#before id started taking my meds it was pretty fine since id gotten used to it

[centaurianthropology]

Hi hii! I’m just wondering, what were the struggles/how to get into forensic pathology because this is my 3rd year in med school and ide like to become a forensic later on so do you perhaps have any tips or things I should take note on?

Okay, that's a tricky question, since it's so region specific. So, caveat before I begin: this only really applies to US residencies/FP track. Anywhere else is going to have different systems, and you'd need to ask someone who went through that specific system.

So, first, congrats! You have gotten through the hardest part: you are IN MEDICAL SCHOOL, which is absolutely the choke point for all of this. I know it might not feel like it sometimes, but from here out you are way more in control than you were getting into med school.

As a third year, my main recommendation is to do general pathology rotations (surgical pathology is good, get some clinical pathology experience) and make sure you do a forensic or autopsy rotation, because you'll know really fast if it's really the route you want to go down. It can be a nasty, smelly, intense job. For some people, that's perfect, for others not so much, and you'll only know if you do a rotation. So once you start to get electives, focus in on those things.

This leads us to residency. If you do plenty of pathology rotations, you already have a massive jump on other people who apply and barely have any pathology experience. Having been pretty active in recruitment at my residency, I can tell you that an active interest and good base knowledge of what pathology is goes a long way. Another huge jump you can have on everyone else in trying for residency is to be friendly with everyone (especially techs or others you might talk to, because during your interview you are ALWAYS interviewing). Be interesting and be interested in their program. Know some good knowledge about what they're good at going in. And if you're convinced that FP is the way you want to go, focus on the residencies that have a good FP program attached to them, as it's much easier to get a fellowship if you come from their native program.

I went to a middling medical school and was only a slightly above average student. I certainly wasn't a superstar. My scores were fine. My grades were fine. But scores alone weren't going to help me. What helped was writing a killer personal statement, having REALLY good recommendations from pathologists and forensic pathologists, and being able to put on an outgoing and fun personality. Having an actual personality that is engaging and memorable is somewhat uncommon in pathology, so use what you have.

One of the keys I found in interviewing for a pathology residency was knowing that 90% of US medical school grads get their number 1 choice for residency in pathology (your mileage varies if you're shooting for the big name programs). It's a fairly small pool each year who are going into pathology, so YOUR ranking of residency programs generally matters a lot more than the residency's ranking of you. You are interviewing them just as much as they're interviewing you, so focus on the program that feels best for you. You are going to be in residency for four tough years, so you really want to be in a program that will support you well.

Once you're in residency, as I mentioned, it's a lot easier to get into a fellowship program that's already attached to your residency. I did this, so I can't really speak to the process if you're coming from an outside residency. Fellowship interviewing is somewhat like residency in that almost everyone trying to get an FP fellowship will match somewhere because very few people go into it, and there's an extremely high demand for forensic pathologists (which means you're basically guaranteed a job no matter where you want to go after fellowship! Just pick a location, and chances are good they're hiring), and more fellowship spots than applicants each year. That being said, getting into the top programs (I think the current top 3 are New York, Miami, and New Mexico) can be extremely competitive. Research the program. Make sure the fellows get their numbers, that they don't have to share, and that they get to see a wide variety of deaths.

I think confidence and kindness go a huge distance in getting you into both residency and fellowship. And knowing about pathology in general, having a good number of rotations in it, and being ready and willing to learn is going to get you the rest of the way. And even if you decide FP isn't for you, pathology is a very broad field, and you might suddenly realize you love blood banking or surgical pathology or hemepath or cytopathology or lab management. And your path residency can get you into any of those.

Good luck!

[stardial]

hnnhg

[living-with-pmd]

11 Women With PMDD Share What It's Really Like

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is the evil cousin of PMS. They share the same types of symptoms—moodiness, increased hunger, cravings, fatigue, cramps, pain, brain fog, and depression, among others—but for PMDD sufferers, those symptoms get so bad they can cripple a woman's ability to lead a normal life.  

While up to 85 percent of women get PMS, according to the US Department of Health, only about 5 percent of women experience PMDD, according to the American Journal of Psychiatry.

We asked women with PMDD what it's really like living with the disorder. Here are their stories:

"I was diagnosed with PMDD last summer. Six months prior to my diagnosis, I started taking a certain birth control and soon every month I was experiencing severe PMS issues. I am a generally happy person, but during those few days I was someone entirely different. I was extremely depressed and anxious, having much more frequent panic attacks, and was super sensitive and lonely. I was even suicidal, which was terrifying. And the worst part was I was convinced that I had always been this miserable, and that I would always be this miserable, and it was never going to change. It felt as if someone had completely burned out the light in me and all happiness and joy and hope was gone. I didn't make the connection that it was related to my period but thankfully a close friend did. I have since switched birth control, which helped a lot, and increased the dosage of my anti-anxiety and anti-depressant meds. Most importantly, I am aware of the way I feel those few days so I know to expect it, and I can logically remind myself that I will stop feeling that way soon. Looking back, I realize that I've probably always had pretty bad PMS or PMDD. The birth control worsened it but it was also causing a lot of issues I wasn't aware of previously as well." —Katherine H., 22, Edmonds, WA

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"PMDD is out of control. I cry really easily for about a week. My biggest issue is that I am convinced that I am failing at everything—being a wife, a mom, work projects, fitness, my whole life! And even though it feels so real I constantly have to question if my feelings are valid or if they are amplified by my cycle. I just set an alert in my phone to remind me to consider my hormones the next time I feel that way." —Krysten B., 32, Toronto, CA

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"A week before my period, I become a complete psycho, completely unlike myself. I'm tearful, want to eat everything that's sweet or salty, have absolutely no tolerance for anything other than perfection, and prefer to be left completely alone. I already take an antidepressant but my PMDD was a complete nightmare so my doctor gave me Prozac to take for just 10 days a month. Basically, I start it when I start to get that irrational feeling and keeping taking it until my period starts. And that's just the emotional stuff. On the physical side, I have debilitating cramps, backaches, and headaches that last for days. Yep. I'm a peach." —Kristen L., 40, Knoxville, TN

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"In the past, PMDD almost made me suicidal and totally broke my spirit. Yes it wasthat bad. Every month. Eventually I got tired of being a 'crazy PMS woman' and decided I needed to fix this. Since I don't like to take pharmaceuticals, I branched out to homeopathic remedies and I discovered St. John's Wort and essential oils, especially clary sage and Doterra Calm-Its. It's a lot better now but I still have my hard days." —Amy S., 43, Zebulon, NC

———————————

"My PMDD got so bad I had to go to a psychiatrist and be put on Prozac along with another antidepressant I was already taking. I was a mess—anxious, crying randomly over the smallest thing, and eating everything in sight. One example is someone made a YouTube mashup of the Age of Ultron trailers with Pinocchio footage and the 'I've got no strings on me' song and that wrecked me for weeks. Every time I thought about scenes from Pinocchio I would start panicking and crying at my work desk. It's been a few years and I'm better now. I'm off birth control and weening myself off the Prozac. I notice a week before my period I will sob during any sad part in a movie or book I'm reading, and a day or two before, I notice I'm more likely to be anxious." —Kate W., 36, Alaska

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"This has impacted my ability to work effectively. My pet peeve is when people say 'it must be close to your time of the month' when they simply don't like what I'm saying. I have run into that problem a lot at previous jobs and it makes it really hard to be taken seriously. It's bullshit because my feelings are valid regardless and also PMDD is not a joke. I am so lucky now to have a male boss who understands but it wasn't always that way. I have also have found a lot of relief with naturopathic and herbal remedies." —Amalia F., 28, Vancouver, Canada

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"My PMS was tolerable until my second child was born and then everything went off the rails. I'd be looking forward to plans with others, happy, and then about 10 to 14 days before my flow would start, my mood would turn on a dime. I'd be horrible—crying, screaming that ~nobody understands~, just so much emotional pain. I'd basically lock myself up in the bedroom for a full day to cry, get angry, and feel sorry for myself. It took three doctors before I finally found one who would listen to me before I was finally diagnosed with PMDD. I took Prozac for three years for it but it made me feel numb, like a zombie and not like myself. So I quit and my family just deals with me now. As I've gotten closer to menopause the PMDD is not as bad, but can be very unpredictable due to hormonal swings from perimenopause. The worst part now is I feel like my friendships have suffered. I always seem to have episodes around major holidays and events and I end up bumming everyone out if I do show up so I end up staying home a lot." —Colleen T., 50, St. Paul, MN

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"I'm overly emotional for the week before my period. Saying that makes it sound like it's not that bad but I get so distraught that my fiance has actually scheduled it in his phone as 'blood sport' to remind himself what's coming. I'm thankful that he's patient because I also feel like everyone hates me that week, too." —Kenlie T., 36, New Orleans, LA

———————————

"All month long I'm fine and feel even and calm and then suddenly, the week before my period, I can't handle even the tiniest little thing. My irritability goes through the roof (which is not great since I have a 5-year-old) and I feel like I have no friends. It really makes me sad." —Jessica S., 28, Broomfield, CO

———————————

"I know my period is coming because all of a sudden all of my joints hurt, especially my knees and ankles. I also get crazy gnarly cramps and once I even had a cyst that ruptured while I was on a date and the guy had to take me to the hospital! It was so embarrassing. Thankfully my husband now is very understanding when this time rolls around each month. The worst part is people who just think I make this stuff up. Some months are better than others and sometimes the pain is completely debilitating! My emotions are also a rollercoaster. Anytime I see something cute or inspiring, I burst into tears." —Ivie C., 21, Rexburg, ID

———————————

"My PMDD manifests in both mental and physical symptoms. From the time I got my period at age 12, I've had extreme cramps and heavy bleeding. I'd leak at school through a super maxi pad every class so I'd tie sweatshirts around my waist and have to scrub my clothes when I got home. It was super humiliating. I'd have to take six to eight ibuprofen at a time to deal with cramps, and if I didn't I'd end up on the floor sweating like I had the flu. Sometimes I'd even throw up. This meant I ended up spending a lot of time sick in bathrooms and knew where every restroom was at all times. Birth control helped manage the PMDD and other issues, but as soon as I was done having kids, I had a hysterectomy. That was the best thing I've ever done." —Mandy P., 39, Mendon, UT

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19972132/premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder/

[ssa-daddyhotchner]

Undercover - Chapter 4

Chapter Selection

The next day

I touched on the Reid subject yesterday but I didn't want him to worry so I decided to drop it. I brought It back up and Hotch called Reid. 

"Hello." 

"Can you come down the office for a few there's some paperwork I need you to lookover." 

Hotch doesn't mention me but I sit in on the call. "Yeah I'll be there in 10", Reid hangs up. 

"Haven't you noticed", Aaron focuses on the road. "Noticed what?", I keep my eyes on him. 

"Okay so a few days ago I saw Reid in the elevator and I assume I've been at the BAU long enough so he's not awkward with me." He hummed in agreement. 

"And he was avoiding eye contact, he was shuffling towards the door like he was trying to get away from me." I take a breath then continue. 

"I've been noticing on cases he's not talking as much, he's avoiding just everyone in general." 

We pull into the garage an make our way upstairs. I walk into the building first Aaron coming in a few minutes later.

Reid walks into Hotchs office, then he calls me in after. "Take a seat." He gestures to Reid, "We need to talk." His brows furrow and he pouts. "About?" I watch his body language and listen to his speech. 

There's a single bead of sweat going down his forehead. His hands are trembling in his pockets; he's shuddering more than he usually does. Is he withdrawing?

I step in, "Hotch I think I know what's happening." He looks behind Reid and at me. I walk to the desk leaning on hit crossing my arms. 

"So... how long has it been." Reid slowly turns up at me and Hotch. 

He lets out a sigh, "3 days." Hotch watches him closely. "You're back on dilaudid? since when?", Reid stands up, "2 months." 

A small gasp leaves Hotchs lip, and I stand in a bit of a shock. Nobody realized, 2 months he'd been high off his ass on cases and we didn't know. 

"Why?", I asked; It hurt that he couldn't have told us he was hurting enough to relapse. 

"My mom's been getting worse, the meds aren't helping as much as they were. I wanna visit her but there's been so much going on here that I didn't wanna leave." 

Hotchs face softens, "You can take some personal time you know that right. I don't wanna see you in the office for the next 2 weeks. Go visit your mom." 

I walk out of his office going to my desk. JJ walks up to me, "What are they talking about." She nods to the window. Morgan and Emily approach.

"Reid's... back on diluadid." I say in a hushed tone to not attract attention; gasps leave all of them. "I had know idea", Emily said. 

"Emily none of us knew, I'm the one that told Hotch something was wrong." Morgan smirked, "you told Hotch huh." 

I gave him a glare, Hotch closed the blinds and called me in; Morgan winked at me. 

I shut the door and walked up to him. "What's the plan"

"He told me he was gonna go to some meetings try to stop but....I don't know if that's going to work."

"So he's gonna go to rehab?", he nodded. I let out a sigh and sat on the his desk. "I'm not the closest with Reid but I want him to be ok." 

I said and Aaron came up to me. "Reid gonna be fine", he reassured. 

"Hey I wanna ask you something", I hummed. "How would you feel if you met Jack." My eyes widened and I smiled, "Of course.. when." 

"Maybe in a week it depends on when Hayley will let me see him." 

"What if he doesn't like me." Hotch put his hands on my waist and pecked my lips, "He'll love you don't worry." 

__________________________________

I was at Aarons sleeping and was woken up by the sound of his phone. I reach over without checking the ID. 

"Hotchners phone," the other side of the line was quiet. "Hello?", the other person finally speaks up. "Hello is Hotch there?" 

The person on the phone was JJ. My eyes went wide and I go to wake up Aaron. 

He opens his eyes, "What is it baby." I muted the phone, "It's JJ she doesn't know it's me but here." Handing him he phone he unmutes the call. 

"What is it." I can hear JJ say there was a case so I go into the shower. I feel hands snake around my waist and kisses being placed on my jaw. I turn around and peck his lips. 

The water going in his hair and down his back. He tosses his head back and I wash his hair massaging his scalp. 

He washes it out and does the same to me. He takes the body wash and runs it over my skin. 

The movements are slow as he washes around my legs and back. I moan softly and he stops.

Leaning to my ear whispering, "Only if we had time."

"We can make time." I go to kiss him but he pulls back. "There's fun in waiting." 

We step out the shower getting changed for work at 4am. 

Finishing the shower. I try to be comfortable wearing a turtleneck and black pants. Aaron was about to put on his tie but I interrupt him, "Let me." He watches me carefully want to know what I was up too.

I just wanted to tease the hell out of him for fun. He wants to wait fine. I'll just make him wait till he's begging for it. I thought to myself. 

Getting into the car and driving; his hand on my thigh the whole time tracing patterns. We go in holding hands until we get to the bullpen then we pull away. 

The team looks tired, irritated and sluggish. "Let's go over the case." Hotch says walking up the ramp to the round table. 

Garcia walk in, "Okay my lovely's you are going to Seattle, there has been 5 murders in the area all married mothers with a single child. Each victim was found with multiple stab wounds in the abdomen. Each in different parks"

"The mothers could represent their own, taking out there anger building confidence till he can take out the original source", Morgan States

Emily looks at the crime scene photos, "The victims were cleaned up, there hands by their side and hair combed. Maybe the unsub knows the them." 

Hotch takes a looks and flips the page. "The unsub could be punishing the mothers for being terrible to their children." 

I put my hand on Aarons thigh has he's talking. His breathing hitches but continues.

"So he sees himself as a protector." I say and everyone nods. "Wheels up in thirty." 

________________

They team file out of the room and I stay behind holding Hotch by his thigh. He looks down and a small smile spreads on his face. 

I meet his eyes as I slowly bring my hand to palm him through his pants; rubbing him till he was hard.

A small groan erupts from him when he grabs my hand pulling it away. 

"Not here", he whispers into my ear then nibbling on my ear lobe.

I close my eyes when it goes cold; he'd left the room leaving me to imagine what would've happened.

I get my go bag and I go to the jet being the first one there. Aaron steps on taking my hand and dragging me to the bathroom. 

He pins me against the wall and his hand makes it way to my throat. A soft moan leaves my lips.

He uses his leg to separate mine and puts his knee in between.

"Little girl, do you really wanna play that game with me?" I nod and he kisses me dragging his hand and ghosting it over my core. 

I try and lean forward; grind on his palm but he pulls away shutting the door behind him.

When I gather myself and walk out the bathroom. I'm met with Rossi sitting next to Aaron with a smirk. 

"How are you guys", Rossi says; me and Aaron glace at each other both saying fine in unison. 

The rest of the team files on and takes there seats. I sit across from Aaron my leg running up and down his. Morgan surrounded by JJ and Emily. 

Reid took the personal days to see his mom. 

The majority of the team taking a nap. Rossi had gotten up to move to a single space so I took his seat, staring at Aaron.

I looked around and realized no one could see us. I leaned my head on his shoulder; he kissed the top of my head and I took a quiet nap.

Woken from Aaron shaking my shoulder to go over the case before we land. Garcia appears on screen.

"Ok let's go over the case", Hotch says in a stern tone. JJ speaks up, "Stabbing is consistent with those that are imponent. He could be using the stabbing as an outlet for sexual release." 

"What if he's not though", I say in an unsure voice and they all look at me to continue. 

"Now yes it is unlikely for the unsub to be a women but what if there was no sexual assault because they had no need too. 

I mean yeah they could use the stabbing for release but if they were a women they just wouldn't have the need for it." 

Hotch nods, "Let's not rule anything out and keep that thought in mind." I grin to myself knowing I got I wasn't completely wrong. 

Morgan starts speaking, "Baby girl were the victims married?" I can hear her typing. 

"Technically yes but the fathers were all absent. It was just the mothers and the kids." 

"How are the kids", Emily asked Garcia, "Some of them have a pretty long hospital records, I see broken wrists, arms, and some ribs. Honestly guys I think they were getting abused." 

"So lets say they were abused the unsub could've been a doctor or nurse at the hospitals.", Rossi states. 

"Rossi and Morgan go to the latest crime scene. JJ and Prentiss interview the closet family. Y/n and I will set up station", Rossi gives us wink. He defiantly knows.

Hotch pulled Rossi to end of the jet. 

"Do you mind if what you think you saw earlier, you keep it to yourself." 

Rossi smiles to Hotch, "How long." 

"2 months", He says happily and slightly embarrassed.

"I won't say a word." 

________________

When the plane lands I reached for my bag when I felt something behind me. Hotch had pressed himself to my ass it made me gasp a bit. "What the fuck?" 

He tried to have a serious face but I could tell that he had a grin. He knew what he was doing and he was defiantly gonna pay for it later. 

When Hotch and I got to the station it was 7pm most of the Officers had gone home; leaving only the sheriff and 3 other cops. The sheriff walked up to us holding out his hand.

"Hello this is SA Y/n Y/l and I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner." We shook the mans hand as he showed up to the board room. 

We pinned up pictures of the victims and the crime scene photos to try and get a feel; seeing it from a different point of view.

The room was closed off, blinds shut, and we had already set up; we were waiting for the rest of the team to come back so it was just Aaron and I.

I was looking over the photos when I wanted to tease Aaron a bit more. I bent over the table just enough so he could get a perfect view of me. I heard footsteps behind me and hands grab my hips.

"Little girl you're just begging me to fuck you right here aren't you." I suppressed my moan but he noticed. "Yeah you are aren't you." I nodded. 

"Come on baby we've been over this use your words." His voice was coated in lust and it was low. 

I bet if he really was able to he'd fuck me here and now. I finally spoke up.

"God... yes please." He wrapped his hand around my neck and brought my head to his mouth. 

"I don't think you deserve it at this point little girl." He pressed me back onto the table. 

My chest hitting the cold wood as his bulge pressed against me. Then he walked away sitting back down going back to drinking his coffee. 

That was when the team walked in. They didn't see or hear anything thank god but it still worried me; what would've happened if they caught us. 

They carried on with casual conversation; Aaron talking to them like he didn't just slam me on to the table a minute ago.

It was now 11:30; there was no leads on the case so far other than the possibility that the unsub could've been a women; that the mothers may have been abusing their kids. 

So the unsub see themselves as a protector/ savior to the children. We were currently trying to put together other theories but half of us were asleep. Morgan was knocked out in the chair.

JJ and Emily were laying down together on the couch. Hotch was drinking his coffee with me next to him. Rossi had left for the hotel an hour ago. 

Hotch took the last sip and woke everyone up, "Okay we've done all we can let's go; we can continue in the morning." The team had left before us and they were so sleepy; not paying attention.

My finger intertwined with Aarons as we walked out not wanting to attract too much attention. 

Once we got to the hotel everyone got a separate rooms. Me and Aaron got conjoined rooms but I was sleeping in his. 

I was wearing a white crop top and a pair of Aarons grey sweat pants; Aaron was wearing a white t-shirt and black pajama pants. 

I got situated and threw my stuff on the chair before heading to bed. 

I was swept up from behind and was thrown over Aarons shoulder when he slapped my ass hard and tossed me on the bed. 

His voice was dark and dominant, "I think we've played enough for today." 

He leaned in closer my lips grazing his; he whispered, "I'm going to fuck you so hard you won't be able to stand." 

Wetness grew between my legs and from that moment on I knew.

It was gonna be a long night.

_____________________

@mac99martin @donttellanyoneireadfanfiction @appleblossoms-posts @marie1115

[hale-13]

Trapezius

By Hale13

For the Summer of Whump Day 27 Prompt 27 - Injured

Peter gazed out over the harbor forlornly, twisting his mask into knots in his lap. Normally he would really enjoy the view – the sun was setting in a clear sky turning the normally disgusting water a soft orange and painting the area with a soft warmth. The peaceful view was marred by the emergency vehicles, Coastguard boats and police and news helicopters which made Peter’s gut clench with anxiety. He just… he tried so hard.

Words: 2123, Chapters: 1/1 (Complete), Language: English

Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Rating: Gen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, May Parker, Helen Cho

TW: Injury, Poor Emotional intelligence

Read on AO3 or below the line break.

Peter gazed out over the harbor forlornly, twisting his mask into knots in his lap. Normally he would really enjoy the view – the sun was setting in a clear sky turning the normally disgusting water a soft orange and painting the area with a soft warmth. The peaceful view was marred by the emergency vehicles, Coastguard boats and police and news helicopters which made Peter’s gut clench with anxiety. He just… he tried so hard.

The sound of repulsers approaching made Peter tense and he mentally put his walls back up. He couldn’t afford to let Mr. Stark see him as a kid right now. They were colleges when he was Spider-Man, peers. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it puff out through his clenched teeth.

“Previously on Peter screws the pooch I tell you to stay away from this instead you hack a multi-million dollar suit so you can sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do,” Mr. Stark’s sarcastic voice said and Peter held back a flinch, keeping his expression blank as he cautiously looked back over his shoulder. His back was killing him and felt hot and swollen from his Hercules hold of the ferry earlier – he had definitely felt something tear – but he couldn’t afford the weakness right now.

“Is everyone okay?” He asked instead, keeping his voice monotone and trying not to tense his back.

“No thanks to you,” the Iron Man voice made Mr. Stark’s snide tone sound slightly metallic but, more than that, it made his blood boil and he whipped around to face the man.

“No thanks to me?” He took no precautions as he lifted his lefts over they side of the concrete tower and jumped down on the other side making his shoulders throb. “Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about it and you didn’t listen. None of this would have happened if you had just listened to me!” His voice broke and he could feel blood rushing to his face but he did his best to push down the embarrassment. “If you even cared you’d actually be here.” He threw in boldly.

It took him by surprise, therefore, when the armor opened in from of him and Tony Stark stepped out, a grim look of disappointment on his face that made Peter stumble back a could steps, unable to hide his wince of pain but playing it off as shock instead. “I did listen kid. Who do you think called the FBI huh?”

Peter dropped his gaze, unable to make further eye contact, only interrupting to correct his age and flinching again at Mr. Stark’s yelling. “I’m sorry,” he stammered, but he could tell the platitudes were only making his idol angrier so he said instead, with the most sincerity he could push into his tone “I just… I just wanted to be like you.”

“And I wanted you to be better,” Mr. Stark said back in a weary voice before asking for the suit back. Peter heart sank further but he got it. Mr. Stark was right – he didn’t deserve to be Spider-Man if all he did was hurt other people.

The car ride back to his apartment in Queens was silent and awkward, broken only by Mr. Stark and Happy leaving the car and throwing his a pair of hideous Hello Kitty pajama pants and an oversized New York tourist shirt. It took more effort than he would care to admit to slip the suit off of his painful muscles and lift his arms up high enough to pull the shirt on but he managed it.

Happy slipped back into the driver’s seat a moment later and raised the partition but Mr. Stark didn’t return as they pulled away from the curb and Peter’s heart sank further when he realized the man had probably taken the armor back to the Tower because he couldn’t bear to be in the car with Peter another minute. His eyes were burning but he refused to cry here – he’d already proven to be a problem and he wasn’t going to cry about his well deserved punishment.

The car stopped in front of his apartment and the locks on the doors popped but Happy didn’t roll down to partition to talk to him or offer any direction so, without a backward glance as his poorly folded suit, Peter slunk out of the car and upstairs.

May was not happy with him for skipping school and not answering his phone and, with the pain of his torn muscles ratcheting up and the emotional trauma of the day weighing down on him he collapsed onto the couch and tearfully confessed to his aunt that he had lost his internship, wanting to bring his arms up to return her tender hug but physically unable to do so. His only relief was that she directed him to take a shower pretty immediately because he smelled like garbage,.

And, yeah, he probably did.

The piss poor water pressure of their dingy shower was actually a blessing today but Peter could still barely stand with his back facing the hottest water possible hoping that the heat would relieve some of his pain but he was still just as painful when he forwent his sleep shirt a few minutes later.

He healed fast. This was fine – it would all be resolved in a few days.

