#annoying. and i was like you know who else is incredibly annoying. alex and henry…. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

spiltscribbles · 5 years ago

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My Saving Grace

Notes: This was written for my beautiful, sweetheart @tedddylupin as part of our server’s Spring Exchange <3 I’m sorry that this isn’t a surprise anymore but I love you and I’m sorry that this is late. I hope that you enjoy it! Thank you to the realist babe @omgcmere for dealing with my shit while writing this. You can join our server here » https://discord.gg/g2ZgKkJ

A Reblog is worth a thousand stars.

It’s a thick, sprinkling spring morning, and Henry’s standing outside the Matin Bleu like he’s done every Easter his family spent in the states. It’s a small, conspicuous bistro fashioned in the French model that lies in the northern Hamptons. Henry knows it’s every nook and crevice, knows the pastel tablecloths and porcelain china, and he noticed when they adopted new silverware two years earlier. He knows this place like the back of his hand, holds it synonymous to his grandmother’s ever-appraising gaze and Philip’s stiff upper lip and the way it sometimes felt like he was being suffocated by the formality of it all— by the unbridled expectations held for a Mountchristen heir. And God, this is pathetic, the fact that Henry can’t even step into a brunch with his family without the ominous sensation that he’s about to step into enemy territory. Like they were one of the new Kingpins ravaging the neighborhood streets, and he needed an actual superhero to come and save him.

“Fucking ridiculous,” he mutters to himself, pulling out his phone to check the time and see if Alex’s near by, admittedly not sure if he could face all their judgmental glances without some sort of backing.

“Your hair’s starting to get mussed.”

Henry starts, turns around to find Beatrice walking closer to him. She’s got on a sundress that makes it so flecks of green dance in her almond eyes and a truly massive hat that would make the British royals seethe with envy. And Henry’s never been so thankful for the sight of her a day in his life.

“You’re late,” he chides softly, leans down for her to hug him hello and slips his phone back in his trouser’s pocket, inwardly praying that Alex’s at the very least on his way.

“’S the pregnancy, it’s got me in shambles trying to figure out the time,” Beatrice sniffs, snaking her arm through his own as they stroll into the restaurant. Henry doesn’t care if he admits it, everything feels easier with his sister besides him.

“Don’t tell me that works on Louis, the poor sod.” Henry snorts, incredulous, as he pulls out her chair for her to sit in and greets his Grams and mother with perfunctory pecks on the cheek.

“Louis’s great with all of it,” Beatrice beams, hands moving to rest on her still barely-visible belly. “Even with the mommy brain.”

“You make sure he keeps that attitude up once diapers come around,” a cousin crows from further down the table.

“He’s sworn it,” Beatrice assures glowingly.

“Well Bea, where is Louis? Don’t tell me you’ve gone and got knocked up by an irreverent tosser?” Philip asks, passing the butter to Martha, who’s rolling her eyes at her husband’s crassness. Henry hopes she knows that she’s not alone on the annoyed by Philip boat.

“Nice to see you too Pip, it’s been too long.” Beatrice glares with a truly mutinous twisting of her lips.

“Well, answer, where is your husband frolicking around if not here with his family?” their grandmother— a woman who the queen of England had to work her schedule around to meet— presses, voice drenched with disapproval.

Henry takes Bea’s smaller hand into his own and squeezes for support.

“He had to go to the office in the city to oversee a vulnerable account, Grams,” Beatrice answers with a level tone, squeezing back so hard that Henry swears she’s trying to snap his fingers right in half. “He’ll be here before the second course.”

“Well, if the firm needed him that’s perfectly reasonable,” she clears her throat right then, eyes cutting over to Henry, and he knows exactly what’s coming next. The same old diatribe about how he’s such a failure, such a disgrace to the Mountchristen name. A family that’s been the crown jewels of each and every antiquity in every Major city in the western hemisphere for the past half century. How Philip’s the only one who’s adopted a good head on him, and how Henry should’ve gone into politics or the Marines or become some sort of hot shot investment banker who makes millions on the hour. Not just some frivolous writer, a damn journalist living in Soho like a bohemian tosser. (Her words precisely.)

Henry’s heard all of it before, breathes in to prepare for the worst of the tongue lashing. He’s only mildly surprised when it’s his mother who speaks up in her timid, unaffected tone to stop it before it begins.

“Let us just pick out our soups, shall we?”

“Ahem, yes. I’m famished,” Henry tacks on, gazing at her thankfully, watching as she runs a hand through her blonde hair— the same shade of his own.

“As long as there’s no onions, the little tyke won’t take even the smell,” Beatrice adds on with a small smile, and the moment passes. His Grams goes back to fuming about all she’s heard on the news, Philip’s gone back to tossing barbs with Beatrice, and Henry’s back to wishing he were anywhere but here before discretely checking his phone for the sixth time in as many minutes.

His stomach sinks at the realization that Alex still hasn’t called or even sent a text.

“And what of you little brother?” Philip asks, tone vacant of any real interest. “You’ve been seeing a new bloke you wanted to introduce us to, haven’t you? Don’t tell me he’s already old news.”

Henry feels the furious flush spilling across his cheeks at the not so subtle implication that for some reason Henry goes through partners any quicker than he or Beatrice had at his age, and he really wishes he hadn’t gone through the standard Mountchristen indoctrination of not using a voice beyond a soft murmur in public because he’d really like to yell at Philip right about now. Yell at him for being a beyond annoying, homophobic wanker right in front of everyone. Thankfully, the pure anger is belied by the sudden, and crippling familiarity of Alex’s voice cutting through all the rest. And it’s like Henry’s been filled with helium once he turns slightly and finally catches sight of Alex, his Alex. Alex in that dark suit that makes him look like a Brooks Brothers advert, and Alex who’s always the most incandescent point in Henry’s world without even his realizing it. Even at the start of all of it— at the start of them, when they had first met and Alex was a god forsaken prat about everything— contrary to his core— And sure, Henry admits he was being intentionally pretentious and perhaps a wee bit waspish whenever Alex got on a soapbox and began one of his diatribes about how heroes are the most incredible, selfless sort of folks in a community. And sure, wherever one of them pushed the other had to dig his heals in the sand and stay firm just to make a point, just to make the other work that much harder and notice him that more intensely. But the last year has incorporated something totally knew— something uncharted and scary and dangerous— like at any moment they could step on a landmine— but its also been the most miraculous year of Henry’s life.

It’s been a year of sloppy snogs exchanged at midnight underneath a thousand polluted stars and amidst a symphony of honking city horns. A year of tangled limbs and sweaty sheets and laughter pouring out soft lips. A year of spilled hair on shared pillows and shirts tumbling together so many times that they just begin smelling like a cocktail of the both of them, together. And if he’s being honest, Henry doesn’t exactly know what this is, what it means. All he knows for sure is that he could spend the rest of his days merely parsing out all the varying shades of brown that dance in Alex’s molten eyes and he’d be content. And Henry frankly doesn’t care how utterly love sick that sounds.

“Alexander,” Beatrice— Henry’s saving grace— is the one to crow in greeting, excepting his hug before he takes the spare seat besides Henry.

“I’m so sorry I'm late,” he says with slightly labored breaths, as if he had run the entire way here. “The traffic coming up was all levels of awful.” In a tender sort of motion he quickly brings up Henry’s hand— the one he had interlocked with his own once being escorted to their table, and kisses it hurriedly.

Henry is blushing for an entirely different reason now.

“Never mind that Alexander,” Catherine waves off his excuse with a flick of the hand, a thin smile on her lips. Henry knows that Alex reminds her of Arthur, and Henry is both delighted by the notion and so sad that the only times he ever sees his mother with even a slight flicker of life to her vacant eyes is when she’s thinking of her husband who had died nearly a decade ago now. But that’s hypocritical, and Henry knows it. After all, it’s not like he’s ever going to be over that particular wound anytime soon.

“You missed the appetizer,” Philip tells him briskly.

“Perfect, I’m trying to keep this trim figure,” Alex winks and the rest of the table fall into quiet chuckles.

Henry beams, his chest threatening to burst at the seams. THat’s his boyfriend. An insanely charming, insanely beautiful, supernova.

Henry clamps his hand on Alex’s thigh out of view from everyone else and they share a smile before being pulled back into conversation with Beatrice about her Mommy and Me class, and it’s all splendid.

“They liked me,” Alex preens a few hours later, once everyone disperses and goes back home. The sun’s beginning to dip into the horizon and clouds are beginning to gather overhead as they walk the New York City streets, headed to Henry’s loft with interlocked hands.

“They would’ve liked you more if you weren’t so late,” Henry needles just to make a point, not actually mad. It’s kind of a set in stone characteristic of his. Alex is always, without falter, late to just about any function. It use to crease Henry— back before when they were just bickering acquaintances with a rather brutal amount of unresolved sexual tension, but now it’s kinda endearing.

“I’m sorry,” Alex says, face going a bit pale. “Luna really needed Nora and I to stay longer at the lab. That sample he collected at the bank robbery last week after The Ranker’s attack started multiplying, like it’s a living blog thing.”

“So you’re growing some homemade mutants,” Henry snorts, knocking their shoulders together.

“I’d really like to say that smug isn’t a hot color on you, but your ass seems to make everything work,” Alex sighs, long suffering, as he gives Henry an appreciative once over— special focus paid to his aforementioned ass.

“And I’d like to say that my boyfriend isn’t a pervert, but alas,” Henry laughs ebulliently when Alex hip checks him, almost not noticing the buzz to his phone. It’s a message from Pez, a tip on none other than The Ranker’s whereabouts.

“What’s up Henryson, your face is getting all weird. And not even the hot way like it does when I wear my old lacrosse uniform for sexy times.”

“I’ve got to go,” Henry says, by rote as he tries to flag down a taxi with a emphatic hand.

“I knew it, you have a secret boyfriend,” Alex snorts.

“You say that as if I could handle even one of you,” Henry counters, relieved once a cab slows down, catching sight of him.

“So the sudden franticness?”

“The Ranker, he’s over at time square making some sorta announcement.” Henry explains, swoops forwards to kiss him goodbye before swinging open the cab’s door and slamming it shut. “June would have a conniption if I didn’t get some live video!”

Alex’s expression completely drops now, sticking his head through the window and preventing the driver from speeding away as Henry would prefer.

“Lucky for you that the dude you’re nailing is the editors brother, she’ll give you a break.”

Henry tries his hardest not to roll his eyes at him, wondering if it’ll always be a point of contention that Henry’s work practically demands that he’s at the epicenter of these showdowns between these superheroes and their villainous counterparts.

“Love, you know as well as I that if the Harold gets a story published before us one more time your sister will have an early death from a certified aneurism.”

“You folks across the pond really like your hyperboles.”

“And you Americans really like making your boyfriends late for potentially groundbreaking news.”

Alex furrows his brows, that familiar dent of worry between them when he frowns at henry. “Promise to be safe.”

“Always,” Henry kisses the tip of his nose before unceremonially pushing him out and directing the driver to take him as close to the action as he possibly can.

~*~

Alex can’t help but watch Henry becoming a dot into the distance, silently willing him not to be dumb and not getting himself into danger. Though he’s pulled out of it by Nora and June’s frantic texting in their group chat, so with a heavy, put upon exhale he dashes behind the dumpsters across the way and changes into the costume he always keeps in his messenger bag. Taking him five seconds to a normal person’s ten minutes.

“Have you not been paying attention, like at all!” Nora’s voice is the first to crackle through the line of his built in bluetooth, sounding beyond bothered.

“I was with Henry,” Alex says in defense, the roads become nothing more than a dust in his wake as he runs faster than what could have ever been feasible before. “June, don’t ya have any control on which reporter takes which case? Like why can’t he ever just like write something on an old lady’s kitten being rescued by a fireman.”

“Sorry baby brother, but he wouldn’t have it even if I tried, besides he and Pez are like the best duo that the Sentinel’s seen in years.” June says apologetically, and Alex can only roll his eyes. He knows that Henry is too fucking hard headed for his own good, but still, he’d rather if his completely human, and utterly breakable boyfriend weren’t trying to get himself killed every time one of these hotshot villains want to have a temper tantrum.

“Whatever, just give me the coordinates, yeah?”

It’s only been like five minutes since The Ranker began his weird tirade, but everything’s already been swallowed into complete chaos, with people screaming, and at least six car accidents, and all topped off by the ranker’s nauseating cackles pounding through the air.

Alex gives a quick once over, sees that Henry still hasn’t made it here yet, and thanks the lord for small blessings. He’s determined to finish this quickly and with no fanfare.

“The City is infested New Yorkers! And I’m here to clean it from the vermin!” The Ranker is in the midst of shouting, but Alex can’t tell from where.

“Three buildings down from Radio City,” Nora tells him. Alex is always sorta spooked on how she could practically read his mind like that, but doesn’t have time to think on it, to busy scaling the building in question and coming face to face with The Ranker— well as much as they could be considering the whole mask ordeal.

“Ranker!” He exclaims once the man in question finally turns around, ugly smirk on his lips.

“Aw, and the greatest vermin of them all,” he says through a small mike that distorts his voice into something low and scratchy, like gravel that Alex would really like to step all over.

“Shucks, don’t go and start complimenting me,” Alex harrumphs, swinging an uppercut to his lower jaw and dodging the kick he aims in turn. “Would you just leave us alone already!”

“Just as soon as you flee this city! And stop getting in everyone’s way!”

“Way to do what exactly?” Alex ducks when he tries to punch the side of his head, parrying with a swift kick to his ankles, but the bastard is too quick.

“This city doesn’t need you Torpedo! It doesn’t want you!” He bellows.

“Is that why I didn’t get the customary Easter fruit basket?” Alex asks, faux owlish, as he rams into him. The Ranker gathers his footing and jumps off the building. It’s of course too good to be true, and he only has to press a button midway down to land smoothly with boots that have some sort of rocket contraption built into them.

“Oh damn you.”

“Yo Alejandro! This isn’t being filmed for VH1 so can you just snip out those one liners and just tie him up for the cops or something!” Nora says, exasperation tinged with actual worry.

“I’m trying, but he’s like in new form since last time he showed his face!” Alex defends, jumping from ledge to ledge before landing only feet behind him. At least seven cop cars have already piled up around them, and a ridiculous amount of people staying to watch. God damn it, have they ever heard of self preservation! Alex would like to call them all idiots, but then spots a glint of gold besides an actually decent cop, Amy— and he relents that they might not be actual idiots. To be frank, Henry’s the most brilliant person he’s ever known, Even if he acts like a doofus.

“Back away!” Alex yells to the throng of onlookers and reporters and officers. “He’s armed!”

“Oy, why we aught to trust you speedster!” A nondescript man shouts from the crowd.

“Maybe because I’m the only person who’s preventing him from squishing you guys like bugs!” Alex replies, screaming now. He knows he shouldn’t let petulant folks like that get in his head, but god damn it, even while rescuing them, they can be so damn ungrateful.

“Alex from behind you!” Nora yells through the speaker, and Alex manages to duck in time when the Ranker throws a particularly hefty slab of stone his way.

“Fucking hell.”

“Are we just going to be running in circles? Or are you going to just give up before I actually have to hurt you,” Alex yells, feet planted on the ground and glaring daggers his way.

“It’s you who will be hurt you little pest,” The Ranker cackles, brings up his fist and begins pressing a button on his black glove that shoots out a blast of heat, leaving nothing but ruin init’s wake as he begins shooting indiscriminately. First at Alex, (which he obviously dodges with ease), and then at the building behind him, and two more at the crowds who are competent enough to divide as soon as they see it pointed towards them.

All of them besides one person. The aforementioned glint of golden that’s too busy scribbling notes into his pad to look up, and Alex’s heart literally lodges into his throat. Like an echo reverberating out a cave he can hear Pez from over head— where he usually stands atop a balcony to get the best photos— screaming Henry’s name, and he can hear Nora and June’s dissonant shouts for him to move before The Ranker strikes again, but Alex doesn’t understand what’s going on, it’s all thanks to instinct when he catapults himself forwards to push Henry out of the line of fire— both of them dodging the blaze ever so narrowly— Alex’s costume searing with smoke— and landing in a pile of rocks from a construction scene happening across the street.

“Ouch,” Henry mutters, rubbing the side of his head before crouching upwards.

“Are you a fucking idiot!” Alex screams, pops up defensively to guard against anything else that the Ranker decides to aim his way. Alex isn’t sure whether he’s thankful or terrified that he’s no where in sight.

“Keep me posted if you guys track him anywhere else,” he mutters to June and Nora, breaths finally beginning to even out, despite the fact that he keeps on picturing himself moving only a moment too late and Henry suddenly gone— like a flash.

“You got it little brother.”

“Stand ready,” Nora warns.

“I suppose I should thank you for the rescue, though I must admit that the unnecessary insult does knock you down a few points.”

