#but an injury like that that required him on a crutch for weeks?? definitely has some long lasting effects

[youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal]

Anyone else notice how many times Corvus was bending/kneeling this season and just being like “SIR! Your leg!! You were INJURED!!! PLEASE be careful.”

[biletdoux]

waiting: physical therapy | d.sc

Rating: G (in this part)

Genre + Tropes: non-idol!au, romance (angst, slice of life)

Warnings: mentions of a car accident

Length: 1.2k+

Summary: Sicheng is a creature of habit.

Note: it’s a little late, but i’m back!! i swear i’m working on my other works as well, i’ve just been a little caught up with school and work ;; this one is for @odentist​ and @adamfoolcry​ bc ilysm!! i know i’ve been absent, but you guys are in my thoughts always. thank you for putting up with me!!! it means a lot and i’ll work on being better at keeping in contact<3 also, i know not many people read my works, but i’m always super grateful toward the people who do <333

Masterlist // [Previous | Next]

part iv: physical therapy

Sicheng has physical therapy every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning from 09:00 to 11:00. He arrives at each session exactly 15 minutes early every time and although the receptionist who registers him varies depending on the day, Minho is always there to greet him with a bright smile. Sicheng would then set his stuff aside in a designated locker for the day and he’d start off the morning with some light stretches before the actual session started. This has been his routine for the past few months now.

Today is no different. 

“Sicheng,” Minho grins with a tap of his electronic watch. “Eight forty-five on the dot as usual.”

Sicheng shoots a small smile with an acknowledging nod of the head in reply as he rolls his wrists and starts loosening his ankles. His joints ache and creak in ways that bother him more than it should and his stiff muscles hiss in protest. Sicheng understands he should be grateful that he could at least walk and stretch on his own, but he can’t help but become bitter when he remembers his old lithe self. Minho is oblivious to Sicheng’s inner machinations as he mirrors him and does his own set of stretches. 

Sicheng is a dancer. Was. Is. Sicheng will be a dancer again. One day. Yes, one day. Definitely. Hopefully.

While at heart, Sicheng will always be a dancer, his body is broken and won’t move in ways that it once did. Minho helps build him back up two hours at a time, three days a week, but Sicheng knows his body will never go back to the way it used to be prior to the accident. 

Sicheng remembers waking up with a hazy mind and heavy limbs. The bleak whiteness of his room and bed sheets blinded him as he struggled to register his surroundings. The plastic nasal cannula delivered heated high flow oxygen through his body and the wires attached to his body alerted the nearby nurses of his rousing. They came in and took a set of vitals before talking to him sweetly, as to not alarm him too much, but his head ached and Sicheng still can’t recall much of what happened the first few days he came to. 

The doctors said a lot of things, but Sicheng extracted that he was lucky. 

Among other things, the impact left him with two broken ribs and a punctured lung. They told him he was transported to a nearby hospital just in time before his left lung completely collapsed, but his spleen had ruptured, requiring emergency surgery to prevent further internal bleeding. There was moderate trauma to his head, resulting in cerebral contusions and swelling, but they determined his central nervous system came out unscathed. Sicheng’s mind and recollection was still foggy and tattered, but they assured him that it would return. Perhaps in pieces, but one by one it should come back.

Sicheng was bedridden for over a month and required an additional month of intensive in-patient hospital rehabilitation from his injuries and deconditioning before he was even cleared for discharge and out-patient rehabilitation. The doctors were surprised by his progress and had a positive outlook on his prospect, but Sicheng knows. 

Things will never be the same.

Sicheng enrolled in the best out-patient rehabilitation his insurance provided for him and that was how he met Minho, a ray of sunshine and the epitome of positivity. Minho’s relentless encouragement lapped at Sicheng’s bitterness and eventually wore him down. Now Sicheng finds himself looking forward to their sessions together, despite having to face he’s no longer who he was.

“Are you ready?” Minho asks. “We’re going to work on strengthening today.” 

During his first session with Minho, Sicheng still wobbled on his feet. The hospital sent him home with a walker and pair of crutches, but Sicheng found it insulting when pirouettes and grand jetés used to come as second nature. Minho introduced himself with a fervor that had Sicheng wincing. He didn’t want to be here, especially when it meant entrusting his recovery with some happy-go-lucky sap. 

Sicheng gave Minho the cold shoulder the entire session and completely ignored any suggestions or advice. This went on for a few more times until Sicheng almost collapsed one day from pushing himself too hard despite Minho’s warnings. His legs were cramping and his lungs felt like they were going to burst. Sicheng nearly toppled over had it not been for Minho there ready to steady him at a moment's notice. Minho said nothing as Sicheng heaved in long and heavy breaths as his skin glistened with a light sheen of sweat. 

Minho was quiet and didn’t say much. Sicheng appreciated him for not rubbing too much salt in his wounds.

During the last twenty minutes of that session where Minho was helping Sicheng with stretches, he broke their strained silence.

“Sicheng, you have to be kind to yourself and allow yourself time and patience. I know it’s tough, but things will come back. The mind may forget, but the body always remembers.”

Sicheng didn’t say anything back, but he couldn’t find it in himself to scoff back like he would at any other tacky saying and ever since then, he grew to have a quiet respect and even tentative friendship with his physical therapist. 

Sicheng looks forward to Friday sessions the most. Usually they do strengthening most of the time and today is no different. It’s harder on his body than other sessions, but he enjoys the steady ache of his muscles afterward. He views it as a sign of progress and Sicheng takes in greedy gulps. 

Sicheng finishes today’s sessions on autopilot, barely noticing the minutes that flew by until it was time to stretch. Minho helps push and hold positions when Sicheng can’t and he’s grateful.

“Hey what’s up with you today?”

“Hm?” Sicheng is flat on his back and Minho is supporting his right knee to Sicheng’s chest. “What are you talking about?”

“Dunno,” Minho hums thoughtfully as he switches to stretch Sicheng’s left leg. “You just seem tired.”

“Oh. I’ve been having trouble sleeping I guess.”

“Will talking about it help?”

Sicheng ponders his offer for a minute before a soft grunt escapes his lips. His left leg is always stiffer than his right and Minho is pushing it today. “No, I don’t think so, but I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it. Try to get good rest though, it’s crucial for recovery.”

Minho understands Sicheng enough to know exactly when and where to push, physically and personally. A comfortable quiet settles between them until the session is over. 

Sicheng cools down in the locker room before heading out and waving goodbye to Minho and the receptionist of the day. 

By 11:20, the sun is out and the streets are busy. Sicheng has to block out rays of light from his eyes as he looks up to see the buildings to decide what the next move for the day will be. Maybe some lunch? 

He ponders quietly to himself before noticing a tap on his shoulder and turns to see a girl.

“Sicheng, is that you?”

Note: oooof, this one isn’t as whimsical and fluffy as the other cause it has lots of exposition, but finally mores stuff is revealed about sicheng!! 

[heybeybey]

Did I ask you the peaceful rivetra cabin one honey with a slice of nsfw ?? ( if I did already ignore this 😭)

Not yet! @himebee-5 And I'm glad you requested this! Anyway, you know how long my HC posts are so the actual cabin headcanon comes in halfway through (this is 1,454 words wtf) haha

This is 3 full cups of honey, a dash of dramatic angst in the beginning and two teaspoons of NSFW btw.

Hope you'll enjoy!!

Rivetra Cabin +++ (you’ll understand what the + is later on) Canonverse AU

Petra lived through the 57th failed expedition but both her and Levi were permanently injured. Petra came out with a spinal injury and while the doctors did say that she's going to make a partial recovery, her mobility won't be the same as before. 

Levi, on the other hand, lost his left leg. Both have no choice but to retire from the Survey Corps.

I want to add a dash of drama so in this Canonverse AU, the Military Police are forcing Levi to go back to the Underground. 

His temporary citizenship above ground is revoked since he's not going to be a Scout anymore and he wasn't able to fulfill the required service years needed to become a permanent resident (this is something that I just came up with lol)

Erwin tried to pull some strings but even he can't do much since the Survey Corps' reputation is tarnished at this point (same as what happened in the show). The MP tried multiple times to escort Levi out the Survey Corps HQ but Erwin and Hange always finds an excuse to delay it a bit (ex: wrapping things up regarding his dead squad, recovering for a month or two until he can be escorted back etc.)

Petra, stressed and panicking over the fact that her captain will be dragged back to the Underground, frantically begs Levi to run away with her.

Note that they don't have a relationship (yet) and Levi was surprised at her suggestion since Petra lives a decent life as a citizen born in Wall Rose. 

He refuses and said that he can run away by himself if needed but Petra argues that now that he's disabled, he needs someone who will support him.

Our girl got bolder since she knows that they're not really Captain and Subordinate anymore.

She was persistent and a day before they know the MPs will come knocking again, he gives in and they made a run for it.

Erwin and Hange def. arranged a few things for them and Erwin even expedited their last salary

They jumped from one cheap apartment to another just to escape the MPs and finally found a cabin they can afford on a slightly rundown village somewhere north and towards the edge of Wall Rose

It wasn't the best village to live but definitely still better than the Underground (or in jail, in Petra's case since technically she just helped a criminal escape)

Few years passed (let's say their universe had a happy ending that Isayama won't probably give us 😭) and the MP gave up on Levi's case.

Petra and Levi live a quiet life together :3 Both of them needs some support when walking so they do have a crutch (for Levi) and a wheelchair (sometimes for Petra) on hand.

Levi used his last salary and savings to open a small tea shop in the village while they used Petra's for their monthly expenses during the first year. The tea shop eventually was able to support them once it started picking up.

Levi thought he'd hate not being able to serve in the Scouts but was surprised that he did prefer this domestic bliss instead.

He usually prepares the tea while Petra serves the customers in their tea shop.

They'd support each other in cleaning the cabin til it's spotless.

Petra buys groceries every week while Levi focuses more on cooking and laundry for the both of them.

It wasn't easy living together at first since we all know how Levi is and since they're really equals now, Petra doesn't hesitate in speaking her mind anymore. They'd sometimes clash but Levi is the one who often approaches her to apologize and make up.

They both hear news about what's happening and Erwin and Hange sometimes visit them (I want a happy ending for this so Daddy Sasageyo and Hange are both alive ok)

They didn't immediately jump one another btw. They both know that there are already feelings between them but Levi's too emotionally constipated to explore it, much less make it official.

It happened 2 years into living together. Levi was watching Petra sweep the floor and just abruptly said that they should get married.

Petra dropped the broom in shock and her face was absolutely comical. While she and Levi did have a few romantic moments here and there (small but unofficial dates, cheek and forehead kisses given subconsciously), they never talked about an actual relationship.

Levi said that they're already living together anyway and wasn't her dad upset that she's living with a man but not married to said man?

He also remembers the time when they were still in the Scouts and he and his squad were talking about what it might be like to be married since Eld just announced his engagement (rip ☹️)

His only contribution to that conversation btw is "no" when asked if he wanted to get married lol 

Anyway, he remembered how Petra said that she once dreamed about getting married someday and having a happy family. However, at that time, her dream of dedicating her life to the Scouts was more important than settling down and she doesn't plan to retire for many many years.

They were both silent after that and Levi started feeling embarrassed. He tried to take it back, saying that of course, he understands that she doesn't want to since he is in his mid-30s and she'd probably find a better, able-bodied, younger man in the village instead.

Before he even finishes his apology, Petra said yes :3 (Girl has been fantasizing about this for years, of course she'll say yes haha)

They did a shotgun wedding that same evening and Levi started trying to find ways to romance her. It's all awkward at best and downright embarrassing attempts every single time but Petra wouldn't want it any other way.

Petra, being a romantic at heart, wanted a wedding dance and Levi, being a sap, gave in. They had their own wedding dance of sorts in their cabin the best they could with their conditions.

When they got the cabin, they shared one room but have separate beds. The next day after they got married, Levi found Petra pushing the bed together and she said they're married now and he usually climbs on her bed at the middle of the night whenever he has nightmares anyway.

The first ones to know about their shotgun marriage is Petra's father, Erwin and Hange. Hange dragged Erwin to their cabin the very next day after they received the letter.

Mr. Ral wasn't happy at first that Levi didn't ask for his permission (Petra scolded her father for being too old-fashioned) but he eventually told Levi that he approves as long as he's making Petra happy.

Erwin and Hange brought wedding gifts that can help them with their cabin (new cleaning materials, something for their fireplace and since Hange can be crazy, she also brought baby materials. Most are storybooks and onesies haha)

They weren’t planning on having kids but then Levi started reading the children storybooks that Hange brought and Petra noticed that he’d sometimes get this look in his face

We all know Levi would make a great father!!!!

She asked him to stop using protection one night and after three months of trying, Petra did end up pregnant :3

Now for the spicy HCs 💦

Levi wanted to make sure he does everything the right way for her so yes, they do have a wedding night. It was awkward the first time around but Levi has superb stamina 😏  so they did a few rounds and he got the hang of it the second time around.

After the third round, Petra was begging him if they can go to sleep instead. Levi teased her since she accidentally revealed that she's been fantasizing about fucking her captain for years. Now she's giving up?

