still smiling at each other.

"i have to get going, thank you for that. it was fun." the girl swore that her face was about to fall from how much she was smiling, her jaw started to hurt but she didn't mind it.

"are you sure? i mean your parents wouldn't mind if you stayed a little while longer right?" asher grabbed the girl's hand, almost convincing her to stay a little while longer.

the girl shook, "they wouldn't... but, i want to go check on my sister, she didn't want to come, and it's getting pretty late."

the boy nodded before reaching down towards the space they were previously sitting in and grabbing the girl's phone and handing it to her.

"here, and let me at least walk you to your car." the boy tried again.

"don't you have to find your phone?" the girl reminded him, asher's eyes growing wide again as he realized he never went to get his phone.

"shit your right, can i—can i at least get your number?"

aaliyah agreed, handing the boy her unlocked phone so that he could add his number in it. the pair made their way back to the bonfire, splitting apart when asher spotted the guy who took his phone.

with one last goodbye the two parted. liyah began to walk back towards the parking lot. being stopped by conrad, who seemed more than sober.

"li-li ! oh my god hi!" the older fisher boy threw us arms in the air when he saw the girl, leaving the girl who was with him to hug the younger.

"connie, hi?" liyah had been surprised by the boy's rowdiness.

the boy turned the two of them around to face the girl who had been with him that night, "nicole this is liyah, she's my little sister, yes she is." he reached his hands up to cup her face, shaking it between his hands moving to smoosh her face.

"isn't she adorable?" conrad had been annoying the younger girl a little, but she decided to ignore him seeing how he had been cross-faded at the moment.

"hi, nice to meet you." liyah lent a hand out to the older girl, who grabbed her hand before shaking it.

"likewise, do you uh," nicole motioned to the older boy currently shaking her head again.

"please." liyah begged, grateful when nicole had distracted the boy long enough for liyah to slip away.

waving a goodbye to the two liyah began her journey towards her car again, she made it this time getting in and locking the doors. she turned on the car and grabbed her phone deciding to listen to some music for a while before leaving.

she turned on sza again, shirt playing as she pulled a blue and purple tube, and a black tube from her pocket.

now—aaliyah wasn't addicted to anything, maybe mac and cheese and the color brown, but the girl had been going through different things that had caused her to pick up the habit. only partaking in it whenever she was really stressed and on a break from sports, just like when she'd smoked weed. the events of high school and life had been getting to the young girl so to let go of the stress she turned to the activity.

yes the girl had known it wasn't healthy and had tried other alternatives, but none of them had worked. the girl was constantly sitting in her room, listening to music with a vape or pen in her hand.

the access that the younger generation had to these things was concerning to the girl, nevertheless, she picked up the habit during the second semester of her sophomore year.

humming the lyrics to normal girl, she decided to roll down the window to let the smoke out. liyah had noticed that many of the party goers had made their way back to the parking lot, each and everyone of them rushing out.

liyah quickly stashed the vape and pen in her shirt, grabbing her eye drops from the center console and putting them her eyes, before turning the car on all the way, putting her seatbelt on, and beginning to drive away. she didn't need to be told what was happening, when she saw people rushing away from something she was quick to follow.

she braked hard as the car in front of her suddenly stopped, the driver getting out. she noticed the familiar curly-haired boy as he rushed towards her car, the boy's face turned into realization as he noticed liyah.

jeremiah leaned down to her window and she let it down.

"hey liyah bear, have you seen steven?"

"no why whats up?" liyah questioned.

"uh cops... i'm gonna go find him, wait here and we'll drive home together."

"wait jere—" the boy took off before liyah could finish her sentence.

rolling up her window she rolled her eyes and let out a puff of air. she waited two more minutes before deciding to not listen to the older boy. as the girl moved to pull her car out of park, she was met with two taps on her window.

liyah had jumped at the sound, turning as she saw a police officer standing there with a flashlight shining into the car. liyah froze for a moment before putting her car back in park and rolling her window down.

"good evening, have you been drinking?"

—————————————————

to say that laurel had been pissed, that would have been the understatement of the century.

the short asian woman had been woken up by the sound of knocking on the door at two a.m., luckily being the only one to wake up and not layla or susannah.

when she opened the door, it wasn't a sight she had wished to ever see.

in front of her had been the five children of the summer home, with two officers behind them.

when the police had left, not without the mention of the Fisher siblings' father and aaliyah's father, the older woman made sure to let the kids know just how upset she was.

"how could you guys be so irresponsible?" laurel questioned as she turned around to face the five teens.

"mom it wasn't a big deal," steven said moving towards his mother, " alright? I mean seriously, the cops were just looking to break up the bonfire." 

"not a big deal?" laurel rolled her eyes. as steven replied with a yes.

"i would say getting picked up by the cops for underage drinking is a pretty big deal, steven." her voice rising slightly as she scolded her eldest.

steven sniffs the air and scoffs, smelling the pungent familiar scent. "were-were you guys, you guys smoking tonight?"

"what? keep your voice down, susannah and layla's asleep on the couch." her voice rising more as she yelled at the boy.

