#do you let them go under/unserved because of that?

[imperial-nuisance-rudje]

i think if your response to seeing people say they do not trust random people to be able to take adequate quality measures for many pharmaceuticals and you immediately jump to "they're brain poisoned by capitalism to think more expensive=better", you should examine your own brain poison keeping you from considering how incredibly dangerous many drugs can be if the dosage/release mechanisms are even slightly off, or that many very necessary drugs require precursors that are outright toxic (and some are even themselves toxic and require particularly strict compounding procedures to keep them from cross-contaminating to someone who doesn't specifically need medical poison). Getting a proper clean room is quite frankly not something even people with the knowledge have access to a lot of the time, people have good reason to not trust a rando to have that. And you do have to account for a rando, because if you just have one person doing it, there's a massive supply bottleneck (that a rando can exploit), and if you have a full system going you need to figure out how to supply that system and also be able to effectively investigate and handle problems and failures in any part of the chain (and a rando can exploit those failures as well).

Yes, people can say "i had good experiences with x". There are just as many if not more people being sickened by improper production and compounding of the same drugs.

[natural-namjoon]

𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧

Seonghwa fluff, very mild smut.

Very mild, just making out and heavy groping that's pretty much it.

“Blaze it up and we'll be cruisin'

With the top down

Rev up the engine we'll be cruisin'

Watch it go down

Get in my truck and I'll be ridin'

With my top down

With my top down

My top down”   

The sun shone brightly as you drove your old truck down the Hot Arizona highway, leaving Phoenix. Your new destination was Los Angeles. Having lived the nomad lifestyle ever since you got out of high school, you were always on the road jumping from city to city, working odd jobs to keep some money in your pocket and once you felt you spent enough time in one place you’d pack up your few belongings and head out to a new place. You had called phoenix your home for 6 months, staying longer than usual because the hotel job you had paid pretty well and you were able to save up a bit of money for yourself, but the dry heat finally got to you and you decided to leave, randomly picking LA for your next destination. 

In 3 hours you found yourself crossing state lines, passing a sign welcoming you to the golden state. It only took another 3 hours to find your way in between the sprawling buildings of the city of angels. You had found a random gas station and decided to refill your tank and grab a snack for yourself. After getting gas and doing a little search on your phone you found a decently clean 3-star hotel to stay in, after booking and confirming your stay you decided to check-in and freshen up. The vibes of the big city were buzzing in your veins and you felt like going out and seeing the sights. After a quick shower, you threw on a cute black slip dress that flattered your curves along with some strappy sandals. Looking out your hotel window you could see the shoreline in the distance, the sun would be setting pretty soon and you’d never seen the west coast before so off you went.

 It felt so freeing to you and it was one of the reasons for living the way you did. Going from place to place, the vibe of each place was different and unique and it energized your soul every time you were able to breathe in the air of a new place filled with new people and experiences. It took a bit of time to make your way to the beach because of the ungodly traffic but you made it just as the sun was setting. There were lots of people on the beach, children and families laughing and playing. Feeling self-conscious,you decided to wait and people-watch from one of the many restaurants that lined the beach and boardwalk. You ducked into this goofy themed crab restaurant and you found a seat at the window so you could watch the sunset over the water. 

You sat and just got lost in your thoughts, thinking of home and how long it's been since you spent any quality time with your friends and family let alone someone of the opposite gender. Your lifestyle was lonely and you knew that before you even had left, spending 2- 4 months in each city didn’t really allow for serious relationships, and yeah, you had a couple of hook-ups but those were few and far in between. Overall you were about as unserviced as your truck which was bad in both aspects but you loved the adventure your lifestyle brought and it was easier that way. 

During your inner monologue, you didn’t hear someone come up and start talking nor did you hear the second or third time he tried to get your attention so it was after the light touch to your shoulder that had you jumping out of your skin. That you realized a waiter had come to your lone table. 

“Sorry didn’t mean to scare you, were you wanting to order something?” you looked up to the waiter. The first thing you noticed was the goofy looking bright red cartoon crab that was plastered on his snapback hat. Your eyes traveled down and then you really saw him, 

‘Holy shit he’s hot.’ you thought to yourself, he had a jawline that could cut diamond and plump lips and gorgeous soft brown eyes, you could also see dark brown hair peeking out under his cap. To cover up your awkward silence and blatant staring you coughed and nodded like a dummy,

“I- um yeah i'll take water for now and-” you quickly glanced at the front of the menu and pointed at a picture of something that looked like fried chicken pieces with fries. “ and that…” you prayed he was just some random worker who didn’t care or notice your awkwardness. 

The most gorgeous smile slowly formed on his face followed by a deep chuckle, you couldn’t help the deep embarrassment you felt as he laughed at you. He cleared his throat,

“Alright sounds good, so that will be one order of the fried shrimp and chips and water, got it.” He started to scribble in his little notepad and he reached down to grab your menu but you kept your hand on it 

“No- um…..actually not that-” again your embarrassment had your face inflamed. “I’m allergic to seafood,” you said in a quiet voice, there was a moment of complete silence between the two of you until he busted out laughing, it was a hearty, real laugh, a part of your brain noticed how beautiful his laugh was but the bigger part of your brain was in error mode. All you could do was put your head down as he laughed at your obvious incompetence. Suddenly he reached down and gently touched your hand with his as his laughter died down. He shook his head,

“I’m sorry I’m not laughing AT you, it's just funny, you're allergic to seafood yet the first restaurant you picked has a giant crab on the front.” another round of giggles left him as he leaned on the table. You couldn’t help but laugh too at the stupid situation you put yourself in.

“ I know, I wasn’t really thinking, I just wanted to find a place to watch the sunset.” you gestured to the large window that framed your table, he looked from the shoreline to you, he felt something fluttering in his chest, he obviously noticed how pretty you were and the dress you had on hugged you in all the right places. He smirked then cleared his throat, getting your attention from the seaside view.

“I’m Seonghwa by the way.” he reached his hand out and you took it shyly, his hand was big but soft and his fingers were long and elegant looking adorned with silver rings.

“I’m (Y/N)” you said with a smile. He smiled back.

“Let me make you a deal, You hang here, and I'll go find you something you can actually eat without dying. Deal?” He winked and you could feel your arms losing circulation. All you could do was nod and he flashed a brilliant smile.

“Ok, hang tight (Y/N)” he turned and made his way to the back of the restaurant. You took a deep breath to steady your heart, you decided then and there that night you might act up and see where the night leads you and Seonghwa. Hopefully, it was your hotel room. After about 4 minutes an older waitress came over and put a fancy looking orange and pink cocktail in front of you, 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I ordered water” in the same moment the sentence left your mouth she also put a crisp glass of water down in front of you, then she leaned down closer to you

“It’s from pretty boy back there” You both turned to the restaurant bar where Seonghwa stood behind it, waving in your direction. The waitress waggled her eyebrows at you then sauntered off with a cheeky grin.

You looked down to the bright drink and after a small sniff, you noticed it smelled really sweet and fruity, so it must not be that bad. You took a small sip and the tropical citrus flavor danced on your tongue, it didn’t even taste like alcohol. It was dangerous. Alone again you let your mind wander as you watched each family pack up and start leaving the beach, as it got darker the beach became more and more sparse. 30 minutes had passed and after people-watching you hadn’t realized you’d finished your cocktail and it was the smell of food that brought you out of your trance. You turned to find Seonghwa setting a large plate of Chicken strips and fries down in front of you. You were warm from the alcohol and starving.

“Whoa” was all you said as you looked up at him. You noticed he was dressed differently, his goofy hat and apron were gone and now covering his black work polo was a jean jacket and his hair had been slicked back. Hot damn he looked delicious. He smiled down at you then took a seat opposite of you.

“ Yeah ‘whoa’ is right, for a seafood restaurant their chicken strips are amazing, but I did have to fight the chef to make enough for two adults because these usually come in kids meals.” he rambled as he took a chicken strip off the plate and started eating. You just stared blankly at him, confused as to what was happening, He just looked back at you expecting an answer.

“Um… what’s happening here?” you asked and he chuckled again

“ My shift just ended and you told me you’d stay here while I find food for you, this was the deal” he explained taking another bite.

“But I only had to wait UNTIL you got me food, by law I can leave and take these to go” you pulled the plate closer to you, teasing him. He scoffed then quickly reached over and grabbed another tender before you could pull the plate farther away from him.

“Hey!” you laughed shielding your food. He laughed with you. 

“ Actually I wanted you to stay so I could hear your story” he explained sincerely.

“What makes you think I have a story?” you asked, taking a bite of chicken, holy shit the chicken was heavenly. He shrugged,

“Tourists always come to the beach first and usually they wander in here cause we’re right by the entrance to the beach.”

“What makes you think that’s what I did?” he piqued your curiosity

“Because, that’s what I did when I first got here, and that’s how I got this job.” He grabbed a couple of fries, popping them in his mouth. “although I walked in here because I actually like seafood” he teased you laughing as he got another tender from your shared plate. You laughed with him shaking your head.

“Shut up, it was an honest mistake, what restaurant has ONLY seafood except for on the kid’s menu, I’m going to complain to the manager” You joked and he snorted.

“Wouldn't be the first time. Anyways so, where are you from and what brings you to this godforsaken city” he said the last part a little bitterly. You were taken aback by his words, 

“What do you mean so far this city has been beautiful. Lots of people, but beautiful.” He chewed silently pondering your words. After he swallowed his bite he sighed

“I thought the same thing before I got jumped one night on my way home from work. Took my wallet and cell but not before I got a blade in my ribs.” He explained darkly, not meeting your eyes. You sat speechlessly, what do you say to that?

“No I-I get it...before I came here I was in Phoenix Arizona, some co-workers and I went out one night, I got separated from them and a man snuck up on me, held a gun to my head and made me hand over my bag. Thank god my car keys had been in my pocket, but I remember feeling so helpless and scared.” You told him, taking a sip of water, feeling the buzz of the alcohol leaving you. Both of you were silent, Seonghwa was mentally kicking himself for bringing the mood down, he hadn’t meant too but he had hoped his story could be one of caution to you but all he did was make you relive a bad memory. He sighed and signaled for one of the waitresses to come over. He ordered another cocktail and she was back with it in a couple minutes. He took the glass and slid it over to you,

“Sorry, I killed the mood I wasn’t trying to get you down.” you smiled at him, grateful for the offer but you had to decline, you still had to drive yourself back to your hotel room.

“I’ll drive you,” he offered immediately. You raised an eyebrow and he laughed

“I won’t try anything. I have to work an early shift anyways so I can’t have too much fun, I'll just catch a bus from your place once you're safe inside.”

You felt your heart warm, he was really sweet. You somehow had the luck to run into him on your first day there, you decided if he couldn’t have too much fun, then a little bit of fun would go a long way. You leaned down and took a big sip of the cocktail, but made a face as the burning taste of vodka overpowered the sugar and fruity taste,

“Oooh this one is strong” you voice came out hoarse as you choked and he laughed

“Yeah I’m the only one who can make this drink the right way, it’s kind of my specialty” he examined the glass absently

“What’s the drink called? I’ve never had it before,” you asked taking another small sip,

He looked up and met your eyes, there was something dark in his soft brown eyes, a kind of mischief that made your stomach flip

“Sex on the beach,” he said softly in his deep voice, keeping direct eye contact with you. You breathed out slowly and without breaking the eye contact you responded 

“your specialty is sex on the beach?” you asked, your voice small. He smirked, finally breaking eye contact as he reached down his fingers tracing the lines on the top of your hands. 

“Something like that.” 

Suddenly you didn't care about seeing the beach, You took another big drink of your liquid courage, managing to not make a gross face this time and you looked at him,

“How about instead of escorting me home, maybe you can take me into the city? Cruise around, show me the city lights and nightlife, you don’t have to go home right this instant?” you asked leaning forward giving him puppy dog eyes hoping he’d accept. 

He laughed at your eagerness, after a quick check of his phone he accepted and you smiled feeling victorious.

Quickly getting up and packaging your food to go you went to pay for the food but he just grabbed your arm and led you out the door. 

“Wait, this is stealing,” you said bluntly feeling buzzed.

“I’m an assistant manager, it’s on me.” He responded cooly 

“Oh excuse me I didn’t know I was hanging with a High Roller” you teased. He laughed as you guys came to the parking lot of the beach, there weren’t many cars and your old red Dodge Dakota truck stood out lonely in a far corner. You beckoned for him to follow as you stumbled over to your trusty vehicle. Once you got to the truck you tossed him the keys,

“This is not the car I expected you to have” he laughed unlocking the door.

“Yup i've had this old girl for years, i  saw her in a used car lot and had to have her.” you climbed in the passenger seat and tossed the bag of food in the back seat. 

One you both were in and buckled up he laughed

“So you're just a young pretty girl that drives an old beat up truck that's probably older than you?” he  laughed again turning to you

“I know it's weird right…” you turned to him trying to look intimidating

“You know this could all be a ruse, I could be luring you to the back alleys of the city to kill you and keep your head in my fridge.

After a beat you realized how weird that really sounded and you silently cursed the alcohol for making you so loose lipped. 

Luckily Seonghwa wasn't fazed as he burst out laughing then turned to you and cocked his eyebrow

“Is that a threat or a promise??” he giggled and started the truck, you thanked the heavens he was so easygoing. 

“Wanna know the main reason I wanted this truck?” you asked him, reaching across him to a switch near the drivers door, noting how good he smelled while you did it, and flipped a small switch. There was a groaning and whining noise then the whole top of your truck moved and folded back on itself and after a moment you were both sitting with the salty sea air around you. 

“ WHAT? This is so COOL!” he exclaimed looking like a kid with a new toy “I didn't know that convertible trucks existed!!” he was laughing in excitement and you laughed with him. 

“Lets fuckin go then!” he yelled and revved the engine and soon you guys were on the road headed for downtown L.A.

In no time you both were cruising with the top down, enjoying the nightlife, the city was so big and there were so many people out shopping, and eating and there were a lot of people performing and busking on the sides of the roads. It was all so magical and you felt so exhilarated, In all honesty there wasn't anything about L.A that you had not seen in other big cities, but this city had one thing the others didn't, and that was Seonghwa. Having someone with you to experience things with, made a world of a difference. Every so often when you'd get excited and would point and laugh and sit with amazement he would always look at you with the softest eyes and he looked upon you with this kind of adoration that you had never seen someone look at you with. He would tell you stories of his first experiences with the various locations you guys passed by and he had you laughing and every so often he would rest his hand on your thigh absentmindedly, not in a creepy way, but in a way that felt familiar, like he'd done it a thousand times. His hand was a comfortable warmth on your cool skin and it felt right being there with him, everything about him was perfect.

After a bit of driving he started to head to where he lived, you had offered to drop him off as the night had grown long and he had gotten a few phone calls from his roommates asking when he'd be home so unfortunately he had to head home and you were sobered up enough to drive finally. He pulled into the driveway and parked, not before putting the top back up. There was a silence in the car, neither of you wanted to end the night, but Seonghwa had responsibilities and he had to sleep because he had to open up at work the next day. 