———————————————

“Fuck,” Peter muttered, keeping his right arm tucked close to his stomach as he wrestled with the leukotape he had bought at the pharmacy. It kept sticking to itself and the wall and his hair and basically everywhere but where he was trying to stick it and Peter groaned, balling the piece up and throwing it away.

It had been a few months since dealing with the Vulture. A few months since turning down Mr. Stark’s offer to be an Avenger but accepting his offer to become his personal intern and Peter couldn’t be happier.

Well. Except for his shoulder that is.

His left arm had healed fully after straining his muscles holding the ferry together but his right had just gotten worse and worse and it was interfering with his ability to not only be Spider-Man but also to just perform everyday tasks. He hadn’t been able to lift much with that side or even put on a shirt normally in weeks and it was starting to grate on his nerves. After spending hours watching videos on YouTube Peter decided to try some strengthening exercises and taping.

Neither was working very well.

“Fuck,” he said again, with feeling, as he bent forward at the waist to rest his head on the cool counter top of his bathroom. He was supposed to get picked up by Happy in a few minutes to go and spend the weekend at the Tower with Tony to work on his suit and there was no way he could hide this anymore. He couldn’t even lift his arm up to chest level. His phone vibrated on the counter top and he moaned, answering it without looking at the caller ID. “Hey Happy.”

“Nope, guess again,” his mentor’s voice said and Peter jerked up, letting out a strangled grunt as he jostled his shoulder. “You okay kid?”

“Why are you calling me?” Peter said instead, deflecting.

“I’m picking you up,” Tony said. “Now are you okay?”

Peter waffled for a minute but one look at his duffle bag made him ache and he let out a sigh. “Not… really I guess.”

“What’s wrong?” His mentor’s voice was sharp and he could hear the sound of his seatbelt smacking the window of his car and the door opening and closing as Tony got out of the car.

“It’s not a big deal,” Peter said, going to the front door and unlocking and opening it just as Tony left the elevator, they made eye contact and hung up their phones.

“Well you look to be in one piece and there’s no blood everywhere,” Tony said as he joined Peter in the living room of his apartment and looked him over. “So what’s going on kiddo?”

Peter nibbled on his bottom lip and gripped his right hand into his shirt tightly for just a second before releasing it. “Remember the ferry?”

Mr. Stark was silent and attentive as he listened to Peter ramble and sighed deeply at the end of his story, reaching one hand up to massage his eyes. “You really don’t half-ass anything do you?”

“Do you actually want me to answer that?” Peter asked confused and his mentor rolled his eyes, grabbing Peter’s bag from where it was resting in the hallway.

“Come on then, you have a date with Dr. Cho and the MedBay.” Peter whined but didn’t overly protest when he was directed out of the apartment and down to where Mr. Stark had illegally parked in the fire lane in front of his building.

It was just some muscle straining right? A week or two of meds and resting it and everything would be okay.

“Well its not a strain,” Dr. Cho told him just over an hour later looking at the images of his radiographs and MRI on a holotable. “You’ve torn your rotator cuff and continually re-injured it to the point that its basically just a mass of scar tissue.”

“Oh…” Peter said, a little dazed from the small dose of painkillers he had been given so that they would be able to manipulate his arm for the images. “What does that mean?”

Helen gave him the same disapproving look she had been giving him since she had taken his history and had learned that he had been putting massive amounts of pressure and g-force on an injury that he had never allowed to fully heal. “It means Peter,” she said firmly shutting down the table, “that you’ll need surgery to repair the tear and clean out all the scar tissue. And you’ll need to give it time to heal and go to physical therapy if you plan to ever use your arm to its fullest extent ever again.”

Peter’s mind went a little blank at that. “Surgery?” He asked, a note of panic creeping into his voice. “But Spider-Man–,”

“Will be taking a break,” Tony told him. “Your health always comes first Peter.” He turned his attention back to Dr. Cho. “Can you tell his aunt all of this later? Also when can we do the surgery.”

“I’ve already got him scheduled for tomorrow morning with a specialist I’m bringing in from NYU,” she said. “And of course! Just let me know when she gets here.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Peter groused from his spot on the exam bed but both adults ignored him and he rolled his eyes. “What if I don’t want surgery?”

“Then you’ll be dealing with chronic pain, pion and needles, weakness and continuous tearing for the rest of your life and you’ll need a shoulder replacement in less than fifteen years at the rate your going,” Dr. Cho said, typing notes into his chart. “So I’ll see you in the morning for the surgery.”

Peter glared at her but, at the twinge in his arm when he adjusted in his seat, he grumbled “fine”.

“It won’t be that bad Underoos,” Tony said later as they sat on the ridiculously large couch in the penthouse living room watching Brooklyn 99 while May spoke with Peter’s medical team. “You get to skip school for the next week while you recover and I bribed Bob Igor to give me the next season of the Mandolorian early for us to binge.”

“But…” Peter gnawed at his lip, hating the taste of blood that filled his mouth as he broke open the tender skin again. “What if this doesn’t fix it?”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Tony said with a smile. “Cho is the forefront in development in regeneration. If anyone can fix you it’ll be her. And May and I will be there the whole time. You have nothing to worry about okay?”

“You’ll be there?” Peter said, fiddling with a loose thread on his shirt and refusing to look up at his mentor.

“Of course I’ll be there!” Tony said warmly with a squeeze to his good shoulder. “You’re my favorite intern.” He teased.

“Thanks Mr. Stark,” Peter said sincerely, reading the unsaid bit and relaxing a little back in the couch. Between his pain meds and his full stomach he could feel his eyelids drooping and he decided to relax more fully into Tony’s side – there was no where he felt safer.

[mzkora]

SPN TROPE ROUND ROBIN

Round 3- Prompt: Remix/Inspired by @spn-trope-round-robin

Title: tenderized

Rating: G/PG

Author: kestra_troi on AO3 aka me

Inspiration: “Red Meat Well Done”, by catnipster

Tags: Episode Coda for S11e17 Red Meat, Hurt/Comfort, gencest, No Sex, Hurt!Sam, Caring!Dean, Emotions

Summary: After the events of Red Meat, Dean decides to take Sam to a motel for some proper rest.

As they crossed state lines Dean eased off the gas. The distance helped. Sam’s almost death was hundreds of miles and a whole state behind them in the rear view mirror. Along with all his earlier bravado and jokes. That had been much too close. He nearly lost his little brother. Again.

For just a second, Dean glanced over at Sam, watching that broad chest slowly rise and fall. He had lasted all of half an hour before falling asleep, which Dean had taken as proof of how close to that razor’s edge everything had been. A tiny slip here or there and...The End. Luck. It was all pure luck. He studied his little brother, giving him a once-over as he had done for the whole drive so far. Poor kid must have been exhausted. Out like a light with his head resting against the window, his chin propped up by his arm.

Eyes back on the road ahead, Dean turned down the soft rock station so it was more in the background since Sam didn’t seem to really need the help sleeping. He fidgeted in his seat, feeling a bit cramped after so many hours on the road without a single stop. First, he stretched out his legs as best he could within the confines of the car. Then, he rolled the tension out of his shoulders and neck, which popped. He groaned and flexed his fingers only then realizing how tightly he had been holding on to the steering wheel. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax into the seat. He checked Sam out in his periphery, reassuring himself that his little brother was still there. Still breathing. Still just asleep.

Dean blinked, taking stock of their surroundings pretty much for the first time since they had gotten in the car. Not that there wasn’t much out there to speak of other than the road. Eventually though, after a few more miles, he did see a sign for the next town. Dean considered his options for a moment. Keep driving for at least another four or five hours to get to the Bunker or set up camp in town and start home later? Dean leaned forward to peer up at the sky which was still pretty much grey from horizon to horizon, but the east side was clearly getting darker. Then he sat back and looked at the clock. The sun would be setting soon. Maybe another hour of daylight left at the most.

They’d gone far enough for one lousy day. Sam deserved to rest in an actual bed. Coming back from the precipice all on his own and saving his life in the process? His little brother was a goddamn hero. A badass. And badasses deserved a nice, comfy mattress and some halfway decent pillows. They had earned a short break, right? So, when the exit came up, Dean pulled off the highway and rolled into town. He skipped the skeevy looking places on the outskirts of this run of the mill town for a motel that actually looked like it got cleaned once in a while in what seemed to be their downtown.

The Royal Inn was the one he settled on, with a quiet snort. As if royalty would ever be within a thousand miles of this place, but irony notwithstanding he cruised into the parking lot. He pulled up to the office and slowed to a smooth stop, not wanting to jostle Sam too much. He paused a second and checked Sam over one more time. Still breathing steady. Still asleep.

This one had been way too close. Way. Too. Close. The words kept playing on repeat in his head as they had for the entire day’s drive. Dean frowned, his eyes going soft and watery. With a sniff, Dean unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door, grabbing his wallet out of his back pocket while he got out of the car. He closed the door gently, more so than he normally would bother with and made sure he had the right ID and credit card to match before heading inside. At the office door he stole one more look at Sammy before ducking in to rent a room for a few days. They had earned a break. A mini-holiday. Just until Sam got back on his feet. Then they could go home and bunker down for a while. Maybe have a crappy action movie marathon with all the trimmings. Really live it up for a weekend before jumping back into the fray.

Room key cards in hands, Dean got back into the Impala and stared at Sam for a moment, briefly torn. Wake him now or wait until they were parked in front of the room? Did it matter? Not really. Dean closed his door without being too careful this time and took a hold of the wheel with his left hand while with the right he palmed his brother’s knee. Warm and solid just like it ought to be. “Gotta wake up, Sammy,” he said, giving the knee a squeeze. His hand slid up his brother’s thigh of its own accord and Dean let it sit there a second absorbing some of that wonderful body heat. When Sam didn’t stir, he gave him a couple quick taps to the leg to spur him on. “We’re here, Sleeping Beauty.”

Sam jerked awake and groaned, wincing at his own sudden movement. He blinked, rubbing his eyes as he carefully sat upright. “Dean?”

“Got us a room for a couple nights,” Dean explained, slowly driving off to find their spot. “Thought we could take it easy for a bit. Get you well.”

“I’m fine,” Sam mumbled, running his hand down his face.

“I know,” Dean replied, going along with that ridiculous assessment. He barely held in an eye-roll. After all these years he knew better than to try and argue outright with his little brother. That damn stubbornness saved their lives all the time, but it also annoyed the hell out of him sometimes too. Dean threw on the charm and smarm. “But we’ve both had a rough go the past twenty four hours, so a few days relaxing in a motel with some good, old fashioned pay-per-view will do us good.”

Sam huffed a laugh, then grimaced, one hand going to his stomach. Dean’s playful smirk lost a little bit of it’s sparkle, seeing Sam in pain. His eyes went to Sam’s abdomen, then his face, then back to the parking lot. “Yeah, okay,” Sam muttered, his words tattered around the edges. He swallowed, his mouth obviously dry.

Dean’s face went flat. He kicked himself for not stopping along the way to get them some water. Plus, Sam was really in pain if he wasn’t even going to argue at least a little. The pain meds he had gotten at the clinic must be wearing off. Dean pushed on the gas and scanned the numbers on the motel doors. He found their room and pulled into the nearest parking spot. Soon as he got Sam settled in for the night, he’d make a supply run. Stock up for the next three days of rehabilitation. He held out one of their key cards. “You good to get in on your own?”

“I’m fine, Dean,” Sam insisted, some of his natural brattiness coming out. He took the card Dean offered without another word and started to unbuckle his seatbelt.

The corner of Dean’s mouth curled up into a half smile. “Just asking, princess,” he quipped. “I’ll get our bags. Why don’t you head in and see what they got on offer. Classic Skinemax will put some color back in your cheeks.”

“Dean,” Sam whined, half exasperated and half amused. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, a faint blush rising to his cheeks nonetheless. A full smile spread across Dean’s face. Sam smiled at him, his face full of fondness. “Shut up,” he grumbled, pushing open his door.

Dean watched, still concerned but happy too, as Sam took his time in getting his ass out of the car. Dean waited. If he offered to help Sam would complain some more and wave him off, but every nerve in his body was honed in on Sammy, watching his every movement. Once Sam got his long limbs out and shut the door, Dean snapped into action.

He killed the ignition, yanked out the keys, got out, closed his door, opened the trunk, grabbed their overnight bags, slammed it shut and locked up the whole thing in the time it took Sam to amble his way to the room and open their door. Dean was quick on his heels, holding the door open for Sam once the great lummox passed through despite carrying everything. Sam, meanwhile, flicked on the lights. “Nice place,” he pointed out. Dean shrugged. So maybe he had splurged a little. Instead of the most basic two Queen beds, he had opted for two kings. And a microwave, and mini fridge, and coffeemaker. Basically what amounted to the deluxe suite around these parts.

“Only one in town with WiFi,” Dean lied, shutting down any chance of a debate. He really did not want to have to wrestle Sam into a three-day vacation. He needed bed rest and Dean was damn sure his little brother was going to get it. Sam nodded and headed further in, shuffling his way towards the beds. No rebuttal and no agenda other than going straight to bed. Dean walked inside and placed the Do Not Disturb sign on the doorknob before closing the door and locking them in for the night. “I knew my nerdy younger brother would demand internet access, so he could read articles about tax law and politics and other boring stuff like that.”

“It’s not boring,” Sam countered, tired but still a younger brother. “It’s important.”

“Of course, of course,” Dean facetiously placated while depositing their bags on the luggage rack. Sam wandered to the left hand bed and gingerly reached down to pull out the bedding. Dean hovered, at the ready. Sam got one corner free and most of that one side then gave up and slowly began to sit. Dean strode over and immediately finished untucking the rest of the sides.

“I got this, De,” Sam complained, hissing as he lowered himself down.

“Just making sure,” Dean replied. He yanked the covers out from under his brother as quick as he could and pushed them aside so they could be in easy reach. Once he got to the other side of the bed, he nabbed both pillows and stuffed them directly behind his brother’s back so he would be propped up. Sam didn’t comment on that, but Dean could feel his ambivalence even without him saying anything. He held out his hands so Sam could use him for balance if need be as he turned to lay down. Sam didn’t wave him off, but he also didn’t take Dean up on his silent offer. He gradually lifted one leg up onto the mattress without having to move too much.

Dean saw Sam’s grimace coming a mile away. “Here, let me.”

“I’m fine,” Sam reiterated, his breath huffy with strain. Despite his protests, he went a little limp and Dean swooped in. He crossed back over to Sam’s side and gently eased Sam’s long legs up onto the mattress and out to their full length. Sam sighed, wriggling to find a comfortable position. Dean sat at the foot of the bed and without any prompting started untying Sam’s boots. “De, you don’t have to—“

“Hey,” Dean interjected, all jokes aside. He looked Sam square in the eye. “Lemme take care of you a little, huh?”

Sam bit his lip, whatever masculine rebuke he had at the ready dying away under Dean’s determined expression. He nodded. Dean did the same then went back to taking off his brother’s boots.

The laces were a bit crusty with blood and mud, but Dean untangled them. Then holding the back of Sam’s shin, Dean gently tugged the boot off. Sam took a steadying breath. Dean paused. On Sam’s signal Dean helped him off with the other boot, then placed them on the floor by the bed.

“There. That wasn’t so bad was it?” Sam shook his head, his long hair pushed back behind his ears. Dean grinned and went for the socks. Sam curled his toes. “My feet are cold,” he said quiet and feeble like a little kid.

“Okay.” Dean grabbed the sheets and blanket instead. He draped them over Sam’s legs and tucked them in. Like he used to do when Sammy was a kid. The you-are-not-getting-out-of-bed-without-my-help obvious. He got the bedding up to Sam’s waist, then helped his brother sit up and get out of his jacket one arm at a time. “They give you a list of antibiotics?”

“Jacket pocket.”

Dean fished for a second and came up with the folded print out from the clinic. He unfolded it and started skimming. “What about painkillers?”

“On there too.”

“I’ll get ‘em in the morning,” Dean proclaimed.

“I need a bath,” Sam said, leaning into his pillows like a storybook princess. His eyes already fighting to stay open.

“Tomorrow, Sammy.” Dean stuffed the care instructions into his back pocket and smirked. “I’ll get a bucket and a sponge.”

“And a sexy nurse outfit?” Sam quipped, a sleepy smile on his lips.

“You bet, Sammy. The whole nine yards. Might even get a sexy chick in here to wear it.” Dean stepped up to Sam’s side and helped bring the sheets up to Sam’s chest. Sam let him, doing nothing but pull his arms free and settle them on top of the blanket cocoon.

Dean’s heart clenched seeing Sam so pale and weak. “You gave me quite a scare there for a minute, Sammy,” he whispered, brushing his thumb along his brother’s forehead like he used to do when they were little.

“Sorry, De,” Sam mumbled, a contented sigh escaping as he drowsily leaned into his brother’s soft, warm touch. He closed his eyes.

“Not your fault, Sammy,” Dean assured him. On a whim he couldn’t deny, he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Sam’s forehead. He froze in place, shocked at his own actions. Sam hummed softly. Dean got up in a flash and stepped back only then realizing he was still holding Sam’s jacket. He looked between his brother and the jacket and murmured, “Night night, Sammy.”

Sam mumbled some sounds but then he was out like a light. Again. Dean watched him sleep for a moment, relief and shame and need all warring in his chest for pride of place. He clutched Sam’s jacket tightly, then brought it up to his face. The jacket was still warm from Sammy’s body heat and Dean took a deep whiff. It smelled of hospital, that sterile antiseptic stink, and faintly of blood, but also of Sam. That pure, working-man’s musk he knew as well as his own hit his brain and his chest relaxed.

His Sammy was alive. That’s all that mattered. That’s all that ever mattered, really. Something clicked in his head. A jigsaw piece sliding into place, a perfect fit and necessary for the whole thing to make sense. Sammy. It was always Sammy. And it always would be, Sammy as long as Dean was alive. He didn’t need anyone else. No other soul than the one he shared with his perfect baby brother.

It wasn’t anything he hadn’t already thought or said as much out loud, but that haunting uneasiness regarding that simple truth was gone. As was the shame. Sammy was his world. Point blank. How many times had he proven that to himself, to Sam, and pretty much everyone they had ever met? Sammy was his whole world and his world was alive and needed him. What more could he ask for right at this moment?

[atleasttheresthis]

Project Partners (Song x Katara)

Happy day two of ATLA wlw week! This one is for the academia AU.

content warning: alcohol

@atla-wlw-week

"So, in conclusion, you and your partner will research one new surgical or oncological technique from the last five years on any of the cancer types I've included here. You'll have three weeks to complete the project." Professor Pakku pauses, lifts his eyes from his notes and turns them on the horde of bleary eyed, eight am lecture suckers in front of him. "Any questions?"

Song, who is just as tired and out of it as the rest of her classmates at 8:30 on a Monday, studies the powerpoint slide in front of her, struggling to write down all the project requirements before Professor Pakku moves on from the assignment and starts the day's lecture.

"Before you ask, Taedo," the Professor is saying from the front of the room, "no, I will not accept any late papers. If you would have read the syllabus I distributed at the beginning of the semester instead of no-doubt chucking into the garbage as I'm sure you did, you would know my policy on late assignments."

Song grins to herself as Taedo slumps down in his seat. Pakku is something of a hardass, but since Song mostly keeps to herself and stays out of his way, she's never had a problem with him. Besides, his course on cancer treatment was super popular among the pre-med and nursing students. It would take a lot more than verbal abuse to get Song to give up her seat in the course. She needed the elective to finish her third year of the nursing program at Ba Singh Se University, and since she wanted to work at a cancer ward after graduating, this course was practically a requirement.

From the front row, Katara pipes up. "You could just put the syllabus online."

Pakku sighs, rubs the bridge of his nose while Song rolls her eyes. For the entire semester, Katara seems to have made it her mission to make the Professor's life difficult, and it drives Song crazy.

"I suppose I could, but my ancient and old-fashioned ways make it quite difficult for me to use the computer, or so you told me in class last week." Even from her spot in the middle of the room, Song can hear Katara harumph. 

"Any other questions?" Professor Pakku asks, then sighs when Katara shoves her hand into the air. "Yes, Katara?"

"I've noticed you didn't include the breast as part of the infected areas we could study," she begins, but the professor interrupts her.

"Yes, thank you for proving, yet again, that you know how to read," Pakku says easily. Song winces. Lately she’s found herself unable to focus in this class, devoting her energy instead to either silently cheering on Professor Pakku in his misguided quest to get Katara to be quiet for more than five minutes so he can teach, or silently (always silently) commending Katara as she points out Pakku’s rampant sexism. Their relationship confuses the shit out of her, and while right now she finds herself inclined to defend the student (because wow, that was a really asshole thing to say, Professor), she thinks both of them go way too far.

Either way, it’s threatening to wreak havoc on her GPA.

Unaffected by Pakku’s rudeness, Katara presses the point. “That’s sexist,” she says bluntly, and Song finds herself nodding. “We should be able to study whatever cancers we want to. Just because you want to ignore all the stuff that only affects women doesn’t mean we want to.” She stops for a moment, considers. “Also, will we be able to pick our own partners?"

Pakku seems to have lost his temper. "You know what, just for that, everyone else gets to pick their partners, except for you. You will be paired with," he stops, consults the class list on his podium. "Song Ma."

Um, what? Song lets out a breath, unable to believe her shit luck. Everyone in the course turns around to stare at each other, wondering who the unlucky girl is until they catch Song's face. She knows she's got a completely disbelieving, what the fuck look on, so much so that Pakku actually smiles when his eyes catch hers. He gives her a small shrug, evil grin totally upstaging his non-apology. "Good luck," he adds helpfully.

Katara sniffs, turns back around in her chair. Song resigns herself to the inevitable. It's obvious there's no getting out of this one.

***

Song finds Katara waiting in the hallway after class. Slugging her backpack over one shoulder, Song steps forward and introduces herself. "Hi. I'm Song." She briefly considers holding out a hand, then stops herself, raising it to stifle a yawn instead. 

"I know," Katara says snobbishly. Jesus, this is going to be like pulling teeth, isn't it? Biting back a rude reply in kind, Song asks "do you have any ideas for what you want to research?"

"I want to research the use of dye to identify positive lymph nodes in breast cancer patients," Katara says immediately, and Song sighs. "Look, I know you're apparently cool with being on Pakku's bad side, but I don't need a shitty grade on this report because you can't pick your battles and have to stick it to the man whenever you have the chance." Katara looks a bit surprised by her outburst. Whatever. Song's grade is on the line, she's not going to risk it for some girl with a death wish, even if she is really pretty, skin somehow looking shiny and gorgeous even under the fluorescent lights of the hallway.

"I'll talk to Pakku," Katara offers begrudgingly. "See if he'll officially allow us to go beyond the project parameters."

"Fine, go ahead," Song relinquishes. Katara hadn't asked if she had any ideas, but whatever. "Your funeral."

Katara cracks a smile. "Is that okay, or did you want to research something else?" 

Song is so surprised by Katara's thoughtfulness, by her apparent ability to reach into Song's head and pluck out her inner monologue, that she merely shakes her head. That's alright, though. Lymph nodes are fascinating enough.

"Cool," Katara says. "I'll swing by his office hours today and let you know how it goes." Song nods, watches Katara walk away, and realizes she never even gave the other girl her phone number. 

Oh well. They have three weeks to work it out, and she'll see Katara in class on Wednesday.

Song shrugs to herself, walks out of the biology department toward the squashy chairs on the ground floor of the science building to get some reading done before her next class.

Later that day, when she's studying with her housemate Bohei after lunch, an email pops up on her phone.

Hey Song,

I talked to Pakku, he'll let us do the breast cancer project without deducting anything from our grade. 

Let's find a time to talk soon so we can figure out how we should divide the work. I can handle the research part of it if you want to handle the conclusion and summary.

-Katara

Song is furious. Why is Katara relegating her to the easy stuff? Doesn't she think Song can do good work?

"What's wrong?" Bohei, one of her housemates, asks from across the table. Song reads her the email. "Isn't that the stuck up girl that's always getting into fights with the professor? Sucks that you're paired with her."

"The professor put us together," Song explains. "Ugh. Why won't she let me do the work on this project? I'm smart, I can handle a research paper!"

"I actually think you're in a golden situation," Bohei says, reaching over to snag a few of Song's chips from an open bag on the table. "Just let her do all the work, if she cares about it so much you'll probably get a good grade, free A for the project."

Song shakes her head. "No, I want to help, I can do it. Why doesn't she think I can help?"

"Why do you care?" Bohei counters, raising an eyebrow. A great question, but Song is not in the mood for self-reflection.

"I, I don't," Song splutters. "I don't care, I just, I just don't think it's fair that she's doing all the work alone! And besides, how do I know she'll do a good job?"

"Okay," Bohei says, giving Song a look that says she knows what a flimsy excuse that is. Why does Song care what Katara thinks of her? She's just some know-it-all who can't leave well enough alone. Song emails her back, tells her she's free for dinner, and gets a reply a few minutes later that Katara will meet her at the dining hall. Song tries to push the other girl out of her mind, turning back to her chemistry notes. 

It's no use. By the time dinner rolls around, Song is simmering with indignation over Katara's assumption that she couldn't help with the project. She packs up her stuff, trying to tune out Bohei's pointed questions (the other girl had gotten over her instinct to leave Song alone about it and has instead spent the rest of the afternoon asking if Song likes Katara, like, like-likes Katara???) and begrudgingly makes her way over to the dining hall. After swiping her school ID to get in, she sees Katara at a table with a plate of food. Sighing, resigning herself to a confrontation, Song heads over there, dropping her bag onto an empty seat.

"Hey," she says, monotone, and Katara looks up. "Hi," she says back, a bit startled, but Song's not exactly giving her the best attitude.

"How was your day," Song asks rhetorically, and Katara raises an eyebrow but whatever, Song is just being polite.

"It was okay," Katara answers, tossing some of her long brown hair over her shoulder. Song likes it this way, better than when she puts it in the long braid that snakes down her back. "How was yours?"

An awkward moment, where Song has lost herself staring at Katara's hair. She realizes the other girl has asked her a question, and gives herself a shake. "It was fine too," she answers quickly. 