 "i wasn't yelling. you were." steven said stuttering as he tried to defend himself.

"just so you know, laurel," jeremiah had said coming up behind steven to talk to the woman," i didn't drink tonight. i was the dd, i swear."

"i would also like to say, i for one a sober." aaliyah had defended after jeremiah.

"oh I'm so glad that at least two of you decided to be adults about this situation." laurel said waving a hand dismissively towards the two, and turning towards conrad.

"you're the oldest. what the hell's gotten into you?" she questioned the oldest fisher child.

" and when did you leave the house without telling anybody." shifting her words towards her daughter. "and what in the world are you two wearing?" motioning to the two youngest of the group.

liyah's eyebrows rose in surprise, what she had been wearing hadn't been different to what she usually wears. she turned to belly, noticing the pink dress, her eyes widening as belly had never been the type to wear clothes like that before. not that what she is wearing is anything bad.

"wait, what's wrong with i'm wearing?" liyah questioned, being ignored by the shorter woman.  

"it's taylor's. and why am i the only one who's not allowed to go out? i mean, aaliyah is younger than me and I don't see everyone complaining that she went out." belly questioned as she crossed her arms to cover the dress.

"it's not that you're not allowed, it's that you should have told us you were going." her voice rising more and more.

"first of all, they knew where i was going, i didn't sneak out of the house." although liyah had known where the girl had been coming from, she didn't appreciate being thrown under the bus like that. especially not by belly.

"how did you even get there?" once again ignoring the girl, laurel had asked her daughter. the girl responded to her mother softly by telling her she had walked to the beach.

"you know better than to walk that far down the beach alone late at night." laurel's voice had soon became louder and louder with each passing moment, liyah had looked into the living room to make sure that susannah and her mother were still sleeping, and not awoken by laurel.

"can you stop treating me like a kid?" belly's own voice rising as well.

"if you want to be treated like an adult, you need to act like one." laurel replied.

"then maybe you guys should, too." conrad said lifting his head to look towards laurel.

"what does that mean?" laurel questioned, only earning an eye roll from conrad.

laurel scoffs before speaking again, "i hope you realize this night could have ended a lot differently if your family wasn't your family." the sentence being aimed not only towards conrad and jeremiah, but to aaliyah's as well.

"we're sorry, laur." jeremiah had said.

laurel sighs before dismissing them to their rooms, belly had been the first to leave the doorway, followed by her brother then jeremiah and then aaliyah. Aaliyah had barely made it past the second corner that lead into the kitchen when she heard laurel talking to conrad.

" I don't understand what is going on with you." her voice had been softer than when she had been speaking to them previously.

"nothing," conrad said dismissing the conversation, "nothing's going on." he finished before following the others towards their rooms.

aaliyah had changed her clothes before laying in her bed. she laid for a while before deciding to pick up her phone. unlocking the phone, she swiped through her apps before landing on her contacts. clicking on the contact she decided to send a text.

hey, thanks for tonight.

Zoo talks 💕💕 Sooo.... how have y'all been.... I know that its been like, almost a year since i've updated, but I have a very good reason for that... I had actually started college and had been going through some personal things. things have gotten slightly better so here I am realising and update ! Since I had gotten out of school literally the last week of April I have no idea what to do with myself so I will be working on updates not only for garden kisses but for the other stories as well. I can't guarantee that they will be uploading during a certain time but do know that I am working !

— zoo (word count: 2649) this is so fucking long holy fuck.

!taglist! — @revemixer @wolfstarsimpxx

[whataradscavver]

“Who are they?”

[Prompt]

“Some trader, I guess,” he said with a shrug, motioning towards the door. “Said they got books from yeh not too long ago and wanted to see if yeh had anything new or if yeh wanted to see what they had found or something. He didn’t have a gun on me, so I figured he’s a nice enough lad. Weird, though.”

[minccinoocappuccino]

Hello, if you're still up for the oc relationship ask things, I'd like to ask about the relationship of Asher, Azar and Rusty with 🐱 (Grim) 🐺 (Jack) and ⚗️ (Crewel) !

Asher 🐱 Grim finds him weird n creepy at first Grim was excited to hear a student who could read futures but after the cryptic message Asher gave him he know longer likes the idea of future readings n thinks its stupid mostly because he terrified of Asher now. Asher thinks Grim is cute and likes his excitement after using his UM to read Grims fate he thinks Grim might b a little in over his head. Grim wont tell anyone the future Asher read to him n f Asher gave him the real one or lied is something only Asher himself knows. 🐺 Jack and Asher get along very well as both r very self reliant. Jack admires Asher for his hard work n not helping Leona n Ruggie undermined the maglift tournament even f Asher was asked to by Ruggie. Jack however isnt a fan of Asher UM and thinks its pointless to know your future before hand. Asher always admires ppl who refuse his magic since it seems like there very self confident in who they are an what they will become. ⚗️ They get along decent as teacher n student Asher is very good at potions so he makes no problem for Crewel. Asher doesnt mind Crewel but isnt a fan of the good boy n sit phrases the teacher likes to say but other than that he has no reason to dislike the teacher.