Okay, that challenged her and they did one last round lol

Turns out Levi being a clean freak doesn't end with brooms, rags and mops! He's also great with aftercare. 

Since Petra didn't have the energy to shower any longer (also taking into consideration her spine's condition), Levi cleaned her afterwards while she just lay there smiling stupidly in contentment.

Sometimes, aftercare ends in more sex though since Levi can't help himself and he starts teasing her again.

...Petra got dicked down on every furniture in their cabin btw. Their favorite is the wooden living room table because it’s in front of the fireplace. 

[elisaphoenix13]

Debut And (Minor) Fall

Commission for @wombatking! I'm amazed at myself for getting this out so fast! I hope it's to your liking!

"Nonono! Don't hork it down you animal!" Cassie laughs and takes a bite of her own cinnamon-sugar pretzel.

"What? I'm hungry!" Peter says with his mouth full.

"You're always hungry." Cassie shakes her head and tears off another piece of her pretzel as Peter fumbles for his phone when it pings.

He taps away at it after unlocking it to read the message, and then he points it away before directing Cassie a different direction.

"Mom asked us to pick up some things for Lucy." Peter explains and Cassie nods.

"Diapers and formula?" She guesses.

"Yup."

"Do you even know what to get?"

"Nope. He said you would know."

Cassie shakes her head in exasperation. Of course she knew what exactly Stephen got for Lucy because more often than not, she was with him whenever he picked up the baby supplies. She didn't mind though. It gave her a little more alone time with Peter before they were both pulled back into the chaos of the tower. Something she always missed because she learned during those five quiet years that she shouldn't take it for granted. There was a lot she didn't take for granted anymore.

When she sees Peter eyeing her pretzel she holds it away. "You had yours! Three in fact! Let me have my one!"

"Aww come on babe! They're so good!" Peter practically begs.

"No!"

Peter grins and reaches for the last bit of pretzel. "Come on it's just a--"

He suddenly freezes and Cassie yelps in surprise when Peter pushes her away and then her eyes widen when something blasts into sidewalk where she had been standing just moments ago. As the sidewalk smolders, she and Peter look into the direction the fireball came from and find what looked to be another psychotic villain with a grudge.

Fucking fantastic.

"Not cool." Peter says before tapping his nanotech bracelet to suit up and webs toward the villain after telling Cassie to find somewhere safe to hide.

For a moment she considered it, but when Peter was almost immediately blasted away when he got close enough to the attacker, she decided that it was probably time to reveal her powers. Tony had made her her own suit just in case, and Cassie hadn't even asked for one but she was glad for it. It was more subtle than the bracelets that Stephen and the boys had for their suits, and it still amazed her how Tony managed to fit a whole suit in a ring. It was like the others though and all it needed was a tap before nanites covered her body and formed a suit similar to her father's.

The moment she was completely covered, she grew to a large size and stopped Peter from hitting asphalt by catching him with one of her hands. Cassie hears him mumble to himself in confusion and then he looks up and the eyes of his suit widen.

"Holy shit!" Peter shouts.

He clearly had a default reaction to seeing people grow for the first time.

"You okay?" She asks.

"I...I will be when I have time to process...this," Peter motions to her. "That will have to wait. Do you mind?"

Peter points back toward the approaching villain and Cassie nods before tossing her boyfriend back towards him. As Peter webs what looks like a custom flamethrower away from the villain, Cassie shrinks back down and runs up to assist. Having his weapon ripped from his hands was enough of a distraction for Cassie to reach the villain and deliver a blow under his jaw, and he stumbles back in surprise.

The training Cassie went through was finally worth it as she continued to help Peter try and restrain the villain who had pulled out another weapon that was definitely alien. She wasn't even surprised to see one anymore. Like Hydra, alien weapons were always hidden in the cracks and came out at the most inopportune times and there was likely no chance of finding them all. Especially when people dismantled the power sources for use in other weapons. Peter had experience with that.

Cassie gets blasted back by the weapon and lands with a groan on the ground. This was still better than being tossed around by a celestial. While Quill never actually used his full strength while helping her train, he only pulled his punches just enough for it to hurt but not actually cause any damage to Cassie. Basically how he trained with Scott was how he trained with her. Quill pulled his punches but it still left some nasty bruises.

Cassie sits up and glares at the villain as she lifts one of her wrists. "I can do that too." She then sends a bio electric blast at him hitting both him and his weapon.

Peter webs him to the ground as he swings down to Cassie, and he helps her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Papa has done worse if I'm gonna be honest."

"Ugh. I know what you mean. I think your dad is a masochist."

"I try not to think about it. Thanks."

The two walk over to the unconscious villain and look down at him.

"What do we do about him?" She asks.

"Ping the cops." Peter shrugs. "They'll come take care of him."

"That's it?" Cassie asks in surprise. "Seems a little…"

She trails off when she hears a soft beep over the noise around them and she looks closer at the villain. Peter looks as well and when Cassie looks at the weapon, her eyes widen when she sees a light on the weapon start to flash rapidly in tune with fast beeping.

"Run!" She yells.

But it was too late. The weapon exploded and the force of it sent both Peter and Cassie flying back in different directions. Cassie was sent into an alley and she groans when she lands into a pile of boxes and old wood, and she was pretty sure she felt something...snap? When she tosses the garbage off of her and tries to get to her feet, she cries out in pain when her ankle throbs and sends her to the ground.

"I believe you have fractured your ankle Miss. I suggest you lie still. I've already paged the doctor." Victor says and Cassie blinks in surprise.

"Victor? You're in my suit?"

"Yes. It was decided that I would help you whenever you felt the need to use your suit." The AI explains.

"Cassie!" Peter runs over just as a gateway opens and Stephen steps through.

"Victor says I broke my ankle and I'm inclined to believe him." She tells them and Peter carefully picks her up.

"Leave your suit on until we get you to medbay." Stephen says and motions for Peter to follow.

Stephen changes the destination of the gateway to the medbay and walks back through with Peter following close behind with Cassie. The sorcerer directs Peter to an empty bed and he carefully lays Cassie on it who hisses a little when her ankle is jostled. When Stephen asks her to, she retracts the suit and the nanites crawl back into their core in her ring and he carefully pushes up her pant leg to assess the damage. It was already swollen and purple and Stephen barely had to touch it for more pain to flare up.

"Ow!"

"I think Victor is right but we'll still take some x-rays." Stephen says.

While the doctor moves around getting things ready to x-ray Cassie's ankle, Bruce arrives with Scott and Quill and Cassie smiles sheepishly at her parents.

"What happened?" Scott asks as he rushes to her bedside.

"She kicked ass." Peter says. His suit had also been put away during her exam and now he was just standing by as support.

"A weapon self destructed and kind of rudely threw me into an alley." Cassie explains. "Broke my ankle."

Scott turns to Quill immediately. "Can you heal her?"

"Uhhh...I'd rather not. Bones are a little more finicky than flesh." Quill says.

"I'm okay." Cassie says as she rolls her eyes.

"Are you sure? No head injuries?" Scott asks when he returns his attention back to her.

"Tony made the suit. I'm sure I would have had a few if he didn't."

"That's not funny."

===========

Stephen's AI was right. Cassie had broken her ankle and Bruce had to put a plaster cast on her which she was required to wear for at least six weeks. He would monitor it closely during that time and much to Cassie's annoyance, Scott rarely let her move around. Which made sense, but he and Quill were disasters with housework and she was afraid to watch them attempt laundry. The few times they did it themselves, only twice it went without a hitch and the other times were too painful to recall.

"Ugh!" Cassie groans when Scott keeps her from getting up from the couch. "Are you going to help me pee?!"

Her father immediately holds his hands up. "Oh. No. That's all you peanut."

"Thank you." She sighs and gets up with her crutches and makes her way to the bathroom.

To be fair, going to the bathroom was a little bit of a struggle but at least it gave her some feeling of independence. Her dads barely let her do anything except go to the bathroom, and there was only one time she fell and needed help. She never told them that of course because she had been up with Peter and it happened to be in his bathroom. When she asked for his help, he was so calm about it and to her surprise he didn't even blush or sputter when he saw her with her pants halfway down. He just helped her up and looked away while he kept her up so she could pull them back up.

In fact, Peter had been a huge help ever since she got her cast. He got her whatever she wanted that he was capable of making (which wasn't much; he was almost as bad as Quill), he sometimes helped her change or get ready for the shower which was also something she didn't tell her dad's because they would blow a gasket, and he kept her company whenever Diana didn't. Diana was helpful too. She helped with bathroom stuff too if Cassie needed it and her parents knew about the little girl's help.

After she finishes in the bathroom and washes her hands, she opens the bathroom door and proceeds to leave, only for one of her crutches to get caught on the door jamb. She yelps and falls forward and fortunately gets caught by Quill who she had fallen against. He helps her straighten and uses a small amount of his powers to pick up the crutch she had dropped and returns it to her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks. I'm gonna go upstairs." Cassie sighs.

"Let me help you to the elevator." Before Cassie can argue he points over in the direction of the elevator and she finds Emir sleeping near it. "He's kind of a big obstacle." Quill laughs.

"Oh, right." Cassie nods and accepts Quill's help, which consisted of him picking her up and carrying her to the elevator and he puts her back down as the doors open. "Thanks Papa."

Quill winks at her. "I'll distract your dad."

Cassie makes a face when she catches his insinuation and Quill cackles as the doors close. She was pretty sure he was taking advantage of her inability to run away by torturing her like this. She was half tempted to return the favor by insinuating that she and Peter were doing things but she was pretty sure that would backfire and her dads would try to kill Peter. She liked her boyfriend thank you very much.

When the doors opened again, she was immediately greeted by Peter who was the next to scoop her up. "Movie in bed?"

"I want to watch Moana and I want a shoulder massage. These crutches are killing me." Cassie pouts and Peter laughs as he carries her upstairs.

"Your wish is my command."

[tetsuroyaoyaoya]

A Crow Without Wings

tsukishima kei x reader - part four

previous | masterlist | next

It was too early for you to be roaming the halls of the school.

Despite not being due to officially start your manager duties until the practice match, you had decided to see if you could catch the end of the boys’ morning practice just to check in and ask if they needed anything from you, so that you could prepare for it later on. Since Kiyoko was still their main manager and she’d been doing this for years, you doubted that they would, but it gave you the excuse to tease your brother after the argument you had the day prior.

It wasn’t really that early, and you had only gotten to school twenty minutes earlier then you usually did, meaning there were already quite a few other students wandering around, waiting for the day to begin. At first, you didn’t pay them any mind, but then you began to notice the staring, and the whispers, and the looks.

It was as if you were back at Shiratorizawa again, walking the halls just as you had a few months ago, after the accident. You weren’t dreaming, right? This was definitely Karasuno, where nobody knew who you were?

Pinching yourself with quite a bit of force, you winced, confirming that you were, in fact, very much conscious, and very much confused. It could have always been something completely unrelated to you, or you were just paranoid. But no matter what you told yourself, you had an extremely bad feeling about whatever was going on.

Deciding to put the matter aside for now and ignore everyone else, you carried on through the building and out towards the gym, where it seemed to be uncharacteristically quiet to say there was meant to be a morning practice.

Quickening your pace slightly, just in case you had managed to miss them, you bumped into someone at the door of the gym.

“Rei?”

“Yams?” He looked panicked, eyes darting about as if he didn’t know where to look and not-so-subtly trying to steer you away from the building. If it was any other day, you would have just brushed it off as him being anxious like he usually was, but it felt like he was purposely trying to distract you, which concerned you.

“Let her in, Tadashi.” Looking up, your eyes met Tsukishima’s as he walked up to stand just behind the other first year that was blocking your way. Frowning, you noticed an unusually hard look on his face, and he, too, was avoiding looking at you. Letting out a huff of annoyance, you rolled your eyes at them both, thinking that it was just Tsukishima’s new plot to try and get on your nerves.

If it was, it was working.

“What? Is this some kind of joke? It’s really not funny.” Purposely brushing shoulders with Yamaguchi as you passed, you entered the gym to find that none of the team were actually playing, and they were instead huddled together at the bench.

“Rei-chan…” Sugawara looked at you with his signature warm smile, but his eyes were glossed over slightly, and he looked tense.

“Okay, what is happening today?” You were exasperated. The team had literally only just seen you last night, and yet this morning was so different.

“Is it true?” Your gaze shifted slightly to the right of Suga, seeing the normally excitable tangerine sat completely still, staring at you with wide eyes and furrowed brows. You never even thought that Hinata could make such a serious expression.

“Is what true?” The group of boys parted slightly as you approached to let you through and Suga handed you a tablet, presumably the coach’s.

“This was posted over every local news and sport site imaginable this morning.” Your heart dropped to your feet as you saw your name in bold, front and centre, in the article title.

This could not be happening.

People finding out who you were and what happened to you was frankly inevitable, and you knew that, but you didn’t expect ti to be posted across the news for the entire country to see.

“Holy shit,” Daichi never even opened his mouth to chastise you, in complete disbelief over what Suga had just read out to them.

