#dude you have no fuckin clue what awaits you

[merciganimard]

The face of a man who is. so deeply confused about what just happened

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Reiji Maniac [05]

CHAPTER MASTERLIST

ー The scene starts in the underground dungeon of the Sakamaki manor

Laito: Ahー Everything hurts. I want to sleep on a soft bed~ 

Kanato: I can’t believe he has kept us locked up in here for several days on end...Unforgivable. 

Ayato: Fuck, that bastard! What does he want to do with us!? 

Shuu: ...Hm?

ー Kino walks up to them

Kino: What’s up~? How’s life in a prison cell? 

Subaru: It fuckin’ sucks, duh! Hurry up and let us out already!

Kino: Well, I guess your fate and whether or not you’ll get out all depends on what Reiji does.

While it might take some time until his answer becomes clear, things have started moving little by little. 

Shuu: ...Did you think you could use us as hostages to lure him out?

Laito: How many times do we have to tell you that said plan of yours won’t work? 

Subaru: That dude won’t show up even if you promise to release us in return...So just set us free already, goddamnit! 

Kino: Come on, calm down. I know that as well. 

However, if I threaten to hand you all over to someone who genuinely wants you guys dead, what will he do then? 

Ayato: Aah? Who’s this fucker you’re talkin’ ‘bout!? 

Kino: ...Eve’s father.

Laito: Haah?

Kino: I made a bit of a deal with him, you see. He asked for his daughter. 

If I hand you guys over to him, you’ll definitely be killed. 

I mean, there’s plenty of things you guys have done to warrant him having bad blood against you. ...Now doesn’t that sound like fun? 

Subaru: ...Che. 

Kino: Haha! That being said, I hope you look forward to what fate awaits ahead of you~

ー The scene shifts to the big hall of Eden

Yui: ...Haah.

( I haven’t been able to properly talk with Reiji-san ever since. )

( I might have done something without realizing. )

( Perhaps I shouldn’t have brought him tea in hopes of getting him to rest a bit, or talked to him so much. )

( Even so, having him suddenly get up and leave or refusing to make eye contact with me...It’s a little hard to handle. )

...

( I can’t ask him why he’s doing all of this either...So I have no idea what to do. )

ー Azusa walks up to her

Azusa: ...Do you have a minute? 

Yui: What’s wrong?

Azusa: I thought that maybe you were hungry...So I brought some snacks. You can have whichever one you like. 

Yui: Waah, thank you. 

Azusa: Personally I recommend this one. Kou brought it back as a souvenir. 

You can have all the ones I got from Ruki as well...

*Rustle*

Yui: Eh? Where’s your share? 

Azusa: I’m good. You can eat them all. 

I hope it’ll help cheer you up a little...

Yui: Thank you. ...I’m sorry. 

Azusa: No, it’s fine. But if you’re struggling with something...I’m willing to listen...

Selection

→ I wonder how Reiji-san is doing? (❦)

Yui: I wonder how Reiji-san is doing? 

( It seems like he headed to the pharmaceutical department early in the morning but...He hasn’t left the place ever since. )

Azusa: I went to bring him his lunch earlier. 

Yui: Eh?

Azusa: Soup and a bun. You had some as well, right?

Yui: Yeah...

( I had no idea. )

→ I think he might hate me now 

Yui: I can’t help but be worried...

Azusa: ...I have no clue what Reiji-san is thinking either. 

Yui: Eh...?

Azusa: He always dodges the question whenever I ask him...So I’m clueless. 

Yui: ( Which means Azusa-kun has been talking with Reiji-san. )

( I guess I’m the person he has talked the least to, huh? )

Yui; ( He might be pushing me away after all. )

I think he might see me as a nuisance. 

Azusa: Eh...?

Yui: I can’t put it into words very well but I’ve often felt that way as of late...

( I came here with him knowing that I might only get in the way, yet I’m acting all lonely by myself... )

( I’m sure that must be bothersome to him. )

Azusa: ...

Yui: I’m sorry for rambling. Let me try one of these snacks!

Azusa: Sure...

Yui: Azusa-kun?

Azusa: ...I can’t look inside Reiji-san’s head...

However, if he were to ever betray us...

I promise that I will be there to protect you. 

So don’t worry, okay...?

ー Azusa walks away

Yui: ...

( What is he saying? )

( ...It’s almost like Azusa-kun knows something which I don’t. )

( What is going on? )

Monologue

While absentmindedly staring at the mountain of snacks,

piled up in front of me, I begin to think. 

About the Demon Hunting.

About the decay of Eden. 

About Reiji-san’s powers. 

As well as about his feelings,

which I no longer understand. 

Or perhaps, 

I never truly understood them to begin with.

Perhaps my existence (存在) is simply unwanted here. 

The more I think, the deeper I fall into this dark hole. 

However, I simply cannot get him out of my head (考えずにはいられない).

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

[wildshub]

WHO: The Fearless Fifteen WHAT: The castaways get lit and eat good. WHEN: Day 8 NOTE: For future reference.

Divya "Alright everyone," Divya approached the camp with her hands clasped together, an excited smile on her lips, "I know we all had a really rough day yesterday, like absolutely terrifying and exhausting, but–" A pause for dramatic effect. "Today is a new day and with everyone here together, me, Lex, and Cherry thought what better way to celebrate our triumphs and what we've overcome than with..." God, she wished she had a drum kit so she could build the adequate amount of suspense she wanted. "...a party!" Divya spread her arms out and flailed her fingers at the reveal. After a moment, she dropped her hands to her sides and continued on with her speech. "Me, Lex, and Cherry have been working all morning. We've got games planned, some treats, and even food! Like not even berries or nuts or anything, like actually. Cherry found a load of clams down somewheres by the beach," she tossed a thumb over her shoulder to give a rough estimation of where that was, "and Lex and I got a fire going with that lighter from the pilot's bag. Thanks again, Mr. Shepard–" She gave a quick salute. "–so it's gonna be like a proper thing. A whole meal!" Divya grinned, looking expectantly at the girls, hoping they were as ecstatic as she was. "So... thoughts, feelings? If you all are ready, we can head down over that ways where the fire's going and get started on the clams. It's honestly taken all of my will power to not just go for them."

Jude the idea of a party with games on a deserted island maybe seemed a little silly to jude, but hey, she wasn't going to turn down a party, and she wasn't gonna rain on everyone's parade. they could all use some kind of dumb distraction, right? and what jude was really excited about was the food. "oh, shit! clams? like, food? real food, with meat and everything?" she stood up immediately, lightheaded by the act of it. "dude, i could kiss you guys right now. fuckin' hunter-gatherers and shit, getting food for us!" she cheered. "let's do it," she said eagerly. holy shit, she just wanted some clams and vodka. never in her life had she wanted seafood this bad. she feels like her stomach is trying to eat herself.

Alexa she stands by Divya shifting on her feet, very nervous as to how the rest of the group will take on their event idea. She spent a good half a day just looking for the perfect herbs to mix in with the clams. She'd only cooked them thrice before so she wasn't exactly certain how to make them perfect, but was sure that some mushrooms from the woods along with thyme and basil would make it work just fine. They'd still had coconuts too and Alexa had kept them cool throughout the day so they could mix the vodka in and not die of dehydration. With Cherry in charge of actual clams and Divya the games, the whole thing came together so perfect Alexa wished she'd had her phone around to brag about it on instagram. "Right, also we've got a real nice surprise for those who join us as well..." she was referring to the weed of course, but it was not the right time to reveal all their secrets just yet. With long earrings dancing around her neck and a dead husband robe hugging her sheer nightgown, she headed to the fire. "Let's go bitches..."

Joss After the unintentional mud bath, courtesy of the depths of the jungle paired with Jude and Divya’s clumsiness, Joss had spent a good hour or two in and out of the ocean, trying to feel even remotely clean again. She’d washed her hair, relishing in the luxurious scent and the sensation of basic hygiene. God she had missed it. With clean hair, clean skin, a fresh pair of Lex’s underwear and freshly brushed teeth, Joss felt like a million bucks - or whatever the plane crash survivor/ desert island castaway equivalent of that was. She returned to camp anew and took her usual seat atop her puffer jacket, looking up at the girl’s as they approached with an announcement. “Oh my god,” she chimed, a couple of gleeful claps following her words “Fuck yeah, you guys, I’m in” she assured them, excited about the clams ahead, she quite liked seafood when it didn’t look like the inside of a sea urchin. “Amazing” she cooed in response to Divya’s question, though she hadn’t the slightest clue who the fuck Mr Shep- oh. Never mind she thought, as it dawned on her. “Nah seriously, you guys are legends, thank you,” she said again, another clap or so, before she realised she could just about see Alexa’s nipples, thanks to the blonde’s costume change. It was then that her eyebrows raised slightly and she made an effort not to make it obvious that she’d judged the outfit already, “Oi, what’s the surprise?” She asked lex directly then, “Do I maybe already know about it?” She asked playfully, adding a cheeky wink for good measure. God she loved being the secret keeper, even if she hadn’t kept the secret at all. Really, she just loved being the first person to know anything.

Jenny Truthfully, Jenny wasn't sure they were up for a party. The day before had been arguably one of the most taxing so far, aside from maybe the first. And once again, they had spent almost all of the night awake, save for a few minutes here and there. However, it was hard to say no to Divya's enthusiasm (or Divya, full stop), even harder when she said how hard she, Lex, and Cherry had worked on it, and then even, even harder when she mentioned actual food. Jenny felt their heart flutter a little bit at the very idea of not having to eat nuts or berries for the first time in a week, and their features visibly lit up at the thought. " No fucking way, that's awesome, " They said, joining in the general consensus of excitement from the group. When Joss thanked the others, they echoed her directly, " Yeah, thank you, " looking back to Divya and the others as they did. Pushing themselves to their feet and dusting off the sand, they tried not to notice Lex and Joss having another little moment, Lex hadn't been lying when she said they got along apparently. They ignored it as best they could, instead looking to the other party planners, " Lead the way then almighty party planners, " they teased, a small chuckle falling from their lips.

Shane to say shane didn’t feel like herself after the day before would be an understatement. she tried to pretend that everything was fine and that what happened wasn’t as serious as it really was, but it was hard. she was sitting in the sand, starting out into space when the girls made their announcement. while a party felt like the last thing shane wanted to do at the moment, the others seemed excited and shane didn’t want to be a downer for the others. plus now they had found something more real to eat which she couldn’t deny didn’t sound amazing after days of berries. so she forced herself to look as happy as the others, probably falling flat by she tried her best, and joined in the chorus of thank you’s for them, “thanks guys.” her eyes shifted to lex at her addition, already guessing what the surprise was since joss is the worst person to keep secrets on the island. but considering shane had snapped at lex the day before, she doubted she would even want to share with her today.

Divya Divya was so pleased that everyone seemed to be excited for the festivities they had planned. She gave a little squeal, clapping her hands together as she stood on her tiptoes for a second before leading the way. “Alright, come along. A feast awaits.” She made her way to where they had set up a small fire, a cooking station of sorts for their clams. It was by this large boulder so the sun didn’t absolutely destroy them that afternoon. “Everyone grab a seat around the fire,” she encouraged, taking a seat on the sand herself. She bounced in place excitedly. “I think Lex found some herbs or summat to mix in with the clams so we are being proper fancy this afternoon." If she closed her eyes and ignored about 90% of their reality, it was almost as if they'd actually made it to Hawaii. "And we aren't just eating today but drinking too! Cherry and I boiled some of the luggage rain water we collected the other day and they've cooled down by now so it's totally safe to drink whilst we eat the clams."

Luna Luna wanted to enjoy the party. She did. She had also wanted to help find Shane. But neither was really possible when she felt so exhausted. All she could hope was that it was nothing serious--a mild bug or heat stroke or just plain old exhaustion and dehydration--but she couldn't help the dread she felt anyway. Still, she pushed it down, flashing a smile and following Divya to the fire. "Wow. This is proper fancy," she commented, sitting down beside the other girl. "We have water too?" Oh thank god. "What are we drinking it out of?"

Divya "The water bottles! Solid quality honestly." Divya reached over to the pile and plucked one from the bunch. The Dawn of Eve water bottle once perfectly powder pink now had burn marks going up its sides but Divya would argue for a very good cause. "Sorry if we worried anyone about where they'd gone. We tried boiling them in some old Coke cans to start but they were so much smaller and harder to fish out of the fire compared to the bottles that we gave up halfway." She shook the bottle and you could hear the sloshing of water inside. She held it out to Luna. "We counted to a hundred to be safe but I think it's actually only a minute of boiling honestly till it's good for drinking."