Rusty 🐱 Grim adores Rusty! No only does good things seem to happen when Rusty is around he also hangs around Kalim so that means a high chance of a invite to a party n free food. Rusty finds Grim charming but finds hanging around him to often leads to overstimulation from all the excitement so he will avoids Grim sometimes f he is already having a day. 🐺 Rusty is a AWD beastmen which r sometimes called Painted wolves so him and Jack get along very well when its about beastmen culture. Jack n Rusty dont really see each other often but they do recognize each other n are always happy to talk to the other.  ⚗️ Rusty is a enigma to Crewel...He doesnt understand how even with the wrong ingredients Rusty is able to do the right potion. He knows there is def magic involved but Rusty has never shown a UM or to b very good at magic itself. He cant prove Rusty is cheating but he knows something is fishy. Rusty gets amused by Crewel being shocked at all potions he brings that should fail but works he finds it funny. 

Azar 🐱 Azar finds Grim annoying and aggravating he hates how loud he is especially when it ruins his nap. Grim isnt a fan of Azar either he thinks the other is very intimidating n scary he use to like Azar’s competitiveness until he realized he cant beat Azar in anything and then it just became frustration towards the tiger beastmen. 🐺 Jack admires Azar’s strength and how hard he works for his goal but he doesnt like his attitude nor his laziness when he isnt trying to beat someone. Azar is to much like Leona for Jack comfort and when they r together he usually cant deal with either of them as they just feed off each other emotions. Azar find Jack annoying when he is being self righteous n doesnt like the way Jack thinks u can only win thru hard work n ur own skill as just using ur muscles as ur only tool sets u back a lot when trying to win.  ⚗️ Azar is either a problem student or the best student and theres no in between. He is either trying to beat everyone around him so he makes the best potions or he is uncaring and doesnt show up n f he does he does nothing but look bored the whole time. And using the good boy/sit phrases around him is just sure to put Azar in a bad mood n make it where he doesnt do anything n class other than mess with the other students. 

Thank u so much for asking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[ambivalent-anarchy]

You've Got Moves

Masterlist

Part 2

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Warning: None

Summary- [Y/N] asks Peter to do some TikTok dances with her.

Bonus: Clueless Peter. FLUFFF. Also guy best friends are the best best friends to have lol

If you need a description for Asher, just think whatever your idea of a really hot guy is lol.

A/N- this is a repost because the first one was blocked from tags due to tiktok being weird about links😬

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

"Oh my gosh bitch, just ask him."

Your best friend Asher glared at you with pure impatience in his eyes. You'd been going on about this in every gym class for literal weeks.

"Oh my God, doesn't that guy over there have such a classic 'tiktok guy' face?"

"Ooh, look he's flexible! He's probably a really good dancer too."

"You think he'd do a tiktok with me? Nah, that's dumb."

"I bet he's a tiktoker and I just haven't found his page yet."

It drove him crazy. He didn't know whether you had a crush on this guy or if you really were just that obsessed with tiktok to the point where you were finding random people who looked good to do them with, but at this point he didn't care. He just really wanted to stop having conversations every day that ended with him staring at some guy and wondering if he could throw it back.

You watched the boy in question occasionally. You'd practically studied his physique, his face, his little ticks. Everything. But you didn't even know his name. All you knew was:

You definitely wanted to do a tiktok with him.

"Nah, Ash. He's probably gonna think I'm weird. I mean, who just goes up to someone and says 'yo you wanna do a tiktok with me?"

Asher facepalmed and groaned. "Literally anybody that wants to do a tiktok with someone else, [Y/N]." He rolled his eyes with a chuckle as he ruffled your hair with his hand. "C'mon, stop being a wimp and go ask the guy. Cuz if you don't, and I have to keep hearing you going on about his 'classic tiktok boy look', I'm seriously gonna jump off a cliff."

"Fuck you," you snickered with a smile.

Asher gave you a smirk. "You wish."

"Ewww," you groaned. Rolling your eyes, you looked back to the boy you'd been thinking about. He was sitting with his friend on the other side of the gym. You bit your lip anxiously. "Nah, I'm not gonna do it." You looked again. "Okay I'm gonna do it." He was just sitting there minding his own business. "Uh-uh. Nope. Not gonna do it."

"Oh my God..." Asher shook his head. "Fucking lost cause- HEY YO PETER!," he yelled to the other side of the gym, waving his hand wildly and signaling a 'come here' motion when the brown haired boy looked towards him.

Gasping, you turned around and slapped Asher's arm harshly.

"What was that for?!," he asked, rubbing the spot lightly.

"You knew his name?!," you hissed. "You knew his name this whole time and you never told me?!"

He simply smirked in return. "You never asked," he said, earning a middle finger from you.

"You suck," you scolded.

"You swallow," he shot back with a smirk.