After a bit of silence he reached over again and gently put his hand on your knee, you placed your smaller hand on his,

“Well, (Y/N) i'm glad you stumbled into my restaurant today, this is the most fun i've had with another person in a long time.” he smiled at you, eyes running over your body as his thumb drew circles on your knee. You had heard what he said, and you wanted to respond with something sweet and wholesome but all you could focus on was his lips and his hand on your skin. With the hand that was placed on his you grabbed his wrist and slowly pulled his hand up higher on your thigh pushing back the fabric of your dress until he was a inch away from your center. You felt him tense up and your breathing got heavy as you watched him and waited for him to do something,

“(Y/N)...” he breathed out, voice deep and filled with lust as he stared at the spot his hand was in and were it was going, he gave your thigh a test squeeze, 

“Seonghwa..” you didn't mean for your voice to come out as a small moan but the anticipation and sexual tension was becoming too much for you. Suddenly Seonghwa leaned down and pressed his lips against yours, you immediately opened your mouth to deepen the kiss further, frantically unbuckling your seat belt so you could climb over onto his lap. Without breaking the kiss you settled onto his lap and his hands were all over you. Your brain was a deep fog, there was nothing you could think other than the feeling of his soft lips on yours and the feeling of his big hands as he squeezed your ass. You slipped your hands under his shirt wanting to feel more of him, he broke the kiss only to swiftly remove his jacket and polo shirt. You took a moment to marvel at his body, he was leaned and chiseled, not too much muscle but there were abs and broad shoulders, this man was like a drug, everything he did and everything about him was so intoxicating. You ran your hands up and down his chest and down his back as he pulled you closer, you  noticed a hardnessed pressed against your lower parts and you smiled in the kiss, feeling how hard he got and all you guys were doing was kissing. Ever so slowly you pressed your hips down harder onto his crotch and started grinding, he broke the kiss as his head fell back and a groan escaped his lips,

“Oh my god (Y/N) fuck..” you took that as a sigh to grind your hips harder onto his erection, causing more intense friction on your clit, both of you held each other, a moaning and whining mess. You absently thought about how hot and bothered you were getting with your clothes on, you couldn't wait to get them off. You went to kiss him again, tongue exploring as he grasped your hips harshly, trying to slow your movements because your makeout session was getting really intense really fast.

You were about to pull back and ask if they should go back to your hotel room for more privacy when there was a loud rapping at the driver side window, you let out a surprised squeak as you moved to cover any exposed parts. Both you and Seonghwa turned and standing on the other side of the window was a tall man, he looked young like you guys and he had peach colored messy hair and various stains on his oversized sweater. 

“Yuhno What the Fuck???” Seonghwa said incredulously, The man named Yuhno gestured for him to roll the window down, after the glass was no longer between them Seonghwa snapped at the taller man

“ Yuhno I said I'd be home soon, I was kind of in the middle of something.” he lectured, angrily pulling his shirt back on.

“Yeah I can see that, and as much as hate to cockblock you and this lovely lady-” he looked over at you and waved cutely, all you could do was laugh and wave back embarrassed. “But Wooyoung and Mingi duct taped Hongjoong to the wall and they won't let me get him down, San wont stop crying because he was trying to do a trick off the counter and dropped half our plates. I tried to get Jongho and Yeosang to help but they went into their rooms and refused to come out.” Yuhno explained in the most calm way possible. Seonghwa just silently sat for a moment and sighed,

“The one day you all have a day off while I have to work late and of course there is pure chaos, just- go get Hongjoong down and I'll be inside in a second.” Yuhno just nodded and after waving at you again he hurried back to the shared house. Seonghwa just sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly,

“ Are these your roommates or do you have kids I don't know about?” Seonghwa let out a genuine laugh then he looked tiredly at you,

“Im sorry, my roommates are a bit…. Eccentric.” he said the last word slowly. You giggled, then leaned over and gave him a small peck on his lips. He pressed his forehead to yours and sat for a moment, basking in your scent. Then with another defeated sigh he climbed out and you slid into the driver seat behind him. He closed your door and leaned in the open window pressing another quick kiss to your lips, the longing in his eyes almost made you want to cry as it mirrored your own longing. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to you and you realized it was your phone, 

“Don't be mad but I put my number in your phone” he chuckled

“When did you get my phone?!” you asked genuinely surprised he just chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. 

“I have my ways, I just want to make sure I’ll get to see you again.” he said the last part as a question

“Of course” you said softly cupping his cheek to emphasize your adoration. He didn't make any move to leave your side until there was a loud crashing and incoherent yelling from the inside of the house. 

“I gotta go,” he shot you an apologetic smile and turned and jogged up to the front door. As he pulled open the door you could hear high pitched laughter and other sounds of ruckus happening in the house.

“Wooyoung!” he barked as he slammed the door behind him followed by a high pitched scream you could hear from inside your truck.

 You looked down at the new contact in your phone under the name Seonghwa and smiled. The whole drive home you had butterflies as you thought about your day and the amazing man you spent part of it with. You'd never experienced anything like this before all the other times you were with a guy it was a hookup and you never really saw the men again, but you knew without a doubt you wanted to see Seonghwa over and over again. 

“Coming to L.A. was a good choice after all” you said to yourself as you made your way back to your hotel “ I think that I might stay”

[umbrellaacadfanfic]

Five X Reader - Coffee Shop AU

A/N: This was originally going to be a regular coffee shop AU but then I had the idea of setting it in the diner and reader is working for Agnes, and thought it was a really fun idea that fits much better into the established canon, so enjoy!

"Mornin' Agnes!" You called out into the kitchen, as you stepped out of the damp, foggy morning air through the back entrance and set your bag on a small coat hanger nearby. Agnes popped her head around the corner and smiled. "Oh good morning Y/N, ready to face the day?" Somehow despite all the years of customer service she had suffered, the woman was still able to maintain a positive attitude each day, and each day you came in to work your shift it amazed you how she could be so optimistic despite her circumstances. "Yep!" you replied and put on an apron as you headed into the kitchen to help prepare fresh doughnuts for the customers that day.

Despite the torture that is customer service, you enjoyed working in the diner, especially in the kitchen, and you were content even with your low pay, as you insisted that Agnes keep most of the money for herself, knowing she was saving up for something important to her. Why else would she choose to deal with customers for so many years?

The day went by as every day did at the diner, you, in the kitchen, making doughnuts and coffees and everything else, and Agnes, at the counter taking and serving orders. You were a good team. But lately Agnes had been getting distracted by a man she was obviously falling for, and often they would sit together around the back of the shop or talk over the bar, and this meant some customers were left unserved and you had to take over to avoid complaints. You didn't mind much, though, as you could see how happy Agnes was with the man and let them have their fun.

The shop was quiet in the mornings, and you were back washing the dishes. You heard the front door open and close, and footsteps making their way up to the bar. You assumed Agnes would take the order, but she must've been in the back because you could hear the service bell chime as the sound bounced off the kitchen's tiled walls.

You quickly slid off your rubber gloves and briskly stepped round to the bar and grabbed a small pad of paper and a pen that Agnes had left on the side. You smiled at the customer briefly before looking back down at the pad without paying much attention to who you were speaking to. By now this was a routine for you.

"What can I get you?" You asked, in the most polite voice you could muster. "Coffee. Black. To go" You heard a voice grumble from behind the note pad, and you immediately placed it on the counter and turned around to head into the kitchen without making eye contact, although you did catch a glimpse of pale skin, dark brown hair and a black suit. This customer didn't sound like they were in the mood for conversation, so you silently poured the coffee into a to-go cup, popped on the lid and grabbed a black pen. "Can I get your name?" You and Agnes had started writing customers names on their coffee recently, the personalisation seemed to be popular with most people that came in for an order to take away. "Don't bother" He grumbled back.

Now that you looked at this man over the counter, you could see how much he needed the coffee. He had clear dark circles under his eyes and looked weary, as though he hadn't slept in quite a while. He had green eyes below his drooping eyelids and his tie was sloppily dangling from his collar. "Um, ok" you looked back at him for a second too long before placing the cup down on the counter. The man looked about 20 something, and he briefly stretched his lips into a smile in what seemed to be an attempt to be polite, highlighting a dimple on his right cheek and two moles placed close together just above. As he slid off the bar stool he was seated on, you turned to pretend to clean the counter with a cloth you found in your apron pocket so you could glance back at his dark figure as he shuffled out of the diner and shut the door behind him.

"Oh, hi Y/N" Agnes grinned at you from the kitchen door and you whipped your head round to meet her gaze. "Thanks for taking care of the customers while I was gone. Sorry, I didn't let you know where I was, and Hazel got a bit....carried away." She seemed to still be buzzing and you decided to act like you were none the wiser, only commenting "Your lipstick is smudged, Agnes" with a smirk pulling at your lips.

"Oh! Right." She muttered, before scurrying off to find her bag and fix her appearance up a bit. You glanced back at the entrance once more and then turned back into the kitchen to busy yourself with cleaning the counters, the thought of the sleepless guy lingering over your head like the fog that blanketed the air that morning.

***

After that first encounter, the same perpetually exhausted young adult came in time after time, always getting a cup to go, never once staying in for longer than two minutes, always wearing the same black tie and white shirt in which he wore the first time you met him. Each time you asked for a name as procedure until you gave up on even bothering and instead decided to short, encouraging messages on each cup whilst you were in the kitchen, to see if the man would notice. You found it fun to think of new and unique forms of encouragement to put on the cup, and your new favourite customer never seemed to mind or even notice, which just spurred you on to keep going. After all, it was good practice for knowing how to help your friends in your personal life, too.

One of those days, however, you didn't see this peculiar man all day besides his regular morning visit, and despite knowing he could probably take care of himself, you couldn't help but worry. That is, until that evening, just as you and Agnes were about to close up shop, a familiar dark figure swayed its way through the front entrance. Agnes looked to you for what she should do next, so you quickly left the bar and held up the man by your shoulder, nodding to Agnes to indicate that you'll take care of this. She hurried off to finish closing up and left you the key to the place on the counter before leaving through the back door.

You helped the clearly intoxicated man to a booth and sat him down, before heading back to the kitchen to get him his usual coffee and a glass of water. He looked like he needed it.

By the time you got back to where you had left him, he had pulled out a paperback book and was flipping through it weakly, occasionally scribbling something in it with a blue biro pen that was almost out of ink. You watched intently and tried to read the blue scrawlings, but they all looked like extremely complicated equations that you could never understand, and each page was filled to the brim with them, so much so that you could barely read the letters that were originally printed on the pages.

After a few seconds, you remembered where you were and set down the drinks you were holding on the table and took a seat across from the man. At this he finally looked up, his eyelids drooping more than usual, and he blinked at you slowly. "I've got 5 days." He mumbled, "5 days to stop the apocalypse."

"Er...ok? I made you some coffee. Black, just how you like it. And water. It's important that you stay hydrated." You pushed the mug towards him and he took it in both hands, taking a large gulp and sighing. "....Thanks" was all you could hear from him.

After a few minutes of nothing but silence and heavy gulps of steaming hot coffee, you spoke again. "So, um, where do you live? Do you have somewhere to go that I can take you to in case you pass out or something? Not that I'm trying to stalk you or anything." You hoped you would get some kind of answer but it would be a gamble with a drunk man who barely speaks to you even when he's sober, but you soon got an answer. "The Umbrella Academy." He spoke bluntly.

"The what?" You hadn't heard of those kids in years, let alone knew where they lived, and you thought now they must be much older than the man that sat before you, but you assumed you could look up the address. "The Umbrella Academy." He repeated. "It's a shithole but I've got nowhere else to go." He finished his coffee and you stood up and moved over to help him out of his seat, realising he isn't going to bother with the water. "Right, well, let's get you there before you get vomit on our nice clean seats." He stood up and let you walk him out through the back door being held up by your shoulders.

You grabbed the keys and locked the door behind you, and just as you turned back around the drunken man bent over and let a wave of vomit splat onto the floor. Somehow none of it got on the suit, and he wiped his mouth with his hand. You opened your car door and grabbed a tissue for him from inside the glove box and handed it to him. Once he had cleaned himself up you both got in your car and you pulled out your phone to find the address for The Umbrella Academy.

You found the address relatively quickly and got some directions for how to get there. Once you put your phone down you realised the man had passed out in your passenger seat. Despite the fact you anticipated this, it was still annoying, as you contemplated how you would muster up the strength to get his limp body out of your car. Deciding not to think about it until you reached your destination, you started the engine and drove off.

***

Once you reached the building that your phone directed you to, you saw the umbrella emblem on the gates outside and assumed you were in the right place. You couldn't carry your suited friend to the door so instead, you opted to knock first and if anyone else was home you could ask them for assistance.

You stepped out of your car and walked up to the door, knocking sharply. You hoped that if anyone was asleep in the house it would wake them up.

After a few seconds, the front door opened and there stood a 30-year-old scruffy looking junkie, wearing a skirt and no shoes or socks. "Uh, I have a friend of yours in the car? He told me to bring him here. Looks about 20 something, always wears a suit, likes his coffee black. He's passed out in my car." You tried to explain the situation as best as you could. The man before you seemed to understand you, which was a surprise, and he whispered to himself "Five..." before turning around and yelling out into what looked like a huge house from where you were stood.

"Luther! I found Five" You had no idea what was about to happen, but then an extremely muscular man appeared in the doorway and looked at you, suspicious. "Where is he?" He demanded, and you were immediately intimidated by his stature and nearing aggressive tone. "In the passenger seat." You stated, referring to your car, almost quivering slightly under the tall man's gaze, but he quickly shoved past you. The muscular man pulled open the car door with a little too much force, and you winced at the potential damage. "Don't worry," The junkie suddenly spoke behind you, "He's just been worrying about our brother all day." You raise your eyebrow at that and watch as Luther carries the limp black figure indoors.

"Oh, and what was his name?" You ask, now more curious than ever. "Oh, we just call him Five." The junkie replied, before sauntering back into the building, shutting the door behind him, leaving you alone to ponder in the street.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading my first umbrella academy one-shot, I hope you enjoyed it! There will be more to come as soon as I get some requests here or on Wattpad. :)

[sureroger]

hey hey guys !! it’s ava again with her second character who’s on the dl the opposite but also the same as her first ?? read on !!

jon bernthal + cis man + he/him + phobia-initiated ability manifestation.┊ ❛ ━ hey, is it just me or do you hear 1921 by the who playing in the distance ? oh, that’s just roger baron, a forty-one year old psychiatrist. according to my sources, i heard he can be neutral evil and is strategic, but also sadistic. that’s probably why they remind everyone of unserved justice, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” and scribbles - or maybe it’s handwriting! - so much ! anyway, whether or not they’re against the supers, crystalline city is keeping a close eye on them !

triggers: murder, gaslighting, (mental?) torture

backstory:

roger was born to a pair of supers who absolutely prayed he would develop powers of his own, as they were vehemently against the human race. they saw themselves as superior in every way, shape, and form and hoped to establish a new order someday in the future.