Alex can’t help the small, endeared grin that cracks his face in half, but he tries his damndest to hide it from Henry’s ever calculating gaze— His mind is made for journalism, always working to figure out a situation— measuring the facts, and interconnecting the clues for one lasting crescendo of brilliance that figures out what hasn’t been spoken out loud. Alex is mildly terrified that he’d look into his ocean eyes and be caught out.

“What? You get rescued a lot? Have a running tally going on which Superhero deserves the crown of America’s darling?”

Alex finally turns around to him, confident in his mask having stayed in place and tempering his expression enough so that it gives off a blasé indifference— and for the record, it’s fucking difficult when it’s trained on the dude he’s in love with.

“You folks must actually be some sort of extra terrestrial human/alien hybrid if you truly don’t know that Judie Garland could never be knocked off her perch as America’s sweetheart,” Henry sniffs loftily, goes back to his notepad, because of course he’d rather make sure his notes were all still pristine over checking if he has something as serious as a damn concussion.

“Hah, that accent isn’t exactly yankee doodle sweetheart,” Alex says with a good amount of derision, head cocked. But oh, Jesus fuck. His stomach drops out the moment Henry’s eyes go sharp and his features turn pensive when he turns to look straight at him. Alex is such a fucking idiot, using one of his primary pet names for Henry so carelessly, so thoughtlessly.

Alex is sure that he just let a major hint of his identity drop in front of him, but with some sort of pure luck that strikes, Pez sprints over to them, breaths heaving.

“For God’s sake Haz I saw you almost get fucking obliterated! Do you know what that wold’ve done to my psyche!”

Henry’s face goes tight with contrition, all his attention focussed on his best friend now, and Alex sees a blessed opportunity to run off scot free. But of course things are never that easy, and right when he pivots around to race back to June’s apartment where the girl’s are surely waiting, he hear’s Henry’s voice calling for him.

“Torpedo! A moment!” He pulls away from where he was hugging Pez, and steps closer to him, face sporting that inscrutable expression it does whenever he’s particularly serious about something— the one that never fails to get Alex all hot and bothered.

And just shit.

“Ahem, my colleague and I are reporters for the New York Sentinel. I wanted to give you the opportunity to speak on what had just played out.”

Alex frowns, confused. No reporters make it actual practice to get any sort of information from the Superheroes, it makes much more money for them just to editorialize and demagog about them to sell issues. Obviously Alex knows that the Sentinel is different, it’s headed by his own sister for fuck’s sake, and he knows that Henry is good and true. But still, it’s a surprising request.

“You could obviously stay silent and have the people equate you to that monster,” Henry shrugs— as if it couldn’t make a difference in his world. And God is he sexy all in his element like this.

“No, ah. I guess I just want civilians to stay vigilant, the Ranker seems to be only growing in strength and resilience. I have no clue what he’s going to do next.” Alex tries to speak in his most presidential like tone, something he’s been practicing since he were a kid considering the whole his Ma’s the mayor of one of the largest cities on the planet thing.

“And I could quote you on that?” Henry asks, hand moving frantically across the page.

“Yeah of course.”

“Spoken like a true hero,” Pez tells him magnanimously and this is starting to feel real slimy— like he’s lying to them outright.

“I should go, begin mapping out what’s going on.”

“Of course,” Henry nods, straightens to his full six foot one stature. “But if you ever need help trying to predict his next move, we’re on call.” He hands Alex his business card and it takes everything Alex has within him not to burst out in laughter— as if he hasn’t had the digits memorized for years at this point.

“Will do,” he winks, but the Superman aesthetic probably crumbles when Alex accidentally trips over one of the rocks that was being thrown around before he has to gather himself and run off into the distance.

In modest terms, the story published on the latest stand off between Torpedo and the Ranker completely blows up. It’s the most viral story that the Sentinel— or any New York based paper— has seen in nearly half a year. Pez chucks it up to the quote they got from the Torpedo himself, but Nora argues it’s because they plastered Henry’s face right on the byline and Alex thinks they’re both right.

In truth, Henry doesn’t really bother figuring out why this particular story spreads like wildfire, is only proud of it because of how the article makes it so June’s face goes relieved for the first time in too long— Admittedly, Henry is also elated the morning it was released when he had gotten an actual phone call from his Grams, congratulating him for finally proving his Mountchristen lineage, soon followed up by a email from Philip that actually says he had done well. And Henry knows that neither of them should have an effect on him— especially such an impactful one— but Henry would be a filthy liar if he said he didn’t feel like he was riding on cloud nine that entire week.

But It’s begun to die down now, and Henry’s still trying to figure out what exactly are the Ranker’s intentions for New York, and the world at large. All his subsequent attacks have been petty crimes in comparison to trying to start an uprising. They were attempts on stealing pieces from the Met or trying to break free some inmates in one of the more unsavory prison complexes. Each one was executed by one of his henchmen, and easily thwarted by the Torpedo. It just doesn’t make sense.

Speaking of which, the aforementioned hero hasn’t once called Henry or left him any other sort of message about the offered help, obviously wanting to go at this solo. And that’s perfectly fine, but just annoying. Henry knows it in his bones that if they just exchange information they could plot out exactly what would happen next. But whatever, Henry has more pressing issues to worry about. Namely, his and Alex first anniversary.

Henry goes back to rearranging the breakfast tray— all of Alexander’s favorites delivered from their usual cafe a few blocks down. The both of them knowing full and well that Henry can’t cook for shit. He did however spend half the night baking and icing a small cake that’s got piped on the date of their first night out as an official couple, and Henry picked out the red and white roses— sown together by the stem and placed in a thin vase right in the center— knowing that it symbolized unity, and mutual love. If nothing else, Henry knows that he and Alex are partners through everything, honest to the core to one another and always there for the other when he needs it most.

The most important part of Henry’s world will always be Alexander, and that’s not in doubt.

Gingerly, Henry picks up the surprise, sock clad feet toeing softly into Alex’s bedroom where he’s still knocked out. He had come home from Luna’s lab so fucking late. Henry hates how hard he works for him, tells Alex as much with low complaints mouthed against his skin and caressing hands pulling him closer, and closer still every time he comes home looking a little worse for wear.

And yeah, Henry knows that they’re trying to figure out how these heroes develop their powers, knows that they hope to create immunities against it to prevent from any possible, maniacal villains. But Henry would rather it that his boyfriend didn’t look so god damn worn out near constantly.

In a voice still quiet and raspy enough for morning, Henry tells him, “Happy one year love.” Peppering small kisses against the width of Alex’s shoulders, and slowly tracks down the dips of his spine— brushing reverently against the small consolations of freckles that dance on Alex’s hip.

Slow and groggy, Alex flips around so that they’re face to face, a hand locked in Henry’s hair and their lips barely meeting for a kiss.

“You taste like coffee,” Alex smiles, kissing Henry that much deeper.

“Aw, the sweet nothings you wax about me,” Henry sighs, faux aggrieved as he grabs the latte in question, making Alex sit up, the blanket pooling around their hips and their ankles intwining.

“Man if I could start everyday with a shirtless you and cup of Starbucks I swear to God I would be set for the rest of my life.”

“Should I be concerned that I don’t know which of those you would rather have?” Henry goads, nosing against the crook of his neck.

“Don’t be dumb,” Alex snorts, setting down the drink and curving against Henry with a tender sort of care. Henry realizes the reason for the caution when he looks down and sees how his previously concealed side is covered in bruises, ugly splatters of blue and purple that’ll fade to green and yellows in only a few short days.

“Holy shit,” Henry scrambles off the bed, nearly toppling over the breakfast he had set up. But he doesn’t care— He can’t care, not with Alex just lying there, hurt and broken and Henry can’t do a thing about it.

“What the fuck happened!”

Alex winces, like he was somehow fucking embarrassed. And no, just no. Alex can not be embarrassed over this! Okay sure, there are some funny anecdotes of him being clumsy at the lab, or Nora accidentally tackling him a little too hard against the wall. Little spoofs that left small injuries and maybe a scratch or two, but not this. Never to this level. And Henry has no idea how to comprehend it. It’s like he’s drowning, lost at sea trying to figure out how to help him.

“’S nothing,” Alex tries for broke with a small shrug of the shoulder, but even that makes it so he grouses with pain.

“Alexander what happened!” Henry repeats in a voice like a whip, the same one he’s used with heads of states about wars that they’re still involved in, or police chiefs about unjustifiable shootings executed by their officers onto innocent youths.

“It was a couple of punks when I was walking home last night,” Alex finally admits, worrying on his inner cheek.

“What did they want!” Henry bellows. “Did you make a police report! Did you get a decent look of them? Or—“

“Baby, it’s fine,” Alex soothes, climbing out the bed so that he could stand in front of Henry, rubbing comforting hands up and down his arms. “It was not a big deal, they got my wallet, but we both know I’m broke as hell.”

“Why are you being so glib about this!” Henry says in a voice that shakes. “Is this why you came home so late last night. Did they threaten you? Was Nora there? Is she alright?”

“Everyone’s fine sweetheart, Nora wasn’t there and they didn’t threaten me. Just wanted some cash.” Alex moves to kiss across Henry’s jawline, each corner of his mouth too, while he slings his arms around Henry’s narrow waste.

“’S because of this bullshit zero sum game the Ranker has got going on with that Torpedo prat,” Henry hisses, feeling like a powder keg ready to blow. Alex stiffens slightly beneath him and he knows he’s thinking the same thing.

“It was just some stupid pricks Henry,” Alex says quietly, there foreheads pressed against each other. “Now please, don’t let this ruin our day. I know your love sick, pisces ass has got a whole romantic production planned out, and I don’t wanna ruin it.”

Breathing in deep, Henry nods, just slightly, agrees to go on with their anniversary plans.

“You really must think highly of yourself if you think I’ve spent that much effort on you,” he jokes, and Alex throws back his head in lovely peals of laughter and it’s all alright. For now. It’s all alright for now.

Henry lets Alex drag him back in bed, lets him map out Henry’s body with his lips and hands and arches up towards him wantonly when Alex laps his tongue around his dick— a promise of so much more.

Henry lets Alex wash over him, lets him think that this conversation has ended, lets him not worry about how Henry’ll take this in his own hands.

~*~

“Numbers on Henry suspecting that you spend your night masquerading as New York’s Walmart version of Batman?” Nora asks a few days after Alex and Henrys anniversary while they write down the new growths showing on the mole collected from one of the Ranker’s more recent city attacks— an ugly black blob that only seems to be growing larger day by day.

“Honestly? I dunno. He seemed to buy the excuse that it was a mugging.”

“But?” June presses, staying a good distance away from them with her lunch, all of them agreeing that they needed to regroup as soon as possible after the latest incident of the Ranker attacking another jewelry shop on fifth avenue only last night.

“But, I just feel guilty about it. About the lying I mean. Henry and I don’t lie to each other, we’re like the exact opposite! We’re painfully honest.”

“Honest about everything besides what matters?” Nora sniffs, poking the blob with a stick he’s almost positive is meant to be used for mixing people’s coffee and creams.

Alex tosses her the bird for that one, more than a bit cross over the whole ordeal.

“Alex, you’re only trying to protect him,” she says, dark eyes earnest with understanding. “I know that this is a sucky situation but would you rather risking one of these crazy villains piecing together that he’s like the one person you’d give up the world to save.”

Alex’s cheeks flush, lips pursed as he glances over to June who’s being uncharacteristically quiet.

“You think otherwise?” He asks, waiting for her to meet his gaze from where it’s concentrated on fiddling with her salad instead.

“Am I allowed to have an other opinion?” She asks, lips pinched.

“Course you are Bug, you know that.”

“Well then I think you should just tell him.” She charges, sudden passion vibrating in her tone.

“Did not see that one coming,” Nora intones as an aside.

“Alex, you saw how Mom trying to protect Dad blew up in their faces. She didn’t talk about any sorta legislation or anything she was trying to get past so that he would never be questioned about staying impartial as a congressman, and it only paved the way to their divorce.”

Alex feels like a rush of vertigo has just hit him, like he’s about to be sick.

“This’s different,” he contends, admittedly very weakly— But it is! This is Henry’s actual life at hand! Not the reputation he might garner from a bunch of smug politicians.

June frowns fully now, looking like she’s trying to throw Alex a lifesaver that just keeps slipping out his hands.

“No Alex, no it’s really not.”

The air around them goes taught, and Alex feels very queasy with the revelation that her words ring true.

“Can we put a pin on this you guys,” Nora asks, frantic. “Our lovely friends just blew up a couple of empty vehicles down in Brooklyn and it’s kind of a shitty situation.”

“Right,” Alex dashes to change into his distinctive red suit, tells the girls to stay on call for him.

“Stay safe,” June pleas, like she always does.

“Of course,” Alex promises, like he always does.

And the remaining discomfort from their argument dissipates because of course it does.

~*~

Henry admits that this is perhaps the dumbest, most idiotic, incredibly thoughtless plan that he has ever come up with, and that’s precisely why he hasn’t told anyone of his intentions. Not June, certainly not Pez, and God forbid Alex ever finds out. But the thing is that if this works, Henry could help put an end to this chaos for good, and maybe that’s worth the risk?

Well at the very least, Henry hopes it’s worth it as he swallows down hard and steps on a ledge, a perfect position to witness the current battle playing out in the Williamsburg streets. The Ranker— even more humanoid looking from the last time Henry’s seen him— a sort of slimy sheen shining against his black suit while he’s practically roaring as he thrashes around, trying to hit a beam of light that Henry knows is the Torpedo, moving so quickly that the normal human eye can’t even focus on him before he makes a hundred more attacks. But like every time before, the Ranker seems to get a signal of whatever he’s been trying to do has been complete, and he ends it.

The Ranker shoves hard enough and fast enough at the Torpedo That he hits a building so hard that it begins to shake, and escapes as quickly as a blink of an eye.

Henry sees his chance, and he jumps for it— quite literally.

“Oy, Torpedo!” He shouts, knowing that with his superhuman abilities he’ll be able to hear Henry through the turmoil. And as expected, he stands up— shaking off the Ranker’s latest attack— and looks up towards where Henry had called him from— the top of a five story building.

“Here goes nothing,” Henry mutters to himself, eyes clenched shut a he sucks in deep and jumps— feeling the air whip against him with a vicious sort of vindictiveness— like wind spirits were real and they were laughing at how fucking stupid Henry is for playing with fate like this. And all Henry could do is hope that his Grams puts up a nice memorial bench for him once he becomes a splatter on the pavement.

But then— in an instant— Henry feels a body colliding into his own, and the breath being knocked out of him, before the pair of them stop in the middle of an alleyway, and it’s all Henry could do not to lock his knees and puke all over the crisp suit of the Torpedo.

“Mother of Christ it worked,” henry pants in wonderment of himself, one hand slamming against the wall directly behind him, while the other arm is slung around his stomach.

“You fucking maniac!” Is the first thing Henry hears from the Torpedo once they’re on safe ground— though he still looks like he’s swimming in open air if anyone were to ask Henry.

“It— Ahem, it was the only sure way to get your attention,” he defends, admittedly pretty weak but whatever.

“God Henry! Can’t you be like a normal reporter and ask to become a cable talking head!” The torpedo bellows, but Henry is gleeful.

“You remember who I am?”

The Torpedo goes still— stuttering on whatever he was about to say next, as if Henry had caught him in some sorta filthy lie.

He glares with a harrumph. “Course I do, you’re the idiot from before who almost died because he’s stupidly inattentive towards himself. I’m starting to think that’s a trend with you.”

Henry twists up his lips, unamused but reasoning that being cross won’t help him if he’s trying to work with this prick.

“I'm also the guy who gave you my number so we could sort out this Ranker business once and for all.”

The Torpedo rolls his eyes at him, weight slung to his left hip and arms crossed incredulously against his chest. It’s such a painfully Alex move that Henry starts to feel reinvigorated, reminded of why he’s doing this in the first place.

“Listen, I get that guys who look like you probably aren’t that accustomed to what a blow off is—“

“I’m not trying to seduce you asshole,” Henry spits, he admits it might come off a bit menacing but the head on this guy, Jesus fucking Christ. “I’m happily in a relationship.”

The Torpedo looks strangely pleased with this news, but Henry doesn’t spare anytime trying to figure out what that might mean. Working with him is going to be fucking exhausting.

“Alright goldilocks, then why the hell did you want my attention so damn badly?”

“Oh fuck, do you just not listen! For precisely the reason I had told you! I want to put the Ranker away, for good.”

The Torpedo’s mouth hardens into a straight line, shaking his head ever so slightly.

“’S too dangerous for just a normal human.” He says, and Henry’s just not going to stand for it, a fire like rage licking up his insides.

“I think I can decide determine that for myself.” He says, mulish.

“I thought we’ve come to the consensus that you shouldn’t be trusted for your own well being?” He needles.