Andrea A party was just the kind of thing that they all needed. Whether Andi wanted to admit it or not, she wanted to be lifted out of her piss-poor mood. And she wanted something -- anything -- to feel normal. Heading down towards where the other girls were, she eventually sat down by the fire. "You guys actually did it," she said with a tinge of amazement in her voice, looking at the water bottles and everything else they'd been able to get together. "Where'd you find the clams? How'd you get all of this together?"

Oona Oona pulled her hair back and out of her face as she settled in. It felt so long since she’d last sat down for an actual meal that even in their stained, ripped clothing, it almost felt like a fancy occasion. Plus, there were clams. She’d never been big on seafood in the past but by the way her stomach was rumbling it was clear that it didn’t care what it got at this point. “That’s what I want to know, too,” she echoed Andi. “It must be a good story. Have you gone clamming before? I have no idea how to even begin to look for a clam.” She rubbed her hands over her knees in anticipation, then shot Divya a warm smile first. “Really, this is so nice of you guys. Above and beyond.”

Alexa she looks over at Joss at the cheeky grin and a question and although she’d already gotten over being yelled at, she still had just about enough pettiness in her to shrug, smile and go “yes Jocelyn, but I suppose Jenny and Jude know it slightly better having already dipped into that surprise with me a bit so...maybe not so much a surprise to some of you but...” she will pull out large pre-rolled spliffs and one blunt. “— ta-da!” It was basically no surprise to anyone at this point but she’s finally got her night around the fire with weed, food and booze. “As far as nights in this inferno go, I’m pretty sure we’re at the peak so settle in before whatever fucking storm, fire or beast the devils that run these hunger games throw at us next.” Yes she mixed in all the references she could think of, apart from matrix she supposed but she could sneak that in later. Regardless, Alexa was not shy to show she was actually genuinely happy. She crashes on the floor next to Cherry and looks over at Andi tapping the floor beside herself. She then shifts her focus over to Oona and Andis question. “Ah the clams, star of the show, Cherry, Div? You wanna take this one?”

Divya "Errr," she pulled a face in thought, "not sure to be honest, that was all Cherry." She looked at the other girl then. "Point is though: she found them and now we," she looked at everyone around the fire then, "can eat them." She turned her head to face Lex now. "Can we please eat them?" It wasn't so much a question as a reminder. Lex was the chef after all. The only thing Divya knew how to cook was beans on toast and even then, she burnt the toast sometimes. "Do we just toss them on the fire and wait or something? How will we know if it's ready?"

Andrea It didn't matter what'd happened before. If she'd been angry with anyone, or if they'd been frustrated with her. Right now, all Andi could think about was having a full stomach, perhaps for the first time in over a week. "You're a fucking angel," she grinned, watching eagerly as Alea took out the spliffs. "I've been saying it for days -- we deserve a chance to actually have fun. Who knows how long we've got here? Might as well fucking enjoy it." She brushed some hair out of her face, leaning in as Divya spoke. "Please -- can we just cook these bad boys and have a meal? I'll even cook them myself. I'm volunteering. That's how hungry I am."

Jude weed? food? call jude a handmaid 'cause it was a blessed day! "throw those bitches on the fire," jude cheered in agreement, taking a seat in the sand around the fire and reaching for a bottle of rainwater. she felt like a cavewoman. she probably looked like one, too, for that matter. "let's get full, let's get high, let's forget we're on a fucking island," she announced. "andrea's right. since we're almost definitely gonna pull an amelia earhart and get eaten by crabs, we might as well try and have a good fucking time."

Shane shane watched as the others became excited over everything. while she should also be happy and excited to eat and relax, shane still hadn’t gotten rid of that nagging guilt in the back of her mind after yesterday. so she stayed quiet, sitting with the group around the fire. her fingers dug into the sand absentmindedly. “mhm,” she hummed in agreement with jude. maybe after she drank and smoked a little, shane would start to feel like herself again.

Oona Oona’s eyes widened when Alexa pulled out pre-rolled weed. Were they usually that big? She didn’t know the difference between a blunt or a joint or whatever, partly because she had never seen one in real life before and mostly because her parents routinely screened everything they watched as kids to make it was squeaky clean. She didn’t see a sex scene until she was fifteen. She didn’t know anything about weed. Oh my God, she was going to look so stupid. “Oh! Oh wow,” she exclaimed, a little stilted with the way she tried to make it sound natural. “I’ve never—I mean, I don’t. I don’t usually do that but um, that’s really cool! Thanks for sharing. Is that going to be a post-dinner thing?” Did she want to try? She didn’t know. She wanted to ask what it felt like without showing her hand. Oona heard Shane hum along, a little detached, and looked over at her. Shane smoked weed, right? Or was that rude of Oona to assume? She leaned toward her  and spoke lower as an aside. “Are you going to—?” Her eyes cut to the bag in Alexa’s hand.

Shane shane looked up from the small hole she was digging in the sand when she heard oona say something to her, clearly not wanting everyone else to hear. she could tell but her reaction to lex pulling out the weed that oona has probably never tried it. a little surprising to shane considering everyone she knew back home has smoked at least once. but then again, that was new york and she knew very little about oona and how she grew up. "huh? uh, yeah, probably," if lex allows her, but shane didn't say that out loud. "have you smoked before?" she asked, not wanting to embarrass her if she hadn't.

Andrea It was cute, really, seeing Oona's face change as Alexa pulled out the goods. Andrea assumed that all of them had smoked before -- at least once. But then again, maybe there were some people who were more innocent than she was -- less tarnished by whatever circumstances life had thrown their way. She didn't quite hear what Oona said, and reading lips was too much work. So instead, Andi decided to chat with Jude. "Eaten by crabs? Haven't heard that one yet. -- So what's the deal? Do we die first, and they feast on our corpses? Or are we gonna have to suffer through every single pinch?"

Joss To say that Joss was shocked that Lex had been smoking with Jude and Jenny without her was a marked understatement. “Yeah, righto,” she uttered fairly obtusely, shifting uncomfortable where she sat, in response. The fuck, Lex? She wondered, watching the other girl for a moment or two, trying to read her. Jocelyn was certainly not an expert on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart but she was pretty sure she’d never heard the conclusion that the esteemed aviator had been eaten by crabs. In fact, Joss wasn’t sure she’d ever heard of anybody being eaten by crabs. Thus, she assumed it was another one of Jude’s dumb theories, like tropical bears. “Fair sure you have to boil clams,” she was as eager to get ‘those bitches’ on the fire, as Jude had so eloquently put it but she didn’t want them to go to waste if they ended up burning to a crisp.

Jude "oh, shit," jude got genuinley introspective in response to andrea's question. "we better die first. i'm not going down to a bunch of crabs without a fight, right? fuck crustaceans. maybe they won't eat me, 'cause i'm one of them - born july, y'know, cancer," she explained. jude's astrology knowledge is admittedly limited, but like any good white teenage girl from new york, she DOES have co-star installed on her phone. "whatever, though, let's do this. we're not dead yet, right?" she said, getting up eagerly and tossing clam after clam on the fire without putting much thought into it. jude's not really a cook. she can hardly make toast. still, she's got hubris, and maybe that's enough. "we leave it for - uh - five minutes? then crack 'em open like cashews?" she offered.

Oona Oona smiled sheepishly at Shane’s question. She should’ve known she wasn’t exactly being subtle about the whole thing. She bit down down on her thumbnail briefly, then shrugged in embarrassment. “Honestly? No...” she trailed off. It was a little funny, she had to admit. Girl from the Denver area who’s never gotten high? Someone call the local news! But this was Oona’s first time in her life when she wasn’t under constant supervision. She had one blip, granted, about nine and half months ago, but no adult in her world let that happen again. Her own legal adult status didn’t seem the matter. “Should I? I feel like it’d be a good thing to check off on my lifetime to-do list,” she joked in an attempt to push down the rising nerves at the prospect. “You know, plane crash? Check. Stranded on a tropical island? Check. Survive solely on Diet Coke and bags of mixed nuts? Check.” She counted the so-called accomplishments on her fingers. “Weed must be the only logical continuation.” And then she heard, a little to her left, ‘they feast on our corpses’ and she immediately clocked back into the group conversation. Jilll’s missing body wasn’t something she was going to forget anytime soon. “Excuse me, what’s going to feast on our corpses? The crabs?” She glanced warily toward the ocean.

Shane she gave a weak smile at oona for her confession. if shane had to guess, she and oona have lived completely different lives. which wasn't a bad thing, she was pretty sure that none of the other girls have done half of the things shane has in her life. "hey, nothing wrong with that," she tried to reassure her that she wasn't judging. "i feel like you deserve it after all the shit we've been through," shane said with a chuckle. "but really weed is nothing serious, it's a good time." she wasn't trying to pressure her into do it, but more to reassure her that it wasn't as big of a deal as tv and movies made it seem. when the attention turned to whatever the fuck jude was talking about, shane turned to look at the other girls. "if we're stuck here any longer, i'll happily let the crabs take me," she said as a joke but considering how she's acted the past 24 hours, it was probably a bit concerning to say.

Divya After seeing Jude toss some clams onto the fire, she figured it was good enough for her and followed suit, tossing a few more on there beside Jude's. "Five minutes should do I think." She casted a brief glance at Lex for reassurance before turning back to the fire. "Anyway, shouldn't they like pop open or something? Like popcorn... but for seafood?" Confused, she scratched the side of her head before deciding they could probably see when it'd be ready to fish out and leaned back on her hands again. Hearing talk of crabs over by Oona and Shane, Divya perked up. "Wait, do we have crabs?" She asked with a lit up face, having missed most of that conversation in her excitement of watching everyone get seated and tossing clams on the fire.

Joss Joss couldn’t help but laugh at Divya’s innocently intended question, foiled by poor wording. “We? Yeah, nah, not me, I get laser treatment every couple of months,” she teased, barely convinced that Divya would realise the connotations of her words even now. She wiggled a finger loosely in the direction of a few of the other girls, Lex, Shane and Jude in particular, “Can’t speak for the rest of the crew though,” she insisted, Jude in particular struck her as somebody who had a working knowledge in the field of STIs and the like.

Jude jude gave a low whistle, raising her eyebrows at joss. little miss prefect gets laser treatment to avoid crabs, huh? jude's mouth fell open at joss' wiggling finger, and she put a hand to her chest. "how dare you," she deadpanned, eyes wide. she used a stick to pull a clam out of the fire - it'd been almost five minutes, and they felt hot - and held it up in demonstration. "you can't get crabs like this, ma'am," she said, before eating the clam in the way that she might eat.... something else. you know, just a graphic demonstration of lesbian sex, noises and all. dinner and a show, right? "see, bitch? i'm clean!" she laughed, slurping down the clams.

Shane shane easily understood what joss was implying and despite the fact that they seemed to be on good terms, shane was right back to wanting to slap the blonde girl when she pointed to shane and some of the other. “what’s with you and thinking i’m such a fuck boy, joss?” she shot across the circle just as jude made a show of eating one of the calms. “exactly!” she cheered the other girl on.

Joss She raised her hands defensively, still laughing as both Jude and Shane shot back at her defensively. Maybe she’d unintentionally found a sore spot for eat of them. “Fuck me, relax hey, it’s just jokes- you can’t tell me you didn’t think the same thing,” she insisted, surely she wasn’t so filthy minded, so much more so than the others that she was the only one that saw the double entendre in Divya’s question. Joss hadn’t caught onto where Jude’s announcement was going until it came with a full blown theatrical performance, sound effects and all. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, message received, clean as a whistle, bloody hell,” she waved a hand at Jude dismissively, her cheeks flushing as she realised that she was the one to inspire such a graphic performance. “Have you gotten that out of your system now? Some of us haven’t eaten yet, I’d like to actually keep my dinner down, if you don’t mind,” she was half joking, though the last thing on God’s green Earth she wanted to picture throughout her meal was Jude going down on somebody. She sat up on her knees then, trying to get a good look at the clams in the fire. She wanted to know if they were cooked properly or if they tasted any good but she had a funny feeling that Jude might not have registered either during her taste test.

Jenny Like a lot of other conversations that had happened while on the island, Jenny was in and out of listening to them. Picking up pieces here and there of Oona and Shane talking about weed, Jude talking about the grand Amelia Earhart Crab Theory (Jenny was personally more subscribed to the Captured theory or the Bermuda Triangle theory but to each their own), and then finally Joss bringing up a different type of crabs. Sure, maybe if it had come from anyone else Jenny would have found it really funny, but Joss had an air of rich bitch judgement around her that prevented them from laughing aloud. However they did laugh at Jude's response, and loudly too. Grin growing on their features with ease as they elbowed her lightly in encouragement. But then, for certainly not the first or last time, they furrowed their brows a little in Joss' direction. Their smile didn't quite fade completely, the idea of eating protein for the first time in a week and amusement at how quickly Joss changed her pace keeping it there. " You're the one that brought it up, dude, " they said, shaking their head a little with a breathy chuckle, before reaching for a nearby stick so they could safely poke at the fire.