Hurriedly, your eyes skimmed over the beginning of the article as you felt tears well up in your eyes. It only got worse the further you read on. Whoever their ‘exclusive source’ was, they had strung the most detailed web of lies you had ever come across, and if it wasn’t about you, you would have believed it.

‘Kageyama Rei used Ushijima Wakatoshi for his reputation, to pull herself to the top of the social chain at Shiratorizawa in order to gain a place on the volleyball team. She has absolutely no talent. The only reason she was even on the team was because she blackmailed the coach and forced Ushijima to threaten to quit the boys’ team if she didn’t get a place. Kageyama dragged the entire team down and completely ruined their chance to go to nationals, even going as far as causing another player to get injured due to her recklessness on the court.

‘When Ushijima found out what she was really like, they broke up, and since he wasn’t there to threaten the coach and the team for her anymore, she lost her place and was expelled. Nobody has seen her since, and I’m not surprised. It was embarrassing for everyone involved.’

This really did have to be a dream.

“No! None of this is true!” This wasn’t meant to happen. You were meant to have a new start. You were meant to be happy.

“Look, I’ll show you why we didn’t go to nationals.” Opening a new tab on the tablet, your hands trembled as you searched for the video you had ingrained into your brain by this point from having watched it so many times.

“Watch. Keep your eyes on number thirteen.” Turning the tablet around, you made sure that the whole team had a clear view of it as the video began to play. Even Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had moved over to watch, as they’d never seen it before.

They began to get excited as they watched the first few spikes, and you bit your lip as you heard a few of them gasp in awe as they followed the player.

But you knew what was coming.

You closed your eyes.

And flinched.

That scream haunted your nightmares, even now, and you could still hear in ringing in your ears as the video came to an end, a tear rolling down your cheek.

Opening your eyes, you looked over the many expressions of horror before you, each member still staring at the tablet in shock. You handed it back to Suga and felt his hand shake as he took it from you.

“Number thirteen was taken out of the game and Shiratorizawa withdrew from the competition altogether. Seijoh won by default. She wasn’t expelled, or even kicked from the team; she spent two weeks in the hospital, three months unable to walk, and another two in a leg brace on crutches. The doctor told her she could never play again.” A few gasps were heard, and you sighed.

“How do you know so much?” You gave Asahi a sad smile and fumbled with your fingers as you tried to think of a way to finally tell them your secret.

“Rei, you don’t have to do this.” Tsukishima was staring you down from the other side of the group, his glasses positioned further down the bridge of his nose than you had ever seen them before, him having not bothered adjusting them, and you resisted the urge to tease him about it.

“Yes, I do.” Reaching down, you pulled your sock down from over your knee, you revealed the compression sleeve that you were still required to wear. Taking a deep breath, you pushed that down as well, showing them all your injury.

The skin of your knee had healed considerably since the operation, but you still remember very vividly how it was mangled and out of place, and now all that remained were the deep pink indents, scars littered all over. The ones from the stitches were the most prominent; little raised bumps in neat lines down the sides of your knee.

I was the one that was injured.” Some of them had to look away from you, swallowing down the lumps in their throats that had formed, blinking their tears away.

“I’d been friends with Ushijima since we were kids, and we did date last year, but he was the reason we split up, not me. I got onto that team, and the All-Japan team, all by myself. We never threatened the coaches, and I left on my own accord. This entire thing is complete bullshit.” There was silence for a few moments, and you let yourself calm down slightly before pulling your sock back up. None of you really knew where to look or what to do next.

Someone, obviously who you knew, had created an entire fabrication of the past year of your life, and no one at your new school would be able to tell if it was a lie or not.

“Rei? Rei!” You spun around as someone stumbled into the gym, breathing heavily, clearly having run over.

“Pinch?” He looked up at you with a relieved smile, but quickly saw the tears on your face and rushed over.

“Kitten, oh fuck.” You barely had time to register it as he dragged you into a hug, but it definitely didn’t take you long for you to relax into it, enjoying the comfort of his arms. His hand ran over your hair and you turned your face inwards, resting in the crook of his neck.

“Are you okay?” He pulled away and gave you a quick once over, making sure that you were fine.

“What are you doing here?”

“I saw that disgusting article and couldn’t help it.” Shaking your head in amusement, you giggled, even through the tears.

“You could have just called, dummy.” Realisation dawned on his face and it made you laugh even more. You were interrupted by a cough, reminding you that the team was still huddled not far away.

“Oh, um, this is Semi Eita. Eita, this is my new team.” He bowed and the rest of the boys nodded their heads back at him in greeting.

“Sorry for barging in.”

“No, it’s totally fine. We just found out about it ourselves.” Daichi was trying is best at being nice but was obviously trying to profile the poor boy next to you, especially seen as he was wearing his Shiratorizawa uniform. Semi tensed beside you and your eyes landed on Tanaka and Nishinoya creeping closer, clearly trying to intimidate him.

“Boys,” you glared at them in warning and they paused, not taking their eyes off of their target. “Behave!” They backed off but made a point to stare from a distance.

“Where’s Tobio?” Due to all the chaos, you had only just noticed that your brother was the only one missing from the gathering, and you were surprised at yourself for not realising that he wasn’t there.

“He stormed out as soon as we saw the article.” You sighed, running a hand through your hair as you tried to come up with a way to deal with him.

“Nice.” Semi placed a hand gently between your shoulder blades in an attempt to calm you down a bit.

“Right, I’ll deal with him later. You boys better clean up and get ready for class before Kiyoko sees. Do not be late to the match after school, and I will see you all there, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am!” It brought a smile to your face and tension in the air began to disperse. They got to clearing up the equipment and Semi handed you a tissue to wipe your remaining tears as Sugawara approached.

“If you need anything today, no matter what, you can come and find one of us. Even Kiyoko.” He placed a hand on your arm to comfort you and you nodded back at him.

“Thank you.” It was barely a whisper, but he understood, giving you one of his toothy grins before going over to join the other boys.

Today was not going to be your day.

~~~

Handing Semi a drink from the vending machine, you placed yourself next to him on the bench behind the gym. Daichi had assured you that none of the teachers check there on their rounds and you could chat with your friend in peace for a while.

So here you both were, skipping the morning period, avoiding teachers, and drinking juice.

“If he’s seen it, he doesn’t care. I found out from Tendou.” He answered your unspoken question and confirmed your suspicions. You knew the article would have no effect on Ushijima, whether it was true or not. He was basically a household name at this point, and anyone would believe that he did nothing wrong, especially with how the article made him out to be a victim of the situation, despite the situation never existing at all. It also showed he was long over you; he didn’t care about you anymore.

Shuffling closer to Semi, you came to rest your head on his shoulder. You had missed having close friends around like this, and while the two of you hadn’t spoken since you left, it felt as if you had seen him just yesterday.

“Well, the peace was nice while it lasted.” You tried to joke, but he could sense the slight tremble in your voice. You were afraid of what was going to happen next, knowing that some people would never believe you if you told them what really happened.

“It was someone close to me, it had to have been.” Semi’s mouth was set into a firm line, having realised that himself. There were details in that article that not just anyone knew, and it was unsettling to know that the entire thing was possibly planned by someone you called a friend.

“You’ll be okay.” He brought his hand around you and lent his head on yours.

“I hope so.”

~~~

You were exhausted.

Luckily, Aihara and Sasuke had already known about your accident for a while now, so at least they weren’t suddenly against you like everyone else seemed to be. They had stayed by your side for the majority of the day, making sure that you were okay and warding off anyone that might try something on you.  

Even so, you couldn’t get the article out of your thoughts. Apart from the excerpt you had read this morning, you hadn’t seen any more of it, so you couldn’t even begin to imagine what people thought of you since you hadn’t read the entire thing. All you knew, according to your two friends, and Semi, was that everything that this mysterious person had said about you was absolutely awful and completely untrue. You were curious, but you knew reading more would only upset you further.

The school day finally ended, and you met up with Kiyoko to start preparing for the practice match. She didn’t question you about anything, which you were grateful for, and you both had a pleasant chat as you gathered paperwork and set up equipment.

Soon enough, the boys also started to arrive at the gym, rushing to get into uniform, and you greeted them as Kiyoko returned from going to speak with the other team’s manager.

“Ouginishi will arrive at 4:30!” She announced, receiving a chorus of responses. Coach Ukai caught your attention and he waved you over to speak to him.

“Kageyama, I want you to sit out of this one.”

“What? Why?” It was meant to be the first match with you as their manager. You wanted to see them play a real match.

“You need to go and clear your head. I can see from the other side of the court that your mind is in the clouds. The boys told me what happened, and they agreed that it can wait one more day for you to start.” Clearly upset, you frowned at him, but you understood. You had been out of it all day, and volleyball was merely another distraction to add to the mix.

“You can’t tell them how to improve if you aren’t fully in the match, so go home, and rest.” Bowing your head, you gave him a weak nod. He didn’t seem too concerned about the article, but he had known who you were from the start, so obviously it wasn’t important to him.

Picking up your bag from where you had dropped it down next to the bench, you turned to leave but was stopped as you bumped into someone for the second time today.

“Giving up already?” That sneer. There was only one person that it could be, and you rolled your eyes, looking up at the blond who was staring you down, a sly smirk sitting happily on his face.

“Shut it, Tsukki.” You huffed, and he dropped the smirk.

“Oi,” Raising an eyebrow at him as he glared at you, you couldn’t help but realise you were really getting sick of his hot and cold attitude that he’d been showing you over the past few weeks. It was a wonder how Yamaguchi stayed friends with him.

“Get over it already.” You couldn’t help but let your jaw drop at his words, not even being able to form a response as he left you dumbfounded.

“Excuse me?”

“There’s nothing you can do about it, so there’s no use moping about, is there? So just get over it.” You hated it, but he had a really good point. It wasn’t like you could change what had already happened, and there wasn’t really a point in trying to change what people thought about you right now, so what was the point in being distracted by it?

“Get over yourself, beanpole.” Chuckling as his face scrunched up in annoyance, you readjusted the bag on your shoulder and walked out of the gym, not even bidding farewell to the other boys.

The fresh air was nice as you walked, but you found it difficult to clear your mind. Taking Tsukishima’s advice was easier said than done. It wasn’t like you could just be fine with the article straight away, especially after getting so worked up over it through the day.

Even if you didn’t care about the stupid thing anymore, that interview had still been given by someone very close to you, and the fact that you had been stabbed in the back like that by one of your friends was going to weigh on your mind for a while, whether you liked it or not.