“in the future” being the phrase. at the time, they were consumed with roger and had little time to take over the world, you know?

however, that didn’t mean a little murder on the side was completely out of the question. his mother used her wiles to charm a judge into coming back home with her; when he got there, she and roger’s father killed the judge who’d put one of their friends in jail.

for a good reason.

what they weren’t counting on was roger seeing the whole ordeal. from his mother taking the judge to the bedroom to his father brutally massacring him. when they saw roger had been watching through a crack in the door the entire time, they realized they had to cover their tracks.

they insisted he never speak a word of it, told him to pretend he never heard or saw it. they weren’t well-known criminals yet, they’d managed to keep themselves under wraps, and he had the power to destroy that.

but their coaxing worked. it worked so well, he went mute. 

due to this, he had a rather friendless childhood. school counselors suggested to his parents that he go to therapy, as there was only so much they could do, but god knows they would never let that happen.

from the age of 8-14, he said maybe all of ten sentences. however, as his power began to develop, he began feeling a certain bond with his parents, horrible as they’d been to him, and started speaking to them regularly.

he’d learned of his power when a boy he was associated with in a minor way made a passing comment having to do with a fear of his. not yet able to control it, he made the other boy’s terror appear and was like... “sick! i’m not gonna be killed by my parents!”

by the age of 16, he’d learned how to control his powers and began speaking regularly again. other than his parents, he told no one who’d known him during his selective mute ‘phase’ why it came on and how he rid himself of it.

his parents were a bit tempted to ask him if he’d like to help them kill someone, but ultimately decided against it. what good parenting skills.

when he was 18, he was accepted into yale and earned an undergrad degree for psychology. he proceeded to attend grad school for psychiatry in specific. then he had to complete three years of residency, which he chose to do in chrystalline city. then he earned his license. then he got board certified. oh my god.

doing the math, boyfriend was DEDICATED.

when he was 29, he was fully equipped to become a psychiatrist. he had also fallen in love – so romantic! – and proposed a few months after finding work in order to begin providing a stable life.

she said yes!

i may send in a wc for her, but, for context, her tentative name is maggie!

the two of them had a child together, a little girl they named sawyer. they were really living the american dream. he had a stable and well-paying job. they had a child and a golden retriever. they probably had a picket fence, let’s be real.

but that all started to change when he came up with a certain method.

before spilling this method, we’ll preface by saying that he had read of a murder very similar to the murder his parents had committed when he was 8. really, he hadn’t thought much about his parents in years, but that jogged old memories and new feelings. his wife, his colleagues, his daughter – they all wound up changing the way he saw his parents. 

so he stopped by for a visit. it started out as a nice dinner, just the three of them. they said they wanted to meet his wife, he told them ‘later.’ they said they wanted to meet their grandchild, he told them ‘later.’ when they completed their meal, roger used his powers for the first time since he was a teenager. while they were distracted by visions of having to kill a young roger for having no powers, he did the best he could to replicate the way his father killed their victims without the power used.

leaving the power vague so it doesn’t seem like i’m claiming more than one ksksksks but apparently it’s gruesome y’all.

he slept peacefully.

and that night, his brain hatched an idea! he began using his powers on his clients whose disorders seemed to stem more from deep-seated fears than they did brain chemistry. it was exposure therapy, so he claimed, and they surprisingly didn’t report him for malpractice? 

up until they did. they never filed an official report, but word began spreading. a lot of it was seen as rumor, what given that he’d become a respectable name in the community, but it reached maggie...

maggie was the only person he would actually tell the truth to. suffice it to say, she was horrified. she threatened leaving him with sawyer if he continued this method.

he told her he’d quit... but he’d gotten such rave reviews from some of his clients...

it all went to hell when sawyer began fearing ‘the boogeyman.’ obviously roger didn’t know what the boogeyman looked like to her, and obviously both maggie and himself had tried the whole ‘checking under the bed’ charade first... but when it all fell through, roger used his power on his five-year-old daughter.

you know, she’s five, so it was more traumatic than it was ‘healing.’

that completely tore it. maggie left that night with her daughter after telling him off, saying he was sick and twisted, that it was the cruelest thing a parent could do to their child, etc.

well... most of it went right over roger’s head after she proclaimed he was ‘sick’... perhaps ‘powers’ actually stemmed from illness, hm?

after that experience, he came to the conclusion that the only way he could live a normal life – his wife and child back – was to rid himself of the power he’d once held so dear... furthermore, to rid the entire mutant race of their powers. everyone was sick.

he started performing experiments on himself, thinking to the root causes of being a ‘mutant’ – did it stem solely from genetics, or could it be developed through trauma? did he get them because both of his parents carried the gene? or did he get it because the power was so similar to the trauma they caused him? 

thus far, none of his experiments have been very successful. some have muted his powers, but, judging by patient reactions, they were still very much there. he also began taking any mutant who seemed even slightly open to the idea and experimenting on them, recognizing that all of their experiences – the age the powers developed, how the powers related to their lives, etc. – were completely different and trying to find a common thread that went beyond genetics.

the side effects were much worse than the results – again, none of which were completely effective. when he attempted to increase the amount of the serum he injected into himself that’d resulted in his powers being dulled down, it did nothing but send him to the hospital after a grand-mal seizure. 

still, he’s determined to find something. he’s determined to ‘cure’ the mutant race, to get his life back to the way it was, and he won’t stop until it’s all tied up in a nice bow.

personality:

the kind of person who would blame every single one of his faults on his parents.

to be fair, he did grow up under the reign of neutral – or true – evils and was heavily influenced by the way they acted around him. so guess who gradually developed into a neutral evil himself?

THIS GUYYYYY.

so so so so so so obsessed. the pressure of finding a cure is all he really thinks of nowadays. completely convinced there is one, he will not stop experimenting on himself and others.

speaking of which, there have been a few people he’s had to bump off after experimenting on them. due to the side effects, or due to something he did (e.g. project a fear of theirs), it wasn’t uncommon for volunteers to threaten telling the police that he was performing inhumane experiments on people without giving them proper disclosure.

he tries so very hard to not use his powers to aid him in it...

in the $ad boiz klub. 

i’m bad at personality sections!!

wanted connections:

ya girl got a little page up here! more will probs be added later on but!

ok !! like this or hmu if you’d like to plot !!

[argylemikewheeler]

sup my bro my buddy my amigo. idea: nancy being a overprotective sister of richie and mike and them just being total sibling goals

“Would you two shut up for just five goddamn minutes! I’m trying to drive!” Nancy cried, slamming her hands on the steering wheel. “I can’t focus when you two are screaming.”

“Maybe you’re just a bad driver.” Richie heckled, leaning up towards the driver’s seat. “Didn’t Steve always drive you to school?”

“I am a fine driver.” Nancy seethed. She turned on the radio to try and drown out her brother. “Sit down in your seat, Richie. I can’t do anything when you are kneeling–”

“I bet Steve says–”

“Shut up, Richie.” Mike groaned, grabbing his brother by the collar and yanking him into his seat. “You’re going to kill us.”

“We’d only be so lucky.” Richie said. “I hate this song.” Mike didn’t even know it, but it sounded like the main instrument was a flute or something.

“How far away are we, Nancy?” Mike asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

“We’ll get there when we get there!” Nancy cried, her voice shrill. “I don’t know where this fucking comic book store is and Mom gave me shit directions!”

Mike shrank back in his seat. “Sorry. I was just asking.”

“Well, until you can drive you aren’t allowed to ask anymore questions.” Nancy said.

Richie looked at Mike, who was still lowering his head from his sister’s rear-view mirror stare. “Fuck her.” He mouthed, hitting his brother in the arm. He rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue, showing exhaustion to her recent outbursts.

Richie had a thicker skin when it came to Nancy (and probably Nancy alone) but Mike was still unsure how to handle her when she was upset about things that weren’t him putting syrup on her eggs or stealing her quarters. They were bigger life things that Mike wasn’t in control of, but he was yelled at and felt responsible for. College sounded like a terrible thing.

“I’m pulling over. We need gas and I need Richie to annoy the cashier for at least five minutes.” Nancy said, turning the car into a barely-busy gas station.

“Buy me a Snickers bar and I can make it ten.” He said, grabbed the back of Nancy’s seat to put his head beside hers. She held up a dollar bill as she put the car in park beside a pump. “Solid! Let’s go Mike and Ike!”

“I wish you would stop calling me that.” Mike sighed, opening the car door and sliding off the seat. “We’ll be right back, Nancy.”

“Okay.” She said, pushing on her temples. Mike felt the urge to say something pathetically gushy to her, but he slammed the door and followed Richie instead.

“Hello my good, sir.” Richie said loudly, barely checking to see if the man standing at the register that Sunday morning was even a man.

“Nope.” The man said, taking one look at both Richie and Mike. “Get out.”

“What?”

“Excuse me.” Richie said, unfazed. “I have money to exchange for goods and or services.” He held up the dollar. “And I request a Snickers.”

“I don’t sell to people like you.”

“Like us?” Mike echoed. “Twins?” People were thrown off often, but they had never encountered a problem before. The Shining had done very little for their cause.

“I have the right to reserve service to anyone. And I don’t serve fairies.” the man said gruffly, folding his arms. “Don’t make me ask you again.”

“Fairies?” Richie echoed, touching his face. “My ears aren’t that long are they, Mikey?”

“Richie.” Mike hissed. “Don’t start with him. We don’t even know where we are; maybe people are just really… anti- hawaiian patterns.”

“Hey, I bought these Jams with my own money. I like them!” Richie ran his hands over his brightly colored shorts. “Just because they have colors on them doesn’t mean I’m gay.” Richie argued. “It’s my boyfriend who does that–”

“Richie!” Mike grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back out the door. Richie was lying, but he was saying all the right things to push the owner’s buttons. He was fuming, hand fumbling under the desk and pulling a phone to his ear.

“Don’t make me call the cops.” The man said. He could have been doing a lot worse, but Mike wasn’t about to test his luck. “Get out of my store.”

“Come on, guys! What are you doing, making the candy yourself?” Nancy said, pushing the door in and forcing the bell to clang against the glass harshly. It was the only noise as the man’s fingers hovered over the phone’s dial. Richie was practically being gagged by his brother and Mike could feel the sweat forming by his temples. “What’s going on here?”

“Are you with them?” The man asked.

“Yes. I am.” Nancy said. “What the hell did you two do?” She yanked Mike’s hand away from Richie’s mouth.

“We look gay.” Mike said, his brother still sputtering through the past two minutes of commentary. “He won’t let us buy candy.”

Nancy blinked at Mike, the tension on her face dissolving. Her eyes softened and her hands reached for both of theirs. “What candy do you want?”

“I just wanted something with fucking caramel.” Richie said, fixing his waistband and huffing at the pattern he was growing to feel insecure about. Mike could see the doubt cross his brother’s face quickly, Richie rushing to shove his glasses farther up on his face and disguise his furrowed eyebrows.

“I wanted gum.” Mike admitted.

“I would like a pack of Wrigley’s.” Nancy took the dollar from Richie and placed it on the counter. Her hand smacked against the metal surface. “And something with fucking caramel in it.”

“I am refusing service.”

“Give me the fucking candy.” Nancy grumbled. “I just paid three dollars for two gallons of gas. The least you could do is give me and my brothers some goddamn candy.”

“Don’t start threatening him, Nancy Drew. It’s okay. We can go.” Richie said, trying to explain the deadlock grimaces off Nancy and the owner’s face.

“No. We aren’t leaving until you get your candy.” She leaned her elbow on the counter, resting her chin on her hand. “I have all day.”

“I don’t serve people like them.”

“Children?” Nancy laughed, shaking her head. “Boys? Twins? Nerds?”

“Hey!”

“What about them makes them unservable?” Nancy motioned towards her brothers, Richie in his bright pants and coke bottle glasses and Mike in his old summer camp shirt and ruddy sneakers. “You can’t possibly be that ignorant.” She sighed. “Give us the damn candy so we can leave.” He opened his mouth again, although with less urgency and confidence. “Are you going to deny service to me?” She leaned back on the counter with both elbows.

The dollar was replaced with both pieces of candy.

“Fuck.” Richie muttered.

“And a pack of Lucky Strikes,” Nancy added, pointing over his shoulder. “for good looks.” She winked. The pack was handed to her with the same hand that previously held the telephone. He lost.

“Check fucking mate.” Richie laughed, grabbing the Snickers off the counter and running out the door with Nancy and Mike behind.

They all climbed back in the car, Nancy laughing as Richie bestowed half his Snickers bar to her. She denied it and pushed it towards Richie, telling him to enjoy it. He did it without being told twice.

In his chewing, Mike was able to take advantage of the silence. “Why did you take cigarettes?” He said. “You don’t smoke.”

“Yeah, I know.” Nancy was a moment away from giggling, her face flushed red. “I just always wanted to do that.”

“Who knew you were a badass?” Richie said, teeth nearly stuck together by caramel.

“Demanding to be treated equal is not being badass.” Nancy said, finally turning the car over and beginning to pull away from the station. “I’m just looking out for you guys.” Mike saw her face tense up although her words were gentle and quiet.

Oh shit. It wasn’t college, was it? Mike reached forward and touched Nancy’s shoulder, trying to catch her eyes in the rear view mirror at the red light. “We’re going to miss you, Nance.”

“I’m going to miss you guys too.” She sighed. She reached across herself to hold Mike’s hand. “I don’t want to leave, but–”

“We understand.” Richie said, surprisingly aware of the gravity of the conversation. “We want you to be happy though.”

“Thanks, Richie.” Nancy’s lips pressed together as her smile restrained from crumpling from her quivering bottom lip.

“Yeah, you’ve got to go to college and be fucking smarter than Ted.”

“That’s not hard, Richie.” Mike countered. “Dad’s kind of an idiot.”

“Well, we need you to be super smart so you can make a lot of money and we can live with you instead of Mom and Dad.” Richie said, patting Nancy’s shoulder with a wink.

“Promise?” She laughed, her eyes watering. “Move in with me?”

“Promise.”

“You’ll always be my little brothers?”

“I mean, physically we have no choice. Sure.”

“And I’m your favorite sister?”

“Holly doesn’t get us cheap candy, so, yeah.” Richie said, wrapping his arms around Nancy’s shoulders. “You’re the best there is.”

Ao3

[corporatecashcredit18-blog]

5 Best Reasons To Get A Business Loan

Business loans are given to companies to finance projects and kick-start new ventures. Credit is often a good strategy to initiate operations and grow. Indeed, getting a business loan is a common financial method for companies who want to engage in activities that are supposed to generate positive returns in the future.

Of course, business loans come with an associated cost—which is the interest rate applicable to it. That is why you should apply for a loan only when there is a good reason to do so. If you are not sure that your motivation is solid, we suggest taking another look at your plans and ideas as a way to find a less costly strategy to get them up and running. Will this loan significantly change your business for better or worse? How quickly can you pay it off? These are all questions you should ask yourself before considering going into debt as a viable option.

Let us help you in making that decision by taking a look at 5 good reasons to get a business loan.

Reason #1: You need to build credit history for the future.