Krafty was a huge fan of anything sea food, blame it on the fact she had grown up near the ocean. so when she had heard that some of the girls had gotten clams for actual sustenance she couldn't help but excited. making her way over the hill from where she had to pee, she rejoined the group and walked in at what seemed to be a tense moment between joss and jude. reading body language she chose not to intrude but sit next to the fire patiently, hoping that soon enough she'd get a great taste for the oysters. she grabbed a recently boiled water bottle of water and took a few swigs. this was as close to a party as she'd felt in a long time, she only wished her crew was here with her.

Joss She wrinkled her nose and nodded her head, hands in the air once more “-well Shaneo enjoyed it so, you’re welcome, I guess,” she offered, finding the positive angle instead of taking responsibility for making a shit joke. She watched Jenny with the stick, deciding that that was probably the best way to manage things herself, though she’d wait her turn. Once she had a clam to herself she pressed her lips together, analysing it for a moment as if it required a secret code to open. She laughed at herself then, “Fucking hell, now I’m all self conscious like I’m gonna be graded on how shit I eat this,” she joked at her own expense. Her experience with cunnilingus was embarrassingly non existent but she’d had oysters once or twice before.  “Wouldn’t mind some pasta to go with this,” she confessed a moment later, thinking out loud.

Jude "oh, we're definitely gonna judge you," jude nodded, eyeing joss as she went in for another clam. her experience with oysters was embarrassingly nonexistent, but she was a self-proclaimed expert in cunnilingus, and it's basically the same, right? "god, pasta sounds good," she nodded in agreement before chugging down some more rain water. she hadn't realized how hungry and how thirsty she had been until now. "or, or - like, a sub. like, a hoagie from the little shop down the street from my old place. they were so fucking good. i would kill to have another meatball hoagie before the crabs eat my body once and for all."

Shane “yeah, fuck you, joss,” shane said, giving up on trying to defend herself to the other girl. so many one time she made an extremely poorly timed sex joke, now joss will forever view her as some sex crazed person. “oh we judge you all the time, this will be no different,” shane shot back at her. despite how little they’ve eaten in a week, shane just didn’t have much of an appetite, so she instead just watched the others, still half lost as she tried to keep her thoughts from drifting away to other things. “god i could go for one too.” after a second, she thought of something, “or you know what would be perfect? magnolia’s bakery,” she announced before smirking and giving jenny a knowing look.

Oona With one wide-eyed moment of innocence over and done with, Oona tried her best to keep her face blank as Jude went to town on a clam for fear of cementing herself as the Ultimate Ignoramus. But there was also the fear of looking too judgmental. The last thing she wanted was to turn any of these girls against her. People had sex. Oona could totally handle it. But still, her brain sort of skirted around the imagery then zipped at lightning speed toward Joss and Jude’s latest comments. “Oh, yeah. Seafood pasta’s good. Like a shrimp scampi. Or—Gosh, I had a really good lobster mac and cheese once.” She sighed when Shane mentioned a bakery. “I think I miss popovers the most, food-wise. And waffles. I’m too American to go this long without processed sugar, I think.” Oona shook her head and reminded herself to be positive. "But the clams will be good! Alexa found herbs to go with them, you said, Div?"

Krafty she couldn't help but chuckle at jude's snark remark, sometimes they were well timed and she was okay with admitting that. finally she helped herself to a clam and managed to crack it open helping herself to the protein inside. "pasta, some fresh cheese on top, shit," she couldn't help but miss her favorite seafood restaurant from home. "oona yes, lobster mac n cheese is to die for, i feel ya on that one," she couldn't believe this was her life but hey, maybe she was doing her hero bear grylls proud with this...maybe they all were. "this is dope guys, seriously, i didn't say it but thanks."

Divya Predictably, Joss’s joke went right over Divya’s head, causing the girl to furrow her brows. Still, she offered barely there laugh though because she didn’t want the blonde to feel bad that her brand of humor wasn’t particularly the funniest. What did laser treatment have to do with crabs? Her gaze shifted from Joss to Jude, wondering why that earned such a reaction from her. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers at what happened next. Now it wouldn't surprise anyone to find out Divya wasn’t the most experienced in that area. In fact, it was better to say she wasn’t experienced at all. Everything she knew of sex came from awkward Sex-Ed classes and that one time she and her best friend paid a visit to PornHub when they were 14 that ended with the laptop being kicked under the bed and destroyed when her Uncle Marty walked in without knocking to tell them dinner was ready. Needless to say, her cheeks were flushed pink and hot by the time Shane chimed in with cheers and Joss was waving the New Yorkers off. Divya busied herself with poking at the clams with a stick, hoping the warmth in her cheeks would subside sometime soon. She was just pulling one of the clams out when Oona mentioned her name, thankful that the other girl gave her something else to think about than Jude’s theatrical performance featuring their lunch. “Oh yeah, I think she also had mushrooms or something?” She turned to Lex. “Right? Mushrooms, herbs?” She turned back to Oona. “Something along the lines. It’s probably in that bag over there.” She pointed to the Dawn of Eve bag closest to Lex. Hearing Krafty speak, Divya smiled warmly, glad the girl was enjoying the festivities. She was just happy all of them could take a breath and enjoy themselves for once.

Jenny Seeing as the last time Jenny had purposely called Joss out they'd nearly hit her, they didn't quite join in the chorus of yes, Joss, all the gays are gonna judge the shit out of you. Thankfully, the subject changed as Jude and the others brought up all the different foods they wanted. They nodded in agreement with the group. Even if they'd never had seafood pasta, they could absolutely dream of a hoagie.  " Dude, what I wouldn't do right now for like, the greasiest, grossest bacon, egg, and cheese. " They said, stomach aching at the very thought. And to wash it down with some energy drink that had definitely caused someone to have a heart attack, that would be heaven. When Shane brought up Magnolia's Bakery they had to press their lips together to stop a chuckle from tumbling right out, but the smile still showed. The two proving in that very moment that everyone had been judging Joss. At least, the East Coast Gays definitely had been. If the girls had just had the clams and the fire, that would have been impressive enough. But mushrooms? Seasoning? They were beyond grateful. " I can't believe you guys could find all this stuff, " They said, using their stick to pull one from the fire now that it seemed it had been long enough for them to be edible. " Do y'all cook much at home? " They asked, looking up. Mostly they were addressing Lex and Divya, but really it was open to the group, they'd be interested to know the answer from everyone.

Joss Joss had thought that she and Shane were mates by now but there was something about how quick the brunette was to jump aboard Jude’s anti-Joss campaign that made her think otherwise. Maybe they were just pals when she was the best option, or more hurtfully, the only option. She tried not to show the hurt and offered a small laugh to show that she was totally in on the ribbing. Then came the Magnolia joke and the glance at Jenny. What the fuck was that? Joss had mentioned visiting the famous NYC bakery with her family to both Jenny and Shane, had they discussed the fact? She was aware that she’d be judged harshly, Shane had been honest about thinking she was a bitch the first time they’d met. Joss has assumed that she’d redeemed herself after that but now she wasn’t convinced. Did the whole group just see her as the butt of the joke? Maybe that explained the poor reaction to the bags she’d discovered and the lack of gratitude for the effort she’d put into orchestrating the search party. “I left some stuff out to dry, just gonna grab it before I forget,” she explained, hopping up quickly and abandoning post to collect the imaginary laundry. She felt a sickness in her stomach, reminded of how it felt to have people laughing at you, judging you, making fun of who they thought you were and what they thought you did behind your back. She hadn’t felt it so strongly since leaving Melbourne airport, noting the way her Dad’s hug felt just a little bit awkward as he pat her on the shoulder and offered a curt goodbye.

Shane shane held back a laugh when she and jenny locked eyes, both clearly trying to keep it together after a dumb inside joke between them at joss’ expense. shane looked over at joss, expecting her to unintentionally play along with their joke. but then the other girl’s face changed with realization before she quickly excused herself from the group. shane’s smile dropped, teeth digging into her lower lips as she went back to anxiously digging in the sand. maybe that was a bad joke, but she didn’t think joss would take it that way. after all, the two of them always jabbed at each other. their whole relationship was making fun of one another with “fuck you”s thrown in there. was it because jenny was involved this time? this was exactly why shane didn’t do friends, everything was complicated and got messy. she kept her eyes locked on the sand as she let all of her thoughts consume her, uninterested in whatever the group was talking about now.

Alexa Alexa was in and out of the conversation still looking over food with Cherry and making sure she was paying attention to what was happening. Joss was entertaining the group just fine it seemed and so Lex couldn’t help but look over at Jenny and Shane as the blonde spoke to scope their reactions. She laughed at Jude and then as a Divya spoke to her directly she nodded. “Ah yes mushrooms I’m just putting them all on a stick so we can grill them on the fire marshmallow style.” She added placing more mushrooms on the current stick she was holding. She looks over at Oona knowing the other didn’t really seem all that familiar with weed. “See I think food would be best after weed because munchies will be nuts over these bad boys but...I guess we can always grill more mushrooms and there’s also like leftover soup and...fuck, I do wish we had some like crisps or sugar or something...anyways, Oona girl, you don’t gotta smoke if you don’t want to. But I just want you to know that weed was legal prior to hippies being against the war in Iraq and then it became classified as a drug so they could put hippies and minority kids in prisons. It’s by no means gateway anything, the government just doesn’t want people having a good time. Not since Woodstock anyways...” she sighed and then started passing the mushroom sticks. “I cook a lot at home Jenny, thanks for asking. I think the thing I would cool right now if I were home...rather simple actually, lasagna with some garlic bread and banana. Veggie lasagna by the way, but I know how to cook meat as well and like fish and clams yes....seafood is big in the house...” she realised she was talking far too much so she chuckles. “Anyways, yeah please guys help yourselves...”

Krafty "thanks," she replied as alexa passed around a few skewers of mushrooms krafty helped herself to one roasting it on the fire. it sort of brought her back to cooking up fish by the fire when she would go camping by the water. she had to agree with her though, food would have been a hell of a lot better after weed because the munchies were inevitable, especially for her which she had proven time and time again. "we're stranded on a fucking island, there's never been a better reason to smoke," krafty joked in reply to the girl's long winded story about the legalization of weed post woodstock. it had been far too long since the last time she had gotten high, or truly drunk for that matter. "wait, you cook seafood a lot too?" she questioned, almost shocked that they shared something in common.

Jude "it feels so fucking good to be full, holy shit," jude said, flopping back onto the sand, a sizable pile of clam shells laying beside her, absolutely ravaged. she wasn't exactly the queen of moderation. "y'know, i know i'm fuckin' useless here, aside from being good eye candy," she acknowledged, "so i really am grateful you guys are, like, gourmet survivalist chefs or whatever. it's impressive as hell." jude was physically strong, but they hadn't exactly run into any tropical bears to wrestle, so that didn't do much good. jude plays hockey, she doesn't forage for food and build shelters. just because she has the emotional maturity of a cavewoman doesn't mean she has the skills of one. "it's been - i don't even know how long it's been since i've felt full. i don't know how long we've been here. i don't know what the date is. all i do know is that i could really go for some fucking weed," she smiled, closing her eyes and shielding them from the sun with her hand as she lay in the sand.

Jenny Jenny didn't feel anything close to guilt when Joss stood with flushed cheeks and excused herself from the group. Honestly, if they'd been as angry as they had the morning before they likely would have flipped her off as she left. In place of that they simply rolled their eyes a little as their focused shifted to the clam in their hands. They ate quickly, not even caring that it was a weird and new texture and taste for them, only that it was food. The conversation continued to move around them but they didn't have much to add to weed history or cooking talk, so they just stayed quiet, appreciating the feeling of something solid in their stomach. They nodded as Lex explained what she'd love to be cooking at home, they weren't going to say it out loud but it was incredibly unexpected that Lex could cook at all. Seeing as she could probably afford to pay top chefs from across the globe to cook for her whenever she wanted. Then came conversation of actually smoking, and while Jenny was excited for that, they had noticed the way Shane seemed to be reacting to Joss' departure and how no one else seemed to care. They didn't like her, and they didn't really care that she'd left in fact it was a little bit of a relief– but seeing as Shane had walked off and disappeared only yesterday and everyone had gone looking, it seemed a little fucked to just let her go. And on top of that, if they could prevent Shane from feeling any worse they were gonna try. " Okay not volunteering but should someone maybe go after her? " They nodded in the direction that Joss had headed. " Just to check, before we get fucked. "

Jude nosey bitch model citizen that she was, jude volunteered, taking a swig of her rain water. "i can do it," she offered, glancing at jenny and shane. better her than them, right? jude didn't even know what the fuck a magnolia was, so she was probably one of the less offensive people to joss at the time, right? "i'll be two minutes, mates," she waved the others off, trying to an australian accent but ending up with something closer to texan-british. she pushed herself to her feet, wandering off after joss into the jungle. "jocelyn!" she called, stretching her arms behind her neck and cracking her joints.