You just hoped that you would never find out who did it, for your sake and theirs.

~~~

Cursing at no one in particular, you hurried your pace as you rushed for the train. If you made this next one, you could get to Tokyo earlier that you had thought you were able to, and you could hopefully get there before dinner.

The team must have already arrived by now and were probably in the middle of a game. It was a shame that you weren’t able to travel with them, but it lifted your spirits to know that your brother and his orange sidekick were going to be late as well.

You had known they were hopeless, so you weren’t surprised when they failed their exams; you had laughed at them, in fact, earning a slap over the head from Daichi. However, you hadn’t expected for them to actually try and still make it to the training camp, despite the make-up exam being on the first day. It really didn’t help that Tanaka had encouraged them and offered for his sister to pick them up from the school and drive them all the way over from Miyagi.

Your excuse for being late was that you doctor’s appointment had been rescheduled at the last minute, to just after midday, so you couldn’t be there for the start of the camp.

It was so worth it though.

The doctor had cleared you for minor practice, meaning you could play volleyball again. There were restrictions of course, a lot of them, and you knew your brother was going to be less than pleased about it, but you were just so excited to be able to spike a ball once again. That serve last week had left you buzzing, ready to feel the rush of adrenaline you got from seeing the view of the other side of the net being revealed to you finally, after so long.

You were also ready to kick the boys’ asses and knock them down a few pegs, that’s if the teams at the camp weren’t doing that already. Smiling at the thought, you took a seat on the train you had barely managed to catch and prepped yourself for the two-hour journey to the capital that you had ahead of you.

It was so easy to get lost in your thoughts as the train sped through the country, and your place next to the window was greatly appreciated as you looked over the mass of beautiful scenery. For once, there was nothing important on your mind, and you could finally relax and just space out. Even though your heart was pounding against your ribcage in anticipation of playing again, you kept your cool, even as the train pulled into the station, signalling you had arrived in Tokyo at last. You still had another train to catch, but you had already noticed the difference in atmosphere here.

You hadn’t been to Tokyo since you pulled out of the national team, and despite the memory, you were smiling. You felt free again; not worrying about your knee, or what people thought of you.

You had finally let go of it all.

Admitting that Tsukishima had helped you do it was out of the question though. You hadn’t spoken to him since the practice match, but he had begun to glance at you every so often when you crossed paths. He looked as if he was checking up on you, but his expression always remained stoic, so you could never tell what he was thinking. He was difficult to read, but you guessed that was what made him such a good player, even if he didn’t realise that himself.

It was almost dinner when you arrived at Nekoma, just as you had expected. Kiyoko met you at the gates and showed you to the managers’ room, informing you that there were still a couple of matches to be played yet, so you weren’t too late.

You had brought your old practice gear since it was the only thing you had on hand that was suitable for exercise. It was merely a pair of black shorts and the training shirt you wore while on the national team, but having that number and name displayed on your back again felt unreal. It was like you really belonged on the court again. Your heart ached as you looked at the flag on your chest and your sleeve as it reminded you how close you were to success, but you refused to let it ruin your excitement. You still had to wear your compression sleeve, but luckily, your kneepads covered it almost perfectly, so no one would even notice you wearing one.

You were ready.

Kiyoko brought you up to speed quickly on the team’s matches so far, and you were surprised to hear that they had lost every single one. Although, right now they were the small fry in the big pond of nationals-worthy teams, so it wasn’t exactly unexpected. While the team had improved by leaps and bounds since the start of the year, these teams had already been great for years, and Karasuno wasn’t just going to catch up overnight.

“Ah,” Kiyoko sighed.

“I left my clipboard back there. You go ahead without me.” Nodding, you watched her back for a few seconds as she hurried back to the dorms.

As you ended the gym, you noticed that Karasuno was just finishing up a game, but you couldn’t really tell who they were playing against. Though, judging by the scores, they looked like they were actually winning for once. The coach and Takeda were easy to find, and they seemed happy to see you.

“I’m cleared for practice!” Ukai grinned at you and patted you on the back.

“Good. They deserve to be taught a lesson after today.” You watched on as Hinata and your brother set up their freak quick, your eyes barely managing to keep up with the boy as he reached the opposite end of the court, suddenly in the air. The opponent managed to barely just get their fingertips on the ball, but it wasn’t enough. It slammed down on the floor, one of the other players missing it by mere centimetres.

“Hey, Hey, Hey! What do we have here?” Turning your head, you noticed a familiar two-toned head of hair with his eyes trained on the power duo stood not too far away from you.

“Tarō!” His head shot around until he found you, and you giggled as he began to run over.

“Rei-chan!” You barely had time to blink before you were in his arms as he spun you around.

“Bokuto-san, you’ll scare her off.” You were brought back to the floor and you stumbled a bit, a new pair of hands keeping you steady.

“Keiji, nice to see you again.” He made sure you were upright and stable on your feet before letting go of you and giving you a nod in greeting.

“And you, too.” They quickly took notice of your manager’s jacket and shared a look of confusion.

“You don’t go to Shiratorizawa anymore?” Shaking your head, you nodded over to your new team.

“Didn’t you hear what happened? I couldn’t stay.” Despite the shift in mood, Bokuto still had a grin on his face, and it cheered you up straight away.

“Actually, I need to go put those boys in their place.” Akaashi smiled as he caught onto what you were getting at and both of them followed you over to where your friends were resting by the side of the court. They noticed you approaching and greeted you, eyeing the two beside you.

“Do you just know all the top players, or what?” You shook your head, smiling at Suga’s comment.

“Do you think you guys would be up for one more set? No punishments this time?” As expected, Hinata was already bouncing about, a bright grin on his face.

“Ooooh! Against who?”

“Me.”

“Absolutely not!” Your brother appeared in front of you in an instant, glaring you down. The two of you had barely spoken since the article was released, and you had a feeling that your first conversation of the day was about to be an argument.

“I’ve been cleared for practice, so I’m good to play now. One set won’t kill me.” He huffed in your face and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. He was being stubborn, as usual.

“I promise to tap out the second it starts to hurt, okay?” Averting his eyes, he sighed, which was permission enough for you. You smiled and Hinata cheered, bounding up to you.

“Rei-chan! Can I be on your team?” Hearing Bokuto chuckle behind you, Hinata glanced at him in question.

“Sorry Hinata, but the other team is going to need all the help they can get.” Tanaka and Noya began to get riled up at your confidence.

“If that serve the other day was anything to go by, then she’s right. I want to be on the other team. I want to receive a spike from that hand.” Noya stood proudly with his hands on his hips, grinning at you devilishly.

“I’d expect nothing less from you, Noya.” With a smile, the team began sorting themselves into two teams as you quickly warmed up. Yourself, your brother, Tanaka, Daichi, and Ennoshita ended up on one team, and Noya, Asahi, Sugawara, Hinata, and Tsukishima were placed on the other.

It was definitely strange standing on a court like this again, especially on an all-boys court, but as soon as the coach tossed you a ball, you felt the adrenaline rush through you. Catching wind of the little independent practice match, and Bokuto’s cheers, some players from the other teams had idled towards your court to watch, intrigued by the fact that you were playing when you were clearly not on the boys’ team.

You began to hear whispers; your name, your reputation, the national logo on your shirt, the article, but you blocked them all out and got ready to serve, spinning the ball between your hands a few times.

It was just like last time; you felt alive.

Taking a few steps backwards, you adjusted your body to take your signature position, facing the left, the ball balancing on the palm of your right hand which was outstretched to face the other side of the court.

With a deep breath, you listened as Ukai blew the whistle, and you tossed the ball high up into the air. One second you were running forward, the next you were up in the air just like the ball, high above everyone else, beaming at the sight of the other side of the net. With every ounce of power you could muster, you hit the ball, feeling the sting of contact as you sent it flying towards the other end of the gym.

It hit the floor before Noya could even flinch, flying past him so fast that he could feel the air shift as it sped by.

“A service ace! On the first serve! Woah…”

“That… was… wow.”

“Nice one, Kageyama! Do it again!” You giggled at their surprise, your eyes skimming over the faces of the watching players. A lot more had noticed the game now, the crowd expanding.

“I’ll get it next time, Rei-chan!” Sending a thumbs up to Noya, you reset your position and Ukai tossed you another ball. You positioned yourself in the exact same way and sent another serve towards the other side of the court, not exactly as powerful, but shocking none the less. Although, this time, Noya just managed to dig it.

However, he sent it back to your side of the court.

“Sorry!”

“Chance ball!” Daichi shouted as he received the ball. He sent it over to Tobio and you and Tanaka both ran up to the net to spike.

You jumped and the other side’s blockers jumped with you, but as Tsukishima’s face levelled with yours, you smirked, causing him to look over just as Tanaka spiked the ball. Asahi dove to save it, but it was too late, letting the ball hit the floor, your team gaining another point.

The relay carried on for some time, both teams gaining a healthy amount of points. Most of the watchers had ditched the game, more interested in their food than anything else, but both sides refused to give up until they won.

Your side hit twenty points first, still a good five points in the lead over the others. Tsukishima had yet to block you, and despite his collected exterior, you could tell he was slowly getting more and more irritated by your tactics. No matter how much he studied you, observed your movements as you played, he could never get a read on you. He was usually fairly good at predicting movements this far into the game, but he couldn’t keep up with you. He absolutely hated it, but he was unbelievably impressed.

Was this what national players were like?

Even with you out of commission, you were wiping the floor with them. All he could tell was that you weren’t finished just yet. You still had a trick up your sleeve; you were too calm. The spikes you were hitting were amazing, but somehow not as good as your serves and he couldn’t figure out why they were so different. For the most part, you had been acting as a decoy because you had figured out that him and Hinata were paying more attention to you, but Tsukishima knew that wasn’t your position. You were a wing spiker; you had said so on that very first day he had met you. And for the wing spiker for a national team, it didn’t seem like you were putting in one hundred percent of your effort, and he couldn’t for the life of him think of a reason why you wouldn’t.

Were you that confident?

You clearly didn’t need to put in maximum effort, you were doing just fine at winning without doing so, but for someone who loved volleyball as much as you did, he had expected you to spike in the same way as Hinata, who cherished every toss he was given. There was definitely something off about it.

Tsukishima was so busy caught up in his thoughts, he missed the subtle nod that Tobio sent your way, as well as the smirk that it brought to your lips.

Asahi served the ball, which was neatly received by Ennoshita, who sent it straight to your brother. Once again, you ran up to the net, with Tsukishima and Hinata ready to block your spike. There was only one problem.

As you crouched down to jump, you smiled at them through the net. And then suddenly, you were gone, somehow already at the other side of the court, where Tanaka was meant to be right now. The other team merely blinked, and the ball was in their side of the court, rebounding off of the gym floor.

“Huh?” Pretty much every player left in the gym were stood with their jaws practically on the floor, gaping at you as you laughed.

“I was waiting for that!” You high-fived your brother, who actually looked a little shocked himself, but not as much as the rest of the team.

“Ooooh, I haven’t done that in so long! That was amazing!”

“That- that’s my spike!” Hinata rushed up to face you through the net.

“But it’s better?” Tsukishima joined in, with a little ‘hey’ from Hinata. You nodded, giggling as you looked over to see Ukai, Takeda, and Kiyoko all staring at you and Tobio in awe.

“Is this another move of ours that’s actually yours?” The blond smirked at you, actually joking with you for once.

“Technically, yes. But it’s not the spike that’s the move.”

“It’s the toss.” Ukai finished for you and you nodded.

“While the serve is actually my move, which I taught Oikawa, who taught it to Tobio here, the toss is all his.” You poked the boy in the side, and he squirmed away from you.

“I did actually teach him how to toss because that was my original position, but it’s his genius that makes it what it is. When I realised he was so good at it, I switched from setter to wing spiker so that we could both practice at the same time and benefit from it.”

“And you both got so used to each other and your abilities that there was no one that could hit his tosses like you could, until Hinata came along.” You gave the coach a thumbs up in affirmation and Hinata gaped at you.

“Two geniuses in one family, huh?” Suga still looked shocked, but he had his usual uplifting smile on his face.

“So basically, you can play any position?”

“Yup!” Giggling, you rested a hand on the back of your neck, suddenly conscious of the amount of attention that was being directed your way.

All of a sudden, a growl echoed through the gym and you sheepishly wrapped your arms around your stomach in embarrassment. The coach let out a chuckle and the team dispersed, returning to their positions.

“Okay, let’s get this wrapped up and get some food!” The whole team cheered, and you heard Bokuto join in. Shaking your head in amusement, you locked eyes with him and grinned as he and Akaashi sent you a thumbs up. You sent one back and got into position, ready to receive.

The match didn’t last much longer, you being the one to score the last four points consecutively, ending the match with your victory.

“A whole ten-point lead?” You were walking over as a new boy approached where Bokuto and Akaashi were stood. Recognising the Nekoma uniform and the severe bedhead-looking mop of black hair, you assumed this was their captain, going off what Hinata had gushed to you about their team in the run up to the camp.

“Was it the shrimp’s quick?” Akaashi nodded at you in greeting as you came to stand beside him.

“Actually, no.” Looking at him curiously, you resisted a smile as he did a double take after glancing your way.

“It was mine.” His face was a picture of pure panic, and it was hard not to find it funny.

“Kag-Kageyama Rei?” Oh, so he knew you.