If your business doesn’t have credit history, it is an excellent idea to start building its credit. This will facilitate the task of asking for a business loan in the future, when you will probably need it the most. Obviously, you should start with something small and manageable, so you can learn the basics of borrowing money, along with its ups and downs.

This way, you will be able to always pay on time, which will help you in creating a solid credit history that will portray you as an excellent borrower. Getting a small business loan will also provide you with a financial relationship with a lender that could be really valuable when you aim for large-scale financing.

Reason #2: Your current assets are limiting your growth potential.

Depending on the particular activity your company has developed, you can require more or fewer assets to operate and grow.

Businesses that are capital-intensive are those in which the activity is heavily dependent on capital assets, such is the case with machinery or vehicles. If you find that you’re losing out on new clients because your equipment is already being fully exploited, such as, if all of your production lines are working 24/7, you should consider getting a loan to purchase more equipment that will allow you to expand.

In this case, if you were to get a business loan, you would have the ability to purchase the additional assets required to increase your production volume that will expand your capacity to fulfill that existing demand.

Nevertheless, be cautious about any investment decision made through loans. Not all assets are investments that should be acquired through credit. The new acquisition should guarantee growth and enough profits to justify and repay the loan timely. For example, new expensive machinery that would pay for itself in five years should not be financed with a 2-year loan, as the cash flow coming from it will not be sufficient to cover the installments in a timely manner.

Reason #3: Your business requires additional space to operate.

If the volume of products or services that your company provides has grown and you now lack the space to serve your customers or to store the goods, it’s time to consider expanding. Many companies study this possibility by either establishing additional stores or facilities in order to reach a larger customer base.

If you don’t have the money to finance the physical expansion, you should apply for a business loan if the project contributes to the overall growth of your revenue and profits.

We recommend that you carefully evaluate the appropriate amount of money to ask for because you have to make sure that the expansion will provide positive results over the long-term. Any additional investment or expense must be more than compensated by those additional inflows.

Reason #4: You need additional inventory.

Most businesses deal with some kind of inventory. It can either be physical goods that you sell directly to your clients or it could be other types of products that are associated with the service you deliver.

Keeping up with the demand is not always easy because your cash availability is often dependent on your cash cycle. If your company is not in a position to make large purchases but you see an unserved portion of demand out there, using the resources coming from a business loan can help you reach those potential customers.

If your business operates seasonally and you have to stock up when sales are not common enough to justify the increase, you should consider a loan only if you know you’ll make your money back within the loan. Under such scenarios, getting a business loan is usually a good call.

Reason #5: You want to take advantage of an incredible opportunity.

If you have found a very attractive business opportunity and you think it would be a waste to miss it, but you don’t have enough financial resources to complete the deal, a loan may be a good option. An example of this might be a contract that will be allocated to your firm, but you have to spend a lot of money on expensive equipment before the project starts providing income. Obviously, you must forecast all your expected revenues and costs, including the interest rate of the loan in order to guarantee that getting a business loan would be a good idea.

Despite the specific details of the business loan, you have to be aware that going into debt can be costly if lenders evaluate your company as a high-risk entity. In general, interest rates and down payments increase for borrowers with poor or non-existent credit history. In this sense, we highly recommend that you build a solid credit history before you apply for a large business loan.

If you have an urgent need for funds but a poor credit history, you can contact us at CorporateCashCredit.com where we will help your business increase credibility with lenders by improving your business's paydex score which will eventually lead to approval for funding.

During the 45-day process of obtaining your 80 Paydex Score on Dun & Bradstreet, we help you make 4 or more credit payments to put toward building your score. We will help you make charges and then pay those charges off before the due dates. Once your Paydex reaches a score of 80, we will start the funding process through several rounds of financing that will be carried out through our network of allied lenders who are standing by to approve you for funding our network of allied lenders.

APPLY NOW for a free analysis and give us the opportunity to help you! We are happy to offer up our expertise for your business to help you achieve all your financial goals.

[nancydhooper]

Meet Kimberly and Yashira, Two High School Students Leading the Fight for Broadband Access

Kimberly Vazquez and Yashira “Yoshi” Valenzuela are two Baltimore high school students who live in households that experience frequent power cuts, particularly when too many electronics are plugged in at once. When their classes went virtual last year, it didn’t take long to realize they had a serious problem. Participating in class required connectivity to high-speed, broadband internet, and the low-cost plans their families could afford did not cut it. Together, they lead the student-led advocacy group Students Organizing a Multicultural and Open Society (SOMOS), and have organized student boycotts and letter writing campaigns, testified in front of the Baltimore City Council and State Assembly, and ultimately pressured Comcast to agree to raise the minimum speeds on its low-cost plan.

While it was COVID-19 that spurred Kimberly and Yoshi to act, the digital divide has existed for decades and has disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities, who are less likely to have access to broadband internet at home. Not having broadband access means you don’t have access to equitable opportunities, whether in education, work, health care, or just connecting with a rapidly digitizing world. Broadband access is a basic utility, and it should be treated that way.

Kimberly and Yashira are now about to graduate. In this week’s episode of At Liberty, we talk with them about what it’s like to live without high-speed broadband internet as a student and how they continue to fight the digital divide.

What spurred you into action for broadband access?

KIMBERLY: I was seeing a problem [with speeds under Comcast’s low-cost plan] when at the end of the school year of 2019-2020 where I was having issues with going into Google Docs, I kept on being disconnected. And then during the summer my little sister … was going to summer school and I was going into meetings and I was struggling to go into the meetings and it was only us two … And so I already realized that this was going to be a problem for the next school year.

Comcast’s low-cost plan wasn’t providing the upload and download speeds required to meet the Federal Communication Commission’s definition of broadband, which is already outdated.

KIMBERLY: It was difficult hearing Comcast representatives falsely promoting this package when at best it only provided Internet for one or two devices, and [to hear them] them claiming that high speed. But it doesn’t it didn’t seem high speed to me if I couldn’t get online at the same time as my younger sister. [They told me] it was probably because I had 20 devices plugged into one outlet, which in my neighborhood, if I did that, I would have no electricity. So I don’t think that’s the problem. And in fact, it was a lot of blaming it on me and on customers, [more] than really looking at their service and really saying, you know, maybe it isn’t good.

How did you expand the campaign for broadband access across Baltimore?

YOSHI: We decided that there is more that needs to be done in the city. There are millions of students, not only in Baltimore but across the world, who currently do not have access to devices and good quality internet. We planned and attended other online press conferences with so many other nonprofits across the country. And we garnered a lot of grassroots support from the people in Baltimore City and across the country.

KIMBERLY: This issue was getting coverage in BuzzFeed, in the New York Times. And so when we’re putting so much pressure on them, there’s only so much they can do to defend themselves. And so, I can personally say as an Internet Essentials (Comcast) customer, even with the doubling of speeds, I’m still having problems. And I believe it’s because they only increase their upload speeds two megabits per second. That’s what you need to go into video conferencing. Obviously right now with everything online and with video conferencing being such a daily task, there needs to be more upload speeds …. I actually even purchased a portable charger because now I have to be on my phone for classes … I use my own data a lot of the time in order for my sisters to use the internet for their classes.

What would you tell other students struggling with lack of broadband access?

YOSHI: My advice to other students who are currently struggling is to reach out for help, like communicate with your teachers, administrators at school, let them know what your situation is, let them know that you’re struggling and come up with a plan where you can complete the assignments at a reasonable time that also works with your teacher. On top of that, don’t stress yourself out too much.

For students who want to make a difference, how can they get involved?

KIMBERLY: I was very shy. But I feel like what got me to being unapologetically myself was having a platform, having other people that I could relate to. SOMOS was a platform for me to connect to other students who were facing [similar issues]… a lot of our members are immigrants or children of immigrants or Latinx. Having the voice of groups that are minorities is great to put at the forefront because those are usually who get the worst of the worst if I’m being fair, as well as Black voices. So for me, I’ve seen that a lot of students hesitate in putting out their story, and so I just want to say that your voice does matter.

What would you say to President Biden and the FCC?

KIMBERLY: I really would like to see municipal broadband internet throughout the nation and first going into communities that are disproportionately cut off from internet. Funding is a good way to go, but as Yoshi said, talking to the community who knows what is going on and what they’re facing — they know what’s the best solution that will effectively help them.

You are both about to graduate. What’s next?

YOSHI: I’ll be going to University of Baltimore, I’m on a full ride [scholarship] thankfully. I will be studying public policy.

KIMBERLY: I’m actually going to go to Goucher College and I am potentially majoring in political science. Funny story: I wanted to be a forensic scientist, which I could still do and do advocacy work. But this just has amazed me and sparked something in me, such that I steered into political science. But I’ll still be in Baltimore.

YOSHI: Yeah, we’re going to talk every day, we’re still going to keep working and hopefully we’ll still keep working with SOMOS and this campaign and continue doing all this work, hopefully not forever, but for as long as we need to.

Nationwide, there have been significant gains in the fight to extend broadband access, indicating that the government is finally starting to treat it like the basic utility it is in today’s world. Congress created the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), which will provide families with a $50 subsidy to afford broadband access during the pandemic, and the Emergency Connectivity Fund, which will help students connect. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan also prioritizes broadband access. Unfortunately, given the scope of this problem, the government needs to do more. The FCC must extend broadband access by improving the Lifeline program and ensuring the equitable and efficient rollout of the EBB in order to reach unserved and underserved communities, including those on Tribal lands. For their part, Congress and President Biden must bolster the EBB, pass the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act, and work toward a permanent solution for broadband affordability. As Kimberly and Yoshi’s activism show us, for true equality, there must be broadband access for all.

https://soundcloud.com/aclu/meet-the-students-who-are-taking-on-comcast/s-z67wXRCuvwY

What you can do:

Broadband Access for All Now

Send your message

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/meet-kimberly-and-yashira-two-high-school-students-leading-the-fight-for-broadband-access via http://www.rssmix.com/

[tmntreasures]

Honor Among Thieves Ch.11

Note: It’s a long one, so I’m putting the rest under “Keep Reading” so it doesn’t clutter up your dash! XD Enjoy!

Up on the surface, Aida was busy getting breakfast cooked for her siblings and Bonnie as well as packing their lunches. She would scoff sometimes before picking up trash and throwing it away, cursing in Spanish under breath as she did.  As she rummaged through the fridge, trying to find something edible to cook, she spoke up. "So Bonnie. Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope! And thank gawd!" She said dramatically. "I don't think I could handle this." She leaned gestured at the table; which had an assortment of food and storage containers strewn about it.

Aida smirked and took out a handful of eggs and milk, setting them down as gently as she could. "Oh please, you wouldn't have to deal with it," She wiggled a finger at her and teased, "You nanny would~."

At that moment, the older brother Orlan, slumped lazily down the stairs. He only had a baggy t-shirt and boxers on and tousled, curly black hair on his head. He had not noticed Bonnie yet as he yawned and found his way into the kitchen. As if like clockwork, he sat down in a chair in front of the kitchen table and rested his head in his hand.

"Buenos diaaaas!" Aida cooed at him before slamming her hand on the counter.

The noise jolted the boy awake enough for him to grumble, "Por qué estás tan molesto por la mañana?" He did a double take when his eyes finally caught sight of Bonnie and all he could do was stare at her. Eventually he blinked and looked at his sister. "Oye. Por qué hay una prostituta en nuestra casa?"

"Oye!" Aida hissed at him, waving the milk carton in his direction. "No insulte a nuestros huéspedes!" She straightened her back and huffed at him. "Además, ella es mi amiga."

"Alright, if ya'll are gonna be speaking Spanish the whole time, I'm outtie." Bonnie held up her hands, and then pointed to the boy. "Also, I'm not a prostitute. If anything, I'd be an escort... They get paid more." She put a hand to her chest.

Orlan rolled his eyes, but just as he was about to open his mouth, the front door opened. The smell of greasy food wafted through the house and a man dressed in a restaurant uniform hopped into the kitchen. "Who wants some PANCAAAAKES~?" He held up four large plastic bags, presumably full of pancakes, and smiled; but it couldn't compare to the smile on Aida's.

"Papa!" She cried and hugged his neck. The grown man was the same height as her with peppered hair on his head. A few tattoos peered out from under his sleeves, but it was nothing discernible. She pulled away eventually and stared in shock. "You're home early!" She said, moving so he could set the bags down.

"Yeah," He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "There was supposed to be this big birthday party, right? But when we got half-way done, someone had a heart attack. So everyone left before eating their food. So not only did Boss-Man let me go early~," He grinned as he took a bunch of to-go boxes out of the bags. "He let me bring home some of the unserved food!"

Bonnie's eyes widened when the man burst through the front door, but she stayed silent and even took a couple steps backwards.

Orlan stood up and grumbled, "I'll go get the others up." He stomped up the stairs, clearly upset about his father being so happy.

Aida's father ignored it and jumped when he finally saw Bonnie. "Oh shit! I didn't see you there!" He chuckled and held a hand out to her. "I'm Bruno. You must be..." He laughed and shook his head, "I hope you're Aida's friend." He turned to his daughter and shook his head, "If Orlan or Montae brought a girl like this home...phew! They're doing better than I was when I was their age!"

She smacked his arm and cringed, "Papa! That's gross! Of course she's my friend!"

Bonnie hesitantly shook his hand. "Bonnita Jefferson." She murmured.

Bruno shook her hand and nodded, "Good to meet you Bonnita!" He moved out of the way and gestured to the left overs. "Please! Help yourself!"

"Papa!" The twins hollered as they came running down the stairs, smiling.

He embraced the two little ones and began asking them questions about school and their friends. When Montae came down, he gave the boy and strong hug, asking him all the same questions. He even hugged Orlan once he was in reach, but the older boy did not return the gesture.

Once all of the siblings had gotten food, Aida began to pick at a pancake before finally popping a piece in her mouth. Bruno looked at her and asked, "So, what's new with you? I see the place hasn't burned down yet."

"She's a side-kick!" Riqui answered for her around a mouthful of pancakes.

"A side-kick?" Bruno echoed, looking at his youngest child in disbelief.

"To super-heroes. Duh!" Rosa explained before shoving a mouthful of pastry in her mouth.

The look her father gave her made Aida's blood run cold. She laughed and tried to come up with a cover. "Not really," She whispered so the twins wouldn't hear. "I'm just...working a lot. It's how I met Bonnie," She gestured to the girl, hoping she could help her out in her lie.

Bonnie perked up and was at a loss for words for a few seconds. "Uh… Yeah. She's my apprentice at a..uh.. Piercing parlor." She spat out and fiddled with her earrings nervously.

"Piercings?" Her father gave her an incredulous look.

"Don't give me that!" Aida pointed to his arm. "You have tattoos! Those are a lifetime, I can at least take out a piercing." She argued.

He made a noise and waved her off. "Yeah well...just don't pierce any dicks. Okay?"

 "Papaaa!" Aida whined again. "I'm not gonna do that!"

Bonnie laughed a little. "Don't worry. We haven't got any takers for that yet."