Alexa Alexa has not realised anything was wrong with Joss, after all, she said she’d be right back. Mostly, she didn’t know why she needed to be called back as she missed larger part of that conversation trying to focus on food. Now that she was eating, slow and steady like a hungry cow, Jenny of all people wondering about Joss, made her question if Joss was alright. Not enough to abandon her position on the floor by the fire though. Luckily, Jude seemed to have had it under control. “Damn bitch, we need to feed you more often huh?” She laughs at the impression “Oh and, Jude hun...” she smiled at the other as she she got up and tossed a whole zoot her way. “You can spark this mazza when you’re back huh? If Joss doesn’t wanna come, drag her by the hair!” She said, having decided not to allow Joss to delay the only thing she’s been looking forward to on this Island since the crash with her sudden disappearances and runs and whatever the hell she was doing at this point. “Anyways guys, Divya, what games are on board again? Is that now or...?”

Joss Joss had expected to return to the camp on her own volition before anybody actually bothered to go looking for her. She'd explained where she was going, she'd explained why and as far as she knew, she'd managed to keep her discomfort under wraps so why would anybody find it necessary to check up on her? The question would remain unanswered, she realised, straightening her posture as she prepared for Jude's arrival. "Hey! I'm here, I'm good," she assured the other girl, realizing then that she'd told everybody that she was going to fetch laundry that didn't exist. Fuck. She turned to face Jude with a chuckle that would have made her year 11 drama teacher roll her eyes, "I already brought my bloody clothes in- I just totally forgot, like an idiot," she explained, attempting to justify why the fuck she was standing in the middle of nowhere by herself, seemingly doing nothing. In truth, she'd been trying to clear her head and get out of her own thoughts. She couldn't fall into the trap of believing that all of the girls, just like the ones at home, thought of her as nothing but a running gag at that when the shit hit the fan, they'd have no qualms about letting her take it in the face.

Jude jude waved winningly at lex before heading off to meet joss and her inexplicable ghost laundry. “right,” jude raised one eyebrow and shrugged. none of what joss was saying made sense, obviously - even if there was laundry to bring in, why walk off in the middle of lunch to do it? “i know i busted your whole laundry excuse, but you don’t have to come back yet if you don’t want,” jude shrugged. if joss wanted to meditate or pray or whatever it was she did when she was off by herself, that was none of judes business, so long as she was sure joss was still kicking. “we’re about to light up - i mean, i dunno if you’re too good for that, prefect and all. but i can leave you to... do your laundry,” she gestured at the empty space, “since i know you’re not dead. that’s one option. or, you could come back with me, and get high out of your mind. personal favorite. option 3 is you come back, stay sober, eat some clams, and play nice. kind of boring, but doable. option 4 is i stay here while they get high, and you lay down and pretend i’m a fancy australian rich people therapist, and you tell me all about how you’re hallucinating laundry,” jude listed. “there are a few more options after that, but they get kinda dirty, and you’re probably not into that. up to you.”

Joss Joss became frustrated then, not with Jude but with herself and how quickly her measly attempt at cover her ass had fallen apart and how little effort it had taken for Jude to dismantle it, "I'm not even a fucking prefect anymore," she snapped, her emotions getting the better of her. "Sorry- I just- I don't-" before she sounded like she was having a stroke, to calmed herself, taking a moment to breathe and elucidate her intention. "I'm not too good for it and I don't think that. I don't think I'm too good for anything- or like, for any of you, I mean- like, I don't think I'm better than any of you," she insisted, fumbling on her words until she got to where she had meant to be. "I know it sounds that way, probably but- I was just joking before. I was-" trying to fit in, "-just messing around," she realised it was a lot easier to be accepted when all you had to do was have a car of your own, a questionable BMI and a decent amount of likes from average looking boys on your selfies. Having substance was difficult. Jokes? Impossible. Culture? She didn't have much of that either. Stories? If they didn't involve her pissing herself at a Westfield, they were vanilla and had such an anticlimactic final act that they just sounded like straight up bragging. She folded her arms uncomfortably across her chest, her gaze on Jude's feet instead of looking her in the eyes as she listed off Jocelyn's various options. Though she wasn't in much of a laughing mood, she couldn't help a small laugh at option 5- or option 4.5 or whatever it was; the option that Jude needn't explain. "You're gross," she teased habitually, forgetting that her brand of teasing hadn't translated well before. "-but funny," she added, in case it wasn't clear. She straightened up then, taking a deep breath, "Righto so," she started as she digested her options, "I've had it up to my ears in counselling so- I reckon I'll just come back with you- but just...like, give me a sec, yeah?"

Divya God, it was so nice to eat proper food. Divya didn't realise how much she missed it until she was actually eating away, clam after clam. Hearing her name mentioned, she finished off the clam she was eating before turning to Lex. "Hm? Oh! Games! Right!" She tossed the empty shell on her little pile of finished clams. Clapping her hands together, she stood up so she could garner everyone's attention better. "So, after we're done here," she gestured to their clam circle, "we've got a few games planned. Limbo to start but... honestly, I think we're all a little full to be bending like that so we'll put it on the back burner for now. The next game on the itinerary is Pictionary!" She announced with gleeful bounce. "So it's much of the same, whoever isn't up to draw gets to sit down and guess whatever it is the person drawing is... drawing." She frowned momentarily, feeling there was one too many 'drawings' in there. "Anyway," she continued on, "if we guess correctly within the allotted time, the person drawing gets a point. If we don't, then the person drawing..." She drummed out a beat on her thighs. "...has to drink alcohol!!" Sure, for some people that wasn't much of a penalty but for lightweights that were new to the drinking scene like Divya, it was definitely enough to motivate her into pulling out some of her best work. She walked over to her stash of party prep things and retrieved a Dawn of Eve swag bag and the bottle of vodka. "So, if you lot are ready, we can head on over there with the sands a bit more packed and get to drawing. We'll reuse the clam sticks as pens."

Jude jude bit her lip, but she couldn’t even be surprised. weren’t they all angry, thinking about the things they’d never be again? “i get it,” jude said. “there’s a lot of things i’m not anymore,” she said, a rare moment of sincerity. ew. anyways! “it’s cool. we’re all just telling shitty jokes.” she laughed when joss called her gross, because, well, yeah. “gross, funny, a goddess, a dumbass - all ways i’ve been described. by my ninth grade math teacher,” she remarked. motor mouth jude can never turn it off. “whenever you’re ready,” she said, a little softer, slinking back a bit to give joss some space, but not leaving - buddy system, right?

Joss "Do you?" she asked, caught between feeling alone and feeling, perhaps for the first time, that Jude was being candid with her. It was always hard to tell, Joss had discovered but it was like Lex, she thought; between the shocking statements, disgusting anecdotes and otherwise outrageous utterances, there were some things that slipped out from behind the girl's teeth and actually meant something more. Her lips parted to ask about the math teacher but she decided against it. Prying for sincerity twice in a row was asking for far, far too much, Joss thought. She was lucky to have Jude talking to her at all at this point and it wasn't worth pushing it. "Yeah- cool, thanks," she nodded in agreement, "I'm not gonna run away and fall asleep or anything but- yeah, thanks," she assured taking another deep breath in, steeling herself to face Jenny and Shane again. "Does everyone just think I'm a massive cunt?" she asked then, after a few moments of pensive silence. If Jude couldn't be honest with her, then she doubted anybody else on the island had the capacity.

Jude "yeah, man. i mean, i used to be a virgin," she joked, flahing joss a toothy grin. "and, like, a not-orphan. hockey star. mediocre musician. a bitch NOT on an island. never much a prefect, though," she admitted. she trusted joss enough to not, like, get lost in the woods, but she wasn't going to leave her, either. with their luck, joss would end up facing off against a tropical bear. DID everyone think joss was a massive cunt? "not everyone," she answered truthfully. she's not a mind reader, but. "i mean, jenny probably does. or maybe not, 'cause it was their idea someone went to get you. that could just be 'cause they don't want the elements getting you, so they get to be the one to take you down, though. lex still has no idea she's on an island. andrea's too busy being excited about weed. and i dunno about shane. i mean, i got the feeling she hated to see you go, but loved to watch you leave," she shrugged.

Joss Not-orphan. That was the one that stood out to Joss the most. How could she mention that with such a shit eating grin on her face? Right. Maybe that was the only way she could mention it. Everybody had different ways of coping with things. Some got angry, threw their fist at a wall. Some cried until their eyes were red and sore. Some ran away and pretended there was nothing that needed coping with. "Seriously?" she asked and it was a fair enough question, she thought. Not only was Jude prone to cracking jokes whenever she could slip one in but on top of that, it was hard the believe that of all people, Jenny had been the one to voice their concern. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you were right the first time- fair sure she hates my guts," she insisted, "-but- she really said to come get me?" she couldn't justify it, she hoped that Jude could. Hm. Not as satisfying as she thought it would be. Did Jenny really want Joss to survive, just to be the one to neck her? It didn't seem likely. "Come on, you don't really think that," she hoped, "Jenny's not like that," she spoke with confidence, despite the fact that she didn't know Jenny at all. She ran her tongue over the surface of her front teeth, a pensive expression creasing her brow as she thought about the other girls, "-and Shane, yeah, nah, that wasn't it. Definitely wasn't it," she insisted, confident that Shane had been more than pleased to see her go and hadn't taken any notice of her when she did, certainly not in the way Jude was implying, if the implication was indeed a cheeky (no pun intended) one. "-and you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow then, realising that Jude hadn't placed herself on the list.

Jude jude nodded, intrigued by how confused joss seemed. "yeah, jenny's idea. i mean, i was just kidding about the killing you thing, but i was a little surprised, too. i kinda got the vibe that neither of you really got along," she explained. "they said someone should go after you before we all got too high." jude laughed and joss' quick denial of shane scoping out joss' ass. "maybe. but my lesbian third eye isn't often wrong," she remarked. that was a lie. jude was wrong all of the time. at joss' question, jude had to think on it. really, she went in between thinking joss was a major bitch, feeling kind of bad for her, and finding her pretty damn entertaining. "i don't think you're a cunt," she said thoughtfully. "or i do, but i'd be a cunt, too, if i were you. i mean, i kinda am a cunt, and i'm not you. but you've never decked me in the face, and if i were you, i definitely would have by now, so i kinda like you," jude said earnestly. "i mean, you did imply i had crabs, but i'm moving past that. forgiveness and all of that shit."

Joss Joss nodded her head in agreement but then shrugged her shoulders a moment later, "I mean, it's not that," she explained, trying to be diplomatic about the situation, "Tension was pretty high yesterday for obvious reasons, that's all," that wasn't all but it was all Joss was willing to admit to, "-but we've had a few normal chats," chats where they weren't at each other's throats, she meant, "I just- yeah, I don't know, we don't always see eye to eye," she shrugged again, as if that would suffice in place of reasonable words. Yet another phrase to take Joss aback and although she was actively trying to use her judgmental face, that one was just a little but too much for her to breeze past. "Lesbian third eye?" she repeated, "That's a new one," she'd heard gaydar before but clearly Jude wasn't one for cliches. "Thanks," she uttered before Jude elaborated, "Oh," she uttered, almost under her breath a moment later, since it was too late to take back the gratitude. "Mhm," she hummed listening to Jude speak. She couldn't help but laugh then, "If you were me?" she asked, wondering what the fuck that actually meant, "If you were me, you would have never thrown a punch in your life," except for when she did Boss Boxing at her gym, which definitely didn't count.  She wrinkled her nose at the reminder of her poor taste joke, "It was supposed to be funny," she attempted to assure the other girl, "Maybe it's an Australian thing- I'm just used to talking shit with my mates, I don't actually think any of you have crabs," unless any of them did have crabs, which would be fucked. No. No more judgement, she reminded herself. She was already on thin ice and if she kept striking out with the other girls, she'd have to find her own clams for dinner.