Henry’s over the small talk.

“Look, my boyfriend— the man I intend to marry one day! Was roughed up by some of the Ranker’s fucking little minions, and the amount of people this must’ve happened to is probably astronomical! So you listen up, I’m not going to just stand around idly by. I know for a fact that we’ll figure out his intentions much quicker together than apart! So for the love that is holy and right will you just stop being a complete wanker and agree to work with the lowly human,” Henry says this all without barely a breath between words, not having noticed just how close he’s gotten to the Torpedo, how their eyes are boring into one another’s now with a sudden, heated intensity.

A silence lapse between them, but Henry doesn’t stand down.

“You’re intent on this, huh?”

“To a grave degree.”

Another silence before the Torpedo just shuts his eyes, tilting his head like he can’t bother to argue anymore.

“Fine. Let’s talk it out.”

The tension building in Henry’s chest finally deflates, replaced by a sort of remarkable brightness that makes his insides buzz with excitement.

“Wonderful! I work over at the Sentinel’s headquarters right past the Meat Packing District, on forty-second. Meet me there Wednesday night.” Henry instructs, probably a tad too enthused, but he doesn't care, he finally’s getting somewhere.

“Hold up Goldilocks, i said I’d work with you, not the whole damn paper.”

“Don’t get your pants in a twist, folks work outside the office on Wednesdays usually, and it’ll be late enough that we can take up one of the conference rooms without anyone interrupting.”

The Torpedo smirks now, and Henry already knows what’s coming.

“You sure you’re not trying to seduce me darling?”

“Wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you, I don’t really go for guys in spandex,” he retorts.

“Hey! ’S good material for the shit I have to deal with!” He defends, affronted sounding.

“I’m sure, but I’m running late for a lunch date as it is, so just bring the intel you’ve got on’m Wednesday and we’ll converse then.” Not really sure what to do, Henry awkwardly claps him on the shoulder before exiting the alleyway, an excited smile breaking his face in half as he thinks of all the change they could do now.

~*~

Strange enough, it becomes a sort of standing meeting for the next few weeks— Like Alex and Henry were adding a second date night to their schedules. Well a date night where only one of them knew the other’s identity, and where they spent the whole time perusing through stacks of files ranging from the dates and locations of the Ranker’s attacks within the past year, from any new gang activity that had sprung up afterwards. Also a date where Henry studiously sat as far away from a masked Alex as possible, and who remained stiff for the entirety of the two hours they would talk.

They end up successfully predicting the two next places that the Ranker targets, and it’s a thrill. Alex however makes it a point that Henry isn’t allowed anywhere near the area until Alex has surely staved the Ranker away. It’s a point of contention between them, but it’s a point that Alex won’t budge on.

He knows Henry, knows how he strives for the public’s safety the same ways Alex does, but where Alex was hit by a molecular transmitter when he was only nineteen— giving him powers and abilities beyond comprehension— Henry’s only got a pen and paper as his main weapons of defense. And Alex knows this vendetta runs even deeper than that for him, knows that Arthur— Henry’s dad who played a hero in Hollywood films— was kidnapped and eventually killed by a Luthor family member, directed by Lex behind bars.

Alex sees the glitter in Henry’s eyes, the vigor embedded in them. And it what makes him want to lock the Ranker up, more than anything else.

“You’re intense Mountchristen,” Alex tells him on one of those Wednesday nights, can’t help but gaze at the way Henry sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, and how his brows begin to knit together, intent on his goal.

“Eyes to yourself Torpedo,” he retorts shortly, not bothering to even look up.

Part of Alex really appreciates how standoffish he behaves in front of dudes who are so obviously into him that aren’t Alex, but most of him hates the distance, hates the secrets that they’re both keeping from one another. It feels like the foundation between them is literally crumbling, even though they’re both doing this to ultimately protect the other.

“What a strange and convoluted circle you’ve ensnared yourself within,” Nora says on the night of the Sentinel’s first summer fundraising event, popping a bite sized snickers into her mouth as she lounges on her sectional in a little black dress that makes her look like a million bucks.

“You’re really unhelpful,” Alex informs her bluntly, adjusting is tie in the mirror after replying to Henry’s text that they’re headed down to meet him and June in five.

“Well you know there’s only one sure fire way to escape it,” she crows, smile going snide as she stands up.

“Don’t tell me you’ve begun drinking June’s crazy person juice,” Alex moans, really needing her to have been on his side for this.

“You know they called Van Gogh crazy, and he was a genius who saw what others were too dumb to.”

“No Nor, they called him crazy because he ate yellow paint and cut off his ear as a gift.”

Nora cuffs him on the back of the head. “You’re being crass.”

“Ouch,” Alex squints, rubbing the tender spot. “And you’re being especially mean.”

“Only because you’re so dense sometimes,” Nora sniffs. “Now c’mon we were suppose to be there like an hour ago. What were you even doing all this time.”

Alex goes back to checking his reflection, absently gesturing towards the abrasively yellow binder on his coffee stand that he’s begun keeping here, less Henry accidentally finds it while rummaging around in Alex’s place.

“Just going over some of the information Henry and I have been gathering, reading through it and everything.”

Nora flips it open, perusing through the papers leisurely. “And what have you guys found out in these little trysts of yours?”

“First of all, shut it,” Alex casts her a glare, just for good measure. “And not much. There’s no real rhyme or reason to his attacks, except we did figure out that like after a month from the initial incident, there’s another one hitting the same place by some of his mysterious henchmen, like a month later— on the very dot.”

“The very dot?” Nora asks slowly, her voice adopting that tension it does when she’s piecing something together she wishes she wasn’t. Like the time she figured out the dude who owned their favorite frozen yogurt place in Brooklyn was actually the same person robbing a series of banks with his uncanny ability to literally turn into gas.

“Yeah—“ Alex turns around, rigid as he prepares for her next blow.

“Well a month ago you guys have it that The Ranker hit up Time Square, don’t you?”

And like a bucket of ice water pouring over him, Alex understands what she’s insinuating immediately.

“The sentinel!”

“June and Henry.”

Before either of them could take another breath, Alex has changed into his gear and lifts Nora up bridal style, racing to them and praying to any God who will listen that they’re not too late.

~*~

The sentinel is holding a special event to celebrate the continuous and substantial donations by the Richards family to their editorial board, with special honors given to the head of the political dynasty, Jeffery Richards.

Professionally, Henry is thankful for their money flow into the Sentinel’s tireless efforts to get meaningful and factual stories out into the public sphere. Personally? Henry thinks he’s the definition of a complete and total twat, and has wished on more than one occasion to give him a swift right hook for his backwards social views and another kick in the gut for his purely one percent focussed fiscal policies. This is why Henry is shocked to find Rafael Luna, Alex’s practical idol, exchanging seemingly pleasant small talk with him near the champaign fountain. But he supposes stranger things have happened, and decides to take a swig of his gin and tonic instead of worrying about it.

Henry must admit that there’s a certain panache— a peculiar charm— to American parties that can’t ever be replicated in quite the same way. The people are more boisterous than their English counterparts, more willing to mingle between groups and laugh hysterically to jokes that really don’t warrant as much. Henry thinks it’s funny, especially when he considers how much less these folks drink in comparison to the upper echelon of London society— the class of folks Henry was born and bred to become the crown jewel of, up until his unceremonial rejection of those trite ideals. Considering where he is now— working to make an actual difference in this city, and surrounded by the most important people in his world, Henry’s thankful so much for his decision.

Speaking of which, Henry sees one of those people, catching June’s eye from across the room, matched boredom on her face. She tips her glass his way, a small, comforting smile on her lips before mouthing a dramatic, “save me.”

Henry laughs, finishes his glass and grabs a flute of the wine to join her but is suddenly accosted by a older couple made up of a woman sporting such large diamonds hanging off her ears that Henry’s afraid one of them might just tear off, and a man, obviously her husband, who keeps glancing over Henry’s lips and slightly exposed collarbones in the most unsubtle way ever. Jesus fucking Christ, Henry was so close to home base.

“Elias and I saw you leaving that conversation with the Galloways and simply just had to sweep in,” the woman says in lieu of a greeting. Henry recognizes them now. Elias and Barbra Bellington, one of the Harold’s most formidable backers— He reckons he should play nice then.

“I’m flattered,” Henry says with a pleasant grin, shaking her hand and then her husband’s.

“We read that latest entry you did on that masked fellow who’s been terrorizing this city,” the husband explains.

“The Scarlet one.”

“The torpedo,” Henry nods.

“Yes,” her husband swallows before averting his gaze from Henry’s lips yet again. “You deserve a pulitzer for finally trying to figure out who he is. It’s been nearly half a decade with him ravaging these streets and diverting the funds and work from our officers.”

“A scoundrel by any other name if you ask me.”

Henry is so fucking confused how they got that from his piece.

“Erm, ahem. Thank you both for the kind words, but truly, It was more about his feud with the latest kingpin, the Ranker, than anything else.” Henry tries explaining, hates it when his work gets boiled down to a few salacious bullet points for the headlines.

“They’re all the same if you ask me, rotten and only here to create chaos in our communities”.

Henry parts his lips to retort, most likely with a too loud argument that she’s just flat out wrong, but then his eyes focus back on Luna, watching him part ways with Richards, and he’s always been so god damn curious for his own good.

“I’m sorry but I see a colleague of mine that I actually needed to touch base with on a upcoming story,” Henry coughs while excusing himself. “You don’t mind if I just step away for a moment,” He’s relieved when they nod congenially and promise to find him later on in the evening

Henry exchanges congenial nods and small grins with his colleagues as he cuts through the throng, stopping in front of Luna with less nonchalance than he would’ve liked, but whatever.

“Henry,” Luna smiles broadly, clapping his hand on his shoulder. “I was hoping to see you here.”

“I was happy to see you around,” Henry smiles in turn, wonders if it comes across as painfully awkward as he thinks it does.

“Where’s Alexander?”

“On his way with Nora, I had to stop by a bit earlier for some business with the rest of the staff,” Luna nods and they both take sips of their drinks, perhaps a bit tensely. “So, ahem. I saw you speaking with Richards?”

Luna’s brows hike up, if only slightly.

“Yeah, he’s a big investor in my lab as well as the Sentinel. Wants to help us figure out this newest wave of super mutants.”

Henry pins him with a one eyed squint, confused as all get out why Richards of all people would want to help with something so— Well so scientific.

“I know, I was surprised too,” Luna laughs, reading his expression. “But it’s true! Even had some of his men collect those mole samples I’m sure Alexander has talked your ear off of. They’re really something remarkable Henry.” He trails off into a deeper conversation on what their existence means, but Henry stops listening, the gears in his brain turning at rapid speed. And God, it’s so obvious. How did Henry not notice this before.

“I’ve— I’ve got to go.”

Luna furrows his brows. “Is everything okay?”

“I— I don’t think so,” Henry admits, racing upstairs to the offices where he’s been meeting with the Torpedo these last few weeks. He’s not really sure what he needs to do, or how he can even get the Torpedo’s attention so randomly, but he feels it in his gut that it’s urgent.

Though he’s stopped midway up the stairs, and it’s like his stomach drops out completely once he realizes by who.

“Richards—“

“Mr Mountchristen, I was hoping to get to speak with you.”

Henry feels himself beginning to quake, stepping further back, bit by bit.

“Is— Is that right,” Henry stammers out, wincing when his back hits the wall andRichards keeps on coming closer.

“You’re bright, I saw the tricks you pulled to get the Torpedo’s attention,” he nods slowly. “It was only a matter of time till you or that scarlet scoundrel pieced it together.”

“So, I’m right. The samples you’ve been giving to Luna’s lab, they were early archetypes of the beasts you’ve been harvesting.”

“And they say blonde’s are dumb.” Richards chuckles, twining a finger in Henry’s hair, close enough for his hot breath to smack Henry in the face.

“So what? You found an alien to harvest the cells from or are they just growing off of you? And why do it? What’s the point of all this?”

“Hmm, well seeing that you’ll be dead soon enough,” Richard snarls, clamping a hand around Henry’s neck, and squeezing for good measure. “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you how I purposefully exposed myself to the molecular explosion that ravaged the city a few years ago. It gave me the ability to multiply at a whim, though alas not quickly enough.”

“It took a month for them to fully form,” Henry realizes, squinting when Richards squeezes harder. He claws against the hand Richard’s is using to obstruct his airway, but there’s no hope. “And what,” he wheezes out, seeing stars glitter the distance. “You wanted to create a little army to take over the city?”

“New York should be so lucky!” Richard yells, crashing Henry’s head against the wall with such force that everything begins to fade into darkness. “Ever since that damn Claremont got her hooks into it we’ve gone down the shit hole!”

Crack.

Henry’s head cracks the wall again, and everything blurs, stars glittering in the distance.

The last thing Henry sees before completely blacking out is the windows shattering open and a dash of red.

And oh.

The next time Henry comes too he’s met by florescent lighting and white sheets, can feel the cool liquid of an IV pumping into his wrist.

He can hear people calling his name, but he can’t focus on it, can’t focus on anything. All he wants is Alex, and he can’t believe the secrets he’s been keeping from Henry all this time. The secrets henry has been hiding himself.

~*~

Alex has been up a total of forty-three hours at this point, but he shrugs off any of the well meaning suggestions given by his friends or the doctors to finally shut his eyes and go to bed. He can’t. He won’t. Not until Henry wakes up permanently and he looks at Alex with his beautiful, cornflower eyes, and smiles at him with that heavenly grin, and twines their fingers into one another. Exactly how they should be.

God, Alex can’t believe how stupid he’s been. Keeping these secrets from him, trying to protect him all this time, but it ended up pointless. Henry’s here, golden hair fanned on eggshell sheets and blue veins tracing his pale skin and looking like some sort of modern day sleeping beauty— an etherial being— that Alex can’t dream of ever touching again.

Alex kisses Henry’s hand, swears that he’ll be honest and forthcoming just as soon as he wakes up and Alex can look back into those bottomless, blue eyes for all the time to come.

The exhaustion must’ve caught up to him, because suddenly everything goes dark and Alex’s next memory is of a gentle hand carding through his hair. He opens his eyes to find Henry peering down at him, crooked grin looking all levels of endeared.

Jesus, Alex is so lost on him.

“Morning gorgeous.” Henry says, still looking far too fragile for Alex’s liking in that hospital robe and with like half a dozen machines hooked up to him, but it doesn’t stop Alex from kissing him with all he has.

“You fucking bastard, don’t you ever do that to me again.” Alex pleads wetly, hands cupped around Henry’s face and never wanting to let go.

“Well Alexander, if we’re being fair, I think I’ve still got a hundred other chances to unwittingly make you terrified.”

Alex frowns now, the realization slowly coming over him to what Henry’s words are alluding towards.

“You know!”

“I figured it out Torpedo,” Henry says, soft enough so that Alex has to strain to hear him.

“Bu—But when?”

“I think the between the second time Richards tried knocking me out, and you crashing through the office like some sorta renegade. Also you are not slick Alexander, the way you were checking me out during those meetings was frankly obscene.”

Alex feels his cheeks redden, disbelieving laugh punching out of him.

“I can’t help it, you’re really sexy when you’re all in your element.”

Henry smiles sweetly at him, turning his head to kiss one of Alex’s palms still clamped around his face.

“Says the literal superhero that millions of people around the world thirst over.”

Alex sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, wrestling down a grin.

“So you’re not mad that I kept this secret from you?”

“Oh I’m furious,” Henry corrects. “But I reckon you’ve got a lifetime to explain your actions to me. And I might have been guilty of the same sort of indiscretion, if you squint.”

“Hah, just like a Brit, trying to absolve himself of the blame,” Alex snarks, kissing Henry’s tongue when he sticks it out to waggle at him.

“Gross.”

“Think you mean sexy."

“Where’s Richards when you need him,” Henry sighs, faux put upon.

“Not funny,” Alex fumes, is only restrained from flicking him on the ear considering his current predicament.

The laugh that Henry lets out right then is something mellifluous and beautiful and what Alex could listen to on a loop for all the eons to come.

“No but truly, what happened to that prick anyhow?”

“Tied him up with the evidence we collected, and called Officer Amy to make the arrest.” Alex explains, threading his fingers through Henry’s hair. “He’s locked up now. Probably’s gonna stay that way for a while.”

“So it worked out?”

“Henry, no situation in which you are at all injured is things working out,” Alex reproves caustically.

Henry shakes his head at him.

“God, such a softy Alexander.”

That time Alex does flick him on the ear and isn’t even sorry about it.