He sighed in relief and smiled. "Oh good!" He paused for a second and pointed at the two boys at the table. "Don't let them get anything either."

Aida smiled, "We won't. I promise."

Bruno patted her back and caught a glimpse of the time on the microwave.  He clicked his tongue and frowned. "I gotta get rested for my next shift. Make sure they all go to school, okay?" He pointed to the group at the table before kissing her head. He walked over to his other children and kissed them good-night as well before heading upstairs.

Aida frowned a bit and began to hand out their lunches, slowly ushering them out the door so they could make it to school on time. When they were all gone, Aida sighed and leaned against the counter. "Dios mio. I wasn't expecting my dad to show up..." She sniffed at herself and frowned. "At least he didn't say anything about the smell."

"He seems..." Bonnie paused in thought. "Cool?" She shrugged. "No. Really cool." She nodded. "My dad would've never let me get a job at a piercing parlor.”

"I think he's just happy I 'have' a job," She made air-quotes. "Thanks for covering for me by the way. I kinda panicked when the twins began nagging at me." She paused for a second and looked at Bonnie. "I mean, it's kinda true, right?"

Bonnie huffed. "Cept you might be out of a job here soon." She shifted her weight from one leg to another. "We me being chipped…” She paused and furrowed her brows angrily. “It’s gonna be hard pulling anything with them watching.”

She cursed in Spanish and looked around.  She grabbed a plastic bag and dipped underneath the cabinets, shoving different types of cleaning supplies inside the bag, including multiple scrubbers. She tied the handles together and sighed. "Alright, let's go back before they get too pissy."

Before the girls returned to the lair, they did as they said they would and stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few essentials, along with other ingredients to make a meal that wasn't pizza. When they returned, they found the lair was unusually quiet.

Bonnie raised a curious brow and held up the grocery bags in the air. "Yo! We got strawberries!" She hollered out.

When there was no answer, Aida cringed. "Oh fuck...do you think they're trying to find us?" She set her bags down on a flat surface. "God damn it. There's no way they'd really think you'd run off, right?"

Bonnie hummed in thought and tapped a finger on her chin before hollering out again, "We got pizza!"

Like a moth to a flame, out came Michelangelo. "Yooo! Finally, you guys are back!" He strolled into the main room, but stopped and stared at them cautiously when he saw no pizza boxes. "Pi-zza?" His head cocked to the side.

"Nah." Bonnie shook her head.

"Aw what?" He groaned.

Aida huffed, keeping that trick in mind for if she ever needed to call them out of hiding. "Yeah, you guys are going to eat something decent for once." She pulled out a box of strawberries and tossed them onto the table. "Starting with some fruit."

He looked to the table, "Eugh, fruit? No."

"What are you, five years old?" Bonnie replied.

"The only good fruit is pineapple! And that's if it's on pizza!" He pointed.

Bonnie sighed and put the rest of the grocery bags on the table. "I knew this might happen sooo..." She reached into one of the bags and pulled out a small jar of nutella and a bottle of whipped cream.

"Oooh!" Mikey licked his lips. "Now you're talking my language!"

"Only a little bit." She gestured a small amount with her fingers.

Aida shook her head and pointed at him. "Bonnie and I will dish out the amount of nutella and whipped cream. So that means no squirting any in your mouth!"

"What are you, my moms?" He mocked and crossed his arms.

"Someone's gotta be. Ya boys are nasty, and unhealthy." Bonnie sat down on top of the table and grabbed a strawberry from its basket and squeezed a small amount of whip cream on it.

"Okay, just because I live in a sewer, doesn't mean I'm nasty." He held up a finger.

"We've never seen you bathe!" She stated.

"I sun bathe!" Mikey threw up his hands.

"When?! You never go out in the day time!" She argued back.

"The sewer gates! I lay under those sometimes and the sun peaks through…" He mumbled.

Aida began to walk behind him to check out his shell. "That's cool, but how can you get any sun if there's stuff blocking the light?" She began to scratch at some gunk and immediately regretted it. She stuck her tongue out in disgust and wiped away the crap on her shirt. "Yeah, that's it. You're gettin' scrubbed."

Mikey jerked around defensively when Aida scraped at his shell. "What? N-No! No I’m not!"

"Why not?" Bonnie asked.

"C-Cause!! I don't bathe with girls?" He turned back to Bonnie but kept looking back at Aida skeptically.

"Well that's fine cause we're not bathing with you. We're just bathing you." She popped the strawberry in her mouth.

Michelangelo stared at her wide eyed and blushed a bit at her words. The thought of two pretty girls rubbing him down actually sounded quite nice, but also incredibly frightening. He was a boy, a mutant turtle one at that; and a ninja who lived in the sewers. All of those components combined together made him reek, but he never noticed until he left the sewers, and even then it didn't matter much because the only ones smelling him smelled the same too! He was embarrassed at the idea of two pretty girls getting in between the crook and crevices of his shell.

"Nn-No.." He tried to say sternly but it came out weak. Bonnie returned his response with a glare.

Aida, however, gave him a sympathetic smile. "It'll be fiiiine, Mikey," She patted his arm. There had been times when her siblings would be scared of doing something and one of two ways always seemed to work: To be very supportive, kind, and understanding. Or be the embodiment of everything they feared.

Since this seemed like the first time the mutant had even heard of 'soap', she decided the nice route would be the best one to go for first. "Besides, you'll probably feel a lot better."

"Yeah, and April will like you a lot more once you're all clean." Bonnie said nonchalantly and topped off another strawberry with whip cream.

Aida paused at the comment and thought about it for a second. She had wanted to do this to help the boys out but now that she was reminded of the reporter, she wasn't so sure. She wasn't sure why the idea of April admiring their work miffed her so much; maybe it had been her attitude. Whatever it was, it had really pissed the Latina girl off.

She nodded her head curtly and walked off the get the supplies. "Mmhmm. Sure will," She muttered.

"Mmm..." Mikey hummed, still uncertain.

"Ugh!" Bonnie groaned and threw up her hands. "I'll buy you a damn pizza if you take a bath!"

"Mmm-Okay!" He perked up and smiled.

Bonnie sighed and held out her hand with the strawberry in it. "Now eat this." She demanded.

Michelangelo reluctantly took the strawberry, but was pleasantly surprised once he popped it in his mouth. "Yooo!" He grinned.

"Fucking see!! Good food exists that's not pizza!" She smiled, a little proud.

Aida watched him eat it and was happy he liked it, but she clicked her tongue. "Eh. Not nearly as cute as I thought it would be," She said as she walked over to them. "Betcha we'll have better luck with Raphael."

“Yo, Raph aint getting none of these." Mikey said as he picked up the basket and continued shoving strawberries in his mouth.

What should've took the girls maybe twenty-five minutes, ended up turning into a good fourty-five minutes of wrestling with Mikey. When they first touched his shell with a scrub brush, he immediately became defensive again and it took them several minutes to persuade him again. Lots of gunk and muk came off the back of him, and no one enjoyed it. The girls gagged and dry heaved multiple times but the finally came to a finishing point where Michelangelo could get the rest off himself. He left the main lair to their shower to take a quick rinse.

 When he returned, he was rubbing a towel over his head. He let out a relaxed sigh. "You knnow what?" He paused. "That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be." He looked up with a grin, and revealed that he wasn't wearing his orange mask.

Bonnie eyes grew wide when she noticed he wasn't wearing his mask and her body even tensed a little.

Seeing him without the bright orange mask made Aida's eyes go wide with surprise. "Woah!" She exclaimed. "You took your mask off?"

"Well yeah." Mikey replied. "If I'm gonna be all fresh and clean, that needs to get cleaned too. So I threw it in the wash." He shrugged.

“Yo, you need to put that back on, right now." Bonnie ordered.

Mikey furrowed his brows and snorted. "Why?"

"Cause!--It's like-" She fumbled for words. "It's like you're naked!"

Mikey clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "You just bathed me!"

"But you still had most of your stuff on!" Aida argued, taking Bonnie's side. It was so weird just how much of an impact one tiny piece of cloth had. She never would have guessed seeing him without the mask would be so jarring. Then again, it was also unexpected. "Also, please tell me this isn't your first time using that shower you never told us about!"

Mikey let out an aggravated sigh. "Of course not! But I'm not human like you guys! Taking a shower every day is not essential for us like it is for you."

"So when do you use it then?" Bonnie asked.

"When we get covered in gunk... or blood." He mumbled and shrugged lightly. He pulled down the towel and it hung on his shoulders.

Bonnie shuddered when she took a good look at him again. "It's just-- weird! You look like a different person-thing-turtle..."She trailed off.

Mikey huffed and made his way over to the fridge. "We'll you guys are gonna have deal! It has to dry, and this is kind of your fault anyways!" He pulled out a jug of milk and drank straight from the bottle.

There was a smile creeping over Aida's face until she finally began to giggle. It did not hit her until now just how human-like the turtles were. Bathing, washing clothes, drinking straight from the jug like her own brothers do. They weren't just giant mutants that lurked in the sewers to her anymore. These guys were real and did real things that regular people did.

The fact made her heart race a little and that was what made her panic. She shook the feeling away quickly and retorted. "Well pardon us for lookin' out for you," she said halfheartedly, not meaning anything aggressive by it. She looked at Bonnie and asked, "Who do you think we should do next? Raph or Donnie?"

Mikey wiped his mouth and let out a loud laugh. "Hah! Good luck trying to convince either of them! They both hate being touched! Donnie is all OCD, and Raph is--- Well, Raph!" He shrugged again.

 Bonnie tapped on her lower bottom lip in thought. She hummed. "Maybe if we can convince Leo, the others will just fall in line. Though I'm sure he's going to be reluctant too. Especially with me being in the situation." She mumbled.

Aida smirked and nudged her arm. "That's okay. I'll just use some of those moves his taught me on him." She squatted down and looked ready to tackle an imaginary opponent. "Or get him on his back. He still struggles a little," She grinned and made a shrinking motion with her fingers.

“Where are the others?" Bonnie snapped to Michelangelo.

Mikeys brows perked and his expression turned sour. His shoulders slumped and he looked to the floor. "We all..." He stopped, having to think about what to say and how to say it. "Went our separate ways for today."

Aida frowned and crossed her arms. It sounded like they got into a fight and she was afraid of the reason. "Was because Bonnie came with me?" She asked, feeling a pang of guilt. She didn't think she would have to ask permission to take the girl with her. After all, Bonnie had been down in the sewers for days, it was only natural she wanted to go to the surface for a couple of hours.

"No..." He mustered out, but clenched his lips shut afterwards.

Bonnie leaned her head to the side and raised a brow. She wanted to know what was up, especially since she'd be staying down in the lair for the next few days. She leaned over and rest her elbows on her knees. "It must suck..." She started.

Michelangelo looked up at her confused.

"I don't have siblings, but even if I did, I could get away from them and interact with other people." She continued. "You guys only have each other and you're stuck down here. It probably make you guys go crazy from time to time?" She smiled sympathetically.

Michelangelo frowned and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Way to hit the nail right on its head." He sighed.

The idea never struck Aida until now. The air would no doubt be tense when the others arrived, especially since it sounded like none of them had made up for whatever had happened. However, she never got to experience that for herself with her own siblings. She was the one constantly being responsible for them and always had to be the bigger person in any situation. It wouldn't matter who was in the wrong, she had to be strong and clear-minded for her siblings so they would, hopefully, go by her example.

She chewed the inside of her cheek in thought and tapped her arm with her finger. "I'm kind of jealous though," She finally spoke up, sitting down next to Bonnie. "I mean, I have to act like a mom to my siblings. I kinda wish I could act a little immature around them, or joke around, or even get into silly fights with them." She giggled a bit. "But you guys got a good thing going. I know it sucks but...you guys have each other."

Yeah..." He continued to look down, and kicked lightly at some trash on the floor.

 It was at that moment that Leonardo returned to the lair. He sauntered in, first noticing the girls, then his unmasked brother. He stopped in his tracks and stared at him confused. His nostrils flared when he noticed a different scent coming off him, and found that he looked unusually pristine. He glanced back and forth between the turtle and the girls with a concerned look on his face. "Whaaat happened here?" He asked.

Aida looked over her shoulder, "We cleaned him!" She held up a bottle of cleaner and a scrubby before shaking them lightly. "And you guys are next!"

Raphael heard what the Latina said as he walked in. "No thanks," He laughed. "It took forever just to get this kanji on my shell," He showed them the big red mark on his back. "I'm not about to let you two ruin it."

Donatello walked in and stopped dead in his tracks once the smell hit him. "Woah! That is citrus!" He sniffled and shook his head in an attempt to stop his eyes from watering. When he saw the unmasked Michelangelo and the girls, he put two-and-two together and asked, "How did you manage to keep him still for that?"

Bonnie looked over her shoulder and at Donatello. "I promised him pizza."

"Whiiiich, I have yet to have any!" Mikey jumped in and held up a finger.

She turned her head back forward and shrugged. "I lied." She grinned mischievously.

“Besdies," Aida added and pointed. "You had that whole box of strawberries."

Donatello's glasses raised when his eyes widened. "Wait, you guys brought down fruit?"

She turned to him and nodded, "Yeah. We figured you guys should try something healthy for once." She walked over to a grocery bag and pulled out another box of the little red fruits. "You want some?" She offered.

The lean turtle seemed to hesitate for a second before opening the box and taking one. He took a bite out of the little fruit and moaned. "They're better than I thought!" He grinned.

Bonnie dug into one of the boxes and pulled out another strawberry; this time she coated it with nutella. She held it up and out to Raphael. "How about you big boy? You look like a turtle who like's chocolate? But then again, who doesn't like chocolate?" She winked at him

He could feel his brothers' eyes on him as they waited to see what he would do. His cheeks became the color of his bandanna as he stared at the girl and the piece of food in her fingers. There's no way she was doing this on purpose right? Especially not after what happened last time she teased him. It was then that Leonardo's lecture rang in his head and he felt silly. Of course she wasn't being provocative; he was a giant, green, mutant turtle. The type of guys she like were human. So he decided to mess with her. With a frown he said in as serious of a tone he could muster, "Yeah if I wanna kill myself. Chocolate's the worst thing we could have!"

Bonnie's brows perked and she sat up a little. She knew that dogs were allergic to chocolate but turtles too? She wasn't a Zoologist or anything like that, and he was the animal, so if he said so then it must've been true. "O-Oh.. Well, we have wipped cream instead?" She reached behind her and picked up the canister.

He snorted and snatched the chocolate covered fruit from her hand while she was turned away. "Nah, I was just messin' with ya." He popped it in his mouth and nodded. "Pizzas still better."

Bonnie furrowed her brows at him and puckered her lips. "Yeah well, I'm sick of pizza." She crossed her arms and mumbled.

Michelangelo slapped the sides of his face and gasped loudly. "Get out of this house-er.. Lair!" He pointed.

"It's so greasy! It makes my stomach hurt after having it three days in a row!" She argued.

"The grease is the best part!" Mikey threw down his hands.

Aida nodded in agreement with Bonnie. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you guys feeding me but...Bonnie has a point."