Gianna a party. gigi was unsure - she'd been to parties back home, but she wasn't certain things were going to work the same way out here. an island wasn't a bar, right? it didn't matter - she was already late because she'd taken the time to go for a evening swim. with sand piling up against her wet feet, gigi was wringing out her hair as she made her way closer to the sound of chatter and -...a good time? a little bit of excitement building up inside her, gigi eventually came upon the scene and was rather pleased with what she saw. seeing food and smiles on the others faces was enough to bring one to her own, and the swimmer's first move was to fulfill the growling in her stomach. praying for something other than meat for the offering, gigi almost jumped out of her skin at the sight of...mushrooms. she was a shit forager, so finding food right in front of her, especially something as good as mushrooms, gigi was a happy camper. the blonde instinctively reached out for a stick of mushrooms and proceeded to bring it over to the fire to warm it up. she passed familiar faces and offered a friendly smile in greeting here and there; she was a quiet person who only really opened when she knew someone well. finding a place around the fire a moment, gigi left the fungi stick sitting in the flames without thinking about it and leaving a second later to see what else was available. when she returned to the fire and pulled out her stick of mushrooms, the blonde was more confused than anything to find that the vegetables had been burned to an absolute crisp, almost inedible. "what the fuck...?" she muttered to herself innocently, but knowing that wasting food was considered practically a sin around here the blonde took a hesitant bite from the rubbery, dried out vegetable on a stick. at least nobody was witnessing her folly, at least she'd hoped.

Andrea Andrea followed the others' leads, taking some of the clams and tossing them besides the others. "I don't cook," she stated, matter-of-factly. It wasn't exactly true; she could make enough different meals to keep herself satisfied if she had to, even if they were rather basic. Glancing over at Gigi, she watched the girl take a stick with the mushrooms on it. It's burning, she wanted to warn her. But what did it matter? If she wanted to waste her food, she was more than welcome to. That's why they had rations, wasn't it? "Well, hope you enjoy eating charcoal," she laughed, scooting closer to add some mushrooms of her own. "You can't just throw things on a fire and not pay attention to them. That's how you get the whole camp on fire and shit -- you know that, right? Fire's not like your grill at home. -- Assuming you don't actually live out in the woods."

Shane shane looked up from the sand when she heard gigi and then andi’s words, her eyes falling to the burnt mushrooms. of course andi would try to be “helpful” in the bitchiest way. but as soon as shane thought that, she stopped herself because clearly she was just as much of a bitch since she caused joss to make up an excuse to leave the group. looking over at gigi, shane tried to give a weak smile. “hey it happens, we’re all learning. you can have my share if you want,” she offered considering she had no appetite to start with. sure, shane should probably eat, but she couldn’t even bring herself to think about it. maybe after they broke into the alcohol and weed, she’d feel better enough to eat whatever was left. she looked over at divya after she explained the activities for the night. really, shane would take anything that could help her get out of this funk. “let’s get this party started,” she said with the most enthusiasm she could muster up.

Gianna gigi scooted over and allowed some room for andrea to sit beside her, watching intently as the other prepared and cooked her own stick of mushrooms. it seemed so effortless, why couldn’t she do it right? fidgeting slightly in her seat, gianna listened to her explanation and nodded along in understanding, “of course i know that,” she clarified quickly, blinking back her slight embarrassment. shane’s voice broke through her confusion and she glanced over, eyes slightly widening at the sight of the girl offering her her food. swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat at the verbal contact, gigi struggled to find the right thing to say. “wow, really?” she asked quietly, taking the offered food . “i appreciate that. like, even more than when leia told han luke was just her brother, or when luke couldn’t kill anakin. well, i mean i  guess you could say darth vader, but it’s been so long, if you don’t know at this point, you don’t -...” she stopped her nervous ramble, biting down on her tongue. “thanks,” she shook her head dismissively, before turning back to andrea. “is she still looking at me?” she whispered anxiously, thrusting the mushrooms into the fire once more without any thought.

Andrea Grateful for the extra space, Andrea made herself comfortable. She would never admit it aloud, but it was nice, having everyone together, actually hanging out, as if they were actually just a group of friends having a beach weekend instead of living in the seventh season of LOST. "Right, well, your technique needs work. -- Do you have another one? I'll cook it for you. That way you won't totally starve tonight." She knew that she had to be nicer... in theory. She didn't want everyone on the beach to hate her -- especially if they were going to be stranded there until they died. "Listen... I'm just hungry. Like, really fucking hungry. Didn't mean to be a complete bitch."

Shane shane tried to fight the urge to chuckle at the shock on gigi’s face when shane was actually nice to her. it was a rare occurrence that shane was, so she didn’t blame the other girl’s reaction. “yeah, no worries,” she said simply, passing her mushrooms over. “uh, right...” she said the star wars comment, shane had very little knowledge of the franchise other than she fell asleep during all the old ones. the new ones here okay because daisy ridley is hot, but that’s as much as she knows. shane nodded and went back to staring at the fire, wondering where joss and jude were.

Luna "I don't mind a bit of charcoal on the mushies," Luna commented from across the fire, looking directly at Andrea when she said it before glancing to Gianna. "It'll be like roasting them at home." She eyed off the clams. "Not so sure about them though." Her stomach still felt uneasy so mushrooms--burnt or not--felt like a safer option than seafood. "Never cooked things on a fire before. Who here has?"

Andrea Of course Luna wouldn't mind. The girl seemed to be content with pretty much anything. "That's why you've got your own mushrooms, then," Andrea offered. It was a simple enough response, and maybe Luna would get the hint that she wasn't adding to the conversation in the way she thought she was. "Of course I have -- you've had mountain weekends or whatever, right? Or like... bonfires for holidays or whatever? I know you don't have the Fourth of July..."

Luna Luna got the hint and shrugged, holding her own mushrooms over the flames. But as Andrea started talking about roasting food on a fire as if anyone must've done it, she felt her cheeks turn red. "No, I never had 'mountain weekends' or whatever," she replied. "And bonfires aren't really a big thing for holidays. Fire hazard, I guess, in summer. Besides, my parents didn't let me go camping or anything like that. And they probably thought being around a campfire smoke would be bad for me." She hoped they just sounded overprotective--which they were--and no one else would cotton on to exactly why.

Gianna brushing off andreas apology with a shake of her head, gigi handed over the new skewer after a second of letting it sit in the fire so that andrea could do it right. “thanks, andi...” she thanked andrea with a sigh? just wishing she had some good food in her stomach. gigi gave luna a shy smile in thanks and apology - perhaps andi wasn’t the best when it came to sensitivity, but gigi struggled to find friends who would tolerate her. “my moms the same way,” she offered to luna in understanding. “this is the first time i’ve ever been anything remotely to camping.” she smiled happily, as if the entirety of the situation wasn’t weighing heavy on any of their shoulders.

Andrea She took the second skewer from Gigi, scootching closer to hold it over the fire, turning it every so often. "How crispy do you want them?" she asked. But then she turned her attention back to Luna. Now that was something that Andrea couldn't relate to. Her parents rarely cared about those kinds of things. As long as she came home in one piece and texted them every so often, they seemed fine. That was, until everything else happened. "Your parents need to get a grip and try living in the real world for once. There's enough things out there in the world that can kill you. We might as well have some fun. It's not even the same thing as smoking cigarettes... so what's their deal?" She pulled the skewer out of the fire and handed it back to Gigi. "This good?"

Jenny Per Divya's instruction Jenny held onto their food stick even after their stomach felt more full than it maybe ever had, even though they'd only eaten a little. They poked at the sand and the fire a little as the group talked around them. Noting little details about each of them and the ways they interacted with each other. Wondering if Jude and Joss were ever coming back and not speaking up again until the conversation turned to cooking things on a fire. " I haven't either, not before being here. " They admitted, siding with Luna and Gigi. " Basically never left the city, and you can't really have a campfire in the city. " Though Jenny's reasoning for not camping was significantly different to their's, they still related to feeling inexperienced on the island.

Gianna andi seemed to know what she was doing and for that gigi was grateful, so she played it by her ear and let the girl decide when the food was ready for eating. “thank you,” she smiled widely when andi presented the food to her, taking it gently and waiting a moment for it to cool down. she had to agree with andrea on that one; parent sometimes could do to step back and let their kids experience life. at least that’s how she felt about her own mother. “are cigarettes really that bad for you?” gigi asked curiously, biting down on one of the mushrooms. then noticing shane, who didn’t have any properly cooked mushrooms, gigi felt a little bad. she’d remember to save the last few on the skewer for her. that’s what han would have done for leia. “you can if you have really big matches. the billboards probably ignite real easy.” she nodded towards luna seriously.

Jude some stretch of time later, jude had returned to the clam shack, joss presumably not far behind. she only picked up the tail end of the conversation - "i mean, they can kill you," she shrugged, "but so can planes, and we still got on one of those. carpe diem or whatever," she shrugged, taking a seat around the fire and grabbing another clam. "what are we lighting on fire with really big matches? the weed?" she asked, chewing on fish meat.

Alexa Alexa was finished with the food for now, saving some for after the weed has been blazed up so she can indulge freely and carelessly. If that ever happened apparently. As the girls talked around the fire, she pulled out a nail varnish and began painting away, she kept looking over the shoulder to see if Jude and Joss were on their way back yet and looked up only to witness Shane act like a really nice human being towards Gigi and wonder why she’d never been that nice to her. Andi being typical Andi made her smile a bit and she’ll blow into her nails as Jude finally returns. “Bitch finally, let’s go!” She shifts slightly to the left to allow space for Jude. After all it was a weed rule to always pass left, at least that’s what Max had taught her back in the day. “Cigarettes do kill but I’m pretty sure statistically you’re more likely to die in a car accident and like Jude said...we still be doing all that shit so, it’s one of those things...” she brushes her palms against her knees waiting for the spliff party to begin so she can lay down and look at the stars, eat and pass out. “Okay let’s go!”

Shane shane looks up when she hears jude join in the conversation; she wasn’t really sure what they were talking about now. but then her eyes moved to joss for a second before darting back to look at the sand like some scared puppy waiting for the other girl to yell at her or tell her off. “everything kills you eventually,” shane mumbled, trying to actually be apart of the conversation for once, “but i’m here for a good time, not a long time.” her words would be far too real and concerning if anyone truly knew how serious she actually was about that, but everyone has their secrets. she looked over at lex with a small smile, still expecting her to kick shane out of the circle for snapping at her the day before.

Luna "I'm down with a good time and not a long time," Luna added, her tone joking though she was entirely serious. "After all, it's not like our parents are here to tell us that smoking is bad for you." And quite frankly, Luna wanted to be high right now. To drift off, and not worry about anything for a while. "So let's do this."

Joss Joss wasn't sure what the conversation was about when she returned but whatever  the subject, it sounded pretty bloody morbid. Everything kills you eventually? Jeez, Shaneo, maybe yesterday had had more of an impact on the brunette than Joss had anticipated. Maybe that was why she'd taken such offence to Jocelyn's words. Assuming that Shane was in a shitty mood was easier than taking responsibility for making an un-funny joke, after all. "Fair sure eating stuff straight from the ocean is worse than having a ciggie," she chimed, taking a seat in the sand and glancing around the circle at the other girls, waiting for one of them to tell her to just fuck off again. She regret her words then, looking over at Luna, trying to catch her attention as she signaled a thumbs up and a questioning expression, making sure that she was 100% good for it, especially after feeling crook for the last day or two.

Jude when joss said that, jude slowly drew the clam away from her mouth, eyeing it. this? a simple clam, worse than a cigarette? she raised an eyebrow at joss. "tell us the truth, joss. did you poison the clams?" she joked. "did my public display of affection for them just really get to you?" why would ocean food be bad for you? it's there for a reason, right? whatever. she shook her head of the thoughts, waiting for the weed to be passed over to her as she finished up her probably-not-poisoned clam

Joss Joss chuckled and brought her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around them loosely, "Yep, you caught me," she teased, though she was pretty sure the idea of her poisoning everybody wasn't the best sort of gag to lean into when they already had plenty of reasons to think she was a dickhead. "I've been doing it the whole time, right under your nose," she added vaguely and with a light chuckle because she didn't really know anything about how to purposefully poison somebody and the joke was already getting old by now anyway.

Shane with the mention of poisoning and joss playing along, shane glanced over at jenny, almost nervous for their reaction. not that she thought they would say anything in front of the whole group, but still. instead shane looked back at joss and decided to go along with the joke. “looks like we’ll have some more bodies to move together then,” she joked at jill’s expense (rip bitch). part of her was hoping that if joss accepted her joke or even just smiled at it, it would mean that they were okay. at least for now, until one of them fucked up and said the wrong thing again.