"Do you want to get a plate before we start working?" Katara asks.

Song agrees, gets up to scour the dining options for something to eat. She ends up with a bowl of pasta, some carrots, and a glass of water. Reaching Katara again and sitting back down, Song pulls her laptop and notebook out of her bag before spearing a piece of pasta and angrily throwing it into her mouth.

Katara, oblivious this time to her anger, has gotten out a laptop of her own. "So, I already made a google doc, I'm sharing it with you now," she says, and Song moves to check her email, loading the document on her screen. "Like I said, I can handle the research part and you can do the conclusion, is that okay?" Katara asks, not even looking up from her computer.

Song takes a deep breath. "No, it's not really okay," she answers in a rush. That makes Katara look up. "I can help with the research part too, I think I can handle it," she says drily. "I just don't think it's fair for you to do so much of the work," she tacks hurriedly, wanting Katara to think she's doing this for more noble reasons than wanting the other girl to think she's smart.

"Oh, it's okay, I don't mind doing the work," Katara brushes Song off, turning back to the laptop. 

Song groans internally. "Katara. I can help. I want to do some of the work on this project, it's my grade too," she reminds her.

Katara looks at her skeptically. "Alright," she concedes finally. "Here, want to look over some of the sources I've already gathered?"

Song takes another bite, nodding. They spend the rest of the evening compiling journal articles and studies on the use of dye to identify positive and negative lymph nodes in the armpit. It's not half as bad as Song thought it might be, both girls are focused on the work, and after an hour and a half they have enough to start working on the paper. Song drafts a preliminary outline, which Katara approves of after making only one or two small changes, and then they call it a night, agreeing to meet up again later that week. Song packs up her bag feeling good, they got work done. And she's definitely proved to Katara that she's smart enough to hold her own. Not that she cares about any of that.

***

As the week goes on, Song finds herself enjoying her study sessions with Katara more than she'd like to admit. For all her sharp edges in class, she's surprisingly laid back when she talks with Song. She's got a sharp sense of humor, and the way she vivisects Pakku and some of the other asshole idiots in their class causes Song to nearly pitch a fit. About the work itself, she's pretty anal, but Song's own standards are exacting themselves, so it's not like she can complain.

They meet again on Wednesday, but it's on Friday that Katara tells her that she's pre-med and plans to become a breast cancer surgeon. Her mother died of breast cancer, and she wants to work so other people don't suffer like she did. It only seems natural to tell her about her father's fatal car accident, in turn. 

"Is that why you want to become a nurse?" Katara asks quietly. She doesn't say she's sorry, and neither does Song. What good would that do?

Song blows out a breath. "Maybe?" she offers. "I don't know. I just know that I'm good at this, I'm good at helping people when they're hurt, and if I can do it, shouldn't I?"

Katara nods. "I understand," she says, and Song gets the feeling that she really does.

***

By Friday night it becomes obvious to both Song and, unfortunately, Song's housemates, that their girl is quickly becoming enraptured with Katara. "What do I do?" Song moans into a chocolate chip cookie that D'wei made to cheer her up.

"I thought she was annoying," he asks, topping up his glass of cheap, Barefoot wine, before handing the bottle to Song. 

"No, she's still annoying," Bohei chimes in. The three are sitting in their kitchen, Bohei painting her nails at the table and Song in the chair next to her while D'wei perches himself on the countertop. 

"But she's annoying in a hot way," Song whines. She gives herself a generous glass of wine, her third of the evening, then slumps over the table, cheek pressed against the wood.

"Haven't you only met with her like, twice?" D'wei asks. Song opens her mouth to respond, but Bohei beats her to it. 

"D'wei, come on. Song's a, you know," and she holds her wrist at shoulder height and bends it so her arm flops over.

Song chuckles, face mashed into the table.

"A what?" D'wei asks, and Bohei rolls her eyes.

"A lesbian," Song mumbles. "Exactly," Bohei says, nudging Song's head with her elbow. "Falling in love inside thirty seconds, that's classic lesbian behavior, you should know that."

"That's our M.O.," Song agrees. "Song's done that four times in the past year and half," Bohei continues.

"And once with a boy, but we don't talk about that," Song says. "But Katara's different, I can tell."

"She's stupid beautiful, I'll give you that," Bohei adds, capping her nail polish and blowing on her nails to dry.

"I know," Song grumbles, shoving the rest of the cookie in her mouth. "How do I tell her I like her?"

Bohei shrugs. "You could play 'girl in red' while you guys study, that will probably clue her in," D'wei suggests.

Song wrinkles her nose. "Too obvious," she answers. "Japanese Breakfast, then?" he asks.

Song thinks on it. "That one might work, actually."

"Hope so, or else you'll just have to pine from afar," Bohei stands up, blowing on her nails to dry them. "Or grow a pair and tell her you like her. Are we watching a movie or not?"

"We're watching," D'wei says decidedly, while Song moans, hopping off the counter and pulling Song into the living room by the wrist. "Don't worry, we'll watch something that's not about romance so you won't feel bad."

Song scoffs but settles herself on the couch between them nonetheless. D'wei's assurance turns out to be a complete lie, and they watch Pride and Prejudice, but whatever, Song's totally not thinking about Katara while the movie plays.

"Hey, Song, do you want Katara to stroll determinedly toward you through the morning mist wearing that exact unbuttoned shirt?"

Shifty silence from Song. "She does! D'wei, she does!"

"It would be super romantic," Song mumbles.

"Holy shit! Dude, you'd better tell her how you feel, or your ovaries will shrivel up!"

Eye roll. "I'm pretty sure you can only say that about people with dicks, Bohei, it's not like Katara's going to get me pregnant."

"But you want her to!"

***

On Friday, the week after their project was assigned, Song blinks the rain out of her eyes, holds her phone to her chest to keep it relatively dry under her bowed head and stares blearily at Google maps. Picking her head up she squints at the street signs, turns left, and then finally spots a sign saying "The Jasmine Dragon" above what looks like a small but cozy shop across the street. Grateful to have finally found the place, after trekking halfway across the city. Song had finished her exam earlier than expected, and with her and Katara's project deadline coming ever closer, she'd texted the other girl to see if she had any free time to work on it right now. Katara had agreed, saying she was studying with some friends at a place called the Jasmine Dragon. So here Song is.

Hurrying into the shop, Song relaxes after getting out of the rain, pulls the hood of her jacket down and snakes her braid out from where it's pressed uncomfortably between her backpack and her shoulder blades. The Jasmine Dragon tea shop is well-lit against the downpour, filled with comfortable armchairs dotting the room in twos and threes, with one long table at the back of the shop. Seated at the table are a few people working quietly by themselves, along with Katara and what must be her friends, working not at all quietly. Katara is sitting next to a boy who looks enough like her to be her brother, along with two people Song doesn't recognize, a boy with a completely bald head and shorter girl next to him. And--

"You!" Song shouts, then looks around herself, embarrassed, as she realizes how loud that was. Blushing a bit, she takes two sharp strides toward the table and says "you!" again, in a much smaller voice.

The boy on Katara's other side, with a nasty burn scar across his face and a Jasmine Dragon employee apron on, mutters "oh, shit," under his breath.

Katara is looking at Song, confused. "Hey Song, this is Zuko. How do you--"

"You're the asshole who stole my bike!" Song says angrily. Bike thief, whose name is apparently Zuko, goes bright red.

The shorter girl across from him lets out a laugh. "Oh man, Zuzu, you have the worst luck!"

"Shut up, Toph," Zuko mutters, eyes anywhere but on Song.

Katara lets out a long-suffering sigh. "Just once," she says, "just once, I would love it if someone recognized you from something nice you did for them, instead of whatever dick move you pulled."

"Never gonna happen, sweet sister!" The boy next to her crows happily. "Our Zuko was an asshole in a previous life!"

"Last year was a previous life?" The bald boy says, half-serious, and then high fives Katara's brother uncertainly.

"Fuck all of you," Zuko says. "He's doing his best," the shorter girl says dramatically, then slugs Zuko in the arm. 

"Wait," the bald kid says, turning to address Song. "Are you sure it was him?"

"Yes," Song says through clenched teeth, "I saw him leave a party at my house on my bike last year!"

It was one of the only parties Song and her housemates had thrown that semester. From what she can remember, Song spent a good portion of the evening trying to get close to the moody boy who was drinking alone in her kitchen. She had definitely tried to flirt with him, she remembers, cheeks going red, before Bohei had pulled her away to do shots. At the end of the night Song had passed out on their living room sofa. She woke up some time before morning at the sound of the door closing to see the moody boy, who was definitely Zuko, pick the lock on her bike and ride away on it, but she was too drunk to realize what had happened. In the morning, it was too late. Nobody else seemed to remember the boy, and she had no luck finding it.

Back in the tea shop, the bald boy is trying to defend Zuko. "That doesn't sound like something Zuko would do," the kid says, a bit soothingly. 

"No, it does," Katara counters. The shorter girl nods while Zuko hangs his head. 

"Yeah, that was me." He admits. "Look, I'm really sorry. I...was in a bad place that year, and I was super drunk, and--"

"Yeah, whatever, " Song says, uncomfortable with his honesty. "Are you going to give it back or not?"

"Of course he's going to give it back," the bald kid says enthusiastically. Song wonders who died and made him group spokesperson.

"Wait, do you even still have it?" the other girl asks. Song notices that she hasn't been making eye contact or even turning her head to look at anyone talking. She catches eye of the cane lying next to the girl's chair and realizes she must be blind.

"Yeah," Zuko says uncomfortably. "I woke up the next morning and, I, uh, didn't know what to do with it? So I just...kept it in the garage." He runs a hand through his hair uncomfortably. "It's still there."

Song, who has dropped her bag to the floor and started peeling off her jacket, throws up her hands. "You haven't even been using it?"

Zuko coughs. "No?"

"Ugh!" Song shouts, furious that he didn't even seem to need the bike.

"Look, I'll, I'll bring over to your place tomorrow," Zuko says placatingly, standing up. Song shoves past him and falls into his empty chair. "Yeah, maybe you should have tried doing that eight months ago, when you drunk-stole it from me," she deadpans, before turning to Katara. "Are we working on our project or not?"

Katara looks like she wants to keep laughing at Zuko's expense, but stops herself when she sees Song's face. "Uh, yeah, sure. Guys, this is Song, from my biology class. Song, this is Aang, Toph, and my brother Sokka." She points to the bald kid, the girl, and the dark-skinned boy next to her in turn. "You already know Zuko."

Song grits her teeth. "Song, I--" he starts helplessly.

"Zuko!" Someone calls from the back of the shop. "A little help back here?" From behind her, Song hears Zuko sigh. "I'll see you guys later," he says, before walking away. "Let us know if anyone else accuses you of something awful!" Sokka calls out after him gleefully.

"Or if something else from your dark past comes up to bite you in the ass! I want to start a facebook album!" Toph adds, and Song snickers, despite herself.

"Sorry about Zuko," Katara says carefully. "He was in a really bad place last year."

"So I've heard," Song says drily, fishing out her notebook and a pen.

"I'll make sure he gives you the bike back," Sokka offers. Song nods minutely.

"Why don't you guys get out of here," Katara says after a moment. "It's not like you're getting any work done."

Sokka opens his mouth, clearly affronted, but Song beats him to it. "No, you guys don't have to go, it's okay," she starts, but Aang catches onto Katara's meaning and has started packing up his stuff.

"No, Katara's right, we'd just waste your time," he says easily. "Come on, Sokka, Toph, we can study at my place."

Sokka sighs dramatically, but helps Toph get all her stuff together nonetheless. "Ugh, fine." Then he shoots his sister a sharp grin. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Katara splutters indignantly while Toph cackles. Song can’t even begin to guess what that means. “Nice to meet you, Song!” Aang calls over his shoulder before tailing Toph and Sokka out of the shop.

Song raises an eyebrow in Katara’s direction. “Ignore my idiot brother,” she says hastily, dark skin growing rosy with a blush. Maybe Song does know what that means.

“Do you want something to drink?” Katara continues quickly. “The weather is so shit outside, a hot drink will probably make you feel better.”

“I’m studying to be a nurse, Katara,” Song says, rolling her eyes but letting a grin escape so the other girl knows she’s playing. katara’s face lights up as she sticks her nose in the air. “Well, I’m studying to be a doctor, so I don’t know what they cover in nursing school.” She gets out of her chair and flounces towards the counter.

“You don’t even know what I want,” Song says half-heartedly, eyes on Katara’s ass. “You’ll like what I get you,” she says airily, half-turning to catch Song in the act of looking. Song blushes again, but boldly meets Katara’s eyes. The other girl smirks, before turning to the woman at the counter and rattling off something Song can’t hear.

When Katara returns a few minutes later, steaming mug of tea in her hand, Song has unpacked her laptop and is half-looking over the work they’d done so far. She passes the mug to Song. “Thanks,” she says gratefully, warming her hands against the bright red ceramic of the mug. “How did you guys find this place?” She asks, fighting off a yawn. Holding onto the warm tea has suddenly reminded her how tired she is.

Katara takes the seat across from her, picking up her own cup. “Zuko’s uncle owns it,” she explains. “Zuko’s really sorry about your bike, I know he is,” she says earnestly, casting a glance across the shop at him moving around in the back. “He went through a lot in the past year, he used to be such an asshole, even to us,” she adds. “But he’s alright now.”

Song doesn’t know what to say, can’t quite believe her, so she takes a sip of her tea instead. “Oh, it is good,” she said, surprised. Katara smiles in satisfaction. “Uncle Iroh thought you were a fruit tea girl, but I told him different. Guess I was right.”

It’s cheesy, it’s so, so high school, but Song’s stomach flutters at the idea of Katara knowing what sort of tea she’d like. It's got her tongue tied, but Katara saves her by asking about her day.

“It was good,” she answers. “I finished my international relations exam early, that’s why I texted you that I had time.”

“Well look at you, smartypants," Katara says, and Song scoffs. They spend the rest of the afternoon like that, sort of but not really working on their project, until Sokka comes back to pick up Katara and gives Song a ride back to her apartment.

"See you tomorrow!" Katara calls through the car's open window. Song shoots her a confused look. "When Zuko and I come to return your bike!" She reminds her. Song agrees, but doesn't think anything will come of it, which is why she's so surprised to open her apartment door at eight o'clock the next morning to see Zuko and Katara in her doorway, bike in hand.

"Good morning!" Katara says triumphantly, and Song stares. Katara, she, she looks so incredible Song can hardly believe it. Her hair is perfect and shiny, and she looks like she's wearing extra eye makeup. Zuko, meanwhile, looks like how Song feels, bedraggled in comparison. "Told you we'd bring you the bike!" Katara says excitedly, while Zuko yawns next to her. "Here, here you go," he says, steering the bike into Song's apartment. "Uh, thanks," Song answers slowly, leaving the bike by the door.

"Put your shoes on, we're taking you for breakfast," Katara instructs, and before she realizes what's happening Song finds herself in the back of Zuko's car, sitting next to Katara and behind a girl Song vaguely knows from one of her politics courses last semester, who Zuko introduces as his girlfriend. Song thinks Mai is way too cool a girl for someone like Zuko, but keeps her mouth shut.

"Go to the diner on fifth," Katara instructs, and in front of Song Mai scoffs. "No way, their coffee is garbage."

"All diner coffee is garbage," Zuko offers from behind the wheel, and behind him Katara says "I want pancakes. We went to your shitty coffee shop last time."

"It's not shitty, you just don't appreciate aesthetics," Mai sniffs.

"It's overly minimalist and their cake is bad," Katara says bluntly, before turning to Song. "What do you want to do?"

Song blinks, slightly overwhelmed at being thrust into this dynamic of people who were clearly comfortable in each others' lives. But also, it's early, so: "I want to eat eggs."

"Diner it is, you're outvoted, Mai!" Katara crows happily.

"You didn't ask me what I wanted," Zuko protests, already steering the car in the direction of the diner. "We know you're happy with either one," Mai explains.

"Always happy when I'm with you," he says to Mai, and Song can see his face in profile, he's offering Mai a small smile. Mai meets him halfway and gives him a quick kiss. 

"Eyes on the road," Katara interrupts, pulling a face to make Song laugh in the backseat. It occurs to her that this might be something of a double date.

And it's definitely a date, she realizes, or she hopes, because Katara has squeezed herself next to Song onto the vinyl covered cushion of the diner booth, and keeps knocking her knees into Song and, once, even holding her thigh flush against Song's. She eats off Song's plate with no remorse, encourages Song to do the same to her, and quietly flirts with Song for most of the meal. It's enough to give Song a pleasant whooping feeling in her gut that lasts the whole day.

The restaurant environment is certainly helping, Song loves diners. The way they all sort of look the same, the ridiculously long menus, the poor lighting, all of it. It's her and her mother's favorite place to go, and when she lived at home they used to go there almost every day, even if it was just for a cup of bad coffee. Song feels at home here, which is why she loves the diner so much.

Besides Katara's flirting, Song actually has a good time enjoying Mai and Zuko's company. Maybe he really was a different person when he stole her bike and ignored her at her own party, because now he's making an effort to include her in the conversation, filling in the gaps into which she might have fallen, being the odd one out in a group of friends who knew each other so well.

"We went to school together first," Zuko is explaining, gesturing to himself and Mai. "A different school, actually, one our parents wanted to go to. It was really close to our hometown. Caldera College."

"Our parents are in business together," Mai says. "Well, my father works for his father."

"And my father wanted me and my younger sister, Azula, to work for him too. But that, uh, didn't work out…" his hand moves to the scar on his face, and Song stifles a wince. "So I left the old school and came here. Well…"

"His Dad cut him off," Katara butts in. "But it was actually a good thing, here I met these guys." Zuko says with a small smile.

"Didn't start off as a good thing," Katara mutters, and here Zuko blushes, tilts his face to the table. "Yeah, those were my uh, my bike stealing years," he grimaces another apology at Song.

Katara yelps, it seems like Mai has kicked her under the table. "But we're good now," she adds brightly.

"Like I have to keep reminding you," Zuko says, raising his eyebrows, and now it's Katara's turn to look chagrined. Song wonders at their need to air their dirty laundry in public.

"And then I decided fuck my parents' business and followed Zuko here," Mai declares, setting her hand on top of Zuko's.

Song nods. It's a lot to process. "What about your sister?" she asks, wondering if this is the right question. 

Maybe not. The emotion runs from Mai's face like colors in the wash, her mouth settles into a dull line. Zuko sighs, and, next to Song, Katara huffs out a breath. "We're working on her," Katara explains.

"My Dad was working her to the bone, putting way too much pressure on her after I left," Zuko says. "Especially after I left," he adds to himself, and on the table Mai squeezes his hand. "She snapped, dropped out," Mai picks up from him. "We're trying to make sure she gets the help she needs."

"That's really hard, I'm sorry you have to go through that," Song offers, and Zuko nods. "She'll be okay," he says, face determined.

An awkward pause, but the first of the meal and the plates are nearly clean, so that's a success. "You don't have any siblings, right Song?" Katara asks.

"Mm-mm," Song shakes her head. "Just me and my mom," and Katara nods, which she was expecting, but then Zuko does too, and maybe they have more in common than she'd thought.

"Mai has a younger brother," Katara volunteers, and Mai rolls her eyes but tells them an adorable story about Tom Tom regardless.

"That was...nice," Song says truthfully, when they've dropped her back at her place and she's got Katara on her doorstep.

"They're alright, huh? I thought you'd like them," Katara says happily.

Song, feeling warm and full of eggs and lukewarm coffee, has the confidence to say "maybe they're not the only ones I like," eyes catching Katara's before dropping to her doorstep.

"Yeah," Katara says softly, hand reaching towards hers. "I--"

She's cut off by the sound of the horn. Katara turns and Song sees that Mai's got a hand on the horn while Zuko sits by looking pained. Katara gives them the finger before turning back to Song. "I like you t--"

The horn again. "Katara, let's go!" Mai shouts, and Katara rolls her eyes and Song smiles. "I'll see you at our next study session?" she offers.

"Yeah," Katara says, looking relieved, "I'll see you then." She waved goodbye, bounds off the porch toward the car, opens the back door while yelling "jesus christ, Mai, I'm here, calm down."

Song unlocks the door of her house, still smiling, and heads inside.

***

Katara and Song meet, one last time, to go over the paper. It takes them ages, both of them are deliberately dragging it out. They go through it one line at a time, taking turns reading the paragraph aloud and double, triple checking the references. When it's finally over, i's crossed and t's dotted, Katara's hand hovers over the trackpad of her laptop, mouse on the 'submit' button. "Are we ready?" she asks one more time.

"You're sure it's cool with Pakku if we do breast cancer?" Song clarifies, and Katara scoffs. "Oh, actually Song, I forgot to tell you, he's not cool with it and we're going to fail. Whoops!"

"Okay, okay," Song laughs. "We're ready, do it."

Katara takes a deep breath, clicks the trackpad. Project over.

"It's in the lap of the gods now," Song comments, and Katara nods, shutting her computer.

"Now what should we do?" she asks, and for the first time she's almost shy. It's utterly adorable, the light blush under her eyes, and Song steals herself and says "well, I'd like to kiss you now."

Katara stiffens beside her. "You should definitely do that," she says hastily, and Song laughs, reaches up slide her hand into Katara's hair and leans in, catching her lips.

It's perfect. Katara tastes like everything Song had imagined plus more. When she pulls back Katara chases her lips. "I think you should give that another go," she murmurs, and Song laughs again, happy to oblige.

It's even better the second time. They kiss for a while, lazy, and afterward, when they're resting their foreheads against each other, Katara speaks up.

"I think I'm going to take you on a proper date," she muses.

"I'd like that," Song answers happily. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

[mdelpin]

Small Sacrifices - Chapter 3 (Final)

Gratsu Bingo 2019 Prompt: Love

Chapter 3

It had been a week since the incident and Natsu was going stir crazy. The hospital had kept him under observation for several days poking and prodding him incessantly. They’d checked his brain and his heart and everything else they could think of before finally discharging him.

He’d been lucky, aside from the rather severe burns on his hands, the damage hadn’t been too bad. His organs were fine, but he’d suffered some muscle injuries as well as a dislocated shoulder from when he’d smashed into the wall behind him, and he felt generally sore.

Gray had been a nervous wreck throughout, refusing to leave his side. Natsu knew he was terrified that if he left for even a moment, Zeref would swoop in and take him away. It was ludicrous, but Natsu didn’t fight him, he knew Gray had his own issues, and he certainly didn’t mind getting so much attention from his man.

Through it all, there had been no more word from his brother and although he’d like to think Zeref had seen the error of his ways It wasn’t like him to give up so easily. So Natsu waited for him to make his move.

He heard the apartment door open and found himself relaxing, Gray had left that morning for his dissertation defense and had promised to be home for lunch. He looked up, smile at the ready only to see Lyon coming into his bedroom.

“Hey Pikachu, how you feeling?” Lyon greeted, smirking at Natsu’s heated glare. He helped Natsu off the bed and into some clothes.

“You’re not funny,” Natsu complained, he hated needing help, but the burns on his hands were still very tender and even he wasn’t stubborn enough to subject himself to that much pain just for the sake of pride, “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Gray called me, his defense is taking longer than he expected, so he asked me to check on you,” Lyon explained as he walked Natsu over to the bathroom, being careful to give him as much support as he could since Gray had mentioned sometimes Natsu’s muscles would spasm randomly.

Natsu stopped mid-step and glanced at Lyon worriedly, “Wait, is that bad?”

“No, I think it’s good, they just had more questions than what he’d anticipated, he sounded pretty upbeat actually. I think in a few hours we’ll have to start calling him Dr. Fullbuster,” Lyon beamed at the giddy expression on Natsu’s face at hearing those words.

“We should have a party or something,” Natsu clapped his hands, forgetting his injuries in his excitement and almost passing out from the pain.

“You really are an idiot,” Lyon sighed as he grabbed hold of Natsu and held him against his body while the younger boy rode out the wave of pain. “Where are your pain meds?”

When Natsu didn’t immediately answer Lyon sat him down on the toilet and looked in the medicine cabinet. Reading the instructions on the Vicodin bottle, he grabbed the appropriate dosage and poured some tap water into a rinsing cup.

“Open up,” he placed the pill on Natsu’s tongue and held up the cup to his mouth to allow him to drink it down. “Stay here, I’m gonna get you a snack, you shouldn’t have that on an empty stomach.”

Natsu nodded listlessly, he couldn’t wait until he could do things for himself again. He didn’t mind it so much when it was Gray, but anyone else irritated him, especially if it was someone from work. Lyon soon returned with a glass of milk and a cereal bar. He fed him, and after helping him use the restroom, he looked at the bandages nervously.

“Come on, we might as well change your bandages,” Lyon declared bravely. He was rather squeamish, but he’d promised Gray he would take care of Natsu and so he would do it.

He grabbed the instructions and assembled all the pieces. Natsu stared at him with wide eyes, but he took a shaky breath and presented his hands without complaint.

Lyon donned some gloves per the instructions and after twenty of the most torturous minutes of both their lives, they were done, and Lyon walked Natsu over to the living room setting him down on the couch before sitting beside him and grabbing the remote.

“Have the pain meds kicked in yet?” Lyon asked guiltily, wondering if perhaps he should have waited. Natsu’s glare was reply enough. They sat in companionable silence, neither of them really watching the TV.

Soon, he could see Natsu’s body relaxing, and after some deliberation, he finally blurted out, “What’s the deal with your brother?”

Lyon wasn’t sure Natsu would answer him, but after a week of nagging his brother for information and getting nowhere, he figured it was at least worth a try. He needed to know how much of a threat this guy really was so he could take steps to protect them.

“I never told you about that, huh?” Natsu sounded very calm, and it was a bit unnerving to see him this way, even though Lyon knew it was just the effect of the opioid on his brain.

“You know, considering how overprotective you both are you’d probably have gotten along pretty well.” Natsu smiled at Lyon, his eyes closing briefly in thought. “I don’t remember much of it, but when I was five years old, I almost died, well technically I was dead for a few minutes. Zeref could never get over it.”