Buy Me A Coffee?🥺

#RWRB #RED WHITE AND ROYAL BLUE #Henry Fox Mountchristen Windsor #Alex Claremont Diaz #FIRSTPRINCE #TEDDDYLUPIN #I love you baby #SPILT INK

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jefferoni-quotes · 5 years ago

Text

Stalling Expulsion

Hey, gems! This is my day 13 of @hamiltonholidaycalendar ! I’m super excited and really proud of this. Sorry if the endings a bit rushed, I ran out of time,,,

Rated: Teen Audiences

TW: Mentions of violence, drugs, death

Whistled tones whipped down the halls of the large country boarding school, as wind teased the maroon common room curtains through extravagant glass windows. Crumpled currant toned bed drapes lined the circular boys dormitory, and the posts hung bed curtains which were open and crinkled. Clothes lay strewn across the old hickory wood floors, a mix of old socks, pyjama pants and unwanted shoes. The whole school had gathered in the great hall for breakfast, all but four. They were huddled in the dormitory bathroom, slinking around waiting for first class.

The eldest being sixteen years old, tall and broad, yet far from the most responsible. The youngest was a lanky French boy, who had recently become fifteen. The other two were also fifteen, but one not far off his sweetest sixteen. None of which were very responsible when it came to fun. Smarts, well, you may suppose they contained some sort of brain-cell. Although it appeared to bounce around their head like a DVD screensaver. You may even conclude, that the four shared a brain-cell, taking single turns on it like small children sharing a piano.

The oldest of them all was the one whistling, he was tweeting a soft tune, one that seems to be without meaning or purpose, but instead one you may subconsciously commit yourself to when bored.

Smallest of them, a boy who had his fifteenth a simple month before, tightened his ponytail and swiped a sniffle from his nose. Perhaps skipping breakfast in favour of hanging around like a gang of uneducated delinquents wasn't their best plan, but at the very least they had learned not to do it again. Not that he ever planned to admit his wrong doing.

One boy, who bore a curled ponytail that hung low, sat on a sink, his back against the wall and his feet in the porcelain bowl of it. He piped up with a skip in his voice, "why did we skip morning meal again?" He inquired in his distinct North-Carolinian accent, as his stomach growled angrily at him. He was missing out on his wake up food of three slices of buttered toast and a pile of breakfast potatoes and his body was not overjoyed.

"Because we don't want to be around Jefferson, Jackie," the smallest replied, sinking down. Jackie was not the boys birth name, but instead a curious nickname gifted to him by his closest of friends. The boy who has spoken had his back pressed against the wall, and he crossed his legs as he sat.

"You know," the French boy started, "I don't really see the problem you all 'ave with Thomas," he shrugged and continued leaning against a stall.

The whistling abruptly came to a close, and all heads turned to look at him. "Dude, he's horrible," the eldest started, "like, do you see the way he acts around Alex? He treats him like some sort of dirty scum he found on the bottom of his polished boots."

"The reason he hates me is even worse! Just because I don't have rich parents to go crawling back to for Christmas. He acts like I'm a dirty spot that he doesn't want to touch. Like... Like I'm food at the bottom of the sink, ya know!" Alexander explained, gesticulating as he did so. John, the student who had been nicknamed 'Jackie', leapt from his resting place in the washing basin and patted Alexander on the back gently in a friendly attempt to calm him down. "Sorry for yelling, Laf... It's just... He bugs me so much."

Lafayette shrugged his shoulders, his wine red blazer - part of his uniform forming creases as he did. "I mean, he's targeting you because you're an orphan, non?" Alexander nodded as a silent agreement and response, "well, 'e doesn't know that I am too."

"I completely forgot about that, Laf!" The broad-shouldered, tall boy examined a little too loudly. He found himself being bombarded by rushed hushing. "Sorry, guys," he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

Lafayette rolled his eyes. "Stop apologising, 'Ercules, we know you mean no 'arm," he assured and patted Hercules' shoulder.

"If I meant no harm, then why am I here?" Hercules sighed and shrunk into himself. The other three went quiet, they couldn't answer.

The boarding school was technically called, 'Fredrick's School for Troubled Teens and Youngsters,' but everyone just called it, 'School for Annoying Pricks and Rich Dicks.'

Everyone who attended had been removed from public school for one preposterous thing or another. An assortment, ranging from fights to skipping school to just becoming a general nuisance.

Hercules Mulligan had been previously expelled from three schools, for fighting three people and hospitalising two of them. His reputation was ruthless and cutthroat, not afraid to start an attack at any moment. However, he was simply a big softy.

Alexander Hamilton had been ostracised from his school for arguing with the professor, who promptly frog-marched him to the head master, to whom he fought against once more. He was told to leave and not come back after referring to his head master as, "a pompous fool, detecting the frivolous minds of easy moldable youngsters to bend them to his will."

John Laurens was excommunicated from Church, and from his very Catholic school when they discovered his homosexuality. His father had disowned him from home and sent him off to the 'School for Annoying Pricks and Rich Dicks,' in the hopes that it would, "return him to his Godly roots and strip him of his male desires for other men." His father, Henry Laurens had accepted the concept that sending him to a school where he would spend 99% of his time with guys and had imagined that it would 'fix' his brain into lusting over women.

And then there was Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Mortier, Marquis de Lafayette. His exclusion was a momentous occasion. His head mistress had discovered the acute, shimmering pocket knife in his satchel, after demanding a look as another child had accused him of threatening him with said weapon. The child had ridiculed his younger brother who had sadly passed away just mere weeks before. So yes, maybe he should've been thrown out of school for that. He goes back and forth, contemplating if what he did was incredibly illegal or, in fact, the right thing to do.

The four knew fine well why the other people were tossed from school, however, no one else knew anything about no one. Asking why another person was attending the boarding fortress was distinctly taboo. Like a horrid, violent invasion of protected privacy. Only if the student felt astonishingly close to you, and trusted you with their life and prized possession would they ever confine in you the reason they attended Fredrick's.

Another point, everyone came from privileged backgrounds, that were somehow ruined. Lafayette had rich parents before they died, and then he had a rich uncle. Then he was rich. John’s parents had piles of money, and then they disowned him. Alexander was fairly middle class, and then their debt skyrocketed when his father abandoned him and his mother passed in his arms. And then there was Hercules. The other three spoke much more articulated than him. He just simply couldn’t. He wasn’t from a bad family, but they most certainly weren’t the most educated they could be.

"Listen, Herc," Alexander inexorably spoke up, offering comfort, "we're all here for one reason or another! I called my professor a sithering idiot, and them the head master a pompous fool, John's gay and Laf, hell, Lafayette threatened someone's life. Lets be honest, we all deserve to be here," he peered up at Laurens, who had retaken his position of roosting on the sink, "apart from Jackie, obviously."

John defended himself and chortled. "Hey, I'm not complaining. Before I had to listen to homophobic slurs all day, now, I can simply be a homo every hour."

Hercules' solid frown tweaked, and he turned to laughter. "Okay, okay, fair enough," He lifted his arms up before slumping them down, "you got me."

"Yeah we did," Lafayette nudged Hercules harshly, which earned him a shove back.

His toast lay burnt and uneaten, and half a sausage rolled around his plate depressingly. A metal fork was lazily tossed by his tray, and the red paper napkin was scrunched up on his plate. His seat was barren now, as was the one across from him.

Reticent nattering echoed all over the spiral staircase as two boys clambered upwards towards their shared dorm. Their room was home to eight boys, all of which they both hated, except for each other and one pupil, a young male Aaron Burr from New Jersey and Thomas supposed that Lafayette wasn’t too awful.

Thomas pushed the oak dormitory door open with a dig. He went on speaking, but was silenced by his friend flapping his hand in front of his face. "James-"

"Shush! Can't you hear that?" James spoke, "there's people here..."

Muffled exclamations voiced themselves from behind the bathroom gateway. Thomas crept over and pressed his ear up to the carved antique door as every ounce of his sixteen year old attention span focusesd in on eavesdropping.

There was a blast of flat laughter that exploded from the room, and he furrowed his eyebrows. “What are they saying?” James breathed serenely as he watched Thomas run his fingers over the door handle.

“Quiet, Jemmy,” Thomas instructed in a low voice, “they’re talking now.”

A despicably mocking articulation voiced itself from beyond the door. “Oh yes, I mustn’t! For I shall mess us my sheep’s wool hair! No! Do not touch that! It was sent to me from a Gucci store from my father!” It was in a false Southern accent.

“Holy crap, Laf! I don’t like how much that sounds like him!” The familiar boisterous tones of Hercules Mulligan exploded out the cracks in the door. “Okay, okay, John your shot.”

He heard the rambunctious crackling of knuckles, and a clearing of throats. “Hello, y’all! Rootin’ tootin’! I’m from the fucking South where the grass grows green and I’m better than y’all! Because I’m Jefferson, and I hate you if you don’t have a rich father!”

James, who had been tuned in to the harmful conversations past the door, soared upwards towards him. “Tommy, don’t-“ he muttered harshly. James had been friends with Thomas since the very beginning, he had been there to witness every hardship and every tantalising moment where the world stopped spinning. He was by the teens side throughout each adversity, and would comfort his best friend without exception.

Yet Thomas didn’t listen. He shoved the door open unceremoniously, the sheer force blowing a gust towards the bed drapes. His stance remained strong and rigid as four pairs of brown and hazel sprinkled eyes darted towards him. With the pupils that burned into his skull, from both in front of him, and James who had settled behind him, Thomas composed himself. He ran a hand through his hair before taking it upon himself to stride back to his bed.

His lips remained stuck together as if to be two birds of a single feather. Alexander looks at his friends, and they rise from their resting places, stiff joints cracking like grandmas getting up from their nap in an armchair. Their stomachs rumble hungrily, screaming for nutrients, but they push past it to ignore it. James looks back at his accomplice, who is rummaging through a antiquated, walnut duffle-bag. He can see Thomas’ look of determination as he pulls his hand from the storage unit and wanders back to the bathroom, past the gang who was previously been loitering in the room. In his hand, is a egg-shell painted cardboard packet of sorts, and a rectangular glass lighter. The lighter is black as a cold winters night, and Thomas carries these into the bathroom with him.

“Thomas!” James exclaimed as he spotted the two items. One of the many reasons Thomas was at the boarding school. The bathroom door slammed closed and the all too familiar sound of a clicking lighter.

The four friends glance at each other, sharing a mutual moment of what the hell is happening, as James pounds on the oak door. “Thomas, I swear to god, open the door. I won’t let you do this again!”

“What’s going on?” Alexander hissed from the corner of his mouth. His dashing attempt to be inaudibly failed, as a result of his naturally vociferous voice it failed. Madison’s head rotated to face the not-so-fantastic four with a choleric grimace.

Lafayette opened his mouth to begin explaining, yet no words escaped. Only a brief swept of breath as he fidgeted with his own fingers, bending them in ways that really shouldn’t be possible.

“Why were you talking about him?” James spoke softly, as if the delinquents were toddlers who needed to be lulled off into slumber.

Alexander shifted on his heels. Why this small student was so intimidating fascinated him. James was always a perpetually timid youngster. Someone who sat at the very back of the class, head constantly bent down over his work, hunched and tired. Yet now, his eyes glimmered with rage and every inch of his body shook with unsheathed emotional torment.

“We-“ Alexander started with confidence, but trailed off quickly into inaudible - protecting himself - mumbling.

James rattles his knuckles off the door again. "I won't let you get expelled from another school!" He exhaled and fiddled with the handle. "Just, open the door... We can talk about this." He grovelled desperately. The door handle moved, and Thomas deliberated from behind the gateway. As the wood cracked open, James spread into a grin.

Thomas exhaled smoke downwards, blowing it down to the very depths of hell. "What?"

"You're smoking," John observed with a light shudder. He planted himself on Alexanders bed, tugging at the wrinkled sheets and grasping for the cream pillow, for the scarlet cover of the cushion had been stripped from it, and thrown somewhere across the room, it had been missing for days. Alex theorised that Thomas had disposed of it out the window, or in a garbage can in the main courtyard. Either way, Alexander and the students residing within that dormitory were lucky that a staff member hadn't inspected their room just yet. If it was found that articles of bedding had been cascaded like dirty wash paper then a worthy punishment would be awarded.

“Am I?!” Thomas took the lot cigarette away from his lips and glared at it. His eyes narrowed, “am I really!?”

“Yo, there’s no need to talk to him like that!” Hercules piped up with a stare. “He didn’t do nothin’ to you,” he spat.

Thomas rolled his eyes and took another quick puff of the cigarette before disposing of it in a sink, and running the cold water tap. “Yeah, he said nothing sure.

“Stop,” Alexander insisted, beginning to rise. He observes as Thomas struts into the dorm and throws his cigarettes packet and lighter onto his bed, before dropping down on James'.

Lafayette hastily crept over to beside Thomas and sighed. "My apologies, Thomas," he confessed, "it was wrong of us to... Eh.... Talk bad about you." He stumbled over his words, a bit like a newborn calf taking its first wobbly steps.

"I'm like, 99.99% sure smoking really breaks school guidelines," Hercules chimed in, twittering away in the congregated background.

"Yeah? Why else do you think I'm here? Because I want to be?" Thomas jeered, messing with his hair absentmindedly.

"Well, because your family bathes in pots of melted gold and dines on silver platters served by their monkey butler," Alexander prompted immediately, the words sliding off his tongue like venom before he could halt them.

Thomas and James scoffed in unison. "I'm here because I was expelled for drug use," the jaws fell to the old floors, "weed, mostly. Over the counter painkillers and anti depressants. That sort of stuff, ya know?" He shrugged, so nonchalantly.

“Drugs?!” John exclaimed in utter shock. “How did you even get a hold of them?!”

“Well,” Thomas gridlocked in his tracks, hitting the breaks on his brain, “why am I telling you this?” He sneered at himself, fanning his face in his own stupidity.

“Because... you want someone else to trust?” James mumbled, “other than me...”

Thomas’ face fell and he grit his teeth in annoyance as he came to terms with James’ unsettling words. He ran a tattered hand through his mop of sheep's wool. He remained mute and simply made a random hand gesture.

“James,” Hercules breathed and was quiet for one of the first time ever. Or ever since the others had met him, “why’d you get sent here? What’s the deal?” They all gasped, the taboo had been broken, and Hercules graced his eyes around the room, his pupils widening with terror. “Wait, no! I didn’t- it’s... it’s just, you don’t seem like the person to be sent to Annoying Pricks and Rich Dicks school.”

Madison blinked rapidly in thought. “No, no, it’s fine...” he took a large inhale, “I was bullied a lot... and one day I just... flipped. I attacked them when they followed me to class through the halls. The kid got away with a slap on the wrist and I was expelled. Then sent here...”

“Yeah, just after I was expelled, James came after me. Missed me that much?” Thomas chortled, stretching his arms and for just a moment, his arms and head placement made him look vaguely like a cactus in the dry Arizona sun.

“Not really, class was much quieter. I did lose my only protection though, because someone decided to get high on marijuana in the boys bathroom!” James really emphasised each syllable of the word, ‘someone.’

Thomas frowned lamentably. His sighs echoed around the room. “In fairness!” He stopped, “I actually can’t justify it. I was just being stupid and impulsive okay?”

Alexander cackled away loudly in the back before taking enough initiative to muffle it with his hand.

“Oh you can’t laugh, ‘amilton! You swore your professor out!” Lafayette teased with a snicker and Hercules let out a soft, ‘ohhh!’ punctuating Lafayette’s words.

“Yeah? And you whipped a knife on someone!” Alexander yelled back playfully. Hercules continued to laugh.

“Oh, shut up, ‘Erc! You can’t say anything! Two people in ‘ospital who?” Lafayette jerked, progressively getting himself more and more worked up. His cheeks were glowing a lipstick red and his eyes darkened with fury.

“‘Two people in hospital, who?’” Hercules mocked in a false French accent. It was awfully stereotypical, and fake as hell. But it annoyed Lafayette to the point where he leapt from his bed and pointed pressingly in his best friends direction.

“Lay off!” John jumped up and separated the two with his arms. “Okay! We all did things wrong, like... I disappointed god!” John beamed with a singsong voice, pleading to cheer those up.

“Disappointed god?” Thomas questioned pressingly, his voice ripe with curiosity.

“I was kicked from Catholic school for my ‘deadly homosexuality that could infect others’.” John chortled and moved away from Lafayette and Hercules, adjusting to the fact that the tension in the room was still thick enough to be sliced with a knife.

“Oh damn,” James whispered mistily to himself, scratching at a scab in his forehead, located just about his right ear.

Alexander rolled his eyes. “Oh no! I’ve been infected by the gay!” He yelled and Thomas exploded with laughter. It made Alex smile, and realise that Thomas, in fact, had a nice, boisterous chuckle.

“You can’t pray away the gay,” Hercules spoke in his often loud voice, smirking for the world to see once more.

“We can sure as hell try!” Lafayette knelt on his bed and placed his hands in a prayer motion. “Be gone, homo!”

John fell backwards dramatically and flopped to the floor. His hand touched his forehead as if fainted.