While the others were talking, Leonardo was quietly examining the situation. He stared at his youngest brother and thought about the chore the two girls performed on him. He could now see the intricate details and patterns in his shell, whereas before it was just covered in muk. He had to think hard on the last time he had cleaned off his shell. It had been a while because of all the stuff they were currently dealing with; patrolling, vigilante work, and just recently saving New York from the Technodrone. He didn't have much time to worry about it, and honestly no one else seemed to notice or care. Plus, it was a time consuming and difficult to deal with when he had to do it on his own.

He looked at the two girls, and then to the cleaning supplies. He hummed in thought for a few seconds before speaking up. "So, have you decided on who's going next?" He asked.

Bonnie looked to him confused. "Uh... No not really. We figured you guys were going to put up a fight and we'd just have to… wrestle one of you down."

"I'll go if they don't want to." Leo nodded at his two other brothers. Both Bonnie's and Michelangelo's mouth fell open in complete utter shock.

Aida was in shock as well but was happy to hear someone was willing to go for it. "Is this a trick so you can get back at me for tackling you down?" She asked him cautiously. She had figured the leader would at least argue against it, or at least insist he do it himself.

Leo let out a small laugh. "No. I just figured..." He looked to the side. "If we're going to be protecting you, and housing you… Might as well get something out of it." He looked back to them with a wide grin.

Raphael rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue at him. "You've been reading from that dirty book again haven't you?"

Aida grinned and gave Leonardo a look. "A dirty book huh? I didn't think you'd be the type."

"Oooh yeah. He's the type," Donatello teased and chuckled.

Leo's eyes widened and his cheeks blushed a bright red. "Th-They're not dirty!" He snapped. "They're eloquently told stories that sometimes involve romance!" He looked away again.

"Does it involve the shocker?" Bonnie asked.

Leo cocked his head, "The shocker?"

This time Bonnie blushed, but also smiled. "You'll learn when you're older." She mumbled and waved him off.

The Latina girl giggled and looked at Bonnie, "Even I know that one..." She returned her attention to Leonardo and gestured for him to follow. "Well, if you really want to go, then let's go!" She looked at the remaining two brothers and pointed between them. "And while we're busy, you two figure out who's going next."

Raphael snorted and crossed his arms. "I already said I ain't goin' unless you're gonna paint the kanji back on."

"Yeaaaah...I like the way my shell is. It helps me think," Donatello cringed.

"I told you they weren't gonna let you touch them!" Mikey added.

"Fine, be dirty then." Bonnie replied, and hopped down from the table. "Though this time, I'm changing." She said and then pulled her hoodie off along with her pants, leaving her only in her tanktop and boy shorts underwear.

Mikey's eyes widened. "Whooa, what?! I didn't get this kind of treatment!"

Bonnie looked over to him with an annoyed glared. "Pipe down shorty... You were the test run, and with all the crud that came off you, I'm betting this guy is going to be worse." She pointed to Leo with a thumb. "I'm might as well try to save my clothes unless you guys wanna take me back up to the top again to get some more?" She raised a brow.

Donatello stared at her in silence for a moment and shrugged. "Well, it's a little late right now. But uh, I think I'll go next after Leo." He raised his hand and grinned.

Raphael snapped his attention to him and scowled. "You fuckin'...what happened to 'it helps me think better'?"

"Well, the smell might actually clear my mind. And the relief of extra weight might actually make me move faster!" He grinned and did some twisting stretches.

"Either way," Aida interjected and pointed at the biggest turtle. "Looks like you're going last."

He glared down at the girl before catching a quick look at Bonnie. It would be pretty nice to have someone else clean him instead of him struggling to do it himself. Besides, his muscles were feeling rather tense. Eventually he groaned loudly and whined. "Fiiiiine!"

Mikey couldn't help but steal a few looks from Bonnie, but his eyes ended up wandering over to Aida. He wondered what kind of underwear she had on. Even though he had already got his bath, it would be nice to see her down in practically nothing too. He crossed his arms behind his head and looked elsewhere. "Sooo, what about you Aida? You're probably gonna want to take off your clothes too. Leo trains relentlessly, so there's definitely gonna be a lot of gunk coming off him."

Leonardo huffed as he began removing all the accessories off his shell. "I clean my shell, way more than you do."

She blushed at his comment, and instead of coming up with something snarky, she shook her head, "Nah. I-I'm good." Granted, it would be a good idea to go down to her underwear...if she had any on. This morning she had been in a bit of a rush, so she hadn't bothered to grab her underwear from the drying rack she had set up in her room. Not to mention she had dealt with the twins as infants so she was used to getting crap, both literal and metaphorical, on her clothes.

However, Raphael chuckled and teased. "Sounds like someone's hidin' somethin'~."

"Yeah, my boobs!" She retorted and grabbed her chest briefly before snapping at Leonardo. "Mover la tortuga más rápido."

Mikey laughed awkwardly, and sat down at the table. He hid his disappointment by stuffing his mouth with food.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm going!" Leonardo replied, understanding exactly what the Latina had said. Once everything was removed from his shell, the two girls got to work. Again, lots of grime and filth came off the turtles shell, but this time they went in prepared with gloves, and surgical masks. The girls scrubbed away hard at the blue turtles shell, but he wasn't as disturbed by it as the orange one was. In fact, about twenty minutes in, the turtle stretched out on the floor, laying on his stomach and rested his head on his arms with a smile on his face. The other three turtles, stared at their leader in bewilderment. They had never seen him so relaxed before. Once Bonnie and Aida were finished, Leo retreated to the shower.

Bonnie sat up from the floor on her knees and let out a tired sigh. She could scale buildings, leap from roof top, to roof top, and run a mile under a minute easily, but her body wasn't used to this kind of physical work. This must've been how her nanny at home felt after a long day of work. She thought. She looked over to Aida, "You think you got the rest? My back is starting to ache and I kind of want to shower too..."

Aida stretched her stiff arms, but there was a smile on her face. It was oddly satisfying seeing the intricate patterns reveal themselves after scrubbing away the caked layers of dirt and gunk. "Yeah! I just need to stretch a little bit first, but go ahead and send Donatello."

Donatello was chatting with his brothers in a hushed tone, still amazed at what he saw. "I've never seen Leo relax before. Mikey were they really that good?"

Mikey frowned and shrugged. "I don't know... I didn't really enjoy how the bristles felt again my shell, but it was just nice having someone else clean it out."

Bonnie walked up behind Donatello and grabbed ahold of his bandanna tails. She gave them two tugs and said, "You're up."

Donatello made a surprised yelp before reaching back to readjust the two tails. "Alright. Wish me luck!" He added as he waved to his brothers before following Bonnie. He began to take his gadgets off first, placing them gently on a ledge out of harm's reach. "Sooo...how'd it go with Leo?" He tried to make small talk, already feeling awkward and naked in front of the girls.

"He was good," Aida answered as she rinsed off her gloves. "He stayed still, thankfully."

“Alright, have fun!" Bonnie patted Donatello’s shoulder before walking off in another direction.

He watched her leave and stammered a bit. "Ah! W-wait! Aren't you both doing it?"

"Just me for now," Aida snapped the gloves on. "Her back's not used to getting down and dirty," she grinned and made a circular gesture with her finger. "Turn around!"

Raphael saw Bonnie leave and hollered after her. "Hey! You slackin' or somethin'?"

"I only signed up for part-time! My shift is up!" She hollered back and jumped on the couch. She laid back on the cushions, crossing her arms behind her head, and crossing her legs. She let out a relaxed sigh, and bobbed a foot waiting for her turn to get in the shower.

"In that case..." Raphael plopped down next to her and crossed his arms. "I'm cancelling my appointment."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. She glared up at the turtle and huffed. "Why are you like this?"

"What?" He sounded offended and looked over at her. "I didn't even want it in the first place anyway."

"Well maybe it's not always about what you want. Maybe it's about what you need!" She said through clenched teeth and kicked at his side repeatedly, trying to nudge him off the couch.

Her kicks did nothing except make him chortle. "What I need is some rest and relaxation," he groaned and stretched before getting an idea. "So, if you don't mind..." He began to lay down, making sure to put all of his weight against her. "I think I'll lay down riiiight here."

Her eyes widened when the turtle began to descend on her. Instinctively, she propped her feet up against his side and tried to push him back off of her. "What? No! You go somewhere else!" She hissed.

He grinned and just kept going, careful not to put too much pressure on her. "Mmmm...nah. If you're not gonna be a cleaning, then you're gonna be a pillow!"

"I'm not-" Bonnie grunted in between words, desperately trying to push him off of her. "Soft!" She gave up and rolled out from underneath him. She had fallen off the couch a little faster than she could react, and smacked face first into the cement flooring.

Raphael quickly sat up and looked down at her. "Oh shit! Bonnie, you okay?" He knelt by her side and tried to lighten the mood. "Geez, if you keep getting hurt whenever I'm around, they might start calling me Chris Brown!"

She let out and aggravated groan as she lifted her head. "No! I am not okay! " She suddenly jumped up onto her feet. He nose was scuffed, but not bleeding like the last time he hit her, however she was fuming. She breathed hard and glared at him. "Just, leave me alone okay?!" She yelled, and stomped off in the direction of the shower.

A girlish shriek came from the shower room, and seconds later Leonardo was chased out of the room by the girl. He had nothing on, but a towel wrapped around his waist. He stared out into nothing with narrowed eyes out of annoyance. "So much for relaxation.." He mumbled before heading off to his room to get some clothes.

Raphael growled and got up. He was sick and tired of her attitude, especially since he had been trying his best to be nice. And she had stolen from them twice! In his mind, she had no right to get upset with him. He went up to the bathroom and yanked the door open. "Well, sorry for trying! I'll be sure to give you as much space as possible!" He didn't see anything when he popped his head into the room, but he made sure to slam the door close when he was done yelling. The giant turtle turned and left in a huff, unknowingly walking by Donatello and Aida.

The next thing he knew, he was completely drenched and his muscles tensed from the feeling of cold water covering his whole body. His lungs constricted and he gasped for air before finally turning around. The Latina girl had an empty bucket in her hands and a glare fixed on him. Donatello, of course, had a look of pure shock and made sure to point at the girl as to make sure his brother didn't direct any of his anger at him.

"You...! You...!" Raphael growled through clenched teeth.

"Oh I'm sorry, I meant to aim for your head. But I guess it's not as fat as you make it seem." She responded.

"Ooooh...I shoulda turned you both in to the cops when I had the chance!" He snarled at her, taking a step closer.

The adrenaline rushing through her veins gave Aida more fire in her words than she expected. "You need to chill the fuck out! She is trying to be good, okay?"

Raphael huffed and shrugged, "Oh, and I'm not? Every time I try to be nice to her, it backfires. So I'm done tryin'!"

"No, you just need to try harder," Aida snapped again. "She isn't a seasoned reporter who can just brush all of this off, okay? You have to be gentle." Before he could utter another word she gestured to him. "Now take your stuff off. I'm cleaning your shell once I'm done with Donnie."

"No way," He crossed his arms. "I'm definitely not letting you touch me."

"Oh just do it Raph," Donatello finally spoke up. "You're already soaked, just let her do it."

He gawked at his brother, "She dumped the bucket on me! I didn't ask for it!"

"Well you needed to cool off anyway," Aida muttered and continued to scrub at Donatello's shell.

Bonnie was a bit surprised when Raphael had followed after her, but rage bubbled up again once he had yelled and slammed the door shut. She snarled and balled her fist. She wanted to punch something so badly, but didn't want to risk hurting herself or breaking anything, so instead she grasped onto the bathroom sink tightly and pushed down on it as if her force could bend it; it did not.

 After a couple of deep breaths, she finally simmered down. She sighed and sat down on the lid of the toilet. She thought back on the situation, and realized that he was trying to be playful, but this was the second?-no third time he had hurt her. She then thought about how he probably didn't know his own strength and how he probably wasn't used to being around girls. There was April, but for some reason she had the sense that she wasn't the coziest with them. She rubbed at her nose and quickly jerked back when it responded with a burning pain.

Bitterness got the best of her, and she let out a loud huff.

She was not going to apologize. If anything, he owed her an apology. After all, she was just trying to sit back and relax after doing some tasking chores. She began to ponder on ways she could get her revenge on the big turtle and then an idea popped into her head. The best weapon for revenge, was tears, and boys were too stupid to tell the difference between fake and real ones. She smirked a little and walked up to the door, locking it so no one else could enter before she faked wailing. Her cries echoing loud enough to be heard in the main room of the lair.

Mikey immediately popped up when her heard her cry and he looked to Aida concerned.

Aida had been in the middle scrubbing Raphael's shell when she heard the crying. Donatello raised his head away from the comic he was reading and frowned. "Wow. Good job Raph. You made a girl cry."

The guilt clenched his gut and he rubbed his face. "Oh for fuck's sake...." He grumbled. After letting Aida scrub him down, it gave him time to relax and think about what had occurred. Bonnie really had been trying, and even though it could have been avoided, there was a man hunting her down. He couldn't imagine how terrifying that must be.

Aida looked down at him asked in a motherly sounding tone. "What are you gonna do?"

He sighed, "Apologize..."

"For what?" Donatello asked, his eyes locked on the comic.

This time he growled. "For bein' a jerk." He gasped as the girl splashed cold water on his back without warning. He clenched and snapped, "Ya know, I'm pretty sure you used warm water on everybody else."

"You're the only one who needs to cool down," She answered and patted his ribbed shell. "Go. I'll finish you when you're done."

He frowned and got up, waddling slightly as his pants dripped with water. He stopped in front of the door and lifted a hand, tapping on the wood with his knuckles.

Bonnie's ear was pressed to the door before hand, and she jumped back when he knocked on it. She hesitated a second before clearing her throat. "What?" She snapped, purposely trying to sound extra annoyed.

"You decent?" He asked. "I need to tell ya somethin'. So either come out or let me in."

She unlocked the door and slightly nudged open. She held her body against it, not wanting to let him in, but he could definitely push through if he wanted to. "What do you want?" She sighed.

He chewed his lip for a bit and glanced down at her. He hesitated, hoping he wouldn't regret what he was about to say. "Look..." He paused and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," He leaned down and whispered.

"What’d you say?!" Donatello hollered at him from across the room.

Raphael snarled at him and waved him off. "Shut the fuck uP!" He hissed at his brother.

Bonnie was caught off guard by the apology; she was surprised that he gave in so quickly. The motion surprised her so much that she stumbled backwards and the door flew open. She gasped a little, but caught the door handle and quickly regained her composure. She cleared her throat again and looked up to the turtle. "Th-Thanks." She sputtered out before looking away and slowly closing the door in front of her.

He cringed when he saw her stumble. "God damn it!" He scolded himself and took a couple steps back. "Alright. I'm sorry for that too." He added.

"Be gentle!" Aida hollered her advice to him.

"Yeah! She’s fragile!" Donatello interjected.

Raphael shook his head at the two and huffed. "I swear I'm gonna get them back..." He growled and turned back to Bonnie. "Seriously though. I am sorry." He lowered his hands until they were at his sides, his body finally relaxing.