Lyon peered at Natsu in confusion not understanding what that had to do with anything. He waited for more information, not wanting to push, but none seemed to be forthcoming. His cellphone rang, and he answered it, assuming it was Gray while Natsu sat quietly, lost in his thoughts.

“Hello?” A slew of frantic babbling came over the line, and Lyon looked down at his Caller Id to make sure he was talking to who he thought he was.

“Laxus?” Lyon called out, “You gotta slow down, dude, you’re not making any sense. What about Natsu’s brother?”

He listened for a few minutes and in a voice filled with rage, he announced, “We’re on our way.”

Lyon nudged Natsu to get his attention, “We gotta go to the office, your brother is threatening to sue the business for negligence. The lawyers need you to come in for a deposition.”

O-o

Gray still couldn’t believe it was over, after all the months of research and writing he had finally presented his dissertation, and it had gone much better than he could have ever hoped. The professors had asked so many questions it had gone way over the scheduled time, and now with their approval, he was officially a Doctor! He’d even been offered a few job interviews. After all the years of struggling to make ends meet, everything was starting to look up for them, and he couldn’t be happier.

He couldn’t wait to celebrate with Natsu and Lyon, both of whom had encouraged and made it possible for him to pursue his dream. He’d stopped at Natsu’s favorite pizza place on the way home and ordered two of their favorites pies before stopping at a convenience store to get a twelve-pack of Lyon’s favorite beer since Natsu couldn’t drink while on his pain meds.

Gray knocked on the door, but when no one answered, he figured Lyon was probably helping Natsu. He balanced the pizza boxes and case of beer as best he could by pressing them between his chest and the door as he fumbled in his pants pocket for his apartment key.

Somehow Gray managed to make his way inside without dropping anything, and he pushed the door shut behind him.

“I’m home,” he announced loudly, heading towards the kitchen to put the food down on the counter. He opened the box of beer putting four in the freezer and the rest in the fridge before grabbing a pile of plastic plates from a cabinet. He was a little surprised no one had come out to greet him yet.

He walked out towards the living room, “Where are you guys?”

“They’ve been called away, I didn’t want our conversation to be interrupted,“ a voice replied. It was a voice Gray had only heard once before, but it had managed to imprint itself in his mind.

A sheen of cold sweat covered his body as he turned to see Zeref Dragneel standing in his living room, his expression disgusted as he peered down at a framed picture of Natsu kissing Gray at the beach. It had been taken by their friend Levy a few years ago, and it was one of Gray’s favorites.

“How did you get in here?” Gray snarled, trying to hide the fear that he couldn’t seem to shake after so many years.

“This dump?” Zeref took out his wallet and showed him a credit card. “Does Natsu really enjoy living here?”

“He’s never complained,” Gray bristled at the man’s haughty tone as he stood there looking down on their home. Gray walked over to the door, pulling it open roughly, “Thanks for stopping by, now get the hell out.”

“There’s no need to be hostile,” Zeref smirked, sitting down on their couch, “Gray, is it?”

“You know damn well what my name is, I’m sure by now you’ve had me checked out.”

Zeref chuckled, “I have indeed. I have to admit given your proclivities, I was expecting to find something more...scandalous.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Gray retorted, and when Zeref made no move, he growled, “Am I going to have to drag you out?”

“Sit down, Gray,” Zeref ordered, his voice infused with authority. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Gray could feel his blood turn to ice as his previous elation turned to dread. What did Natsu’s brother want with him? He thought about Natsu, and it helped bolster his courage, whatever it was didn’t matter, there was nothing this man could do to tear them apart.

“There’s nothing for us to talk about, you’ve made your feelings quite clear,” Gray snapped before closing the apartment door with a frustrated grunt and sitting down in an armchair.

“Where’s Natsu?” Gray demanded.

O-o

Lyon and Natsu had rushed to their workplace to find the office in chaos. There were several men dressed in business suits that Natsu had never seen before along with a white-haired man that seemed vaguely familiar. It bothered him that he couldn’t place him until Lyon reminded him he had been at the hospital with his brother.

Another group of men was talking to Laxus in the office’s conference room. They could hear Laxus muffled shouts before the door was pulled open so hard the room shook around them.

“This is bullshit!” Laxus yelled at the group of lawyers who only nodded politely and entered the room, shaking hands with the men inside, closing the door behind them. Freed hurried in with a pitcher of water and some cups.

Sting was also in the office, and he looked positively terrified. Natsu felt terrible for him, it had been a stupid accident, and now his brother was using it as some sort of excuse to come barging into Natsu’s life.

Freed came back out and informed Sting the lawyers wanted to speak with him first. Sting took a shaky breath before going inside.

It was slowly beginning to dawn on him that there was only one way for this to end. Zeref would threaten to put the company out of business unless Natsu went home with him. It was despicable, but it was just the type of thing he’d expected from his brother.

“I have to quit,” Natsu thought out loud, it was the only way for Zeref’s threat to disappear. He wasn’t willing to go back home, but his friends shouldn’t have to suffer for it. But if he quit, what would they do for money? They didn’t really have a lot saved up, and until Gray found a full-time job, they’d be screwed.

“Like hell, you will! You’re one of my best employees and more than that, you’re family,” Laxus protested, grabbing a stress toy and squeezing it in his hand, “There’s no need for any of that, Pikachu, this will blow over.”

Natsu rolled his eyes at the nickname. Great, it had stuck. Fucking Lyon!

“They just showed up requesting a bunch of documents,” Freed reported, looking a bit flustered by all the activity in the usually quiet office. “Then they asked for you, and when they learned you were still out, they demanded you and Sting come in for depositions. They want to talk to a bunch of the others too.”

“You’re an adult,” Laxus pointed out, hand squeezing the toy ever faster, “He shouldn’t be able to initiate legal matters on your behalf. Come to think of it shouldn’t they be talking to you first, seeing as you’re the injured party? How’re your hands healing, by the way?”

Natsu and Lyon looked at each other at the same time and yelled, “Gray!”

“We gotta go,” Lyon held the door open for Natsu, and they rushed back to his car.

O-o

“Natsu should be fine, I’m sure by now he’s beginning to realize what he’s up against,” Zeref’s smile was almost predatory, “But let’s talk about you. How long have the two of you been together?”

“Ten years, “Gray replied defiantly, wanting Zeref to know how strong their relationship was. They’d been together through some tough times, clinging to each other just to get through it.

“Ten years, huh? I have to hand it to you, that’s a long time,” Zeref whistled, “That’s actually longer than our parents managed to stay together.”

“So tell me, what are those ten years worth to you?”

“They mean everything to me, he means everything to me,” Gray replied simply.

“No, I mean, what do you think would be adequate compensation?” Zeref took out a checkbook from his jacket pocket, “How about one hundred thousand for each year, that’s a million dollars just for shacking up with my brother.”

“A bribe? After all these years, that’s the best you can manage? This is what I was so scared of?” Gray laughed in disbelief.

“Take it and leave. It’s not a bad haul for someone like you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“We both know you’re nowhere near Natsu’s league. If he hadn’t run away when he did, you would never have even met.”

“Do you believe in fate?” Gray asked, suddenly.

Zeref scoffed, “I believe you make your own way in the world.”

“I believe that Natsu and I were fated to meet, that we are two halves of one whole and there’s nothing that can break us apart. Not your money, not your lawyers and certainly not you,” Gray sneered.

“I know you don’t approve of us, and frankly, I don’t care. For years, I’ve had to watch as Natsu worked his ass off just so we could have a life on our own. He paid for everything, including my school, and he did it all with a smile. But that’s about to change because Natsu deserves the world and now that I achieved my dream, I’m going to give it to him, not you.”

“You can’t seriously believe this is what’s best for him? I’m his brother, I know what’s best for him,” Zeref roared.

“You’re so full of shit, you know that? You know nothing about him. With all your resources, you could’ve found Natsu at any time, but you didn’t even bother looking for him, did you? You were probably expecting him to come running back to you. Tell me something, is your father really back, or was that just bait?”

“That’s enough!” Natsu’s voice was full of rage, and Lyon immediately moved next to Gray, as if he expected Zeref to attack him at any moment.

“What are you doing here, Zeref?” Natsu asked, “I thought I made myself clear at the hospital.”

“Natsu, for God’s sake, look at this dump. How can you live here when you could be back home?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” Natsu snapped, but when he saw a flicker of something real in Zeref’s eyes, he reined himself in. “I wish you’d understand. There’s more to life than money, Zeref. I’ve never been happier anywhere than I am here.”

“There is nothing you can do or say that will make me leave Gray and I think you realize that or you wouldn’t be here. Did you try to bribe him?” Natsu chuckled already knowing the answer.

Zeref looked at the ground, making Natsu laugh harder.

“How much?”

“One million dollars,” Zeref responded grudgingly.

Natsu whistled, “That’s a decent chunk of change, Gray.”

Gray crossed his arms, annoyed at how Natsu didn’t seem to be taking the situation seriously, “Perhaps I should have taken it.”

Natsu laughed, “Nah, don’t be a sucker. I’m worth way more than that.”

He suddenly looked over at the kitchen counter, “Is that pizza I smell? Why don’t we go eat it at the beach? I want to hear everything!”

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

“Zeref?” Natsu looked confused, “He can come if he wants to.”

Gray and Lyon were both looking at him as though he’d grown a second head.

“Actually, why don’t you guys go ahead and set it up, we’ll be right behind you.”

Natsu waited until the two brothers had left with the food, smiling at Gray reassuringly when he noticed his worried expression before turning to face Zeref, his smile replaced with determination.

“If you want to give me my life back, with Gray in it, I’ll consider it. But I won’t be your whore. Either make the deal without me or not at all. And back off my boss, he runs a good place and helps a lot of people out.”

“I don’t get you,” Zeref growled with frustration, not used to not getting what he wanted.

“I don’t expect you to,” Natsu shrugged, “Our lives are too different. All you really have to do is accept me, Zeref. Love me for who I am, not who you wanted me to be.”

“I’m going to lose a ton of money on this,” Zeref complained, but he didn’t try to change Natsu’s mind, and he took this as a good sign.

“It’s only money, Zeref, you have plenty of it,” Natsu reminded him, “Loosen up a little, have some fun. Eat pizza at the beach while drinking a cold beer. Get to know my boyfriend, he’s amazing.”

Natsu motioned for him to open the door to his apartment so they could head over to meet the others. Zeref only stared at him in confusion until Natsu waved his bandaged hands in his face. Zeref paused for a moment before complying.

Natsu began ambling towards the beach, and Zeref settled in next to him, matching his pace.

“He does seem to care for you,” Zeref admitted reluctantly, “He didn’t even consider the money.”

“I give amazing blowjobs,” Natsu retorted with an evil grin, enjoying his brother’s obvious discomfort at his words.

“I really don’t want to hear about that,” Zeref groaned uncomfortably, “Oh God, please tell me you never did anything like that for money.”

“I could have if things had been different,” Natsu stopped to look his brother in the eye, his tone serious, “Your words really hurt me back then, and I didn’t ever want to go back. I would have done anything to stay gone. But I found Gray instead, and he saved me. He introduced me to Gramps, who made sure I stayed in school and got me a job with Laxus when I graduated.”

“Natsu, I—,” Zeref began but didn’t expand, only managed to look embarrassed.

“I’ve had to work hard for everything I have, and I’m proud of it. I like my life. I enjoy my job, and my friends even though they’re dicks half the time. I found someone I love, and I do love him Zeref. He makes me want to be the best I can be to be worthy of him. I would do anything for him, “ he stared at his brother, daring him to say anything against his next words, “and I plan to marry him as soon as I can.”

Zeref stopped in his tracks, “Marry?”

“Yes, Zeref, marry,” Natsu deadpanned, “It’s a thing we can do now. And I’d like you to be there and be happy for me, but I can’t make you accept me. That’s up to you.”

Zeref considered his words, remaining quiet for what felt like forever and staring at Natsu the whole time.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I said those awful words to you,” Zeref sighed in defeat, “I know I’m an asshole, but I really don’t want to lose you again. I’ll try.”

Natsu gave him a hug as best he could with his injured hands, “I forgive you, we’ve both grown up a lot since then. At least I hope so.”

They arrived at the beach and were able to see Gray and Lyon by the picnic tables. Gray was pacing while Lyon tried to calm him down. Natsu smiled.

“You’re right, it’s kind of nice here,” Zeref commented beside him, “The view is beautiful.”

Natsu, who only had eyes for Gray, replied with, ”I couldn’t agree more.”

Zeref snorted marking where Natsu was looking, “You really have it bad, don’t you?”

“Hmhm, and he’s a doctor now, you know,” Natsu grinned proudly, “That’s what we’re celebrating, his dissertation was approved.”

Zeref rolled his eyes at his excitement but smiled before looking suddenly ashamed. “Hey uhm, Natsu? Igneel didn’t really come back.”

“I figured, let’s just go eat, okay?”

They made their way to the table with Zeref getting a slice of pizza and putting it on a plate for Natsu while Gray fussed over him.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, Doctor Princess, we’ve come to an agreement. Zeref’s gonna try not to be an asshole, and I will no longer deny he’s my brother,” Natsu grinned happily at Gray’s disgust at the new nickname and Zeref’s annoyed grunt. “Now tell me all about your dessert presentation.”

Gray glanced at the two brothers, and although he was a little hesitant to take Natsu’s words at face value, he dared to believe they might be true. That they could move forward without having to worry about Natsu’s family ever again.

He wrapped his arms around Natsu, being careful of his injuries and whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Natsu replied before kissing him sweetly, “and you don’t have to get me the world. Everything I need is right here.”

“Really? That’s too bad, cause I thought since you were injured, I could do this,” Gray whispered some words into Natsu’s ear that made him blush and peer at him with undisguised desire.

When Natsu tried to coax him into doing whatever it was Gray shoved a pizza in his mouth, and the two of them began laughing hysterically with Natsu almost choking on the food.

They could hear Zeref ask Lyon, “Are they always like this?”

“You don’t know the half of it…”

[howsit-going-toend]

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) Pt. 6

A Kwon Jiyong x Reader AU series featuring Kim Jiwon and Choi Seunghyun

Genre: Crime/Mafia/ANGST

Word count: 3,000+ 

Summary: You joined the police force years ago to help clean up the streets of Seoul and rid the city of organized crime. You’ve seen some shit. You’re surely prepared for anything…but how are you supposed to feel when the big bad crime boss you’ve been after turns out to be a familiar (to say the least) face?

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Y/N (10:46): I’m fine, I promise. Thank you for checking in

CSH (10:47): Of course

Y/N (10:50): Are you at the station? I’m planning to be there in a couple of hours. Have some important paperwork to pull from my computer

CSH (10:52): What! Yes, I’m here. Did you clear it with Chief?

Y/N (10:52): Lol

Y/N (10:58): …Oh was that a serious question?

Seunghyun breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Your strong will to defy Chief Kim’s orders for you to take leave was a breath of fresh air.

Every day since the night of the failed bust had weighed heavier and heavier on him. He hated himself for not being by your side the entire time, allowing you to wind up in one of the absolute worst case scenarios. It was his first official assignment with your station and he’d swiftly fucked it up. The blame from his peers and superiors, along with his own, prevented any visits to you at the hospital and all forms of communication outside of one or two work-related texts.

All along he just wanted to ask how you were holding up and profusely, but sincerely apologize for everything. But all he could focus on was keeping his nose clean.

It wasn’t until he’d heard of your return home that he finally struck up the courage to reach out. Knowing now that you were healing well and even had the strength to return to work so soon brought a wave of relief. He returned his phone to his pocket triumphantly before heading back to the main room of the station.

It must have been lunch hour, judging by the impossible to ignore smell of instant ramen comingling with the pungent hints of other takeout food. He paced to his desk, along the way nodding to his fellow detectives, each with their mouths full. As he sat down and cleared a space, thinking about his own lunch, one of the men got his attention.

“Hey. Did you see that guy in the hall while you were out there?” He mumbled.

It was nearly impossible to not gawk at the wide ring of red-orange sauce that was smeared across the man’s face. He stared back at Seunghyun expectantly, while continuing to slurp from a bowl of noodles held just below his chin. Seunghyun shook his head and narrowed his eyes, returning to the question. “Uh. No. What guy?”

The man gestured lazily in the direction of Chief Kim’s office. “That guy that walked into Chief’s office. Real important looking. He was wearing a full suit and everything.”

Seunghyun gave a halfhearted shrug. “Could just be a superintendent or a Chief from another precinct or something. Suits come through here all the time, don’t they?” He returned to rummaging through his bag to locate his lunch.

The man waved a sauce covered hand and shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. This guy has tattoos.”

Seunghyun stilled his movements. He made brief eye contact with the coworker before glancing at the closed door. “What kind of tattoos?”

“I noticed a couple on his hands, but the one that caught my eye was this set of wings. These big wings were on the back of his neck almost like a…hey, what’re you doing? Where’re you going?”

Seunghyun didn’t want to hear any more. He rose abruptly from his chair and arrived outside of Chief Kim’s office in a matter of seconds. He paced back and forth a few times before taking a half assed deep breath and leaning an ear towards the door, abandoning any desire to remain inconspicuous.

He could barely hear anything besides his own pulse that was racing like a freight train; one he wished he could drive straight through that door.

He didn’t know how long the intruder had been in there or what his business was. All he knew was he had to get Chief Kim out as soon as possible. He began to pace again in a panic. Ok, ok, maybe just call him and pretend to have an issue going on out here in the office…or knock on the door and say they need him up front or….Feign a medical emergency or…..

Just as Seunghyun was about to knock on the door out of desperation, his work phone rang. FUCK. He nearly dropped it on the ground as he struggled to steady himself enough to answer and silence the piercing ring. His heart fell to his stomach as he read the caller ID.

He slammed his finger on the green button and held the phone to his ear. “Chief.”

“My office. Now.”

Seunghyun stared forward, as his superior’s voice was replaced with silence. After a moment of nothing, he had to physically smack himself to remember basic motor skills. He took a calmer, deeper breath than before, and reached a shaking hand for the doorknob.

Seunghyun stepped in to the office, making immediate eye contact with Chief Kim and the set of tattooed wings he’d hoped to never see again. “Chief.” He spoke hesitantly.

Jiyong didn’t even turn his head to look the room’s newest company in the eye. “You see, Chief, I’m not the real enemy you’re after……isn’t that right, Officer Choi?”

Meanwhile

Amongst everything that was now good in your life that you felt you didn’t deserve, Jiwon’s unwavering kindness was at the top of that list.

In the nearly five years the two of you have been together, and the two and a half years you’d been married, he’s always treated you like gold. It was no surprise that he was able to step up to the plate and become your twenty four hour caregiver after you were sent home from the hospital.

For the past two weeks he’d barely left your side. He’d carried you anywhere you needed from the bed, to the couch, to a seat in the dining room; until you had stubbornly insisted you were perfectly fine using crutches and getting around on your own. Whenever your bandaging needed to be changed or whenever you gave the faintest hint that you might be in pain, he was there with a first aid kit. He even helped bathe you when the pain killers prevented even the slight movement of leaning over to clean your legs and feet. “Thank you” really wasn’t enough. You battled feeling both like a helpless child that needed to get up and handle things themselves, and one that pretended to be sick so that they could stay home from school for just one more day.

After two full weeks, today had been Jiwon’s first day back at work. You’d spent the morning laying on the couch, bored and alone until he returned around noon; and here he was spending his lunch break helping you in the bathtub.

“How’s your pain been today so far?” He asked while gently lifting your right leg from its place on the edge of the tub.

You smiled. “Good actually. Aside from bumping it on the couch a couple times, it was like it wasn’t even there.”

“Yeah?” Jiwon raised an eyebrow. “So I should stop helping you in the bath then?” He jested.

You did your best at a cute pout. “….I guess so. If that’s what you want.”

He laughed and shook his head before flicking some water at your face. “You know I don’t mind. Plus it gives me an excuse to see this gorgeous sight.” He gestured to the rest of your fully submerged body.

“I don’t want to hear that.” You giggled, shaking your head and narrowing your eyes up at him. “The fact that you’re spending your lunch break in here helping me is enough. You don’t have to throw all these compliments around.” You reached out to press a damp hand to his knee. “You really should eat something before you go back though.”

You watched Jiwon’s eyebrows quirk up as his eyes fell to the area of water just below your belly button. He grinned devilishly as suds from the loofa in his hand trickled down your raised right leg. His gaze lingered on the part of your body it inevitably fell to. It was your turn to splash some water in his face. “Kim Jiwon I meant actual food!”

You reeled your leg closer to your body, taking away his view in fake annoyance. He chuckled and held both hands out towards you as if pleading for mercy. “Oh come on, I’m just playing around! I ate, I ate. I promise…Now gimme that back.” You slowly returned your leg to him while simultaneously offering a look of disapproval. He laughed at your silliness before gently cleaning around your wound once again.

“So you’ve been starting to wean off the pain meds, right? Are you going to start working on some stuff from home?”

“Ha…Funny you mention that.” He eyeballed you skeptically, to which you offered a cheesy grin. “I was actually wanting to ask you for a favor.”

“Dooo you want me to pick up something from the station and bring it to you?”

“Mmm…Not exactly. So, I’ve been getting pretty good with the crutches. And, like I said, the pain has been pretty minimal the past few days. And I need some stuff from my computer and I still have to speak with Seunghyun about everything, so…”

He returned with a look of disapproval of his own before cutting you off. “Didn’t the station require a medical leave of at least a month?”

“…Yes.”

He sighed. “I should have known that wouldn’t stop you.”

You fought a grin but remained silent, waiting for him to fully get on your train of thought. He knew the second you eventually decided you wanted to go back to work, that there was no getting in your way; even if you had to hobble on crutches the whole six miles to the station.

He shook his head and gave a half-hearted smile. “You’re so stubborn. I’ll give you a ride if you promise me that you’ll call the second that anything goes wrong. And that you at last wear the brace the hospital gave you.”

“I promise.” You did your best to sound serious, despite the fact that you were instantly ten times more excited to get out of the house.

By the time that you’d eagerly gotten yourself ready and Jiwon had reluctantly dropped you off, you breathed a sigh of relief. You were more than determined to finally feel productive again. It was like you’d just gotten back to school from winter vacation.

It was hard to place a finger on exactly what it was, but something about the vibe of the station felt strangely off. Everything seemed a little too calm and collected for it being after one o’ clock on a Monday. Your crutches clicked against the linoleum flooring, echoing through the long hall that led to the main room. After briefly struggling to get through the entrance, you looked around with concern; the body language of your peers didn’t help.

They were whispering quietly amongst themselves. Some were standing with their arms folded while others were just sitting there. Each were in groups of two to three, with matching looks of concern; And a similar gaze that continued to shift from one another, to the door that lead to the station’s interrogation rooms. Something had to be going on.

“Y/N! You’re back!” A few of them broke from the tense moment to acknowledge your return, now that the sounds of your crutches were loud and clear. “How are you feeling?” “We didn’t think you were coming back for a couple more weeks!”

“Can’t stay away from work I guess.” You forced a chuckle. “Let’s talk about that later. I’m fine. What’s going on though…? Something’s off.”

The man who was debatably the laziest of your coworkers immediately got your attention. “Oh, it’s Seunghyun.”

“Uh. What about him?” You felt your anxiety levels begin to ripple.

“No one knows. That’s what we’re all trying to guess. He was sitting here about to eat lunch like an hour ago and then he ran to Chief’s office and paced around outside before going in all flustered. He was in there forever before they all walked out to go to the interrogation rooms. It was really weird.”

“Huh.” Was all you could manage.

Perplexed, you cautiously began to head to the back. The other detectives continued their light gossip, lowering to a mumble as you got further away and your own anxious thoughts grew louder and louder. Before they all, he’d said. They all? Who else was in there? What the hell were they talking about? And what would have made them continue it back here?

As you approached the corridor, doing your best to not allow your paranoia to get the best of you but to instead focus on maneuvering your crutches, the door swung open. Chief Kim seemed less than excited to see you.

“Chief, what’s going on?”

“Y/N, what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back for ano-.”

“I know, I know.” You interrupted, telling yourself you’d deal with whatever consequences that entailed later. “What the hell is going on? Who’s back here with you and Seunghyun and why is it going on record? Does this concern our case?”

He was taken back by your attitude for only a second before changing his entire expression. “Yes. It involves your case.” He spoke slowly and took a deep breath, clearly not prepared to relay this news to you. “Y/N. You need to listen to what I’m about to say. I don’t need to tell you how to approach certain situations with the necessary amount of caution. But what I’m about to tell you is going to change just about everything.”

You hated when he beat around the bush like this. All it did was spike your anxiety levels tenfold and make you want to scream. You were frozen, on the edge of a nonexistent theater seat. What could possibly have happened?

“G Dragon is here.”

Your blood boiled on the spot. Your hands tensed themselves, casting a vice like grip on the handles of your crutches. “WHAT!!?”

Chief closed his eyes for a brief moment, not surprised by your reaction. “Y/N.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S HERE!? WHEN DID WE PICK HIM UP!? WHERE?! WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME!? ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?!”

“He came in on his own.”

“WHAT?! Who let him in?! What the fuck does he want?!”

“He wants to make a deal.”

“EXCUSE ME?! A WHAT?! WHAT KIND OF DEAL?! WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING CALM ABOUT THIS?!”

“Because, Detective Kim, I have a fucking JOB to do at this station and I insist that you proceed to doing your own.” The order was venom, temporarily silencing every thought in your head.

“If you want to continue your position on this case and be informed of the situation that has spontaneously occurred on this day; one in which you were ordered to be on leave from, and that I had every intention of briefing you on when you returned, then follow me and leave your emotions and pride right where you are standing.” He spat. “Is that clear?”

You stared back at him, flabbergasted, as silence filled the space between the two of you for an entire three seconds. “Yes. That is clear.” You clenched your jaw. It took everything in you to physically muster the energy to even breathe after that kind of news; let alone follow him. The two of you slowly made your way to Interview 1.

