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hitory--chan · 3 years ago

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Day 5: Queen of the Garden

(Ranked T)

Title: In my withered roses you lay resting

Around the forest there were always legends of all kinds, about fantastic creatures and horrifying monsters beyond human imagination, about nymphs, fairies, werewolves and giant snakes that would devastate the entire town in a few minutes if they wanted to; they were just legends, stories to amaze or scare whoever would listen to them, hypnotizing the virgin ear that listened to them with their magnetism, leading their victim to demand more, driving them mad in the search to satisfy that need.

But there was one in particular, the biggest, the most fantastic, the most sublime and the most terrifying no one ever dared to tell, the one whose existence was only known to the oldest of the town who defended tooth and nail its veracity, but nevertheless only tell each other, remembering and crying the intense agony that each word conveyed.

The legend of Hinata, the queen of the garden in the heart of the forest, and Sasuke, the infamous king who without any army was able to penetrate the invulnerable barriers that protected the queen.

The king who never returned.

“My King!” One of her courtesans shouted. "Please, I beg you to reconsider!"

He ignored her, tightening the draws of his armor as the guards placed the shoulder pads and handed him his helmet, which he took.

It was still dark, the moonlight hanging over the entire sleeping kingdom as he prepared to leave.

"My lord, he turned, now listening to his first officer, Kakashi, who was speaking to him "Are you sure this is a good idea? Going into the forest alone?"

"It's not something I didn't do before, Kakashi, you should know" he replied without much interest as he grasped the reins of Onyx, the majestic black horse that had accompanied him for years.

"I understand, but it's not the same, your majesty, it never got beyond the Stone River" the man said, his voice so slow and dull as if it was something he was trained to say, but Sasuke knew him better than many as to know that there was concern hidden behind those dead tones “It is a great risk to take to find a woman that we do not even know exists”

"People are dying Kakashi, of hunger, of disease ..." He inclined his head a little towards his first officer, not enough to really see him “If that woman, that… witch exists, it will be our chance to solve all the evils that afflict us, if I find her, then I save my people”

“And if you do not find her, my lord?”

“Then we will have to take more drastic actions, actions that I don't think we're ready for right now, Kakashi”

The silence that followed told Sasuke that the man knew what he was referring to.

They had recently fought a war against a rival kingdom that wanted to take over all his lands. They attacked in the middle of the night, cowardly seeking to have the tactical advantage darkness gave them without expecting the surprise that they were ready to fight back with much more violence than would be expected of a small kingdom that barely prospered in comparison to others. Many lives were lost on both sides, but his army had kept the slightest advantage over the invaders and captured the main officers of the intruders, executing him right on the battlefield as he had ordered them to do, closing any openings to negotiation the rival might propose.

They rose above them and conquered, drove the remaining invaders from their lands and proclaimed their victory, but they had not come out without casualties, as happened in any other war.

Their crops were burned and their women desecrated. Bodies of infants who had adventured out of their hiding spots now laying among the corpses of their fathers and men who sacrificed their lives in the name of the king's sovereignty, waiting to be buried or burned while their mothers, wives, and brothers mourned their losses.

Soon after came the diseases, plagues so violent that even the best physicians in the kingdom had succumbed to permanent contact with the infected and were now lying in beds, signaling with weak voices to proceed to their charges.

The only hope was the woman who dwelt in the depths of the forest, a queen in her own right, the oracle told him, whose miraculous fingers brought life to everything she touched. A witch, servant of the devil, counterattacked the priest, who would only bring bliss before plunging them further into misery.

A queen, a witch, Sasuke didn't care, he only wanted her hands to heal his people, determined to cut them off if necessary to save the few that were left.

Then Sasuke mounted his horse and reached out his hand, taking the sword that Kakashi had prepared for him and fastening it to his waist strap, where it would remain with him throughout his journey.

"Itachi will be in charge while I'm gone" he decreed, looking at his court, who looked at him in surprise and disbelief.

“My king, my lord!” The woman spoke again “His majesty is very ill for this task, I fear that his condition is too delicate to carry the role, your highness!”

“My brother already ruled once in a worse state than the one he currently is in while waiting for me to grow up to cede the throne, he certainly can do it a bit more while I'm gone”

“But sir…!”

"In case his condition worsens ..." he interrupted, with a tone of voice as icy as the look he gave the woman "in case he´s not an act to continue, then Kakashi will make all the decisions in my absence and my brother's disability”

Several indignant murmurs were heard from the other members of the court, annoyed by the possibility of a military man would rule them, but with the same look he gave the insolent woman, he quieted them all.

"Kakashi" he called and the man walked with him towards the limits of the kingdom that served as the border of the forest, trotting slowly as his first officer followed him with great ease "I trust you to keep everyone safe, especially my brother” he said, stopping his steed and staring at the man.

"My king's orders are my perpetual la," Kakashi recited, quoting the motto of imperial strength as he brought his right hand to his heart and bowed to him.

Sasuke nodded, but before starting his horse again, he spoke for the last time.

- And Kakashi ... execute her

Kakashi bowed again and Sasuke pulled the reins of his horse to start running, going into the forest when the first rays of dawn hit the ground, and knowing his order would be carried out without hesitation.

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

Inside the forest the thick trees hid any trace of the sun, giving the illusion that it was still night even though Sasuke knew it must be after eight.

Still he didn't back down, mentally reciting the directions the oracle had given him to find the mysterious woman.

“Once crossed the river of stone, the road will split for you, one more dangerous the other, competing for the new prey that appears before them. Be guided by the horrendous noises that make the bones of the strongest of men tremble, by the trail of perdition from which your eyes will not be able to turn away, from the putrid stench of those who defied the sanctity of the earth who stepped on impure feet.

Along the way you will find death's favorite resting place. Do not drink or eat the natural delicacies that will be shown for you, instead you must use your senses, facing the great beast that will attack from the shadows.

If the combat is satisfactory, then the beast will show its respects by leading you to its queen, otherwise, there will be the place of your last rest"

Naturally, oracles liked to be cryptic with their words to the point of making them indecipherable, but the more than a century old woman who had served three generations of her family had put those fanfare behind her, preferring to be as clear as possible in her revelations than risk a bad future for the kingdom because of misunderstandings out of her tongue.

Upon reaching the Stone River, he took a moment to observe the waters peacefully.

That river had been named this way not only because of the rock formation that simulated a natural bridge in the center of that great pool, just covering its surface with a thin layer of water that made it extremely slippery, but also because of the rock at its bottom, arranged in the shape of spikes so sharp that even the slightest fall on them could cause fatal injuries to the unfortunate victim.

He allowed Onyx to drink some of the water before venturing across the stone bridge.

His horse, fearless just like his owner, also had some afraid. On rare occasions he’d tried to cross that path through the waters with the equine, but his partner had acquired a phobia at that particular step when, being very young, he slipped on the stone and it was almost impossible for him to get back on his feet, almost falling to the bottom of the river when with desperate movements he slid to one side before finally reaching the bank of the river and climbing, being completely exhausted on the grass, all under the frightened gaze of his owner who had remained on dry land while his horse struggled.

He remembers that, after that, he had remained with Onyx there for longer than he ever was in that place, being found by the royal guard and brought to the castle only to remain expectant all night at the possibility of having to sacrifice the animal.

Now, Onyx was a majestic and imposing stallion with more history than half his stablemates, but from time to time he would turn back into a fearful foal when they were near that place.

However, while he normally wouldn't push him any further than he considered Onyx could take, this time around he couldn't afford to be understandable to his horse or to be left without a mount for the rest of the way.

“Come on boy!” He encouraged him, shaking the reins several times and smiling as Onyx, refusing at first, approached the rock and put his front legs on it, whinnying loudly as he took small terrified steps.

Even in the slippery material, the new horseshoes he had had his horse put on were being especially helpful in preventing the equine's legs from slipping over the rock even when Onyx's steps were somewhat shaky, leading the horse to gain a little confidence with every step until he was finally on the other side.

“Well done, Onyx!” He congratulated the horse, patting and stroking his neck before pulling out an apple, which he happily accepted.

He wasted no time and continued with the journey, reaching the place where the road divided in three.

At first glance they did not seem dangerous at all, leading him to wonder if the oracle had been wrong with her interpretation or if he had deviated from the correct path himself, but the sudden sound of something sliding on the ground caught his attention and put his whole body on guard again, waiting for any sign of attack.

Instead what he received was the cawing of birds, crows, he recognized, noises of something sliding and the screeching of bats that flew directly to his face at that moment, causing Onyx to panic and stand up on his two hind legs, almost making Sasuke to fall.

When he regained his balance and Onyx was back on all fours, Sasuke looked at the central path, remembering what the oracle had said and thinking that this should be the way to go, so he made the horse move forward, despite the reluctance of the animal.

The putrid stench started only a few minutes on the road before dead animals began to appear on the road, being replaced only a few meters later by human corpses in various states of putrefaction, from skeletons to bodies that should barely have been there for a few days. , and even recognized the uniform worn by the third-rank guards in his kingdom, only stuffed with bones, each corpse wrapped by vines and other local weeds.

He was forced to breathe as little as possible when the stench became impossible to bear, coming to vomit in the section where everything was strongest, without having the opportunity to breathe until the road began to clear of so much death, showing to his sight a great stone plateau clothed with climbing vines and rosebuds.

He got off his horse and gave him another snack, tying the reins to the tree farthest from the ferns and other plants full of fruit that he knew they shouldn't eat.

Slowly and carefully he approached the great structure, gazing at it in fascination. Up close, he noticed the spines that protruded around the roses of different sizes that decorated the plateau, which, he noticed, were deceptively sharp, cutting him at the simple touch and spilling a thick drop of blood that bathed the thorn that caused his wound.

The sudden tremor in his spine appeared as the slight trembling of the earth beneath his feet, accompanied by the sound of something sliding - something that must have been big and heavy, from the way it sounded - and then deafening silence was present. .

“Onyx!” He shouted, turning around when he heard the horse whinny and stop suddenly, expecting to meet the animal where he had left it, however in its place he found another type of animal, giant and with shiny black scales, which were only cut with the three red lines of scales on the tip of its tail, raised in the air with a swaying motion.

The gigantic snake kept its eyes fixed on his, hissing and showing off his forked white tongue.

Eyes wider than they had ever been in his life, he diverted them just a little to the rest of the great reptile's body, almost growling in pain at the bulge protruding from where, he guessed, was the stomach of the immense snake, sure it was the product of his horse swallowing.

Feeling the flame of fury ignite and grow in him, he grasped the hilt of his sword in a slow motion and drew it lightly, as the serpent rose a little higher above him.

With one swift movement he pulled it out completely as the snake lunged at him, barely being fast enough to avoid its jaws, but not fast enough to dodge its tail, which slammed it against a tree and left it stamped there until he nailed the sword almost halfway.

Even his powerful armor hadn't been enough to shield him from that blow, catching his breath cut short by the pressure of the limb that had held him captive, but he had no time to think about that as he tried to get away from the great perimeter that covered the snake.

The injured tail slammed into the ground next to him, causing him to stumble from the din it caused.

The reptile's head also collided with the ground a few feet from his back and then glided at high speed towards him, using its nose to push him up when he collided with him and sent him flying into the air as the snake rose again, now with its jaws open.

But Sasuke was able to hold on to the tip of the animal's nose and avoid being swallowed as he had done with his horse by resting his feet against the bottom of the snake's mouth and giving a little jump before it closed it, being helped by the impulse that the same reptile gave him before the abrupt movement it made while trying to make him fall.

Sasuke stayed on the snake's skull and held onto its scales as best he could before stabbing his sword - which he had clung to as much as he could during the attack - into one of the animal's eyes, which let out a shrill and strange sound before, to Sasuke's immense amazement, it made a 180 ° turn and threw himself hard against the floor, taking him with and crashing him on the flat surface, a blow so violent that it caused him to lose his helmet, his mobility and his strength.

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

Only seconds before he lost consciousness he saw the towering snake - now one-eyed - rise above him before launching itself with his jaws open just as Sasuke's eyes finally gave up.

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was the immense throbbing pain in his head that only got worse when he tried to open his eyes, being hit by the brightest sunlight that forced him to close them again.

Where had so much light come from?

After a while, and when he was sure he could resist it, he opened his eyes again.

It took him a long time to regain the clarity of his sight, but once everything was clear he was astonished at what he saw.

In front of him a large colorful space, green above all, stood proud in all that light. Huge trees were here and there, casting great shadows, covered with fruit in great quantity.

A few meters from him was a lake with crystal clear waters, reflecting everything that was shown from above.

It was only when a slight movement behind him caught his attention that he realized he had been leaning against something cold, and when he turned around he felt as if his entire being had left his body when he found himself face to face with the giant eye yellowish that he recognized instantly.

He backed away quickly, grunting in pain as his muscles protested at his sudden movements, but instead of stopping to ease them, he fought them and reached for his sword at her waist, surprised not to find it.

The snake stared at him for a few seconds before lazily deflecting its head toward the center of the thread that had turned its body.

—You must not fear, it will not hurt you

He turned quickly and looked around, searching for the soft voice that he had said those words.

"Onyx" he breathed out, seeing the mate he had thought he lost, now lying on the grass, asleep on the other side of the lake.

Naturally those words were not said by the animal, but by the other person next to it, who was gently stroking the mane of his horse.

Their eyes met and he forgot how to breathe, incredulous of the moons that were his pupils, beautiful, and that without a doubt were looking directly at him.

The woman stood up and he could see her completely: snowy skin, long dark hair that swayed with every step she took. Her body was covered in leaves, branches and flowers that clung to her like a second layer. The upper part of her was covered by vines up to the middle of her breasts, being enough to cover the most. The lower part was a skirt, much less rigid than the upper one as it was made entirely of green leaves in different sizes, stopping only a few inches above her knees.

A long vine rested in the center of her abdomen, joining the two pieces as one.

She was barefoot and her hair was decorated with the most elaborate flower crown he had ever seen in his life.

As he passed by the lake, he stopped, crouching in the direction of the water, taking from the ground a large leaf of a plant that he did not recognize - and which he had not realized was lying there - and wrapped it gently until it formed a bowl that she plunged into the water until filled it, rising again and resuming its way towards him, now with the makeshift pot that spilled tiny drops from its bottom.

When she finally got to him, he saw her more clearly: thin and natural pink lips, a small and upturned nose, perfectly shaped eyebrows and long eyelashes that only marveled her appearance even more, also highlighting the lack of the slightest freckle on her face.

She offered him the bowl but he did not take it at first, still fascinated and hypnotized by the beauty of the woman in front of him until she pushed it to his chest, forcing him to hold it as she took one by one his hands between her smallest and drew them to the sides of the blade, releasing it when she made sure his grip was firm.

She, with one of her index fingers, touched the surface of the water three times in different parts, and when her hand lowered three different flowers grew in the water: a lotus, a calla and a water lily, which immediately disintegrated and mixed with the liquid, giving it a color that ranged from pink to purple.

"Take it" she said, looking into his eyes "it will help you heal."

He didn't know why, but he obeyed her and took the entire tonic in one gulp, grimacing when the bitter taste of it touched his tongue and she slid down her throat.

She smirked and turned around, walking back to where Onyx was now awake, looking at them wearily.

"It's you" was the first thing that came out of his mouth, looking at her completely uncovered back as she walked away from him “The witch”.

Her walking stopped and she turned around again, looking at him now with a frown, offended.

“That's very rude!. I am not a witch" she protested "My name is Hinata Hyuga, and I am the queen of this garden" she said proudly, turning to resume her march as if her statement was enough to deny his word.

But he would not be fooled; he had witnessed for himself what she had done in the water she had given him to drink.

He looked around him and his sight fell on his sword and armor, arranged neatly on the grass near the giant serpent's tail.

Slowly and careful not to be heard he approached his things and took the sword at the same time that with difficulty he took three steps back as the snake's tail moved to hit the ground and then returned to its original position.

It took a bit of trouble, but he was able to raise his sword and hold it with both hands, directing the tip in the direction in which that woman - that witch - was, now again sitting on the grass, stroking the back of his horse, looking at him unimpressed.

"Witch, you will come with me" he demanded "Everything will be easier if you do not resist, you will get a decent treatment: you will sleep in the softest bed, you will wear the finest clothes ... otherwise, if you resist, you ... you ..." He stopped for a moment, not for lack of words, but from shortness of breath —If… if you resist… the dungeon… the smallest and dirtiest dungeon will be…

"You’re hurting them" she interrupted, and he didn't understand.

The witch looked down and he followed her eyes, stopping at the sword that was now stuck in the middle of a small group of flowers.

When had he lowered his sword?

“What did you do to me?” He growled, aware of the progressive loss of strength to which he was subjected.

"It's the medicine" said the witch, calmly "for your body to heal, it must first rest”

And as if that were a command, his body fell apart, causing him to fall to the floor on a tall grass bed that he could swear was not there a moment ago.

- Witch! ... You will pay...

Unconsciousness welcomed him.

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

When he woke up there was still sunlight, quite clear, so he thought that maybe he had only slept a few seconds, but the environment felt different from before and he could hear the distinctive galloping and neighing of Onyx, going here and there as his footsteps slightly covered the happy laugh of the female.

He could not move his body freely, only just his fingers, and mentally he cursed himself for having taken that concoction that this evil woman had given him, clearly using her sorcery to weaken him.

“Your body still needs rest” he could have shuddered at the sudden voice if it weren't for the fact that he was paralyzed, shortly afterwards the witch's face appeared in his visual range, tilted from above so he could see her “you´ve been very hurt by your confrontation with Munda, your injuries will take a little longer to heal”

He grunted, annoyed.

“Why have you risked your life to get here, mortal?” She asked him, now in a more serious tone.

Then and once again without really knowing why, he began to tell her about his kingdom, about the moments of wealth and prosperity before the war struck, about the deaths and the lack of food that besieged them, making their situation worse. He told her about his brother and his mysterious bedridden illness, about the sudden barrenness of his lands, and how he had preferred to make this trip alone rather than take away much-needed protection in case they tried again to invade them during his absence.

In her face there was no sorrow, annoyance or joy for their misfortunes, instead it was pure curiosity what he could see while he finished explaining the reason why he was looking for her.

"Okay, I'll go with you" she answered with conviction.

He, who had gradually regained mobility to the point where he could now sit up and the waves of heat attacked him insistently, looked at her in surprise, unable to avoid questioning her decision.

"I'll go with you" she confirmed again "However, the starting path is more dangerous than the one you traveled to get here, so you will have to make a full recovery first" She stood up and looked at him “I cannot be away for long, this place depends on me, so I will help your people and leave immediately, it is my only condition”

He watched her, almost denying immediately that he could leave that easily, but he was quick enough to bite his tongue before speaking.

"Okay, then we have a deal" he agreed.

She nodded pleased and stood up, walking away from him and up a tiny hill where she began to press with her fingers the closed buds and the withered flowers that surrounded her, opening and coming back to life with the simple touch of her.

Despite having accepted, in his mind they only danced ways of how he would interrupt her departure, it would be very foolish of him to let her go that easy, a person with her abilities, whether witch or not, was unique, one in a million , and no self-respecting kingdom would let her go that easily.

He could try to convince her by showing her everything that she obviously didn't have in her "garden", the wonders of modernity, and if that couldn't convince her, well, he had dungeons at his disposal that he could trick her into or even without them, but surely he would not lose those abilities from his hands.

Satisfied with that plan, he began to touch the back of both of his hands, searching and removing the splinters that he did not know how he has nailed himself.

Even though Hinata's tonics were helping him recover faster than he normally would, it felt like it was actually taking forever.

There, the days and nights seemed to last longer than normal, as if the clock had 36 hours instead of 24.

Each remedy that Hinata gave her were different and she healed something different, like the one she used to make his bruises disappear, which were a combination of wild flowers and citrus fruits that melted in the water as soon as she created them and released. Those bruises that would normally take a week or more to fade, she had done it in almost three days.

The problem is that she could only give him a tonic for one thing at a time, along with the first one that she had given him so his body relaxes and rests.

Now he was drinking one that she claimed would help with his internal ailments, and he guessed she was referring to the bruised bones that barely allowed her to walk or breathe. This was particularly bitter and she had to take it several times a day, which was a mini torture considering that these wounds would take even longer to heal.

He was washing his armor when he heard her scream.

“No! Go away, you can't be here!”

His skin prickled when she heard it. Had someone entered that place? An ally or an enemy? The great snake that was supposed to be the only one that could make someone else reach that place, Munda, hadn't moved from the rock it had spread on the day before, almost looking dead if it weren't for the hiss it left escape from time to time, maybe someone had found a way to enter without facing the great reptile?

“No! Get away!”

Wasting no time he dropped the piece of armor he was washing into the water and instead grabbed his sword, gripping it tightly and ran - or rather, he limped quickly - looking beyond the trees and bushes until he saw her midnight hair, covered with small flowers of various colors, and he went quickly towards her, who kept her fists clenched and her arms stiff down, slapping the floor with one foot while she kept yelling at whoever was there to leave.

But as he got closer to her, he still couldn't see anyone else; maybe it was some invisible person? It would not be unreasonable to think about that.

Finally, when he got to her side, he saw whoever caused her annoyance.

"This… creature…" she began, making an exasperated gesture with her hand at the wild boar that nonchalantly ate the blackberries from the orchard it raided "This annoying creature won't go away!" I've tried everything but it keeps coming back”

He looked at her in disbelief.

“So much fuss over a wild boar?”

“Is this the name of this demon spawn?” She asked him, looking at him intensely "Do you know him?"

"It's a wild boar, there are hundreds of them in the forest" he said more calmly, dismissing the accusation of her previous question.

“Hundreds?!” She gasped in disbelief.

"Calm down, just ... get rid of him."

“I´ve tried it! But this ... boar keeps coming back”

He let out an exasperated sigh, thinking of suggesting of making her pet snake eat the animal, but dismissed the idea as he thought the reptile was pretty useless when it don´t came to attacking and killing unsuspecting humans and their horses near the plateau of stone.

Since he first woke up he had only seen it move a few inches and change position, so another idea occurred to him.

“Can you hold it?” He asked him “with your ivy?”

She looked at him curiously and suspiciously, but instead of answering vocally, she raised a hand and made a few short movements with her fingers before clenching her fist, catching the animal that began to screech in panic.