Alex snorted.

The dormitory door clanged with the pound of a fist. “Get to class, boys!” The familiar booming and authoritative tone of Head Master Washington exploded into the dorm.

“Sorry, Mr Washington!” Alexander apologises with a grit of his teeth.

“Suck up,” Thomas mouths and stands, leaving with James hot on his polished heels.

Lafayette stood and nodded towards the ajar door. “Wanna go hang in the courtyard?”

“And risk getting detention?” Hercules scoffed, “obviously.”

“Let’s fucking go!” John exclaimed, picking up his boots and shoving them on his feet.

From the slightly open door they could hear a yell. “Thomas, I swear to god!” And then the muffled reply, ‘what? She despises both of us, let’s just hang out in the courtyard!’

“Sounds like someone else is thinking about skiving class!” Lafayette sniggered, hoisting the door wide open and heading out. “Coming?” Hercules nodded and rushed after him.

Alexander stuck his fist in the air and clapped. “Anything to skip Mrs Reynolds class!”And they ran down the stairs, leaping down the stairs two or three at a time. It was dangerous.

And they loved it.

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portiaphan · 5 years ago

Conversation

DV Characters as Things Hannibal Buress Has Said

Alex: "I'm a gangsta, and gangstas don't ask questions." Yes they do ask questions! I thought that was a main point of being a gangster. "Hey, mothafucka, where's my money?" That's a question. "Do you want to die tonight?" That's a question too. "What? What?" That's two questions.

Alva: Gibberish rap is - I freestyle all the time, just hangin' out with friends. And sometimes when I'm freestyling, I'll lose my flow, you know, but I'll still wanna - I don't wanna just stop rapping because I lose my flow. So I'll just put in nonsense words till I can bring in regular words again.

Brielle: I couldn't imagine only being an actor or a writer. Because what the hell do I do when I'm not working? Mope?

Battista: I’m a dumb guy. My point of view is limited.

Bellamy: Why are you booing me? I'm right!

Beau: SIX PACK ABS! TEN PACK ABS! TWELVE PACK! What if I want an odd number of abs? What if I want a five pack to show people I'm still humble?

Bernadette: My other airport nemesis is airport security. I don't like them at all. They seem so dedicated to keeping bottled water out of the sky.

Calina: I acknowledge that I jaywalked, I apologize not for the act of jaywalking but how my jaywalking made you feel. I'll try not to jaywalk in the future while you're watching but trust that I'll do it for the rest of my life - it's the best way to go about being a pedestrian.

Castora: There's a lot of dudes in my neighborhood that have handlebar mustaches. Which is cool if you want to have a handlebar mustache but don't try to have a conversation with me like you don't have a handlebar mustache.

Catherine: He said, "Man, we are right by the Adige River. These buildings are 200-300 years old, they have rats everywhere. Even the five-star restaurants have rats!" Somehow he made me feel like the asshole for bringing up rats! I don't know what kind of jedi mind trick that was - it confused the hell out of me because I still ended up ordering food then.

Cyrus: So we talk for a little bit. She says stuff, I say stuff, she says stuff, I say stuff. You know how a conversation works.

Celeste: I get upset easily by people. I saw this guy- he was on the phone. He had the phone between the ear and shoulder like that, but he didn't have anything in his hands. Which is really upsetting! Who the hell do you think you are? This action for people that are multitasking. Where's your other task? You're not doing anything else.

Daphne: He'd be the worst real estate agent ever. "Right here we have a 34 bedroom house. Let me show you around the property. Great features to this place, some of the rooms have extra, smaller rooms in them."

Delilah: I was in Scotland for all of August and it was the darkest time of my life. Mostly 'cause they call cookies biscuits. I don't like that at all. It was an incredible culture shock for me, tough to adjust but I tried for a few weeks. Pass me the chocolate chip BISCUITS. Let's have biscuits and milk, everybody. I love Oreo biscuits. But, in the fourth week, I couldn't handle it no more. THOSE ARE COOKIES THOSE AREN'T BISCUITS. Those are cookies. Cookies are cookies and biscuits are biscuits. If you call cookies biscuits, what do you call biscuits 'cause I'm not saying scones.

Everett: I did not move to Verona with a plan. The first time I moved to Verona, I just popped up. My sister was living here in Verona. I just popped up. She had her baby and a husband, and I just popped up. "Hey, what's up? I got $200 and dreams. Let's do this."

Genevieve: I can't just look at a status and move along. I see a status got 36 'likes' — can't accept it got 36 'likes' and move along. I got to click on it and start reading the names of the people that liked it. "Oh, yeah. Jim would 'like' some shit like that."

Grace: Yo ma, money over everything.

Halcyon: Awe man, I gotta get a team. I don't have a team, I just have friends. I call up my friend, "Hey man, I know you're my friend but I need you on my team right now."

Hazel: You have a regular-sized tub and a miniature tub, the sink.

Henry: You never know what could happen when you go into a store - somebody might pull a Tonya Harding on you and break your knee cap. And now you got your knees all fucked up just ‘cause you wanted to get that vinyl.

Hugo: It sounds like God owed someone some money and they couldn’t get to him, so they murked his son. That’s what I really think happened. Jesus got stabbed up in an alley… but it’s easier to sell crucifixes. You can’t sell a pendant of someone getting shanked up in the alley. It’s a marketing scheme.

Ivan: Come to your place at 5:00 in the morning, eat your food, drink your drinks, leave at 6:30 without fucking like it’s cool. That’s a passive burglary.

Isabelle: Two separate charges $400 at Barnes and Noble. Who balls out of control at Barnes and Noble?

Juliana: Believe in yourself like one of those weird-ass clothing stores that only have six shirts in them. So many questions. How much do these shirts cost? How long have y'all been here? Why is there a DJ?

Katarina: Kill people, burn shit, fuck school, I hate spam emails! That's annoying! You think you have an email from a friend but it's spam.

Lucien: I believe in my ability to not spill food in my pants 'cause I'm a goddamn adult. And I've mastered the art of getting food from my plate to my mouth without messing up my jeans. You need to believe in yourself, too and get your life together, that's for babies. Have some confidence in your eating abilities and hand/eye coordination.

Lucrezia: I'VE ALREADY SEEN LIMITLESS.

Lillian: I'm not a club person, I'm more of a bar/lounge type of person. But, I'll go anywhere if you give me a free bottle of alcohol.

Mikael: I have weird aspirations. Like, I really want to kick a pigeon.

Matthias: It's a weird emotion when you're flattered and cynical at the same time. "Oh, that's nice that you would say that, but what the fuck are you up to?"

Marcelo: I just wear black and gray all the time. If you Google Image me, you'll just see a bunch of black and gray. It's simple. If I like a shirt, I'll buy six or eight of them, wear them back-to-back, and just wait for somebody to say something. "That's the same shirt you wore yesterday." "Yeah, but this one is fresh."

Maeve: When people go through something rough in life, they say, "I'm taking it one day at a time." Yes, so is everybody. Because that's how time works.

Nikolai: But this time, it was me and this old lady we were jaywalking together. We weren't together like that. But if we were, so what? Mind your business.

Odessa: It was a phone interview and sometimes when I do phone interviews and the journalist is boring, I just start saying crazy stuff to make it fun for me.

Olivio: There have been times I’ve been out, and my phone battery is at nine percent, and I was like, "Time to go home."

Orion: Don’t thank the lord. I gave you that compliment, thank me.

Priam: I lost my debit card recently, had five charges on it before I caught it. First charge, $30 Chuckee Cheese. Who goes to Chuckee Cheese as soon as they find a debit card? Are you serious?

Paola: I applied for a job at Starbucks. One of the questions was, 'Why do you want to work at Starbucks?' Uh, because my life is in shambles.

Pandora: I don't even know how to use a semicolon to this day, I use a comma every time. And you know what? If I email somebody and they get upset about me using a comma instead of a semicolon, that's not a person I want to work with anyway. And that's how you weed people out of your life.

Ramona: I went into this restaurant in Verona called The Two Gentlemen. Went into the bathroom at The Two Gentlemen, huuuuge rat in the bathroom at The Two Gentlemen and the rat looked at me like "the fuck you doing here?" That was his vibe, very negative vibe.

Rafaella: Sometimes I get drunk and I get into arguments with taxi drivers. And I get out the cab and I slam the door. That's not the way to win an argument with a taxi driver. The way to win is you get out of the cab and you leave the door open.

Regina: And that was the first time in my life, without any sarcasm, I could say, "What? You want a cookie or something?" Because any other time you say that, you being mean, but I meant it from my heart. "How many cookies you want, man? You want seven cookies? That's way too many cookies. You're being ridiculous right now. You can take, like, three or four cookies and get out of my face. Otherwise, you're taking advantage of my generosity."

Ronan: Wack.

Roman: In my hometown of Verona, I'm kind of a medium deal.

Theodora: We got interns at the job. You can just tell them to do stuff. You gotta be nice, though. I had this cat fax something. I handed him a couple of pages, and I handed him another page. I said, "Hey, man, fax something for yourself, too."

Tomas: Rap videos confuse me cause they have to be continued at the end but the never make a sequel. Where’s the second video? There’s so much suspense!

Trinity: I was at the airport and there was this kid, four or five years old walking with his mommy, fixed his fingers in a fake gun, and then took a shot at me. And I'm looking at the wall to see if there's something on the wall he could've been shooting at 'cause I'm in denial. I look back at him, he looks me in the eyes and takes too more shots. Now I'm hit three times, that's an act of aggression. I need to defend myself.

Valentina: Morpheus, Dorpheus, Orpheus, go eat some walruses. Orifices, porridges. Morpheus, Morpheus. Going to the Buffet and Walruses. Confidence, corpseses. Worcestershire sauce. Go into your orifices. Red pill, blue pill. Morpheus, walruses. Seashells by the seashorpheus. MORPHEUS DRINKING A FORTY IN THE DEATH BASKET.

Vivianne: "We'll keep you in our thoughts" With the other bullshit in your heads? No, keep me out of your thoughts, because I hear some of the stuff you talk about and if that's close to what you're thinking about, I don't want to be around that, so keep me and my family out of your thoughts, unless you're thinking of making me a sandwich.

#diveronatalk #this was gonna be as hannibal buress jokes but i had to include WACK #and ik val is dead #but whatever #ALSO I CHANGED THINGS TO SAY VERONA FOR OBVIOUS REASONS #alcohol tw #food tw #gun tw

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soldierallen · 6 years ago

Text

Married. 4

Summary: you're in love with Sebastian and you're one of his three best friends however he finds a women be loves and marries her

Warnings: cursing, an argument.

Featuring: Sebastian Stan, Henry Cavill, Alexandra Daddario.

Part 3:

She drove to Henry's office, it was only a few miles away from the hotel.

Sebastian turned on music in the car he seemed calmer, happy to be not around her I don't know but that's the vibe I am getting

"You know I've always loved this area" he looked out the window sitting in the passengers side

"Why didn't you buy a house here instead of the suburbs?" Henry had a hotels all over the city but he worked closely only to one, the one in the middle of Times Square on Broadway he had an office in Hell's Kitchen not too far,

"I did what she wanted, not what I wanted i wanted to live right in the middle of everything the lights traffic, all of it" he tried not to feel bad for himself but he did he was never selfish on anything he put everyone else before himself until recently because she taught him to be selfish and non-giving he wasn't like this it was new for her and rest of the boys.

"But we made the right choice" he lied to himself and she knew he was lying..

Henry called "you're on speaker with me and seb" she yelled out

"I'm at the Hilton come here instead of my office" that sneaky bastard!, she tried not to smile but she did

"Okay we'll meet you in a little" they hung up

"What was that about he never goes to the hotel? And this early?" Sebastian said confused "Oh he told me eariler he had business there I guess he's not finished" lie, he was finished he just stood at the hotel so he could catch Alex and her "person" together.

The two friends talked walking down the parking garage and entering the hotel lobby, they went up to the front desk

"Where's Henry Cavill the owner of this joint?" She laughed

"He's not in" a very stuck up voice looking at the screen on her computer rather than looking at Sebastian or y/n the two very confused as to why she was being so mean?. Sebastian got a hold of Henry but he appeared out of nowhere

"Mr Cavill I'm sorry I tried to stall" the women said at the desk, they saw Henry his shirt was untucked a few buttons opened and a shiny substance on his lips...lip gloss Henry nodded being embarrassed that he was caught

"I'm sorry about that" he said he was embarrassed "cougar? your age? Or 19?" She tried to lighten his mood

"That 19 year old was one time she lied she was older she was in a club for god sakes and Why are you dressed like that?" Henry asked she had on red short shorts with white sneakers, a shirt that was stripped up and different colors

"Did you pick out your clothes in the dark? Aw sweetheart" Sebastian said both of the men laughed loudly in the hallways "very funny, are we not going to acknowledge Henry having sex before we got here? And talked to us on the phone whilst being in her? Or just about my outfit??" she said they laughed

"I had sex and you're wearing a bad outfit we all make mistakes" Henry said trying not to break character and laugh "you know what assholes" she started to laugh but soon the sound faded from her throat as she looked in front of her she saw her...

"Don't be so dramatic we're just...playing..with...you" Sebastian said stopping midsenteces to really take a look at the women who had caught his eye

Right in her eye view was... Alex

"Is that ally?" Sebastian said pointing she was in the the dinner area she was there alone.. not for long

"see why she's here?" Henry said trying to look normal when really both Henry and y/n were dying inside ready for the big reveal

"Baby" she screamed loudly disrupting a few people's dinners of course, she ran towards him hugging him tightly Henry and y/n took a look at each other and then continued to look at what was unraveling infront of them.

"What are you doing here!" She smiled, we all knew it was fake except for Sebastian. Henry scratched his jawline ready to hear the excuse "this should be good" he whispered for only y/n to hear

"We came to have lunch with Henry? You told me you were staying the day at the house." His hands on her hips her hands on his neck

"My cousin came in town early and he wanted to spend time with me at his hotel, Henry is this one of you're hotels?" She asked knowing out of all the hotels he picked Henry's.

"Yes" he said short and sweet

"And you- I mean y/n you look well...rested" she said while letting go of seb, y/n rolled her eyes she felt like every time she was with her her eyes rolled so far back they were going to fall out her god damn head

"Where is he?" Sebastian said both of his friends a nervous wreck, I wonder what the devil herself was feeling she thought.

"Hes up in his room I'll call him" she said with a smile calling him

"Hey peter could you come down sebastian's here and he wants to meet you...ahuh Oh yeah?..oh my god of course of course...okay Yeah okay I'll see you in a while hope you feel better"

"No way she's getting away with this!" she whispered underneath her breath Henry nudged her to be quiet

"He's feeling really sick right now i have to get back to him, have fun with your lunch babe." she said with a smile and a kiss to his lips, y/n's stomach twisted from anger this was how she was suppose to get caught he's too fucking blind to see it, she walked away from us with a wave.

y/n Henry looked at each other with such defeat this was their way out, she won.

"Let's go to our seats" Henry said trying to shallow the anger of defeat, they sat at their respected seats ordered and everything "so the guys are throwing me a bachelor's party are you up for it Henry " he asked

"No" Henry said realizing how mad that sounded he had to fix the answer

"The only reason why is because we took that road trip for a week" Henry said

"Which was exhausting" y/n said matter of factly she looked at social media kind of engaging with conversation however she wasn't having it having Alex win with being caught really brought the spirits down, Tom's back in town.. maybe I should see him or something

"I mean the guys arranged it for me I have to go" he was talking about his bigheaded rich friends with the yacts

"Oh so you wanna be with the more expensive friends I see" y/n said making Henry give a nice smile on his face ready for a laugh

"No that's not what I meant" Sebastian said "Yeah we know we don't own yachts or go to fiji every week but who was there when you got black out drunk and threw up all over miss Jameson's front yard" still looking down at her phone texting

"me y/n and Anthony were so DRUNK as well, we had to clean it because Anthony lived next door we didn't want his parents to find out" Henry said laughing with y/n Sebastian laughed to "you're my best friends clearly I love you both but those guys are-" we cut him off midsentece

"Married, yeah we get it single friends left in the dust always" Henry said breaking the bread that sat on the table handing some to y/n She declined

"Come on" Sebastian said getting very defense of his new friends, Henry rolled his eyes clearly knowing Sebastian wasn't having it

"We're just busting your chops relax seb" she said she put her phone on the table gently

"What's on your mind?" Sebastian asked, it was a frequent question with the two.