“A lot has been revealed today. It is a lot of information that we will have to thoroughly review before coming to any sort of decision. We have been speaking with him for nearly two hours now.” He spoke over his shoulder as you neared the viewing room.

You wanted to break something. You forced yourself to fight off and internalize every thought and emotion that you had promised your superior you were capable of pushing through. You took a deep breath, ignoring every ounce of pain that began to pulse beneath your arms as you struggled further.  Your vision blurred slightly before entering the room and gazing through the one way mirror.

There they were.

Seunghyun was upright, leaning against the far right wall with his arms crossed as he stared at the ground. His sleeves were messily rolled up to his elbows and his face was filled with a look of indistinguishable self-loathing and agitation. Though you were curious to know what he must have been thinking, your gaze quickly fell on the man that was responsible for everything.  

Compared to Seunghyun, Jiyong looked fine. Despite being in handcuffs, he looked better than fine. Hell, he looked like someone who’d just perfectly nailed an interview for a prospective job. His hands were folded while his face was painted with the smuggest grin that gave you goosebumps.

He wore a full suit that looked more expensive than any outfit you’ve ever owned. He slouched slightly in his chair with his leg propped up on his knee, allowing the pristine tailoring to be shown off. His hair was slicked back, while the sides of his head appeared freshly shaved. You could just barely make out a few new tattoos that you couldn’t have taken the time to notice in the darkness of the warehouse… You wanted to stop and smack yourself.

You were admiring him. And you hated yourself for it.

It was just too surreal to be looking at him in person. Despite the obviously complicated circumstances at hand, seeing him after all seven of the years you’d been apart hurt with a kind of pain that was far more excruciating than the very bullets that had pierced your skin. It was as indescribable as it was suffocating.

“I’m removing Seunghyun from this case. And that is not up for negotiation.”

Chief Kim spoke up, bringing you back to the present reality. You shook your head and cleared your throat. “What? Why?”

“Your partner used to be his partner.”

[falconsandfishes]

platonic relationship

i have a bone to pick with plato. see the socratic method is basically the scene in montynpython in which a woman is weighed against a peice of wood to determine if she is a witch. and this is pretty much also the measurement system women use for me judge a cardio junkie by his ability to withstand smoke fumes. ive been up all night listening to eminem because i wish that i had the mysogny that he had because logically i should be mad at these females who lie to me but apparently developmentally theyre limited. 

so pretty much i just want my neck not to hurt and my side and platonic love isn really the kind which could support my lumbar spine but if you think im angry you are right and maybe if i rhyme my brain will work this time and ill finally be able to explain was never targeted at my objects of affections at all i like to walk around the mall see a cutie with a skirt on and she sees me looking at her tells her grandmother to leave her there because this place looks fun as she smiles at me there comes abu my friend who judges me and judges you and as i stare at her i can tell she wants me too probably more emotionally mature than my mom and a virgin with her skirt on and its workun but i have the confidence of a plastic bag floating in the wind shes cheesing while i hide behind her even though shes 4 11 and im 6 4 and because he was there i didnt pass because i dont cross paths but even thinking about having a girlfriend makes him mad. if shes too young for me i would have figured that out but it doesnt help that no matter how young or how old even the weather lady im told shes not right for me so will you make up your mind please can someone define maturity because apparently there is a reverse correlation between it and age and socrates was no sage im not really impressed that he drank poison similarly i smoke weed which takes me back to age three and birthday parties then i think about how much my life failed but only because everyone always stood in front of me. so snitch on me when i talk to you when youre in front of me at your desk and say your story about butterflies is the best begging middle and end. meawhile i havent even gotten to the first page of my legend of the sword it had a much more compliated plot which was cut off. then tell me i didnt count to tenthousand while you were listening to the teacher say the is spelled t h e and put me in a remedial reading class with a bunch of girls and address us as the girls so we can read books about a mouse who lives with his family in a house but if girls and boys are the same how can you explain i was the only one in that group to be bumped up to the advanced on by 2nd grade. i guess reading the encylopedia of animals wasnt a wase memorized their latin names bufo sativa phylobates. so by third grade i was getting so good at math that they took me out of class and had me testing material meant for 5th graders and it was really lame how can i explain all the flaws in the system to all the other people who were also ruined by it.

finally one girl who was definitely old enough for me waved at me when i looked at her and i got a boner and walked over to the ladies at the tea shop who looked at me with a disgusted look on their faces then some gangster looking dude older than i am replaces me with his hand on her shoulder.

before i was 18 i could beat up my dad and ever since then i knew not many people in my generation had much of a chance against me but i looked so thin they were not understanding. high iq causing depression have anothe smoke session even though you have athsma everyone remember to complain that i prefer to get high off one big hit i stayed in high school till i graduated but i left.

unfortunately with brain damage i could still make straight as which made me think i was ok gpa jumping above 3.68 when i only show up an agerage of 3 days.

practice your sky hook do your pushups get embaressed when an asian princess sees you do them 20 hanlaps perfect form and im not even a jock wow id better stop. next thing the girl i like is sitting on my lap in class telling me she likes me back shes sitting on my desk shes rubbing my face my life isnt gay justnsaynsomehing and youll get laid.

nah ill let some kid with adhd steal her seat and ill help him with math instead because i didnt tell her this but im alread braindead. my soul probably died with my pet lizard or my kitten perhaps it was internet addiction. 

what makes you think youll be make it as a porn star? you know im hot. well maybe i just didnt want you to act like a slut. i still remember the blonde who waves at me and smiled my freshman year it was clear that the world was my oyster the only problem was i couldn make my own choices.

i wanted to be an actor but i was so good at acting nobody got it. was so good at debating everyone liked to argue. was so succinct couldnt get the last word. so fast nobody would pass me the ball so dominant in wrestling i had to pretend i couldnt win just to have a friend.

pretty much i feel like the last cro magonon stuck on an island without charlotte saisselin bounce baby bounce three story house you look so cute in a blouse. hey look theres charlottes stalker i think il wave my arms around.

bounce baby is a reference to eigth grade i was watching a 100 meter race and then some black guy said that she never raced again. weed turned her from a goth into a wigger and after that i figured id become one too but it wasnt till 2009 i started to dress like you. what happened was i got some clothes from olympia sports to wear as warmups on the basketball court and to work as a salesman i shaved my head smiled knowing i was dead but still i couldnt even say i wanted to kiss  girl without that not being cool enough for my nephew and her bowl broke too

it fell from her car on the pavement and she said that he didnt even get to hit it.

so now im living in my dads room on the floor and finally my back isnt sore i have a well paying job im away from mom i have iron lungs and dad still doesnt approve because now i play too much basketball.

hi im interested in going to california. i meant connecticut but califonia will do since its warm there. sure steve come on out west but read the fine print your 20s are dead.

prove you wrong shame on me. dont prove you wrong brag proudly. stay out west and let your dad die. watch him act like an asshole at home back east one more time. your reward for having surived on the street for years as a middle clas kid

your friend says he thought you were dead. by the way he has this girlfriend in connectiut. oh you were the one who set him up with her? theres a whole website or three centered around her? 

better get you to spend your money on heroin and make you seem like a jerk in front of my dad. my excuse is im skitzophrenic.

all because my dad shamed me for growing up even crazier than him. thats why i called up my friend and asked him to date my girlfriend. 

there must have been something in those amphetamines which made me keep stopping at her house. i found them up on the shelf years after i tried to spill them out.

it was the first time an adult had ever called me immature. he also said my handwriting was bad and i needed a cure. talking to him i began to get red where even to begin? i have a lot of prblems at home and this isnt fair. see my dad camps in the yard and gets drunk watches us through windows andmy sister punches me in the head. mom pretty much works till shes in bed.

every day she watches the same soap opera and oprah which i record for her on tape. my sisters friends call me gay so i go over and play with the kids from the other neighorhood all day. 

one of them listens to a lot of eminem. his favorite song is if you dont like it you can suck my dick. hes in reform school and proud to be off his meds. when i talk about biking down a steep hill and blending into traffic he thinks i meannliterall blend in.

two gay twin brothers end of the road honor roll kids. play baseball and have alcoholic parents. hey ill tell the girl steve likes he likes her then she will never talk to him again. accept his chalenge to a fight and he will bang my head into a tree which is the same thing i did to another kid who tried to jump me but got sperated from his friends. 

refuse to dance with the only girl in middle school who has hips. make fun of the girls intelligence who sits next to you in math and has giant tits. refuse to eat candy off the first girls tounge then your science teacher who pushed pills on you flips on the tv its 911

stare at a girl all day and say you dont like her. girls think youre gay if you have a boner. telll me a calculator doesnt mattrer for a test but i do worse without one. make a flag pencil it isnt cool enough for the other kids.

sit with the retarded kids timmy and jimmy. watch nick all night fresh prince and bill cosby.

your sister wont stop torturing you so hold her at knife point. buy knives at school try to resell them and for the first time ever the kids you sold them to ge caught witth knives.

stay in the program with three teachers who gave up on you. one leaves to become a dean suddenly your grades go up. kids are jealous because you dont do homework. girls smile at you knowing that your test scores are high despite that.

throw shotput as far as a high school kid without any exercise or practice. run around the track dozens of times in pants you still arent good enough yet.

go to an alternative program reluctantly in high school its sort of like jail. everyone smells like cigarettes the air is stale. this isnt good for you but we will make you think if you leave you will fail.

[elatedmarvel]

Voicemails

Steve Rogers x reader

Summary: Steve saves voicemails from you

Warnings: injuries, some blood, character death

My Masterlist

The house is dark and quiet when he gets back home. He tries to be as stealthy as he can. Toeing off his shoes and setting down keys and wallet in the foyer, he walks up the stairs and into the master bedroom. It’s been a hard, testing day and all he wants is to hear your voice. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he pulls out his cellphone and goes to voicemails. He clicks on the first saved one.

“Hi Steve. It’s (Y/N), but you knew that cause you have caller ID.” he chuckles quietly to himself.  “Anyways… I justed wanted to call and run some paperwork by you before I officially submit it. Not that I’m inept at doing the job or anything! I’d just like a pair of eyes to go over them, not that that’s all you are… Oh! And to thank you, I’d like to take you out to eat. You can choose the restaurant since you’re doing me this huge favor, which isn’t going to take long I promise!”. It all come out rushed as words flowed into the next and Steve barely was able to understand the words you had spewed. One of the many things he loved about you, you would talk a mile a minute when you were nervous, or excited.

“God, that sounded like a date didn’t it? I’m not asking you out or anything… Not that I wouldn’t love to go out with you!” He can hear your nervousness and the way you over analyzed the statement. “I just don’t know if you see me that way and you know what forget I said anything about liking you. God, (Y/N) shut up! Anyway, please call me when you get this message and if I haven’t scared you off.” A smile lights up his face every time he hears that message. Steve saved the voicemail a few days later, part of him had known that he would want it later on. He had called you back the minute he heard the voicemail and just as awkwardly asked you out.

The second voicemail was just as cute, full of your excited chatter. “STEVE! I know you’re in Bali, or was it Luxembourg? But! Guess who gets to go on their first solo mission?! ME! Well you probably guessed that cause I set it up but still!” He remembers how a burst of pride had filled his chest when he heard this. You were a great agent, the best of your class, and he was happy that SHIELD had seen your potential. “Fury told me that if all goes well I could be a potential candidate for the Avengers! THE AVENGERS STEVE!” You had gotten so loud and squealy that he had to move the phone away from his ears for a second. “That also means I get to see more of you! Or you would get to see more of me? Either way, I hope this goes well! Wish me luck you dork.”

Before he had heard this voicemail the first time he had seen the after effects of your mission. He  just set foot back into the building after his mission and was immediately informed that you were in the med bay with serious injuries. His heart stopped for a moment and he sprinted to get to you. The first thing he had seen was all the blood and bruising. A large laceration on your thigh and multiple smaller ones on your arms and cheek. He thought he might throw up at the thought of you in pain and all the blood you were losing. But, then he saw your face. Even while getting stitches, you had a blinding smile. Turns out, the mission was not only successful, but you had managed to save a small family that had gotten in the crossfire.

    Your eyes met Steve’s. Before you could say anything he had pulled you into his chest and murmured how proud of you he was and how much he loved you. That was the first time those words had been uttered and you started crying, overloaded with happiness. You attacked him with kisses and I love yous. After a few days and you were more or less healed, you were officially an Avenger.

“Hey handsome” the third voicemail started. “I know we aren’t allowed to see each other yet, but I just wanted to say that I love you.” Those words still sent shivers down his spine.

“You are the most amazing and good person Steve. You lost everything and still came out fighting and loving and caring on the other side. And as cruel and selfish as this sounds, I’m glad you were frozen for 70 years. It brought you into my life and I honestly don’t know what I would do without you Steve Rogers. ” He could hear the tears in your eyes, and couldn’t agree more. Everything he had gone through was heart wrenching and painful and he had thought about giving up at times. But, now he understood that you had been the universe's plan and he would go through it all again in a heartbeat if it meant being with you.

“I never used to believe in that fairy book kind of love, you know the one that is so earth shattering and world tipping that you could feel like you could drown? But then you walked, or stumbled actually, into my life and it all clicked. I totally get why everyone wants it, it’s amazing and addictive and it makes me feel like I could do anything because you’re by my side. I love you so much Steven Grant Rogers.” His own tears start to prick at his eyes as he tries to calm his breathing down.

“Anyways, I have to go, Nat and Wanda are glaring daggers at me. I’ll see you tomorrow handsome. I’ll be the one in white” he hears you giggle and the line clicks.

That voicemail had solidified that he wanted so badly to spend the rest of his life with you. He had fallen asleep that night with a smile on his face despite the fact that his bachelor party had been a disaster and Bucky’s hair had caught on fire and he missed sleeping tangled up with you. The next day had been the second best day of his life.

“Steve. I hate you at this moment, I hate you so much” he hears you grit through your teeth.

“I’m trying to push out your very stubborn daughter after she has been playing with my bladder and kicking my ribs for months and you’re not even here. I hate you.” He knows you didn’t mean it. When you two had found out that you were pregnant, no one was as happy as you had been. You had spent nine months with a genuine smile on your face. Even through the morning sickness, the swelling, and the uncomfortableness that went along with carrying a child. “If you miss the birth of your daughter I will hunt you down to the ends of the world and torture you for nine months Steve.” He had been on an urgent mission, despite his reluctance to leave you so close to your due date. But, you had pushed him out with your confident smile and told him that you and your daughter would be fine. He was on his way back to you as fast as he could when you had left the voicemail.

“Steve please. I’m so scarred. It hurts so bad and I can’t do this without you.” The tone of your voice shifting, tears streaming down your face now. “What if something goes wrong? What if I’m a bad mother? I don’t think I can do this. Steve please, just come fast” you begged, the panic very clear in your voice. “I love you” you choked out.

4 hours after the voicemail, Sarah Rogers was born. Steve had reached you just as you were about to push. You both had cried and couldn’t stop staring at the bundle of love. All fear had disappeared once you saw her little face, you both could and would do anything for the tiny life in your arms.

The fifth saved voicemail had come 1 and a half years later. “Steve, I’m so happy” you had started. “You were right, you’re always right. How do you do that? Did that serum give you the power to see into the future? Sorry, got side tracked” he hears your laugh.

“I’m pregnant! Yup! We’re gonna have another baby! Sarah’s gonna be a big sister.” his heart swells at this moment again. “I bet you’ll guess the gender correctly again too. Damn you and your intuition Rogers. Oh! We really should move out of the compound and into a house. Two kids are gonna be a handful and we’ll need more space. Maybe we could move back to Brooklyn? Oooh! Into a brownstone with nice crown molding and granite counters and a backyard and a bay window. We need a bay window Steve!” he chuckles and looks around, realizing that the house you two had bought matched that exact description.

“I’m so excited Steve! Gosh, I feel like I’m flying. I have you and Sarah and now this new baby, I’m pretty sure I’m complete now. I love you so so so so so much! Sarah too! Oh and the new little peanut. I can’t stop smiling, I probably look insane. Oh well. See you both when I get home!” Steve smiles remembering this moment. You had come home and told him in person because he hadn’t checked his phone. He cried, you cried and picked up Sarah and held her tight. 8 months later, James Rogers had come into the world. He remembers bringing an apprehensive Sarah to meet Jamie. She instantly wrapped her little chubby arms around him and kissed his face. He swears that his heart was so full could have burst. His life was complete now. The best day of his life tied with the birth of his children.

Steve gets to the last voicemail and hesitates. He knows what he’s about to hear. He’s listened to this over and over again, and every time he wishes that he could change the outcome. The voicemail that starts the worst day of his life.

“Steve” you breath, he can hear the strange calm in your voice. “Babe, I need you to know how much I love you. I’ve loved you ever since you fell into my office, even if I didn’t know it yet. It kept growing and growing until it consumed me in the best way possible. I used to hate those people that said chessy stuff like you complete me or you make me the happiest person alive. But it’s so so true. I totally get it. You make me a better person, Steve. Your kindness, selflessness, and passion have made me feel so safe and loved. You gave me the best two gifts in the world. Oh god, I love them so much it hurts.” His heart tenses up at the mention of your children.

“You’ll never know how much you mean to me Steve. I mean it with everything I have. I would be happy to walk to hell and back if it means getting to be with you and our children. They are the light of my life” he hears the quiver in your voice now. “I love them more than I could put into words. You have to tell them how much I wanted them, how much I loved them. You guys are my world.” He breaks down even more.

“I know you’ll raise them so well Steve. If I know you and them, they’ll be spitfires that won’t stand for anything but justice and kindness. I just wish I could be there to see them grown up” you sob.  

“But, babe. I don’t think I’ll be coming home.” He has to pause the voicemail because he can’t hear anymore. The blood is pounding in his head and everything is blurry from the tears. When he pulls himself together a little bit, he resumes.

“I want you to know right now that I have no regrets. Everything, and I mean everything, has been perfect. You are the love of my life Steven Grant Rogers. The best person I’ve ever known, and the best father to our children. I love you guys with everything I have, to my last breath.” Your breathing sounds labored now, and your voice growing weak. “I love you all so much” you promise one last time before the line goes dead.

Steve sits there sobbing in the lonely bedroom. It’s been two years since he’s heard your voice in person. Seen the way your eyes light up when you see your children, heard the lilt of your voice when you spoke to him, the way you would get sidetracked and lost in your own head sometimes. Two years since he last got to hold you and tell you how much he loves you. Two years since he’s felt complete. He thanks whatever god is out there that he had saved some of his favorite voicemails from you. They had provided him with strength when he thought he would crumble, laughs when had forgotten how to, and brought back moments that he would cherish forever.

Wiping his eyes, he walks out of the room and down the hallway. Stopping at the first door, he quietly sneaks in. He smiles when he sees that Sarah has snuck into Jamie’s room and they’re both curled up on his bed, fast asleep. They looked and acted so much like you that he could have sworn you were here. He kisses each of their foreheads and wraps the blanket tighter around them.

He goes back to his room and flops onto the bed, one that you had insisted on buying because it felt like sleeping on a cloud. Though the heartache was still there, knowing that he had pieces of you still to hold on to made him feel better, and the pain lessened day by day. “I love you (Y/N)” he whispers to the empty and silent room. A smile on his face as he swears he catches a whiff of your perfume and drifts away to a peaceful sleep, dreaming of you.

Author Notes: This broke my heart to write and I kinda want to write another one with the same concept, but with a fluffy ending. Feedback is always appreciated it. Thank you all so much for reading! ~J

[maetaurus]

Doctor Appointment #1

so i went to the doctor today to start antidepressants. i talked to my counselor about it a few months ago but then didnt act on it. but these last few weeks have been pretty bad so i finally called and made an appointment. i know that getting help either by going to therapy or starting meds can be scary and intimidating. so i want to share my experiences in the hopes that it’ll someday help at least one person. 

so when i got called back by a nurse i was weighed which i always hate but she was nice and she wasnt judgy or anything. then we went to the exam room and she checked my blood pressure and my pulse and clarified all the medical info she had for me. then she asked me why i was there, which im assuming she probably knew already since i had to tell them when i made my appointment but she probably had to ask. so i told her that i wanted to start antidepressants and she basically just asked if i have any allergies to meds or if ive taken any antidepressants before and how long ive felt depressed. then we did some more basic info like me asking for the flu shot and her giving me a consent form for it. so all that with the nurse was fine and it was just generic info.

then the doctor came in and ive seen her once before earlier this year so i knew she was nice and i wasnt too worried. again we started off with some generic info like going over what the nurse did and stuff. this time the generic stuff was much shorter and then we got to the real reason why i was there. she asked me the same basic questions at first then got more in depth. she asked me how long id felt this way, if id ever thought about hurting myself or others, if i had a good support system, etc. she also asked me what i enjoy doing and i said youtube and crafty stuff. and she was super nice and said that i need to hold onto those things, even if its something small. but that every little thing i enjoy is important. i just really liked that she said that. she also asked how my depression feels, like if it feels like i dont wanna get out of bed and i dont enjoy doing anything, or if im sad or angry all the time, or all of the above. 

wed pretty much gotten the question part over with now and she just talked me through everything. she said that the medicine wont start to take effect for a couple weeks but even then itll take 4-6 weeks till i reach like the max effect this drug will have on me. she reminded me that there are lots of kinds of antidepressants and some might not work for me and thats okay and if this one doesnt then we can just try another. i think she did a really good job explaining how its gonna make me feel, which i appreciate. i know theres a big stigma around meds and how they change you or whatever, which btw isnt true, but she knew that too and made sure to explain it to me that the meds wont change me or my personality but its just gonna help stabilize my mood. 

so she put me on Citalopram which is like the generic name for Celexa. i’ll be starting off with 10mg a day for 6 days then i’ll move up to 20mg a day. i have a follow up appointment with her a couple days after ill finish this prescription and i dont have any refills for it. i think im going to reschedule my appointment for the day i finish this bottle so that i wont go even one day without taking it since id be able to get the next prescription that day.

i was pretty scared going into this. i was worried she would ask me what happened to make me depressed and it would get super personal but that didnt happen. she asked me generic questions that told her how i was feeling but we never got into too specific of details about why. she even gave me a long list of local therapists that her other patients have had success with so ill be checking those out. she was super nice and i felt comfortable and in control the whole time. she didnt ask any questions that were too personal and she made sure i was well informed.

i know that not everyone will have as good of an experience as i did and that the policy is probably different depending on where you live but this is just my own personal experience. i know that im incredibly lucky to have a doctor who is so understanding and well informed on what depression really feels like.

ill be continuing this like mini blog series i guess you could call it. hopefully itll be really short and this medicine will work for me but i know that it might not and thats okay. im going to tag all of these posts the same way so if you find it at all triggering then please blacklist it. i want to share my experiences to help others, not hurt them. also if you have any questions then you can message me. you can go on anon if you want it to be anonymous or if you want it to be private then use the messenger thing or just say so in your message. im open to talking about my experiences so dont be afraid to just ask me anything. 

[straightnochaser-ff-blog]

1.

Q

 It was around 7:30 and I had just gotten out of the shower. I sprayed some of my cologne on me and figured out what I was going to wear. I took forever to get dressed but I was trying to keep it simple.

“Nigga you dressed yet?” my brother Marcus said knocking on my door. I swung my door open answering his question since all I had on was my boxers.

“Guess not.” He said rolling his eyes and walking over to my desk to take a seat.

“I’m trying to figure out what to wear” I explained.

“Nigga just wear anything”

“Me? Wear anything? Never in my life. And Aventer is gonna be there so I need to look good” I said.

“Aventer? What about Melissa?” he asked confused. My brother swore that me and Mel were a thing but we really weren’t. She just been around since I broke up with my ex. I didn’t really care about her that much.

“What about her? That’s not my girl, she already knows what’s up” I said.

“Whatever you say man” he said unconvinced. I shrugged. Even if Melissa did think we were a thing or even had a chance of being a thing, it wouldn’t matter to me. We are not and will never be a thing.

I finally found my outfit and started getting dressed. I put my cross on and then picked up my phone to check my messages.

Gang Gang

 Tim: y’all ready?

Ant: yeah bro, you know it’s Q being a primo donna in his room

Me: shut your ass up nigga, I’m ready

 “Y’all niggas funny” my brother said as he laughed at our convo in the group chat.

I opened my room door after taking one more look at myself. Timothy and Anthony were in the living room. The three of us were suitemates and my brother lived upstairs.

“About time” Anthony said putting his hat on.

“Nigga you look like you should have taken more time getting dressed” I said laughing at him.

“shut up man, let’s go” he said shoving me. I followed them out the door as I sent Aventer a text.

 Me: me and my bros are going to Westmere if you’re down

 About 5 minutes passed and she answered me.

Avy: yeah that’s cool, I’ll be there in 20 minutes.

 I can’t even lie, I was excited that I was going to see her. I already figured that she wasn’t the type to let you hit so easily but I was willing to work for it.

“Nigga whatchu smiling at” Tim asked unlocking his car. I opened the passenger door and sat down buckling my seatbelt.

“His girl Aventer” my brother answered.

“Aventer? What happened to Mel?” Ant asked.

“She’s not my girl, yet. And Mel isn’t my girl period” I responded.

“Aight man, just don’t screw this one up” Tim said pulling out the parking spot. I rolled my eyes. He was referring to how I fucked up my last relationship. Her name was Briana and she is everything a guy could ask for. Smart, funny, beautiful and she loved making money. Just like me. Long story short I ended up cheating on her with her best friend. It’s one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made in my life. She was over me though and I think I’m over her.

We pulled up to the spot and Tim parked the car. Westmere was just about the only bar downtown that didn’t iD. So basically, my whole school was here on a Thursday night, I mean it is thirsty Thursday.

My brother walked in first and some girl pulled him in her direction. Typical. He was on the basketball team so he had hoes for days. Ant went over to the bar and me and Tim went to sit down. The both of us always liked people watching before we got comfortable. That’s when my eyes met hers. What the hell was she doing here. I stood up ignoring Tim’s questions about where I was going and walked over to her.