He approached it, and with a certain movement, cut off it head.

When he heard her loud gasp he looked back and there she was, her brows furrowed, her eyes staked and both of her hands covering her mouth.

He looked back at the now dead animal, grabbed it head and raised it before asking.

“Do you know fire?”

Sasuke sat on a rock while at the same time bringing the now cooked boar meat to his mouth, biting off a large chunk and tearing it from the rest so he could eat it.

Sitting on another rock on the other side of the bonfire he had made, Hinata found herself with her arms crossed and her brow furrowed, looking at him with such intensity as if she wanted to make his head explode with just her powerful gaze.

She was upset with him, that was clear. Since he had killed the animal and cut its meat into smaller portions so he could stick them into branches and put them on the fire to cook.

The turning point, however, was when he gathered branches and leaves and started the fire that he had surrounded with rocks of different sizes as a barrier so that the fire did not spread.

Apparently, she could forgive him for killing an animal even if she was clearly against it, but lighting wood and using leaves as a burning material was where she drew the line, practically declaring enmity at the prolonged silence she had maintained.

It was funny to tell the truth, even if preparing that meat and the dressing he had bathed it with to give it a little more flavor had been torture for his sprained wrist, it was worth it if I could see her normally relaxed and smiling face distorted with annoyance and disappointment, her lower lip sticking out childishly.

Furthermore, and despite the wide variety of fruits she had been feeding him - more delicious than he had ever eaten - he had really missed the taste of meat on his palate.

“Hey!” He called her even though it wasn't necessary, since she hadn't taken her gaze from him for a second. "Try a little" he said, spreading some meat even though he was too far for her to reach.

That scandalized her.

“I will not do it!” She vigorously refused, looking quite offended by his proposal “I'm not a savage!”

"Me neither" he said, shrugging even though he wanted to burst in laughs at her expression.

“You are eating a living being”

“You eat the children of your plants, but I don't judge you for doing that”

The expression on her face finally overcame him, making him laugh.

With difficulty and care, he rose to his feet and walked around the fire, sitting next to her and extending with his good hand the piece of meat he himself had previously been eating.

"Try a little" he repeated, but she pursed her lips and turned her face away, refusing.

“No, I do not like”

"You can't say you don't like it if you haven't tried it yet" he told her, repeating the words his mother had repeated so much to the fussy eight-year-old he was.

But she kept refusing, so he took another approach they used to use with him when he was especially difficult to feed: negotiation.

"How about this" he began “If you try a little of this, I promise I won't complain and take all your strange meds even if they taste like hell itself, you don't have to like it, just try a little”

She looked at him scrutinizingly, apparently looking for some kind of dishonesty, but he just brought his injured wrist to the center of his abdomen, in a well-camouflaged dirty little manipulative move, which he knew was working when she looked at his wrist and then again to in his eyes.

“Just a little?” He nodded "And will you take the medicine without complaining?" He affirmed again.

Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out again in the form of a long sigh.

She opened her eyes again, now with a look of determination and nodded.

He smiled and brought the meat to her mouth.

“W-wait!” she yelled, holding his wrist.

He was really having a hard time not laugh again.

Without letting go his wrist, she barely opened her mouth and bit into some of the meat, chewing it and stopping after swallowing it.

He looked at her expectantly, watching as she frowned again and sudden tears began to fall from her eyes.

Was it really that bad?

He began to feel guilty for forcing her to do so, but he was surprised when she now took a bigger bite, taking the meat from his hand to grab it herself, saying between sobs

"It's good!" she sniffed and cried harder as she ate more of it.

________________________

That night he woke up because of the pain that attacked his healthy wrist, grunting and looking for the reason for that, and when he looked at it, he was surprised and out of breath to see how a bracelet of branches wrapped him, which would not be a problem if it was not for the fact that they seemed to come straight out of his skin.

________________________

Another few days passed and he had kept thinking a lot about his situation.

Due to his suspicions, he decided to do an experiment.

For a few days he stayed especially close to her, touching her skin with his fingertips in the most subtle way he could, leading him to offer help during the moments when she did her self-imposed tasks that were not really necessary - there was not much to entertain herself with, he supposed — and despite confusion at his sudden need to help, she agreed and directed him what to do, frustrating him when any of those tasks kept him away from her.

But at the end of the day he touched her enough without going overboard - tapping her shoulder to get her attention or patted it awkwardly as he congratulated her with a "good job" - and then he walked away from her and went to the makeshift cot she had created for him, leaving her more confused than at first.

The first night he waited awake for something to happen, for the branches to start coming out or for his skin to turn green, he wasn't entirely sure what could happen, but he waited.

And he received nothing.

He repeated the experiment several more times and nothing happened, so he thought maybe it was a side effect of the last potion she had given him to drink? It would make sense that his body is no longer producing more vegetation by changing the type of medicine she was giving him, and it would also make sense that she did not know that effect as something out of the ordinary, since her own body seemed to produce by itself the plants that dressed her.

Then he forgot the topic, classifying it as a one-time occurrence.

Until he wasn't.

That morning, when he no longer had any kind of ailment and was beginning to feel he was finally regaining his strength, he had helped Munda - who, he learned, was really peaceful when he was not protecting the entrance to that garden - to get rid of the little debris that had stuck to him after his last shedding of skin.

"Good work," Hinata said, patting him on the shoulder as best she could since he was significantly taller than her “Munda's shedding of skin is usually a disaster because it is more resistant than normal, so I always have a hard time cleaning it when it's in season” she revealed, now with her hand fixed on his shoulder “you are very good at that”

He accepted her congratulations with a small hint of pride on her chest.

They passed the day with normally, and at night, while taking a bath in the lake, a sudden pain attacked his shoulder.

When he tried to move his shoulder in circles, he couldn´t, the pain and stiffness prevented him from the slightest movement, then he brought his other hand over said shoulder to try to massage himself, but when he felt his fingers prick, He stopped.

Surprised, he looked at his shoulder and couldn't believe what he saw: it was covered in thorns right where Hinata had touched it.

The fire of anger ignited in him and spread like forest fire, was that it? Her hands? Were her hands causing his body to produce leaves and thorns as if it were a simple plant? Although, now that he thought about it, he had been a fool not to realize it before, after all, she was nothing more than a witch whose hands could grow trees and flowers out of nowhere.

He had been fooled. He had let his guard down and this witch was turning him into another plant in her garden.

Who many more had she done this to?

He looked at the surrounding trees for the hint that any of them were once a man, but he had done his job so well that there was not the slightest trace of a previous humanity in them.

Angry, he left the lake and put on his pants, not caring they were dirty and dusty from the activities he had done that day. He dressed in his armor and took the sword with him, searching for Hinata and finding her, as always, in the center of the small flower-covered hill that surrounded her.

His quick and heavy steps caught his attention, turning and smiling at him when she saw him approaching, but that expression quickly changed when he entered, stepping carelessly on the flowers that she loved so much.

"Sasuk ..!"

"In two days we will leave," he interrupted, placing the sword under her chin and applying enough pressure so the tip dug lightly into her neck, hurting her “I have already lost a lot of valuable time with your stupid games, as of today, I command”

He turned around without giving her the opportunity to speak and went to the farthest part of that garden, where he found what seemed to be the oldest tree of all, the most leafy, where he sat down and pressed his back against it, crossing his arms with his sword still in his hand, quickly creating in his mind all the logistics of what he would do next.

______________________

The desperate neighing of Onyx woke him up.

He hadn't realized when he had fallen asleep, but it seems as if the apocalypse had taken place once he closed his eyes.

He blinked, trying to clear the blurry view of him until everything was terrifyingly sharp.

In front of him, Onyx kept crying, rising on his hind legs and then dropping the front legs in heavy blows, kicking up the dust with each fall.

It was daytime, he could tell, but the whole environment was so bleak that his brain had a hard time understanding it.

He looked around him, all the space that had previously been green and colorful had turned to the darkest gray he had ever seen. The trees shed their leaves at an impressive speed, the same ones that were now on the ground, surrounding him.

He tried to take one, but the blades were so brittle they broke with the simple touch.

"Onix, take it easy" But the horse ignored him; instead, he whinnied louder as if urging him to stop and then ran, leaving him behind.

He walked carefully, looking everywhere: the bushes were dry but still held some of their fruits, of which he took one and put it in his mouth only to spit it out instantly, disgusted by the horrible taste of the previously delicious blackberry had taken. As he walked, a foul stench began to fill his nostrils, aggravating the closer he got to the lake, until he realized that was where it came from. The waters, previously clean and clear, were now as black and thick as tar.

What was happening?

It didn't take long for him to find the cause.

Still on the small hill was Hinata, motionless and with her head bowed, the flowers around her were wilted. Munda surrounded the hill, making a great circle with its whole body, as trying to be a wall of protection for her owner.

The great snake gave him a warning hiss, glaring at him, now with both of its healthy eyes, as if it was challenging him to come closer.

Even with the threat of the reptile, he did, he knew how protective he was, but he had learned that in here Munda was more like a puppy playing at being brave than the gigantic and terrifying snake really was.

Already within the circle of protection of him everything was more horrible, here the flowers were not withered, and instead they seemed burned. Hinata's body remained immobile, not even seemed to breathe, and when he surrounded her and was face to face with her, he was surprised by the horrible state that in just a few hours she had gotten.

Her skin was as gray as the rest of the earth, her previously pink lips were now dangerously close to black, almost all the flowers in her hair and crown had lost their petals and the ones that remained would fall at any moment. Her eyes were open and she kept them that way, without blinking, and the only sign that told him there was still life in her was the trail of tears that fell without stopping.

He crouched in front of her and called out, but he didn't get the slightest bit of recognition from her.

He grabbed her face and winced at the ease of movement he had from her, even if her body seemed stiffer than could be possible.

Then the dark green trail that fell from her throat to her abdomen caught his eye, and he felt as if he had been hit with the strongest metal as he remembered what he had done.

Was this his fault?

"Hinata," he called her, lifting her face so he could look into her eyes, which seemed to be empty. "Hinata, I'm sorry."

But his attempts were in vain because she did not respond or make the slightest movement that indicated she would do it at some point.

Desperation began to fill him and he didn't know what to do, stroking her face and trying to wipe the tears away, but they kept falling and instead, sliding over and around his thumbs, mocking his unsuccessful attempts to stop them.

Then, in a moment of utter despair he did something he had only thought would happen in his dreams, and kissed her.

His lips froze over the cold, chapped of hers, and all ambient sound that he had previously not actively noticed disappeared. He made no move, just stood with his lips joined, praying inside his mind for a reaction, until her lips trembled.

One sob left them, then two, until it was totally a symphony of wailing.

He hugged her and pressed her to his chest, quietly apologizing to her and preferring to hear her cry than remain in the deathly silence of moments ago.

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

Recovery was slower than he could have imagined. While it took less than one night to produce the disaster, fixing it was a matter of a long time.

She avoided talking to him and he couldn't blame her, not after all that he´d caused.

She was just getting back to her normal color and at the same time so did her garden, slowly returning to the green it was when he had arrived.

He hadn't given her a reason for his action in the first place, and he didn't think he'd do it sometime soon - never, if he could.

He just helped her silently, discovering that when he kissed her, she recovered a little more.

So he kept doing it, morning, afternoon and evening, until the pink on her cheeks appeared and the flowers in her hair began to bloom.

That, however, came at a price, and it didn't take long for him to realize that the mere touch was more powerful than that of her fingers.

It first reflected on his nails, which turned brown and their textures became like that of a tree trunk. Then on his chest, where leaves and thorns came out again.

It was a much faster process than he had thought.

"I think we can leave tomorrow" were the first words she spoke to him after days of silence, smiling shyly at him, speaking in a low voice.

He nodded as best she could, his neck stiff from the changes taking place in him.

That day his feet stuck to the ground, and pulling them off felt as if he had lost a limb.

"Sasuke" Hinata called him the next morning, worried about what she was seeing. "Since when has this been happening?"

He looked at her, but he didn't answer.

He was still lying on his grass cot, trapped by the ivy that had tightly encircled his arms, torso, and legs to keep him in place.

"Wait." The desperation in Hinata's voice was palpable, but he could barely recognize anything.

With her hands, Hinata touched the plants on top of him, but was surprised to see that instead of obeying her and disappearing, they seemed to tighten around Sasuke.

She looked at her hands without understanding what was happening and tried again, her eyes clouding over as she obtained the same result as the first time.

The tears left her eyes and the sobs soon appeared the more she tried and failed, becoming more energetic and miserable with every second more.

"Hinata," he called out, barely a hoarse whisper as he felt a new plant grow from his stomach and slide its roots through his esophagus, slowly exiting his mouth "There is no time for me…”

“Do not!" She shouted shakily" Don't say that!”

“S. Save them ... my people ...” he said, barely breathing.

"I-I will, but-but first ..." A sob interrupted her "you first..."

Sasuke wanted to deny, but he had neither the strength nor the mobility to do so.

"There ... there is ... no time for ... me" he repeated.

“Sasuke”

“Please”

Without finding the words to answer him, she just nodded.

Sasuke smiled and looked at her, grateful as a single tear slid down the side of his face as more roots came out of his mouth.

"Thank you" he said, his voice cracking, closing his eyes, "I lo ..."

But he couldn't finish his sentence, losing the last breath he had and finally letting the roots slide out of his mouth and dig into the ground beneath him.

A heartrending scream came from Hinata's mouth, the loss, for the first time in hundreds of years, completely ripping her apart.

She cried over his body, feeling a pain much worse than that of a few days ago completely invade her, feeling again how she was fainting rapidly.

But she still had one last promise to keep.

Unwilling to leave him, Hinata placed both hands on the ground and gathered all of her strength, screaming as she transferred her power beyond the forest, filling all around with the life that he had come looking for.

The earth shook and great thorny walls rose above all of her garden, joining in the center without closing completely, and leaving a small gap through which the sunlight entered.

Exhausted, she walked to where Sasuke's body lay covered in roots and she dropped down beside him, placing a hand on his chest, slowly closing her eyes and melting into him.

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

From the highest tower of the Uchiha castle, the cries of the courtesans invaded the room of King Itachi, whose body was covered by a white sheet as his court surrounded him.

"You did it, my king," Kakashi whispered, watching from the window as the kingdom began to fill with the vivid green of the growing plants and the colorful buds of flowers and fruit that followed them, though his attention was really fixed on the large bud that it had formed in the farthest part of the forest.

While, at the gates of the kingdom, Onyx the steed without his king arrived.

@sasuhinamonth

#sasuhina month #sasuhinamonth2021 #day 5 #sasuhina #queen of the garden #theres a spanish vertion #but im not publishing it here #too long

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lailoken · 4 years ago

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“Stones of Power:

The Flints which find their way to the surface of the land are beautiful and varied but nevertheless quite small. The few larger stones which are found around Norfolk are mostly glacial erratics. Due to their relative rarity, such stones are considered remarkable and are rich in history, often having been meeting places where significant decisions were taken. Unsurprisingly, they have much magical lore associated with them and retain considerable power, which can be drawn upon for magical purposes. This sometimes involves spells but is more often a means of developing our understanding of unwritten history. After all, the memory of stones is deeper and denser than the Mercurial gifts of pen and ink of of the whispered word. The sonorous voices of these stones have a language of their own, unfettered by grammar and vocabulary. They "speak’ to one another across the landscape, maintaining, not only their ancient kinship, but also an intricate pattern of silent power lines. The following examples represent just a small selection. There are more which can be sought out.

The Cowell Stone

This stone is to be found on Swaffham Heath, about 150 yards from the B1122 road to Downham Market. It stands at a truly liminal spot, marking a hundred boundary, as well as those of the parishes of Swaffham, Marham and Narborough. Part of the Icknield Way, marked as Peddersty or Saltersty, and the East-West Fincham Drove, which is a Roman road, pass very close to it (Clarke and Clarke, 1937). Its magic draws together the footsteps of the many who have trodden these paths and lived and died in the surrounding parishes.

The origin of the stone's name has a number of possibilities. Ben Ripper (1979) suggests it is named after Cow Hill, or a corruption of coal, since the stone once guided pilgrims to a beacon hill near Colkirk (Coalchurch). The stone used to be situated in a field nearby, where workers sat on it to eat their dinner. However, in the 1980s, it was moved by two local historians, Ben Ripper and Peter Howling, as it was considered to be at risk of damage from ploughing. The move seems not to have disrupted its energy in any way, perhaps because it was conducted with respect and honourable intentions. It has a warm, welcoming lenergy, one which encourages the seeker to both broaden and deepen their quest for knowledge, not just of stones, but of all aspect of the magic of the land.

The Merton Stone

The Merton Stone, nestled in a shallow marl pit, just off the Peddars Way near the boundary of the parishes of Merton and Threxton, is thought to weigh between twenty and thirty tons and to be the largest glacial erratic in the United Kingdom.

Some people say that to stand on it is a chilling experience, where the presence of malevolent spirits can be felt. However, on a warm, sunny day it is more likely to be a very pleasant, and indeed healing experience. It is well known that, continuing a centuries-old tradition, young ladies wishing to fall pregnant still sit on the stone and find its magic effective. The plants around it, especially the Mugwort, seem to derive extra energy from their proximity to such a powerful character.

There is a long-held local belief that, if the stone is removed, the waters will rise and cover the entire Earth (Clarke and Clarke, 1937). Moving the stone was apparently attempted by the 5th Lord of Walsingham, one of the ancient de Grey family. He assembled all the local men and women, together with much beer and many ropes, but the failed attempt ended in an "erotic debauch". Another attempt to move it, in the 1930s or 40s, this time using a large rotary plough, was equally unsuccessful (Burgess, 2005b), although I have been unable to find out whether this ended the same way as the previous escapade.

The Stockton Stone

The Stockton Stone currently stands on the raised grass verge of a lay-by on the A146, between Beccles and Norwich, just outside the village of Stockton itself. This lichen-covered, sandstone glacial erratic weighs several tons and is said by some to have been an ancient track marker. According to Michael Clarke, it marks the old meeting place of the Clavering hundred, possibly the place where the 10th century Danegeld was paid, although Geldeston, near Beccles, might be a more likely candidate, given its name.

Like the Merton Stone, the Stockton Stone has a curse upon it that anyone who moves it will fall victim to terrible misfortune or death. Much to the consternation of many local people, it was indeed moved, in the 1930s, to accommodate the widening of the road. Not surprisingly. one of the workmen involved collapsed and died.

In spite of its unfortunate location, so close to a very busy road, this stone retains an amazingly powerful energy and people still leave small offerings there. While paying our respects recently, a group of us found a rather attractive blue stone egg, which looked as if it had not been there for very long. Moved by the moment and by the atmosphere, one of our party suggested that we should hold hands and dance around the stone three times, which we duly did, much to the amusement of passing motorists!

The Great Stone of Lyng

This is another erratic brought to us by the glaciers of the Ice Age. There are many local tales surrounding this mysterious Stone, which is said to bleed if pricked with a pin. Some claim the blood is that of victims from a time when the stone was used as a sacrificial altar, while others are of the opinion that it is the blood of those who fell during a ferocious battle between King Edmund and the Danes. Others tell of treasure hidden beneath it and how the landowner has never been able to move the stone to unearth the spoils (Burgess, 2005a).

The grove in which the stone stands, almost hidden beside the path, does have a rather unnerving feel to it. One can "see" all too easily soldiers struggling up the steep escarpment and the bodies of the slain sprawled on the bank to the other side of the path. Rod Chapman informs me that, not so very many years ago, some of the children of the village had to walk through the grove, past the stone, in order to get to school and, in the winter, these children were allowed to leave school early so that they could walk through before it was dark. This is completely understandable. On climbing out of the hollow to the fields above, the atmosphere suddenly changes completely. There is almost a sense of relief and a feeling that one no longer needs to speak in hushed whispers.

There is a recent tale of a brave, tough, yet inexperienced witch who was determined to camp out for a night by the stone, in order to become better acquainted with the ghosts and spirits of the place. He pitched his tent right near the stone and was confident that he would have an interesting and informative night's vigil. However, he became so frightened by the eerie sounds and the terrifying atmosphere that he was forced to run from the place and ring a fellow practitioner to come with their car and rescue him! The stone does look something like a Dragon and has a hole in it just where the eye would be, which is deep enough for an adult to insert their entire arm. Quite a few people I know have done this and come to no harm, although it is not a pleasant experience.

Not far from the grove, in the middle of a field, are the ruins of a nunnery known as St. Edmund's Chapel, which was said to have been built to honour those who died in the battle.

It has been suggested that Blood's Dale, between Drayton and Hellesdon, on the slopes leading down to the River Wensum, where the Danes are also said to have fought the Anglo-Saxons, may have been the site of King Edmund's death in 896 CE. Abbo of Fleury (870 CE) tells us that King Edmund died at Hellesdon, and Joe Mason (2018) argues convincingly, that the unusual number of churches dedicated to St. Edmund along this stretch of the River Wensum is significant. The survivors, having found the King's severed head with the help of the Wolf, could have taken his body upstream to Lyng, to the aforementioned chapel. Although not fully excavated, some pottery dating from the time of King Edmund, has been found there. Furthermore, an old tithe map refers to the Grove as King's Grove and a map published in the Eastern Daily Press in 1939, names the Great Stone as King Edmund's Stone. Perhaps this would have been a suitable burial place for the miracle-working king? (Mason, 2018) Some of us would like to think so. Certainly, the Ash keys collected from a tree growing on the ruins of the nunnery are particularly effective in assisting those who wish to speak with spirits of the dead.

The Aldeby Rune Stones

Not all our standing stones are ancient, and just as exciting are those being erected now for the benefit of ourselves and of future generations. Aldeby, in South East Norfolk, is a wonderful such example. Here, seven standing stones have been carved with runes and with Christian symbols, and placed around the parish boundary as part of a Millennium project, known as "Pathways in Stone". The runes spell out the name of the village but are also related to the powers of the stones themselves. The Stone of Dawn, for example, features the Day Rune (dagaz) and a Medieval symbol of the World and the four Elements, while the Stone of Wisdom has the God Rune (ansuz) and the square and circle symbol for the material and spiritual worlds. One stone, the Stone of Destiny, combines all the symbols found on the outlying stones, with the addition of the othel rune, symbolizing ancestral land and heritage. The stones are carboniferous limestone, so had to be brought in especially for the project, but in spite of having been in place for a relatively short time, some of them are already giving off some very interesting energy.