Bonnie smiled, feeling a little warmth in her heart for the turtle. He was actually being genuine about this. For the first time he was showing compassion towards her, instead of rage. Her gut twisted in guilt for tricking him, and she swallowed nervously. If there was a time for them to start over and try to get along, it was now. "It's okay," she leaned against the door again and fiddle with the knob. "Like I said before; I'm not that soft." She laughed a little and looked away again. "You're just the opposite... a little rough."

He thought about what Aida had told him about being gentle when she had been scrubbing his back. He had never really thought about it, since he hardly interacted with anyone who needed to be handled with care. After all, April didn't really hug them so they never thought about trying it out. He nodded, feeling a little confident on how to fix it. "Okay. I'll work on it." He paused and chuckled, "So that means no more kissing me, okay? Trust me, I won't turn into Prince Charming."

"It was one time, and you're the one who asked for it!" She laughed again.

Michelangelo looked up again from the game he was playing at the kitchen table when he heard Bonnie's genuine laughter. He looked to Donatello with a raised brow "Pigs must be flyin' cause Raph actually made a girl laugh! Quick, everyone place your bets on the lottery! This might be a sign!"

Donatello chuckled at his little brother and grinned at him. "I'll wait to see if it happens again. This might just be a fluke."

Aida smiled but whistled to get the big turtles attention. "You did good. Now get back here so I can finish you up. Your shell looks awkward as hell." She gestured for him to come back with a sponge in her hand.

 He looked to the girl and then smiled at Bonnie. "Alright, now I know never to ask anything like that from you," He turned and walked away, feeling better that he was able to patch things up with the girl. Of course he didn't quite trust her with his life or anything of value just yet, but this was a start. He sat down and let Aida do her work, and as he was thinking, he turned to Donnie and asked. "Hey. We got any eggs?"

The purple clad turtle furrowed his brow, confused by the sudden question. "No. Why?"

"Just askin'." Raphael shrugged, now having a plan in his head.

[alicescripts]

Part 2, Chapter 4: Chain

A strip mall off the turnpike in New Jersey. Looking for lunch. From where I stand by my truck, this could be anywhere.

We must have decided this, right, at some point? That we wanted it all to look the same? And I can understand that decision. We all like to feel somewhere familiar. Now we can have that feeling wherever we are. No matter the climate or geography, you come inside the chain and you are exactly where you were before, like there was a magic door to the city you feel most comfortable in. It’s a positive that can’t be denied.

But we have paid a price for this.

Sylvia laughed and pulled my arm. “I know,” she said. “You’re thinkin’ your big thoughts so you can have something profound to say on the radio later, but I am starvin’!” “Can’t a lady have thoughts in peace occasionally? I said. “A lady spends all her time on her ass thinkin’ and right now it’s lunchtime,” she said. “Ooh, burgers!”

In between a Chipotle and a Quiznos was a store front that twisted my guts. I tried to process what I was seeing. “Let’s eat there,” Sylvia said, already walking toward it.

The design of the place was as clean and interchangeable as any other restaurant in the strip mall. But there was the sign in the shape of a burger. The sign said, “PRAXIS”.

The inside was a simple counter and a couple tables with plastic chairs. The wall was papered in comic book covers, although I didn’t recognize any of the characters. “Tiptoe Woman”, one was called. Another called “The Incredible Man who Cries.” “I might get a chicken sandwich,” Sylvia said. “Is that weird, getting chicken at a burger place?”

I forgot how alone I was til I wasn’t anymore. Having Sylvia here has been nice. And maybe I feel guilty about that, because she’s still a teenager, and she should be living in a stable home, going to school and being a kid, not circling this country with me. But I’m not the one that murdered Sylvia’s mother and left her with the same obsession I have.

She came to me for a specific reason, but first I have routes I need to run, and she’s content to run them with me. Bay and Creek is unlikely to fire me, but I have been flat out ignoring delivery schedules and I think I need to actually drive a truck for work occasionally.

“What can I get you?” The guy behind the counter had thinning hair under a little paper cap. The cap said “PRAXIS”. “Uh, what’s good?” I said. “Burger’s OK.” I ordered a burger and Sylvia, after some vacillation, did the same. He wrote up the order on a slip and pushed it to the woman at the grill without looking at her. “Two burgers up in a moment!” she said. The man did not acknowledge this. “What’s your name?” said Sylvia. “Ramon,” he said. “And I’m Donna!” said the woman in the kitchen, as she slapped a fistful of ground meat on the flat top and smashed it with a spatula. “He won’t introduce me, he doesn’t talk to me.” “Why not?” I asked. “I’ll have burgers out to you in a moment,” Ramon said. “We’ve been running this business together for five years,” said Donna, “and he has never spoken to me.” “Is that true?” Sylvia asked Ramon. He scowled. “Our parents died,” Donna said. Ramon furiously cleaned the spotless counter with a rug. “They left us everything equally. Soon after their death, I sold their house, the house we grew up in. I didn’t have time to consult with him, and he hasn’t talked to me since. Order up!” Ramon carried them over. “Is it OK if I tell you something?” I asked. “Doubt I could stop you,” he said. “Someone hurt me, “ is aid, “betrayed me. And that has defined what my life has been for every second of every day after. And it has sucked. If I had any other choice I’d take it. if you have any other choice besides being defined by a feeling of betrayal, you should jump for it. jump for it like dry land to the drowned.” Ramon’s eyes softened. “You gotta forgive her some time, dude,” Sylvia said through a mouthful of burger. “This is really good, by the way.” [chewing noise]

He grunted, returning to the counter. The paper napkins all had the word “PRAXIS” on them. Sylvia took one and did a sketch of Ramon, holding a burger and giving a stone-faced thumbs up to the viewer. On our way out, she presented it to him. He said nothing as he accepted, but his lip twitched upwards. “Bye now!” said Donna from the kitchen. Ramon’s frown returned.

An hour later back on the road, I slapped the steering wheel, waking Sylvia up. “Christ, what?” she said. “Are we in danger?” “Ugh! I left my scarf at the burger place,” I said. [sighs] “Oh well. I guess that scarf belongs to them now.”

It’s hard to tell regions apart just by looking at the buildings now. A CVS is a CVS, a Starbucks is a Starbucks. I’m not here to moralize, I’m just telling you what it is to be a traveler now.

Every place is built like every place, and so the only thing that tells you that you’re moving is the nature that’s been allowed to stay.

As you head north, the trees shift from broad leafy canopies to the narrow spurs of conifers. And the mountains turn from big hills to great structures of rock, topped with vast slopes of untouched snow. Or , on another drive, the hills dot themselves away into nothing. And you realize you haven’t seen elevaton in hours, nor many trees, just a lot of grass and a lot of road. Or you leave behind a  wetter, greener climate, and you see the world around you fade from grass to kindling, to dirt and rocks and then, like a sign marking a border you didn’t know you were crossing, the first great cactus, harbinger of the waiting desert.

It’s up to nature to tell us we’re moving. Otherwise, each Kmart sign looks like each Kmart sign. Every Subway sandwich tastes the same.

A few days later, somewhere north of Madison, near Devil’s Lake. There was this big stretch of hotels with indoor water parks, for when the Wisconsin weather with the Wisconsin vacation. Near the hotel was a cluster of shopping centers, movie theaters, all the things you ned if your camping trip is forced indoors. We were scanning for somewhere to eat and Sylvia was of course the first one who saw it. “I guess they’re a chain,” she said. A burger-shaped sign. “PRAXIS”. “Mm, last one was good. Shall we?” Something in me was afraid, but something in me is always afraid, and I’ve gotten very good at quieting that part of me. So I led the way in.

“You forgot your scarf,” said Ramon. Donna waved at us from the kitchen. Sylvia and I froze, but Ramon was already bringing over my scarf, and Donna was indicating a table in the corner. “Wh- What are you doing here?” was the best I could manage. “Well, we hardly ever leave the business,” Donna said. “Lots to do,” Ramon said, folding up my scarf and putting it by me. “Same as last time?” “Uh, sure,” Sylvia said. “Weren’t you-“ She didn’t seem to know if this was a subject she wanted to look at too closely, but she went for it anyway. “Weren’t y’all in New Jersey last time we saw you?” Donna shrugged, splatting our patties on the grill. “We don’t get out much,” Ramon said, and then “Thanks,” said absently as Donna gave him the burgers. She stopped, hand still on one of the plates. “Did you just talk to me?” she said. “Well, like those two were saying,” he said not looking at her, “have to forgive sometime.” “Forgive?” Donna started laughing. “Oh ho ho honey, OK, I’m glad we’re talking now because we have some shit needs talking about.” We sat at the table not knowing what to do, caught between the mundanely awkward and the existentially impossible. “When they died, you just gave up!” Donna said. “You refused to talk through the choices we needed to make. So all that was left up to me. I was on my own, and I was scared, but scared isn’t any kind of excuse so I did what needed to be done. I settled the estate, I sold the house to pay the bills, because there were bills, you know. Medical bills, cemetery bills and all of the debt. And then once all of those choices were made, there you were to tell me I had done them wrong. And you just stopped talking to me, punishing me for the choices that you couldn’t make! And now, excuse me, now you fucking forgive me?!” Or something to that effect. “I didn’t do anything?” Ramon said. “Who was busy arranging the funeral?” “OH, the funeral!” said Donna. “Of course, forget all the bills and the estate, you planned an evening!”

Sylvia pulled my sleeve and we left them shouting at each other, burgers unserved and uneaten. Behind the shouting figure of Ramon, I could see Sylvia’s drawing tacked up on the wall next to the cash register.

Stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts that had a drive-thru window. And visible to the costumers, there was a huge screen tracking the percentage the employees were hitting of their “productivity target”. It was at 67 per cent. This per cent is 67 per cent of what they’re supposed to be. We are 33 per cent disappointed.

It’s terrifying what we’ve allowed them to do to us, so we could get coffee a few seconds faster. It’s a trade we all made, but we were never given time to think through the ramifications.

On the highway between Houston and New Orleans, a stretch of bayou and of absolutely  nothing else. Pulled off for gas and decided to get lunch too.

We both saw it, between an empty storefront with a half-collapsed banner saying “we buy gold” and a nail salon with only one employee, who was on a smoke break outside, staring up with unfocused eyes at he sky.

We didn’t even comment on it, we just went in past the sign that sais “PRAXIS”. “Hey,” Ramon said. “Hi there honeys!” said Donna. “You two seem happier,” said Sylvia. “We worked things out,” Donna said. “Maybe we both had to forgive and both be forgiven,” said Ramon. “It’s nice that you’re back. You’ll be one of our last customers.” Donna put two patties on the flat top without waiting for our order. “Oh, you’re uh.. closing up this place?” I said. “Running the business that our parents ran,” said Donna. “It was holding us back, keeping us in the same place mentally. We need to live our own lives. Thanks for visiting us along your travels!” “This restaurant has been in a different city every time we visited, “I said, wanting to confront it directly if this was my last chance. Ramon shrugged. “These things happen,” he said. “Do they?” said Sylvia. “What is Praxis?” I said. Donna smiled at me. “Oh honey, if you don’t know that yet, don’t worry. You’ll find out when it’s time.” She assembled the burgers and rang the little bell, even if Ramon was right there, his hands already out. “Thanks again for your business!”

Sylvia’s sketch was still tacked to the wall, but it had faded, and the edges of the napkin had gone brittle.

At a Bay and Creek center near Buffalo, I asked about the delivery I did last year to a factory in Florida. “Praxis”, the name on the factory had said. “What is Praxis?” I asked. The shift supervisor, who had been looking over her papers (and the days at) tedium, went stiff. “Where did you hear that name?” she said. “You assigned me a route for them last year.” “We certainly did not. You need to tell me everything, but hold on.” She got up, reached for a phone. “Not me, I don’t want to hear a word of this. I’ll call someone in here, and you are going to tell them everything you know about Praxis.” She started dialing and I got up and walked away. She shouted at me to wait, but I was most certainly not going to do that.

What is Praxis, and why did the name upset my Bay and Creek supervisor so much?

Hm. Another mystery for another day. It’s time to help Sylvia with what she came to me for.

I leave the truck, switch to a rented car. Sylvia sleeps in the back. Whew, that girl can sleep! Me, I have trouble sleeping in the best of situations. And I haven’t been in the best of situations in… well, years now probably.

We drive for hours through New York until we reach the Hudson river. In Kingston, on the western shore, there is this huge area of chain restaurants and box stores and strip malls. It looks like they kept the rest of the area picturesque by jamming all of that into a couple of square miles, which is a pretty good plan.

I drive around, looking for something specific. And I find it, next to a half-vacant mall anchored by a Target and what used to be a JC Pennies. There is a line of fast food franchises, and there is only one empty storefront.

We get out, and I ran my hand over the glass where the outline of the word “PRAXIS” is still visible. The inside is empty, all the furniture and fixtures removed. “Guess they really did move on,” Sylvia said. “How was that possible?” I asked. “We of all people are not in the position to go round asking those questions,” she said. “We start thinking about that, we’re liable to go off the deep end. Good Lord!”

And so we get back in the car and cross the river. I head to the Taconic Parkway, passing a few Christmas tree farms and a number of horses wearing jackets. The Taconic is beautiful but narrow. Finally, we reach a gas station on the southern edge of Duchess County and I wake Sylvia up. When she has regained the world, she takes on a look of determined sorrow. “Yeah,” she said. “This is where my mother was murdered.” “What now?” I said. “Now… We’re going to figure out who really murdered her.”

[right speaker] Knock knock. [left speaker] Who’s there? [right] I think you know. [left] I do. [right] Can I come in? [left] I don’t think so. [right] Come on. [left] I need you to leave! [right] That was never an option. Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock knock. [sighs] OK well, OK.

[begrudgingly-i-care]

Chapter Eight: Awake

Kryo blearily opened his eyes.

    Something was wrong.

    (He was exhausted and hadn’t eaten in what feels like forever. There was a girl that had been stalking him and he didn’t know what to do about it. He looked at his hands, small and far too thin for a child and wrong just like everything else about him, and considered ending it. But the girl that had been following him stood in front of him, hands on her hips and eyes blazing, and she demanded his attention. “Eat,” she had said, and dropped food at his feet. “Live,” she had told him, and sat down beside him. “I’ll be your friend,” she had gentled her voice but not her resolve as she threw her arms around him. And all of the wrongness that had thrived within him suffocated under her strength. Yet, it still persisted.)

(It was two years later that Zuko had taken his hand and told him he was perfect and that his parents had been wrong to abandon him. Kryo had felt some of the wrongness in his blood vanish under Zuko’s firm belief and care. It was back, now. And he didn’t know why.)

“Zu--” he erupted into a hacking fit, shaking all over. “Kai…” He felt weak and frail. It was like putting his starvation skin back on: skin simultaneously too tight and too loose.

The sound of hurried footsteps was quickly followed by a warm hand that brushed his forehead. Kryo untensed slightly. Warmth. He was so cold.

“Shhhh. Shh. Young one, it is alright. Can you hear me?”