“Hello Quinton” she said when I reached her.

“Briana, what are you doing here?” I asked confused. She didn’t even apply to Crest so what was she doing in San Francisco.

“Relax, I’m just visiting a friend, I go to school in Oakland remember” she said.

“Yeah I remember” I responded looking her up and down.

“You look good” I said.

“Thanks.” She said smiling.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you. Nice seeing you though” I said.

“You too” she responded. I was caught off guard when she leaned in to hug me. Her scent was intoxicating. Fuck, I still missed this girl. As we were hugging I made eye contact with Melissa across the room. She looked pissed.

“See you around” I said walking away and in Mel’s direction.

“What’s up?” I asked Mel trying to give her a hug but she pushed me away.

“I thought you were done with her?” she said with her arms crossed.

“I was just saying hi, I don’t understand why you’re mad anyway. You’re NOT my girl, I already explained that to you.” I said. I didn’t care if I hurt her feelings or not.

“Really Q? so you don’t give a fuck about me at all? As much as you said you did?” she said a little loudly. People were starting to turn in our direction.

“Lower your fucking voice first of all, don’t make me embarrass you in here” I said with my jaw clenched.

“Now listen to me, I don’t want you, I never did and I never will. Matter of fact, I don’t even want to see your ass anymore.” I said.

“Q-“

“Q nothing, your thot ass ain’t even tell me you let two of my friends smash. You’re nothing to me” I shook my head. Melissa looked like she was on the verge of tears but that wasn’t my problem. She stormed off and I shrugged. I was glad to be done with that bitch. Just when I thought I was done with shit, someone tapped me on my shoulder.

“What?!” I said with an attitude before I turned around and noticed who it was. My face softened when I saw Aventer standing there. She looked sexy as hell in the yellow skirt she had on.

“first of all nigga, don’t what me” she said. I chuckled at her feistiness.

“My bad Avy” I said pulling her to me so I could hug her. She was only like 5’5 so I towered over her.

“Avy? We not on nickname basis yet Q” she said.

“I don’t care, I’m calling you Avy” I said. She rolled her eyes and turned to look at the girls that just walked up next to her. One of them was the white girl from class, one had red hair, and the other kind of looked like Avy.

“Q these are my friends Holly and Sadé and my sister Amethyst” she said introducing them.

“Nice to meet yall” I said.

“Do you come in a smaller or a larger size? You fine as fuck” Sadé said.

“Sadé!” Avy scolded nudging her.

“Bitch what, we not about to act like he not finer then some wine, so do you have a brother or what?” she asked. I chuckled.

“I do actually, he’s around here somewhere” I said.

“Good, I’ll see y’all later I’m going- what’s his name?” Sadé asked.

“Marcus”

“I’m going Marcus hunting, come on yall” she said pulling Holly and Amethyst along.

“She’s funny” I said.

“You have no idea” Aventer said chuckling.

“You want a drink?” I asked.

“Sure”

I led her over to the bar with my hand on her lower back. Every nigga in here was looking at her but I wasn’t about to let them talk to her. We sat at the bar waiting for the bartended to come over.

“So what do you want?” I asked.

“Hennessey with a lot of ice” she said. Damn, she had balls.

“Aight, can I get two hennesseys with a lot of ice” I told the bartender.

Avy reached in her purse for her money but I pulled her hand away.

“Don’t worry about that, when you with me I gotchu” I said.

“I can pay for myself” she said.

“I don’t doubt that you can but you don’t need to when I’m around” I said.

She sighed but gave into my wishes. The bartender came over and handed us our drinks.

“Thank you” I said dropping a 20.

“You look amazing” I said staring at her.

“Thanks, you don’t look too bad either” she said. I chuckled. Shorty was trying so hard to act like she didn’t want me but I could see through her front. She wanted nothing less than for me to be all up in her guts.

“So what you majoring in?” I asked trying to make some conversation.

“I’m double majoring in African studies and business with a double minor in history and sociology on the pre-law track” she said.

“Interesting” I said.

“What about you”

“I’m actually majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in chemistry” I said. She raised her eyebrows at my answer.

“Pre-med?” she asked.

“Yep, and I assume you’re going to law school?” I asked.

“Yeah, I want to change the justice system from within” she said. I nodded. She was smart and that was my favorite thing about a girl.

“This henny is hitting me quick” she said laughing.

“You a light weight?”

“I might be” she said chuckling.

“Well slow down” I laughed.

“I hope you don’t think I was stalking you today” she said as she leaned over with her hand on my knee. The music was kind of loud so I guess she wanted to make sure I could hear her but I knew for sure that the liquor was getting to her.

“Nah it’s all good, I’m glad you were unless we wouldn’t be here right now” I said. She nodded and licked over her bottom lip. It was taking everything in me to control myself. She stood up from the bar stool and placed her hands on my thighs standing between my legs.

“You wanna dance” she asked as Fever started playing.

“Yeah let’s go” I said and got up from the stool. She dragged me over to whatever spot she deemed good enough to dance in.  She started whining her waist up on me and damn a nigga was getting hard. I was a good dancer so I managed to keep up with her pace even though she switched it up every so often. She turned around abruptly and faced me. Baby girl was drunk I could see it in her face.

“You’re a pretty good dancer Q” she said as she rubbed my chest.

“Well you know, I can do a little something” I laughed. She smirked and bit her bottom lip.

“You sure that girl isn’t your girlfriend?” she asked again.

“Yeah I told you she wasn’t already, why you asking me that again” I asked annoyed.

“Because she’s over there grilling the shit out of me, you better get her before I do” she said motioning to Melissa who was over to our left. I turned to see her mugging me. I sighed and threw my head back in annoyance.

“I’ll be right back” I said.

“Mmmhmm”

“What Melissa?” I asked her once I reached her.

“Who the fuck is she?” she asked.

“That’s Aventer, what’s the problem?”

‘So you left me for that? Are you serious Q?”

“Yeah, I’m very fucking serious, look stop mugging her and leave us the fuck alone. Aight.” I said and stormed off. Melissa followed behind me and got in Aventer’s face.

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are but he’s my man” Melissa said.

“Q you better get this bitch out my face” Aventer.

“Bitch?!!!! Oh I got your bitch” Melissa said. I swear everything happened in literally one second. Melissa threw her drink on Aventer and Aventer punched her right in the face. Before I knew it Aventer was on top of Melissa beating her ass. I tried to separate them but then Mel’s friends came in joining in on the fight.The started pulling at Aventer’s hair. Somehow Aventer was managing to fight them all. The shit was kind of sexy. To make matters worse Sadé and Amethyst came over and started swinging on Mel’s friends as Holly tried to help me break them up.

“Aventer let go of her hair” I yelled at her as I held her in my arms. She still had Mel by the hair.

“Nah I’m gonna bald this bitch” she replied.

“Get the fuck off me hoe” Mel yelled from the floor.

Holly was finally able to get Avy’s hands off of Mel’s hair and I pulled Aventer outside. When we were safely out there she shoved me.

“What the fuck did I do?” I asked.

“I told you that bitch wanted you Q, I told you that was your girl, I should have never even bothered with your ass. Like I’m really out here fighting over YOU nigga.” She yelled.

“Aventer I’m sorry, I didn’t know-“

“I don’t give not a single fuck. I should have never even talked to your ass, I’m not about to go through this shit a second time” she screamed and covered her face.

“What shit?”

“Just leave me alone Quinton, just act like we never met. It’s the least you can do” she said walking away.

“FUCK” I said kicking the nearest car tire. This is not what I had planned.

“Bro what the hell happened in there?” Timothy asked coming out of the bar.

“Mel threw her drink on Aventer and they started fighting” I said.

“Nigga I told your ass not to mess this up” he said.

“Man shut the fuck up” I said shoving him back.

“Relax man, fuck wrong with you” he pushed me back.

“Alright yall” Anthony said stepping between us.

“Let’s all calm the fuck down and talk about this tomorrow. Time to go” Anthony said.

“Where’s Marcus?” I asked.

“He said he was going back with one of them hoes in there” Anthony said. I nodded and we walked over to Tim’s car. I got in the back because I didn’t want to deal with that nigga right now. Everything couldn’t have gone anymore wrong. I might have lost my chance at being with Aventer. I was not about to let it go down like this. I had to call her.

Aventer

I had been crying ever since we got back to our suite. Amethyst, Sadé, and Holly were all in my room trying to keep me company. I was surprised Holly was here since we just met but so far, she was loyal.

“Stop crying sister” Amethyst said rubbing my back. This is exactly what I went through with, him. Extra ass bitches. I can’t even begin to say how many times he cheated on me but it was a lot. More than I should have allowed. I don’t know why I thought Q would be any different.

“He’s not worth your tears” Holly said.

“It’s not just him, I have such bad luck with guys. Is it me?” I asked.

“Of course not, honestly I don’t even think you should be mad at Q” Sadé said and I looked at her like she had two heads.

“Hear me out – he told you he wanted nothing to do with that girl and he wasn’t lying. His brother was telling me and Holly all about it. I think he likes you Aventer” Sadé said.

“He doesn’t even know me” I replied.

“But he wants to” Holly said.

“Weren’t you just telling me that he’s not worth crying over” I asked her.

“Yeah but, I think you should go for it” she said and smiled.

“Sis, you can’t keep running away just because a situation reminds you of him” Amethyst said.

“I KNOW THAT!!! UGHH can you guys just leave, I’m ready to go to bed” I said frustrated. They all gave me a hug and walked out of my room. I went over to lock the door and slipped on my big t-shirt. I climbed into bed after turning out the lights and turned on my tv. I was afraid of the dark so I always slept with my tv on. Fresh Prince was on, thank God, so it helped calm my nerves. My phone started vibrating and I looked to see Q’s name on the screen. I declined the call and put my phone face down. He called again and once again I declined it. Then he sent me a text message.

Q: Avy can you answer your phone?

Q: I know you’re mad at me or hate me but I’m trying to apologize

Q: Aventer!

Q: I’m not gonna stop until you answer me.

 I sighed and laid my head back down on my pillow. Before I could doze off my phone started ringing again.

“WHAT?!” I yelled into the phone.

“Damn so that’s how you answer a nigga when he calls you” he said. My stomach sank to my ass.

“What do you want?” I gritted.

“Just checking up on you, how’s college?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“Made any friends?”

“Yep.”

“You been partying?”

“Yep.”

“Damn why you being so dry” he chuckled.

“Because I don’t want to speak to you” I said. I hated him.

“We both know that’s not true baby” he said.

“Christopher. I’m not your baby or your anything, please stop calling me” I said annoyed.

“I told you, when I’M done with you I’ll be done with you but until then I’ll call you as much as I like. You’re still mine.” he said. I hung up after he said that. Chris was hell bent on ruining my life. I couldn’t understand how he could do this to someone he sweared he loved. Tears began to roll down my cheeks just thinking about it. There was a knock at the front door but I didn’t move because I assumed someone would get it. The knocking persisted so I decided to see who it was at 2 in the morning.

“The fuck” I huffed walking to the door. I was shocked to see who was on the other side. He had changed out of his clothes and was only wearing his wife beater, basketball shorts and Gucci slides. His hair looked a little damp so I assumed he had just gotten out of the shower. His face looked sad and it almost made me feel bad, but I was still mad.

“What?” I asked trying to wipe my damp face.

“I want to apologize”

“I forgive you now bye” I said closing the door but he put his foot in the way. I sighed and walked away to my room as he followed behind. He shut and locked my door after he came in and I got comfortable in my bed again.

“Were you crying” he asked standing by my door awkwardly.

“No.” I lied before I started bawling.

“Shhh baby girl I’m so sorry, I didn’t know this was going to happen. Please believe me” he said rushing over to me and sitting on my bed.

“It-it’s not you. My ex just put me through a lot and I just have the worst luck with guys and I like you but I don’t think I can do this” I said.

“I like you too, and don’t worry about your ex, fuck that nigga. I gotchu and I promise I won’t ever put you through no shit like that ever again” he said kissing my cheek repeatedly. My crying slowed down and I sat up against the wall.

“He called me and basically said he’s going to harass me until he gets tired of it” I said.

“So block his number” he responded.

“I did, and he keeps getting it.  You don’t understand Quinton, he’ll find me, he always does and always has” I said putting my face in my hands.  Q stood up kicking off his slides and got into bed next to me. He swung his left arm around me and pulled me into his chest.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise” he said. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. A few minutes went by before I spoke.

“Sorry for soaking your wife beater” I said.

“It’s fine” he chuckled. He tapped me so that I would move off of him and then he proceeded to remove his wife beater. His body was amazing. I had to stop myself from staring but I was already caught.

“All this could be yours” he smirked leaning back down. I scoffed.

“As if I want it” I lied. I was lying through my damn teeth, I wanted him so bad.

“Whatever you say” he said and wrapped his arm around me as he turned on his side. I turned so that my back was to his chest and my ass was basically rubbing on his dick.

“Put that thing away” I said laughing.

“Can I put it away in you?” he said slyly. My face started burning and if he could see me he’d see how red I was.

“Good night” he said and then kissed the back of my neck setting off water works in my panties. Keep it together Avy, this one is going to have to work for it.

[dazzledbybooks]

A crucial, genre-bending tale, equal parts Ned Vizzini and Patrick Ness, about the life-saving power of friendship. Solomon and Ash both experienced a traumatic event when they were twelve. Ash lost all memory of that event when she fell from Solomon’s treehouse. Since then, Solomon has retreated further and further into a world he seems to have created in his own mind. One that insulates him from reality, but crawls with foes and monsters . . . in both animal and human form. As Solomon slips further into the place he calls Darkside, Ash realizes her only chance to free her best friend from his pain is to recall exactly what happened that day in his backyard and face the truth—together. Fearless and profound, Sam J. Miller’s follow up to his award-winning debut novel, The Art of Starving, spins an intimate and impactful tale that will linger with readers. Destroy All Monsters by Sam J. Miller Publisher: HarperTeen Release Date: July 2nd 2019 Genre: Young Adult, Mental Health, Contemporary Book Links: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40221926-destroy-all-monsters Amazon: https://amzn.to/2W7LfB8 B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/includes/submit.jsp?_DARGS=/cartridges/HeaderSearchBox/HeaderSearchBox.jsp iTunes: https://books.apple.com/mt/book/destroy-all-monsters/id1388063498 Bookdepository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Destroy-All-Monsters-Sam-J-Miller/9780062913937?ref=grid-view&qid=1559080245284&sr=1-4 Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Destroy_All_Monsters?id=4mVzDwAAQBAJ&hl=en Excerpt: Chapter One ASH “He’s sleeping on the front porch again,” my mom said, her voice sounding sad the way only Solomon can make it. “Do you want me to have your father talk to him this time, Ash?” I did not want that. Dad would scare the shit out of Solomon. Our front porch was probably the last safe place Solomon had, and I could never let Dad take that away from him. “I’ll go,” I said, getting out of bed even though it was 2:00 a.m. Not that the time mattered. I hadn’t been asleep. I stopped by the kitchen, fished two sodas out of the fridge. Diet Coke for me, vanilla Coke for him. I always made sure we had vanilla Cokes cold and ready. When I stepped out onto the porch, I was almost ashamed to wake him. There was a cold edge to the night, and he was wearing a tank top and what looked like boxer shorts. He seemed so small, in spite of the bulk of his biceps. The sturdiness of his shoulders. Another reason I didn’t want to disturb him: he was smiling. I only ever saw him smile when he was asleep. Someone at Solomon’s aunt’s house—or was it his mother’s friend Sioux he was staying with these days?—might have been wondering where he was. Might have been worried about him. But that was a big, unlikely “might.” If Solomon had anyone else who cared what happened to him, he probably wouldn’t have been sleeping on my porch in October in the first place. “Hey,” I said, sitting down on the porch swing. I noticed he was curled up just right to leave enough space for me to sit. He mumbled something, curled up tighter. I grabbed one of his feet and squeezed it. “Ash, hey,” he said, like it was nothing, like this was totally normal. The night smelled like rain and smoke and a little bit of skunk. “Everything okay?” He didn’t answer me right away, and I knew he was weighing his words. Wondering how much to tell me. The stories he told—they were part of why everyone was afraid of him. Crazy stuff he didn’t seem to understand was crazy. A city full of monsters and magic and vicious police officers. And dinosaurs. With Solomon it was always dinosaurs. But he didn’t talk about any of that. Not this time. He sat up, rubbed his eyes. “Skunk,” he said, wrinkling his nose, and all of a sudden he’s a little boy and we’re ten years old and the world is so big and full of wonderful, terrible things. I put my arm around his shoulder and he leaned into me so fast and gratefully that it made my throat hurt. “You’re okay,” I said. “We’re okay.” “We’re not,” he whispered. I knew he was right, so I didn’t say anything. His breathing slowed down. Solomon was safe, now. We were both safe, so long as we stayed there. Stayed still. Every awful thing was asleep. The night protected us, a deep black star-studded security blanket. I gave him his soda and he guzzled it greedily. Anything could happen once he stepped down off my porch. Returned to the real world with all its terrors and uncertainties. But in that moment, we had each other. “You’ll be up all night if you drink that,” he said, taking the Diet Coke away from me when I popped the top. “That was already the way things were going.” His eyes were huge, and wouldn’t move away from mine. I tried not to look into them, but they were unrelenting. “Why?” I started to say, It’s the meds, but decided against it. The last thing Solomon needed was another reason to be afraid of medication. I’d gotten on antidepressants three weeks before. They were just starting to take effect. And they worked . . . mostly. The ground I walked on was feeling less and less like thin ice that might crack open at any moment and plunge me into the dark freezing water where I’d sink like a stone. Any side effects seemed slight when compared to that. “It’s this photo project,” I said hastily. “It’s a ton of work.” “What’s it going to be about?” “That’s the work. Figuring out exactly what I want to focus on.” Then I said, “Connor was asking about you.” Solomon stiffened. Sat up. “You two are still a . . . thing?” “You sound like him,” I said. “Always wanting to put a label on it.” “But you still see him. Still hook up.” “Yeah,” I said. “Is that a problem?” “Of course not,” he said, leaning forward, holding his head in his hands. So, yeah, This Was Very Definitely a Problem. I didn’t know what his deal was with Connor. Less than a year younger than us, he’d always been Solomon’s adoring little stepbrother. If something went wrong between them, I couldn’t imagine what it was. “I should go,” Solomon groaned. “Don’t,” I said. “Sleep here tonight. You can crash on my floor.” “Your father would murder us both.” “Not both,” I said. “Probably just you.” “Very comforting.” “Hey, is everything okay?” I asked. “Why’d you come here tonight?” He rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know. It seemed important at the time. Had to tell you something. Warn you. I don’t remember what about.” “Ah,” I said. “Well. You can message me, if you remember.” Solomon nodded. His face looked like it was about to crack open. I wondered: What was it like, losing your mind? Being unable to tell the difference between dreams and the waking world? Not knowing what’s real and what’s not? “Later, Ash,” he said eventually, standing up. Which is when I noticed he had no shoes. Six-foot-plus, muscular like most guys wish they could be, and he’d always look like a helpless little boy to me. I watched him lope off, into the darkness. The smell of smoke was stronger now. The cold weather was upon us. Summer was officially over, and I should have been in bed. I stayed on the porch until my soda was finished, and then headed inside to browse through 150 years’ worth of photography on the internet until sleep snuck up on me. *** Chapter Two SOLOMON I shouldn’t have gotten involved. They were police officers, and there were three of them, and they were in a bad mood. It was a cold night, and the streets smelled like a hundred different kinds of smoke. Burning plastic, wood, paper, garbage—all the things people were lighting up to keep warm. Summer was officially over, and I should have been in bed. My stomach grumbled. I wanted to eat a piece of apple pie and fall asleep for the next several days. I didn’t want to save anybody. And chances were pretty good the cops just wanted to scare the old woman pushing the shopping cart. She had a velociraptor on a leash. I wondered if they’d hassled her for its license. Dirty cops harassing othersiders was nothing new; it happened a thousand times a day in Darkside. But once in a while they picked on the wrong person or pushed someone too far, someone who wasn’t shy about summoning up fire or ice shards—which meant the cops were legally within their rights to respond with deadly force. Which, I suspected, was what they wanted in the first place. But the old lady’s face was kindly. So I did the dumb thing. I started trouble. “Come on, girl,” I said, kicking gently at Maraud’s sides. My allosaurus flexed her nostrils, which is how she smiles. She doesn’t like bullies any more than I do. Her claws opened and closed and she stepped out of the alley and into the street. “Hey. Leave her alone,” I called. They looked up at me. Astride Maraud—her mouth open and dripping hot, hungry saliva—I must have been an imposing sight. For a split second, they were afraid. Then they remembered their guns, their power, the city that supported their abuse, and the fear melted away. “What’s it to you?” said one of them. The woman pushed her shopping cart off and hurried down the street, turning only once to mouth Thank you at me. Her velociraptor, scuttling beside her, made a guttural noise that Maraud echoed back. I didn’t have a good answer for him. So I did what I tend to do in stressful situations: I took a picture. It’s an instinct. If you stop to think, you’ll miss the shot. And since selling a photo to the Clarion often meant the difference between eating and starving, I tended to take the shot. Problem is, cops hate having their pictures taken. “Hands up!” they hollered. My hands went up. “Drop it!” they said. “It’s not a weapon!” I called, bending my knees, holding up the camera. “It’ll break if I drop it, and I can’t afford to replace it. So I’m going to put it down very slowly, okay?” “I said drop it, you—” And they called me a whole bunch of superhorrific names. Fine. It gave me time to set the camera gently on the ground the instant before they walked up and punched me in the stomach. And kept on doing so, until I fell to the ground beside my camera. “Somebody needs to learn to mind their own damn business,” the shortest cop said, picking up my camera. He inspected it, deciding it probably wasn’t a weapon after all. He held it out to me, but when I reached for it, he pulled it back and let it drop. Something cracked. I bit my lip to keep from exploding with a string of curses. Maraud huffed and stamped her foot, sharing my anger. “What’s your ability, punk? You a watersider? You have something to do with that robbery last week, down by the docks?” There was no use trying to deny that I was an othersider. Nobody else would be walking around this part of town at night . . . with an allosaurus. It’s why they call us monsters, because we’re not afraid of the creatures that walk the streets of the city. “I don’t know what my ability is,” I mumbled. Lady cop laughed. “You expect us to believe that?” “I don’t expect anything from the fine upstanding police officers of Darkside,” I said. “Not when law-abiding othersiders get jumped every day by goons, and you never do a damn thing about it. Not when those attacks are on the rise and y’all never seem to notice.” Unfazed by my attitude, dude cop continued, “We run your name, we gonna find anything? Prior offenses, associations with illegal organizations?” “I don’t have any current offenses,” I said. “Let alone priors. I’m not doing anything wrong. I just don’t think it’s right for you to harass helpless old women.” “This punk,” the lady cop said, and came at me fast. “Shit,” I whispered, closing my eyes and bracing myself for the inevitable assault. Instead, an explosion rocked the street. I opened my eyes to see two of the cops running down the street. One was on his radio. Flames swirled up from a scorched hole in the side of a building around the corner. “What about this guy?” asked the woman, lingering with her hand in the air in front of me, like she was aching to get in one last punch. “Don’t be an idiot,” short cop said. Then they were gone. I breathed a sigh of relief. Exhaustion washed over me. I needed to be in bed beneath the bridge. “You’re welcome,” called a voice from a doorway across the street. I squinted into the shadows. “Who’s there?” He strolled into the street with a smile on his face and his hands full of lightning. A single bolt spun in a beautiful sphere, dozens of strands of it intricately coiled together. It was beautiful—almost as perfect as his face, which looked like summer even though summer was gone. “Hi, Niv,” I said. “I take it that’s your handiwork burning a hole in that building over there?” “Hey, Solomon. You looked like you could use a bit of help.” “Thanks,” I said. He clasped his hands together and the lightning shrank down to nothing. I felt so happy to see him, and I hated how happy I felt. Niv was the personal bodyguard for my best friend, Ash. Yes, that Ash—the Refugee Princess, living in hiding in the very same city where her mother was queen. Niv’s job was to move her from safe house to safe house. Because Ash was an othersider, and the queen’s advisers assured her that if the bigoted citizens of Darkside ever found out that her daughter was part of that hated and feared community of so-called criminals and parasites, there’d be a full-scale uprising. So Ash and Niv were on the run, in the city she’d rule one day. If she lived long enough—and the city didn’t tear itself apart before then. “Cops have been getting even crazier lately,” he said. He smelled like burning sage—a clear, cleansing smell. I’ve never trusted him. I don’t know why. Maybe because he’s so beautiful? Pretty people can’t be relied upon. They have too many options. “Can’t you talk to her mother about that?” I asked. “You know as well as I do that the police are a law unto themselves. They don’t even listen to the queen.” “She could fire the commissioner, hire somebody who isn’t such a bigot.” Niv laughed. “You think she’s in a hurry to trigger a coup? They’d take her out in a second if they thought she was trying to change the way they do things.” “I guess,” I said begrudgingly. Cass, the editor in chief at the Clarion, Darkside’s scrappy opposition paper, had said the same thing to me not so long ago. “How’s Ash?” “She’s . . . the same.” I winced, remembering Ash staring out the window at the snow, not even seeing it. Playing our favorite songs for her and seeing that she felt nothing. “Can’t the doctors . . .” “She’s seen dozens of them, and they all say the same thing. The only way to bring her out of this . . . whatever it is . . . is to lift the spell the court sorcerers put on her.” “Shit,” I said. We both knew her mother would never allow that. The spell kept Ash’s powers in check, buried them deep. Since the age of twelve, Ash had been childlike on the best of days, and semicatatonic on the others. “She’s fighting it. Wherever she is in there, she’s working hard to break the spell. That’s why they have to keep making it stronger. She’s nobody’s victim.” “Of course she’s not.” “Come see her,” Niv said, and named an address in Raptor Heights. A rough-and-tumble working-class neighborhood where lots of othersiders could afford to live, because its bad reputation kept the rents down. “Should you be telling me that?” I asked. “Isn’t her location supposed to be a huge secret?” He looked hurt, and I didn’t feel bad about it. Protecting Ash was my primary purpose in life. This pretty boy I’d been crushing on since I was ten didn’t matter, in the grand scheme. “She loves you, Solomon. There’s no secrets from you.” “But if you’d tell me, who else would you tell?” Niv frowned, and his face flashed red. “Good to see you, Maraud,” he said, patting her side. She blinked slowly, in happiness. Then he turned and left. Maraud took two steps to follow him. When I pressed my hand to her neck to stop her, she turned to look at me in confusion. “Sorry, girl,” I said, climbing on board. “Let’s head for the bridge.” As we went, she kept trying to turn. Still following Niv’s scent—and Ash’s, on him. “Ash is going to be okay,” I said, knowing she could hear the lie in my voice. “We’re all going to be okay.” A ship’s horn sounded in the distance, low and lonesome, arriving from the Spice Islands. We hurried home through streets that stunk of cinnamon. About the Author: Sam J. Miller is the Nebula-Award-winning author of The Art of Starving (HarperTeen), one of NPR's Best Books of 2017. His second novel, Blackfish City (Ecco Press/USA; Orbit/UK) was a "Must Read" according to Entertainment Weekly and O: The Oprah Magazine, and one of the best books of 2018 according to the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and more. Joan Rivers once asked him if he was gay (HE IS!). He got married in a guerrilla wedding in the shadow of a tyrannosaurus skeleton. He lives in New York City. Author Links: Website: http://samjmiller.com/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4648324.Sam_J_Miller Twitter: https://twitter.com/sentencebender Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sam.j.miller/ Tumblr: https://sentencebender.tumblr.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sentencebender/ Tour Schedule: July 2nd The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club - Welcome Post July 3rd BookCrushin - Interview The Reading Life - Promotional Post July 4th Pages Below the Vaulted Sky  - Interview Snark and Squee - Review + Favourite Quotes July 5th The YA Obsessed - Review Dazzled By Books - Promotional Post July 6th Frayed Books - Review Confessions of a YA Reader - Promotional Post July 7th Belle's Archive - Review + Favourite Quotes A Dream Within A Dream - Promotional Post July 8th Port Jericho - Review Mangeuse de Livres - Review Bemused Bibliophile - Review

http://www.dazzledbybooks.com/2019/07/destroyallmonstersblogtour.html

[batchaoticcollectionnight-blog]

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

"progressive auto insurance quotes florida

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

BEST ANSWER:  Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freeautoinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr 

RELATED QUESTIONS: 

How much will my car insurance cost?