These stones form a pilgrimage walk around the village and are best seen in the Winter when they are not obscured by vegetation.

The Druid Stone of St. Andrew's

When Ray Loveday pointed out to me his "Druid Stone", at the North-east corner of St. Andrew's Church, in the centre of Norwich, I was astounded that I had walked down St. Andrew's Hill so many times, admiring the cleverly-knapped Flint of the church wall, without noticing this stone. It is another of those magical items which are hiding in plain sight, but once the attention is drawn to it, the remarkable ancient power it holds becomes apparent. This stone, at least what can be seen of it above ground, is not large, and has a fairly flat top with a number of circular indentations which are often filled with' water, and work well as scrying pools. Ray is unsure whether they are a natural feature, were deliberately carved out or have developed over centuries as a result of water dripping from the church roof. There are several smaller, less well-rounded dips too, which tend to get rather muddy. The stone, which has a very feminine feel to it, welcomes small, discrete offerings, such as a ring of twisted Periwinkle stems or a little Daisy chain; nothing too elaborate or containing any artificial materials. It certainly deserves respect and attention, as it appears to form part of the magical foundation of the city.”

—

Chapter 2: ‘Sacred Places: Stories Within the Landscape’,

Of Chalk & Flint:

A Way of Norfolk Magic

by Val Thomas

#of chalk & flint #Val Thomas #Norfolk Magic #Norfolk lore #East Anglian Magic #holy stones #sacred stones #traditional witchcraft

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prairiedust · 4 years ago

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More Last Holiday Musings...

I want to poke at that interdimensional geoscope a little more, because upon reading it over again, I think I splashed it up a little fast and there are a couple of points I’d like to be clearer about. I meant to queue this up to post last night but also want it to be up before Gimme Shelter so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is more blue curtains lit crit with a dash of folklore and an honorable mention for post-structuralism. And we’re talking about Supernatural after all, so this is sort of... well, it’s about endings.

Last Holiday was not a typical “filler” or even a typical MOTW episode. It felt extremely insular, possibly more so than any other episode I can think at any other point in the series. As opposed to the usual crowd of “locals,” a spate of victims, and a couple of red herring suspects, the only other people in this ep besides the Winchesters (including Jack) and Mrs. Butters were the two vampires and Cuthbert Sinclair. There was no “case” as in a usual MOTW-- there was no Chuck Struggle, either, and the lack of mytharc was strange against the lack of “filler” schema. That lack of “MOTW investigation” marked this episode also as being about “curiosity”-- the Winchesters all-too-quickly took Mrs. Butters for granted-- Dean even dismissed her as a “Magic Roomba” and that seemed to settle the matter. Furthermore, the moment that Dean spotted Mrs. B in his room, the stage was set for Antics ™ when she held up his goofy Scooby boxers, and indeed a zaniness, an almost manic energy drove the action forward at a breakneck pace. [Spoiler alert, we do get “investigation” in the next episode, 15x15 Gimme Shelter, as stills and the preview show that Castiel and Jack will be teaming up together, in yet another shake-up of the usual “MOTW” template, almost like we can expect the other side of a coin when Sam and Dean switch places with Cas...] These features set Last Holiday apart as not so much “filler” as “between,” as in there was struggle before, and there will be struggle after, but for a while there was cake. (Contrast this to the usual “peril of the threshold” that usually shrouds liminality if you’d like.)

At the end of Last Holiday, however, we finally get to find out what that old blue telescope really is, and with that name we get confirmation that there are no more alternate universes-- Chuck has burned them all. Viewers are left to come to the conclusion that in retrospect the telescope-thing could have changed the course of season 13 completely. The reveal is played off as darkly funny, but it’s also kind of a gut-wrenching moment, too. All the heartbreak of the last two and a half years, reviewed now through the lens of “if only.” If only they’d known about Mrs. Butters from the time they found the bunker, “none of this would have happened”… they’d have had monster radar, they’d have had the geoscope, they would have had supernatural help of a completely different level.

The temptation to read Last Holiday as a Chuck-free episode is strong, but fraught-- the threat of Chuck’s involvement has been established by a pattern this season (well the pattern is woven throughout the whole series really but Dabb has deliberately structured these last three seasons with an exponentially increasing frequency.) I feel like we’ve been conditioned this season in particular to hold ourselves in a perpetual flinch, to be afraid of what we’ll learn “in retrospect.” That geoscope was really_good_subtext, and it is entirely possible, even encouraged, at this point in the plot to take information we’ve learned from the naming of the object, examine our own conditioned response to this episode, and apply both things to the structure of the season so far and make a prediction as to what might happen in the main plot. That’s what I mean about subtext getting loud. We’ve been given the green-light to make a prediction about The Struggle and march forward with it, and see if we will be correct by extrapolating the pattern, or if that expectation will be subverted (the twist is set up to run either way, so either outcome is satisfying.) It is Melville-esque architecture of the highest degree;I could write another thousand words just about that. So I have a prediction that I’m hanging on to, because of what we’ve learned from the geoscope, and what kinds of clues were hung up in Last Holiday, and I’m super excited to either have my hunch confirmed or be frightfully and delightedly surprised. I mean, where the fuck did Jeremy Adams even come from? He’s like our own Mrs. Butters, showing up in the last quarter to run a couple game-changing balls into the end zone, it’s bonkers. I mean, I know writing mysteries is hard and requires still AND cunning, but damn, son.

But anyway, back to the geoscope…

I’m perplexed, from a very “lit crit” perspective, but this is where I’m at and why I referenced blue curtains-- if you shine too bright a light on subtext, does it evaporate-- like looking through an interdimensional geoscope and not seeing anything-- or is “subtext” sometimes not some ephemeral fever-dream that we as viewers conjure up through our experiential interlocution with the text but something a writer has steeped into the narrative as part of their craft? Or when you’re talking about an evolving iteration of writers, is it possible that one picks up a thread that another wove in for something else, repurposing or amplifying it? And, when perhaps is something deliberately instilled in the text in order to become “text” at just the right time? In Moby Dick, [spoiler alert lol] Quequeg’s coffin-- formerly one of many symbolic vehicles used to foreshadow the doom of the Pequod-- is repurposed as a life buoy and becomes the actual object that saves Ishmael’s life, transforming it from a portent of disaster to a symbol of salvation and then to one of Ishmael’s guilt for surviving Ahab’s madness-- the guilt that had been made text by the very opening line of the book, “Call me Ishmael.” In retrospect, the connotations of wandering, exile and salvation behind the name that the narrator gives himself become crystal clear. The problem that the post-structuralist model of “reading” as simultaneously “creating the text” has manufactured is that the idea that “subtext” can often be discounted as something dreamed up wholecloth by the reader, and thus inferior, imaginary, even delusional (and I use that last word knowing what a loaded term that is in the spn fandom, but this is not about a ship, even) where once it was considered to be a valid and measurable part of the text itself, like that dang coffin. It was the basement, the underpinnings, the catacombs below the opera house sure, but it helped to hold up the structure. And for some reason, putting subtext into a piece of media has become passe, or cringe? Anyway, not to be bitter on main but it didn’t used to be this way, at least not in the heady early days of postmodernism. So that green light? Critical hit against blue curtains. And while yes, some readings are going to be better supported than others, and the wild variety of checklists in this fandom mean that some conclusions have been drawn which can’t pan out, if you’re paying attention to the structure, the subtexts, the alchemical/psychoanalytical/postmodern themata, the ending will be very satisfying.

So. What was once speculated to be a symbol for emotional lows or turning points (among other things) in the bunker was textually hit with a bright green light, then Dean got curious about it in text, and we were told-- in text-- that oh it’s just a fancy spyglass, and now that the other worlds are gone, it has no purpose…. that’s what I mean about the geoscope now being “pure”-- it wasn’t clear whether the telescope ever had any function, subtetxtual or not, and now that it’s certain what it’s “function” was, it’s now freed up as a “symbol”-- unless like in Moby Dick it’s new “purpose” is revealed later, but right now it’s caught in this liminal place of not-quite-clue and not-quite-metaphor...

However, and I didn’t put this in my first post because I was trying to be fast and not a wet blanket, but I felt like finally naming the geoscope was an ending.

This is literally Singer, Dabb, and Co tidying up the house before locking it behind them.

I think when Dean said he didn’t see anything through the “telescope thing,” that we’re to understand that maybe this was the last hurrah of the cute, zany, campy “subtext” or even “metatext” if you’d rather that so many of us have been parsing and which has gotten so weird and bright since season 12/13. I think I said in one of the folklore posts that writing about some of the things I write about feels like making daisy chains in the endzone during the big game. Which is fun, that’s how I personally got through having to be in AYSO soccer for four years, by looking for four leafed clovers and eating orange quarters. And we got a wood nymph in this episode, textually even, so I could easily check the “folklore” box on this one. But the sheer euphoria of Last Holiday and all the sparkles it brought into the story aren’t meant to last. When you look back on fifteen years of text, a lot of it is bleak, miserable stuff. That’s not to say that episodes like Yellow Fever and Hunteri Heroici and Fan Fiction et al shouldn’t be celebrated. But I think from here on out, things are going to be less “golly gee, three birthdays!” and more “There she blows! --there she blows! A hump like a snowhill!”

This episode was a gift in many ways, not just for the sense of glee it transmitted-- it also did so much work and there are things I want to yell about in the way language was hit, the red versus green lighting, the way the backwards holidays worked, the projector as a metaphor for Mrs. B projecting her regrets and fears onto Jack, the amount of food that was created and consumed, how that smoothie was also an echo of “fairy food” or an underworld pact if you squint-- but the stakes are so high now. We haven’t been shown the next valley-- there was no final scene of Chuck rubbing his hands together like the villain from a melodrama, for example-- but the last image we got was Jack blowing out a candle. After the candle is blown out, the cake is dismantled and consumed. Once the story is over, all the themes that are so hard to grapple in a text like a television show can be gathered up and analyzed. (IS that all, though? After all, Dean made his own cake later, which, like, echoes of the “oh two cakes” comic lol...)

Since I really never want to leave anything I toss out on this blog on a last note of doom and gloom, however, I do want to say that I too understand what that last image meant. It meant, as Sam said, make a wish. Think of the future, think of free will, and hope for something wonderful to happen. (or do like me and wonder what the hell Jack wished for with dread and anticipation ha ha ha.)

#the poststructuralism of supernatural #the folklore of supernatural #no more tags right now #tag later

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sepublic · 4 years ago

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Makuta and Rahi

I really have to speculate about the Makutas’ relationship with Rahi as a whole. It’s never quite defined within canon the purpose of Rahi’s existence in the Matoran Universe, did the Makuta ever consider this, and did it bother them? While Mata Nui created various sapient races with no-doubt clear-cut purposes as part of a larger machine… Did the Makuta ever feel insecurity over the seemingly pointless addition of the Rahi? Did they ever feel extraneous alongside their own creations?

Especially since I can see a LOT of thought, passion, and creativity going into a lot of Rahi species and their designs, behaviors, the way they interact with one another… There’s a delicate thing that needs to be considered when designing an ecosystem, and that’s Balance. I have to wonder if that’s a concept that the Brotherhood of Makuta held dear to their hearts, especially given how inextricably tied it is to their creations.

Thinking on it, I can better understand why the Makuta saw taking over the universe as just a mere extension of their pre-existing duties. Their ordained purpose in life had already been to create species who have specific niches, roles, and purposes to play… Mata Nui’s handling of sapient species was no different, right? You had Makuta actively working to improve upon pre-existing creations, so improving upon a fractured universe by uniting it just makes sense! The line is further blurred when one considers the presence of sapient rahi… And in that scenario, I guess it’s not too surprising that the Makuta saw themselves as not all that different from Mata Nui, in the end- Maybe even better.

The creation of ecosystems also means establishing a cycle of life, which often means designing species with the intended purpose to be devoured and/or killed by other Rahi creations. That sort of lifestyle and mentality, raising and designing entire species for a specific purpose, one they both live and diefor… It can really create a God complex amongst some Makuta. They have literal divine justification in creating a ‘greater system’ where the lives of countless Rahi are meant to be sacrificed and hunted down, all to maintain a cycle of life, a specific balance.

And considering their roles, the Makuta no doubt got used to the idea of culling populations in order to maintain an order and ‘balance’ within ecosystems. And with the line between Rahi and sapient species blurring… I can see, more and more, how the Makuta became so nonchalant to the idea of killing others for a ‘greater purpose’, and how this casual attitude just led to the Brotherhood becoming more and more desensitized- Until we have people like Icarax or Gorast, who outright revel in carnage. They were encouraged from creation to create species that were meant to die, or species that were meant to kill- Oftentimes both. And as one takes pride in their ability to fulfill this role, some end up taking pride in their creations’ ability to kill, and/or die…

I’d even argue the Makuta are the Matoran Universe equivalent to the Great Beings, as amoral scientists who saw ruling the world as just a natural extension of their pre-existing duties, and themselves as the best candidates for the job. After all, the Archives Massacre taught them that it was necessary to kill a few, in order to save the rest… Aside from Teridax having always been genuinely terrible, I can see why his role as a Zoologist framed the way he perceived the situation. It wouldn’t have been much different to the nonchalance that comes from killing off an invasive species in droves, all to maintain an ecosystem- Or introducing predators whose sole purpose is to kill those creatures.

I can also see this desensitization towards individual plights and smaller issues, all for the greater good, really getting to the Makuta. As they spread out following the Matoran Civil War, a lot of Makuta likely had a policy of just letting smaller incidents, chaos, and injustices occur without interference- So long as they didn’t interfere with the grand scheme of things. It’d be like turning a blind eye to a helpless prey being pursued by a hungry pack of predators- Sure, you feel sorry for that prey. But in the end, this is just nature, it’s just how it is… And those predators have to eat, man. It’s like how Zoologists, out in the wild, generally don’t interfere with the stuff that goes on around them, unless this is something threatening an entire ecosystem or species. I can see some Makuta coping with their roles by deciding that it’s downright immature to be caught up in the life of a single Rahi, learning not to be so attached to creatures that just come and go, living and dying, etc.

I can see how their roles as ecosystem overseers led to the Makuta being discouraged from getting personally involved, nor closely attached to the actual subjects they were working with- And how this practice translated towards their oversight of the Matoran Universe, letting the Toa do the heavy-lifting of protecting society. I can see how they became resentful of the Toa, who were blessed to be but mere heroes and protectors, and received adulation for this; While the Makuta felt unappreciated as beings who had to make difficult choices for the greater good, and often sacrifice the lives of others for this purpose.

No doubt, many coped by seeing the callous reality of their duties as being noble in its own sense, as is the idea of making the difficult call to kill others for the sake of a larger world. There must’ve been jealousy amongst the Makuta towards the Toa- Who were revered for fulfilling their roles, only for the Makuta to be vilified for doing the same. Don’t blame THEM for their detached manner of overseeing the universe, the Makuta were just doing what the Great Spirit told of them! And that could lead to resentment towards Mata Nui, for even making the Makuta to be like this…

And when the League of Six Kingdoms fell, following the disappearance of the Barraki? It’s no wonder the Brotherhood of Makuta took over, they applied that same principle of enforcing a balance and functioning system, an interconnected web of interactions, and applied it on a grander yet similar scale- This time to the countless civilizations and sapient species of the Matoran Universe. Given how apathetic Mata Nui was towards maintaining the Matoran Universe, I can see how the Makuta thought themselves as better rulers.

As Zoologists, they’d be intimately aware of the process of observing populations in their natural habitat, keeping an eye on them, herding them towards a desired path with a guiding hand. The Brotherhood probably saw itself as paying more attention to the goings-on of the Matoran Universe than the Great Spirit, and they were probably right! And it really does seem like common sense, that people who actually know more about the world they’re governing and more closely involved with it, should actually be running it VS some detached, apathetic Great Spirit that can’t even notice the formation of a League or Toa Empire in his own body, so long as it’s not directly affecting him.

When you’re designing ecosystems, you have to take everything into account- So the Makuta likely saw themselves as more attentive, responsible, and even compassionate towards the Matoran Universe inhabitants, than their own god. Not to mention the idea of constantly manipulating the lives of being they see as lesser, more primitive, and not having the same rights nor intelligence as them… I can see some Makuta mistakenly dismissing the sapient species of the Matoran Universe as no different. Or at least, that same detached, patronizing attitude of treating others without regard to what THEY have to say, because they’re too dumb to consider the bigger picture… I can see how it was applied to beings like the Matoran.

I can see why the Makuta saw the sapient species of their world, and ‘dumb animals’ as not being all that different… And on the flip-side, this naturally meant that just as Rahi were lesser beings to them, so were the other sapient species in the Matoran Universe. And it just led to the Makuta distancing themselves, creating that sense of detachment and superiority, that mentality that the ends justified the means… Being encouraged to create others with the purpose to kill and/or die, taking pride in one’s ability to create something that causes death, or satisfaction at the demise of something else…

Not to mention, the diversity of Rahi may have exceeded that of sapient species, which not only influenced the Makutas’ fascination with shapeshifting and their creativity, but likely made them see themselves as being more clever and imaginative creators than Mata Nui himself. Working closely with the Great Spirit also made him seem much less distant to the Makuta, much more approachable… And thus so much more flawed and vulnerable. Especially if they knew exactly how a jeopardized system could easily throw Mata Nui’s health out of balance, how he was outright dependent on the lives of his ‘lesser beings’ and creations, while the Makuta lacked such a weakness and only continued to transcend, evolving past physical bodies.

The Makuta, most of them, were terrible people. That much is not up for debate, and most of them really DID choose their own horrific paths. People like Gorast and Icarax enjoyed carnage far too much, while Teridax was just awful to an unprecedented degree. But it makes me consider Krika’s sadness, how he sees the Makuta as trapped to their fate, like their decisions to become conquerers and usurpers was merely inevitable… Because in the end, they were made for that. They were made to be Zoologists, and thus predisposed to traits that would better enable their purpose.

Just as the role of the Toa made them predisposed to being heroic and beloved by others… One could argue that the Makuta were similarly fated in a sense, albeit doomed. They had a completely different purpose than the Toa, and that meant a different mentality, way of life, and handling of others… The Makuta weren’t made to necessarily care for others, and to even disregard the lives of some for a ‘greater good’, for a balance. They were placed in an environment and position that both encouraged and required the attitudes that led to their corruption, so I can see why Krika felt his fate as a traitor to the Great Spirit was inevitable- Because one can’t escape their reason for existence, nor can they escape Destiny. And, it’s funny that Krika becomes so resigned to the idea of being unable to escape one’s inherent nature… Because one can argue that the Makuta DID rise above that, alongside their intended purpose. They weren’t meant to take over the Matoran Universe as conquerers, yet they chose to act contrary to both the plans of the Great Spirit and Great Beings.

And while Krika saw this lifestyle as a natural extension of their creators’ intended roles for them… There’s still the realization that they DID defy the plans of their makers, to an extent. To the point where they could outright rebel against them- Again, as a result of attitudes implanted by their creators, for the purpose of carrying out their assigned duties. But still… It’s not entirely hopeless, and that’s Krika’s downfall- He just sort of gave up. He was too much of a coward, too resigned, and too apathetic to make a difference. Krika saw one’s environment as dictating a person’s existence and identity, but I can see why- After all, with regards to the idea of evolution and adaptations, for many animals their environment literallyshapes what they are!

And just as environments can be created by the Great Beings, so too can Rahi be made by the Makuta, with regards to how they’ll function in said environments. Krika lived by the idea that beings are dictated entirely by the circumstances they were made in… If his own Rahi could never rise above their environmental circumstances, then could Krika? Especially since he, too, is a creation of a higher being? Overall, I can see how Krika became so defeatist and cynical; At least until the last second, but by then it was too late. To Krika, beings’ lives are dictated by an unchangeable environment/situation, and the only way to survive is to adapt and conform to that environment, to live by what it dictates- There is no changing one’s situation, you are entirely subject to its whim and power. Perhaps it’s no wonder Krika became so disillusioned.

#bionicle #makuta #brotherhood of makuta #rahi #krika #mata nui #speculation #meta

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notsosensational · 4 years ago

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This is my classpect master post for Danganronpa 2! It's been a while since my post for the first game, mostly because I was stuck on a few characters (it was much harder overall for some reason), but I'm finally done, god bless. I’m hoping to start and finish V3 soon to work on the next classpect post

Hinata Hajime- Page of Hope

-actively exploits and is served possibilities and positivity. Hope was easy for Hajime, because even though he's more of a "realist" than our other hope players, he's a fantastic beacon of encouragement to the people around him. Somehow he just knows the right things to say in order to lift people's spirits. He definitely didn't start out with much hope himself though. He was bitter and futureless, attending the Hope's Peak reserve course as more of a conciliatory prize than anything. But Chiaki bumped into him and gave him the belief that he's not any worse by not having a talent. And later, he was given a huge opportunity to take part in the "hope cultivation plan". There's a lot of self-denial going on with him, trying not to admit to others that he's only in the reserve course and trying to convince himself that he doesn't care that much, which runs rampant in pages and knights.

Kamukura Izuru - Muse of Hope

-passively embodies possibilities and beliefs. On my previous classpect post with the DR1 characters, I said I didn't do the master classes but I've changed my mind. I'm not going to go back and edit my post but I'm definitely sorting Junko as a lord and Izuru as a muse. There's nothing else he could be. Extreme passivity and preoccupation with personal belief and possibilities (what is interesting, what is boring, is there anything I can't do?). He *is* possibilities in that he has so many talents, he can do nearly anything. Also, this just goes to show that no class, aspect, or title is inherently good or bad. Some might be more inclined to, uh, moral confusion, but we all make our own choices.

Owari Akane- Mage of Life

-actively understands and guides energy and growth. Life seems a pretty solid fit for her, as she's basically grown up overcoming obstacles, metaphorically and literally as she does parkour and gymnastics. Her relationship with food is all about energy and not about quality (... she eats crushed flowers after Hiyoko tells her you get more protein when you crush the food). What really sold me on mage though, was her intuition. She's really noted for her accurate gut feelings; she can tell when someone is strong even when they don't look it and I learned after reading her wiki that in the "ultimate talent development plan" she could sense Mukuro and Maki weren't who they appeared to be.