Looking back, it made sense that Asher would know his name. After all, he was the social butterfly of social butterflies. You were sure that the only way you had caught a friend like him was because you were already his best friend before he hit puberty. While with others it causes acne and insecurity, it made Asher a literal supermodel (along with a bit of acne, I mean c'mon it's high school). And the fact that he was athletic, being on both the basketball team and the tennis team didn't hurt either. He hung with practically every clique in school, dragging you along wherever he went, though he preferred to hang with the popular crowd the most.

You both looked back to where Peter sat to see that he hadn't moved yet. He was halfway standing up but seemed to be caught up in a deep, frantic, borderline-panicking conversation with his friend.

Asher cocked his head to the side. "Aw, I think he's shy," he snickered. "You got yourself a little shy tiktoker." He shook his head slightly and as he continued to laugh. "Hang on, I'll go get him."

"Just don't say anything weird," you said, pushing him away to go fight your battle.

You drew in a long breath as you watched them converse and you waved when you saw Peter's eyes following Asher's point in your direction.

Knowing your best friend he was probably saying something super embarrassing that you'd have to explain away later, that is, if Peter walked over there in the first place.

"You know he really likes you, right?"

You swung around and looked to the bleacher seats on your right to see a curly haired girl with a book in her hands staring at you with the most unamused face you've ever seen in your life.

"Who?," you asked, extremely confused as to why this girl who never talked to you was talking to you. "Trust me, Asher and I have already been down that road. We're good where we are."

"Not him. Parker," she said tilting her head in Peter's direction. "He stares at you alot. It's pretty weird if you ask me. But then again, you stare at him alot too," she noted rather blatantly. "You guys could probably work. You're both dorks." She smirked, satisfied with her observations and went back to her book as if nothing happened.

"I don't like him," you mumbled back. "I don't even know him."

She didn't raise her eyes from her book as she sighed loudly. "Well then why're you so obsessed with doing a video with him because he has a 'classic tiktok boy look' when you've got Asher -who arguably has more of a 'classic tiktok boy' look than Parker- right next to you, who would probably be more than willing to do some lame dance with you being that he's your best friend?," she asked (more accused than asked).

"Oookay, whatever...," you mumbled, figuring you didn't need to explain yourself to someone you didn't know, turning back to where you could see Asher walking back to you, Peter and his friend close behind. When they finally reached you, Asher put a hand on both you and Peter's shoulders with a smug grin on his face.

"Okay. [Y/N], meet Peter. Peter, meet my dear friend [Y/N]."

You plastered a smile on your face and waved, to which Peter nervously smiled and waved back. He shared a quick look with his friend and then spoke up. "So, uh, can I help you or something?," he asked, snapping you from your thoughts.

"Hmm?," you hummed.

"It's just that, I-i don't.. really know why I'm over here.

"You threw your hand over to the left of you, expecting to hit Asher in the chest. "Ugh, Ash you didn't even te-" You turned your head when you felt nothing but air. "Ash?"

"Hey [Y/N]!"

You turned your head towards his voice and saw that Asher had moved to sit next to the girl who spoke to you before.

"We should really read this book Michelle's reading together. It's called 'The Slaughterhouse Five'!"

You rolled your eyes. Asher hardly even read books unless they were required. Dumb flirter.

You tilted your head toward this "Michelle" girl, whose head was stuck in a book as she actively ignored Asher sitting next to her. You chuckled, mouthing a quick 'good luck' to your friend before turning back to the timid boy who was watching you expectantly.

Shaking out the anxiety in your head, you finally spoke to him. "Uh, I have this thing that I'm trying to do and I know you don't know me and I don't know you and we've never really talked at all and this is kinda weird, but I kinda think that you'd be awesome for it," you rambled, continuing when Peter nodded. "So would you maybe wanna do it with me?"

"Well, what is it exactly?," he asked.

You shrugged. "Just some tiktoks," you said. "I mean, it's totally fine if you don't wanna-"

"Um, sure. But question, and this is probably gonna sound really lame but," he started. He blushed as he looked down at his feet. "What is a tiktok?"

You slapped your hand over your mouth, trying to hide a laugh. You looked to Peter's friend who was still standing there beside him. "I-is he serious?"

His friend laughed too, nodding his head. He patted Peter (whose face was now beet red) on the back and whispered into his ear. Peter's face lit up. "Oh! Gotcha. Thanks, Ned."

"So will you?," you asked.

He scratched his head. "Well sure, but full warning. I'm not much of a dancer."

Michelle looked up from her book once again. "Shut up, loser. You pick up combinations faster than anyone I know."

Your face brightened. "I knew it!" You grabbed his arm and pulled him to the closest wall. "Okay so we'll just start off easy, alright?" Peter nodded in response. "Ummm, let's do this one."

Peter watched it about three times and handed your phone back to you, to which you gave it to Ned so that he could record it.

"Uh, we go right first, right?," Peter asked, going over the entire dance in his mind as he stood beside you while you checked with Ned to see if the shot was good.

"Yeah," you said, smiling as you got a thumbs-up from Ned. "Alright let's do this."

Peter would be lying if he said he had any idea what he was doing. Technically, he knew the dance. It wasn't hard at all and only took him watching it two times to get the hang of it.