So im 18 years old . soon im going to drive a 1999 Mitsubishi eclipse gst ( automatic ) I have only been pull over when I was 17 years old for no driver license or permit, driving with no insurance, and blasting loud music, and I did paid the ticket on time too witch was 340$ so I was wondering can I still get a permit or driver license? Because some people said that I can't take it till im 21. Also some people say that i'll have to pay like around 400$ per month for insurance. is that really true?""

I got pulled over with no car insurance how much will the fine be?

im a california driver and i feel that the cop gave me a chance he let me drive away with my car even though my car was not insured and is unregistered and my licence/id was expired .my licence is still good but my id is expired so how much will the fine be for no insurance and did the cop really give me a break or what???

Any suggestions on first time driver insurance in the nyc area?

I need suggestions on good affordable insurance, keep in mind Im a first time driver.""

Is the new ford mustang a good 16 yr old car?

I'm either preferring that or a Chevy Avalanche. Which would be safer/better performance?

If i have no car do i have to pay insurance?

if i have my liscence but no car, but i drive my parents car do i still have to pay insurance""

Good Driver Insurance Discount?

Okay, so this is the deal. I have a 3.3 G.P.A. Not bad, right? Well, for one of my classes I actually have an F in for ONE of my Spring 2011 classes. Although I can get the discount, my parents keep hounding me for my transcript and I don't want them to see that F or I'm screwed. Can I still get the discount if I send the car insurance company my trancript from the previous semesters and not my most recent one?""

Ticket for no license and no insurance?

I'm 17 and I got a ticket for not having a license or permit, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and no insurance in California. How deep will this ticket dig into my pockets? Over $500? Big thanks if you can help me out.""

Should I get a new health insurance plan?

Hi there, I'm a 26 y\o male living in california. I just came off my family's kaiser health plan in April and have started paying for cobra to stay on it. As of today it's $670 a month. I know very little about buying health insurance, but I'm wondering if I can get a better deal with an individual plan. My only worry is being turned down for per-existing conditions. I have an anxiety disorder which requires medication and have had 2 eye surgeries for retinal problems. I know very little about the health insurance market other than that insurers having little compassion for the gouge they put on people. Is this a fair price? Or would it be better to look for a different insurer? Also, what is a deductible and how do they work? thanks""

Does homeowners insurance work like my car insurance?

example: I bought my car for a grand and if I get into an accident the insurance will only cover what I paid for the car and not what I've invested into the car since I bought it... say I buy a house that's a bank foreclosure and get it for $10,000 but its worth $80,000 now if the house were to get hit by a sunami earth quake and then burn to bits would I only be re-embursed for the $10,000 like my car insurance or would I be covered for the full value due to size and destruction ect.????""

How long on workers comp can you keep you health insurance from your work?

i mean like for things not related to my work injury? how long do they have to keep my job for me?

Range Rover Sport Car Insurcnce... Is 6k too much?

My mum and dad's combined cost of car insurance on their Range rover sport HSE TDV6 (2.7litre) is around 1200. My dad rang up his insurance broker to get a quote on putting me as a named driver, and we got a quote of a total of about 6,000 per year. I know this is a lot of money, however the insurance company says this is because the car is in bracket 19. I was led to believe by my Land Rover dealer that the TDV6 model was in group 14/15, where it was the Supercharged 4.4litre model which was in group 18/19. Is this quote too much for the model car specified? Given i am 20 years old, having held my lisence for around 3 years with no motoring convictions against my name, and having also been a named driver for the best part of 3 years on a Ford Focus. Is it about right? Or is it slightly higher than one would expect for the car. Many Thanks""

""How much does tornado insurance cost? (to cover only my house, but not what is inside the house)?""

i have car insurance right now with allstate where i pay 50 $ every month, how much would it be if i add tornado insurance to cover only my house but not what is inside the house? I know you dont know, but i just want you to tell me approximatley how much please.""

What do I have to do to get a motorbike license?

I already have my drivers license, and I am 17. Also, is buying a motorcycle + insurance cheaper than buying a car+insurance? My parents are unwilling to pay for me.""

Having difficulty cancelling auto insurance with allstate?

I switched from Allstate to Geico on Feb 21st (a Sunday). I called my local Allstate guy on Monday the 22nd. He said he'd cancel the policy, and I logged into my Allstate account online on the 27th and it still wasn't cancelled. I called their 24 hour customer service and spoke with someone who said they'd put in the request to cancel the policy again. I log into my bank today and they WITHDREW my March payment! So I called them again and they said the policy was still active. The lady I spoke with tonight said they will need to see proof that I'm with Geico now. Why didn't anyone tell me that the first two times? What do I need to do to get my policy to be cancelled? I've been with a few other auto insurance companies in my day and I've NEVER had this much of an issue getting the policy cancelled! As of now they owe me well over $200 and I'm afraid they're going to play games with me before I get my money back. What are my rights and options??""

How old do you have to be to get car insurance?

what are the requirements to obtain car insurance in california do you need to be 18 and older??

Can I insure a Car under My Insurance if I am not on the title?

I just bought a used car and had my fiance's mother finance it under her name because she got me a 7% APR which is really good compared to what I would have gotten. The finance guy at the dealership said to just have the car under her name to get that great rate and leave me off the loan completely. I will be making the payments, driving it, & insuring it. She is just the person who's name is on the title (so I could get that great APR rate) Now, I was just wondering, can I insure the vehicle under my policy even though my name is not on the title? I am kind of worried that my insurance company will not let me insure the car because my name is not on the title. Does anyone have any experiences or knowledge about this sort of thing? Thank you for your help""

How much will my insurance go up?

I live in Maine, I was pulled over yesterday for doing 74 in a 65. I got a ticket obviously. It's my first one EVER. I am 24 and my parents pay my car insurance. I wanted to just pay it and not tell them about it because they will get mad. We have our car insurance through State Farm and have for a really long time. Some of my friends are telling me that since it's my first ever ticket it shouldn't effect my insurance too much. Is this true???""

""I'm pregnant, without insurance, and desperate, HELP!?""

Just this Monday I found out I was pregnant. Two Clear Blue PREGNANT's, and I was bawling in the Target bathroom. I all ready have two children, both of which are on ALL Kids because my husband didn't want to keep our health insurance last year due to the rising costs (like, it kept going up $100/year, and towards the end, we were paying $500/month). So now I'm pregnant, no health insurance, and pretty much stressing out over it. I will apply for SOBRA Medicaid (something I found on Alabama's Department of Health site) after my doctor's appointment next Wednesday, but if they don't accept me, then I don't know what else to do. Giving my baby away is not an option, neither is abortion. I will love this baby no matter what happens. I just need some reassurance or something to keep myself from stressing out and crying all the time over worrying about money. I totally got screwed over by something called Direct Med and will be calling them tomorrow to try to get my money back. I did that out of desperation and plain stupidity. A little help, please?""

What kind of life insurance should my husband get?

We are looking to get a life insurance policy for my 25 year old husband. We have three young children so we're trying to figure out what would best provide for the family if God forbid something were to happen to him.

How much is Motorcycle insurance in TORONTO?

I'm a 28 year old male with an M1. I'm looking to purchase a bike like a 2000 GSX600-R and i was wondering how much insurance would be a month. If you are not from TORONTO, ONTARIO please don't bother replying because the prices in Toronto are usually outrageous so if you're from somewhere else, don't bother, i'm glad you get such good rates ;) also i have rode before many times, so no comments about a 600 being too big... i grew up on dirt bikes... thanks""

What to do about insurance?

Is there any way to find insurance that covers a pregnancy? (after you have been pregnant) Even if it is a pre-existing condition, is there an extra amount of money we can pay? I have been using my college's insurance plan for the past 2 years. It is now summer and I no longer have insurance. Unfortunatey my due date is before the fall semester starts so I can't renew it until after the baby is delivered. We thought I would be able to just get onto my husbands plan but they wont cover the insurance AT ALL because he signed some waver years ago (before we were married) saying if he were to get married the insurance doesn't have to cover his wife. (It didn't bother him at the time since he didn't know he would be getting married... he has had the same insurance for nearly 5 years now and he forgot all about it) What should we do? I don't mind finding an insurnace that makes me pay a high premium so they would cover my pregnancy. I just don't know how insurance works!""

Is the high cost of health care and insurance the result of...??

malpractice suits or profiteering on the part of HMO's and insurance companies?

No Proof of Car Insurance?

I got a ticket for no proof of insurance, I forgot to pay it, now I must see the judge, I didn't have insurance, yes very very dumb, I know, my question is..will I just be fined or is there jail time involved. I imagine there will be just a heavy penality in fines""

Car insurance question?

okay my boyfriend just got his drivers license today..he doesnt have a car yet and he wants to be able to drive my grandmas car to work whenever he can but she says he cant because hes not on her insurance. Does it matter whether or not hes on her insurance? what could happen?

How much is car insurance for a 17 yr old girl with her own car in Ireland?

How much is car insurance for a 17 yr old girl with her own car in Ireland?

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

Do auto insurance companies actually confirm the info you provide for the quote?

After requesting a quote online, you anto insurance companies actually confirm that all the info u gave are true? For example; moving violations, actual address? Does the DMV verify this info?""

How much would insurence cost for a small car detailing business?

i have 2 do a project for school about creating our own business and i need 2 know how much insurance would cost for my car detailing business.

Where is the best place to buy cheaper home insurance for the over 50s?

Where is the best place to buy cheaper home insurance for the over 50s?

Is it legal for some1 with an International driver license to drive an insured car in California?

The car is mine and the car is insured under my name only. Will my cousin get in trouble if she drives my insured car even though her name is not included in the auto insurance policy? Or will it be okay?

What does liability insurance give you?

I recently crashed my car and it is as of now being determined to be my fault. My dad pays for the insurance so I am not sure what we get under liability. We are with Farmers Insurance and I was just wondering what usually happens here. Do they give me anything if they determine I'm at fault? Does anyone have this insurance coverage with farmers? If so, can you please tell me what you get under it?""

Car insurance estimate for a 2006 BMW 325i for a 17 year old guy?

My mom is being stubborn about getting a quote because she wants to wait until i'm 18, but i don't. I live in Louisiana if that helps. Thanks a lot.""

Can I drive my car without insurance ?

Okay, so I've had my Chevy taho 1 year, i just canceled my insurance cause I'm about to sell it I'm living in California moving to Colorado so I'm gonna sell my car...I know in cali Seller must smog the car a 2nd time, but am i taking a risk driving it to go get it smoged? also.... i have not driven it cause I planned on selling it so it's also not renewed.... and to make matters worse I lost my tile, positive honest answers please =(""

Can someone who smokes marijuana get affordable life insurance?

Can someone who smokes marijuana get affordable life insurance?

How much would it cost to insure a Smart Roadster for a 17 year old first time driver?

I have been looking into insurance for a Smart Roadster and the sites I have used, either gave me a quote for 15k+ a year or couldn't even find the model. Is insurance for this little car really so expensive. I'll be 17 soon, still in full time education, have a part time job, the car would be on a private driveway overnight, at a secure public car park during the day while I'm at work at an industrial unit, standard model no modifications, no criminal convictions or medical conditions. I live in Colchester, Essex.""

What is the most affordable car insurance in Boise /Idaho?

What is the most affordable car insurance in Boise /Idaho?

Insurance is up in 4 days I just made a claim. Can I still switch insurance companies?

Insurance is up in 4 days I just made a claim. Can I still switch insurance companies?

Best Health Insurance Quote for uk?

Can you Suggest me Good Place where I can get Quote to Life Insurance?

I want to take a used car home from the dealer but I have no car insurance or insurance card...?

What do I have to do to make this possible? I'm trying to take this used car home for the night and drive it around but I have no insurance card.... I have a license..but no car insurance and all the salesman is asking is for my insurance card. What do I need to do to get around this?

My car insurance company is screwing me over?

I was just recently in a car accident. my front end recieved some harsh damage. The hood was folded towards the windshield, transmitiion was busted, the front lights were busted and the front frame was pushed back to where i could not get my front doors open. My insurance company is saying that it is a complete loss. However the garage where i took it to said that it was fixable. My car is a 2001 neon. They want to take the car and probably give me 2000 dollars for it, and they wll fix it and sell it for more. My question is should i just hand it over to my insurance company and take the 2000 dollars? or does anyone have any suggestions?""

Car insurance advice needed?

My nephew passed his driving test yesterday and has a P reg Volkswagon Polo for his first car. I've seen adverts on the tele for Direct Line car insurance and they aren't on comparison websites, does anybody know if they are averagely cheaper or not? Are there any other companies that don't appear on comparison websites? Thanks.""

What does it mean Going of your parents car insurance? ?

I heard that you can register the car to my parents car insurance and it will be loads cheaper for myself, but its apparently fraud? What could happen? If I crash my car should I just leave it and run?""

How do Americans with serious chronic medical conditions get medical insurance that covers all med. expenses?

How do Americans with serious chronic medical conditions get medical insurance that covers all med. expenses?

Will a reckless driving ticket affect an insurance premium in Georgia?

My husband recently went through a road block after leaving work (playing music in a bar.) He was honest and said he'd been drinking, even though he waited for a while and had not had that much to drink. He blew .07 over the legal limit. He went to jail for 14 hours. We paid a lot of money and got the charge dropped to reckless driving. This was six months ago and our insurance premium has only gone down (good grades and homeowner's insurance with same company.) We are afraid to ask the insurance company for fear that they might not know. 1. Will that info get sent to them automatically? 2. Is there danger that our bill will go up if we speak to them about it? 3. What percentage might the bill go up once they do find out? We are looking to buy a new car soon, so we can't avoid speaking to the insurance company about it forever!""

""I need Health Insurance, had Gastric Bypass, On unemployment.... Help?""

I had Gastric Bypass in May of this year. I am on unemployment and wanted to pay out of pocket for insurance because I have had complications. I applied but was denied because of the surgery in the past. I have searched for a job and nothing. Ive been with my Boyfriend for the past 4 months, but his insurance says something about domestic partnership but only after 12 months of living together. How can I get around this, I need health insurance. Anyone else have the same issues? Let me know I am confused here.""

""On average, how much would motorcycle insurance be for a 16 year old?""

I am 16, i will be 17 when i get my bike. Im pretty sure it is going to be a Kawasaki Ninja 250. Could anyone tell me about how much it would be to insure it. I live in Pennsylvania.""

What do you pay for car insurance? per MONTH?

How old are you and what do you drive? How much would insurance for a brand new 16 y/o driver typically cost? just an estimate? thank you.

Need suggestion for health insurance?

Living in CA. Just want to get individual health insurance in case of any expensive treatments like surgery, hospitalization...so the insurance can have high deductible... In this case, should I consider supplemental insurance like AFLAC?""

How much is insurance for a girl (18) coming up to 19 on a peugeout 106?

how much is insurance for a girl of the age 18/19 on a peugeout 106 roughly?

1 Day Car Insurance?

Does anyone know of companies that offer one day car insurance for 20yr old they all seem to be 25 and over why is that.....

If I borrow my friend's car for a day...? insurance?

I need to borrow my friend's car for a day. I'm wondering about the insurance since my name isn't on there and borrowing it for a day. What happens if i get into a car accident??

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

Does anyone have car insurance through Wawanesa Insurance?

http://www.wawanesa.com/ I got a quote that is very, very good!! Looking for any feedback, good or bad. Thanks Note: Currently it is only available in California and Oregon (And Canada)""

What is a cheap car insurance company in New Jersey?

I am only 20 yrs old.

Shouldn't Pres. Obama step up to the plate and tell them he just wants affordable insurance for all now?

Tell em to screw the lobbyists, so what if the health care lobbyists payed the House and Senate members over $500 million last year, I mean donated that much to them. They will have to wait, but people are dying now..""

Life Insurance for a Thai citizen?

I'm trying to find insurance companies that provide whole or term life insurance to Thai citizens living in Thailand that provide quotes on the internet, or easily through email or online forms. At the very least, I'm looking for insurance company recommendations for Thai citizens living in Thailand. I'm not sure which ones are legitimate. I don't want to deal with one that will give the insured person problems or one that will close up shop in a few years.""

Can i get insurance to drive any car?

My current insurance gives me third party cover on any vehicle i drive with permission from the owner. Can i get full insurance? (i am thinking of setting up a business which would require me driving other peoples cars) THanks

A new car ? when does the new insurance apply?

does the new carpet needs insurance from the financial company

16 and want State Farm Auto Insurance?

I just turned 16 a couple months ago and i already have my license, and i live in Colorado. My parents have State Farm auto insurance and they want me to pay for my own insurance when i get a car. I already know that you can get a bunch of discounts for things like getting good grades and attendence and safe driving and not driving your car to school, but anyways i was wondering how much it would cost me without any discounts? Like how much would it be every month or so? I do have a job but i dont know if i would have enough to pay for car insurance. Any help is needed! thank you!!!""

""No pink slip yet, Can I insure my car in California. Also needs tags?

Ok so I bought a used G35 from a private seller but he has one more payment to pay until he gets his pink slip. We made a contract I still owe him some money until we switch it over to my name. My question is there any way to insure the car so I can drive it or should I just wait until its under my name and not drive it. Also it needs tag how should I go about that? I know the easiest way to do this is wait but I want to drive it already so if there is a possible way I'm willing to go out of my way.

""A life insurance company sells a $250,000 1-year term life insurance policy to a 20-year-old female?""

for $200. According to the National Vital Statistics Report. 56(9), the probability that the female survives the year is 0.999544. Compute and interpret the expected value of this policy to the insurance company - I also have to find the probability that the company has to pay the female Im suppose to get .000456 but don't know how to get this?""

Would car insurance be more on a newer 2-door red sports car or an older 4-door sedan BMW?

Basically, I am a 20 year old college student and I am going through the proccess of buying a car. I have some family friends helping me out. They told me I could get financed for a 2006 red 2 door sports car but I am still on my parents insurance and I don't want it to skyrocket. I will be paying for my car but I don't want to make my parents pay a ridiculous amount for my insurance. I would just like to know which one is more likely to be cheaper...""

Short-term car insurance in the US?

In the following year I'm going to have several visitors coming for just a few days and I want them to be able to use my car. I'd like to know if there are companies that offer short-term car insurance.

16 year old boy need insurance in CA?

I just got my license and I am planning to buy a toyota or a honda type of car. I want to know how much would car insurence would cost if i do get one and which company would give me a great coverage and a great deal. I need numbers and name people!!!

What is cheaper for insurance a red car or a black car?

What is cheaper for insurance a red car or a black car?

Should my auto insurance company waive my deductible?

I recently was rear-ended by an uninsured driver. My insurance company assessed the damage at $1019.04, my collision coverage has a deductible of $1000 so my insurance company closed my claim and made payment of just $19.04. As I am a California resident, my policy includes the Collision Deductible Waiver. Are my insurance company therefore liable to waive my deductible and cover the full cost of my damages? If so, what should I do next?""

Why is mandatory auto insurance to make sure other drivers can be reimbursed for my actions ok?

But mandatory insurance to make sure doctors and hospitals can be reimbursed for my healthcare is considered socialism?

False Auto Insurance Claim Against A Friend?

A very close friend of mine received a call from his auto insurer yesterday regarding a 3rd party claim against him. According to the 3rd party, my friend hit their parked car (which was parked on the curb in front of their home), then parked his own car, went up to their house, rang their doorbell and exchanged insurance information. The 3rd party claims that this took place in a town that's more than 1 hour away from where we work and live. This allegedly happened 3 months ago. There are two major problems with this story: A- The alleged incident never happened. I carpool with my friend to and from work and was with him that night. B- The 3rd party has all of his insurance information. Could the insurance company have called the wrong person (i.e. gotten policy numbers mixed-up while processing the claim)? If not, how could a 3rd party have his insurance information? How common are fraudulent insurance claims (against another person)? And has anything similar happened to you or someone you know? My friend is a little worried because there is some minor damage to his rear bumper. We live in a major city and pretty much every 3rd car has nicks and scratches along the bumper from parking garage 'mysteries' and whatnot. Also, about 8 months ago, a young woman rear-ended us while we stationary, waiting to turn left at an intersection. Other than a scratch to his rear bumper caused by her license plate bolt, there was no cosmetic damage, and while we exchanged insurance information, my friend decided not to file a claim (she was very nice and didn't look as though she had a lot of money). I'd hate to think that it's her trying to commit fraud against him...""

What good car insurance?

I'm looking for a car insurance . I try to look fo a company that doesn't try to kill me with in payment. I live in new york city. Does anybody out there know a car insurance ...show more

Can health insurance coverage be dropped for a single department in a company? (Pennsylvania)?

I currently live in PA and my employer has said they will drop health insurance for my department, but not another department in the same company. I did some research online to see if this is possible or not. I originally started this job with guaranteed benefits and now they are being taken away. I was reading somewhere online (unsure of credibility, website is as follows:http://employee-benefits.lawyers.com/Employee-Benefits/Employer-Workplace-Benefits-FAQs.html) that a company cannot take away a certain departments health benefits and retain another departments. Below is the Q&A question from the stated website above: Q: Is my employer required to provide health benefits? A: Employers are generally not required to provide any health benefits. Only the state of Hawaii requires employers in the private sector to cover employees who work over 20 hours per week. Union contracts may include provisions for insurance as part of the agreement. However, health care and other benefits such as life or disability insurance are generally offered by employer as a means of attracting and keeping their workforce. If an employer does provide health coverage, federal law requires the employer to provide Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) to an employee who loses her job for any reason outside of gross misconduct the opportunity to maintain coverage up to 18 months at her own expense. This applies to companies with 20 or more employees. Some states also have laws with similar protections for employees who work for companies with less than 20 employees. Generally, it's not illegal to provide health benefits only to some classes of employees (for example, only to full-time employees but not to part-time employees). But once the eligible classes are established, an employer cannot withhold insurance from some members of the class while offering it to others. The employer can require employees to follow the rules of the plan, which may require an employee to fulfill a waiting period or wait for an open enrollment period before joining. An employer can usually change, or even eliminate, a health plan, but must follow the rules and guidelines of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). I understand they cannot choose and select who receives and who does not (I interpreted this as discriminating between employees). I do not know health legislature very well, and if anyone could provide some information it would be very appreciated. As for me, I am going to try and find more information out about this. Thank you.""

How do insurance companies verify the adress you use for your car insurance is your actual adress?

I want to get my car insurance in a different state see how do car insurance companies know that the address and provide is where I live. And if I get caught what is the penalty

Made a mistake on previous car insurance?

I'm worried about changing insurance companies as I forgot to tell previous insuraure about 3 points I have. What will the new insurance company say about the situation? Should I ring my old insurance company and explain? But the insurance has expired thanks

No fault coverage of automobile insurance in California?

What is no-fault coverage? When you get in an accident, how it works? I don't know and understand the term.""

About how much would the insurance cost on a 2010 Mercedes Benz C300?

BTW I'M 16 YEARS OLD. Big factor, I know. I know I don't deserv it, I'm too young, yeah, I know. But I don't want any of those answers. Just please answer my question with no complaining about how you didn't get a nice car when you were 16. I just want an estimate. Thanks!""

Car/insurance sixteen yo?