Komaeda Nagito- Bard of Light

-passively destroys information and fortune. A lot of people say he's hope but while that could fit, light fits so much better. His cycle of good luck & bad luck makes sense as he's drawn to luck as a light player but then destroys it as a bard. Most importantly though, the way he wields information like a weapon to confuse and undermine people really solidifies it for me. Somehow, someway, he always knows (or acts like he knows) much more than everyone around him. His dialogue is endless exposition and self-centered but all his information is given to manipulate people and tear them down.

Pekoyama Peko- Knight of Doom

-passively serves systems, restrictions, and suffering. She serves the system she's always known. She is a tool to be wielded by Fuyuhiko and nothing more. Her feelings and desires are pushed down because there's no point in expressing them. She's very good at what she does though, she definitely exploits the rules she adheres by enough to be called an Ultimate. And even though she doesn't express her emotions, it's clear that her suffering has made her empathetic, as she's respectful and one of the few people who holds basic decency towards Nagito.

Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko- Prince of Blood

-actively destroys through relationships and bonds. He's destructive and he acts like it; heir was the only other class I was considering but he's very active and more into intentional destruction than unintentional changes. Obviously he destroys nearly any chance of close relationships with his classmates, but as a yakuza his job is to use his connections to lead, which often involves tearing down other gangs and ties. And finally, he destroys his only real relationship after Peko is executed after he orders her to kill Mahiro.

Hanamura Teruteru- Maid of Rage

-actively creates rage and limitations. I think maid fits well from the start, as he's a cook and that's all about creation. He definitely inspires rage in people, and the doubt and disbelief of rage is very evident in his constant denial of his surroundings. He created a lot of fear and negativity in himself because he wouldn't settle on believing or refusing what was going on- he needed to know the truth and that drove him to acting out. His insistence on being called "chef" and that he's from the city both fuel a sort of self-delusion that seems to be common with rage.

Nanami Chiaki- Rogue of Blood

-passively steals and relocates relationships and bonds. She is very focused on interpersonal relationships, and not just those centered on herself. To some extent, she's able to connect with everyone including reserve course Hajime, and black sheep Nagito. In the game, she's *really* good at redirecting people. If they're focused on arguing with someone, she manages to turn it around for the better, like with Hiyoko's shrine to Mahiru. She also fits the rogue archetype well, as in the anime she was an outcast in the beginning, and- this might just be my opinion- honestly I don't think anyone ever seriously got close to her as well as they did with some of the others.

Tanaka Gundham- Witch of Hope

-actively changes beliefs and possibilities. Honestly, I could see a bit of everything in him. I think witch fits very well with his aesthetic, but it also fits his choices. Witches are highly active but often off doing their own thing instead of cooperating with everyone; he spent more time looking for his earring than investigating for the first trial. Hope very clearly fits the zany belief system he has, but it also fits in other ways. It's not obvious because of his vernacular, but he has a crazy amount of optimism; he gets regular remarks ranging from "politely shunning" to "outright hurtful" and they never seem to seriously bother him. I view his act in chapter 4 as a grand example of changing his classmates' hope.

Sonia Nevermind- Knight of Breath

-passively exploits and serves through freedom and direction. While she is a princess, she definitely does not act like a prince. Instead she considers her title to essentially be a servant to her people. She isn't above them in anything but position, and she needs to direct them to a better future. She is cooperative and helpful to the rest of the class but not in the healer way a sylph would be, more in the useful motivator kind of way. She serves the team by keeping a composed head and encouraging everyone to stay calm and work towards the goal. She expresses the motivation and direction aspects of breath more so than freedom but it still shows in her detachment from everyone else due to her status. She's never really had close bonds before Hope's Peak.

Saionji Hiyoko- Thief of Time

-actively steals time. I went through several different titles for her in between analyzing other characters. She definitely fits the role of thief with a personality comparable to Vriska and Meenah. Dancing is a time activity as you need perfect timing for a routine, and traditional dancing even more so since it's lasted for centuries. Personally, I think because of her upbringing she is not quite acting as she wants to, and is ghosting the knight of space. She wants to be bold and confident, able to take up the time of others and act meaningfully, but she's hesitating; serving others space to keep them away and is pretending she's more capable than she is. She was kept spoiled and helpless growing up which means she developed the personality and drive of a thief, but not the skills needed for one.

Mioda Ibuki- Sylph of Heart

-passively heals emotions and sense of self. To me she is very clearly a heart player. She's very sure who she is and doesn't mind expressing it, and all of her free time events with Hajime are centered around helping him with his identity. She's friendly and gets along with pretty much everyone in some way, including "Byakuya", Mikan, and Hiyoko; all of which are not so easy to hold friendships with. I think it's interesting how much she likes "Byakuya" considering his constant identity crisis and I wonder if she can sort of sense that. She's loud and she stands out, but she's a pretty passive person concerning her actual actions and mostly helps people individually.

Souda Kazuichi- Page of Space

-actively exploits and is served space. I like space for him; I think the creationistic, physically-oriented, free-flowing structure of space suits his nature well. He's more concerned with the journey rather than getting to the perfect end results, as shown by the examples we have of his machines. One of his inventions automatically draws the lines on a soccer field but it had no stopping mechanism and escaped from the school grounds- it was quite a success to him though! He dreams of creating an incredibly fast bike that he can't even ride and he enjoys every step of the process even though it's taking him a while. He has created an intimidating physical persona for himself by dying his hair and wearing contacts to give him a punk look, but others comment that it doesn't quite match his jumpy, anxious personality. This is on-par for pages, who often feel the need for a mask, because he is now served space by strangers due to his appearance.

Koizumi Mahiru- Seer of Space

-passively guides and understands space. I struggled with her a bit as we really don't know much about her. She's kind of plain compared to the other outlandish personalities and she says she doesn't open up to Hajime as much as she would with a girl. Space is about creation, physicality, location, and enjoying the moment. Her interest in photography satisfied all of those especially with how she views it; she captures pictures of people smiling to create a record of the current moment. She's very level headed and is good at seeing the whole ~picture~ (hehe). She's not a very active person but she's quick to give her opinion and advice if she thinks someone is on the wrong track.

Tsumiki Mikan- Bard of Rage

-passively destroys through negativity and limitations. Rage was easy for her; she's surrounded in negativity and it tends to annoy (and occasionally enrage) those around her. It provides a unique contrast with Nagito, as she subverts the usual motive for killing (hope of getting off the island) and kills only for despair. It is, of course, expected for a bard to flip their lid, but she also acts as a bard before remembering her prior life. She does destroy some of the limitations through the first two trials by providing autopsies when the Monokuma files didn't cut it, and she very clearly represses her own rage at her abusers nearly 24/7. I think it's also worth mentioning that on a fictional level, rage and hope both are often associated with a sort of hand-wavey deus ex machina bullshit which I'd say applies to her ability to retrieve the memories of her past life due to the despair disease, even though it didn't work that way for anyone else.

Nidai Nekomaru- Heir of Mind

-passively changes actions and logic. The English translation of his ability is "team manager", but when he explains his skill, he doesn't focus on teams, he focuses on the athlete themself, so "coach" or "trainer" would be more apt I think. And a trainer is focused on changing your actions, getting you to perform better and better. Despite his loud and boisterous personality, he tends to be pretty level headed. He's able to clearly ascertain what each individual athlete needs to improve and create an orderly regiment for them. It took me a while to decide on heir, but it fits better than any other class I feel, as he does inherit the title from Daisuke, a team manager he shared time in the hospital with who later died, and his personality is similar to the other heirs we know in Homestuck.

Ultimate Imposter- Maid of Void

-actively creates nothingness and secrets. I was originally gonna go with heart because of identity issues, but after reading their wiki because I didn't want to rewatch the anime, most of their issues stem from feeling like they don't exist, feeling like nothing, which is spot on for void. Not to mention they need to keep their secret while impersonating someone, and they have to basically create secrets whenever people ask them personal information about whoever they're portraying at the time. They are made of nothingness, with no name, no background, and they create more of it when providing falsities to their classmates. Even without the pun of "made" and "maid", they're a very kind and helpful person no matter who they're posing as.

#homestuck #danganronpa #danganronpastuck #danganstuck #drstuck #classpects

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jonathananubian · 4 years ago

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Another Chance 1 [Star Wars Fanfic]

Summary: Jaster is left to die by his second in command, Montross, and is facing down his own demise when someone intervenes. Tor dies and Jaster lives. Who is this mysterious redheaded Jetii who speaks his language? And how can Jaster convince him to stay? AN: Did some fiddling around with their ages and the timeline. This fic takes place in 52BBY, 30 years before the Clone Wars. Jaster- 35, Obi- 32, Jango- 14 Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, Rare Pairings, Mandalorian Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jaster lives, Force-Sensitive Jango Fett. Characters: Jaster Mereel, Obi-wan Kenobi, Jango Fett Pairing: Jaster/Obi-wan Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26904037/chapters/65651923

Jaster glares at one of his most hated enemies, fallen comrades on the ground around them. “This is your fault, Montross. We should be off this mudhole by now. You’re out of my crew… if we survive.” Tor isn’t even wearing a helmet as he lets out a vicious laugh and raises his left gauntlet.

“If you survive- not likely!” A wrist rocket zips toward the ground, separating him from Montross who had been at his back. The man leaps into the air with his jetpack as Jaster is knocked onto his hands and knees from the explosion. “You stole the Mandalorians from me and then you left me to die on Concord Dawn! I won’t let you escape this time!” The madman screamed at him, powering up the large gun and shooting the ground around Jaster to separate he and Montross further.

“Montross! Airlift, now!” He barks in command, holding out his arm.

“Sorry Jaster, but I’m through taking your orders. But I’ll take good care of the troops.” The man says from the safety of the air. Vizla and the Kordans don’t even aim at him, their focus on Jaster.

“Montross!” He yells as his once trusted second turns away and flies off.

That bastard! That fucking backstabbing dar’manda coward!

Tor laughs and swings the guns around, grinning with manic glee as he powers the guns up again for another round. Jaster lets off a few shots, even as he’s desperately looking for a means to hide or escape. But no such luck.

Blue bolts of searing plasma come shooting at him and he closes his eyes, knowing that he was about to leave his son alone in the world. Jango… he hoped his boy was ready for the responsibility of leadership. He had done all he could to raise the boy well but he still had so much anger inside him. He would need to temper his recklessness if he was going to fight Montross for the right to lead, and he would need a cool head if he was going to bring Jaster’s killer to justice.

An unfamiliar sound came through his helmet and he heard Tor cursing vehemently. Feeling no pain he opened his eyes to a sight he never in a million years thought he’d see; a Jetii was deflecting the bolts back at Vizla’s tank. Jaster stared in slack-jawed awe as the Jetii blurred into motion, his white tunics covered in what might have been armor. “Mand’alor, how are you?” For a moment Jaster thought his helmet was malfunctioning. Did the Jetii just speak Mando’a at him? “Mand’alor? Sitrep!” He demanded, again in Mando’a. Jaster shook himself out of his stupor.

The Jetii looking back at him was a redhead, maybe half a foot taller than Jaster, with a well trimmed beard and eyes the color of blue skies. He moved with the grace of a dancer but had the same aura of preparedness any lifelong warrior would have.

“Fine. Thanks to you.” The Kordans were panicking over the smoking and devastated tank, fleeing, as Tor leapt down the rocks toward them, palming a weapon Jaster immediately recognized. “Look out!” The Jetii turned and met the darksaber with his own blade.

“Hello there, I was wondering if you’d come down here to fight with honor.” Jaster blinked, his mouth falling open once again. It was a round about way of calling Vizla a dar’manda coward but the intent was there. Tor snarled and swung his blade with the ease of long practice. But he wasn’t up against some unskilled mando’ad, no.

He was up against a Jetii.

The redhead absolutely wiped the floor with Vizla, taunting him in that slightly too polished Mando’a as he deflected each strike. It was like watching a man play fighting with a child just learning to fight. No matter how much power Vizla put into his strikes it was as if the Jetii was just too fast, his defenses too strong.

“I hope you’ve made your peace with this life, leader of Kyr’tsad. For I bring you your death.” With one swift strike Tor’s head was separated from his body. The head landed with a meaty squelch while the body fell to the ground with a thump. Letting out a long, tired, sigh, the Jetii reached down and picked up the Dha’kad’au, staring at it for a moment before holding it out to Jaster reverently.

The first thought on Jaster’s mind was that this man was Mandokarla. The second was that there was no way in hell he was taking the Dha’kad’au from his hand. When he didn’t move the Jetii cleared his throat and lifted the Dha’kad’au higher. “I believe this belongs to you, Mand’alor?” Jaster, finally snapping out of it, found his own voice.

“No, Jetii, it belongs to whoever has won it in a duel. You won against Vizla, it is yours until you lose it to someone else.” The man’s eyes widened and he shook his head, frowning.

“I am not worthy of this blade. It cries out for a worthy Mando’ad to wield it, and I am no Mando’ad.” Jaster reached forward to curl his hand over the Jetii’s, pushing the man’s hand back toward his chest and refusing the blade.

“Could have fooled me.” The redhead flushed slightly, his pale skin reddening in a way that Jaster found quite fetching. Sobering himself he pushed away the niggling feeling of attraction to the back of his mind, falling into his role as Mand’alor as easily as breathing. “Why save me? And how did you even get here?”

The man looked down at Jaster’s hand, still curled around his own, before looking back up into his visor. “You are the only hope for the future of your people. I don’t know what you understand of the jetiise but the force may sometimes give us visions of the future.” Jaster sucked in a breath. Seers. Of course the jetiise had Seers among them. Anyone with a strong connection to the Manda had a chance to experience visions of the future. If the Jetiise were tapping into something similar then it made sense they’d be able to see the future as well. “In my vision I saw you die, betrayed, leaving your son as the next Mand’alor. But when your son is older the Haat’ade are tricked, pulled into a trap by the Kyr’tsad, and slaughtered by the jetiise.” Jaster felt a shudder of dread run through him.

“Hell.” He muttered. The Jetii gave him a sad look, eyes filled with pain and grief.

“Without the Haat’ade around Kyr’tsad will run rampant as the New Mandalorians make further alliances with the Republic…” The man stopped and let out a breath, as if it pained him to speak of this. Jaster couldn’t help himself, he ran a thump gently over the man’s wrist, encouraging him and supporting him in the moment.

He really shouldn’t, he should be more wary of a Jetii, but the redhead’s liquid eyes are too sincere and the spirit of Manda in his soul is signing.

“The New Mandalorians will kill the spirit of Manda, burn your old texts and disband the clans. They will become totalitarian in their zeal to defang Mandalore in the eyes of the Republic.” His voice was thick with emotion and Jaster was transfixed. The future he spoke of was like something out of Jaster’s nightmares.

“So you came here to save me in order to preserve the Mando’ade’s way of life? Why?” The man bit his bottom lip and looked away, suddenly embarrassed.

“The same reason I speak Mando’a, practice Dral’gaan, and eat spicy tiingilar- I love Mandalore.” The words were nearly a whisper at the end but Jaster’s helmet picked them out of the air and drove them straight into his mind. His eyes trailed down to his hand, which was still covering the redhead’s as well as the Dha’kad’au, and swallowed hard. He had to remind himself that this man was a Jetii.

“I notice you’re also wearing-” He never got to finish his sentence as his son came barreling into his side, Silas not far behind.

“Buir!” Jaster’s hand broke contact with the Jetii’s and the singing in his soul dimmed, although he noted it was still there. His son brought up a blaster, aimed at the Jetii, and Jaster quickly pushed his son’s arm down, so he was aiming at the ground.

“Jan’ika, don’t go aiming weapons at allies, I taught you better than that!” His son’s helmet tilted up to look at him and Jaster could read incredulity in every line of his body. As his son turned to look over at the Jetii he froze.

“Is that?” Shit, he’d spotted Vizla’s corpse.

“It was.” No use beating around the bush.

Jango stood there, frozen, before Jaster felt the back of his neck tingle with a sense of danger. All around them loose rocks rose from the ground as Jango’s breathing became labored. He swung his blaster toward the body and shot it full of holes, half garbled curses spewing from his lips. Jaster grabbed his son’s shoulders and pulled the boy to him, grounding him. He’d seen Jango lose it like this a few times and he knew that as soon as it was over his son would be exhausted.

The Jetii suddenly moved forward and placed a hand on his son’s chest plate. Before Jaster could ask what the kriff he thought he was doing Jango suddenly sagged and the rocks dropped back to the ground. Jango sucked in heavy gulps of air, making his helmet emit more garbled vocals. Carefully, slowly, the Jetii pulled Jango’s helmet off, his expression soft and body language open. “That’s it, take deep breaths. Don’t try to push it back down, let it flow through you and out again.” Beneath his gentle hands Jango’s trembling slowly came to a stop and, like Jaster had surmised, he finally went limp from exhaustion.

“What was that, Jetii?” He asked as the man finally released his son and took a step back. Absently Jaster noticed the Dha’kad’au hooked onto the redhead's belt and wholeheartedly approved.

“Your son is force sensitive but has been subconsciously repressing it.” The redhead frowned. “That’s very dangerous, it could do irreparable damage to his psyche.” Jaster frowned in concern. How had none of the force sensitive verde noticed? “He’s very adept at shields and hiding. If I hadn’t seen him lose control like that I never would have guessed.” There was a hint of self recrimination, as if he should have known about Jango’s ability to channel the Manda.

“What are you going to do now, Jetii?” The man seemed to startle slightly and shook his head, eyes going distant. “Are you going to return to your temple?” If the man was stranded Jaster would offer to give him a lift, it was the least he could do.

“I… no. There is no place for me there… not anymore.” The amount of pain in his voice made Jaster ache to reach out and comfort him. Handing Jango off to Silas, he knew the lad hero worshiped his son and would take care of him, he stepped closer to the Jetii. Reaching out he gripped the man’s bicep and squeezed it reassuringly.

“There is a place with me and my people, if you want it.” He had already proven he was mandokarla when he not only saved Jaster’s life but tried to hand over the Dha’kad’au without a moment of hesitation. The redhead referred to him as Mand’alor and the fact that he already spoke Mando’a just sealed the deal in Jaster’s mind. “What is your name?”

The man gave a shy yet tired smile. “Ben, Ben Kenobi.” Jaster nodded and gave him another gentle squeeze before letting go.

“Jaster Mereel, welcome to the Haat Mando’ade, vod.” He was sure that the others would be eying him as if he’d gone senile but Jaster didn’t care. He’d figure out what to tell them to get them off his back. They had a long trek back to the ships and there were still enemies luring about. “Got enough in you to get back to the ships?” Ben’s eyes hardened as he squared his shoulders, like a veteran soldier.

“Yes, Sir.” Jaster felt a shiver run down his spine. Oh, he could get used to this man calling him Sir.

Mando'a;

Jetii/Jetiise- Jedi, Jedi Plural. Manda- The collective soul or heaven. The state of being Mandalorian in mind, body and spirit. Also a supreme, overarching, guardian like presence. The Mandalorians in this fic use it to refer to the Force as well. Haat'ade- Shortened from Haat Mando'ade, meaning True Mandalorians. Dar'manda- No longer Mandalorian. A Manalorian that has lost their soul and their right to call themselves Mandalorian. Dha'kad'au- The Darksaber. Mandokarla- Having the right stuff. The state of being the epitome of Mandalorian virtues. Kyr'tsad- Death Watch. Mando'ad/ade- Mandalorian, Mandalorian plural. Dral'gaan- 'Powerful hand,' my own name for Mandalorian hand to hand combat.

#star wars fanfiction #time travel #fix it fanfiction #alternate timeline #Obi-Wan Kenobi #True Mandalorians #Mandalorian Obi-Wan #jaster mereel #rare pair #force sensitive jango #jaster/obi

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marvelslut16 · 5 years ago

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Too Much

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x reader

Part 2 of A Helping Hand

Synopsis: Months after Billy admits that he wants to be better, shit hits the fan and (Y/N) realizes him and his attitude may be too much. Throw in an abusive father who has come to visit and Neil treating Billy like shit, making everything harder for the two before they finally blow up at one another.

Word count:4153

Warnings: Blood. Violence. Domestic violence. Swearing. Bullying. Shit fathers. Angst. Use of the word fag and other insults.

A/N: Thank you to the four lovely people who requested/asked about a part two: @speedmetalqueen @strangerfictions @noshi-chan @jojokoko0717 I originally had no interest in making this, but I got inspired. Also I’m thinking about making a part three, which would take place in the future. Let me know what you guys think about that.

“I can’t do this anymore Billy,” your eyes fill with tears. “I really thought you could be different.”

In the months following Billy’s plea for help, he really tried. You would give him that much. But as summer grew nearer, Billy grew tired of your little arrangement. While he was super nice to you, and a decent human being when you were around; he was still an ass when you weren’t. He still threatened Steve, constantly making his life a living hell whenever you weren’t in sight. He still booked nerds in the hall, threatened people that would look at him the wrong way, and fight the ones that dared to talk back.

And if that weren’t enough, your dad found out where you were living and came for a visit, citing your upcoming graduation as the cause. Your stepdad threatened him with a louisville slugger and the terms of the restraining order your mom has against him. Your father left, but you knew from the look in his eyes that he’d be back and you’d regret sending him away in the first place.

And boy were you right, on your way home from the video store, you were picking up a movie that Carol wanted to see, when you saw him again. He didn’t approach you, just watched you. You hurried back to your car and drove home, checking every once in a while to make sure you weren’t being followed.

You knew that you should have told your mom and stepdad as soon as you got home, but you didn’t want to worry them. And, there was a part of you that didn’t want to seem weak, and immediately complaining would make you seem weak in your eyes. So you stay silent, hoping he will just leave on his own.

A few days later you and Steve are babysitting the party, the two of you sneak off to eat some cold pizza while the kids watch the movie you picked up for Carol. It was Beverly Hills Cop, a movie that you and Steve had seen in the theater together. Some of it may be a tad inappropriate for the kids, but Dustin already swears like a sailor and the shit they’ve already faced, what's the point in pretending that they’re so innocent?