“Nice to meet you.” You reached out your hand and he shook it eagerly, bowing slightly.

“Rei, this is Kuroo Tetsurou, Nekoma’s captain.” Good, you had guessed right.

“Shouyou and Tobio have told me a lot about your team.” He chuckled nervously and shuffled to stand slightly behind Bokuto, an action you raised your eyebrow at. This didn’t seem like the ‘big scary captain’ that Hinata had told you about.

“I’m actually a really big fan of yours. It’s a shame about what happened.” He was cautious about it, probably assuming that it would upset you, but you shook it off and smiled.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Rei-chan!” Turning your head, you saw Suga waving you over as the rest of the team were beginning to walk out of the gym. You nodded at him and he started to leave as well.

“Right, I’ll see you guys later?” They all nodded, and you waved at them as you jogged away to catch up with the team.

The cool breeze on your neck felt amazing as you stepped out of the gym and you closed your eyes, only for a cough to interrupt your peace. Opening one eye, you noticed the blond straight away, and you sighed as he approached you.

“What are you doing still stood here?” His hands were shoved in his pockets and he looked more worn out than he usually did.

“Waiting for you so you wouldn’t get lost.” You scoffed as the two of you started to walk towards where you assumed the cafeteria was.

“I’m not that stupid.” He rolled his eyes and smirked at you, his signature condescending expression slowly making its way back onto his face, where it belonged.

“You’re related to Kageyama, so I doubt it.” You laughed, and he was amused at how much more difficult it was to rile you up compared to your brother.

“Your blocks were really good today.” He merely hummed, and you glanced over to see him looking away from you, no quip or snide comment at the ready.

“Not good enough to stop you, apparently.” Nodding, there was a pause, the silence slightly heavy.

“Maybe so. But you have time to improve. I’m sure this camp will give you a lot to think about and work on.”

“What if I don’t want to?” You were a bit shocked, and slightly concerned.

“Don’t you want to go to nationals?” His gaze shifted to the floor, his hands finding themselves deeper inside of his pockets.

“I… don’t know.” He mumbled, and lifted his head to look at you, only you weren’t by his side anymore. You had stopped and you were looking at him with a hard expression on his face.

“Tsukki, why do you play?” He had no answer for you. He could only stare at you, eyes trained on yours as you stepped forward to stand in front of him.

“Are you scared?”

“Of what?” It was harsh, and he knew that. He didn’t mean it to be, but either way, you weren’t backing down.

“Hinata?” He laughed as if you had said the most ridiculous thing in the world, but you could see straight through it.

“You don’t think you can ever be as good as him, do you?” You knew you’d hit the nail straight on the head when he rolled his eyes, turning to continue walking off toward the cafeteria.

“You know what? Maybe you never will be as good as Hinata at attacking. But do you think he’ll ever be as good as you at defending.” He stopped once again, glancing over his shoulder at you.

“He attacks, you defend. That’s called teamwork, Tsukki. You’re good at defending, that’s why you’re a blocker. Everyone has their role. But Hinata can’t carry one attacking like he does it you can’t be bothered to improve. If you don’t get better, the other team will be able to score, and then you won’t be able to stay on the court and Hinata can’t attack at all. Karasuno will lose, and you’ll go back to being just the ‘flightless crows’ like you used to be. Do you want that Tsukki?”

“Of course not!” He turned to face you fully, stepping closer as if he was trying to intimidate you.

“Then get over it.” His eyes widened at your words; the same words that he had spoken to you only a few days earlier.

You were right. God, you were so right. And you even hit him with his own advice. You were really pushing his buttons today.

“Whatever.” Chucking to yourself, you knew that you’d managed to get your point across. It was satisfying, really, to shut him up like that.

“Do you think they’ll have any sushi?”

“Are you being serious right now?”

The two of you bickered the entire way to the cafeteria, and continued to do so as you both got your food and as you sat down at a table with him and Yamaguchi, completely unaware of the shocked glances that you were getting from the rest of the team.

For once this year, there was not a single thing you were worried about. You could play volleyball with a team of people that you were lucky enough to call your friends, and there was really nothing that could go wrong.

Finally, you were happy.

taglist: @tchalameme, @iamthepenguinwhosearseisonfire, @loreblackthorne, @lorentime, @influxencer​

[rorynne]

Reckless

Pairing: Doctor!Bucky Barnes/Barton!Reader

Summary: You aren't really known for making the best life choices. But maybe Doctor Barnes can convince you to be a little less risky?

Warnings: Doctor!AU, mild swearing, vague depictions of injury and general doctoring.

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: This was inspired by two asks sent to @bucky-plums-barnes that i just really wanted to see made into a fic. So here it is, unbeta’d and barely proof read. Dont say i didnt warn you

You weren’t hurt, sore, maybe, but you were not hurt. You winced as your friend hit a pothole in just the wrong way, okay maybe you were a little more than sore, bruised. It wasn't even the worst thing you've done all week, you just... landed wrong, that's all. It's definitely not as bad as that time with the fire pokers. Natasha shot a frustrated glance at you in the rear view mirror as she drove, “Who the hell has the brilliant idea to jump off a two story building sober?”

“Clint dared me, what the hell was I supposed to do? Be a coward?” You defended as Natasha sent her poisonous glare to the man sitting in the passenger seat. A man who probably has collected as many scars and injuries as you have over the years, you two were not known for good decision making.

“Hey!” Clint threw his hands into the air, “Don't drag me into this I wasn't the one that jumped.”

“Yeah you did you went first!”

“Why do I associate with you two?” Natasha groaned as she pulled in front of the hospital. “Clint, carry them inside so I can find a place to park,” she ordered and Clint jumped into action, very carefully pulling you out of the back seat. You winced as a shock of pain pulsed through you when he touched your ribs, yeah, bruised.

The wait for the ER wasn’t nearly as long as you expected it to be, probably because Clint ended up carrying you into the hospital, alerting all of the nearby staff. It only took about ten minutes for your name to be called. A nurse forced you into a wheelchair as she seen you attempt to limp to the examination room, much to your dismay. She quickly got to work taking your vitals and taking you to get x-rays done before wheeling you into your examination room.

“Seriously, I think everyone is getting far too worked up about this, I feel fine,” you said to Clint and Natasha as you waited for the doctor.

“You didn't see how your head hit the pavement.” Clint said, making sure not to meet Natasha’s glare.

You threw your head back in frustration causing the dull ache in your head to explode into a burst of pain. You hissed, holding your head in one hand before finally adding, “Yea but it stopped bleeding, that's all that matters right? This is a complete waste of time.”

As if to answer your question, the exam room door opened, and in stepped a young doctor with steel blue eyes and brown hair tied into a messy man bun. Well damn, if the ER doctors were going to be this cute maybe it wasn't a waste of time. “When I seen ‘Barton’ on the chart I was expecting Clint’s name next to it. You didn't tell me there was two of them Natasha.” The doctor said, shaking his head as he looked at the charts.

“Hey, I already had my monthly visit to the ER, doc.” Clint protested before gesturing to you, “Now it's their turn.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow as he looked between the two of you, “There was far too much to unpack in that statement than we can get to today.” He sighed before sticking out his hand to you “I’m Doctor James Barnes, but you can call me Bucky. I've already patched your brother up on a number of occasions. How are you feeling?”

You blinked once or twice before shaking his hand, “I feel fine, I’m just a little bruised is all. I promise you Dr. Barnes, these two are just overreacting.”

Bucky glanced  at you incredulously before looking at Natasha who was thoroughly unamused at driving her friend to the ER at three in the morning. “Does a general disregard for their own health and safety run in the family?”

“No.” You and Clint answered in unison.

“Yes.” Natasha said, arms crossed.

Bucky sighed, “Well, you have two broken ribs according to the x rays, but your ankle isn't broken so that's a plus.” He shined a light into your eyes, causing you to wince in pain as your headache pulsed angrily. “Do you know what year it is, doll?”

You paused, distracted by the nickname, “Uh, what?”

“What year is it?”

You grew slightly distracted again as you noticed the sway of two dog tags hanging from his neck, “2019?” You almost guessed, forcing your attention back to his question.

He nodded at the answer, checking things off on his clipboard, “Any head pain, nausea, dizziness?”

“I hit my head on the pavement, Of course it hurts.” You shrugged, sounding a bit snippier than you intended. “I mean, yeah but I’m okay, I walked it off.”

He raised a concerned eyebrow as he moved to your ankle. “How did you even manage all of this?”

“Yes Y/N, Tell the nice doctor how this all happened.” Natasha frowned, leaning back into her seat. You flushed slightly as the ridiculousness of the plan set in.

“Well, I mean, Clint and I were watching some parkour videos, where people jumped off high ledges and stuff.” Bucky’s eyebrows shot up in horror as you started your story, completely distracted from treating you ankle. “So we tried jumping from the roof of our apartment building. Turns out it's harder than it looks.” He looked at you dumbstruck, before opening his mouth and closing it.

“You could have broken your neck and died. You're lucky that you're even sitting here for me to patch you up doll.” He frowned, as he started to wrap a bandage around your ankle. “You've got a sprained ankle, two broken ribs, and a concussion out of the deal. You shouldn't be so reckless.”

You winced as he tightened the wrapping, “I've walked away from worse. Normally I just don't bother coming in unless I don't stop bleeding, or something is bent wrong.”

“You shouldn't be walking at all,” he argued, growing slightly frustrated by your disregard for your health. “You could have seriously been hurt, and honestly you should be coming into the ER for much less than this.” You bit your lip at his pleading face, he looked like a kicked puppy as he scolded you for your recklessness. Did he really have any right to be this damn cute? The answer to that was no, but you sure as hell weren't complaining. “Next time you get hurt like this, promise me you aren't going to try to walk it off? I already know enough reckless punks to last me a lifetime.”

He looked at you with his kicked puppy face and you felt your stomach flutter. “I promise.” You mutter as he helped you up and handed you a set of crutches. Maybe coming to the ER wasn't so bad after all.

You started to become a regular face at the hospital, much to Bucky’s relief and dismay. As it turns out, you are more reckless than your brother, often finding yourself in Bucky’s exam room once or twice a week, each time earning a thorough scolding from him on making good choices. Every once in a while his lectures would be peppered with pet names and flirtatious remarks that sent your heart a flutter. When he wasn't available to take care of you, his friend Steve would make sure to patch you up then usually minus the scolding.

Slowly, Bucky started to expect you to come in on certain days, usually the weekend, late at night seemed to be when you had your brilliant daredevil ideas. When you came in at different times, the other doctors and nurses were all sure to let him know you were okay. He took solace in knowing that, as long as you were coming in, that meant you were at least breathing.

A solace that was cracked when one week, you just didn’t come in. No one had seen you, or Clint, all week causing Bucky to grow concerned. Had you just not gotten hurt? At this point he wondered if that were even possible for you. Had you fallen back into not going to the ER? That was possible, but you always seemed happy to be patched up by him, would you really just suddenly stop? Inevitably his mind fell to the worst possible outcome, one that Steve had to repeatedly remind him probably wasn't the case.

It only got worse when two more weeks passed without you showing up. Bucky felt like he was losing his mind. He was practically sick with worry, trying not to do something stupid himself, when the head nurse handed him a medical chart. “Your patient is in room three.” She smiled slyly before moving onto the next task in her day. His heart leapt to his throat when he seen the name on the chart.

The relief he felt seeing you as he opened the exam room door was unimaginable. You looked up at him sheepishly with a badly swollen wrist, He was just glad you weren't dead. “Where on earth have you been doll?” he asked, quickly getting to work on bandaging your sprained wrist.

“You kept telling me that I should be less reckless, so I decided to try it out.” You have a slight chuckle of a laugh and scrunched your nose before you continued. “Turns out it's boring.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “You're gonna give me a heart attack doll. Do you know how worried I was not seeing you for three weeks?”

You stared at him biting your lip. “You know,” you said eventually, “there's other ways to be able to see me that don't require a trip to the hospital.”

He paused, looking up from bandaging your wrist before nodding and giving his flirtatious smirk. “Do you want to meet up for lunch this week doll?”

You grinned at his invitation. “Sounds like it'll be more fun than spraining my wrist trying to climb a wall.”

His jaw dropped. “You did what?!”

[margaret-vanzin-blog]

(natalia dyer, female) MARGARET “MAGGIE” VANZIN, the BROKEN BIRD, is NINETEEN and a SOPHOMORE. SHE is majoring in LITERATURE. In addition to being Quentin’s FAMILY FRIEND, they are part of the Imperium Society. MAGGIE was probably selected because SHE WAS A DANCE PRODIGY AND A SOLOIST OF A PRESTIGIOUS BALLET COMPANY. They remind me of PRECISE ANGLES, TREMBLING HANDS, WELL-WORN POINTE SHOES, & THE COOL EVENING BREEZE. (tara, 21+, est, she/her)

hi! i’m tara. i’m a slut for dark academia, secret societies, et cetera, so this is my exact preferred wheelhouse. i’m really lucky i saw this rp in the tags this morning. below is an intro to my darling Maggie. 

sorry for the length lmao but I wanted to make sure I had her whole history straight. feel free to skip down to the personality subtopic if you like.

trigger warnings for self harm (though in a non-direct way?).

Chapter 1: Messy childhood™

She was named for psychologist Margaret Floy Washburn, and she uses Margaret professionally but often goes by Maggie.

I think she’s 5th out of the 6 Vanzins?? (Vanzin squad, if that conflicts with what you have already, let me know)

Adpoted by Moira and Yakov Vanzin as an infant, she never knew any other life than what the psychologists provided. Due to her seemingly advanced spatial awareness as a baby, they decided that her specialty would be dance, and they bred her for ballet. She began training almost as soon as she could toddle around on two feet.

Most of her childhood was spent sequestered in the dance studio her parents had built in their house. Her teachers crafted a strict schedule that combined the Vaganova method with the Cecchetti method, honing her strength and elasticity.

Maggie has always been pliable, a puppet in the hands of her trainers and her parents and whoever else wanted to mold her. She was never asked whether she wanted to do ballet, but she never argued, either. She never considered that an option.