But what was he really doing??? First, some really cool guy with the best haircut and chiseled jaw he's even seen who he never thought would be talking to him ever just walks up to him and Ned and practically demands (in a really cool, nonchalant, and non-aggressive way) that he goes to the other side of the gym to the girl that he's been secretly (well not so secret by the way Peter crushes) crushing on without giving him a clear reason. Then he gets there to find out that this totally hot girl picked him out of everyone in the entire gym to do dances with and he actually manages to suck up his nervousness enough to agree??

In a word, wild.

"Okay, that was pretty good," you said as you watched the video. Peter didn't know why, but he could feel a 'but' coming.

You gave a small smile. "But-"

Ah. There it was.

"Look dude," you sighed before pointing at his face. "You are, like really cute. You gotta own that and put it to use, man!"

Peter's eyes went wide and immediately he looked to Ned, who was also freaking out behind you.

You called him cute.

He liked you and you just called him cute.

You were one of the most popular girls in school, he liked you, and you just called him cute.

You continued. "You gotta put some false confidence on it! Bite your lip or something. Get into the music, man."

Peter's face was the reddest it'd ever been and you were sure that he was probably never used to getting a compliment by the way he was acting.

"U-uh, um. Wowww, heh, uh thanks," he mumbled, not really sure how to respond. His voice was wavering and he looked anywhere but you. "So, uh, you want to r-run it again?"

But of course, like all good things, it came it an end.

The gym coach came out clapping his hands together, demanding everyone's attention. "Okay everybody time for drills!"

You sighed. "Guess I'll just have to go with the first one. Thanks anyway, Peter," you said with a smile. "You've got some moves."

Once you turned away, immediately your face fell.That sucked.

You walked back to where Asher was getting up from his where he sat with MJ, and to your surprise, they were actually having conversation.

He waved and tilted his head to Peter in question. You shrugged in response, giving a 'kinda' motion with your hand.

"Hey [Y/N]!"

You turned back around and saw Peter with a cute and bashful smile on his face. "What up?"

"I-i was....I was wondering if m-maybe you'd...like to, um, maybe do this again tomorrow?"

On the insides, you were totally freaking out. This was great. You thought you'd scared him away but he wanted to do it again. "Yeah, totally! We can go to my house after school and-"

"I can't right after school," he rushed. "How about 6?"

"Sure. That's fine. 6 it is. I, uh, I need your number so I can send you my address." You whipped out your phone and gave it to him so that he could put his number in. Before sending your address, you paused. "You're not some psycho killer, are you, Peter?"

He laughed. "Nah, you've got nothing to worry about from me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~that afternoon~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

---

KingAsh👑😎: he there yet?

[Y/N]: nope

[Y/N]: said he's on his way tho

[Y/N]: hes lucky hes cute otherwise I'd be mad that hes so late

KingAsh👑😎: pls don't tell me u fell in love after one tiktok🙄

[Y/N]: of course I didn't jeez man

[Y/N]: but i mean im not blind👀

[Y/N]: also...

[Y/N]: whats up with u and that Michelle girl?? did you get her number?

KingAsh👑😎: ...

KingAsh👑😎: Fuck u

[Y/N]: u wish

KingAsh👑😎: well only if you think you can handle me😏

[Y/N]: omg just stop talking forever

---

Your head popped up from your phone when you heard the doorbell ring. You sent a quick text to Asher and ran downstairs to open the door for Peter.

"Uh, hey!," he said with a smile. "Sorry for being so late."

"Hey Peter," you greeted. You paused. "Um, mind if I call you Pete?"

He blushed, scratching his head. "Nah I don't mind. I get that alot," he said, stepping into your home.

"M'kay, I got some pizza in my room if we end up getting hungry and ahh, let's go up," you said, leading Peter to your room.

Peter looked around and noticed how quiet it was. "Where are your parents?," he asked.

"Well that's a million dollar question," you chuckled. "I live with my uncle."

"Oh," Peter hummed. "I live with my aunt." He announced, a bit too strangely happily.

"So, it's a Friday evening," you said, shifting topics. "We've got all the time in the world! So let's get it! I'll teach you everything..."

What you didn't know was that Peter spent almost all of his time on patrol scrolling through all the popular trends of tiktok and even finding your page and practically obsessing over it for hours. He'd studied and prepared and he was determined to impress you. And hopefully, if everything went according to his plan, you'd think he was more than cute by the end of the day.

---

Part 2 here

[dreaminae]

We All Need The One Friend.

( Author's Note: My original intention was to write a less angsty version of Spelivia season 3, however with the hiatus things changed. In the next chapter, I jumped to episode 6. It will have the same basis as 'Teenage Love', but including my plotline changes. Anyhow, thanks for reading. Feel free to comment if you have any questions.)

Chapter 4

"You can't avoid that boy forever, Liv. Why not just call things off?" Kia asked curiously. "Even if you can't be with Spence, you should not drag out your dead-end relationship with Asher."

"It's not a dead-end relationship." Liv huffed from her end of the phone, before consuming a spoonful of her fruit cup. "We aren't connecting the same as we did before. That's all."