"Nothing our food is here and I'm hungry" that wasn't the case at all.

the food arriving only minutes later and everyone collectively talked, ate and then Henry needed to get back " want me to drop you off there" y/n said "here's the asshole answer, my driver's outside" Henry said knowing what's coming, Sebastian and y/n made gagging noises "alright alright, I gotta go" he hugged them both he whispered in her ear as he hugged her "you have to tell him sooner or later" she tried to make beileve she didn't hear him. He walked out and them too

"Can you take me home?" He said she nodded, going up the hill to the garage she was swinging the keys around her finger not paying attention to the hill they were walking on the conversation didn't exist it was a nice silence they both got Into the car

"Sebastian I have to tell you something"

"Doll, are you okay? You look nervous what's on your mind"

"I'm fine but I need to tell you something and I can't wait any longer"

Here she goes...

"Seb-" she was cut off by a phone ringing that annoying fucking iPhone ringer pissed her off

"Can you not answer it this is important!" Y/n said getting clearly aggravated

"Its ally I have to something might be wrong" he eagerly was going to press call

"No you don't, Sebastian do not answer that phone!" He answered it anyways not complying to anything she said, she sighed her anger was getting so big in her chest, every time she tried to tell him she interrupted someway or another it's like she had a god damn tracker on her.

She started the car and begin to drive as Sebastian talked on the phone, she thought maybe she could just tell him right now while he's on the phone with her. She drove to his house and he finally hung up she wasn't going to talk to him.

"Doll I'm sorry what did you want to tell me"

"Nothing" she continued to drive looking at the road soley "Please tell me I'm sorry"

She took a turn down his street

"You're home" she drove into his drive way parking waiting for him to get out.

"Y/n please tell me what's on your mind?"

"you know you always gotta fuck it up? we were having such a nice day we had an incredible night together ugh just you're so oblivious to everything it's ridiculous" she exploded finally

"Please tell me what you were going to tell me" he tried his best not to get loud to get his point across

"I asked you to do me one favor don't answer the phone I need to talk to you- you just go ahead on your way and answer the fucking phone!"

"So tell me" He yelled They both got out of her car slamming the doors shut, both of them in front of the car she was furious

"I'm sorry please enlighten me what's so god damn important" his voice raising to meet her voice

"I'm not going to your fucking wedding, you asshole" getting back into the car

he was in shock "y/n wait we need to talk about this Y/N" he screamed her name loudly she got into the car and drove away, he threw his bag on the floor his hands rubbing his face harshly

"Chris" she yelled over the speakers on the call

"Yeah what's wrong"

"I need you"

"I'm on my way"

Tagged: @hiddlestonstansworld @lovely-geek @imcalledflorence @misz-adrii @escapistdreamer-wishfulthinker @someplxce @cuddlesforlashton @coffeebooksandfandom @weasley16 @ilovethewayyourheartbeats @vogueworthy-barnes @xeniarocks @thisismysecrethappyplace

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #sebastian stan #bucky x reader #sebastian stan fic #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian #stan #henry cavill fic #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill #alexandra daddario #chris evans #anthony mackie

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maniacollisionarchive-blog · 7 years ago

Note

1, 3, 8, 10, 19

is there a muse that you wish gets more attention?

well aside from my player characters, i’d love if my ocs lilli and elyssa got more love. being female ocs, i am aware that, you know, people have a thing against that. which is dumb. but lilli and ely are adorable and deserve attention. i mean ely doesn’t really care, she just likes school and sun and dancing, but lilli needs friends like air in modern verse and in her standard verse.

which muse is the trickiest to get into character for?

probably kraglin, which is why i’m pretty selective with him. we have so little of him in the movies to work with that defining his voice and characteristics is hard. also not many people play with him so he gets rusty and i lose his voice a lot. but i have a lot of feelings about him and who he is and his feelings that i can’t give him up. i just need to work on him a bit more to figure things out, and it usually takes me a few write throughs of a reply before posting it in order to get it the way i like it. and i usually like it in the end.

what is each of your muses otps? notps?

oh man i think i answered this once before. um. you realize i have like. a shit ton of muses right? cool. here we go.

chronos --> otp lila notp none?lizzy --> otp mr. darcy notp mr. collins. pfft. elliot --> otp thomas notp that guy he shot once ahahaelyssa --> literally not enough datafabian --> otp remus? lily? i’m open tbh notp um. maybe a deatheater? but i’m open.fenris --> otp fenhawke, fenders, fenbela notp uh... hmm. fenris/merrill? fenris and danarius, if that’s a thing.jamie --> otp @moriartyproperty‘s sebasitan, nikolai notp um. idk. jamie likes people. jim --> otp again, @moriartyproperty‘s sebastian notp everything else. definitely sheriartyjodie --> otp jay notp well i’m not the bigggggest fan of ryankarliah --> otp gallus notp mercer duhkori --> literally not enough datakraglin --> not enough data. maybe nebula?liam --> otp james. notp alexlilliana --> otp idk notp her husbandmarie --> um. no ideamaya --> otp idk but notp is def fang thanks byepersephone --> otp hades notp um. anyone that isn’t hades?pride --> otp humility notp idk. reece --> otp josie or blackwall notp uh. solas? probably. regulus --> idk man. idk. rin --> um, assuming she’s older, otp kohaku, and idk a notpsirius --> otp wolfstar thanks notp um. idk i like a lot of sirius shipssuze --> otp jesse notp paultalia --> well she married farkas but. she probably would have married anyone. teren --> otp dorian notp um? anyone that isn’t a dude?usagi--> otp tbh i liked seiya more. notp uh. prince diamond, that guy, he was weird. basically any bad guy, they’re all creepy and sorta pervy.

which muse is the most fun to write for?

probably pride because he literally does not give a shit. writing for him can actually boost my mood because he’s just ‘hey i’m the best, you suck, also pay attention to me, did i mention i’m the best’ and it’s hilarious and incredibly annoying. i mean he’s like definition fuck boi tbh. he’s pretty intelligent too and he absolutely adores his hell hounds, but like, good god he’s obnoxious.

for each muse, is there a character you wish had a blog so you could interact with them?

hmm, well i don’t think there’s one for each muse, but here we go for the ones missing people. chronos --> lilalizzy --> basically anyone, but mostly mr. darcyelliot --> i’d love a thomas but i wrote thomas so. that’d be hard.fabian --> a gideon that fit my hcsjamie --> a nikolai, but i wrote nikolai so. also a jim that worked with my hcs.jodie --> basically ANYBODY ELSE FROM THE GAMEkraglin --> wouldn’t mind a good yondu to work withliam --> runs into the same problems as elliot. needs a james or henri or evelyn but i made them up so. lilli --> her husband that she doesn’t love.marie --> like the whole aristocat familymaya --> more max ride blogs. specifically max or fang.rin --> she needs her sesshomaru! they’re all inactive.suze --> the whole? rest? of the fandom? but mostly jesse.uasgi --> i’d just like some active blogs for her, thanks.

#;;aly answers #pxperhearts #delivered

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aliciagaliano · 5 years ago

Text

Crossed Roads, chapter 9

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Author's Note: One more chapter before this ends. You're getting one more answer there.

Also, when I first wrote this, I felt that I wouldn’t end this chapter because of how darn cringy it was for me, and it really gave me a hard time to redact whatever the hell I did once and improve this version one way or another with more details and other stuff... please kill me and end my suffering.

...

Disclaimer: Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs belongs to Sony Pictures Animations.

The respective OC's belongs to me.

...

I'm sick of the secrets Stood on the edge Tied to a noose And you came along and you cut me loose

Amsterdam - Coldplay

...

It's been like two and a half days from the fight between Maximus Panther and Alice with the victory of the latter; in those two and a half days she remained unconscious in the same way from when she was found floating in the ocean. Flint didn't hesitate in any moment from moving away, remaining close and only leaving when he really needed to do something else like getting something to eat or feeding Steve, who also remained by their side upon her chest curled in a furry ball.

The wait just felt… agonic in many senses of the word, he hated to wait to see if she would come back or if the thing of the three days from the first time wouldn't happen due the magnitude of the fight and the poor condition she got left afterwards. More than one people asked for her condition to his father, all he could reply is that she was supposedly doing it alright in the meantime…

Why he had the feeling of having a dejavu sensation all over again? But the only difference is that this time it was taking longer to reach that damn ending that felt like about to drive him insane. Besides of that, part of what happened before just remained in his head including how beaten she was until the end… to then think, how many times that happened before? It was a long story of physical and psychological abuse – as much the evidence told…

It felt like the wait was totally worthless and she ended up falling in a coma, the wait was tiring, there was nothing to do as his mind became blocked for any ideas for an invention, and at some point he gave up having fallen asleep next to her; it was afternoon around 4:00 PM, the sky was cloudy and the rest of the world seemed to lose its sense after the revelation of knowing they weren't alone in the universe. Incredibly enough, the girl started to regain her conscious, awakening her...

Alice opened her eyes, heavily as the first time, being in the room she found herself the very first time, after having put the succession of events straight in her head she looked to her bare hands shaking softly not actually understanding at all if what happened was a dream or really happened; so many things that happened made her unsure about what was going on and what not, and actually she was expecting to having been a dream and that fight didn't happen, neither the way she and he argued neither the fight...

Then for a moment she thought it was an actual dream and nothing happened, ignoring entirely the presence of the inventor there, even more when she covered her face and started to cry in silence… then she felt a hand upon her back rubbing it softly that made her whimper…

"Flint..." She said with her voice cracked, "I-I-I..."

When the girl saw Flint, the livid memories of how they argued horribly came back, how she ran away to the grasslands angrily and heartbroken... the fight against Maximus, all of that, even when she inadvertently attacked him... she felt very embarrassed by that last action, so much that she wanted to run again, but even if her body healed, she still didn't have enough energy to do so... the girl was breaking slowly while tears fell down her face all over again.

She was just desperate and scared at the same time, not knowing what to do, Flint put a hand on her shoulder, she looked at him with reddened eyes, when she realized, he hugged her and began to cry against his chest, he simply put his chin upon her head affectionately rubbing her back... "Don't worry my girl… the nightmare has passed..."

For a few minutes there was just a loud yet muffled sob against his chest until she eventually started to calm down, the inventor just felt saddened and touched by it, showing how human she actually was even with her… special abilities; and after calming down all she did was only look down as the top of her head was still against him, feeling too stressed for everything that happened, and even if he was comforting her she still wanted to run away.

"Alice please… calm down… nobody's angry at you, I promise..." He said, "They all have been asking for you for the last two days..." His fingers slowly went to the base of her neck, starting to massage that part slowly, it made her body shiver, yet slowly relax, "Come on… I'll get you something to eat first, then let's go upstairs to talk calmly, alright?" There was silence, then he felt her nodding slowly against his chest, still looking down. "Hey… can you look at me, please?" Her head pressed more to him, "Please, calm down… I'm really sorry for having said all of those hurtful things to you back then..."

Regardless her actions in battle, the guilty feeling in his chest remained as he still was unable to apologize properly to until that moment… despite everything that feeling of she being still angry at hurt about his actions were very present and he hated it… then he felt her arms wrapped around his body too and her hands gripping his lab coat again…

"I'm sorry for having ran away… and for all the troubles I caused to you..." She quietly mumbled, her body shivered again when he caressed her hair. He just kept easing his friend as much as possible until he offered her again to get something to eat and go to his lab, so a few minutes later they did; her legs were like jelly as well, but she managed to stabilize up.

There was a little sensation of repeating the first day they met but without Tim, who was at his shop covering his turn as usual; for now he served her some milk there was from when he went to the States a few days ago in a glass, she took it and drank everything plus another two rounds at the same time the inventor took his time to inform his father about her awakening and how she was feeling… for a moment he looked at her, she still seemed to feel pretty low… yeah, he was worried, maybe it felt like they went right back to the start where she was again that shy little girl that just woke up…

So… time to start all over again?

Whenever he tried to to make any kind of contact like rubbing her back or anything else she used to flinch slightly in response, yet never complained neither said something about being uncomfortable, actually it just felt like she was expecting him to be mean, yell, be rude to her… it never happened. He sighed softly knowing they went several steps back as she was enclosing herself once again in a similar way from a few days ago and it was annoying in his honest opinion; but it was what it was, the only thing left to do was try to talk to her…

"Liz…?" He said in a low voice, sounding concerned, the nickname caught her attention, "Calm down… alright? I just wanna talk to you… I-I think we both deserve to sort out some things and… I wanna know about your life too..." He took a pause, then continued, "Look… I'm... really sorry for all the things I told you early a couple of days ago… I was… you know, overwhelmed for all the thrills that happened with Henry and Alex and then you turn out to have that kind of abilities and strength… I wasn't thinking I was… stressed and I didn't mean anything I said..." He sniffed hard for a moment trying to calm himself down, "I know I already apologized but… I… I'm really sorry… I was having a bad day and all I did was release all that rage upon someone who really didn't deserve it… you've been so nice and understanding to me and I repaid everything to you by being a complete dick..."

At that point he was tearing up to then just cry out loud while covering his face between his hands feeling all his thoughts totally messed up, he tried to keep going and be fully honest to her as much as he could but no words came out anymore, sending him slowly to despair; only to feel her hand upon his left chest as she felt his heart beating hard against it…

"Ishin denshin… (1)" Somehow he understood what she meant with it, there weren't any more words coming from her after she said that, it wasn't necessary anymore.

In part there was a weight lifted out of his shoulders, his right hand went upon hers feeling it warm, to then pass back again to a tight hug. Once done with it, they headed to the laboratory, right when they were going to enter to the elevator her friends peeked over the fence as they saw the inventor get out of the house, about to ask him how she was feeling, smiling widely when they saw her wide awake again. Alice couldn't avoid looking down in evident shame as Flint placed a hand upon her shoulder, rubbing it softly.

"Hey Al! You're finally awake!" Cal said sounding happy, "How do you feel?"

She bit her lower lip for a moment, to then look up with a little smile, "I'm good… thank you..."

"That was so awesome!" Cassie exclaimed completely blown away, "You royally kicked the ass of that idiot! And when you came back overpowered he was like 'please don't kill me' and–!"

"Really, it wasn't a big deal..." She replied, kinda squeezing the arm of her friend like still feeling uncomfortable.

"It is a big deal!" Cal exclaimed, "Tell us everything! You owe us an explanation too and we really wanna know because that was hella freakin' awesome!"

"That'll be for another time," Said Flint with a smile, "Alice still needs a break."

Without hesitation the two kids left with an "okay" as a response, letting the inventor and the little girl get into the elevator and go upstairs; in every moment she held his arm tight not seeming to want to let go, even less when he indicated her to sit on his rooking chair to talk, but in any case she did, looking down as he got another chair for himself… she felt so awkward and ashamed, no words could come out her mouth as she seemed unable to find a place to start.

"I'm sorry Flint I… I don't… I don't want you to change the way you see the things involving me… and..."

Before she could continue, he took her hands…

"Look all I want now is just… hear your story and understand… I mean you come from the freaking space! There is more out there in the universe and… and… I need to understand your story, what are you doing here? Why are you so far from home and why was that man trying to kill you?"

"First of all I'm not from out there… my… father is… mom's an earthling and I am too… or at least from a different plane of this planet..." He didn't seem to understand correctly, or at least that's what he thought, "There are many places around the Earth, but some are in a different dimension… some are hidden… stuff like that..."

There were so many dimensions and worlds across the entire universe, stars, galaxies, civilizations, technologies… everything humankind has been questioning for a long time were actually real… even if he already saw how evident the existence of life outside the planet was ready, it was still completely mind-blowing indeed… then she said it: she was a hybrid between an alien and a human being.

How her parents met? He went to Earth around in the early 90's when he was sent to Earth for research purposes, what kind?

"Although they were this high-technological empire with many planets in hands, they didn't know what a Caesarean operation was..." She explained, "We all are born with what is referred as 'power unit' and when the units of the baby is bigger than the mother well… she dies..."

And it was a huge problem among them no matter how many more there were across the universe, even more as they were a barbarian kind that has been expanding themselves for years and years. When they heard about Caesarean operations being made on Earth what was the first thing they did? They sent their young, proud-ass, cranky and quite annoying prince along his best friend/bodyguard/kind-of-like-that to the green planet.

"Wait a second… what?!" He needed just one moment to understand correctly that last bit of information before his brain could entirely melt down, "You're saying that you're a..."

"That's why he called me 'little princess' so many times..." She simply replied, "We, Saiyans are meant to be barbarians, a race of fighters where and stuff like that… but some of us just ain't that way..." There was a heavy sigh for a moment, "I didn't want any of this..."

He felt like he understood somehow, she continued the story of her parents or at least all she knew about their relationship. They were together for years – classmates better said, he was a royal asshole, proud, irritant, a prick, stubborn… well the list was long actually, while she was always focused in her studies, trying to be kind to her friends and other stuff, also with a lot of personality whenever she got pissed or in an unpleasant situation, in a nutshell: they were almost the opposite from the other.