By age eight, she was splitting her time between training and home and dancing in the corps de ballet of the Bolshoi Ballet. Sometimes, as the ballets they performed didn’t have roles suited for someone as young as Maggie, the company’s choreographers would adjust the blocking specifically to allow her exquisite talent a chance to shine within the company of much older dancers.

As she was growing up, she saw how talented her siblings were, both intellectually and physically. And much like some of them, her main goal was to live up to her parents’ expectations - and really, to avoid being the only disappointment. But as she grew taller, and her body proportions shifted, she found it harder and harder to keep up with the level of performance that was expected of her. The jumps and spins required different physics now, physics that she hadn’t had the time to figure out. 

This is true for all ballet dancers, not that she would know; she never got much of a chance to spend real time with any of the others. She was whisked in and out of rehearsal spaces and performance halls and had no opportunity to befriend anyone even remotely close to her age, other than her siblings.

(And even then, I imagine she saw very little of her siblings, despite how much she may have wanted to spend more time with them.)

Chapter 2: Shit falls apart

Because she began struggling for the first time in her life, by around age fourteen, she saw herself as a failure. She slept only a scant few hours a night, too restless and overcome with worry to be able to fall asleep. Her intense diet regimen had become even more restrictive, and she began numbly ingesting only the food that was strictly necessary for survival. Yet she still had to work three times as hard as she ever had before, and it was driving her towards a nervous breakdown. 

She thought about speaking up about the pressure she was under, telling her trainers or her parents, but she was terrified that either they wouldn’t take her seriously or that they wouldn’t care. Besides, other people - including her siblings - could handle the pressure, so shouldn’t she be able to, too? Plus, it was obnoxiously cliché, the dancer suffering from a work-related mental breakdown. She resented herself even more for it.

Around the same time, the Bolshoi promoted her to become a fairly regular soloist, on track to become a principal ballerina in the next few years. The record for the world’s youngest prima ballerina is nineteen; Maggie’s trainers projected she could reach it earlier than that if she put in enough effort. As expected, pressure only mounted.

At eighteen, she was indeed offered a contract to sign on as a principal. The media celebrated: youngest ballerina ever offered principal position with a major company. Her parents were delighted, and under their watchful eyes, Maggie signed on the dotted line.

She began funneling money out of her personal savings account, the equivalent of a few hundred dollars at a time.

Five weeks later, with trembling hands and skittish eyes, she offered the equivalent of ten thousand dollars to one of the other girls who’d just gotten expelled from the corps at the last company cut, in exchange for staging a hit-and-run. Not enough to kill her; just enough to take her out of the game. The other ballerina took the money, went ahead with the plan as arranged, the incident occurring in the back alley where they were sure there’d be no cameras, just as Maggie purposely left the theatre late one night. 

An injured Maggie called for the paramedics, the impact of the car and her fall having broken her right leg and wrist, among other minor injuries. Enough, and more, to take her off pointe shoes for a while. 

When they found her (and for some time afterwards), she was an absolute sobbing wreck, mostly out of shock and disbelief that she actually did what she did, though everyone took it as devastation that her ballet aspirations had shattered along with her leg. Moira and Yakov were livid about the accident, but there was no way of tracing the vehicle, and the culprit went unpunished. As of now, no one knows that Maggie orchestrated it herself. The ballerina who hit her is still part of the company, though they haven’t spoken since. Maggie wishes she should send the girl a thank you card but doesn’t want to risk contacting her. 

Was this slightly overdramatic? Oh, for sure. But it was the only way she could think of to get out of her situation and finally be able to rest without outright quitting or admitting defeat. To this day, she faces conflicting feelings of both guilt and relief over her decisions in that regard. 

Chapter 3: Ashcroft

After having lost so much muscle in her right leg during the healing process and weeks on crutches, she was in no place to begin intense training again. The Bolshoi graciously released her from her contract until she could regain full range of movement through physical therapy.

Her parents, having added the “youngest principal ballerina” to their collection in name if not in deed, agreed to allow her to attend Ashcroft with her older siblings until her full range of motion has returned. As principal ballerinas are often in their mid 20′s-early 30′s, the Bolshoi Ballet then also agreed to let Maggie not just attend university through her recovery but attend until her university graduation, before officially re-joining the company.

There was no need for her to major in dance, since she already has a position waiting for her (a position which she’s dreading, knowing what happened when she was under pressure last time). So instead of studying dance at Ashcroft, she found herself… free to choose. She’s never been able to do that before. Arbitrarily, she chose literature, since she can read at the very least - she’s not particularly made out for academic study, like Florence or some of her other siblings might be, but she’s still happy to have a life outside of ballet, at least for a little while.

When she was invited to join the Imperium Society, she joined. It didn’t matter much to her either way, but she didn’t think she had another choice - and besides, her siblings were in it already. She would always follow in their footsteps, no matter where that took her. 

Quentin’s death was a shock - especially after learning that he was stabbed and poisoned. He was a fairly close friend of some of her siblings, she knew, even if she hadn’t known him as well. But she’d still known him; plus, the murder of someone in their society didn’t do much to set her mind at ease. 

Personality

Anxious. Despite her calm eyes, her anxiety is visible in her twitching fingers and her slightly warbling voice. I imagine that if her parents noticed, they never cared; if her siblings noticed her anxiety, and they ever said anything to her, she would have pretended she was fine. The only time she’s not nervous is when she’s on stage, because she knows that’s what she was made for. A stillness takes over when she dances - and while she hates ballet for how it affected her mental health, she can’t help but appreciate the sense of peace that it gives her physical body in the moment. 

Obedient. Except for her one (arguably major) act of disobedience, which still remains a secret, she doesn’t have any experience saying no or arguing with others. She’s definitely more of a follower than a leader, and she’s as pliable as ever. This can be a positive or negative, depending on the circumstances.

Naive. Probably because she’s had very little social interaction with people outside of her family, she usually can’t discern when people are telling the truth or when they’re lying. Though some of her siblings have gotten her semi-used to recognizing sarcasm, at least.

Kindhearted. The ballet world is cutthroat, but the only person she ever really felt competitive against or vitriol towards was herself - not anyone else. Despite outsiders viewing her as almost robotic in her perfection, if they ever got the chance to know her, they would be surprised by her gentle voice and pleasant, mild demeanor.

Potential Connections? 

I’d like her to make some friends, though the level of friendship can vary. I can also see her being really easily taken advantage of by someone she thought might be a friend.

She’s never been to traditional school & she literally can’t do math of any kind, and knows only movement-related physics, so she’s going to need some tutors of some sort, I’m sure.

She needs someone to be a social influence on her, whether good or bad or somewhere in between. Introduce her to the meaning of “fun.”

Romantic connections? She’s never had time for any before? Another dancer kissed her backstage once but it was a spur-of-the-moment thing and nothing came of it. God, Maggie would be such a romantic disaster.

I’m also really looking forward to plotting with her siblings and figuring out their dynamics, oh man. 

I’m up for pretty much anything with her, tbh!! 

[peraltasames]

nothing can take you away from me

Pairing: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago

Desc: Jake and Amy's first night together after the squad's rescue mission in Florida.

Read on AO3

If the worst thing about Florida is being apart from Amy, the second worst is definitely the pizza.

The squad insists on going out for a quick meal to catch up with Jake and Holt, and the only restaurant nearby happens to be the crappiest pizza place in America (as Jake announces a bit too loudly while in the restaurant, still a little high on pain meds). 

“I would kill for a slice of Sal’s right now,” Jake sighs, dropping his half-eaten slice of meat lover’s on the plate. 

Amy’s hand, which has been located on his leg since they sat down, squeezes his thigh gently. “Tomorrow, babe.” 

They decided to stay the night in a hotel and fly back tomorrow rather than drive back with the squad, given that Jake just got shot in the leg and a full day crammed in Terry’s van is literally not what the doctor ordered. 

Despite the awful pizza and bullet wound in his leg, he’s feeling better than he has in months. He can’t help but smile and lean over to kiss his girlfriend. 

“Ugh, get a room,” Gina says, picking up Jake’s half-eaten pizza and rolling her eyes as he looks at her. “What? My ambies are wearing off and I haven’t eaten in twenty-four hours.” 

“Speaking of a room...” Amy trails off, her voice quiet enough that only Jake will hear her. As much as he missed his friends, he can sense that she’s anxious to finally be alone together. As for him, the thought of this night is the only thing that got him through the past six months.

“Yeah, we should get going,” he agrees, smiling gratefully as Amy grabs his crutches and passes them to him before he slides out of the booth. 

The squad gets up to hug him goodbye, and he can’t help but feel overcome with joy that he’s finally reunited with his family. He hugs Holt last, patting him on the back. 

“So, should we make plans to hang out this week? Maybe some hot tub action? I just really feel like we could use some quality time together, sir.” 

Holt pulls away from the hug. “I assume you are joking, Peralta. Nevertheless, good job today. I am proud of you.” 

He smiles at his captain and hobbles away before he gets too emotional with Amy close behind, grabbing the door for him. She calls a cab quickly and helps him get in the backseat, sliding in next to him. Her head rests on his shoulder the moment the car pulls out of the parking lot, closing her eyes for a few minutes while they drive. She doesn’t say it, but he can tell she hasn’t slept much lately, certainly not at all since she learned Figgis was aware of his location. 

Jake’s expecting your average crappy Floridian motel, so he’s surprised when they pull up to a four-star Marriott, turning to look inquisitively at Amy. 

“I thought we deserved something kinda nice,” she says, squeezing his hand. He doesn’t deserve her. 

He’s so excited to take a shower and spend the night in a hotel room with his girlfriend that it doesn’t dawn on him until the time comes that showering is going to be a difficult task. He’s not surprised that Amy already has a game plan - she actually listened to the doctor while he appreciated the drugs he was on and the fact that he was finally holding her hand again. 

“Get undressed and then we have to plastic-wrap your leg so the bandages don’t get wet when we shower,” she says in her typical authoritative tone with a touch of softness. 

“When we shower, huh?” Jake raises his eyebrows at her, taking off his shirt. 

She’s already in the bathroom and obstructed from his view, but he strongly suspects she’s rolling her eyes. 

“Jake, you can’t stand up. How else would you be able to shower?” 

He knows it’s a fair point, and he’s extremely grateful for the first positive repercussion of his injury (aside from Amy saving him from a shot to the head and catching a wanted murderer). 

The shower, unfortunately, is actually very unsexy and requires a lot of effort from both of them. Amy struggles to keep him upright while also trying to wash both her own and his hair (which Charles can never find out about, he swears to himself) and he grabs one of the shelves for dear life to avoid knocking them both over. 

What’s far more relaxing is the aftermath of the shower, laying in between silky sheets in fluffy white bathrobes. 

“I missed you so much,” she murmurs into his shoulder. 

“Me too, Ames,” he says sincerely, kissing her hair. “Now, I have something important to ask you...how do you feel about the tips?”

He points to the awful blonde highlights which he’s starting to become embarrassingly fond of. She runs her hand through his hair, narrowing her eyes. 

“If it weren’t for the fact that I haven’t seen you in months and I missed you so much, I would hate them, but…”

“Noice, um, what did the doctor say about sex again?” He fears he already knows her response. 

“At least a week, Jake. It’s been less than five hours.” 

“Five hours, five days...potato, potato.” 

“Jake,” she says warningly. “One week. And then we will have the most mind-blowing, amazing, non-strenuous sex of your life, okay?”

His face lights up as he nods eagerly. That day one week from now (he thinks he can negotiate her down to five or six days) cannot possibly come fast enough, but for now, just being here with her is more than enough. He finally takes the time to take her in fully - her dark hair, still damp from the shower; her face, free of makeup and completely flawless; her eyes, shining brightly as she looks at him with abundant love and admiration, something he will never get used to. 

Sitting up to reach her, he strokes her cheek with the back of his hand, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“You’re so beautiful.” 

Amy’s cheeks begin to redden, and she pulls her hands away from him to tuck her hair behind both of her ears. A part of him, he thinks, subconsciously compliments her sometimes just to see this reaction. He’s never told her about her famous “double-tuck” which Rosa enlightened him on nearly two years ago, mostly because he doesn’t want her to ever stop doing it. 

He shifts closer to her and presses a long kiss against her forehead, his hand tangling in her hair. The sound of her sighing softly makes his heart ache even more for the six months that they’ve lost. Even if he’s fortunate enough to get a lifetime with her, he will always mourn those six months, they will always be six months that he didn’t get to make her feel like this. 

Her eyes are closed when he pulls away, her arms reaching for him to keep him from straying any farther. He rests his forehead against hers and wraps his arm around her to bring her entire body closer to his. 

“It was so hard without you,” she whispers. “It felt like…nothing mattered anymore.” 

Jake thinks back to the days (one hundred and eighty-four, to be exact) he spent going through the motions with no motivation to do anything but eat burritos in the hot tub and try desperately to do anything he could to find Figgis. He thinks back to the picture on the wall that was all he had of Amy for one hundred and eighty-four days. 

“I know the feeling.” 

He slowly pulls back to look her in the eyes, the pain in his chest flaring when he realizes hers are full of tears that she quickly tries to wipe away. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he says softly, his hand gently wrapping around her wrist and pulling it away from her face. “You can let it out, Ames.” 