"Because you ditch his every attempt to spend time alone with you." Kia sassed. "Or do you not remember inviting me to the movies two nights ago as the third wheel on your date."

"What do you want me to do, Ke?" Liv scoffed repeatedly. Her hand slid to the side of her bowl where her blue water bottle stood. The blue pigment concealed the colorless liquor that the bottle contained daily. Sighing at the thought of what breaking up with Asher might lead to, Liv dragged the bottle off the countertop. Bringing the straw to her lips, she downed a small gulp of alcohol.

Her throat burned, but her anxiety lessened from the feeling of the booze numbing her insides. She could hear Kia calling her name repeatedly, but focused on her silent voice playing her head.

"It's not a pill. It's not a pill." She allowed the words to echo through her mind as she had multiple times over the last month and a half.

Breaking from her guilty conscience, Liv responded to Kia. "Sorry, bad signal."

"Girl, you need a new phone." Kia laughed, unaware of what took place in the last few moments on Liv's end of the line. "Anyway, just do what I said."

"I can't break up with Asher." Olivia rationalized. "If I do, I might mess things up between Spencer and Layla. He might get the wrong idea. Then Layla will want to know what's going on." Olivia predicted cautiously. "Nope. Things are better this way."

"Not for you." Kia scowled. "How long are you going to put Layla's happiness before your own."

"I'm not." Layla lied partly. "Layla makes Spencer happy. And if he is happy, then so am I."

The sound of the doorbell cut into the phone conversation.

"Hold on, Ke. Someone is knocking." Liv urged, strolling from the kitchen to the front door.

"Stall this conversation all you want. You and I both know who Spencer wants, and it isn't Layla." Kia snorted. "Not anymore."

"Layla!" Liv shouted, surprised to see the topic of her conversation standing at her front door. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Friday." Layla shrugged, walking into the Baker residence without another word. "We haven't spent much time together since school started. I thought we could hang out today." 

Olivia blinked in a flustered motion, confused by Layla's sudden presence. She'd made a mission out of avoiding the young producer. A close friendship wasn't in the market for the two of them in Olivia's personal opinion.

Every time she spoke to Layla, Olivia felt a ping of jealously over losing Spencer to her. It wasn't like last year either.

Watching Spencer kiss Layla that night in Vegas felt like a knife through the heart to Liv. Forced to see him with Layla every day was emotionally draining. But Liv knew she had no right to be upset.

Spencer told her how he felt, and Liv pushed him away. She ran away from him, sending him back to Layla on a silver platter. She should not resent them for what her actions caused, yet she did. And she hated herself too.

Olivia hated herself for pushing them away since summer ended. She hated herself for pushing them together. She hated herself for being too weak to go for what she wanted. She hated herself for turning to alcohol in times of stress, instead of being strong enough to face her problems. She hated that she let things get this far out of hand.

"Kia, I've gotta go." Liv bid her friend goodbye.

"Think about what I've been saying." Kia encouraged hopefully. "You should be happy too."

She hung up before Liv could argue that she was happy.

"Kia? Spencer's ex-girlfriend Kia?" Layla questioned curiously, wondering when the two girls became so close.

"Yeah, we hung out a lot over summer." Liv detailed vaguely, leaving Spencer out of the picture. "Mostly helping out with volunteer activities around Crenshaw. Plus, she's into that activist stuff that I cover for my podcast." Olivia added, barely scratching the surface with her friendship with Kia.

Truth is, Kia helped Liv a lot over the summer. They related through Liv's PTSD -- caused by the shooting -- because, growing up in Crenshaw, Kia had experience in dealing with the aftershock of shootings. Furthermore, she and Kia shared similar journalistic hobbies that opened Olivia's eyes to what she might want to do after high school. On top of that, Kia was the only person that Olivia confided in about her feelings for Spencer. Olivia trusted Kia, and with everything going on, Liv wasn't handing out trust varily easy these days.

"That's cool. We should all hang out together sometime." Layla spoke, breaking Olivia from her thoughts.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun." Liv shrugged, sensing that offer wouldn't remain on the table for very long. "Umm, so what are you doing here? Not that you can't drop by," Liv fumbled over her wording. "It's just, I thought you'd be busy at the studio."

"Coop and Spencer are in a weird state right now, and I don't want things to get awkward between Coop and me." Layla clarified to Liv.

"Right, so you're hiding out until things blow over?" Liv giggled, rounding the kitchen counter to grab her bottle from beside the area where Layla sat.

"Basically." Layla agreed. "Anyway, it's not like you're busy, right?"

"Asher wanted to have 'us weekend'," Liv answered as an excuse to keep Layla from coming up with any plans. "We haven't had much alone time since he came back."

"Alone time sounds nice." Layla agreed once more, in a similar position with Spencer. Other than their occasional late-night sleepovers, Layla couldn't remember the last time she and Spencer spent time by themselves.

"Yeah, I guess." Olivia sighed, knowing she was the cause of the lack of connection in her relationship.

At the thought of relationships, she couldn't help, but to ask her next question. "What about Spencer?"