“Dustin said that he’s known Carol since they were kids, but you moved here freshman year,” Steve states more than asks, leaning against his kitchen counter.

“Our moms have been friends since they were kids. My mom moved away in high school, but they kept in close contact over the years. They used to come visit us often when we lived in Illinois. After the divorce we moved around a bit before Claudia convinced my mom to move back here, and this is where she met my stepdad. So we stayed.”

“I bet you’re happy you moved here, you got to meet Billy,” Steve frowns, insinuating that there’s something going on between you and the boy with the mullet.

“I’m just trying to help him be a better person, that’s all. He asked for help, and who am I to deny him that?” you frown at Steve. You just want him and Billy to get along, they’re more alike than either would like to admit.

“I just think-” you cut Steve off before he can bad mouth Billy.

“That we should be studying for our math test? Great idea!” you head over to your bag and pull out your textbook before he can change the subject back to Billy.

In the following days Billy grew more distant, and you heard in the hushed whispers of Hawkins High that he had been getting in more fights than he had in ages. The worst news of all was that Billy had befriended Tommy H and Carol again, something you had heard around school and eventually seen. He had originally agreed with you that they were bad influences on him, and that they only encouraged his erratic and terrible behavior.

In those days where Billy purposely, and obviously, ignored you in school and out of it; your birth father had been following you obviously. Your mom had the restraining order and you didn’t, which he used to his advantage. Everyday the same busted up silver car would loosely follow you everywhere you go.

Your father was keeping his distance, until one day he followed you to a park. You needed a breather, needed to think about Billy and how long helping him could go on when he didn’t seem to be making any real progress in weeks.

“Fancy seeing you here,” his acid voice dripped with sarcasm.

“What do you want?” your voice surprisingly doesn’t break. But maybe refusing to turn and look at him is helping with your strength.

“To take back what's mine,” his voice grows closer.

“And what's that?” you whip around and face the man that had left you for dead on your kitchen floor all those years ago.

“My favorite punching bag,” he seethes, face inches from yours. You can smell the strong scents of bourbon and tobacco mingling to create the naeusating scent that is your father.

“Go find someone your own age to torture,” you glare at him.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” he grabs your wrist tightly, causing you to twitch in response. He laughs like a maniac when he sees how easily he can still hurt you. “I saw you with that blonde boy by his Camero at school the other day, I don’t think he’s a good influence on you.”

“Leave him out of this,” you try to sound strong, but it comes out as a desperate plea.

“Aww, are you his little whore or something?” his grip gets impossibly tighter.

“No,” you try to yank your arm away from him. His nails dig into your skin and are sharp enough that they leave cuts in your skin. “He’s just some guy in my science class.”

“Don’t lie,” he leers at you before his palm connects with your cheek

“I said no, and I meant it,” you blink back the automatic tears that come with being slapped. He ignores you and yanks on your arm, pulling you into a public restroom that's in the park locking the door behind you two.

“It looks like I have to teach a little slut a lesson,” his fist connects with your side. You don’t even bother trying to fight back as his fist connects with your gut and your ribs repeatedly. There’s no use, you’ll never win. The moments start to get hazy and blur together as he pulls out a switchblade. He runs the point over your arms, causing small cuts to appear and bleed onto the ground.

You fall onto the hard concrete underneath you as he sweeps his legs through yours. He sticks the blade into your leg deeper than on your arms. The knife cuts through your denim jeans and flesh like they were a mere piece of paper. Your legs starts to bleed profusely, he steps on your arm as you go to put pressure on the wound.

“He won’t want you now,” he laughs loudly, kicking your ribs as hard as he can one last time before leaving you on the dirty floor alone.

Your pretty new top has splotchy crimson stains scattered on it, blood drips down your arms and there’s a gash on your left leg from his knife. You manage to pick yourself up and somehow drive yourself all the way home.

“(Y/N), where have you been?” Carol’s yelling voice greets you as you walk through the door.

You ignore your sisters calls and slide down the door after you close it behind you. A loud sob shakes your entire body as you finally feel safe enough to cry. Two sets of feet coming running towards you, but you can’t be bothered to stop crying. Your body and soul hurt too much.

“(Y/N),” Carol gasps. “Oh my God, MOM!” she screams, running off to the kitchen.

Your eyes follow the shoes standing in front of you, up until you see the red headed girl staring at you in shock. “Don’t tell anyone,” you hiccup between sobs. Max quickly nods her head, not knowing what to say

“(Y/N),” your mom breathes in horror when she sees the small puddle of blood coming from your wounds.

“He’s been fo-foll-following-ng me-e. He c-c-corn-nerd me at a p-par-rk. S-s-sai-id he-e mis-ssed hi-is f-fa-favorite-te pu-pu-punching bag,” you sob out.

Max was sent home after promising she would never breathe a word of what she saw or heard, even if she wanted to tell Billy. Carol was sent to her room while your mom cleaned you up and your stepdad gave your leg stitches, his military background coming in handy. After convincing your stepdad that he couldn’t go kill him, you decided to sleep and pretend that the events at the park never occurred.

It’s unseasonably warm in Hawkins Indiana this spring, you’re the only one still wearing long sleeves. You have on one of your striped turtlenecks and a pair of well worn overalls, it successfully hides every inch of your body.

There's a group of kids standing in a giant semi-circle in the hallway you walk through to get to third period. Kids are murmuring so quickly all you pick up on are the words Harrington and Hargrove, causing you blood to run cold. You push your way through the crowd, and instead of complaining like they normally would, your peers parted like the red sea as soon as they saw it was you.

“Billy!” you gasp, when you come face to face with him pushing Steve into the lockers. Your heart drops to your stomach as your last little bit of faith you have for Billy disappears. You wished that you heard the kids wrong when you were making your way through the crowd, but now your worst fears have been confirmed.

It seems like the men in your life just keep disappointing you. At least you have Steve; trusty, dopey, kind hearted Steve. Who apparently did something so bad that it warranted he get beat up for it?

“(Y/N),” Steve mumbles, still trying to get air back to his lungs from Billy’s shove.

“I can’t do this anymore Billy,” your eyes fill with tears, ignoring Steve and looking straight into those blue eyes. “I really thought you could be different.”

“(Y/N)-” he reaches out for your wrist, but you quickly move out of his grasp.

“It’s too much,” your voice drops to a whisper. “You’re too much.”

“Like I need you anyway,” he laughs viciously as the crowd that was gathered around him and Steve now laughs at you. “You’re just a pathetic little freak.”

“I’d rather be a pathetic freak than be as miserable and lonely as you are Hargrove,” you frown as words you don’t even mean tumble out of your mouth. “What happens when we graduate and your just another has been bully that peaked in high school? At least Steve and I have potential in our futures.”

You grab Steve and pull him out of the building, needing to put as much space between you and Billy as humanly possible. The fresh spring air hits you as you hear the muffled sound of the bell ringing from inside the school. You’ve never skipped school, but there’s a first time for everything.

Steve’s wide eyed gaze on you makes your brain process what you just said in the hallway. A traitorous sob leaves your mouth as you fully comprehend how rude you were to Billy. And how rude he was to you.

“Hey, hey,” Steve pulls you into a hug, running his hand over your hair to calm you. “It’s going to be okay, but for now let's get you home. I’ll pick Carol up from school later when I get Dustin.”

Steve helps you into his car and drives you home, your too empty home. Your mom and stepdad are on vacation celebrating their anniversary, leaving you home with Carol. Normally you would love it, but with everything that's happened lately you hate it. Granted, you had insisted they still go last night, you didn’t plan on being home alone.

“I just wanted to help,” you whisper to Steve. “He wanted help and I wanted to help him.”

“I know, and you're an amazing person for it,” Steve says lightly, and you pull on your sleeves that started to rise up during the commotion with

Loud knocks on the door pull yours and Carol’s attention away from Tom Selleck running around in a pair of short shorts on your tv. You quickly mute the episode of Magnum P.I. and head for the front door. “Stay there and don’t make a sound,” you warn Carol.

You look out the peephole and see a mop of red curls pacing the length of the porch. “Max?” you question as you throw the door open.

“Billy came home from school fuming that he ruined everything. He was listening to his music too loud when Neil got home and he started screaming at him. Billy screamed back, saying that it was Neil’s fault that he can’t be normal. It’s so bad (Y/N),” Max’s voice breaks. “It’s never been this bad before. I’m scared he’s going to kill Billy.”

Max’s mouth continues to move, but you can’t hear anything after the words kill and Billy. Your heart rate picks up quite substantially as you run out of the house in slippers and just your keys, no jacket, no drivers license, no anything. You see Max and Carol watching from the doorway as you back out of the driveway and speed down the street. You don’t care how fast you’re driving, if Max believes Billy is in serious danger he probably is.

You whip into the Hargrove driveway, not caring if you hit Neil’s car. You run to the door finding it strangely unlocked. As you get closer to the door you can hear Neil screaming so loud you can hear him clearly through the closed door. His voice becomes impossibly louder as you throw open the front door and enter uninvited or that you're in a Hawkins high basketball t shirt and plaid pajama pants.

“You. Stupid. Fucking. Fag,” you hear skin loudly hit skin between every word. “You. Ruined. Your. Own. Life.”

“Get off of him!” you scream as soon as you see Neil straddling Billy. Neil was randomly switching between smacking and punching Billy randomly. You wrench Neil off of the beaten Billy with strength you don’t know you possess. Adrenaline you suppose.

Neil’s anger quickly switches to you, and he slaps you across your face, just like your own father. You can feel the familiar sting from flesh on flesh.

“That all you’ve got?” you antagonize him, trying to keep his attention away from the broken boy that you love.

Love? Now is definitely not the time to have some emotional breakthrough. You’re newly discovered feelings need to be put on the back burner, all that matters is getting Billy out of this house alive.

“This is the worthless whore turning you into a pussy?” Neil laughs loudly as he turns back to Billy, who is now sitting up. “Max’s friends older sister? She must be damn good in the sack.”

“Don’t talk about her like that!” Billy screams. He gets up quickly and pushes Neil into the wall so hard that the picture frames rattle, and some fall to the ground and shatter on impact. “And don’t you ever lay a hand on her again!” Billy winds his arm back to punch Neil in the face, but you grab his arm to stop him.

“It’s not worth it, it won’t make you feel any better in the long run. Take the high road Billy. Please,” he looks at your desperate face and the adrenaline that helped him stand immediately dissipates.

He falls into your arms, the only thing keeping him standing is you. You wrap his arm around your shoulders and snake your arm around his waist. You glare at Susan, who has stood in the corner quietly watching the entire thing. Neil gets between you and Billy and the door.

“Don’t test me,” you seeth, getting ready to lean Billy against the wall so you can hit his father. Screw being the bigger person, this man is really testing your patience. “Move before I kick you so hard where the sun doesn’t shine that it’ll be coming out of your mouth.”

Neil's about to make some smart ass remark until he sees the fresh bruises and cuts littering your arms. You narrow your eyes at him and he silently, and reluctantly, moves out of the way. You quickly help Billy into your car before speeding back to the girls.

He’s bloody and bruised, worse than you’ve ever seen before. And he’s crying, something you weren’t even sure was possible coming from Billy Hargrove.

“What happened?” you whisper when you’re stopped at a red light. The obnoxious red illuminating his slightly bruised face. Props to the abusive fathers for choosing hideable places to really bruise their kids.

“I want to be normal,” his voice comes out quiet, far from the confident cocky boy that you’ve come to know. “He’s why I can’t be. Every time I’m happy he finds a way to hurt me, and then I take it out on kids at school.

“You need to find a coping mechanism,” you advise as the light turns green. “Maybe you can practice basketball more? ‘Cause I’m sure you don’t want to write your feelings down like I do.”

“The only other woman I’ve ever loved in any capacity abandoned me. No one I have ever loved before has ever stuck around. And I thought it would be easier to push you away rather than you realizing I’m not worth it. That’s why I fought Harrington earlier.”

“Love?” you're bewildered by Billy’s confession. “You don’t love me Billy, if you did you wouldn’t have hurt my only friend to make things easier for you.” You pull into your driveway, neither of you making any move to exit the car.

“My mom left me with Neil so she could have a better life. I’m worthless to her, I’m worthless to everyone,” Billy admits quietly. “I just didn’t want you to see me like that too, so I found a shitty out.”

“You aren’t worthless Billy Hargrove,” you say softly, hoping he believes you. “And even though we aren’t friends anymore, you and Max can stay here as long as you need.”

This time you make an exit from the car, quickly walking away from Billy and the tangled webs of your feelings for each other. Max and Carol are waiting for you at the door, eyes wide as they land on Billy who’s walking up behind you.

“Carol, go get the first aid kid,” you give her a look that says stop staring. She scurries off and you bring Billy into the kitchen. Her and Max hover quietly as you clean Billy’s cuts and bandage him up. You must have been concentrating really hard, because it feels like some sweat is trickling down your leg.

“(Y/N), you’re bleeding,” Max sounds worried as the blood seeps through your pant leg.

“Shit,” you breathe out quietly. “Not another pair of pants,” you whine, taking a seat next to Billy.

“I’m calling Mom,” Carol exclaims nervously.

“No you’re not,” you sigh at your little sister. “I probably just popped a stitch, which I can fix myself.”

You gingerly roll up your pant leg to see that you have indeed popped a few stitches. You give a long dramatic sigh as you reach for the needle and thread, but a large thick hand beats you to it. You meet Billy’s eyes and you can see the silent rage burning in them, wanting to beat the shit out of whoever did this to you.

“What happened?” his voice as soft as yours was in the car. He carefully pulls your bleeding leg up to rest on his lap, his fingers gentle as he caresses your skin before threading the needle.

“My dad,” you whimper at the confession, and not the needle sliding through your skin. “He’s been following me for days, yesterday he cornered me and beat me up.”

Once Billy’s down sewing you up, he aggressively paces the kitchen like he wasn’t just beat up himself.

“Billy you need to calm down,” you say gently. “There’s no need for you to get worked up over it.”

“Damn it (Y/N)!” Billy pulls at the ends of his hair. “I’m in love with you! And nobody hurts you and gets away with it.”

“You hurt me!” voice far louder than you intended. Max and Carol’s wide eyes move between the two of you. “More than I ever thought possible. You pushed me away in every way you knew that would mentally hurt me. That’s not love.”

“I was giving you an out-”

“No, you weren’t, “ you cut him off. “You hurt me in order to save yourself pain down the road. Well newsflash, the only one that abandoned someone here is you.”

“I’m scared!” if you didn’t know any better you would swear that there are unshed tears shining in his eyes.

“So am I! I realized that I loved you when I was, quite literally, saving your life,” words are once again leaving you before your brain can process what you’re saying. “Hours after you started a fight with Steve for God knows what reason. It’s hard and scary being in love with the Billy Hargrove, the infamous ladies man. Especially when he’s too embarrassed to truly be my friend when we’re at school.”

“You love me?” Billy sounds stunned. Max has a small smile on her face as Carol gaps at your confession.

“No?” you squint, hoping you can pinch yourself and wake up from this pain pill induced dream. But you aren’t that lucky.

“I want to be better for you,” he gently grabs your hand, pulling it up to his face so he can kiss the scratches on your arms. “I’ve never felt this way before and I got scared. I wanted to really be friends at school, but I knew Tommy H. and Carol would rip into you.”

“Two broken people don’t make a whole one,” you whisper your last line of defense.

“But they can be there for each other with love and support,” Billy’s words surprise you. He pulls you into his arms. “I’ll never hurt you (Y/N), never lay a finger on you.”

“I’m sorry,” you rush out. “For what I said at school. It was rude and uncalled for, I was lashing out because it hurt.”

“I’m sorry too, for what I said and did,” he sighs before continuing. “I’m even sorry I pushed Harrington into those lockers.”

“You have to apologize to him,” you push lightly on his chest so he looks into your eyes and not at your lips.

“Whatever you want,” he leans forward, finally capturing your lips with his. His lips are softer than you imagined, him being such a heavy smoker and all. Typically the smell of tobacco is a turn off for you, but with Billy it’s an inviting smell. The kiss is over too soon, you pull away as Billy goes to slip his tongue in your mouth. There was no way you would go that far in your kitchen.

Whoops coming from Max and Carol make you extremely glad that you didn’t let the kiss get any deeper. The girls don’t need to see that, and you don’t know how far you two would have gotten before you remembered you weren’t alone. You laugh lightly before placing fingers to your slightly swollen lips.

Max and Carol say their goodnights, winking at you tow before running off to your sisters room. You lead Billy up the stairs, the energy from both of you draining as you come back to Earth and realize just how tired everything you've gone through has made you two.

“I love you Billy,” you carefully snuggle closer to his chest.

“I love you too (Y/N),” he gently runs his hand over your hair.

It may not be conventional, but Billy Hargrove is undoubtedly the love of your life. Both of you have been dealt some pretty shitty cards, but it helps you understand the other better. As you lay in your bed with Billy, you and him make a plan to leave this dangerous city and move to California after graduation. For the first time in a long time, you fall asleep truly happy wrapped up in Billy’s bruised but strong arms.

Permanent tags: @crimson-knuckled-queen @rexorangecouny

#Billy Hargrove #billy x reader #billy stranger things #billy hargove x reader #billy hargrove x you #dacre montgomery #billy x you #billy x y/n #billy hargrove x y/n #stranger things #Stranger Things Season 1 #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #stranger things season 2 #stranger things season 3

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kerikaaria · 4 years ago

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If I Never Met You: Chapter 31

(??? X Reader) Idol!AU, Manager!Reader

Genre: (PG13) Fluff, some angst

WC: 2.2k

Warnings: None

Series Masterlist

Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32

Taehyung tapped on your shoulder to get your attention, and you took out my earbud to hear him.

“Noona, aren’t you sleepy?” he asked.

You chuckled, knowing exactly why he was asking. “You just want me to lean on your shoulder to sleep.”

He feigned innocence. “What? No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He crossed his arms, facing forward. “I just want to make sure our precious manager is getting enough rest.

“Uh huh,” you replied sarcastically, smiling. He looked at you out of the corner of his eyes. “Why don’t you get some rest, though?” you suggested. “You all definitely need it.”

He didn’t respond, but his eyes were already drooping from exhaustion.

You put my earbud back in and resumed listening to BTS’ new album that would be getting released soon. The album, titled Dark & Wild was finished during your time in LA and was even recorded there as well. You haven’t been back to Korea pretty much at all, except for in between flights. You’ve been busy as ever, flying all over the place and constantly on the move with things to do.

You were excited for the next comeback, though. You felt like the music was starting to become more of their own more unique flavor and you found myself liking this album very easily compared to the others. Not to mention, it was their first full-length album and the boys seem really excited to release it.

A few songs in, you felt a weight on your left shoulder. You smiled when you turned to see Taehyung fast asleep, his head having fallen to rest on you. On your other side, Jungkook was also very passed out against the window. Seeing the boys resting so well made you realize just how tired you were as well, just as worn out from all the traveling and jam-packed schedules. It wasn’t long before you found yourself relaxing to the song Rain and succumbing to sleep as well.

“It feels like we just left Los Angeles and we’re already back,” Hobi said as you waited behind the stage for their interview to start.

“Yeah,” you sighed. “But we’re only here for a couple days for K-Con, then we get to go back home. No more international travelling for a little while.”

Jungkook looked at you curiously. “Did you just say ‘home’?”

“Um, yeah?” you responded, confused. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“No,” he replied. “It’s just… you consider Korea home? Not where you grew up?”

You took a moment to think of your answer. “Well… My hometown will always be a home to me, but I’ve been living in Korea for about two years now. My life, my job, and some of the most important people to me are there. So yeah. It’s my home.”

Jin sniffled, faking tears. “That’s so sweet. I feel so touched, Y/n. I knew you loved me.”

You rolled my eyes at Jin’s dramatics. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

One of the convention staff came to tell you that they were ready for them to go, and as they walked toward the stage, Jin turned around to stick out his tongue at you.

There were actually quite a lot of fans gathered outside to watch the interview, and hearing the cheers for your boys made you swell with pride. Yeah this convention was for K-pop fans, but they were still new, barely a year since their debut so seeing that there were this many people here to see them was really wonderful.

The interview went well, Namjoon being asked to freestyle rap in English (which ended up making you laugh), and a fan was even brought up on the stage for him to rap about her as well. Her bias was V and when the hosts encouraged them to give her a hug before she left she looked so shy, it warmed your heart to see how happy it made her.

The whole convention went really well, the boys being amazed and thankful over and over again for how many fans had come wanting to see them. The concert where they got to perform a few of their songs was the first time they were performing in the US, and they couldn’t contain their excitement over it.

After the convention was over you flew back to Korea, finally able to settle and not worry about when the next plane you would board would be. Sejin drove you home from the airport.

"Well, that didn't take very long," Namjoon said, diverting your attention to the back of the van.

"What are you talking about?" you asked.

"Your bracelet," he elaborated. "Fans noticed it during the convention. One of them took some pictures, and they deciphered the letters. Now its spreading around the fandom that you have a bracelet with our names on it."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Jungkook asked.

"Well, they're squealing over it, so I'd say it's a good thing," Hoseok added. "I was just looking at the tweets, and they're saying how cute it is, that we must be good friends and she loves us, stuff like that."

Jin, who started investigating on his own phone once Namjoon mentioned it, suddenly laughed. "Oh my. This one fan is insisting that the letters for Jimin look larger than the rest, so that means he's extra special to her. They're saying it confirms you guys are dating."

"Oh my gosh, Jin," you said. "How many times have I told you to ignore that profile that my shippers hoard to?"

"And how am I supposed to do that?" he asked. "It's hilarious, I can't give this up."

Jimin looked at you, raising his eyebrows suggestively while smirking. "So, we're dating now, noona?"

"I guess so," you responded. "The fan has spoken, how dare we disappoint?"

“I still can’t get over the fact that there’s a whole community in our fandom who ship you with us,” Jungkook said.

“After hyung showed me some of those tweets, it took me a whole hour to stop laughing,” Taehyung added. “It’s so hilarious what people come up with.”

“I’m going to start showing you the theory videos about your guys’ ships,” you said. “You should see how adamant the Taekook and Jikook shippers are, my gosh.”

“The what?” Sejin asked from the driver’s seat.