She nods, the tears flowing freely as she falls into his arms and presses her head into his chest. He wraps his arms around her as tightly as he can while she sobs, all the emotions of the past few hours catching up with her. 

“I just got you back and I saw Figgis with the gun and I-I was so scared I was gonna lose you-“ 

“Shh, Ames, I know,” he murmurs close to her ear. “I was scared too. But we’re okay. I love you.” 

“I love you so much” she says, voice muffled by his robe. 

He holds her for a few more minutes, until her sobs dwindle and her breathing steadies, and tries desperately not to think about how many times she may have broken down like this without him there to comfort her.

“We should get some sleep,” she says after they’ve reclined back into the soft pillows, still holding each other tightly. “We have to leave by nine to catch the flight home.” 

He smiles at the idea of Brooklyn, of busy streets and good coffee and weather below eighty degrees and his tiny little apartment. Still, the entire city of New York pales in comparison to the woman in his arms, the true embodiment of home.

“But I want to catch up with you,” he says, he really missed hearing her talk, though his yawn immediately afterwards betrays him. “Tell me everything. Your cases, which of your brothers are annoying you this month, crossword puzzle highlights…” 

“We have the rest of our lives to catch up, babe,” Amy reminds him, wrapping her leg around his to get just a little bit closer to him. 

The rest of our lives. He really likes the sound of that.

[8771eh]

A Personal Chef

Or the 5 times Sid's Chef walked in on things she didn't want to see and one time she saw something she wanted to.

1. Oct 2008-Chez Lemieux Pittsburgh, PA

It all started at a huge event. Well for the rich and famous of Pittsburgh it wasn't that big of a deal. However, she thought it was enormous. Especially as the first event that her mentor had asked her to help prep and work. It was her menu that the upper echelon of the steel city were consuming and that knowledge was overwhelming.

She had a few minutes to step outside for a bathroom break and was able to see faces she had only ever seen on the tv and voices she only heard on the radio mingling in the crowd.

The best thing about being a chef was that compliments were paid to you but so often people did not realize who you were when you went thru a crowd without the appropriate hat. She was more then fine with that because she hated attention being directly on her. Let the attention be on her food, on the combination of sweet and savory or spicey and tangy; not on her face. In fact she would much rather work on smaller crowds with an occasional big event. Then she could be the sole person in the kitchen and manage everything on her own. Not have the extra stress of managing others.

She turned the corner and stopped mid step. Before her were two hockey players who the city were talking about reviving a failing franchise.  And they were staring intently at one another, a pink flush on Sidney Crosby's face as Evgeni Malkin cupped his hand over the Sid's cheek, his thumb brushing the apple of his cheek.

She took a couple steps backwards and purposefully stomped her feet as she moved back to the corner. While protecting their privacy was imperative, her bladder was demanding relief before she could get back and make sure the kitchen was running smoothly.

This time as she turned the corner Crosby was standing alone in the hallway trying to will the blush from his face. He smiled at her shyly.

"Oh, hey. Are you the chef?" He asked as he took in her outfit.

"Yes, I am. I'm Vanny. I hope you're enjoying yourself." She was trying to be polite but definitely did not miss the blush that deepened on Crosby's face.

"For sure. The food has been great. Listen, Natalie was talking about how much it helped her to have a chef while Mario was playing and the kids were babies. I was thinking it might be helpful to get a chef who can maybe help me out with food." Crosby chuckled as he looked away while rubbing the back of his neck. "Would you know if anybody who does that?"

"Oh, actually, I just might." Crosby's smile seemed to relax as she smiled back at him. This might work better then she expected.

2. Sept 2009- Crosby Kitchen

She was ecstatic about the Stanley cup celebrations coming to a close. Sidney's schedule had been ridiculous with all the parties and then attempts to get back on a meal plan. Then the amount of cheating he would do. Especially after Malkin-call me Geno- came back from Russia. She was surprised Sidney hasnt asked her to start cooking for the two of them with how often the other man was over.

That didnt mean that she wasnt going to leave him out though. She loved seeing people enjoy her food but she loved trying new recipes more. When Geno started to come around more often  she spoke with her colleague who had spent a year training in Moscow. She had just picked up some ingrediants to try and make a healthier version of a cold salad her friend had sent her when she heard voices from the kitchen. She stopped just outside the door way where she could see Sidney holding his head and pacing tightly near the fridge. Geno was propped against the island with a patient look.

"We need to stop. This is a huge mistake." Sidney glanced towards Geno before he turned his back to him during his small circuit. She watched as Geno nodded in agreement before pushing himself off the island and moving closer.

"Is big mistake. But not most big. We just win Cup, Sid. We not deserve?" Geno stopped himself on an invisible line allowing Sidney his pacing space.

Vanny watched as Sidney hesitated a step before looking back at Geno. His back was to her but she could see the hope and worry mixed on Geno's face.

"Its a bad mistake, G." He sighed heavily, "Can we keep kissing until we think this through?" Geno reached out and placed a hand on Sidney's face. Similarly to the way she had found them at the Lemieux household the year prior.

"Take all the time you need. You a big mistake I want make again and again. Choose you each time, Sidka." He whispered before Sidney pressed forward to kiss him.

She definitely forgot butter or would need more butter after they had stopped steaming up her kitchen. She would also need bleach if the rustling of fabric was any sign of what was happening.

3. March 14, 2011- Crosby Kitchen

Cooking in minimal lighting was an interesting experience.  Cooking for two injured cranky hockey players was more of an experience.  She had worked it out that she would cook the meals at her place and bring them to Sidney's house so he and Geno could try to maneuver their limitations.

Today was different tho.  Sidney had been seeming a little bit better over the past couple weeks. She had come in many times to Geno and Sidney on the couch. Geno reading with a dim book lamp attached to his kindle while Sidney looked asleep in the darkened room. The past week the lights had been on more often, there were gym clothes scattered across the laundry room and louder voices or laughter coming from the rec room.

Today she had prepared a ratatouille in hopes that the continuation of food that required minimal chewing would help with the constant ache caused from the concussion. She had become an expert in entering the house from the garage quietly in the midst of the sort days of the concussion.

However she wanted to start rethinking how quietly she entered. The laundry room was between the garage and kitchen. She stopped in there as she heard a firm 'No.' Coming from the kitchen.

Peeking around the corner she could see Sidney sitting on the island with Geno standing between his legs, his crutches on the floor.

"But I'm miss you."

"Geno. I'm serious you are not giving me a blow job. What about your knee?"

"Trust me, my knee miss you too. Sidnyushka, you skate for first time in months! You keep saying no sex, no skate, no hockey, no tv, no fun with concussion."

"Wow, G, glad I've been such a bore while I've been in pain. You know-"

"No, you not listen. You skate today, yes?" Vanny assumed Geno was waiting for Sidney to nod. "And your head not hurt?" There was a pause before a soft gasp followed by soft spoken Russian. "See you on skates again is what I want, but want you happy most. You come back today and so happy. You not tell me you think you ready to skate but you do this and see you most happy is like you most beautiful." 

"I didn't know if the team would clear me."

"But you’re not tell me, so I should get included by suck you after hard work."  There was the sound of kissing mixed with fabric rustling. Vanny was certain she had forgotten to turn off a stove at home and knew she had more bleach at home. She needed to start finding new places to keep bleach in this house if her poor kitchen was going to be defiled.

4. April 2013-

"Damnit, G, I want your dick in my mouth." Vanny froze. She thought of the location of the nearest spray bottle she had prepped with bleach and glanced towards the laundry room for her gloves. She was not paid enough to keep walking in on this stuff.  For a couple who thought they were being really discreet, they are pretty oblivious to the domestic service crew.

By the end of the concussion and knee injuries, the entire house were well aware of how deeply in love the two hockey players were. As well as how stupid they were about communication. Mostly the staff got together on game nights and gossiped about who had walked in on what. Jaden swore they would end up outting themselves during a game and kept a book of all the near misses and missed dates as their pot grew larger.

Vanny sighed, her coworkers had stories, but they could never compare to what happened in her kitchen. She heard the sounds of kissing and fabric rustling, something hitting the ground. Years of working in the Crosby household had taught her to not look, to go do anything else. When she heard Sid state "I may be missing half my teeth but I can still suck your dick. G." She knew it was time to leave and probably call it a night. They could sort their own food out tonight and she could find a new way to blend recipes for Sidney's broken jaw.

5.  NYE 2015- Crosby Kitchen

Vanny was stopped in the pantry. She didnt think they would be home this early-werent they on a road trip? She wasnt sure but either way they were in her kitchen. Going into the fridge and she didnt have the courage to leave the pantry. She had seen them in so many states of undress without them knowing that she did not have the patience to see them in whatever state with their knowledge.

"C'mon, G, its new years eve and we are going to celebrate together. I have plans." Vanny could hear the fridge shut, cabinet doors open as socked feet shuffled around the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm see maybe plan, but most worried you not joking here."

"Why would I be joking?"

"Because you not like that and now you have big jar full?"

"Oh? No, Vanny has it on hand to make stuff for you when you come over for longer stints. Pretty sure I saw some licorice for Olli in the cupboard last night. She is amazingly thoughtful. I dont think-" Vanny cant help the smile at Sidney's compliment but is well aware that Sidney is oblivious to the fact that she has been cooking for both of them for years.

"Yes, Vanny most wonderful chef.  Not bad with Russian recipes, but Sidka, is maybe popular food. But you most wrong."

"Where is your sense of adventure"

"Is most big insult to Russia, you think mayonnaise good for sexy times, Sidka. Lose your Russian card before even get one." Vanny can hear a scoff and then giggling. "Never allowed to come Russia. Most sad because I am wanting take you to see Magnitogorsk."

Their voices fade as they disappear down the hall. Vanny sighs and then steps out of the pantry. She eyes the jar on the counter then promptly drops in it the trash. Mixing bleach and food wouldnt be a healthy choice.

+1 7/31/18--Cole Harbour, NS

Geno is chattering with Vanny about the recipe she is using for the salmon when she notices Sid standing just out of the kitchen doorway. He is staring intently at Geno. She has been around for so many years  and seen many of the looks between the two men as their relationship grew. As they allowed others in on their life together.

She even knew the looks that meant she needed extra bleach and to prep some whisky balls for Lita when she got the next load of sheets in the wash.  There was only so much bleach the sheets could handle. Or the looks they shared when they didn't realize they were not alone.

No, this look was not like that. This one was what she saw in interviews. Like he was schooling himself to not give anything away. He glanced briefly at Vanny and she could see his shoulders heave as he held her gaze for a moment.

"Hey Zhenya, Vanny." Sid greeted as he walked past and pressed a kiss to Geno's arm before heading to the wine cellar. Vanny picked up the platter on the counter and excused herself quickly from the conversation. She needed to get these stuffed mushrooms out to the table before Geno tried to eat them all.

As she walked back into the kitchen, she stopped just at the entry way, Geno was fiddling with a bottle opener as Sid looked on nervously.  As Geno turned to use to counter for leverage and started mumbling in Russian about the cork, Vanny covered her mouth to stop her gasp from being audible as Sid dropped to one knee.

"Sid, what you do to bottle? It st-" his words trailed off as he turned and glanced around the room for Sid before looking down. The hand holding the bottle dropped to one side and the other hand holding the corkscrew went to his mouth. "Sidney? Why you on knee?"

"I have probably driven Tanger, Flower and Jack crazy with all the different words I've tried to put together. You know I'm much better at scoring goals then saying the emotional stuff. And Flower gave me a bunch of shit when I tried to use hockey metaphors even if thats-" Sid shakes his head and smiles then pulls out a small velvet box. "Enough rambling, here's the thing, I love you. I have loved you for  so long and I want to keep loving you until you tell me to stop. So, Evgeni Vladimirovich Malkin, will you marry me?"

Vanny can feel her eyes watering in the silence that fills the room after Sid finishes speaking. She watches as Geno allows a rush of emotions to cross his face because he has always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve.

"G?" Sid shifts minutely on his knee. Vanny can't see his face to know what expression he is showing and she doesn't dare move to draw attention to herself.

'Sidnyushka," Geno turns and puts the bottle and corkscrew on the counter before pulling Sid to his feet. "Of course I marry you. But Sid, why you have to beat me? Propose not competition. Have big plan, best plan for your birthday. Seryozah, Taylor and Phil all help me make most plan so you say yes but need best plan because-" Geno is cut off as Sid presses a kiss to his lips.

"You know I'm a competitive asshole, Zhenya. I want to marry you regardless but, baby, I win so you win and we win."

"Best team." Geno mutters where their faces are still pressed together.  Vanny watches as Geno pulls away enough to ret his forehead against Sid's. "Ok,  yes. I'm marry you make you most lucky man to be husband to Evgeni Malkin." Sid laughs as he drops the velvet box to the counter and moves Geno's left arm so he can slide the ring on. 

"Sidnyushka, I have ring for you upstairs. Love you most." Geno is cupping Sid's face in hands and peppering kisses on him as Sid giggles wetly. Vanny figures this is the time to give them a little extra privacy. Her kitchen is safe with all the guests, but emotions are high and they deserve a true moment alone.

Besides, she needs to start looking at who she can rope into helping with a wedding.

[scriptmedic]

Injury Profiles: Severed Achilles Tendon

Welcome back to Mangled Mondays, where every Monday we talk about another facet of maiming, mangling, mauling, and mistreating your main characters — and all of their friends. 

Today we’ll be talking about Severing the Achilles Tendon. For the rest of the Mangled Mondays series, [click here].

Lethality Index

1

What Is It?

The Achilles tendon is named in honor of the mythical warrior Achilles, who was said to be dipped in the River Styx by the sea nymph Thetis, making him invulnerable to wounds. The one place in which he wasn’t invulnerable was the spot directly above his heel, where Thetis had held him for the magical dunking.