Concern for Spencer was second nature to Liv at this point. But Olivia also wondered why Layla was at her house if she desired alone time with Spencer. Surely, Spencer was in the need of comfort if he was fighting with his closest, childhood friend.

Layla couldn't help but to fall quiet for a second in reaction to Olivia's constant concern for Spencer. Liv barely acknowledged her problems with Asher, yet found Spencer's problems of complete interest.

"He went to his family cabin for the weekend." Layla finally allowed herself to respond. "He's going to clear out the last of the boxes, and to clear his head, I suppose," Layla added, unable to give Olivia a full report.

After all, Spencer failed to give Layla a full description of the thoughts rumbling inside his mind. "I offered to go with him, but he insisted that he wanted to be alone, so..." Layla dragged out, unsure what to do.

Liv rolled her eyes at the mention that Spencer insisted upon being alone. He is always prepared to help others, but never asks for help when he needs it. He and Liv were alike in that way. Which was fine, because they had one another to hello out when they were too stupid to ask for it.

"This is the first time Spencer is going to the cabin since his dad died," Olivia stated matter of factly. "He shouldn't be there alone."

Layla cleared her throat, reading into Liv's firm tone. It was evident that despite Layla's position as Spencer's girlfriend, Olivia felt that she comprehended what Spencer needed better than Layla did.

[ewshannon]

I Love My Mother's Killer

Photo by: E. W. Shannon (c) 2020

I Love My Mother's Killer

by

E.W. Shannon

At three a.m. on a Sunday morning, through a glass door, I saw mother take her last breath. The ICU doctor warned it wouldn't be a long drawn out process, but I think even the nurse and the respiratory therapist were a bit surprised at how quickly she stopped. Stopped being alive. Stopped being Mabel Harper. Stopped being Mom and Grandma. I was a little shocked at how fast she went from being my mother to being 'the body,' almost as if I could see the tether between her and the ethereal part of the universe sever in front of me.

I stood outside, in my hospital booties, gown, gloves, hair cover, mask, and face shield while they removed her breathing tube. Her nurse, Vanessa, looked up at me when she realized how quick death had come. She came out of the room, took a deep breath, and gave me the news. "I'm sorry Mr. Harper, she's already gone." She paused to let me process and perhaps breakdown. When it became obvious, I wasn't going to go into hysterics, she continued. "Just let the respiratory therapist come out and then you can go in."

"No, that's okay." I started taking off the protective gear and felt guilty at having wasted it just to stand in a hallway. Talking to strangers has never been a strength of mine and the circumstance of my mother's death, or I guess any death, made it even worse. All the autistic tics and traits I had worked so hard on to lessen or get rid of came back like somebody poured them over me from a bucket. The stutter, the inability to look someone in the face, the sweating, all descended upon me at once. "I-I-I-Is there a-a-a-anything else y-y-y-you need from me?"

Vanessa placed a hand on my arm. Even through my shirt and the gown and her glove, I could still feel her warmth. "You want to sit down?"

"N-n-n-n-no, I-I-I-I'll b-b-be okay. I just need to go d-d-d-d-do a b-b-breathing exerc-c-c-c-ise." On top of all the sweating and stuttering I had unconsciously begun crying and hadn't even realized it.

"Okay. Um, no, there's nothing else we need right now from you. We'll call the mortuary and they'll be in contact with you." She half looked at me with pity and half with awe. For months now her world had been a constant dialogue about COVID; for over a week she had seen me as a competent sane man, and now a certified medical freak stood in front of her coming apart at the seams. Having an evolving medical curiosity in front of her must have been a nice change of pace from the pandemic.

"Thank you for e-e-everything."

"No problem. Sorry for your loss." She patted my arm again and I felt her shift internally. Her voice changed into a hospital administrator to catch my attention. "Make sure you leave the face mask on until you leave the building and use hand sanitizer as you exit this unit, as well as when you exit the building downstairs.

"Thank you."

She went back into my mother's room and pulled a curtain across the glass door.

I don't remember leaving the unit, how I got downstairs and exited, how I found my car in the parking garage, or if I ever used any hand sanitizer. I just remember sobbing with my head leaned against the steering wheel, my tears snaking their way through the Chevy emblem before falling into my lap. Eventually I started the car and headed home. At first, I tried to craft what I would say to my daughters, Lily and Layla, but found I could either drive or work on a speech for my girls, but not both. So, I just drove and let my subconscious wander and it wasn't long before it took me back to that innocent day less than a month ago.

It's so stupid really. As a family we had been so careful to self-isolate as a group; it felt like Swiss Family Robinson, but with Wi-Fi. A drive-by birthday party for a seven-year-old is what started the death knell for mother. A boy named Asher, a friend of Lily's, stood in the driveway as, one by one, friends (and their obliging parents) stopped and sang Happy Birthday, hooked a gift bag onto a six foot metal pole usually used for skimming a pool, and then waited for the little boy to yell out "Thank you!" showing off all the open spaces in his mouth where teeth had fallen out as he grinned like an idiot.