“The fans who ship the members together,” you elaborated. “Taekook is Taehyung and Jungkook, and Jikook is Jimin and Jungkook. The fans who ship either of those pairings tend to be super into it. It’s crazy and hilarious.”

“Since when are you looking up our ships?” Yoongi asked.

“Since Jin has been making fun of me every day for the fans shipping me with you guys,” you said. “And by the way Jin, let me tell you how many fans ship you and Namjoon together.”

The two looked at each other, Namjoon raising his eyebrows. “Seriously?” the leader asked.

“Yup,” you replied. “They call you the dad and Jin the mom of the group.”

Jin scoffed. “I am not the mom.”

“Yeah, Jin isn’t our mom,” Hobi said. “If anything, our parents are our managers.”

You opened my mouth, about to protest. But you thought about it for a moment. “You know what? That’s actually fair.”

Sejin laughed as the banter started to die out, leaving way for the jet lag-induced exhaustion to kick in.

After arriving home, you were all about ready to just crash. You didn’t have to worry about work until tomorrow, and the boys thankfully wouldn’t have practice until then either. It was time to get some much-needed rest. But you couldn’t yet. There was something you needed to make sure to do first.

As soon as you closed your apartment door, you called a local restaurant that delivered and ordered enough food for everyone. You figured after being away from home so frequently for the past two months, they would really appreciate some authentic Korean food, and you were sure to order as many of their favorite dishes as you could.

You busied yourself with unpacking your suitcase to keep from falling asleep while you waited for the food to arrive. That and if you didn’t do it now, you would probably let it sit there for another month before bothering with it.

It didn’t take too long to arrive thankfully, and once it did you crossed the hall. You took the liberty of using your key to unlock the door and let yourself in, unsure if any of them would be awake. To your surprise most of them were sitting in the living room.

Namjoon looked up from his phone. “Noona? What brings you here?”

“What?” you asked, feigning offense. “I can’t come visit my favorite boys just because?”

“That makes you sound more suspicious,” Hobi said, narrowing his eyes at me.

You smiled, chuckling lightly. “Alright, you caught me. I just wanted to treat you guys for working so well lately. It’s been so exhausting and you deserve something nice, don’t you think?”

Seokjin rushed over and took one of the bags from my hands, looking inside. “Oh my gosh, it’s Korean food. Thank the heavens.”

Most of the others’ faces lit up right away, suddenly excited for your gift. “You’re welcome,” you said, sitting down next to Jimin.

“I’d better go wake up Taehyung and Jungkook,” Yoongi said as he stood up. “They won’t shut up about it if they don’t get to eat some of this.”

The remaining boys helped you take out all the bowls of food and distribute them around the table. It didn’t take long for the two youngest to trail their hyung out of the bedroom, rubbing the sleep away from their eyes.

Jungkook’s eyes instantly landed on his favorite dish and he nearly jumped toward the table to sit in front of it. “Wow, noona!” he said. “You got so much food!”

“Of course, you guys deserve it.” You smiled, distributing bowls of rice to everyone and taking extra care to set all the dishes you knew Jimin liked best in front of him.

It didn’t take long for everyone to settle in and start devouring the meal, many of them expressing gratitude at being able to indulge in their native food. However Jimin remained quiet, not having spoken a word since you first entered their dorm. As you ate, you kept gently placing more food in Jimin’s bowl to encourage him to eat more.

There was no communication needed, you both knew why you were paying special attention to him. You kept it as subtle as possible, hoping everyone else’s hunger and excitement over the meal would keep your quiet interactions from being commented on. Jimin did periodically turn his head just slightly to look at me, and you responded by resting a hand on his back. The last thing you wanted was for him to be uncomfortable, and you wanted to make sure he knew that your actions were based on nothing but care.

It took until about half the food was gone for him to finally seem comfortable enough to eat without your incentives, and it brought a smile to your face when he also began to include himself in the conversation shortly after as well.

You had been so busy, you weren’t sure how bad it was or for how long. But eventually you realized, too late for your liking, that Jimin was losing weight again. You felt terrible for not noticing earlier, and you were concerned that if none of the members had been reinforcing his need to take care of himself that he may have thought you no longer cared. Which of course couldn’t have been farther from the truth, but it was easy to imagine things that aren’t there when your mind isn’t in the best place. You could only hope that your efforts today reminded him how much everyone still did care, and always will.

When the dishes were all but licked clean, Seokjin and Namjoon started gathering all the containers to dispose of them and Hoseok got up to retrieve a towel to wipe the table clean.

Yoongi stood up to walk around the table, placing a hand on Jimin’s head while he passed by. “You ate really well, Chim,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”

The flush on his face was the only evidence of Jimin hearing the compliment. He turned to me and you smiled back at him.

“Good job, Jiminie,” you quietly agreed.

“I didn’t do it on my own, though,” he said, looking down to watch his fingers pick at a loose thread on his sweatpants. By now, everyone was sitting around the table again, their attention focused on Jimin.

“You just needed a little encouragement,” you said, brushing back the hair that fell into his face.

“I haven’t been doing good like I should have been,” he quietly admitted.

It was quiet for a beat before the leader took the initiative to speak up. “That’s okay. We know it’s something that you won’t just be able to stop. We’ll do our best to pick you up when you can’t do it yourself.”

“We’re at fault too,” Jungkook mumbled, wringing his hands together in his lap. “We should have paid more attention. I’m sorry, hyung.”

Jimin instantly looked up, shaking his head. “No, Kookie. You guys haven’t done anything wrong. We were busy, I don’t blame anyone for not noticing.”

“We will just keep working on it together,” Yoongi supported.

Jimin wrapped his arms around you and tucked his head into the crook of your neck. “Thank you,” he mumbled.

Series Masterlist

Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32

Tags: @calling-dips-on-j-hope @misohime @netflix-batman-sleep @smallbaby-cat @leitholdwithlove @ramyagovindraj @leesalts @rjsmochii @overtherainbow35

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joshslater · 5 years ago

Text

The Reformatory

A rewrite of jd07201990′s swimmer story. Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

T -1

Dear diary or however you are supposed to start.

So tomorrow is the big day. Dad and I are sleeping at a Holiday Inn at the other side of the state. Well, I'm obviously not sleeping. How could I? So I thought I should start a journal of some sort to document this experience.

Some background. Two months ago I was in a fight with Mark Samberg on the football team. It had gotten pretty bad between the football schmucks and us swimmers. The jockheads were constantly harassing us, calling us fags and prissy boys. It happened often and was getting boring. As the captain of the swim team I asked Mark to knock it off and get his players in line. Idiot as he is he tried to knock me out instead, and I lost it. In our scramble I managed to knock him down and was about to kick him in the shin when he shifted and instead I connected with his knee. Apparently it fractured. He'll be able to walk and even run, but he'll not be able to play again for years, so he lost his Scholarship.

His family sued everyone they could. Me, the school, the swim coach. In the end all the lawyers sat down in a room with a local judge and came up with something they all could agree to. Mark gets some study assistance to get his grades up, the school had this quickly brushed under the carpet, and could pretend I was never student there. Me not graduating wasn’t really a blow, as my college fund now went to pay for Mark’s education, as compensation. They were rich enough to afford it anyway, but they wanted to see punishment. I get the honor to spend the next 180 days at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center, where I will "participate in all scheduled exercises, activities, therapies, meals and medication programs". They can tack on some extra days for bad behavior without going back to the judge, but essentially I get 6 months at bad boy camp for standing up to bullies.

What will I do there? No idea. The website talks a lot about work ethics and responsibility and working together with the local community. Sounds like labor camp to me. I'll guess we'll know tomorrow. But first we have to visit the hospital for a check up. My first day in prison will mostly not be in prison!

Day 1, Monday

We started with a checkup at the hospital, and man did they do a thorough job. Our appointment was at 10, but before that I had to fill out a form with 100 questions. The doctor spent more than 30 minutes doing the most extensive check I've ever had. Not only that, but after the check we had to go to the sample lab to draw blood, and finally I had a CT scan at noon. After that, and a quick lunch, we drove to the actual reformation center, which was in a smaller town 2 hours away.

It's an old boarding school building that they've turned into this "Reformation Center", and it clearly looks more like a prison than a school. Just a heap of two story brick and concrete buildings out in nowhere. Not much of security, but then everyone was there "voluntarily", meaning that we all had a proper punishment waiting for us if we left. I hugged dad goodbye and was shown to Mr. Kerwin’s office by the entrance guard.

Mr. Kerwin was a lean, ripped man in his forties that oozed military discipline. He explained that he was responsible for my rehabilitation and that he wouldn't start soft. He would give me a packed schedule, and if I didn't pull my weight he would add more days for "noncompliance". If I didn't like it I could run back to judge Stephenson and ask to start over in juvie.

Perhaps that would be better, because the schedule he showed me was totally insane.

4:30-5:00 Breakfast 5:00-8:00 Exercise pass 1 8:00-12:00 Work pass 1 12:00-12:30 Lunch 12:30-14:30 School 14:30-17:30 Work pass 2 17:30-18:00 Dinner 18:00-21:00 Exercise pass 2 21:30 Lights out

He explained that my breakfast, lunch and dinner would be pre-portioned and I was required to eat all of it. The exercise passes would be lead by himself or one of the assistants. Again, I would have to follow every instruction. The work passes were done at local businesses that wanted an extra hand, and changed depending on demand. The school passes were done as a group on whatever subject Mr. Reed selected.

Next he ordered me to get naked and place all my clothes on top of my bag and move to the other side of the room. Having done so he pointed at a stack of clothes on the table and told me to pick my size and get dressed. I quickly dressed in one of the track suits from the table. There was a baseball cap also, which confused me, but was told that it was instead of sunglasses when working outdoor.

With that I was given a rule book to study and was led by an assistant to my room where a dinner was waiting. Turkey, rice, water. I was reminded of lights out at 21:30 and wake up at 4:30. The assistant left and locked the door. 10 minutes later he came back with my journal book and pen, and told me that they'll keep the rest for now.

Having eaten the dinner and having three hours (I'm almost sure 21:30 is 9:30 PM) to kill before the lights go out I'm now summarizing the day. I'm sitting in something very similar to a prison cell. Bed, toilet, sink. Everything is clean, though somewhat worn. Looking into the mirror is kind of depressing though. I look like some jailed gang member.

It's kind of weird that I haven't met any of the other inmates, sorry students, here. I saw some of them while coming in, but perhaps this is their kind of hazing, or they do an official presentation tomorrow. Anyway, I should study the rule book and go to bed, since I didn't sleep much last night.

Day 2, Tuesday

So much to write about, so little time. I might have to split this into several entries since lights out is in 20 minutes.

I was awaken at 4:30 and given a tray with a large bowl of porridge and berries and some chalky smoothie or shake or whatever to drink. After that an assistant lead me to the gym room where we went over various machines, mainly for cardio. Elliptical, bike, treadmill. Weird thing was that it was only us two in the room during all three hours.

Sweaty and a bit tired I was then taken outside to a bus where some of the other boys where chilling. Apparently everyone else had breakfast between 7 and 8. They had no idea why I didn't join them there. The bus then drove around town and the driver announced who should exit where. My group of four people exited at a farm before town, only about 5 minutes away. I don't know exactly since I haven't been given my watch back.

There we spent hours just moving hay. Don't they know about tractors? Sweaty, itchy, tired and hungry we were then picked up and driven back. At lunch was the first time I saw the real common area. To my surprise there were more boys there than had been on the bus.

Everyone else could pick what they wanted from what was served, but I was given a ready tray with an heap of salmon and pasta. I was starving though, so it wasn't a problem to eat it all. I didn't have much time to talk, but the guys at my table were nice. Somewhat rough, as could be expected. Apparently you were chosen for the different work assignments, and if you were not picked you stayed at the center for sports or craft or similar things.

After Lunch followed a session with Mr. Reed. The first boring hour was on English grammar and the second boring hour on US geography. I aced the quizz getting all 50 states and state capitols right, so I didn't learn anything new after that. Then Mr. Reed announced who had work assignments, and I was again selected.

This time I and Troy were dropped off at a different farm where we spent almost three hours helping with fencing. Mainly carry posts and sawing them to length.

For dinner I had some meatballs with roasted sweet potatoes while everyone else had meatballs with tomato sauce. Mr. Kerwin picked me up and led me to the gym. Unlike the morning session this was all about weight training. Most of it was on finding my limits for different exercises while Mr. Kerwin pointed out how I could improve my form. You could tell that this was what he liked to do, and encouraged me to push a bit further. Once we were done I had a bottle of post workout mix of some sort and a very quick shower before rushing back to my room.

Here's the thing. My room is on a different floor than the other guys. Also, my schedule appears to be different and much more rigid than the rest of the guys. I also

Day 3, Wednesday

I couldn't finish the last entry before they cut the light. My entire body is in pain right now. I woke up like that, and it didn't go away all day. Same schedule as yesterday, but different tasks and different dishes. The assistant really pushed today during the morning session, so I was exhausted already at the bus. Planting bushes at the city park all morning didn't help. I got some rest during Reeds rehash of elementary math. Then back to doing fences, and top it all off with weight training. I asked Mr. Kerwin about the schedule and why it was so different from everyone else’s. He said that everyone's schedule is individual and that he'll adjust mine as needed.

One more weird thing before I fall to sleep. Everyone else is using their normal clothes. I haven't gotten mine back yet.

Day 4, Thursday

FUCK! I was back on moving hay today again, with Sam, Trevor and Rick. I'm still hurting like hell and Rick is one lazy motherfucker, so old fart Farmer Joe decided to complain. The end result is that I am getting 2 days added for noncompliance. Sam, Trevor and Rick got nothing. WTF!

Day 5, Friday

We were carrying merchandise all morning and Troy heckled me on how I got more days because of the piece of shit Rick. But he then said that it was a weird coincidence that every work shift I've been on has been the toughest one.

Instead of going to class I met with the doctor from the hospital who made a visit. He asked me about how I felt, where I was sore etc. Then he gave me an injection which he said would ease things for me. I didn't feel much different, but I was getting really sleepy getting back to Mr. Reeds class, but it might just be that everything he did was too simple and boring.

Apparently while I had a check up Troy had shared his theory about me being a work magnet, so there were some groans from the guys placed in my group. God damn fence work again.

Man, I'm tired. I was tired even before Mr. Kerwin gave me the toughest weight pass ever. Fuck, I'm tired.

Day 6, Saturday

So the weekend schedule is different. There is still a morning work pass, basically only used by the local farmers. But the afternoon is free both on Saturdays and Sundays. Conditions and terms applies, apparently. Since I haven't done any cleaning or dishes all week (how could I?), I'm assigned washing clothes, sheets etc. Man, how much better it is to carry laundry than hay. Best job assignment all week. Lots of downtime. Only real drawback is all the humidity. It’s steamy AF here.

Still fucking 3h workout pass in the morning and evening. The other boys were pretty vocal in mocking me on my way to the gym.

Day 7, Sunday

So the day started out as any other so far. Woke up sore. Breakfast alone and 3 hour gym session. There are no work passes outside LARC on Sundays, so I was hit with cleaning, together with Kyle G. and Rick. Rick ghosted after like three minutes, but KG did a solid work. It took us all the time til lunch though to finish it.

Then my first free couple of hours all week. It’s insane. The other guys were low key avoiding me, so I did what Mr. Kerwin had suggested and had a walk in the forest. It was actually kind of nice, and for some weird reason I didn’t feel like sitting still.

Day 8, Monday

Same shit again. Mr. Kerwin gave me a shot in the arm this evening. Apparently I’ll have one each Monday from now on. Whatever.

Also I found out today that the others don’t have formal lights out. I’m on my own floor so they can lock me up and cut the power. What the fuck?

Day 9, Tuesday

That fucker Rick slacked off again, taunting me about another two days. Ha! I got 10. Mostly for kicking him in the teeth. They locked me in my room, so I had lunch there and sat in this boring ass cell during class and work. Fuck, I don’t know what’s worse. I had to do some body weight exercises to keep sane. Fuck this shit.

Back again. I still got to have my evening workout. Kerwin was pushing harder than ever. The order of exercises was different too. Apparently to make the major muscles tired so smaller muscle groups then get to work. Or something. I don’t give a shit.

Day 11, Thursday

They fucking work now, don’t they the little shits. They know I ruined someones career to get here and another one for slacking off. They better pull there weight

Day 14, Sunday

I think I’ll stick to just write on Sundays. There is only half an hour from evening gym to lights out, so there isn’t much time for writing. I’ve even skipped shower a few times. It’s not like it matters when you start every fucking day getting soaked with cardio. Not like there are any girls around to impress either. Sunday has a different vibe tho. Cleaning, running in the forest and taking a long shower.

Starts and ends with fucking gym time though.

Day 21, Sunday

I really fucking like the forest runs. Its like you don’t have to think and can just run wherever and grab whatever and smash whatever. Fucking love it

Day 28, Sunday

Yay! A full fucking month!

It’s crazy though how much stronger I’m. I have gone up one size larger track suite and 2 sizes larger sneakers. Working hard to make me the best I guess.

Day 42, Sunday

guess i forgot about writing last week. i think the monday shots make me angry or something because last week fucked up someone else on tuesday. at least they all give me fucking respect at least.

Day 92, Monday

i dont give a shit abot reeds borin ass lessons and they fuckin repeat on a loop or some shit. today he was back on gramr and the states. i most time dont fill out his shit but wanted to do it again today. fucking aced most of the states. not so good on the capitols tho

Day 203, Sunday

only 2 weeks left tomorrow lol then im gonna yeet the fuck outta here !!!! adios motherfuckas

Mr. Kerwin enters the room, carrying a folder, and walks behind his desk, not even looking at me. I am sitting in his precious fucking antique chair I pulled from the corner. He’s sitting his ass down, rifles through the papers in the folder and starts to read from one of them.

“John Hamlin agrees to 180 days of rehabilitation training at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center, where he will participate in all scheduled exercises, activities, therapies, meals and medication programs, with a possible extension of 30 days for noncompliance and a possible extension of 60 days for infractions as described by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Act (JuRA), section 1103 (b).”

He looks up at me. It sounded like easy shit when I said yes to it. I thought half a year in a bad boy summer camp, or worst case something like prison, but that would have been miles better than this fucking non-stop hard labor shit. And 180 days was a fucking joke. They never fucking intended that to be the actual time. Have someone else slack off and the slap another 2 days to the time. Kick a chair to pieces, 5 days. Punch a guy for being a cunt, 10 days. I’m close to having another fucking outburst again. It must be all that fucking shit they put in the food or shakes or whatever. I fight it. I don’t want to show any emotion in front of him. I don’t think he buys my shit.

“There is another document in the agreement that you haven’t heard. This one between Mark and judge Andrews.”

He pulls out another paper from the folder and read it.

“The state hereby directs Mark Samberg, or person(s) by him so designated, to design and oversee the rehabilitation program of John Hamlin to be administrated at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center. This includes physical exercises, physical therapy, education, consoling, dietary plan and medication, as long as it fulfills the positive development criteria (Appendix D), is within the available services at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center (Appendix A) and within the given budget (Appendix C). Additional services require external financing and approval from the Reformation Center management (Appendix B).”

That doesn’t make any fucking sense. Why the hell had the judge put Mark in charge of my schedule? I understand why he’d want to make the experience suck as much as fucking possible for me, by why had everyone agreed to it? Kerwin looks at me as if he can read an open book.

“You are wondering what has happened to you. What was the meaning of all this? Stand up.”

I jump to my feet. There are still weeks he can add to my time here, and I don’t want to give him any fucking reason to add some shit.

“Stand with your feet as close together as you can.”

He’s never asked me to do that before. I can easily tap me feet together, but I can’t really stand still with my feet right next to each other for long. What the fuck is this bullshit? My thighs are too massive for that.

“Sit down again.”

He leans back and watches me with a bemused smirk.

“Imagine that you’d been away from swimming half a year. Even if you kept in shape it would take you months to be back in good enough technique to clear the swim team tryouts. But you have not kept in shape, have you? You have a completely new shape.”

The blood is draining from my face. I understand where this is going.

“With your upper body build you can physically really only do butterfly strokes properly, but if you can’t bring your feet together the leg kick will just be a wild thrashing of water. You swimming medley would be a hilarious joke. We haven’t even talked about you almost doubling in weight, and how much more oxygen you would need to swim. Sure, you are much stronger now, but old you would swim circles around new you. And that is of course the point. If Mark couldn’t have his sports career, he didn’t want you to have yours either. And the judge agreed.”

I’m surprised that the chair doesn’t break, as hard as I’m squeezing it. I’m boiling with fucking rage. I have to really focus to not to act on it.

“Now the judge specifically set out that this transformation couldn’t be punishment in itself, but rather that you were trained in a way that just wasn’t optimal for swimming. We may have gone a bit overboard with the body building to leave you many options though. You’ll obviously never be competitive in anything with speed or agility, like football or boxing. The metabolic conditioning, hormone treatment and gene therapy have far to long lasting effects to change you back from where you are now. You could try wrestling or weight lifting though, unless you mind showing your erection through spandex.”

“What the fuck?”, I said, as much as a general question to all the things he’d said. What does metabolic conditioning mean? Gene therapy? Erections?

“The medical regimen that Marks family found for you kind of put the feet on both the gas and the break at the same time. It forces the body to grow a lot at the same time as we try to stop it, so it has to try even harder. By injecting stem cells with the right CRISPR-modified DNA we could get rapid, major and long lasting changes. Well, I say we, but all I did was to make sure you kept to the exercise regimen, for a little cash on the side… Surely you didn’t think you got larger feet and dick from eating much and working hard?”

I don’t understand exactly what they done to me, but the result is pretty fucking clear. There was no way I would swim competitively ever again, if I could even fucking swim at all now. I would come out of here looking like a fucking balloon animal muscle jock, and shedding the muscles back to where I were would take shitloads of years.

“The hormone treatment finished two weeks ago and last blood sample shows that your natural hormone levels will keep you muscled and pumped probably well into your forties. So this morning I also cut you off from all suppressive medication as well. That is going to spike your hormone levels and mess quite a bit with you, so we need to see just how badly fucked up you are before we can release you.”

“The good doctor say that you’ll be more irritable and have more excess energy than before. Both something you can work on with regular, hard exercise. But I want to see where you really are at now, so starting today you’ll have no required gym time and labor passes. You can wake up when you want, eat what you want and do what you want.”