Then there were the stories she's been hearing about him that seemed just like a fairy tale as the reality she knew about him was completely different is that he was actually a caring-type of person who just couldn't show it as he "lacked of parental love" in his life, even if he had grinds with everybody and mostly with her mother… among all the things that happened during those college days, once he even defended her from an overprotective boyfriend who was already way too annoying to her…

Oh yes, their relationship was actually weird: it was mostly him teasing her, she getting angry, and then she managing to roast him as it became a non-stopping circle of love/hate… then in 1999, one night they ended up in his room doing having an adventure as nobody else was there and his companion was somewhere else to "give them space"… the version she got from her father's friend, it was because they were going to leave soon and he wanted to leave something…

Something?

A child…

The day after her mother was alone in her apartment thinking that everything was a dream, finding out a month later that she was pregnant… she was lucky that her parents were understanding and supportive about it, being happier for having a grandchild than because it wasn't an expected thing to happen, besides she was an adult too...

The day after her mother was alone in her apartment thinking that everything was a dream, finding out a month later that she was pregnant and alone… she was lucky that her parents were understanding and supportive about it, being happier for having a grandchild than because it wasn't an expected thing to happen, besides she was an adult too…

Nine months later, via Caesarean section, Helena Galiano got a baby girl named Alicia…

Did her father know about her? According to Link, (who was nowdays his right hand in duties), he always knew and even went to see her when her parents were away and she was asleep… the girl didn't know if she should actually believe that story or not due his cold as hell personality… she didn't know what to believe or what was the truth: if it was the story of what they told about her father or stick to his abusive-like behavior towards her…

"What does he does to you, Alice?" Her friend asked softly, yet worried, she just flinched a bit and sniffed.

"He's always yelling at me for being weak..." She said in a low, cracked voice, "He's always repeating me that I'm weak and useless and… that he can't believe I'm his daughter..." She sniffed hard cleaning some tears from her face, "That I don't actually deserve to… be… a Saiyan..."

Placing his hands around her arms he felt her shaking in rage, like trying to tone it down and keep talking but all she was doing was burn inside without letting it get out… it made him feel quite helpless again, and he kind of shattered when she started to yell how much she hated her father so damn much and how she wished to not be any related to him in any way because all that it brought her in the last two years was pure and utter pain to her life.

He ultimately tried to calm her down when her hair started to levitate and the sound of a panicked Steve were heard around by hugging her tight and letting all the sorrow get out, making her cry hard and loud once again… now he actually felt bad for complaining about his relationship with his father… after a few minutes everything went back to normal as she regained control upon her emotions. How come her dad thought she was weak?! She wasn't at all in his opinion…

But that came to another realization: her father was wide stronger than her…

Then, if the problem with Max against him as far he had understood with the entire fucking affair, then why attacking a young girl?

There was a revenge in-between, that's what he allowed him to know as he talked about his race disappearing from the face of the universe, and at the same time she didn't have anything to do there at all even if he was completely decided to end her life. He was a space jerk who dragged her to their adult stuff (even if, as much as he could say for his appearance, was in his early 20's), which gave him to the conclusion back in the moment that the panther man was weaker than her father, but he was stronger than her, so it was (supposed to be) easier to get ridden of her…

It still made his blood boil… so. Damn. Hard.

And of course, any living, sentient being in the universe with a minimal level of common sense would agree that it was an injustice… then just have in mind that she wasn't the only one in the world – even the universe… gosh, reality just hit his face way too hard again, reminding him that there was brand more evil outside the island and the planet itself… how saddening, wasn't it? Before even daring to ask what the hell was going on at that side he had to massage his temples for a long while trying to calm down, process and digest what he already knew.

Then he realized there was something out of place…

"So… your mom didn't know about your father's provenance, right?" She gave a soft nod, petting Steve gently, "And if I understand this part correctly despite you didn't say it explicitly but maybe this is more an assumption of mine so I might be wrong, they haven't seen nor talked to each other in years, am I wrong?" She remained silent for a while, then shook her head a bit, "So I'm right..." She nodded again, "If that's the case, can you explain what is going on there? Your mom and your family got zero clues about your powers neither that you interact with your father, how?"

She shrugged in response.

"It's… very complicated… my powers never showed up when I was younger…" She explained, "He just popped up in my life a few days before I turned eight..."

She was taken to his home planet without her mother's knowledge (as much as she asked her father how she wouldn't find out, he refused to explain back then), where gravity was few ten or twenty times heavier than Earth with two suns, two moons, the full moon was only seen every eight years (at the time he arrived, the cycle was going back there) and the color of the sky had pink and yellow tones.

In a first moment everything was so awesome as the little – naive and innocent girl she was at the time: her father was a king, she was a princess and everything should've gone well after despite the coldness of him, she would live in a giant palace placed at the top of a cliff sustained by a giant pillar, own a room of the size of a two-floored house… and she wouldn't need to be like an earthling princess either.

When did everything go downhill? When she didn't show traits to be… like them maybe…

"You've seen my tail… right…?" She asked him, he nodded seeing it moving to the sides looking stressed again, "Well… uh… when full-moon hits its zenith the tail reacts at it… it's like being a werewolf… but instead of a human-sized wolf we turn into giant apes..."

The word was quite relative in size until something in his mind told him to think about a mythical giant, all he could say was a simple "Oh..."

"Yeah… and guess what else..."

He thought about it for a moment and bit his cheeks softly… he wasn't sure about the answer.

"You… you couldn't…?"

He noticed stress in her reaction towards his mid-answer, her hands were shaking once again, "A few ones knew about my real provenance… I was in a group of other kids that were going to turn into apes for their first time and… even if I was staring directly to the moon I…"

"You were the odd one..." He completed, getting a surprised look from her, "I understand… and you know that… you felt so out of place and weird to look like them but not being able to do the same as them and you wonder why..." He looked down and cleaned his face a bit, sniffing hard, "Sorry… keep going..."

"You are right… I… I didn't understand why I was the odd one like– uh… I mean my tail didn't grow until I went to Sadala with my father but… n-none of them ever thought that… uh… I'd be that… different…" Both Flint and Steve proceeded to try to ease her again as she was starting to shake again, "They… they realized I even wasn't from the planet but from somewhere else… and right there they're… like supremacist..."

A sector didn't like her at all for her hybrid blood, constantly mocking for being unable to become a giant ape, for being weaker than other kids, for pretending to be an actual Saiyan… how she was a mistake… and her father didn't help either, often becoming silent whenever she told him about people making fun of her instead of helping out somehow; of course that grew a constant anger and frustration inside in her, even more because at the time she wasn't even scratching the expectations of the king during their trainings, and instead of getting tips to be better she just got indifference and what looked like disappointment…

There were times she wanted to quit and go back to her life on Earth as if nothing ever happened, but for some reason she kept enduring and trying to learn how to become stronger – not just physically, but mentally to understand and learn better and faster… the second part kinda worked right, by someone inexperienced as her, she was fast by making strategies and learning movements from her rivals, which brought acknowledgment to her person after winning a tournament similar to the Olympic Games at the age of eight years… and for some time, it also kind of eased the tension between her and the king.

Then this shit happened…

A group equivalent to what white supremacists were, broke into the palace somehow, their leader was older, a general, the group consisted of young men following his ideals, thinking that they had to get ridden of her at the same time they were planning a coup d'etat towards their monarch for mixing his pure blood with another race…

"Woah, woah, hold on a minute..." Flint interrupted, "They kidnapped you?!"

"I was sleeping..." She sniffed hard as she was tearing up a lot, "They were all around me when I woke up… I tried to fight back but one of them hit my neck and I lost my conscience..."

Her friend grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, Steve quickly got on her shoulders as she stood up, then sat on his lap and hugged him tight, sobbing hard in the process; he caressed her hair softly as she curled in a ball against his chest, a few minutes later she started to calm down again… God, that must been a hell of a ride… from several…

"You're safe here Alice… keep talking to me..." He said concerned, "Just keep telling me everything, you'll start to feel better eventually, alright? We're safe… you're safe… I can say it's hard to go back there, but trust me, it'll be okay..."

It took a while again to get her calmed down, even with her stuttering she managed to keep going with her story.

"When I… when I woke up again I was far away… from planet Sadala… they had to tie me up to be sure that I wouldn't be able to escape… they called my father to go after me or..." She gulped softly, "Or I'd die..."

She didn't actually think he would go and save her, even less because it was in this volcano-like planet far, far away from her previous location: lava, volcanic rocks and a black sky covered with the smoke of the chimneys, the place itself looked like it was going self-destroy itself at some point, and according to some rumours, some of the worse criminals were taken there due its location and because there was something in its core that made the planet slowly start to suck the energy of any living being around the orbit…

They called it Anur Vladias, or The Dark Zone.

Why going to a place that dangerous if they could've all died? Well, it was their way to try to stand a chance against someone stronger than them, that's why.

And what seemed to be an eternal and terrifying wait became her joy when he actually went to save her, hearing him screaming a loud, raging "Where is my daughter?!" outside; she saw him using a combat armor and a red cape. Even if he showed to care about her, in the daytime she still wonders if he did it because of a genuine concern of his or just because to avoid problems with her mother if she died; although, he did seem genuinely angry towards the people who dared to take away his daughter.

Of course the young ones were easy to defeat as they were relatively unexperienced compared to their king, who didn't show signs of tiredness yet, at the same time it didn't mean he wasn't getting affected by the strange no-death situation of the planet, he was doing it as fast as he could before running out of energy.

At the point he went to that golden transformation she showed against Maximus, referred as the super Saiyan, she realized he started to feel the lack of energy in that point which could only worsen up the situation. To add more to the plot, the man who orchestrated her kidnapping made a ball of energy on a hand, once tossed to the sky it became bigger, and out of sudden there was a giant ape roaring…

"The thing is… when creating the artificial moon, the power of the user decreases to certain point for putting a lot of power in the technique. It should've been easier for dad to win but… somehow… it wasn't… he was losing..."

"And what about you…?"

Flashback

June 8th, 2008. Anur Vladias

Among all the many things that happened to her in the very few months since she descended to the hell that was being the daughter of a proud king, target of many people's laughs and discrimination for his half-blood provenance, exhaustive trainings, pretty much no recognition for her advances as a warrior and other things, maybe this experience, for a young age was much more than stressing and frightening.

For hours she's been trying to set her arms free and get out from the small, round space pod where she was trapped in, already having tried everything in her mind to do so, but alas, nothing was working. With all the fear she even did lose hopes on escaping alive or getting rescued by anybody as if they'd even care about that little hybrid-mistake until his father arrived with pure rage, almost having killed the frightened young ones of the group that realized their mistakes and finally going behind the person behind the entire affair happening.

And now she was witnessing how her father was being crushed by a giant ape even after the first went to a fourth form of the super saiyan where he looked more like a man-ape with red fur around his upper body and including arms, cursing under his breath about his bad luck about the affair and how he already needed to win before it could get any worse than it was.

King Vegeta IV was having a very bad time.

Naturally he was bigger, stronger, better and faster than any other warrior of his race, he was at the top of them with four versions of the super saiyan – an accomplishment never before, yet somehow it wasn't being enough to win this battle, and the worse part is that his opponent still didn't start to show any signs of tiredness unlike the king, who was slowly reaching that part. Even if his movements were still as fast and powerful as they should be, it was clear if he kept going it'd be the end. The only reason he kept going was to end all of it for once.

In the slightest chance he got to distract his pair by shooting an energy beam to his face leaving him blind and stunned for a while, he quickly he went to take her out from that pod by pressing a hidden button under the window, making the door of the pod open up, taking her out and releasing her wrists.

"Dad!" She whimpered and hugged him tight for his biggest surprise, even if he could be cold, he returned the hug seeming relieved to see her alright.

"We have to go right now, Sharotto. This place is dangerous for all of us." He said, "We will be alright… I promise..." Among all the things he's ever done, maybe that was the first time he was behaving like an actual father.

Without losing any more time he got her in his arms and started to run away to not drag the attention of the giant ape, who was still agonizing for the pain in his face after that hit from the king, the latter held the girl so tight in his arms as she was looking upon his shoulder towards the giant ape frightened…

Why not flying? He didn't have enough energy, there was a ship outside the orbit of the planet awaiting for his call. And, if anyone's wondering, he didn't want to leave, but there wasn't another choice as much as he hated that, his main priority was put her in a safe place first, recover a little bit and then end with that man afterwards…

She turned around to see how the ship, which had a strange resemblance to a bracelet because of the round "arms" of the ship, segmented in six equal parts each one met again without touching each other, leaving a large space of twenty meters long between the "arms" that ended in arrow points, with the walls of that part being totally soft, with energy panels all upon the plain surface, telling to the alien crew that the ship had a cannon incorporated in it. There was a ramp down ready to get them up, she looked back again, they were close from escaping…

The giant ape saw that and charged energy in his mouth...

"Dad watch out!"

There she felt him pushing down her head in a desperate attempt of protecting her life from the attack at the same time a bright light blinded them for a while…

There was darkness for a while where she became confused of what happened, she felt something – someone upon her; mid-key heavy, slowly she crawled out, finding herself still there. Turning around she looked at her father: unconscious, back to normal and hurt… she tried to wake him up, he wasn't responding…

"That's what our 'king' gets for mixing with a human!" The giant ape growled, surprisingly, "This is what happens when you are weak!"

"Dad… please… wake up..." There was nothing more than fear filling her inside, from the very deep down taking over her entire self, "Please… wake up… I'm sorry..." She sniffed, tears were falling non-stopping from her eyes.

She felt helpless, horrible, like a complete useless weight for everybody around… she was weak, stupid, lacking of total experience fighting, of the power needed to defeat someone like that man… there was despair, fear, she was screaming loud and hard underneath, was everything lost?

"Now that I'm getting rid from all of you, I will fucking find that human who gave you birth and kill her right in front of you! Then I will destroy the Earth!" The said by the giant ape hit her core way too hard, from fear it passed to a growing rage inside feeling like a burning fire spreading wildly.

Something snapped, she didn't know what. There was energy accumulating in her inside growing and growing uncontrollably, giving her a weird sensation going up in her spine; the pebbles around started to shake and then float up in the air, the volcanoes around the area erupted furiously letting out the lava straight to the black sky ragingly, the black clouds reacted to the strange chain reaction of the nature with loud thunders and quick lightnings…

People inside the ship were staring surprised to the scene, even more because her hair started to float, switching between a gold-like color and her dark brown constantly, her hands were gripping the remaining clothes of the back of his bleeding father who was barely alive and totally out while the rocky soil under her knees was cracking in a crater, ceding to the crushing growing power…

Broooooooooooom!

At the same time she let out a loud scream of rage at the very top of her lungs, a powerful, destructive shockwave was released, first the wave, then the powerful explosion turned dust the pebbles and rocks around the area. Her hair became a bright golden color as she was also surrounded by an aura of the same color, quite spiked up, looking up straight to the red eyes of the giant beast, her eyes became sky-blue filled with so much rage… a few tears were still around the corners, slowly fading away showing full rage.

"Impossible! There can't be another…!" The ape mumbled shocked, "You won't beat me anyways you filthy hybrid!"

She launched another loud, angry scream of rage and disappear from view, out of sudden she was right in front of him. Little time he had to react before feeling a sharp pain from a blow straight to his snout, which stunned him for a few moments, another blow was felt again on the other side of his face, and the thing that almost brought her the victory in three movements was a powerful blow straight to his throat.

As I said: almost.

He gagged for a while trying to recover his breath, quickly launching his hand towards her in a desperate attempt of grabbing her, and fast as a fly about to get smashed, she dodged and ran on his arms, again back to his face. He expected her for running out of energy quickly, but it didn't happen at all, quite the opposite: her blows were becoming harder and her movements faster.

The battle ended after she tossed this powerful energy blast that consumed the giant ape, as being the first time she ever went to that form and she wasn't used to a high energy consumption, she fell unconscious, but being catch by Link…

End of transmission

"When I woke up again I was in my room with a headache… the man who tried to kill me and my father got taken back too and was executed and the others… well… they were luckier and learned their lesson..." She ended.

He remained silent for a long while, again processing the story she told him about that affair…

"Why didn't they believe when you turned into the super-something?" He asked curious.

"There is a legend that says that every 1000 years a super warrior is born," She started to explain, "This being is the most powerful among all of them, it's the legend of the Super Saiyan… my dad was the first ever to reach that transformation like a decade ago…? And I'm the second one..."

"With eight years…!?" He was surprised, "But as you reached such kind of power at a young age, doesn't that means that maybe you are that warrior of this millennium? Just putting in mind that even if your father is the first one it doesn't means he's the person the legend has talked about."

She just let out a soft, almost sarcastic chuckle in response…

"Someone as pity as me can't be the person a legend like that is talking about..."

"Alice you can reach the second and third transformation your father can use and you're just ten years old. You are powerful enough to keep Maximus away from you for some time, maybe in this life you are, but you just haven't reached that power yet." She didn't answer this time, "Anyway, how did you meet Maximus? And how did you end up here in the island?"