Alexa As soon as Joss came back it was back to clam talk and Alexa had for one had enough of it. “Jude light the zoot or the most likely to kill thing will become me, yeah? Also guys it’s two hit pass, we have enough for everyone but no hogging alright...” she said, throwing a lighter over to Jude as she kept looking Shane and Joss over. She could have swore she saw Shane smile here way at some point but, it just have been a muscle twitch or something.

Jude jude caught the lighter flawlessly like the jock bitch she was, lighting up and puff, puff passing after a long inhale. "fuck, that takes me back to like two weeks ago, before i was stranded on an island," she said gleefully, exhaling into the sky. "yo, i wanna hear everyone's 'first time' stories. if you've never gotten high, then first time getting drunk or laid or something," she remarked, passing to her left. "first time i got high, i was, like, 14. it was so fucking stupid, it was this girls all-night sleepover thing the august before we starter high school, like a get to know you thing, right?" she explained vividly, looking around the circle. "and my friend remy's older brother was a total stoner, so she snuck a couple of joints in by putting them in her bra, and at, like, 4 am, we went to the school basement while everyone was sleeping and we just got high as fuck. when we were walking back to the gym, a couple of teachers caught us, right? but they'd, like, definitely been fucking. so they just kinda looked at us, and we looked at them, and they were like "go back to bed, girls," and we never got in trouble."

Joss There was no way in fresh hell that Joss was going to tell the story of losing her virginity when she was trying not to even think about it at all and she couldn't even remember the first time she'd been properly drunk. Joss' jaw dropped at the mention of the teachers, she couldn't imagine anything like that happening at her own school but then again, she couldn't imagine anybody getting away with getting high in the basement either. Actually, she couldn't even imagine anybody getting away with simply going to the basement or anywhere else that was out of bounds without a hiding. "My parents went away on this like- two or three day cruise thing up the coast and left my older sister in charge. She had a few friends over and one of them brought this shitty bong her brother had made and I pretended I smoked all the time- which was really stupid because my sister was sitting right there, knowing I'd never done it before. I didn't actually know she'd ever done it before either, at the time- I was like, maybe thirteen, I reckon?"

Shane shane chuckled lightly at jude’s story; sounds about right for a new york school. she was actually surprised that joss had a story to tell, she didn’t strike her as the type to get high at all considering how she held herself. shane didn’t really want to think about her first time, she spent the previous day doing just that. not to mention, her first time was with something much harder than weed. but the others didn’t need to know that. so she gave the watered down story. “summer before my junior year, my, uh, friend made me go to this party. we snuck off to a bathroom together, pretty sure we cut this long ass line too but she didn’t give a fuck. got high and went back to the party. best fucking night of my life,” of course everything went down hill from there, but no one needed to know that. she waited her turn for the joint to be passed to her and tried to focus on the present fucked up situation instead of the ones from the past.

Joss Admittedly Joss was surprised to hear that it had only been a couple of years prior, the first time that Shane had gotten high. Not quite as surprised as she was to hear about teachers banging on campus but surprised nonetheless. "On what?" she asked curiously, without realising it was the first time she'd addressed the other girl since her awkward exit earlier. "It's such a bad habit but after a few drinks, I always want a smoke- like a cigarette, not a joint- like if people are smoking I'll always steal one but I won't smoke weed at parties for some reason," she explained candidly, more honest than she had been about most things up to this point.

Shane shane balked at joss for a second when she asked for more details. not only were things tense between them, but shane thought she would have gotten away with giving very little details. “uh, coke,” she admitted, looked down at the sand, not wanting to see the blonde’s judgment. but she tried to keep up with the conversation to keep the attention off what she admitted. “cigarettes when you’re drunk just hit different. but if my coach asks, i never said that,” she joked, looked back up at the other girl. “why don’t you smoke weed at parties?”

Alexa She listens intently as the others describe their first time and feels a sting passing through her as she recalls her own. So far only Andi had actually known about Max having known her for a long time but, only Jenny had ever been told about him. She didn’t wanna say his name or speak of him so she joined in on other stories instead. “I’d have not pegged you for a party smoker either to be fair, but I mean you’re full of surprises girl so...can’t put that past you either.” As Shane mentions coke her eyes widen. “Oh shit really party animal, huh? I’ve never done coke, for some reason every dealer always assumed that’s what I’m after...” she shrugs. “I’m a pussy though, I can barely hold my booze you guys know...” she was pretty much a weed only kind of girl but occasionally she did indulge in some hash too. “I can smoke my weight in weed though guys be warned.”

Jude "i only did coke two - okay, no, like, four times. but i don't pay for that shit, i just take what's offered to me, it's too fucking expensive. shrooms, though?" she laughed. "that's another story." jude had dabbled in most party drugs she deemed "basically, like, harmless." weed was her go to, though. "fuck, i'd give anything to be in new york, doing shrooms in my car and eating pizza instead of here. no offense, guys. i mean, the poison clams are good and everything, but... it's hot as fuck out here," she explained. that being said, it almost didn't matter to jude where she was if she squinted her eyes hard enough. pissy here, pissy there. only difference is, now she's gonna die with a couple of australians.

Joss Joss nodded her head in simple acknowledgement, a look of understanding in place of a look of judgement. She should have been able to figure that one out, why else did girls disappear into the bathrooms in pairs if not to rail lines on the toilet seat? At Shane's comment she chuckled and nodded her head, this time in agreement, "Yeah, same here- if literally any adult asks, I don't even know how to hold a cigarette," parents, teachers, friends of parents, parents of friends and sporting staff alike didn't need to know a single thing about the partying habits of their teens if Joss could help it. "Um," she thought about it, perhaps for the first time then, "Yeah- I don't know, hey, I guess I just feel kinda like, maybe tired?" she offered, "I don't like feeling too..." she hesitated as the words 'out of it' stuck to the tip of her tongue. If she hadn't been so bloody out of it at Lucy's house, she wouldn't be on the island at all. "I like feeling energy at a party or music festival or whatever,"  she chuckled at Lex's words, "Yeah and to be fair- your weight in weed isn't like...a lot," she teased, "Apart from the dump truck, obvs," she added, careful not to devalue Alex's notoriously phat ass if she could help it. "Never done shrooms," she'd never even seen shrooms, as far as she knew. She didn't know where they came from or how people got them but then again, she didn't really know where any of the drugs they used came from, they just sort of magically appeared in the pockets of her friends and emerged when the time was right. She laughed at Jude's lamenting and raised her hands defensively, "None taken, I'd rather be in New York eating pizza too," she admitted but would she rather be at home? She wasn't sure. "Is it cold in New York right now- or hot? I don't really get your weather,"

Shane shane couldn’t even count or remember all of the drugs she’s done in the past two years. most of the time, she didn’t even bother to ask, she’d just take eliza’s word for it before doing whatever it was she bought them. she looked over at lex when she commented on it, “we’re all full of surprises, i guess,” she said with a half smile before turning her attention to joss. “yeah fuck that, adults don’t need to know any of the shit we do,” she said with a laugh. her parents would probably kill her if they knew exactly what she did at those parties. not to mention the real reason she had her pills. “shit jude, that’s the life though. nothing better that.” shane wasn’t a big fan of hallucinogens but she could appreciate them from time to time. “yeah, i’d be cold back home right now. probably snowing actually, which i guess i am glad that i’m not there for that bullshit.”

Jude "i like feeling slowed down. it's why i take adderall," she remarked, though, to be fair, she didn't mind feeling energetic, either, as long as it was a manufactured, intoxicated energy. anything to get away from her own head for a while, be it getting high and zoning out to CSI on the couch, or getting turnt and cleaning her entire house and smelling like cleaning products for twelve hours. "i'll drink to that," jude said, "fuck adults," she agreed, groping for the vodka and taking a sip straight from the vodka, giving a wincing grin at the feeling of it burning up her throat on the way down. "it's cold as fuck back home. but i like snow, though. i hate the hot weather, fuckin' humitidy and shit," she said. hot weather made her feel like she was boiling in baba yaga's stew. it made her feel guilty, somehow, like the air was gripping at her shoulders, shaking her.

Joss Joss cocked her head slightly at Jude's comment, "What is adderall?" she had heard about it on TV but she didn't really understand what it was for or how people got their hands on it- though Jude's words enlightened her a little; Joss had always thought it was like taking caps but apparently it was the opposite. "Like, I've heard of it," she clarified but she didn't have anything more to contribute than a vague awareness of the name. She chuckled once again, "Yeah, you'd fucking hate it at home then hey, it gets bloody hot and pretty humid sometimes- like not as bad as up north but pretty bad. This weather is pretty much like Queensland, I reckon," she noted, looking around the island, "-don't think we're anywhere near it though," she added, thinking of her conversation with Luna about the Southern Cross.

Alexa She smiles back at Shane with a nod, completely immersed in the conversation at play even if she didn’t contribute much. As she took the first hit of the zoot she could feel her whole body buzz and she remembered why she loved it so much. “I don’t really like being slowed down as much as I like...not caring? You know when you smoke and you just have the buzz and your mind is fully engaged into whatever the fuck show or video or conversation you’re into? Like that...I like that. I used to get high daily...” she smiles and nods towards Joss. “Got it from my mama...” she didn’t really but she thought a Cardi reference was due. “I like the cold too, I like the shitty moody UK weather with some hot summer months and then back to cold and depressing. But I travel a lot so...” she sighs passing the zoot. “I think I prefer the cold because it’s hard to feel productive in heat, I just lounge and think about like fun stuff to do and not shit that should get done. But then winter rolls in and it’s such a mood killer too like....I don’t know, I just hate the whole thing. Is there a place that has eternal spring? That’d be cool...” she shrugs realising weed had already hit her on the account of her speaking so much. “Still I’m glad this island is a tropical disaster as opposed to a winter one...at least my tan is fine and my clothes aren’t useless garbage.”

Jude adderall was so fucking common in nyc, jude was surprised there were still people who didn't know much about it. "it helps you, like, focus. it's for ADHD - which i've got, so mine's legal, baby - but some kids take it to pull all nighters and shit. if you have ADHD, you focus in, like, a zen, determined kinda way. if you don't, it's, like.... i dunno, crack? i mean, it's an amphetamine or something, which i think is, like... meth?" she offered. "listen, don't get me wrong, i'm glad we don't have to fight off, like, polar bears. i'm just saying, i don't love the tropical storms and shit, either. i feel, like... STICKY. all of the time. and you know what likes heat? bugs. i feel like one day im gonna wake up with an ant trying to live in my leg hair."

Joss Jocelyn thought about Alexa's reasoning and came to conclusion that Lex's reason for smoking was the reason Joss didn't like smoking at parties. While Lex felt more relaxed, like she cared less, Joss felt more out of control, like if she didn't care, she'd do or say the wrong thing.  "I get that," she said, instead of admitting that she felt the opposite way. She was surprised to hear that Lex got high every day, however. Did her parents not care? Were they even around to have an opinion either way? She was sure she'd be shipped off to the Dawn of Eve a hell of a lot sooner if her parents even knew she'd ever smoked, let alone tried drugs or was getting high every day. It was crazy to think how different the girls sitting in the same circle all were. She listened to Jude's explanation of Adderall and it was a bloody good one if you asked her. She'd gone from knowing nothing at all to feeling pretty competent in the field, "I don't reckon it's a big thing at home, like I don't know anyone that's ever had it- or like, maybe they do for ADHD but none of my mates," that said, something to help her focus and study properly sounded like a God send. It would certainly beat sitting with her tutor for two hours straight on a Wednesday afternoon. "I'm the opposite, hey. I feel so unmotivated in the Winter like, if it's raining I barely want to leave the house but when the suns out it's like- go for coffee, go to the shops, have a beach day, go for a drive. Like, literally, I'll do anything just to get out of the house," she admitted.

Divya Divya was learning so much listening to the girls chat away. She really only knew of drugs and partying and the like through movies and TV shows, and she took that with a grain of salt knowing how much Hollywood liked to embellish things. Her firsthand experience with such things were abysmal. Awfully non-existent. Perhaps if her aunt didn’t play such a big hand in her life over the last few years, she’d have had a chance at having sharing some of the experiences the girls were talking about. But no, Divya led a very much sheltered life thanks to her aunt’s strict nature and conservative ideals. Whatever freedoms her mother had given her growing up was bit by bit stripped away and replaced with long hours revising, less time with her friends and barely doing things she actually enjoyed. More and more did those things take over her life until her aunt didn’t even have to lift a finger anymore, warping Divya’s way of thinking to the point where she believed she had to do those things to succeed. She shifted uncomfortably where she was seated on the sand at the memory of her former self. “So how does one smoke the... zoot... thing?” She asked, unsure if she was referring to it correctly. She just wanted something to do. Other than sit and listen. Maybe partaking wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Especially since weed was meant to relax you to her understanding. “Might be a bit of a shocker to all of you,” she said, sarcasm laid on thick, “but I’ve never... puff puff passed or whatever it was that Lex said.” Warmth flooded her cheeks at the admittance. “I’d like to try though,” she said, sitting up a bit. “My first time drinking was with you guys, might as well tick off another first while we’re all here with no adult supervision.”