“You said erections?”, I asked.

“Yeah, the suppression medication should have kept you limp. You haven’t jacked off while here, have you? Well, you heard what I said about gas and break and compensation. Your body has been pumping massive amounts of hormones into your blood, and will continue to do so. But now that you don’t have the suppressives anymore you should expect to be horny for the next decade or two. You’ll be nothing but a lumbering muscle dildo.”

There’s a crack somewhere inside the wood of the armrest. Fucking fourteen more days, I have to remind myself. Don’t fuck any shit up before then. If I let go of the chair I’m quite positive I will knock him the fuck out. Fourteen fucking more shit days.

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yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy · 4 years ago

Text

Why So Jaded? Chapter 9

FFN, AO3, Enjoy.

Why So Jaded

Chapter 9

Saturday morning Violet happily got dressed in a gorgeous floral dress that was tea length with a cardigan and beautiful comfortable sandals and did her hair and makeup to reflect a more- sweet, non threatening and likable look as she could, before she went to the florist to pick up the flower arrangements she had ordered for Beth, Tammy and Lisa and had ordered them to look like centerpieces because surely every woman enjoyed getting flowers and was happy when they came out looking and more importantly smelling- divine.

Then she went to the bakery, The Merry Cherry, to pick up the cake and the cupcakes, because Buddy and her had decided, especially since everyone was bringing their kids that they should make the cake tempting enough to encourage the kids to eat all of their dinner, so they got a galaxy cake and galaxy cupcakes which did look really awesome. Then she went to Chocolacier- a boutique chocolatier that was right around the corner from the Merry Cherry, to pick up her huge case of chocolate covered strawberries and four big cases of chocolates, one for each family to take home with them and the last one for Buddy and his guests to enjoy after dinner.

She had spent the night before with Jack who helped her get little gift bags together for all the kids at Party City, a party supply place which went with the galaxy theme because it was gender neutral and age appropriate for all the kids involved and Jack had been invaluable in making sure each child would receive something special, yet age appropriate and more importantly - super cool, before she made another stop across the street from Chocolacier, to Linster Rivera which was a very high end delicatessen and charcuterie bodega to get all the charcuterie elements because she was bound and determined to have a proper cheese and charcuterie board and even bought a huge authentic charcuterie board and a set of cheese knives because she had already gotten some cheeses and crackers at the liquor store’s market but she needed more to round everything out along with some last minute items before she drove into SEB to deliver everything.

Buddy frowned when he heard a thudding at his apartment door before he came and opened the door to see a pile of things so tall, he couldn’t see Violet’s head and knew she must have been “knocking” with the toe of her sandal but the flowers covering her head were breathtaking.

“Hi,” came Violet’s muffled greeting from behind the pile of things as her head had been nestled in the bouquet itself as everything else was precariously stacked within her arms, threatening to overflow them.

“Oh my goodness, here, let me help with that.” Buddy laughed as he took as much from her as he could manage but nearly dropped what he was carrying when he saw her. She was so beautiful. She was always beautiful but today, she was extra gorgeous and disarmingly bewitching that had him swooning, it was like seeing her for the first time all over again as the butterflies once again fluttered almost thunderously within his belly and his heart skipped a beat or two.

“Have you ever heard of taking two trips?” Buddy teased with a chuckle as he did his best to be as unaffected by her as he could and felt he was failing miserably.

“Well that’s the thing, I have another load down there, probably two or three.” Violet answered honestly as she organized what was left and avoided his gaze as she did her best to stamp down her own bashfulness as her cheeks flushed rose.

“Load of what?” Buddy asked as he tried to think of what else she could have possibly brought that he hadn’t prepared for.

“Well, I got Jack off the bus yesterday and he asked about today and I told him about it and he suggested that we make gift bags for the kids and since we got a galaxy cake, we got galaxy themed gift bags and stuff because they’re age neutral and gender neutral and would be inclusive for everyone. And so we went to Party City and we kind of went a little nuts and then it snowballed from there. So I have gift bags for all the kids, and the baby.” Violet confessed because she had also drug Jack to Target to get together some things for Beth's baby- Roman, and Buddy’s heart melted that she was being so thoughtful and doubted Jack would really do such a thing and figured she was using her little brother as an excuse to do something nice and inclusive for the kids. Which was incredibly sweet.

“Aww, you didn’t have to, it’s just a dinner, not really a party. Very sweet of you to think of them though.” Buddy noted as he put his own stack on his kitchen island and started to unpack what she had gotten, impressed when he saw all the deli stuff as his stomach reminded him it was going to be lunch time soon.

“Yeah Jack, with his silver tongue, justified it as a mini SEB public relations stunt and I have extras just in case any of the kids end up bringing a friend or two.” Violet explained with a chuckle which got Buddy to grin, as he reconsidered his previous thought about Jack but also knew that Violet wasn’t one to be talked into something she didn’t want to do.

“So yeah, I have a big tub with gift bags in the back of my SUV.” Violet informed him bashfully and Buddy could tell she was nervous and anxious and obviously trying so hard to gain approval.

“Well let me help you unload the rest of it.” Buddy insisted as he slipped his own shoes on real quick as Buddy went with her to her SUV in the parking garage.

“How are the spider’s in here?” Buddy asked in a whisper as they walked side by side in tandem.

“Not nearly as bad, just watching, not listening.” Violet answered.

“Well let me know when their webs aren’t in the way.” Buddy said before Violet suddenly pulled them to be between huge SUV’s and Buddy didn’t even ask, he just pulled her into a tight hug and smiled sadly when she hugged him back just as tightly.

“Are you nervous?” Buddy murmured.

“I know I have no reason to be.” Violet answered with a defeated sigh.

“Do you by any chance feel the need to overcompensate?” Buddy guessed gently.

“I still feel like I’m intruding and I gotta make up for that.” Violet confessed.

“You’re not intruding. You’re just as invited as everyone else. They’re all cool with you coming. They were excited about it actually. Keith most of all, which is kinda creepy with how enthusiastic he was.” Buddy teased and smiled when he felt her smile into his chest.

“And even if they don’t like you, I can always get new friends.” Buddy offered which got Violet to snort a laugh.

“That’s ridiculous.” Violet murmured as she finally seemed to relax in his arms though as Buddy smiled happily when she finally did.

“Yeah but I like you better than I do them.” Buddy reassured her.

“You shouldn’t though.” Violet argued softly as Buddy felt her shoulder’s sag which got him to frown.

“Yeah, but I do, it’s too late to go back now, besides it’s going to be ok. It’s just a group of friends hanging out. That’s all it is and the moment they come into my place, you won’t have to be Ms. Parr for the rest of the day, all you need to be and should be is Violet. And that’s more than enough.” Buddy reassured her.

“Ok.” Violet finally caved as she nuzzled her face into the crux of his neck and shoulder before she got a call which caused them to part reluctantly.

“Hey,” Violet answered when she saw the caller ID.

“Hey, what time is your thing today?” Violet’s mom Helen called.

“Uh, kind of an all day thing, but it technically starts at five, why? What do you need?” Violet asked.

“Could you get Jack, he spent the night at his friend Jaxon’s house and he was supposed to be spending the weekend with them and your Dad and I are already out of town on business and Dash is at Ashley's or Amy’s or I forget which girl he’s going out with now, but Jaxon’s parents have plans tonight at someone else’s house and they don’t want to be rude to that host by having Jack tag along, so could you pick him up?” Helen asked hopefully as Violet scrunched up her face which Buddy thought was beyond adorable.

“Yup, I got him, I’ll give him a call.” Violet agreed.

“Thanks Honey, Jack will give you the address.” Helen answered.

“You’re welcome, have fun and be safe, bye Mom.” Violet bit her mom.

“You too Sweetie bye.” Helen thanked her.

“Well, it seems Jack needs me to go get him. I’m sorry, I really wanted to stay and help out more.” Violet began to apologize.

“Well if it’s not too weird, Jack could just hang out with us, he’s more than welcome to and he can stay the rest of the day if he wanted to too, it’s not like he’s going to be the only kid around here.” Buddy generously offered.

“Really? You don’t mind?” Violet asked.

“Not one bit, as long as he’s ok with it.” Buddy answered before Violet reached up on her toes and kissed his cheek sweetly.

“Thank you.” Violet thanked him before she got back on her phone and called her brother.

“Hey Vi,” Jack greeted.

“Hey, so here’s the deal, Mom and Dad are already out of town, and Dash is still screwing his way through a model catalog…” Violet began before Buddy snorted a laugh before he quickly covered his mouth with his hand so he wouldn’t make any more noise as he and Violet shared a meaningful look.

“And I’m still here at work but I’m helping set up for the thing tonight, now my host has offered for you to just hang out with us…” Violet began.

“Yes! I’m ready now, you can pick me up now.” Jack eagerly insisted.

“Oh, ok then, text me the address. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Violet replied before she hung up.

“Hey, by any chance, did you ever have any other nicknames besides Buddy or Bud, because Bartholomew is a mouthful?” Violet asked Buddy thoughtfully.

“Yeah, why? Were you looking for one?” Buddy asked curiously.

“Yeah, because you have the distinction between Violet and Ms. Par and Invisigirl, I was hoping you had another distinction between Mr. Pine.” Violet explained as she self consciously put her hair behind her ears.

“Uh, well, Tali called me Tully, so that’s out.” Buddy realized as his brain was spinning into a tizzy at the possible implications of what this could mean for them.

“Uh, otherwise, I’ve been called any number of things…” Buddy tried to think of something to give her but was coming up with a blank.

“What about Barret?” Violet suggested hopefully and Buddy was ready to go down to the courthouse to change his legal name to that because the way she said it was making the butterflies flutter again, like they usually did whenever she was around but now they were about to become a hurricane in his stomach.

“Barret totally works, honestly I could just answer to ‘hey you’ if you wanted.” Buddy answered as he tried not to giggle. Because Violet having her very own private nickname just for him? Sign him up.

“Well, cause I’ve been thinking about this since Wednesday, and it would be a nice way to cut through all the Ms. Parr, Mr. Pine stuff with, but wouldn’t set Phillip off, like a pet name but I guess, not a pet name?” Violet carefully worded as her cheeks flushed cherry and Buddy was about to squeal in delight. She wanted an intimate pet name for him without tipping off the sensors or anyone else. So she did feel the same way! Oh how sweet the vindication and validation.

“Yeah, Barret totally works, Barret and Violet, Violet and Barret. Winning combination.” Buddy blathered off, trying to keep his excitement to a reasonable level.

“Thank you. Will your friends look at me crazy if I call you that in front of them though?” Violet posed.

“They shouldn’t care honestly.” Buddy shook his head no with a shrug.

“Ok, well help me with the tub and then I’ll go get Jack before he tries to portal here.” Violet urged before she turned and nearly ran into the SUV on the side of her which made them both erupt into laughter.

“Wow, so smooth.” Violet chided herself as she led the way to her SUV and popped the back hatch to reveal a big clear plastic tub full of gift bags, with all the kid’s names on the tags and yet even more things as she grabbed the big case of chocolate covered strawberries and put all she could on top of the tub's lid in Buddy's hands before she got the remaining flower arrangements before they walked back into the building as Violet made sure he was squared away in his ‘gilded cage’ before she left to go pick up Jack.

Violet was barely parked in front of the house before Jack came running out of the house and practically leapt into her SUV with his backpack.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Jack insisted.

“What is going on?” Violet asked as she waived to Jaxon’s mother before she pulled out of the driveway.

“We don’t have much time. Step on it.” Jack insisted.

“Much time for what?” Violet asked as she got back on the road.

“Are the spiders awake?” Jack asked.

“No, they’re sleeping.” Violet answered.

“Ok, so I was up really late last night and I think I have a breakthrough on Phillip. But I need a lab and hopefully Mr. Pine’s genius will do the rest.” Jack explained.

“You...Do you mean to tell me- that Jaxon’s parent’s really don’t have other plans that they couldn’t drag you along with? And that you literally called Mom and Dad to pick you up, knowing they were out of town and Dash is busy so that left me to get you so that I could watch you myself because you wanted to get one on one time with my asset?!” Violet demanded angrily.

“Yeah, look, you told me that you told him about Phillip’s powers and the fact that he picked up on the fact that Phillip has them, and he was cool about it and he’s been really awesome about everything. If he likes you as much as you make him sound like he does, that gives him- opportunity, motive and availability, the magic trio to work miracles. Because I have a really bad feeling we are running out of time. Like I want this done before you leave for Hong Kong, Tokyo at the latest.” Jack insisted.

“You...manipulator!” Violet growled as she threw her phone at him before he let it phase through him and her phone hit the passenger door.

“You said that he said that he’d do anything for you right? Let him prove it.” Jack pleaded as he got her phone and handed it back to her.

“God damn it Jack, I also told you I could be reading in between the lines and going out on a limb there.” Violet groaned.

“Yeah, I doubt it, come on, plus you know Phillip agreed that the moment anyone from your family is on SEB property that he’d promise to turn off all the cameras and listening devices. This way we get most of the day without Big Brother watching us and listening to us the whole time. Look Edna and I have been hitting our heads against a brick wall here and we’re out of ideas. And with the pictures that came up when you went to Vegas, Phillip isn’t making it hard for anyone to guess what his intentions with you are. And if we can’t find a way to stop him- you’ll be trapped as Mrs. Sebastian for life, however long or short that would be. You’re already miserable being his handler. I can’t imagine how awful you would feel being his wife.” Jack appealed.

“Jack this isn’t your problem to solve.” Violet answered.

“Well your way of handling it isn’t working, it’s just making it worse. If you told Mom and Dad half of what you’ve told me, then you know Dad would beat Phillip into a pulp but we both know Phillip would plant a suicide seed in his head before the first punch could be thrown. Same thing with Mom, that’s why you haven’t told anyone but me.” Jack explained and Violet couldn’t argue with that.

“But you said it yourself that whatever Buddy puts his hands on- he improves. Let him put his hands and his brain on this and the worst that can happen is he can’t come up with something. The best that can happen is he solves this. We just need to give him a starting point. Give him what we’ve come up with so far and have him do his genius thing. He's already been solving your medical stuff and you said you trusted him. So trust him, take the leap of faith Vi.” Jack pleaded.

“How am I going to explain to Phillip that you and Barret are working on a way to expose the very powers that he has killed -who knows how many- for even talking about?” Violet asked.

“Ooh, Barret, so he did go for the pet name that is so not a pet name .” Jack grinned cheekily.

“He did,” Violet confided.

“Well that and Barret is a good way to talk about him to Mom and Dad and get them to like him before they meet him face to face and freak out that you’re hot for the guy who tried to kill the family a decade ago.” Jack said with a shrug.

“Who said I’m ever going to let them meet?” Violet asked.

“As soon as you’re free from Phillip and you can hook up with him and go steady for a while.” Jack answered like it was the most obvious answer.

“Yeah, every day I’m little less and less certain that’s ever going to be a possibility and you’re almost making me regret ever telling you about any of this.” Violet confessed.

“You’ll be thanking me once this works, now call Phillip so he can turn off the cameras.” Jack prodded.

Violet begrudgingly called Phillip and told him that she needed to watch Jack and take him back to Mr. Pine’s floor because she was assisting Mr. Pine with the party which he agreed that the moment that Jack showed up on the cameras, they would all be shut off to protect Jack’s secrecy and privacy and they would remain that way until Jack went home. Even to the lab because he knew how Jack had a fondness for science equipment and Jack practically yelled into the phone that he had a science project that he wanted Mr. Pine’s assistance with which Phillip agreed to as well.

“Perfect.” Jack beamed when Violet got off the phone.

“You’re lucky he still thinks he has to charm you.”

“And you’re lucky I’m immune so far.” Jack responded.

“It just sucks that Dash isn’t.” Violet grumbled.

“You really think he has a suicide seed planted in his head?” Jack asked worriedly.

“At this point, I assume everyone within a 500 foot radius has it, hell make it a thousand feet including and especially me, and especially Barret.” Violet confessed before Jack reached over and held her hand.

“Well then we have to find a way to find it.” Jack comforted her as she squeezed his hand back.

True to Phillip’s word, Violet could feel all the camera’s shut off and the listening devices get disabled as soon as Jack was seen by the cameras.

Meanwhile Buddy anxiously tried to get lunch prepared, he had to charm Jack. It was clear that Violet favored Jack and was especially close to him, more than anyone so if by a longshot, he could make a good impression with Jack, despite the history, maybe he stood a chance and just as he was getting things together, Jack burst into his apartment with a very irritated looking Violet behind him.

“Hey, Violet said I could call you Barret, you know I’m Jack, we got Phillip to put the spiders to sleep while I’m here, we need to get in the lab, we only got about six hours before your other company comes and we need your help.” Jack said quickly as he practically bounded up to Buddy eagerly.

“Help with what?” Buddy asked as he was completely but pleasantly surprised by this development.

“Help to expose Phillip as a Super, and save everyone who has to be around him, especially Violet.” Jack said as Buddy looked from Jack to Violet who seemed defeated and resigned as she leaned against the counter in the kitchen and looked apologetically from Jack to Buddy.

“Who else have you talked to about this?” Buddy asked them.

“Everyone else we can trust. Violet told me she trusts you. At least look at it.” Jack pleaded as he held up a case that had all the flashdrives of data in it.

“Please? Because I’m out of ideas and options and so is he and everyone else.” Violet finally spoke and the heartbreak in her voice was heart rendering.

“Violet? I really hate to do this to you, but, if you’ll finish cooking lunch, and follow this recipe, that’ll give me a head start on..” Buddy immediately decided.

“Let me clear your lab first.” Violet smiled in relief before the three of them went into Buddy’s lab and Violet pulled up the two computers side by side and started to put in two separate codes with each hand on two separate keyboards as she closed her eyes and focused on her finger movements, coordinating both hands to do separate things before she got two spare key cards and put them into the programmer and then went into The Agency’s database and brought up all the research she had been able to do in the last year and brought up everything every other agent had discovered in their post before the keycards finished programing before she handed one to Buddy and one to Jack.

“Ok, so the key cards are a shortcut to this project and they should disable all other eyes and ears when working on them and this way all three of us can work on this together and Jack I trust you’ll let Edna use yours when you’re not using it, all of this is encrypted, and if Phillip ever gets to see any of this, he’ll assume I’m working on someone named Dragon Eye who is actually a real guy in China who does have similar powers but he’s not nearly as dangerous as all this makes him to be, all the intel is on Phillip, but Phillip has clearance at The Agency and we had to make something he wouldn’t notice or suspect. Here’s how far I’ve gotten, Jack, your turn.” Violet offered before she left the lab and Jack immediately plugged in all the flash drives he kept for this into the computer as Buddy focused on reading all the could as quickly as he could.

“My sister really likes you.” Jack murmured to Buddy as he keyed in his own passwords to get to the contents of the drives.

“She shouldn’t.” Buddy blurted before he fully let what Jack said sunk into his consciousness. Holy shit, Violet really liked him?! Yes!

“But she does. Violet doesn’t trust people as far as she can kick them. She’s been doing the wrong kind of Super work for way too long and it’s changed her, but not for the better. She has no faith in people, much less humanity. She’s incredibly jaded and guarded. So for you to get through all that- says a lot about you.” Jack noted as he pulled up everything for Buddy to see.

“All I’ve been doing is just being myself.” Buddy muttered.

“And that’s all you needed to do. Violet has every reason to believe everyone she knows is in danger and can be used as leverage against her and despite everything that’s happened to her and everything else she’s done- she’s still a good person. And she will sacrifice herself to save others.”

“Even when those others aren’t worth saving.” Buddy finished as he carefully looked at everything.

“If she deems someone worthy of being saved, then they’re lucky to have her view them as such. And it means that they should respond in kind.” Jack insisted.

“This is true.” Buddy had to admit.

“I like you.” Jack grinned at Buddy as he watched Buddy get to work.

“Why? You don’t even know me.” Buddy frowned.

“Violet does, and that’s more than enough for anyone, even me. And don’t worry about everyone else, they’ll come around. Just keep having her back and do everything you can with helping us with this. It’ll work out, I got a good feeling about it.” Jack advised.

“There, now that’s everything.” Jack said once he was finished and once Buddy read over everything, his spark lit up like lightning again before he started to link things together, like taking two halves of a sweater and finally threading and knitting them together on both ends to make a whole and complete work as Jack simply sat back and watched on with proud excitement just as Violet came in several minutes later with two big bowls of chicken carbonara Buddy had started as she handed the first to Jack and then simply placed the second one into Buddy’s hands since he was preoccupied and already jumping down the rabbit hole.

“Thanks Vi.” Buddy answered a little bit distractedly as he blindly reached for the fork before he started to feed himself before Violet leaned over and kissed his cheek sweetly which did give him pause as his head skipped a beat or two.

“Thanks Barret.” Violet couldn’t help but coo before she left as Jack did his best to pretend he didn’t see it.

“You-you’re welcome.” Buddy replied before Violet retreated as she left and got her own lunch and before Buddy knew it he had already dived right in again with renewed vigor and enthusiasm and Violet was grateful Buddy had written down a ‘to do’ list on when to start what and already had all his recipes pulled up and Violet happily picked up where he left off while she happily danced away in the kitchen once she synced up her phone with the kitchen sound system so Buddy could focus on her own problem as Jack seemed to float back and forth between the two all afternoon.

“How’s he doing?” Violet asked Jack as she put two of the dishes into one of the ovens while the main course braised in the other.

“Oh he hasn’t barely come up for air, I’ve had to hand him- like two water bottles and a brain superfood bar so far. He’s dove in head first and he’s threading everything all together and making a proper spider web. It’s awesome. He’s even redesigning your suit. Because we’ve narrowed it down on which particular bandwidths that Phillip is “broadcasting” off. Like a radio tower. So the suit, as long as it can cover your head, can, in theory- protect you and he has already designed like a dozen more features that Edna would be drooling if she saw them and every other Super is going to want their own set of them. It’s working perfectly.” Jack informed her proudly as he got into the fridge to see what Buddy had in the way of afternoon snacks.

“I can see what you see in him. For once you have really good taste in men.” Jack teased before Violet mused his hair.

“You keep that quiet.” Violet urged.