Once again she started to shake…

"After my father learned I could turn into a super saiyan, his trainings became more of a hell… the first time he showed me how to do it, it took me… three or four days to learn how to transform myself without any more complications… so… one day… I escaped..."

Far, far away from everything to a safer place needing a break from his hellish, draining trainings she ended up in a distant planet, with some money she got saved and her royal provenance as a secret, ended in a little bar getting some food before tracing a route back to Earth in an effort to avoid and mislead the king and his army from getting her back.

This tall dude with cat-like ears appeared when she was getting something to eat, at first he didn't realize a thing despite the fact she seemed oddly familiar due a certain resemblance to her father, showing at first askance to her for looking like a saiyan until he somehow realized she actually was one – even if she was a hybrid, to then become a murder attempt when she dropped an insignia of the royal family: a red anchor-like insignia with three arrows at the left, right and up in a V, the line between the hook and the upper part was segmented in two, and the semi-circle at the bottom as the hook, with two half arrows at the ends.

"He started to attack you only for having that?" He asked, disappointed but not surprised at all at that point, "What does your family got to do there?"

"My grandfather declared them the war a couple of years before I was born after series of events that leaded to a genocide..." She explained, "Max did survive because he wasn't there when it happened, he was like… my age maybe… two years later my grandfather died and… well… he swore revenge against the royal family… so when he met me, he thought it'd be a 'nice place to start'… and it only added more problems to me..."

She didn't just unlock the other two transformations out of rage and despair (barely being able to maintain the third version) but get heavier training sessions that were draining both physically and mentally only to not end barely alive in another fight. Her father wasn't being any understanding about her lack of experience, constantly rushing and pushing her to the very limits, often ending in a medical capsule that uses a special liquid to heal any physical wound both outside and inside in a thing of a couple of hours depending of how bad the state of the person was, to then go all over again through the same process.

That was spiralling towards madness, faster for her for being a child. The plan was increase her powers as they got a special something that allows them to increase their power levels after receiving a large amount of damage, adjust to the enemy's battle tactics, and a few other extras that made them malleable specially for fighting… it kinda got limitations: self-inflicted wounds didn't help at all, and a constant, repeated use of this innate ability only could bring less progress than before.

It became futile.

"Woah..." That's all the inventor could say in that moment, she was still on his lap against his chest, as if she felt safe right there hearing his beating heart. "And… you escaped from there again before ending here, am I wrong…?" She nodded.

"We were having a training… he was pushing my limits all over again… he was mentally pushing me to the limits and… was calling me weak… that I worth nothing and… you know… stuff like that..." Her hands were holding his shirt tight as she started to tear up again, "I snapped..."

The thing she remembered from that day was the way she snapped before everything just became blurry, but as much as they have told her in the aftermath was that she completely lost her mind in an explosion of rage, how half of the palace suffered severe damage and how around a hundred people plus the king in his third form had to do everything to put her under control. For what?

To wake up in a cell, heavily chained like a monster that was totally out of control. Afraid and confused, impotent… alone…

She couldn't keep going, getting into a panic attack, being his turn to calm her down… think about the story, then remember his own words back then that morning, calling her a monster… his arms closed tighter around her, sniffing hard feeling way too dumb all again; the story so far was already unbelievable, now knowing how crazy her actual life was just made him feel dumber by how he treated her after saving him from the bullies… and yes, maybe she already forgave him twice for it, but he still couldn't get over it… at least not yet.

"It's alright Alice… don't forget we're here now… just keep going..."

"My father went to see me and…" She sniffed, sobbing softly, "I asked him to… to get me out of there… I was so scared and confused… I just wanted to go home… he told me that I was in jail and that I'd be there for an undefined amount of time… I pleaded him to not leave..."

"But he did..." She nodded, "I'm so sorry Al… how long did you stay down there?"

"Around a week… I guess Link released me on purpose as he was the last person to see me and even left a key… so in secret I left and made my way back home..."

Stealing a pod, disconnecting the tracker of it she programmed the coordinates back to Earth, which would be a long trip of around a day or so, landing on the dark side of the moon, ready to fly into the atmosphere, get back home and keep going on with her life as if nothing ever happened, neither the existence of her powers, aliens, the outer space nor her father and his race. Enough was enough, she was sick tired of everything and all she needed was a prolonged break and peace, get her feet down to earth (ironically), focus in stuff that kids of her age would… only to stumble upon Max, who apparently did follow her or it was a casualty.

She pleaded him to let her go because she wanted to avoid any kind of confrontation, he didn't listen as usual.

They fought, she was trying to get away, he didn't let her…

She didn't want to fight anymore. Period.

"Such a whiny little piece of shit..." She remembered him hissing, repeating it also out loud, feeling a ghost grip around her wrist, "And you call yourself a–"

"I told him that I'm not like them… and how I hate to be related to them... because I'm only paying for the broken plates..." There she looked straight to his eyes, "I told him he's a coward for downloading his rage on me… he punched my face..."

"Come on! Fight! Struggle! I don't fucking care but do something!" He shouted, she didn't reply, which just brought out an angry groan, "Ah! You're so pity! Tell me what's your purpose in this life!" She didn't understand that leaving him without reply, holding her neck tight and making her look to his eyes. "What is your true purpose in this meaningless life?!"

"I still didn't understand what he meant… I think I'm so empty and… meaningless..."

"Who you fucking are! Why are you still alive and why are you still fucking fighting me! You have none asides of the natural instinct of living, and that's so pathetic and pity that only makes me feel angry!"

She felt to have none... still lacking an answer to him, with a drifted off gaze. The man gave a spin and tossed her away towards the void of the cold space where she was expecting to die in a few seconds... a burning feeling got her body as she was dragged away. For moments she only felt pain and didn't hear anything…

Out of sudden there was some light as her eyes barely adjusted to the light, seeing the blue sky of the Earth, then, her body hit the water… she felt the cold, dark sea wrapping its arms around her, pulling her down to the deep while the surface was becoming distant; the aching pain of her wounds due the salt didn't matter, she didn't care whatever could happen now, only wanting to die…

"I didn't know who I was… why I was alive… why all of this was happening to me… I was just allowed me get swallowed in the sea..."

And then he showed up by taking her out...

Even if she witnessed worse shit than him, he still felt reflected in her life, she began to shatter way more than before, to proceed to sob harder than before; all she did was grip his arm as he hugged tighter and keep crying, Steve also made an effort to calm her down too, again.

For ten minutes all she did was cry until there was nothing left to sob… she felt lighter in certain way, having needed to let it out for so long under his point of view; there were still some questions he had in mind, but maybe it'd be nice to not do it for now. Her silence and her breathing tuned down made him think for a moment that she fell unconscious as a mechanism of self-defence of her brain to avoid more traumas to her mental stability, which was evidently fragile since the very first moment you meet her, she just cuddled more in response…

"Uh… I still have some other questions like how your mom knows nothing about this, where did you get that sword and what the material is or what is that plasticized piece of paper… or even how did you meet Coldplay…" He said, both trying to see if she was still await and if she would reply to him.

"One…: dad gave me that sword after showing interest in weapons… Link convinced him to do it..." She replied hoarse, "It's made of a hard material called adamantium… check on the internet… they only exists in outer space… two: the piece of paper is to set an illusion to hide my tail… third: I have no idea… but it's better for her to know nothing… and fourth: it happened a month after the kidnapping thing… I came across one of their concerts a couple of years ago and… I stuck around..." He felt her smiling a bit, yet she still felt so blue…

Placing her back on the swivel chair, he pulled out a mirror and placed it to one side, then grabbed the chair and dragged it in front of the mirror. She had her head down still feeling so petty and quite miserable, the young man softly proceeded to put his hands on her cheeks and raised her gaze towards the mirror, the face of the girl was red by tears, she seemed emotionally drained to look away, unable to do it...

"Alicia, tell me: what you see there?"

She looked at her reflection, reluctantly, her hands became fists with rage underneath like wanting to shatter it to pieces, and simply not feeling any right she said:

"I see a waste who cannot do anything without risking to people who she loves... carrying the weight of the errors of her family..."

"No... and that's not what I see..." Flint began with love in his voice, in the very same way her mother would've done it, "What I see is a girl who wants to do things by herself... who doesn't wants anyone's help to carry her world… it's a girl with a pretty fragile heart... which doesn't was anyone to worry for her even if deep down you need it... t's someone who doesn't know to who she can rely for their experiences... and who need rely to get ahead... someone who also knows the little things of life... and who is beautiful inside and out...

Alice gazed at her reflection, tears began to fall again, and a slight smile curved on its face, grabbed the hands of Flint and squeezed them, the young man was surprised that it actually worked, and felt very happy that she was trying to, hadn't given account of shooting star had granted him his wish…

"Thank you so much Flint… you don't know how… this means to me… so much..." She whimpered sounding happy, relieved...

"Why are you even thanking me? I should thank you for sticking around with me… even if I treated you like shit before..." He said, turning her around and cleaning her cheeks from the tears, "Come on, Alice you're the nicest person I've met in literally years, I'm actually surprised that life just enraged towards you in this way… you're nice, you care for the people you love, and if they won't see what you really are and worth then… they're just fucking stupid and blind to not realize what they're missing… and you know what? I'm not even sorry for meeting you. Actually you are the best thing that happened to me in so long… and I'm so grateful for meeting you… and..." Slowly he got away and grabbed the smithereens of her broken heart, then got close back to her and lend them to her, "I'm still so sorry for what I said… I… I tried to fix this… but..."

Her hands got upon the back of his and closed them, there was this bright light inside his, when he opened them again carefully, he saw the broken heart back to normal, as if it never broke at all… more questions came to his mind in that moment.

"I already forgave you… I couldn't be mad at you even if I tried..."

The girl gave a yelp when he suddenly gave her the tightest hug of the day with the crystal heart in a hand, it was a something she couldn't deny at all…

"I love you so much Al… so please… don't leave me alone..."

Her arms wrapped tighter around him.

"I won't… I promise..." She cleaned up her face seeming better, as if all the long chat lifted up a weight from her shoulders, the change of mood was felt by Steve, who became joyful, "And if you still have questions just keep going… we still have a long time here..."

He sat down and took a deep breath…

"So how did you do that? I mean fix it like that?"

"It's… uh… complicated… I mean my powers somehow can fix things… I discovered that once when I broke something made of porcelain at my grandma's house… just a random thing that happened… I learned how to control it and even use it in a greater scale..." Her gaze went out the window with a little smile, "It's like… going back in time or something like that…? It can go to a previous state or even further behind… it's weird..."

"I can tell..." He said, "Can I have powers like you?" The question clearly made her surprised, "This might sound crazy but when you lost control, well I felt this strange energy emanating… it made me feel so… powerful… that I could beat the entire world with a hand… it's weird isn't it! I just thought… maybe you can teach me… and yeah I'm a man of science, and I witnessed a fight of two aliens, my best friend is half alien and there is a brand different and greater world outside this planet! My-my mind has been expanded and..." If there was something that could make an accurate vision of his head was how it blew away, she chuckled softly.

"I think I can try..." Maybe the thing that was making him happier in that moment was seeing her smile without fear, "And… can… can you tell me what did I do when… when I lost control…? But please tell me everything… don't… don't hide anything..."

That made her little smile vanish, even if he preferred to hide the events and move on, it was something that couldn't be hidden away as maybe someone else would tell her sooner or later, so he did and told her how she completely lost control becoming this beast with dark energy and how Earth was nearly compromised twice because of a massive energy ball… and, unavoidable was telling her how she nearly killed him in the process… she looked down and completely embarrassed, passing back to that process of calming her down.

"Hey, hey… that energy wasn't you, I'm completely sure about that… so tell me the truth about this too..."

Flashback Two days ago…

Her way towards where her friend was (at the same time she could even feel the energy of the inventor next to two people she wanted to punch again) slower than a snail, barely being able to stand up, needing to lean against walls to keep on moving and fighting against the burning desire of falling down unconscious without caring anything else in the universe…

Flint was the only priority crossing her mind in that moment, even if meant dying in the process of protecting him from Maximus.

Very deep down in her mind in her subconscious, her conscience she just woke up, finding herself in a very dark place. A dim light was illuminating the darkness present, she was lying in a puddle of water upside down, half of her face outside feeling way too tired to move a little bit showing her mental weariness... then her body was being pulled up from there ground, being lifted it, looking down she saw shadows around her waist and down.

From the darkness a couple of eyes red popped out, with a monstrous white line of sharp teeth… then a large figure emerged, showing this large black snout. It was a Japanese dragon: it had a crocodile head with long deer horns, a long serpent body with dark violet scales like lizards, salamander snout, eagle claws, long dark beige lion manes at both sides of where his neck started, very long catfish whiskers, the lower part of his body had also a beige-cream tone with two red lines putting a limit of his upper and lower part. His tail was lost in the darkness...

"Gururu… you finally came down here to visit me..." His voice was deep, somehow familiar too.

"Who are you…?" She asked weakly, "I… I've heard you before..."

"My name is Drakon, Alice. I can give you power to finish him," Said the dragon with a demonic voice, "if you borrow me your body, I will take care of the rest for good..."

All she knew is that he wasn't using his tiny arms to get her but the shadows themselves, a shadow hand was opening one of the eyes of the girl, her body then arrived to where Maximus was torturing Flint, when the images came to the consciousness of the girl, they popped in the form of a screen on one side, feeling how negative emotions started to take over her and the shadows were surrounding her more...

"Flint... I need... save him..." She said weakly stretching an arm towards the screen, seeing how he was being punched in his stomach mercilessly, "I need… to save him…!"

"But you have no energy, little girl..."

He slowly placed Alice on the floor, she fell to a side tired still both physically and mentally, so she couldn't remain standing up. She looked helplessly like Tim how Maximus tortured her best friend; a few tears out of her eyes, the dark power engulfed her again, and the demon came out of the darkness quickly wrapping around the girl, who just looked forward, then said:

"If you don't want your friend to die, I'll pay you with my energy… what do you choose? His death or my offer…?"

At that point there was nothing to lose, right?

"What do you need…?"

End transmission

"So… I let him take over and… the rest is history already… I completely lost my conscience afterwards… I don't remember what did I do..."

The little last story just brought, again, many more questions than before…

"This Drakon thing… is uh… inside you then…?" She shrugged in response, "You've seen him before?"

"He's what sometimes makes me explode… back when I was eight I heard him… he just… triggered it…? Again when I first fought Max too… I think… and a couple of weeks ago when I exploded in Sadala too… but this is the first time I've ever seen him..."

"Maybe your enhanced healing powers got something to do with him… it kinda makes sense… I guess..." Again, she just shrugged in response, "Then that's the entire story… right?"

"Pretty much… I guess..."

He rubbed her back in a way to comfort, the crystal heart was still in one of his hands, looking at it he placed it back on his night stand, deciding to fix the base later. A little bit of his drawer was open, letting him peek inside. He saw the folded photograph inside, all he did was silently open it and unfold it to show again the picture of that fourteen years old girl he used to know as Marlene O'Neil, with him next to her looking like a couple… he looked happy, dressing an actual tuxedo suit as she wore a pretty aquamarine dress in what looked like a Valentine's dance…

His hands started to shake, then looked at Alice petting Steve on his head…

He couldn't take it any longer.

"Liz, I… I want to take you somewhere..." He said, his voice trembling, folding the photograph again and putting it next to the frame of his mother, "Can we…?"

Alice was staring at him confused and curious, tilting her head to a side softly...

"Where…?"

"You'll see it soon..." She walked to him as the monkey got down, grabbing his hand in a silent way to accept, "Ishin denshin..."

She nodded with a smile in response knowing that he could learn a lot from her… before leaving he called Tim to let him know that she was all right and they'd take a little walk, and after talking awhile, Flint hung up and lifted the girl on his back taking out from her some giggles, taking the elevator in that way. Steve stayed in the lab to avoid any further problems just in case...

Down the streets the people looked to Flint and Alice, both felt uncomfortable by the stare of everyone, then... heard an applause, then two, then five, and then everyone in the place were applauding, some even whistled joyfully. Earl watched with a smile to the duo... Cassie and Cal watched them pass with happiness, while Brent, simply smiled as Alex and Henry just took a step back, meaning a pause for an indefinite time to their teasing...

The duo were heroes, and they had all the respect of the people... for now.

...

(1) Ishin-denshin: Denotes a form of interpersonal communication through unspoken mutual understanding. This four-character compound literally translates as "what the mind thinks, the heart transmits". Sometimes translated into English as "telepathy" or "sympathy", ishin-denshin is also commonly rendered as "heart-to-heart communication" or "tacit understanding".

#cloudy with a chance of meatballs #flint lockwood #fanfiction #angst #crossover #dragon ball z

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