I'm sixteen and I'm thinking about this car: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=296014776&dealer_id=100012676&car_year=2002&systime=&doors=&model=&search_lang=en&start_year=1981&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&scarid=296515424&highlightFirstMakeModel=&search_type=both&distance=25&min_price=&rdm=1303705998432&drive=&marketZipError=false&advanced=&fuel=&keywords_display=&lastBeginningStartYear=1981&end_year=2012&showZipError=y&make2=&certified=&engine=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&body_code=0&transmission=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&color=&address=72076&sort_type=priceDESC&max_price=&awsp=false&make=AUDI&seller_type=b&num_records=25&cardist=22&standard=false How much do you think it would cost a month for insurance? I'll have a job and my parents have offered to pay a lil each month and help me out. Sorry, I'm completely new to all this and I just need a ballpark estimate.""

I need cheap car insurance in New York City?

I need cheap (FULL) coverage for a financed vehicle in the NEw York Area...I've tried the popular sites...any leads?

Car insurance company discriminate against me because I was not born in the UK?

I had a quote for car insurance through a well-known national company. They were aware I had a UK licence for 5 years and had no convictions, claims etc. I rang and spoke to a representative and she confirmed the quote. The following day I decided to accept and called them. We went through my information and the agent said, so you were born in the UK? I said no, I am a UK citizen but I was born abroad. The quote then went up by 200 !!!! I took issue and spoke to a manger who said this was legitimate when I told him I was certain it was illegal since the only information that had changed was my place of birth, he eventually said he would honour the original quote. I then bought the policy with a one-off payment. Insurance is a racket and I don't think they should be alllowed to get by with this. Does anyone know anything about this and what can be done next to make sure it doesn't happen to other people?""

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

Can I take out a separate insurance policy on my parents car?

My parents use Direct line as their insurance provider on their car. I looked into how much the insurance would be for me (an 18 year old female) once I pass my test which worked out quite expensive. However I looked at a few other providers and found some cheaper quotes for myself. As my parents are with Direct line can I have my own insurance with another provider for the same car? (If that makes sense) Thanks in advance.

What's the average cost of health AND dental insurance per month for.....?

....a 44 year old man. I am a non-smoker, and in good shape. I have no medical conditions, now or ever.""

Is Progressive Auto Insurance a good company?

I have several insurance quotes from State Farm and Allstate, and Progressive beats the price by almost half. But, when something looks to good to be true, it probably is. Is this good insurance? Are they good with claims?""

Can I drive my parents car without Insurance?

So I live in MA and I was wondering if I will get into trouble if I drive my parents car (which is insured under my dads name) when I am home for the Thanksgiving break (my name is not on my dad's insurance). Will having a written consent from my dad permitting me to drive the car help?

Affordable health insurance?

I am a 40 yr old female who lives in washington state and I have never been sick or in the hospital and never drank or smoked.I am 4ft11 and 160 lbs so I am overweight.I need help in finding some affordable health insurance.I went down today to apply for washington basic health and they told me that no more applications were being taken.Now what do I do.I cannot afford exspensive Health insurance.I only make 1,200 a month if that.I need insurance so I can get a physical witch I have never had.I haven't been to a doctor since a kid.can someone tell me if there is any good health insurance for under 100 a month that covers things like physicals and if I had a heart attack,stroke ect...please help me find a good insurance for a low price.""

Car insurance problem..help!!!?

my bf crashed my car and was trying to cover my car with his insurance they said since i gave him permission to drive that i had to cover it.. i callled my insurance they said since he was at fault that i have to cover my own car out of pocket..is there anything else i can do ...

Should the young pay the same for health insurance as the elderly?

Why or why not?

Should I buy car insurance or not?

I am a teenage driver of 16. Insurance is very high for a teenager. My parents have Allstate Car Insurance for four of their cars including a Toyota Corolla which im going to be driving. The Corolla is covered by AllState insurance. I have a California Driver's License and live in California. About 6 months ago, my mom asked the insurance company whether the insurance would cover the car if she lent the car to someone and the insurance company said that they would cover the car as soon as the person who borrowed the car has a VALID DRIVERS LICENSE. I have a valid drivers license but I am under 18 (I am 16). The insurance person did not say anything about age. My question is whether it is necessary or not to buy insurance for myself. It will be very expensive and I do not want to pay for it but I will If i have to. Do I have to get my own insurance for the car or not? If I dont buy insurance and I drive the corolla and get pulled over, am I okay or will I have problems?""

Still waiting to hear from car insurance if car is a write off?

its been a week since this guy hit me from behind. he was 100% at fault. how long do i have to wait to find out if my car was a write off? the car is fixable and i need to know how much to fix? want my car back!!!!!

Where can i get auto insurance online?

I was looking to buy auto insurance online. anyone know where to start looking

Will my car insurance go up even more now?

Two weeks ago I rear ended a Ford F150. There was very little damage done to their truck, but my mazda protoge was declared totaled. No ambulance was called and the people in the truck acted just fine. The driver was a lady who I thought was just obese but it turns out from the police report that she was 9 months pregnant. I was not arrested or anything at this scene but I did get a ticket for careless driving by failing to yield. I am a 25 year old male btw and I was on my mom's insurance driving her car. We called the insurance and found out that she was monitored and the baby was ok. She was due next week, but the insurance hasn't heard about the delivery or anything. The lady, however is claiming neck and back injuries. Will my insurance go up more because of the accident AND her claims or just the accident itself? I have to go to court in June just for the accident (it is mandatory here for every traffic violation). I need to know how much my insurance will go up to get a newcar""

Am I eligible for unemployment insurance in Alaska if I am a full-time student?

Am I eligible for unemployment insurance in Alaska if I am a full-time student?

Where can I find Affordable Health Insurance in Florida?

Where can I find Affordable Health Insurance in Florida?

Car insurance for young drivers?

im 21 and i passed my test in july i just wanted to no if anyone no,s good reasonable priced insurance companies for new drivers.thanks""

""Where can I find affordable insurance for sickle cell, full time student?""

If possible, in the Washington DC metro area. School is really expensive and it's very difficult to afford all these costly insurance while at the same time paying for school and living expenses.""

I am 17 and ive just passed my CBT.i am hoping too buy either 100cc or 125 cc. how much would m insurance be?

I am 17 and ive just passed my CBT.i am hoping too buy either 100cc or 125 cc. how much would m insurance be?

If the insurance is group 6 then how much ROUGHLY would the insurance be for a 17 year old?

the car is the rover streetwise so it's pretty new with good safety features.

How much would car insurance cost for a 17 year old girl?

Right, I'm 17. I getting my provisional licence in the next week or so, so I can start my driving lessons. When and if I pass my theory and practical, I would like to get my own car. I have a rough idea of which car I would like to get, but have no idea what I can do to get a rough idea on insurance. I've tried looking at a few websites and they're all useless haha. I'd love to have a Peugeot 106. Not the best car I know, but it would be suitable for me. I live in an area with off road parking, so this could possibly bring the insurance down a little. If someone can give a rough quote themselves, it'd be much appreciated and I can begin to plan ahead.""

Why do we have to have car insurance in the UK?

Why cant you chose whether you have insurance or not?

Can insurance for young drivers ...?

i want to buy a bmw 3 series convertible m sport diesel 2litre. the buying price is 13000 approximatley, unfortunatley i am 18 years old and this seems to be playing against me when it comes to insuring the car. i do not want to go down the line of fronting or breaking the law, but is there any way at all i can get a decent deal on insurance!? even if it means insuring myself to drive any car .. if that's possible?? any help would be appreciated. thanks!!""

I was in a car accident. My car was deem a total lost. The insurance towed my car away. I waited 1 year?

trying to get my claim paid. Today I received a letter from some car auction center, stating that I had to go get my car or they will charge me storage per day. now my car was a honda 05 I originally finaced the car and still owe money on the car. like 13000. The insurance company is not paying my claim. The finance company gave me a charge off on my credit. Now If I go pick up this car. is the car now mines? I do not have the title. How do I get the title.""

Can taking drivers ed save my parents money on car insurance?

i need to know how much, if any, people save on average""

What's the cheapest option for car insurance for a teen?

I just recently passed my driving test and I'm completely taken away by the prices I've saw for car insurance on my parents Astra, I'm getting prices up at 7K. I've decided to go out and buy a category 1 insurance car (or any that's a low category) so it will be cheaper to run but the only problem is, I don't have a job at the moment so only have savings. It wouldn't bother me not taking out my own policy because I understand that can be more expensive but is there an alternative for me until I get a job and earn money to get the policy so I can collect NCD's? One of my friends use to have his own policy on his family car, a big car like ours, until he had an accident and the price shot up. Now because he can't afford the monthly costs he just takes out 1 weeks insurance at a top when needed and this costs him around 40. What I don't understand though is that he's 18, the same age as me, and I thought you werent able to do short term insurance as a new driver? Although I think he somehow takes it under his parents policy? I'v no idea how this works if someone could shine a light on it? Another friend also had a Nissan Micra and was paying around 80-90 per month which I thought was very cheap (also the same age as me) for an insurance which makes me wonder if he is on his own policy? My dad will be getting insured on my own car also and be using it for work at nights. If anyone could come up with some solutions for me that would be great!! :) Thanks""

Where can i get the cheapest car insurance?

i live in virginia

LOOKING FOR HOME OWNERS INSURANCE CALIFORNIA WITH A ROTTWEILER?

I am purchasing a house this month and trying to get an IDEA on how much my home owners insurance will run me, however I have a rottweiler ( obedience trained, no attack training) and several insurance companies have out right told me they do not write policies for owners with rottweilers... any one know of a company that will cover me? and Not charge me an arm and a leg??""

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

progressive auto insurance quotes florida

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/boiler-insurance-quotes-priscilla-glenn/"

[askpet-archive]

PET Ep 9

Ari sat up slightly, a bad feeling in her gut. She pulled out her phone and dialed Arthurs number as fast as she could move, grabbing Eras book.. WHy does Arthur only have one life, oh my god oh my god Ari flipped through the pages, letting out a squeak when noticing the others also only have one life, what the fuck was going on "Fuck! ANgy, Arthur- Vincent! whoever this is! Why the fuck are you all at only one life!" she screamed into the phone, worry in her voice Era wakes up, looking over to Ari in confusion "Wha." "ARTHURS GONNA WHAT?!" She screamed, panic in her tone "I DIDNT SET UP ANYTHING WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING TO KILL ARTHUR?! HE WAS AT OVER A HUNDRE DLIVES JUST A SECOND AGO!" Era shifts away from Ari slightly, deciding to just listen to her "Cre-creepy woman!?" Ari was starting to tear up not, shaking obvious "How is she holding him up that high? mgic? wings?? Why is my brother going to die please save him he cant die- why is she holding him up?!" her voice sounded kind of choked, she obviously had no part of this "My little brother cant die- you guys c-cant either- sa-save him and g-get away-" Era is so confused right now, the only thing she knows is that Arthur is probably going to die. She lightly pats Ari on the shoulder "Hey- hey- calm down, count to ten, and try to focus on breathing. What's going on?" She'd hug Ari right now but wants to make sure she's okay first Ari took a deep breath "what is she t-telling you t-to do? l-listen to her- if s-s-shes just gon-gonna-- d-dont-- just-- try-try and c-catch him-" she stopped, taking a deep breath and holding the phone away from her ear to stare at Era "i have to go back right now we wont be able to get there in time my little brother is going to die an-and-" she choked on a sob, tears now going down her cheeks. Era pauses, "Wait- Okay, okay," She softly hugs her "Shh, calm down, I'll go try and see if there's any way to leave before the barrier is gone okay?" She lets go of Ari, standing up "Try and calm down, okay?" Era heads inside of the Acachalla house to go ask anyone if there's a way to leave Ari put the phone back to her ear "p-please dont l-let my brother die- please..i- ill try and..ill...I cant get there in time- oh my god- Arthur--..Angy just, listen to the woman if shes saying something- dont. let. her. k-kill. him. Ill...Billy! E-Era! ask Billy!" she yelled slightly, her angry-sad tone more obvious when screaming Era proceeds to loudly ask, while inside of the house, "BILLY ARE YOU AWAKE??" Max heard all the yelling and finally took her hood off. "I-Is someone dying?" "AcTUALLY, you are correct," "Oh. Whos dying??" She began to shake Billy to wake him up, as he indeed was fast asleep. "Uhm, Arthur, maybe everyone else. Billy wake up." "Oh gosh, what are they doing back there??" Billy blinked open his eyes "mmph?? what? dying?? what did i hear bout Dying?" he mumbled, looking at the two people around him "I need to know if there's any way to leave the barrier before 8AM. We need to leave now, everyone else is going to die, they only have a few lives left." "Wait were leaving? I wanna stay here..." Max frowned, it was nice here, oddly Ari choked on a sob hearing Angy say something "Arthur- is he okay- is-- where is he- Phone- give to him--" she stred at the book as all their names joined one page, number switching to five "..H-HOW ARE YOU Sh-SHARING LIVES?!" Billy jolted when hearing that "theres no way to leave the barrier no. wait, sharing lives? what the dang?" he got to his feet and ran over to Ari to look at the book "..that shouldnt be able to happen, someones messing with their life count.." Max stood up, stretching. There goes her happy party. Era follows Billy "Okay okay, so there is absolutely, no way, at all, to leave?" "No way, at all. no." Billy sighed "I would fly one of you over there but i dont know if the barrier will let you leave tonight. only im able to get out, from what ive learned. anytime ive tried bringing someone they lost a life." he muttered Max followed, "Isnt there anyone around here who can make a portal out or something? Plus that would be much faster for us to get there.." "Arthur? Arthur??" she heard her brothers voice, and is trying to take deep breaths now "what happened. Why did you almost die, why were you at one life, why re you sharing lives!? nonono, forget all that, are you okay, are you hurt at all? i mean i understand you're probably scared to death but hurt? and if not to calm yourself down take deep b-breaths- and- and- if you a-are hu-hurt- t-try just- pressing on the wounds- an-and-" she choked on a sob "i thought id lost you Arth- oh my god--" she murmured "do you have any med packs??" shes concerned, shes just so fuc king w orr ied "Im guessing no one in this insane city can make portals? Or am I just getting ignored here?" Billy looked over "not portals out of the city." "Laaame" "Well, this is going great." "I didnt do an-anythign i swear!" she sobbed into the mic angrily "i dont kno-know whats g-going on- im just w-w-worried about y-you because a-apparently you a-almost died-" "i forgot Arthur- i f-forgot i- i didnt want a-anything t-to happen-- i-- i- Im trying to find a way to get there now- ill come find you alright? j-just- stay away f-from the crazy wo-woman- try a-and hide- and im a-atleast 80% s-sure the call w-w-was lying so- you- you shouldnt encounter a-anything- i s-swear i had n-no clue t-this would happen- i just-- i thought it was a normal call y-you and Ang co-could handle.." "..ill b-be there asap. If yo-you have to. and h-have a gun. Show n-no mercy to anything you find." she sighed quietly "...d-dont c-cry anymore, alright? y-you've got Vincent and Angy to pr-protect you and ill be there soon." she heard his voice. She didnt give a chance to respond before hanging up, stumbling to her feet "I need to go home- Now." she muttered, glaring at Billy, who just sighed "theres no way of gettin out kiddo." "Wheres the barrier at anyways, like can we just go.....right up to it right now?" Max looked at the sky, it looked weird compared to the sky anywhere shes been before.... -------- Update on Spop. She is currently trying to stitch Klondike back up, but is poking herself with the needle than Klondike Update on Ari, she sat with Billy trying to comfort her for awhile until she fricking passed the fuck out on the grass from exhaustion and tears Era pauses, having been waiting for the barrier to disappear since she couldn't fall back asleep. After a moment, she blinks, checking the time. "Ah!" Era shuffles over to where Ari was currently passed out, shaking her slightly "Arrriii wake up." Ari shot awake in an instant. She looked up at the sky and jolted, stumbling to her feet "ge-get Max and Spop-- Home- now-" she stammered, holding her head from gettin up way too fast. Billy came out of the house, looking over "...? Oh, i was gonna come tell you, its, its 8:30. but i guess you know that." he chuckled slightly "choices are car, or i can try carrying one or two of you at a time, though the second option might be a bit dizzying." Ari looked at Era with a pleading look. She had to get to Arthur as fast as she possibly could "Okay- Okay- Uhm, is the second option faster?" Billy nodded "i mean yea, i can fly pretty fast" Ari kind of just, put out an arm, so Billy, from instinct, grabbed it, gesturing so he could grab Eras"im gonna, hope neither of you are too afraid of going to high." "Haha, I'm terrified of it." She holds out her own arm "I just won't look down and I'll probably be fine. BUT, don't, go to high. Billy nodded, grabbing Era's arm "i can put you down at anytime if you wanna ditch this.. so." wings kinda just, appeared on his back, hello spawning "Max! Spop! ill be back to carry you guys soon, got it?" and up they went, high up but not to high. Ari looked down at the ground, making an inhumane noise Spop was leaning on the wall, asleep with Klondike in her arms An alarm went off, it was Maxs phone. She woke up and went to go turn it off, even though she knew she had to get up. She really didnt want to leave. Era proceeds to stare ahead, not looking down despite her curiosity Billy sped up..pretty fast. the ground was like, pretty much just a rapid blur, Ari screeched and grabbed Eras free hand for comfort, she hates this, she hates this,,, Era is trying so hard to not scream right now, gripping onto Ari's hand ------------ billy just casually drops off two females outside the building then goes back to get the other two females Ari got to her feet quickly, holding her head and looking up..it was..still night here. She checked her phone, how the fuck was it still only around 9:30 here? So Arthur would've called...15? 20 minutes ago?? okay, whatever "Okay, in...in here." she muttered, running around to one of the windows and grabbing at the boards, trying to pull it off "Era, come help me out with this!" she called, not caring a crazy lady was probably watching them Era runs over to Ari, proceeding to try and pull off the boards with her Ari heard a tiny crack and pulled on it harder, watching the wood come off and quickly hopping inside, pulling Era in before the board reappeared Era stumbles a bit when being pulled in, blinking and pulling out her flashlight when realizing it was a lot darker then expected "Okay so.. what are we expecting to see here?" Arthur's probably still just. Walking around in the darkness, pulling Angy along so he has something to cling to. His eyes have gotten used to the darkness at this point, but he's still scared to death and wants to make sure he's not left by himself. "Arthur, for one." Ari took a flashlight out of her quiver, flicking it on, keeping her hand over the light so it wasnt too bright. "Angy for two. and..maybe Vincent." "Nono, like, evil demon things. What are we expecting with that?" "Nothing. besides the crazy lady, which.. uh, we see that?..haha, we can just say goodbye" she moved a finger across her neck to show what she meant, giving a soft grin "but i doubt that'll happen." Era pauses, getting her crossbow ready as well "Well, let's hope it won't. Lets go look for them now. Since there's supposedly a crazy lady we.. probably shouldn't yell for them." Angy, her wrist still in Arthur's grip, stopped for a second for what she thought were two faint voices. "Do you hear that..?" Ari's werecat ears were useful in this situation, and she grabbed Eras arm, darting out of the room they were in and moving her flashlight around to see around "Angy?" she called quietly, worry in her tone Era follows along with Ari's movements, trying not to fall from all of the sudden being dragged around "What, the random creaking every now in then? All the other sounds my head likes to make up? Because yeah, yeah I d- oh that." He wasn't sure who that was, and didn't CARE who that was, he was just. scared. So the voice makes him cling to Angy even harder. The young girl heard a voice calling out her name, she debated to reply back, thinking it might be a trick but decided in the end to call out as well "Hello? Who's there..?" Era pauses, whispering over to Ari "I think that's them." Ari pulled Era towards the sound, not calling again. After a few minutes, they had light, from Ari shining the flashlight on them...oh, thats Ari releasing Era and throwing her arms around her brother in a hug "oh thank god your okay-" she muttered, no escape Arth, this is overly protective sister, she kind of, looked at Angy with a grateful, and worried smile, making sure to remember getting out med packs Angy sighed with relief "Thank god it was actually you, I thought we were dead.." Era walks over to them as quietly as possible "What's- what's even been happening?" He'd sCREAm AT FiRst Because holy Shit he didn't expect that, but soon just hugging back whoever this was because Shit it's still dark. Ari shined the light enough on both her and Arthur so he could see her and she could see him "Sorry for scaring you, i was just really fricking worried-" she muttered "We got tricked by that.. woman thing.. she told us to give up our stuff for the "test" Ari had made for us." Angy went up to Era "We refused and that's when she took Arthur way high up.." "Oh god, that sounds terrifying." "i had nothing to do w-with making the test. i got a call, i answered. common business curtesy. Everything she did was all her. I would never try to get Arthur killed." she kind of, thought about Arthur being high up, and just, shivered "..god i shouldnt have made you guys go on this alone, i shouldn't have left.." she mumbled He's not even respondent enough to say anything back, he's just. hug. helo. His eyes are puffy from tears too haha. Era blinks, shining her flashlight down the hallway "We should get out of here now.." Angy turned back to Ari and placed a hand of her shoulder "It's alright, we knew you wouldn't be capable to do this to Arthur, it was just.." She shook her head before continuing "The good thing is that he's okay and you're here now. Era is right, we need to leave" Ari not letting go of her brother until hes okay with it so, as far as she knows they might just hug for awhile. Shes fine with that. "Im not moving from this spot until Arthur decides to just cling to my arm or back or something." she muttered towards Era, then looked back at Arthur, oh, puff eyes. Uh. um. Shes just gonna, pick him up actually, hopefully hes okay with this. Im still questioning how this girl can lift up someone only one inch smaller then her but okay. Casually tries to give her flashlight to Arthur so she just sticks it in his pocket. "alright, ye, okay. lets go. Arth, tell me if you want me to put you down." shes ready to follow™ Era stares at the group for a moment before turning around, heading back to where they got in from "Yes please put me down-" He doesn't like this o boy it's like the whole 'getting-carried-15-feet-in-the-air' situation all over again, except it's not risking his life or at a far enough height to kill him but he still doesn't like being picked u p. He's definitely gonna use the flashlight though. Ari puts Arthur down, but refuses to let him go, so she just softly holds his arm, if he wants to cling then he can. "Era we arent getting out that way, i hope you know. Board resealed. Angy, mind catchin me up on this weird lady?I mean i know she almost killed Arthur but, is she doin anything else right now? and..wheres Vincent?" Angy quickly followed behind Era, already wanting to get away from anything having to deal with this building. Era passes by where they came out from "I know, but I kinda wanna stay in this general area considering how huge this place is." She stopped for a moment, thinking to herself "Oh no.. Vincent god dammit! He was with us and then he walked away for no reason and we couldn't go for him because it was so dark" "We'll find hiiiim." Ari nodded "Era, we cant. we barely know how much time we have to the woman does..something. So spending to long trying to find this new idiot addition to the team is a pretty bad idea." "I meant, "We'll find him while trying to find a way out on accident" because apparently that's how logic works these days." "..right, okay. anyone have any ideas? we could try bombing it from in here..but, i dont..know if that would work. like, blast the door open." "Ehhhhhhh." The boy is silent. He just wants to hide now. He's also wearing his hood over his head, probably to muffle random sounds. "I mean.. as long as you don't bring the whole building down, I think it's a pretty good idea" "alright.." she just, takes out one of her grenades, flicks off the pin, and throws it at the door, hopefully far enough away from Angy and Era "Heck-" Era proceeds to j u M P™ away from the grenade, wanting to be as far away from it as possible Oh, there goes the explosion.. they out? "Uh..cant see." softly grabs Arthurs other arm to direct the flashlight toward the smoke from the explosion, the door is open.. "out, bolt down the road." she muttered, already hearing footsteps behind them. "Stay away from us crazy lady!" she growled, pulling Arthur out of the building and tryin to run as far away from it as possible, god damn good thing its night, vampire speed. Hope the boyo isnt dizzy Luckily this time Angy didn't get crushed or nearly killed by the explosion and did a little happy dance once she saw the door open. She didn't need to be told to run, the footsteps she heard behind her motivated  her to start running like a mad man. Era paused for a moment from confusion before speeding out the door, she does not want to stay in here any longer then 0 seconds Ari probabl picked Arth up again halfway,, yea. def did. After they were a really good distance away from the building Era just, stops, heavily breathing "Okay, one, I hate running. Two, I hate running. Three, I hate running." Ari set him down once she felt far enough away "s-sorry about that, i just wanted to get you away from there as fast as possible.." she was, kinda concerned by his look, but decided not to question it "Okay, we're heading home like, right away." Aris going to go out to get Arthur more snacks and let himself lock himself in his room probably "Can I nuke the place first?" "no" "I'm gunna nuke it." Era looks over to the building in the distance "Okay guys it's gunna be nuked." "what" b OO O MM M "My job here is done." His eye twitched. He's probably just sitting on the ground now. The boy is Shook. ".....We.. should go home now." Angy took a moment to catch her breath, seeing as she was way out of shape. "Good job guys, thank you Era for blowing up that.. thing But yeah, let's go home.." Era stares at the destroyed building off in the distance for a moment before turning around "Uh-huh. Max and Spop are probably going to be back soon." "How do we get home if we have no form of trasnportation." He'd mumble, realizing they probably knew and he we just asking that question for no reason, mumbling a barely even coherent 'nevermind sorry'. Ari looked at Arthur "nono its fine, its a good question. I dont wanna torture you with my vampire speed though so, we're probably just gonna walk- if you dont want to walk i can carry you but you said you didnt want that-" "Let's just hope that lady got roasted with the building and doesn't decide to catch up to us" Angy said while starting to walk. Era stands in her place, waiting for Ari and Athur to start walking too "Yeah.." The boy gets up and just follows after Angy. Out of everyone else to trust right now, she was the only one, even if all she did was make sure he didn't start screaming and crying in the dark. Era stares at Ari, waiting for her to go as well. She wants to make sure no one is accidentally left behind Ari went in, another direction "ill meet you guys at home okay? i- im gonna go somewhere. Ill be like 5 minutes, probably will meet you there- hopefully-" Era pauses, continuing to stare at her "Be safe," she quietly says before following the others