“He’s actually a really good guy though. And he clearly cares about you enough to take all this on with just a single ‘please’ from you and if I had to bet, he’s clearly way beyond head over heels for you. And I think you’re in just as much danger of being the future Mrs. Pine that you are being Mrs. Sebastian.” Jack hinted with a scheming grin.

“My love life is also not a problem to be solved, much less by you.” Violet tried to argue but the little excited grin that she immediately tried to swipe off her face was pretty telling to Jack especially.

“I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing. You’d two be a cute couple. Whereas in the other one you’d be a hostage.” Jack shrugged as he found a string cheese and started to eat that for a snack before dinner which Violet had been doing so well at following the directions Buddy had left for himself.

“That’s true.” Violet admitted- as she got a blackberry yogurt from Buddy’s fridge and ate that as a snack herself.

“And the moment you pop out a kid, and give Mom and Dad a legitimate grandbaby they will be all on board.” Jack reminded her.

“What about the two they already have?” Violet argued, referring to Dash’s kids.

“They’re from two different baby mama’s and he’s not even with either one of them right now and he’s probably on his way to making a third as we speak.” Jack retorted as Violet did nod in agreement to that as she did her best to hide her own guilty expression.

“Maybe after Barret solves this, he can tackle a way to put a permanent condom on Dash.” Violet muttered sarcastically.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea.” Jack offered.

“No it wouldn’t be.” Violet agreed as she wrapped her arm around Jack and gave him a side hug.

“Do you really think Barret can do it?” Violet asked softly.

“I do. He’s working like over a dozen angles simultaneously and is using his entire lab to work on all of it. He really is a genius. Like a savant level of genius. Almost makes me wonder if he’s actually a Super himself.” Jack answered.

“He probably is a low grade one, but one that there isn’t a test for yet.” Violet mused. “Either that or one hell of a gifted normal.” Violet shrugged.

“Either way, good brother in law material.” Jack muttered.

“That’s if we can survive Phillip’s best efforts.” Violet murmured with a grimace before she could stop herself.

“Well Barret gave Phillip the blueprint about how to come clean with you and how to move his relationship with you from asset and handler to genuine and legitimate and Phillip has yet to take him up on it or follow any of it. All Buddy is doing is following his own blueprint and it’s working out for him. That and your chemistry is pretty good if one kiss on the cheek from you sent him into a mini tizzy, I can’t imagine what he’d do if you actually kissed him- kissed him.” Jack teased and cackled when Violet smacked him upside the head.

“Get back in that lab before I hurt you.” Violet ordered.

“Ok, ok, I’m gone, one more string cheese and a Coke.” Jack said before he grabbed the can and another snack before he retreated into the lab again as Violet set everything up for the company and artfully arranged all the snacks on trays. Making not just a cheese and charcuterie board but also a tray for the remaining cheeses and fruits and nuts and of course the chocolate covered strawberries and even wrapped the cases of chocolates and made sure to fill the cards out for each of the families before putting the snack trays back into the fridge and even made an extra dish for the dinner because Buddy had the ingredients and did her best to keep her dress clean with the help of the apron but was all too happy and comfortable to be barefoot in the kitchen and out of her heeled sandals as she continued to dance around the kitchen, listening to her music and feeling right at home for some reason. Violet even had time to take a leisurely break and watch some TV as she waited for everything to finish cooking in the ovens before she set the ovens to be warm for most of the food so it wouldn’t overcook while the main course finished braising and arranged all the bottles of wine and beers before it was time for her to go greet her guests if they decided they would be coming early.

“Hey guys, we got about 25 minutes before our company should be coming. So try to wrap up what you can and just set things to process for a while.” Violet reminded them.

“Ok.” Jack agreed from his spot at one of the pieces of equipment from the other side of the lab.

“Yeah.” Buddy answered but Violet could tell by that tone that he was still super distracted with what he was working on before she simply shook her head and walked across the lab and purposefully sat in Buddy’s lap and placed her arm around his shoulders as the touch completely yanked him out of his hyper-focus.

“Wha- huh?” Buddy asked as he suddenly realized she was not only next to him but obviously in his lap and the serene but expectant look she gave him as she simply reached up and gently threaded her fingers through his hair and grinned when he seemed to melt at her touch.

“Did you hear what I just told you?” Violet asked sweetly but thoughtfully.

“Uh...something about the time?” Buddy asked before he noticed what time it was.

“Oh shit, the dinner…” Buddy realized.

“Nope, I took care of it. I just followed the to do list you left yourself and followed the recipes you had pulled up on the tablet in your kitchen. It’s all done, it’s all ready to go. The main course still has about thirty minutes left, but everything else is done. All the snacks and cold appetizers are in the fridge, already on the trays, all you have to do is pull them out of the fridge and set them on the breakfast bar. I’m just letting you know, you now have about 23 minutes before your guests arrive. So that gives you 15 minutes to wrap things up and set things to continue processing while we socialize. Can you handle that?” Violet reassured him in one of her more calming, soothing tones and Buddy was ready to propose to her in that instant as he readily held her steadily in his lap and was ready to break at least one chair if it meant she’d have nowhere to sit but his lap for the evening.

“Yep, I can do that.”

“Good, give me your phone so I can set an alarm, just in case and then I’ll go down and see if anyone ends up being early. Ok?” Violet posed before Buddy freely handed her his phone as she put an alarm that would sound in 15 minutes.

“Thank you Barret, see you in a bit.” Violet thanked him and gave his temple a quick kiss she offered before she got up and sauntered away and left as Buddy was hopeless but to watch her leave. God was he falling hard and fast for her.

“Someone’s gonna be Mrs. Pine.” Jack teased in a sing-song tone from across the lab once the door was closed behind Violet.

“Shh! Don’t jinx it Man.” Buddy shushed him.

“Violet didn’t have any aversions to it when I said something about it to her earlier.” Jack added temptingly and nearly fell out of his chair laughing when Buddy reacted to that revelation.

“Wait what?” Buddy pressed as he nearly fell out of his chair as he leaned as far back as he could so he could see Jack clearly from across the lab.

“Look, with Phillip, she’s a hostage, with you she’s happy and more like her old self before she did so many missions as a spy. It’s just an observation.” Jack answered as he put his hands up in defeat.

“Really? She’s happy with me?” Buddy pressed.

“You really need to ask that? I thought you were a genius?” Jack teased with a shit eating grin.

“Yeah with computers I am, to women and most social situations, not really no.” Buddy confessed.

“None of us can have it all Man.” Jack shrugged. “Come on, we only have like 12 minutes left.” Jack reminded him before they went back to work trying to get as many processes starting as they could before they ran out of time.

Meanwhile Violet waited anxiously at SEB’s entrance, having brought the tub of gifts down and set them up on a table on the other side of security so she could hand them to the kids once they came through the metal detectors before Greg and Tammy and their kids came in and Violet put on a bright, welcoming smile.

“Well hello guys! Welcome to SEB Industries. I’m Miss Violet Parr, acting head of security. And I’ll need all of you to come through the metal detector and then I just have some really quick paperwork for you.” Violet said sweetly as Greg’s little boy Alex, who was 4 smiled brightly at her.

“Hi!” He greeted.

“Hello, what’s your name Handsome?” Violet cooed as she turned to him from the other side of security.

“Alex!” He greeted.,

“Well come on through Alex,” Violet invited as she waived him through before his parents followed him through security as Violet got their paperwork in order.

“Ok, so in exchange for the cameras to be turned off so we’re not in a complete fish bowl, I need both of you to sign these. And while you’re reading these over and signing them. I have these for Evan, Alex and even Kaely, I didn’t know if they would be jealous that you guys got to sign paperwork and they didn’t. So I wrote up something they could “sign” too.” Violet informed them as she showed Greg and Tammy the “contracts” she had written that basically had big check marks next to the things she thought would be appropriate for each kid. Kaely’s paper just had pictures with check marks on. Which Tammy and Greg thought was super cute and agreed to let her show their kids as Evan took his “contract” and snorted a laugh but agreed and signed it while Kaely happily sat on the floor and did the same with hers, choosing to scribble on the pictures while Violet helped Alex with his.

“Ok Alex, while your mommy and daddy are signing their paperwork, you have the most important paperwork. Let me read it to you. Objective number 1, so think of this like your mission, should you choose to accept it- is you will have fun while you’re here. Do you agree?” She posed.

“Yes.” Alex eagerly answered.

“Awesome, so put a check mark right here.” Violet directed as she handed him a pen which he happily did.

“Ok, now, objective number two, you will eat all your dinner so that you can have dessert? Which there is an awesome cake up there, it’s super yummy. Do you agree?” Violet posed.

“Yes.” Alex giggled as he checked that off.

“Number three, most important, there are other kids coming tonight and a limited number of toys, so that means that you have to share what’s up there and do your best to get along, do you agree?” Violet posed.

“Yes.” Alex answered as he checked that.

“Ok, now all you gotta do is sign your name, which if you don’t know how to write your name, you can totally just scribble it in.” Violet reassured him before Alex scribbled excitedly.

“Now we gotta stamp this, can you stamp it for me?” Violet asked as she handed him the “Approved” stamp and had him stamp it which he did, like five times, all over the paper before Violet could get the stamp back with a laugh.

“Super duper approved! Awesome. Ok, so now we put the stamp back and we give this to your parents so they can keep it.” Violet urged as Alex took the paper and eagerly showed his parents who had just gotten done with their own paperwork as Violet traded and made sure that they had initialed, signed and dated it before she did the same and stamped the paperwork herself quickly before she directed them to the gift table to pick up the kids’ gift bags along with the family’s gift case of chocolates to take home which the wives all eagerly took and held onto as the others came and she repeated the process, all the parents thinking it was super adorable that Violet would include the kids and be as awesome with them as she was and Greg, Keith and Scott along with their wives were happy to see this soft side of Violet and the kids were super happy about the gift bags and had already looked through them a little and had found all kinds of goodies and even the "older" kids thought it was awesome that she made theirs different than the little kids.

“Ok, is everyone here and accounted for?” Violet asked as she did a head count and double checked her paperwork to make sure she had everyone.

“Awesome, well follow me guys,” Violet said as she led the way to the freight elevator that would be big enough for all of them before they all squeezed in and Violet hit the floors with her passkey that she had on a lanyard on her neck.

“So how come he doesn’t have an actual floor on the elevator?” Evan asked.

“Oh it’s a safety precaution. SEB is not immune to corporate espionage and the last thing we need is for Mr. Pine to be subjected to any while he’s here with us since all the projects he works on are all the intellectually property of SEB.” Violet answered politely.

“But I thought that’s what you were here for as head of security?” Scott posed.

“I’m only one person. I can’t fight off everything and everyone.” Violet shrugged before they came to the floor and Violet led the way to Buddy’s apartment and walked in to see Buddy thankfully in the kitchen, putting out the trays of appetizers on the breakfast bar like Violet had suggested.

“Hey guys! Thanks for coming, take your shoes off, stay a while.” Buddy warmly invited as he came over and did the handshake hug thing with everyone as the kids eagerly went over to where the cake was set up to look at it in awe as they realized it was a galaxy cake as Violet simply slipped away to change out of her dress and into more casual attire before she seemed to reappear just as the adults were gathering around the breakfast bar to dig into the snacks provided before Jack came out of Buddy’s lab and into the apartment.

“Well hi.” Greg greeted Jack as he looked from Jack to Buddy curiously.

“Hi,” Jack replied before he soon took refuge next to his sister.

“Is this your son?” Greg asked Violet but he was struck by how ginger Jack was, almost like he could be Violet and Buddy's son if they ever got to have kids.

“No, I’m her little brother, Jack, nice to meet you.” Jack immediately countered.

“My parents are out of town for the weekend so I’m staying with Violet and Barret agreed to help me with a school project.” Jack informed them casually as all the adults blinked in surprise as they looked from Jack to Buddy excitedly.

“What’s the school project about?” Tammy, Greg’s wife asked.

“Radio waves.” Jack answered.

“Oh, cool, well if there was anyone to help you with that, it would be Bud, or uh, Barret, rather.” Tammy nodded as she looked at him and tried to think of where she had seen him before Tammy’s son Evan came around his mom to grab another handful of snacks himself, mostly a handful of blueberries and another chocolate covered strawberry.

“Hey! I know you! You play at Millwood Park a lot.” Evan noted to Jack.

“Yeah!” Jack beamed in excitement because low and behold, he had a friend at this shindig after all before he happily left Violet’s side to go over to Evan before the two went back with the rest of the kids to play among themselves in Buddy’s living room while Jack happily got to have his own gift bag from among the extras.

“Wow Bud you really went all out.” Beth, Keith’s wife noted as she appreciated the spread.

“Actually, this is all Violet’s doing. Jack and I went down a rabbit hole for his school project so Violet is the one that put this all together. Didn't she do a great job?” Buddy proudly answered as he marveled at these snack trays and happily started putting a little bit of everything together and marveling at the amazing quality of it all, being immensely proud of Violet for putting all this together and saving his bacon to speak.

Almost like a real couple should.

“Well I wouldn’t have done half as good if you hadn’t left a pretty good plan to follow, I just followed your ‘to-do’ list that had all the instructions on what and when to start all the elements. It was a piece of cake because of that.” Violet returned with a little shrug but her pleased grin shamed the sun at the praise, being ever so happy he pleased with it.

“Well now that you mention it, yes it’s obvious you did it because there’s no way he would have thought to include flower arrangements or half of these snack trays and look at that cake and those cupcakes, and this wine selection is flawless, I mean come on, all this does scream feminine touch.” Lisa praised as she gestured to everything as she even noticed Buddy’s table was set up beautifully too before they dissolved into idle chit chat before the oven beeped which signaled that dinner was ready before all the adults got a place around the table and all the kids got to sit around a second table that Violet had set up for them, complete with galaxy paper plates and napkins and cups as all the adults seemed to grab a dish and put it on the table before Buddy said grace and all the mothers got their kid’s plates ready and squared away before all the adults dug into what was left and even Buddy was pleasantly surprised to see Violet’s added dish and thought it complemented the meal perfectly and he was ever so grateful that Violet had just picked up where he left off so he could do the same for her and they had done it flawlessly together and with him sitting at the head of the table and her sitting to his immediate right, he was all too pleased about this and thought she fit in flawlessly, if anything she was the integral part to all of this and with the way they were kind of smooshed around the table, his knee was happy to rest against hers.

“So, where are you from Violet?” Beth asked.

“Uh, well my parents are originally from here but then they moved around a lot when I was little but when I was 14 we settled here back here in Metroville and my family has been here ever since.” Violet answered.

“Oh, so you’re just a hometown girl who’s made it big then?” Beth surmised.

“Well, yeah, I guess you could say that.” Violet mused.

“Where did you go to college at? I mean I assume you’ve been to collage if you’re head of security.” Beth furthered.

“Actually I didn’t go to collage, although I did have internships.” Violet said simply.

“Oh that’s nice, how did you manage that was the application process hard?” Beth guessed as all the guys looked a little worriedly from Violet to Buddy who looked tense who kept looking from them to Violet to gauge her reactions at being poked and prodded.

“It was really a case of who I knew and developing the right skill set.” Violet tried to explain delicately.

“But what about you guys, since you brought up college, where did you go?” Violet returned, trying to keep the focus off of herself which Buddy and Violet were grateful for which worked for a little while before the conversation came right back around to her.

And then when they learned that Violet was "single" then all the girls seemed to try to make Buddy out to be this amazing catch of a guy. Which Violet thought was adorable because Buddy was getting a little flustered by it but when her hand went under the table to gently squeeze his knee, that had him relax a little and then to hold his hand under the table had him relaxing even more and taking it all in stride.

Then once dinner was eaten and the cake was cut and all the kids eagerly taking a cupcake before Violet put on a movie for them, the adults happily cleared the table and moved the snack trays to the table so they could sit and continue to snack as Violet opened Buddy’s case of chocolates to enjoy with them as Buddy eagerly and happily went through the case of chocolates to find his favorites as his friends gently poked and prodded Violet some more to try to get to know her better which was an easier feat with Violet happily drinking her favorite wine and with Buddy’s hand and hers both seemed to be drawn together under the table and before Violet knew it she was happily holding his hand under the table since they were still kitty corner to each other as they ate and drank happily with their free hand and Buddy was so unbelievably proud of Violet for staying Violet and it really was- for a few blissful hours- just a group of adults hanging out for a dinner.

It wasn’t until after the second movie that Violet put on for the kids, that the group heard the tell tail signs of little ones snoring as they had all snuggled up together on the couch with a couch throw over them and had fallen asleep since it was now almost midnight. But the adults had had too much fun just talking and catching up and getting to know each other better and Violet was very happy when all the women invited her and Jack to their kid's birthday parties and slumber parties and even to out to brunch and stuff which Violet was thrilled to have because she didn't really have any close friends besides other Supers and Tammy, Lisa and Beth were really fun actually as Buddy was grateful that they had eagerly accepted her into the fold.

“I think it’s time we better go.” Beth encouraged them before they all murmured their agreement and Violet happily, yet sleepily let them out.

“Please be gentle with him. Tali did a number on him when she left him, granted he’s changed quite a bit since then, but still. To see how you are with Phillip in the tabloids, I’m worried about how messy that could get.” Beth murmured to Violet as Violet carried Beth’s daughter Riley out to their van while Beth carried her newborn, Roman on her chest, covered in a thick baby blanket.

“I’m aware,” Violet nodded in understanding. “And I’ll do my best to do what I can.” Violet reassured her.

“Thank you Vi.” Beth thanked her.

By the time Violet got back into Buddy’s apartment and to see Jack still zonked out on the couch, she wanted nothing more than to just crash as Buddy was loading up the dishwasher and setting the pots and pans to soak in the sink overnight and noticed Violet was beyond tired herself.

“Why don’t you stay?” Buddy finally spoke up which caused Violet to turn her head to consider him.

“Oh, no uh, I really should get home.” Violet tried to refuse even though the thought of just crashing in Buddy’s bed sounded particularly fantastic.

“Vi, it’s late and you’ve been drinking, please, I’ll move Jack to my bed and you can sleep in it with him and I’ll take the couch. I don’t want you to chance you driving like this.” Buddy gently argued, even though Violet was far from drunk or even tipsy. He was more worried about her driving exhausted more than sober.

“Ok fine.” Violet easily caved before Buddy washed his hands from handling the dirty dishes and then happily came over and picked Jack up and carried him to his own room as Violet happily got her own bag and realized she had actually packed it for staying over which she thought was interesting that she had either consciously or subconsciously done that before she went into Buddy’s bathroom to wash the makeup off her face and brush out her hair and braid it so it wouldn’t tangle before Buddy simply knocked on the bathroom door and when Violet had opened it, he was holding an old tshirt and held it out to her so she had something to sleep in which Violet happily took, even though she technically brought pajamas, she readily accepted his offering, preferring his super soft, oversized shirt.

“Thank you Barret.” Violet cooed tiredly as she took and when she emerged, she noticed that Jack had already been tucked into the bed and a set of Buddy’s spare set of bedding had been taken out of his closet and when she had peaked into the living room Buddy was taking the pull out bed from his couch and setting up the bed and she was able to walk up behind him and hug him from behind and nuzzled his back with her face, letting his scent settle deep into her lungs and happily welcomed the comfort it brought which gave Buddy pause as he simply hugged her arms in turn.

“You’re welcome.” Buddy returned.

“Goodnight Barret.” Violet murmured.

“Good night Vi.” Buddy replied before he felt her pull away and retreat as he looked over his shoulder to see her go and blushed when he noticed she wasn’t wearing pajama pants or shorts or anything and took a moment to appreciate her amazing legs even though she was drowning in his shirt- just enough to be super adorable before she disappeared down the hallway to his bedroom before he finished making the bed and just as he was about to get into it , he heard a beeping sound in his lab which woke him up fully and got him to go into the lab to see what processes had finished before he once again happily plunged himself down the rabbit hole.

An hour and a half later, Violet woke up, having to go to the bathroom and decided to check up on Buddy before she noticed that the lights were still on and his bed was untouched which made her frown before she went around the apartment and turned the lights off before she opened the door to the lab to see Buddy still working on stuff.

“Barret?” Violet called out sleepily which got him to jump before he turned to her and was relieved it was only her.

“Hey, you should be in bed.” Buddy softly encouraged her.

“So should you,” Violet returned as she walked up to him.

“Sorry, I got caught up in…” Buddy gestured to what was in front of him which got Violet to hum and nod sleepily before she straddled his lap in his chair before she laid down on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders.

“You got two minutes to set things to process overnight, then you’re getting in bed.” Violet warned.

“But…” Buddy tried to argue but once Violet lifted her head and fixed him with a look, that even though she was beyond tired, still conveyed the seriousness of her request.

“Do it or I will use my secret weapon on you.” Violet threatened and Buddy was both scared yet intrigued to see what exactly she would do before he simply reached around her and did as she asked before she let her head rest on his shoulder once again and for the last fourth minute it took him to get everything squared away, his heart was hammering, wondering if she was noticing it was taking longer than she told him to take and once he was done, he blew out a breath of relief.

“Ok, I’m done.” Buddy informed her.

“Good, come on, bed.” Violet insisted and got up but pulled him after her and got the lights to the lab on her way out before she led him to the pull out bed and practically pushed him into the bed before she got into the bed with him and pulled his head to rest in her chest as he readily gathered her into his arms and when she started petting his head , her fingertips lazily scratching his scalp as her other hand softly and comfortingly smoothed over his back.

“Is this your secret weapon?” Buddy asked, his words muffled by his own t-shirt she was wearing.

“Yup, works on babies and grown men alike.” Violet answered, refusing to open her eyes and smiled softly in the darkness when he felt her relax and in 5 minutes flat, he was out like a light as she stopped her motions and simply wriggled down so she could cuddle with his chest and go to sleep herself.

But that wasn’t until Violet heard Buddy murmur something in his sleep.

“Hmm?” Violet hummed in question.

“I love you Violet.” Buddy answered, even though he was completely asleep.

“I love you too Barret.” Violet murmured back, a pleased, but happy smile on her face as she fell asleep in his arms.

#Why So Jaded?#Why So Jaded? Chapter 9 #Synlet #Buddy Pine #Violet Parr #Bartholomew Pine #Corporate espionage AU #Modern AU

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