Joss Jocelyn tried not to laugh, remembering the way her sister's friends had chuckled when Joss had almost choked on her first bong hit. With pressed lips, she tried to get the sound of 'zoot thing' in Divya's adorable accent out of her head. "Inhale slowly, exhale slowly- have a drink if you cough, it's just your throat saying 'what the fuck' basically," not exactly a clinical explanation of the whole concept but good enough, she decided. "-and you probs won't feel it at first but don't let that fool you, I made that mistake once with pot brownies and got so fucked I couldn't get out of bed- like, at one point I actually started crying because my mate told me I'd tied the string on my PJ shorts too tight and I thought I'd have to wear them to school on Monday," the same friend had blocked her on Facebook now.

Jenny As the conversation moved on, they stayed quiet. They'd always been much more a listener than a talker, much preferring to just sit and listen, waiting for their turn to take a hit from the joint. Since Joss' joke they were at least gonna wait a minute before touching the vodka she'd found a couple days ago. As the conversation continued to be people listing off all the things they'd done, specifically the drugs they'd done, they couldn't help but make a small joke of " So glad we're not playing Never Have I Ever again right now, I'd be fucked. " A chuckle falling from their lips as they did. They didn't look to Shane immediately when adderall and ADHD was mentioned, they didn't want to out her. But they did a couple moments later, just to check she wasn't freaking the fuck out. They found it hard to believe that the conversation then shifted to weather but they continued to listen, poking their stick in the sand. " I'm with Jude on this one. I think I'd take gross snow sludge over just feeling like I'm sweating constantly every second of every day. " They said, deciding to contribute just a little once again. Personally, they loved the cold. The only thing they didn't like about the winters they'd known was sludge. Then Divya piped up and Jenny also had to stop themselves from laughing at her innocence. Pressing their lips together so it couldn't escape but they couldn't hide the smile. Eyes moved to Joss when she instructed her on how to smoke the zoot thing, nodding in agreement with what she said. " Slow and steady, " they added, both in regards to breathing and how Divya shouldn't be fooled if she didn't feel it at first. They were amused by Joss' story but they didn't imagine it was really confidence boosting for the first timer. " You'll be fine. " They assured with affectionate tap of her knee with the back of their knuckles. " And if you do go a little too far, apparently you've got a whole team of experts to look after you. " They smiled at her.

Shane shanes jaw clenched when jude brought up adderall which lead to joss asking about her. she her eyes closing as she listened to it be explained, making a mental note that jude must actually have adhd and shane should be careful to keep her secret that much more of a secret. then the other equated it to meth if you don’t have adhd, which completely true, but shane wasn’t expecting to hear that so candidly. her eyes shot open and looked around the group before landing on jenny who was looking back at her. she gave them a look that said ‘dude i’m panicking, what the fuck’ but she couldn’t do anything about. instead she just let her hands clench into the sand and pretend to focus on the conversation without actually hearing them. maybe she should come clean, at least to jenny, that she wasn’t completely honest about why she takes them. maybe they would understand and they could talk about it. but maybe they would get pissed that she had lied to them. both options scared her. she tried to focus on divya, giving her an encouraging smile, but wasn’t sure how well it came off.

Joss Joss wondered what it was about Divya that made her so damn likeable. Joss hadn’t seen  Shane smile like that before, in fact, Joss hadn’t been aware that Shane was capable of smiling like that. Maybe she was already high, that was the only explanation for the brunette’s sudden sense of camaraderie, Joss deduced.  She wondered then, what she would have to do to be more like Divya, to be universally liked by the group instead of the golden standard when it came to motivating everybody to roll their eyes at once.

Luna Despite Luna's partying, she'd done relatively few of the drugs mentioned here. She'd gotten drunk before, had some weed, done a few nangs. Nothing major. Not adderall. Certainly nothing like cocaine. She was pretty sure anyway. She had no intention of ending up back in a hospital. Listening to the group, it was wild how different the experiences of all the girls was. "The stickiness is the worst," Luna agreed. "Give me a dry heat any day. At least after the rain it's a little less humid." Not much though. Joss was right, it was like Queensland. Or, rather, like that one trip her family had made to Queensland. Which had been cut short. Luna tried not to think about that. "Can I have some?" she asked to distract instead, nodding to Divya.

Divya Inhale slowly, exhale slowly. That seemed easy enough. Slow and steady, Jenny then added. Divya could do that. She kept their advice in mind as she raised the... 'zoot' to her lips, the thing pinched between between her thumb and index finger because she couldn't begin to know how to actually hold it. How did people hold cigarettes? How did people hold... zoots? Was there a manual when you were going into this or did people just instinctually know? Whatever it was, instincts or something else, Divya didn't have it so she kept Joss and Jenny's advice in mind when she put it between her lips. She inhaled slow, she would have exhaled slow too if the smoke didn't practically burn her throat. How did everyone make it look so easy? She pulled the zoot away from her mouth almost immediately, sputtering into a fit of coughs. "Oh my god–" Cough, cough. "Oh, that's horrid. It hurts." She touched her vacant hand to the base of her throat. She didn't expect it to hurt. Joss had mentioned 'cough' so casually, she figured it would be because of the smoke, not the pain. "Please, go ahead," she held the 'zoot' out to Luna, more than happy to part with it. Once it was handed off, she reached for one of the water bottles and took a couple of big sips to soothe her throat.

Alexa She watched as the others guided Divya to take her first ever hits off a zoot and her eyes glimmered with joy as the other did. Her head was feeling the effects of the plant and she leaned on her knees as the other coughed, laughing. “Here here...” she passes her the booze to follow down the water and smiles. “Hey you did so good! Coughing actually implies you done it right, how do you feel?” She asks, as if the other was supposed to have a full on report on it already. As the spliff moves on to Luna she will follow it with her eyes and pass her some water as well. Alexa was happy with how everything was working out, their full day of effort leading to some pretty relaxed atmosphere. She couldn’t even bother to care what sort of eye convos and low voice conversations some of the individuals were having. She was just happy everyone seemed happy, even Shane. Maybe things were changing, maybe they were all gonna get along better from now on. Weed did that. For once she wasn’t trying to get attention or say something ridiculous or be a part of the conversation. She felt okay to just be and to sit back and relax like she used to back in the day. Her eyes kept following the faces in the circle and she’ll look to her left, somewhat unaware of who was actually there. “Do you think we will all still hang out once we’re off this island?”

Oona Oona carefully watched Divya as she inhaled from the zoot. “I like it when it’s cool and sunny,” she said a little absently. It had been beneficial to observe how everyone else took part in smoking it, but Divya was also new to this. It might’ve been a little selfish and a little cowardly, but it was a comfort to know Divya was jumping in first (and hopefully Oona would be able to learn from any mistakes). It was easier to concentrate on than the primary line of conversation before it inevitably turned to the weather, which Oona was pretty sure was a byproduct of the drugs or not in and of itself. “It’s always pretty sunny back home, but we get hit by pretty intense blizzards and we’re stranded in almost three feet of snow multiple times a year.” Oona’s days were jampacked—school, then tutoring, then volunteering, then Bible Study—and her weekends weren’t all that much different. Her Church was not only filled with lifers who were raised in the faith, but with many people who were ex-somethings—drug addicts, petty criminals, recovering alcoholics. They actively turned away from a lifestyle of depravity and toward a clean, sober one with Christ. There weren’t many opportunities to pop pills or to take shrooms, or at least none that she sought out herself. Her brow furrowed when Divya started to cough and she winced at the word horrid. Oona reached out to rub soothing circles on her back as she drank from a water bottle. She blinked at Alexa’s question, not feeling particularly like she was included in that we, so she merely shrugged to allow someone else to answer it. She wouldn’t mind hanging out with them again. It felt like the first time in her life she was surrounded by honesty.

Shane shane watched as divya went for it and ended up coughing, but in a weird way, she was kinda proud that she actually did it. after all, divya seemed like the most innocent of the girls in the group along with oona. “everyone coughs the first time, right of passage,” she said in support. looking over at lex, shane thought her question for a second. she’s definitely thought about it with a few of the girls before; some more than others. “i’d like to hope so,” which was probably the most surprising thing shane has said this whole time, even more than the fact that’s shes smiled a total of three times today. “can’t really go through a near death experience and just forget each other,” she added on.

Gianna gigi wasn’t the most experienced partner. she had still been in that rebellious phase where she wore what her mother didn’t like and skipped swim practice and had a few shots at a party; drugs weren’t her optimal area of knowledge. so she just watched quietly as the girls passed around the weed, trying to keep her thoughts to herself - if she said something, chances are she’d probably make herself seem like an idiot. she’d keep quiet for now. “you guys do this, like...all the time?” she asked with a little awe, wondering how they led such exciting lives. “don’t you get in trouble?” gigi added, wishing she could be half as ballsy as some of the girls in the group. “i mean i’ve had mushrooms,” she held up her stick of vegetable, “but i don’t really feel anything when i eat them.” she shrugged casually.

Jude "yeah, i get in trouble," jude laughed, "why do yo think i was on that fuckin' plane?" admittedly, her mom never really cared what kind of wild shit jude was into, as long as it was safe. her uncle was a whole different story. jude's eyes widened at gigi's explanation of vegetables, and she laughed a little bit. "maybe you've just got a mad high tolerance," she speculated, knowing gigi had misunderstood them, but going along with it anyways, because she was an asshole.

Jenny While Jenny had managed to hold back their laugh when Divya had asked how to smoke the zoot, they couldn't when she started coughing and complaining. They could remember doing the exact same thing first time they'd smoked, and their brother telling them to shut the fuck up so they didn't wake the rest of the family. The clapped their hand against their leg in congratulations. " Now you're a deviant, just like the rest of us, " They mused happily, though Divya was far from the only innocent in the group as Gigi would prove in a few moments. Truthfully, Jenny didn't expect them all to stay in touch. Sure, they hoped they would. At least some of them. But they didn't think that would actually happen. Everyone would get back to their lives, their friends, and probably realise a lot of what they had in common on the island was just the island. They nodded along with what Shane said though, deciding to build on it. " I don't think I'll ever get on a plane again though, we'll have to come up with some elaborate pen pal system. " They suggested in jest, small smile tugging up their features. They weren't gonna be the one to bring the mood down. Their smile spread again as Gigi asked her question and Jude answered it so boldly. A chuckle falling from their lips. They decided not to answer it though, they didn't really want to reveal that there was more than drug use their parents had to be worried about with them. They chuckled again when she asked about shrooms, misunderstanding what the others had been talking about. " Special mushrooms, not really ones you eat with dinner. " They tried their best to clarify once Jude had their fun. They waited a beat but then they had a question, mainly for the innocents of the group but they'd be interested in what the others had to say too. " What's the wildest thing y'all have ever done? Like heart thumping in your chest, you know you shouldn't have, but shit, you might just do it again - wild? "

Andrea Jenny asked a good question -- one that she wasn't quite sure that she had the answer to. Instead of answering right away, she ate another mushroom of the stick, waiting for a moment to see if anyone had an answer. "I mean, there's got to be something, right? Even if you just... I don't know, had a beer one night when everyone was asleep. You've had to have done something." She didn't mean to push, but it was surprising how naive and innocent Gigi and some of the others seemed to be. Andrea wanted to share her own story. But she also knew that if she did, she'd be telling them all why she was on the 'retreat' to begin with. She wasn't sure she was ready for that yet. "I had a threesome," she shrugged. Maybe that would be enough to get people comfortable talking.

Shane shane chuckled at gigi’s question and jude’s answer that she gets caught. “my parents don’t know half the shit i do,” she said honestly. if they did, she’d probably be sent off to some boarding school or rehab or to a feminist retreat meant to strengthen young women into successful members of society. oh wait, that did happen. “it’s all about plausible lies and not getting caught.” nodding as jenny added on to her thought, shane agreed. “yeah they’re going to have to sedate me to get back to new york or else i’m taking buses the whole way. but at least we have modern technology to keep in touch.” she thought about the question, trying to think of a story that didn’t expose her party habits, when andi said she’s had a threesome. “damn, okay, kudos,” she said with a laugh. “i’m graffitied our rival school’s building before a big game. half my team got drunk and we thought it would be a good idea. everyone knew we did it but they didn’t have proof so we got away with it.” she looked around to see who would go next.