The thought of giving Lily a list of rules never occurred to anyone. Her ten-year-old sister held only a tentative grasp on the word 'pandemic.' To Layla it meant the bully she'd acquired at the beginning of the year was now null and void, she could go to class in questionable states of dress at the dining room table, she was no longer the weird kid who ate hummus and sprouts sandwiches alone in the cafeteria, and, most importantly to her, she got to sleep in for an extra hour.

Lily, however, was quite different. Every teacher's report we'd gotten on her included the phrase "social butterfly" or some variation of "very verbal." In every group picture from school, Lily grabbed the focus by placing herself dead center, usually with half the students looking at her rather than the camera. Since birth she had always been everybody’s friend and greeted everyone with a hug. I always imagine her studying Layla and seeing how heavy and dour she was and deciding to be the complete opposite.

So, there we were on a warm day in May, I drove, my wife, Joy, sat up front with me, and my mother sat between Layla and Lily in the back seat. I don't know why I put the car in park that day as we sang and put our bag on the pole. Remembering the 'clunk' of the doors unlocking sometimes wakes me up at night. I can vividly remember the bright green bow falling off the bag and how fast Lily had been at getting out of her booster seat and out of the car. Before my wife or I could comprehend what was happening, she had picked up the bow off the asphalt, playfully stuck it to Asher's forehead, and hugged him. No mask, no gloves, no ridiculous two-foot wide piece of plexiglass like at the grocery store, just two children doing what you want children to do, being caring, thoughtful, kind, unreserved, and picking up their litter.

I wouldn't say our family has any real germaphobes, but we did exercise a bit of caution as the tallies of deaths and infections continued their upward trajectory on the news. Joy and I had surrendered to the idea of life with COVID rather than life after COVID. My wife still went to the grocery store with the girls in tow. My mother made them each twenty masks with different patterns, each girl getting their name embroidered in one of the corners, so instead of telling them they 'had' to wear a mask we just had to say, "Go pick out a special mask to go with your outfit." Of course, they weren't wearing masks that day, as we weren't supposed to be near anyone.

When Lily got back into the car and buckled herself into her booster seat, a noticeable silence that accompanied her. Joy broke the hush. "Here Lily, put some hand sanitizer on." She then covered Lily's little hands with ten pumps of hand gel from a Costco-sized container.

I looked back at Lily's glistening dripping hands and whispered in my wife's ear, "Unless you're going to pump it down her nose and throat, the damage is done."

She turned back around in her seat, put a single pump of hand gel on her own hands and took a deep breath as she nervously rubbed it in. "Yeah, you're right. I mean, what are the odds?" She shrugged her shoulders and gave me an unconvincing smile.

The next day Joy sent an email to Asher's mother to ask, with the utmost of political correctness, if their family might be harboring a deadly contagion. The reply came back quick assuring us that we had nothing to worry about and asking if we might be harboring a deadly contagion. "Remember when these emails were about kids biting and organizing bake sales," I asked her after reading the reply.

The day after that I caught my wife typing in 'how many days for covid symptoms after possible infection.' Before she could press 'enter' I answered her, "Two to fourteen days." She pressed 'enter' anyway and then let out a sigh with her head resting in her hands. "Told ya so."

"It might have updated since you looked." Her tense reply made me get up and massage her shoulders.

"It'll be okay. None of us are sick. Mom's been fine since she moved in after her hip surgery. Worst case, we get sick and we get over it." I tried my best to fill the statement with confidence, but the tiny bit of doubt I let slip by was all she heard. I looked across the foyer and saw Lily in my mother's room, sitting in her lap having a story read to her, and hoped I was right.

Two more days went by and then Joy woke up with flu-like symptoms, achy, fever, a slight cough, but nothing too alarming. The next day Layla woke with similar symptoms, but not as extreme. We tried to go through a drive-up testing site, but once my wife saw the line, she gave the order to turn back. "It's like Schrödinger’s cat, let’s just hope we only have to open two boxes," she said. They each had symptoms for three days and then they cleared. My wife attributed their miraculous recovery to the vegan diet she had put the family on the previous year. I gave more credit to luck.

Day twelve I woke to the sound of a duck on fire quacking from downstairs, at least that's what it sounded like to me. I found my mother in her chair coughing and felt her hot clammy head. "Get dressed Mom, we're going to the hospital." She didn't answer, just shook her head, and shuffled over to her closet. A few hours later she became a patient in the special COVID ward of our local hospital.

A few days later I got a call from Vanessa, just starting the night shift, telling me they had transferred my mother to the ICU and asking if she had a living will. While having a living will makes you feel prepared for death, when somebody outside your family asks to see it, it's the most ominous feeling ever.

Two lights away from the entrance to our neighborhood, in the small hours of the morning with a few of my mother's effects in a hospital bag on the floorboard, I pulled the car over into a 7-Eleven parking lot and vomited all over a Japanese Boxwood. It wasn't a virus causing me to hurl, but a thought, a window into the future. Someday Lily will look back on this, maybe she'll come across one of those masks with my mother's embroidery on it, maybe she'll just remember waking up to the horrible news, but at some point she might make the connection to the bow on Asher's head and her grandmother dying.