Oh, it was the Healer.

“M- Mr. Pink…”

A bout of surprised laughter had Kryo smiling faintly, even though he himself couldn’t join in. Nor could he open his eyes, which was. Concerning. One thing at a time.

“I show you one demonstration of proper science and you never let me live it down!”

“Is everything alright in there?” asked the familiar voice of Glim.

“Yes, yes.” Kryo couldn’t see it, but he would bet Kairos all the money he had that the old coot was flapping his hand dismissively. “The boy is awake, is all.”

“Awake! That’s great news! I’ll go--”

“--Don’t overwhelm him--”

Footsteps.

“And she’s gone. That overexcitable Will-o’-Wisp. When will she learn?”

“Hope… Nev’r…” Kryo wheezed, clenching his fists. Why was everything so painful? “Col’...”

“Ah, yes. You will be cold for a while yet, little brat. But we will find you a Healer soon enough.”

“Yuh? Aren’ yuh heal?” The words feel heavier and heavier in his mouth.

“I’m not the type of healer you need, boy.”

And with that, his senses fade away again into the listless void of unconsciousness.

  ㊏

      Cyrtanthus was restless. The world was too big and she was too small and, worst of all, there were two Very Important People that she was missing. She tried to force the sounds of their names out (“Say Kairos, say Kairos!” “Little Lily, I know you can say Kryo! You’re so amazing; it’ll be a piece of cake for someone as awesome as you!” “Rose!” she had chirped out, and everyone had been happy. “Crime!” and everyone had laughed their Good Laughs and she had, too, despite not knowing what the joke had been, because everyone was happy and so was she.) But they got stuck in the back of her throat and weighed down her tongue. Kryo was sleeping but for too long. Kairos had left-- something called an Avatar had stolen her sister, her Kairos, and no one would tell her more. Uncle Iroh would smile big and laugh that fake laugh he thinks she doesn’t hear and play games that she didn’t want to play because there were more important things, important people, she needed to focus on.

    And Zee was too busy. Looking for Kairos. Worrying about Kryo. But Cyrtanthus just wanted her family back and she didn’t understand why they weren’t there. Why Zee still couldn't teach her to talk to the earth and why tea time had shifted and why Glim (“Ah, don’t call me Blaze, sweetie. Alright? Call me Glim, it makes me happier!”) didn’t sneak her candies and everything was changing too fast and she didn’t understand and no one wanted to help her understand and--

    “LILY!”

    It was Zee. Her Zee. Why was he screaming for her?

    “Lily. Lily Lily Lily Lily--” his hands stuttered around her own, gently untangling one set of her fingers from her hair and softly pulling the other way from her throat. “Breathe with me, Huǒhuā de Háizi.” It is the endearment that makes her tongue unstuck, that allows her to greet the air, that makes it easy to see the pink-purple of Zee’s burn and trace its bumps with her eyes.

    Zee always makes it easy.

    (She hummed curiously, tugging at the hem of her Plant-Friend, of her ever green Iroh. Even when he’s red, he’s green. He’s strong and smart and will help her grow all of this curiosity inside her. This reminds her to tug harder and hum a bit louder, trying to force a lilt into the sound so that it sounds the way a question mark feels. “Do you want to know what Prince Zuko just called you?” She clicked her teeth together three times and nodded. Yes ! “Very well. Huǒhuā de háizi means Child of the Spark. The Spark is said to be what makes a firebender powerful.” He laughed at her furrowed brows and tilted head. “When Prince Zuko calls you that, he is claiming you as family-- as from his own Spark, his own Spirit. He is telling the world that you are powerful and that you belong.” Belonging is nice, Cyrtanthus thinks. She is a Sparkling, a Powerful Person, Zee’s Family. Belonging with Zee means that the stares and whispers and yells don’t matter. Belonging means that she can breathe.)

    “I’m sorry for leaving you alone for so long.” He brushed away her tears. He doesn’t promise not to do it again, which hurts and doesn’t and makes her stumble with the force of the contradiction. Zee never says anything he doesn’t know he can do. 

    She pressed her head into his chest. When everything else has been upended, she still has Zee.

    “I have an idea,” he stands up with her still in his arms. “Suki!”

    “Yeah?” Her head popped out from one of the doors, her hair trickling down the slant she’s tilted herself at. Cyrtanthus giggles. Suki was weird.

    “You think you can teach Lily some earthbending techniques?”

    “I can’t earthbend!”

    “Neither can I.”

Cyrtanthus is already rendering them to comfortable background noise. She knows Suki will cave to Zee’s request. Why does Suki pretend she isn’t going to say yes?

Zee huffs. “Look, it’s more about teaching her the forms. We’re focusing more on form with her than we are actual bending. Uncle’s covering some of that side of things by teaching her through meditations. He said something about connecting with her inner earth Spirit. You’re around earthbenders more than I am. So, can you, or can you not?” Cyrtanthus pats Zee’s cheeks. He’s getting riled up again. She can smell sulphur and he hasn’t even started smoking yet. If he yells at Suki he’s just gonna be miserable.

“Alright, alright. I’ll do it. But!” Suki smiles wide. “Only if the munchkin lets me hold her.”

She’s plucked from Zee’s arms with a squeal of delight.

“Lily,” Zee takes a deep breath. “We’ll work out a schedule for you a little later, you got that? But things are hectic right now. If we want to get your sister back that schedule might have to be a little more flexible, okay?”

It’s not okay, but Cyrtanthus nods because she wants it to be. Because her sister is Important, more important than the safety of her routines.

“Okay.” He takes another breath. The smell of sulphur recedes a bit as he turns.

“Love Zee!”

He pauses, and then he turns to smile at her. “Love you, too.”

“Haha! You’re such a softie! Who knew that the mysterious fire nation prince had a heart?”

Zuko starts smoking.

  ㊋

      Zuko struggles to keep his composure. Kryo was awake, yes, but he was still weak. They had a plan to slow down Zhao, but Kyoshi was still in danger. Cyrtanthus was in good health physically, but mentally she was hurting and she kept hurting herself to express that. They were able to track Kairos, but she wasn’t here. 

    Zuko’s world was crumbling, but everyone was relying on him. Even banished, he was Prince, he was in charge, and that meant it was his responsibility to take care of everything. His responsibility to ensure that everyone would live. Everything rested on his shoulders and all he’s wanted to do was cry and scream and fight, but he straightened his back instead. He kept steady, determined eye contact. He spoke in a low, commanding voice. He would betray his nation (“--the greatest nation of them all!”) but not his emotions.

    “Prince Zuko!” It was Glim again, all smiles and optimistic strength. It made it just a bit easier to keep his posture, just familiar and reliable enough for his gold eyes (He was guilty guilty guilty. Failure and incompetence and Justice unserved.) to meet her brown ones. “We think we have an idea of where the Avatar might be headed, and we can adjust our course to follow directly behind Zhao.”

    Zuko refrained from frowning. He knew it was logical, that the plan was to deal with and hopefully deter Zhao from both capturing the Avatar and setting Fire Nation Soldiers on Kyoshi. He knew that if Zhao caught the Avatar that the boy aboard his ship might get killed if he hadn’t been so already. That Kairos would be killed for the sin of being a waterbender if found.

    He couldn’t think about that. Kairos would be fine.

    “What are you doing here then!” Zuko shouted, causing Glim to straighten up and open her mouth to stammer out a response. “Go set a course! We’re--” He grinned, a feral thing. (The Spirit’s teeth were long and sharp and hooked and begged to bite to tear to rend. Cornflower blue erupting into a crackle of electricity as the being silently laughed. Death and justice and power. In the boy-that-tried-to-be-a-man a bitterness welled, and the Spirit inside him roared.) “We’re setting up our first act of rebellion, after all.”

  ㊌

      During her few years of life, Kairos had learned a thing or two. Or seven. One such thing was how to get what she wanted when no one wanted to give it to her. Another was when to pick her battles. And, the one she was using right now, was how to be petty in a way th at would not jeopardize her well-being when all else failed.

    “Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Four seasons, four loves. Four seasons, for love!” It was a song Iroh often sung, and she had been singing just that one verse on repeat for over an hour.

    “Please, have mercy! Sing something else!” Katara pleaded, Aang groaning in agreement.

    “Oh, I’m sorry!” Kairos was all saccharine sweetness, a daggered smile contrasting the otherwise innocent widening of her eyes and tilt of her head. “I didn’t realize my kidnappers had song requests or else I would have taken that into consideration! My deepest apologies! My Fire Nation family raised me with better manners than you-- I mean, that!” She fluttered her eyelashes and clasped her hands together as she bowed apologetically. 

    “Oh, that’s it you little--!”

    “Katara!” She stopped, looking regretful, and Aang just sighed. “Look, I know this is difficult for you, but think about how this looks from our side?” He gave the younger girl a hopeful look. She glowered and he slumped further. “Just… Please sing another song?”

    For a split second, she appeared to pity him. Maybe she should give him mercy. She genuinely did understand why they reacted as they did. However, they had taken her away from her family when her family needed her. Her face shadowed as she tightened her fists. “Okay.” Even as she walked forward with the group, she straightened her back.

    Deep breath.

    “O’ Fire Lord,” she chanted solemnly. “My flame burns for thee--”

    “THAT! IS! IT!” Katara lunged for Kairos, scooping up the girl and putting a hand over her mouth. 

    “Shhh!” The air around them went still as Aang cut his hand through the air. Kairos stopped her struggling and Katara stopped moving. 

    “What is it, Aang?”

    “Do you guys hear that?”

    They all listened. The sound of rock crumbling and being reformed resonated throughout the trench-like area besides them.

    Kairos would recognize that sound anywhere. After all, it was the sound of her little sister’s success.

    “An Earthbender.”

[krrw2020]

NHA turns over P10-M to Itogon; residents asked to follow CDO

UCAB, ITOGON, Benguet-- The National Housing Authority (NHA) turned over Saturday a PHP10-million cheque to the local government of Itogon as its emergency assistance to victims of “Ompong”

NHA general manager Jun Escalada handed the cheque to Mayor Victorio Palangdan in the presence of residents, mostly senior citizens.

“The president came to see for himself what is happening on the ground. I was ordered, to see the areas devastated and the extend of damage to know how we can give immediate assistance,” Escalada told residents., adding that , “Its about time we also intervene and assist Itogon. This is the humble, simple lang na (only) assistance from the Office of the President.”

He said that from the assistance, Palangdan would identify the qualified beneficiaries for the repair of their homes.

The money will be used to buy nails, sand and gravel, cement, steel, everything and the mayor will liquidate the amount to the NHA.

Escalada assured that the “NHA will fully support the residents in terms of construction materials which must be used in building or repairing their houses that must be located in buildable areas.”

A large area of Itogon was declared a danger zone by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

He said the assistance can be applied even if the residence to be established is outside Itogon.

“Hope na ang tulong ni Presidente at least nakabigay ng financial assistance ay naka bigay ginhawa (eased their condition),” Escalada said.

While the money is not enough, the PHP10 million will go a long way for Itogon.

He said the agency can still come up with another package of assistance. “This (PHP10 million) is a quick and immediate response,” he pointed out, adding that “we can package a long term solution for the victims.”

In response, Mayor Palangdan expressed gratitude for the continuing support.

He also relayed that previous victims of calamities in 2009 and 2015 remained unserved as there have yet to be identified safe permanent relocation site.

The mayor cited the 2015 incident at Camanggaan, Virac village, where 42 residents who move out of their residences at the sinkhole, had returned due to lack of relocation.

“That is also our problem. We will also follow-up with NHA on the assistance we have earlier requested.”

Escalada assured residents that they will help rebuilt the lives of the people by helping rebuild their homes.

LGU pleads to residents

Mayor Palangdan, who took advantage of the regular monthly meeting of the senior citizens in the town, reiterated the plea to residents to comply with the order of the national government to stop all small-scale mining activity in the town.

Last September 17, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu issued a cease and desist order (CDO) for all small-scale mining activities in the whole Cordillera, following the devastation left by typhoon “Ompong” and the major landslide that killed scores of people.

As of 10 a.m. on Sept. 27, a total of 111 people have been confirmed dead in the whole Cordillera, most of them in Benguet. Itogon town alone recorded 86 deaths and 20 missing.

The mayor said the Task Force on Mining Challenge would implement the order and arrest people who continue to do small-scale mining activities.

“The President ordered the stoppage of small-scale mining here and the whole region, that is why during the meeting, the National Task Force Mining Challenge will implement the order. Because all will be stopped - mining, gold panning on rivers, processing, the national government agencies is planning a long term livelihood project, not just for the victims but to all residents,” he said in Ilocano language, adding that even sari-sari stores might also be affected.

“They will arrest anybody seen in mining sites, doing processing activities and even those doing gold panning activities,” Palangdan said.

He asked that residents follow the order by padlocking their mines, stopping their processing activities. He also told the elders to advise their children and kin to stop the activity.

“We met with the federation [of small scale miners] and we have pleaded for the implementation of the CDO order.”

He assured residents of the commitment of the national government through the line agencies. “Let us be patients. If they see that we are complying

“Let us wait for the announcements because the Secretaries we have been talking to - the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and other agencies will help us,” he said.

He cited TESDA's program to provide skills that will help in the livelihood of the residents. This will be coupled by the livelihood assistance from the different agencies.

He also mentioned the cash-for-work assistance of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), DENR and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Palangdan also said “our immediate need is food and education of our children. Let us be patient because all these help will come.”

He also mentioned that the Municipal council is laying down plans for the livelihood and other assistance to the residents, the fund of which will be aided by the national government, considering the LGU’s limited funds.

The mayor also relayed the DENR’s commitment to help in the processing of the “minahang bayan,” that will legalize activities and will be regulated as provided for in the SSM law.

Why people take chances in SSM

Palangdan relayed that many of the small-scale miners opt to go into the activity as it provides a good income, despite the risks and hazards that go with it.

“Better if I die in an accident in the small scale mine than die of hunger,” the mayor relayed statements of small-scale miners.

Reynante Mayos, 28 years old, a small scale miner in Itogon who hails from Kapangan town in Benguet said in Ilocano that “I came here 15 years ago when my uncle invited me as I was then doing nothing. We were doing our work at the first gate where we also lived.”

He said that as a teenager, he initially feared for his life but the income was good.

He shared the life of a miner, saying that “once you enter the mining area, one of your foot is under the grave. You are as good as dead until you come out alive.”

They get paid for each day that they enter the mine site and gets a share from the income. “If we are lucky, we get a bigger amount but there are also times when the income is just enough to have food on the table,” he said.

Knowing the risks of the job, Reynante shared that most of them avoid getting into the tunnel during rainy days but at times, the temptation is high, considering that they get paid for every entry in the mine site.

Having gone back home through the DSWD’s “Balik Probinsiya” program, he said he now values his life and would opt to plant rice and vegetables in Kapangan for the sake of his three children aged 6, 5 and 2.

He advised his fellow miners: “when rescuers come to tell you to evacuate, please comply and do not be hard headed and evacuate your families to avoid accidents.” (PNA)