While the rest of us – and likely your characters – have no such benefit of magical armor, the weakness in the spot above the heel persists.

If you take your hand and feel the back of your leg just above the heel bone (the calcaneus if you’re feeling formal), you’ll feel a thick, ropey tendon that runs from your heel up into your calf and disappears under a mass of muscle.

This is the Achilles tendon. It’s extremely important in how your move your feet, which also means that severing it is a great way to disable your character. In fact, this and the hamstring were vulnerable attack points in ages of history when knives and swords were extremely popular weapons of war. This is because both injuries, while not necessarily lethal, put the enemy on the ground, where they could be dealt with in whatever manner the attacker chose.

  In modern fighting, this might be a rarer injury, since combat with firearms is much more common. But there are plenty of ways in which it could happen, which we’ll go into below.

  Severing the Achilles tendon is both painful and debilitating. Because the tendon is so deeply involved in the feet, the ability to walk is instantly removed, though ambulation with crutches is entirely possible.

These wounds also bleed significantly, and, if nearby blood vessels are damaged, can cause shock if not treated.

Finally, on a visceral level, these wounds are psychologically disruptive to see for two reasons. The first is that the foot will often simply flop and is at the mercy of gravity; the ability to control it is severely compromised, which can appear unnatural. The second is that the bone is very often exposed, along with tendons and muscles; this is a discomfiting sight.

The solution to both hemorrhage and appearance, then, is for a helpful character to dress and bandage the wound as soon as possible.

If the severed tendon is because of a tear due to rotation, neither of these psychological factors comes into play.

  Clinical Signs:

If open, the laceration will be apparent and will allow a view deep into the foot.

Bleeding, if the result of a laceration.

If the result of a twisting injury, there will be a “bunching” of tendon beneath the skin.

Inability to flex the foot. It may simply dangle loose at the end of the leg.

  Symptoms:

Pain

How Does It Happen?

A severed Achilles tendon, also known as a ruptured Achilles tendon, has two main causes.

The first is laceration. This can come from…

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The second is a twisting, or torsional, injury. This is a possible complication of your character turning their foot the wrong way. These injuries can occur in various sports, including football, basketball, mountaineering, rock climbing, etc. The foot could also become caught between two objects and be manipulated incorrectly in an attempt to free it; this could cause either an open wound (laceration) or a torsional wound as discussed above.

Less frequently, application of a lot of weight onto the ball of the foot with the heel raised can cause this injury, such as a parkour traceur’s or ballet dancer’s landing a leap or fall on one foot.

Immediate Treatment

The first concern with an Achilles rupture that’s bleeding is to stop the bleeding. The foot has a large number of blood vessels, and the Achilles is fairly close to a pulse point in the side of the foot, so bleeding can be significant, though it’s unlikely that this will require a tourniquet. A good strong pressure dressing should control the bleeding in all but the worst of injuries.

The next step is to stabilize the ankle. A makeshift splint can be used for this, although a pillow can do nicely; the pillow is wrapped around the heel and foot and taped into a position that supports the ankle.

Side effects of blood loss and care for characters in shock are covered elsewhere in this book; the basics are to keep the character warm, establish IVs if possible, and to get them to a hospital.

Definitive Treatment

Surgery / Hospitalization

The surgery to repair the Achilles tendon is often an emergent surgery, but it may not take place the same day as the injury, depending on the availability of surgical teams and operating rooms. (In fact, in older characters whose tendons have ruptured rather than lacerated, it may not take place at all; they may simply use a cast with the foot flexed and crutches for 6–8 weeks.)

Corrective surgery is of two types: either the ends of the tendon are sutured back into place using “purse-string” sutures, or a muscle from the calf is inverted and sewn into place in lieu of the existing tendon.

The surgery should be fairly short, about two hours, and can be done under general anesthesia or under a nerve block and epidural.

After surgery the leg will be splinted and cast to prevent movement; this will come off in about 6 weeks.

  In the Austere Environment

Without good medical care, the character will be crippled by this injury, particularly if the tendon is lacerated.

Inability to use the foot is a significant problem. It increases stress on the opposite leg, and the character will require crutches or a wheelchair in order to get around. In environments that aren’t mobility friendly, this can be an especially difficult challenge.

If the wound is open, the standard risks of infection are also around, and the character will be running the dangers of having an open wound. (This kind of injury can be sewn up without suturing the underlying muscle damage, but only after being well cleaned.)

The Rocky Road to Recovery

Capabilities Retained

Use of the knee on the same side — the ipsilateral knee – will remain intact. Neurocognitive function and the use of all other limbs will be unaffected by a ruptured Achilles.

  Disabilities: Temporary

Characters will be unable to walk for several weeks after the injury. This lack of walking will make the characters’ leg feel tight and may be painful. Crutches may be employed if the other leg is weight-bearing.

  Disabilities: Permanent

While characters may return to their normal levels of activity, understand that there can be lasting damage that could affect the character when running, climbing stairs, riding a bicycle, etc. While they will walk, they may not walk with the same gait as before and might limp.

However, a perfect recovery is also not an unreasonable outcome.

  Features of Recovery: Hospital Stay

The surgery will likely be done on the 1st or 2nd day of admission, and the character will likely be sent home on the 3rd or 4th day. After surgery their leg will be elevated on a pillow. They’ll be given painkillers (probably a short course of a midlevel opiate like oxycodone), antiinflammatories (acetaminophen), and sent home with the same.

  Features of Recovery: PT/OT

Physical therapy will be on an outpatient basis unless the character has problems with both legs, making use of a wheelchair impossible.

Once the cast comes off (about 6 weeks after the injury) and is replaced with a softer Aircast, the character will be encouraged to stretch and to begin strengthening the tendon. Weight bearing can begin at +/– 8 weeks, which can progress to walking at about 10 weeks.

The New Normal

As discussed above, characters may have a limp or trouble with certain types of weight-bearing activity.

Generally speaking, characters are back to their full capabilities within 4–6 months, but they’ll likely have a surgical scar on the back of the heel, at the tendon.

  Future Risks

As with most injuries, reinjury tends to be more damaging and take longer to recover from than the original injury.

Total Recovery Time (Typical)

4–6 months

Sensory

Sights

The back of the leg, when open, will reveal the ends of muscles and tendons.

When closed, characters may see a “lump” in the back of the leg below the calf muscle.

  Smells

None.

  Sounds

If the Achilles ruptures rather than being lacerated, the character will feel as though someone kicked them in the back of the ankle, and they will both feel and hear a dull pop or thud.

Medslang

The Thompson test is a test for a ruptured Achilles, where a provider will squeeze both calf muscles while the character lies on their stomach. The foot of the healthy leg will wiggle a bit; the foot of the injured leg will not.

Key Points

Severing the Achilles tendon is a great way for one character to disable another, preventing walking (and therefore escape or some forms of combat).

The surgery to repair the tendon is quick (2 hours), but recovery is slow (4–6 months to full rehabilitation).

Characters will use crutches as their primary mobility aid unless the injury is bilateral or the other leg is compromised, in which case a wheelchair will be used.

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

[disclaimer]

This post is an excerpt from Blood on the Page Volume One: A Writer’s Compendium of Injuries. The book details thirty-one injuries with which to maim, mangle, and maul your characters, as well as nine indispensable articles of Wound Wisdom covering everything from burn stages to suture selection.

Print and digital editions are available on [Amazon], and digital editions are available [everywhere else].

Injury Profiles: Severed Achilles Tendon was originally published on ScriptMedicBlog.com

[wrestlingisfake]

When you look at how wrestling fans respond to faces and heels, it’s important to see beyond one-dimensional thinking, like “face = hero = good” or “heel = villain = bad.”  That misconception exists in all sorts of fandoms, but it’s easiest to deconstruct in wrestling.

In any conflict, the face is the one who has your sympathy and a heel is the one who doesn’t.  (We can quibble over face vs. face and heel vs. heel, but in almost every case you’d be at least a little more pleased if one side wins than the other.)  Just because a character has your sympathy doesn’t necessarily mean that character is pleasant, or good, or heroic, or even right about anything.  A righteous, innocent character can just as easily be put into a position to not have your sympathy.  For example, Breaking Bad presents a fairly compelling justification for Walter White to abandon his principles and be a drug dealer, so a number of fans came to root for him and hate his wife for interfering.

A recurring theme in old Hulk Hogan matches from the 1980s is that Hogan (the babyface) would inevitably take a cheap shot or two during a match and Jesse Ventura (the heel color commentator) would point out the hypocrisy of this superhero doing anything immoral.  You can go back and decide Ventura was right and Hogan was wrong, but the bottom line is that the fans would decide Hogan’s opponents had it coming to them, and resent Ventura for making them think critically about that.  So there are no hard-and-fast rules for what a face can and can’t do without becoming a heel, or vice-versa.  It’s not about a moral code carved in stone, it’s about reading the crowd each night and figuring out how to be with or against them.

This reasoning applies even in the vaunted Attitude Era.  In 1997 Vince McMahon famously declared that WWE would evolve beyond "good guys vs. bad guys.”  Just a week later, Steve Austin (the ultimate antihero) couldn’t even beat up Santa Claus without painstakingly establishing that it’s not the real Santa, because he was mean to a child, and that makes it okay to clobber him.  Austin may not have been a good guy, but he was absolutely a face playing to the wishes (however dark) of the crowd.

Since the Attitude Era, WWE has used this moral ambiguity as a crutch, so that if people reject the nominal faces it’s because there are no true “good guys” anymore, and everything is a shade of gray.  This might be fine as an experimental booking philosophy, but in practice it amounts to an excuse to play to the audience WWE wishes it had, instead of the one sitting in the building.  (I’m all for the idea that John Cena is a “secret heel” if you don’t like him, but if so WWE is pretty bad at cultivating “secret faces” to oppose him.)  The reality is that the business still requires faces that the fans actually like, whether the fans’ sympathies makes sense or not.  The only thing that’s changed is that the audience is bolder about finding their favorites in unlikely places (see: Bryan, Daniel), and WWE is more brazen about ignoring that when it’s inconvenient.

So when we look at the Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman feud, where both men have now tried to murder one another with ambulances, which is the face and which is the heel?  I suspect WWE wants turn Braun face, based on how they presented him stoically shaking off his injuries and refusing help.  Roman, meanwhile, lost the ambulance match fair-and-square, then attacked Strowman for no purpose except to be a sore loser, then made excuses for his actions, and then demanded a title match coming off of a loss.  Roman wouldn’t be the first face to attempt vehicle homicide, but he’d definitely be the least sympathetic.  That doesn’t mean it’s right, or fair--Roman’s taken a lot of grief from Braun, and you can argue Braun had it coming--but it does mean a lot of fans will probably be looking elsewhere this summer for a top babyface.

[exrayspex]

eurgh so my dad has had a knee injury that has been bothering him for like nearly two months now, and he refused to go to the doctor at first, but it got worse so he went and was told it was probably a slight muscle tear and to just keep weight off it for a few more weeks and it’d heal. well he has been using crutches and it has only gotten worse, it feels hot to the touch often too. so he finally called the doctor again and told him, and the doctor had him go for an mri yesterday.

the mri showed fluid build-up in the knee, probable hairline fractures, and possible osteonecrosis (basically part of his knee fucking dying). he was referred to an orthopedist who can help, and he will need to see him soon bc waiting longer will worsen any osteonecrosis/allow it to set in if it isn’t there yet. 

BUT, bc healthcare in america is a fucking hellscape, my dad’s health insurance ends on april 1, since he lost his job earlier this month and therefore the insurance he got through it. but since he wasn’t fired until the 15th, my parents couldn’t apply for obamacare until after the deadline (you have to apply by the 15th of the current month to have insurance starting on the 1st of the next month). they applied for obamacare as soon as they could, but will both still have to have no insurance for the entire month of april. 

my mom was able to order a 90-day supply of her prescriptions so she doesn’t run out during that month, but my dad needs to see that orthopedist as soon as possible bc necrosis of any kind, even when just suspected like this, is very dangerous. but there’s also no way in hell we can pay the cost of him seeing the orthopedist without insurance.

to top it all off, he is still claiming he did nothing that could’ve caused an injury like that and insisting it must’ve just been when he hopped off a short ledge onto the ground and felt no pain upon landing. but he’s fallen and injured himself many times while drunk and then not remembered it later, like he’s done it since this injury has happened even, i’ve seen it, and we know he was drinking later that night, but he’s still insisting nothing but that little hop could’ve happened and that he definitely didn’t fall or anything. i don’t believe it for a second and i’m mad bc if he had been honest with the doctor when he first saw him, the doctor would’ve ordered the mri to begin with and it would’ve been caught before it got this severe AND before he lost insurance (like he saw the doctor for the first time in february)

plus there’s the whole him getting fall-down, black-out drunk regularly but after drinking what should not be enough for that to happen...like the last time i drank i was with him the whole time watching him drink, and he was only one drink ahead of me. he’s taller and weighs more and drinks more frequently so should have a higher tolerance, and yet when we left he could hardly stand and fell down climbing our front steps. yet i was buzzed but still totally in control of my ability to stand and walk and talk and even type, like.....something’s wrong there. i’m scared that it’ll be something that turns out to be expensive and require lots of care that my mom and i will have to do (unless she leaves him, but that’s a whole other load of difficulty).