Alexa She didn't much like the idea of not seeing the girls again, but considering how the things were going she thought there might never be a need to worry about that as the rescue planes or boats or whatever the fuck were nowhere in sight. Still, she finds Shane actually acknowledging her rather encouraging and it perks up her spirit. "Well, I don't mind flying at all I mean...the chances of us being in a plane crash and surviving are ridiculously low as is...for us to be in one twice is practically impossible. I'll have daddy's plane pick everyone up, that should be less terryfing. And if needed champagne and sedation will be provided. To us...not, not the pilot. Maybe whoever organised the Dawn of Eve flight had that bit mixed up." she laughs and takes a sip of the vodka mixed into her coconut. As they speak of crazy shit they've all done, Lex feels it's her time to shine. She had an abundance of stories relating to Jenny's question and struggled to pick just the one so she took a note out of Judes book and decided to blurt out the last straw that got her put on the forsaken plane. "I fucked a ganitor during my dads fundraisor at the Louvre." she chuckles and proceeds. "I mean, that's what got me here. I have a lot of sex in public stories that may or may not include a Ferris wheel, downtown LA, a chess tournament...so Louvre maybe not the craziest shit I've done." she'll admit. "Anyways, I once stole an ARRI camera off a film set my uncle was working on just because I wanted to make YouTube videos in high quality and because I didn't want to get caught I sold it for parts on the dark web just to get rid of the evidence. Now, I know what you might be thinking...it's a lot of effort to get rid of a camera but, in my defence, my uncle is a dick and I was fourteen."

Gianna it hadn’t occurred to gigi that the girls were on the plane for a reason different from her own - another reminder that she wasn’t the only person on this island. “so, like the ones you have with lunch?” she asked with a raised brow, not understanding the insinuation behind jennys words. the mushrooms she had at lunch were the same she had at dinner - maybe she was just doing it wrong. shed have to ask andi about it another time, when she didn’t feel so out of the loop. listening to the others talk about their experiences, gigi smoothed her hair behind her ear and glanced at the flame of the fire. she wasn’t nearly as adventurous, no matter how much she thought she was. she wasn’t having sex with janitors (or anyone, ever, for that matter), and she definitely wasn’t destroying property.  she had a long, long way to go. for a moment she wondered if she even belonged here. “i fought a cop once,” she muttered to herself and the fire, shrugging. it was all she really had to offer for the group - “the cop won.” she grimaced, sighing in defeat.

Joss Joss hummed thoughtfully at Gigi's question. She wasn't used to getting into trouble, not really. She'd been grounded a couple of times for staying out too late on school nights but she'd never done anything quite as scandalous as Jude or Lex had managed. Not purposely, anyway. She decided not to participate in the discussion, not wanting to make a mention of her reasons for being shipped out of Melbourne airport and on the way to the Dawn of Eve retreat, so she busied herself with putting her jacket on and stuffing her hands into her pockets to keep them warm instead of getting closer to the fire. Joss had been trying so, so very hard to not be outwardly judgmental of the other girls but the moment Gianna mentioned her fight with the cop, she just couldn't restrain herself anymore and her face warped into an obvious 'what the fuck' expression as she mouthed the words themselves. Was she kidding? She wondered as she looked around the group, hoping to understand the statement a little bit more clearly from the reactions of the others.

Jenny The fact that Andi just opened the gate with threesome was fucking surprising. Another chuckle falling from Jenny's lips, unable to stop it. " Okay, okay– good start. " They mused, nodding their head even if it had been completely far away from their own story they'd thought of, it was definitely a good start. Shane's didn't surprise them, they'd already said her whole life revolved around soccer, and they still thought it was a good thing. The listened with easy smile, arms holding legs to their chest. The craziness of Lex's wildest moment (or moments) didn't shock them either, they had expected as much. But the actual content was shit they never could have predicted. Lex's life sounded like sex Jackass, they didn't know how she could keep up with herself half the time. Then the most surprising of them all: Gigi. Gigi who still wasn't getting that shrooms were different from regular old mushrooms, had fought a cop. Their mouth dropped open a little, but different in the way that Joss' did. Jenny was impressed. It totally blew their stupid aquarium story out of the water, and they hadn't even told it. " No fuckin' way, I did not see that one coming. " They chuckled again, anyone who had interacted with Jenny in the past week might be realising quickly they started laughing a lot when they smoked. " You don't have to tell the story if you don't want but, like– just a pinch? Just a little context, please? " They asked, holding a hand up and pinching their thumb and index finger together to indicate just how much of a story they were after.

Andrea Andi was rather pleased with herself. She expected that most of the others would have good stories -- but that they wouldn't be willing to share them... unless someone else shared first. And it wasn't like she was embarrassed about the threesome. It wasn't the best sex she'd had, but it certainly wasn't the worst. As the girls went around sharing, she listened. It was impressive, hearing what some of them had gotten away with. Or... maybe that they hadn't gotten away with. "Gigi. No, you can't stop there. We need the whole story on that one -- how the hell did you get into a fight with a cop? I mean, kudos. But still," she echoed, after Jenny spoke. "Do you need something to help you loosen up? Cause we can make that happen..."

Libby as the weed finally made its way around to libby, she could literally feel the tension that she had been carrying for the past week ease away — or at least ease as much as possible under the circumstances. she found it kind of funny that the original purpose of the retreat was to straighten her out and get her to quit her drug use and yet here she was, up to her same old habits. libby’s lips turned upwards as she listened to gigi. “you fought a cop? ” gigi seemed so sweet and innocent that it was difficult to imagine her getting into some sort of altercation with anyone, let alone an actual cop. after andi spoke, she nodded. “yeah, agreed. gotta give us some context there. she thought about what she could share without getting too personal and finally deciding. “one time i shoplifted like..... a shit ton of stuff over a weekend long period. not sure how much but it was a lot.”

Gianna nobody had ever really been interested in gigi or her stories; it was a miracle if she could make sense of one. but she felt accepted and encouraged and the swimmer shifted in anticipation in her seat on the log. “last summer i’d gone to a party for a cousin of mine. it was really just a whole lot of us running around drunk while my aunts and uncles stayed inside cooking.” she began casually, before andi offered something to loosen her up. “no, it’s alright, i’ve lost a lot of weight, so my clothes are pretty loose already.” she shook her head with thanks before continuing. “my cousin knocked his brother into the grill when they were wrestling and set one of the lawn chairs on fire.” she went on, popping another mushroom in her mouth before handing off the last few to shane, as she had promised herself. “my aunt called the fire department, and cops showed up. i tried making it better, they don’t tell you that vodka can set on fire, so it didn’t make things better when i tried pouring it on to diffuse the situation,” she mused quietly, shrugging. “underage drinking. fires. cops. it took all of five seconds for a grown ass man to pile on top of me and restrain while i kept pouring vodka in the fire.” she mused with purses lips, remembering how she’d used all her power and energy to push a grown cop off her body and scurry to the other side of the yard. “that back and forth went on for a few minutes before i was eventually thrown in the back of his car and picked up at the station six hours later.” there was quiet, and gigi took a sip from her coconut with water to break the silence. “oh shopliftings fun. and it’s easy you just put the clothes back, like, a week later when you’re bored with them.”

Joss Joss had truly expended every ounce of energy she could spare, pretending not to be completely judgemental of Gigi. Instead of gawking at the other girl, however, she brought her water bottle to her lips to disguise her expression as she processed the information, bit by bit. Fuck me, she thought. She really didn’t know the first thing about these girls, did she? As she looked around the group, she realised just how foreign the rest of the Islanders were and wondered how many more stories of chaos, debauchery and God knows what else they shared between them. Then her eyes landed on Shane and she remembered something. Something that made her stomach stir uncomfortably. “This trip was my parents way of saying congratulations, that plus my birthday,” she heard Shane’s voice in her head, lying so easily. “So, Dawn of Eve really was just a- like a cute boot camp, hey? Scared Straight but with swag bags,” she voiced to the group, though her focus was mostly on the brunette, only shifting when she fell silent again.

Shane shane took the remaining mushrooms when gigi offered them back. finally allowing herself to eat something, and picked a piece of one and popping it in her mouth while she listened to the girls story. “jesus,” she muttered. she really didn’t think the other girl had it in her to fight a cop but the rest of the story kinda made sense. finally, shane was starting to loosen up and not be so stuck in her head as they all shared stories. that is until joss spoke. shane looked up to see that she was looking right at her. she remembered the conversation she had with joss a few days ago and how shane didn’t tell the whole truth to her. “something like that,” she mumbled before looking away from the blonde.

Krafty there was so much under the surface of each of the girls, shit even the ones she wouldn't have pegged as a troublemaker had secrets and she guessed that was kind of the point right? if they had been where they were supposed to be...at the dawn of eve they would have been forced into some kind of bonding but this, it felt more natural? like how it was supposed to be in a way. "damn gigi," she let out in a breath through the silence. "i didn't fight a cop but i've ran away from them more than once," she shrugged, "my friends and i spent the night in an abandoned amusement park...they tried to catch us the next morning but even with the asthma i run pretty quick when i want to," krafty chuckled. "i'm with joss, i think this retreat was just some bullshit fix yourself program." coming to that realization though, she couldn't help but wonder if her grandparents really thought that low of her. sending here on this trip to rehabilitate her. was she really that bad?

Jenny It's hard to say if Jenny was laughing at Gigi's story, the silence from everyone else, or if it was just because they were giggly but all the same they couldn't help the chuckle that tumbled forward as Gigi finished up the story. " Okay, yeah, that's wild. " They said, nodding their head and raising one of the boiled water bottles in a sort of cheers before they took a sip. Their head turned then to Krafty, once again easily impressed. " That's dope, dude. I've always wanted to go to like abandoned places and shit. " They didn't really care that no one else had the same energy as them, until Joss spoke, thinking she was coming to some sort of realisation. Brows furrowed a little but as they looked around it seemed a lot of the group was thinking something similar. " No. " They said at first, unintentionally a little bluntly as they tried to put together exactly what they wanted to say. " It wasn't like that for me. " Their situation was different, they decided. " I mean, I didn't wanna go but that's because it sounded like some lame sleepover kumbaya camp. But my parents wanted it to be a good thing, make me feel better. " Make some new friends were their exact words but they weren't gonna say that. " It wasn't a punishment, or like The Ranch or whatever, is what I'm tryna say. " They got to eventually, feeling as though they'd successfully got their point across once they threw the Dr Phil reference in.

Luna Luna loved listening to these stories. She liked to think she got up to wild things, but the truth of the matter was she was still sheltered. She snuck out, yes, but even so it seemed a lot of her life had been tame compared to the girls here. Except maybe Gigi and Oona. Well, maybe including Gigi at this rate. But as the topic changed, she frowned. That didn't sound like what her parents had wanted to send her on. Or anything they would send her on. "It wasn't like that for me either," she chimed in. "My parents wouldn't--They're super protective and all that." Luna looked at Joss. "They wouldn't let me out of their sight if they thought it was some kind of boot camp. They thought it was a good thing. A make some friends thing. It's the first time they've let me go anywhere without them. And," she added, thinking about how they must be freaking out, "I can bet it's going to be the last time after all of this."

Divya It took a bit for Divya to respond to Alexa, busy getting water down her throat and taking a breath after that ‘fun’ little new experience. She offered a what smile she could manage at Oona who was rubbing circles into her back. “Other than my throat hurting and the strange taste,” Divya shared once she felt confident enough to speak again, “not much different. How do you know it’s worked? Do I need to do more to actually feel the effects?” She felt a bit better over her reaction when most of the group assured her that coughing was normal and that it actually meant she had done it right. Perhaps even proud when Jenny clapped a hand against her leg and dubbed her a ‘deviant’. Divya the Deviant. Look at that, go her. Hearing everyone’s theories of what the Dawn of Eve actually was, Divya had to disagree with Joss and Krafty and agree with Jenny and Luna. “Same here.” A good thing to make her feel better, she agreed with that sentiment exactly. “My dad thought I could like, relax and make friends here, feel more confident in myself, before I had to go back to school later in the year. A treat, a fun thing, not... you know, a ‘fix yourself program’,” she echoed Krafty’s words for it. Yes, she’d gone through some things last year. But her dad wouldn’t. Sean wouldn’t. Neither of them would ever put her through... a boot camp? The thought was ridiculous. “Female-centric learning and growth, right? That’s what the lady said in the video. On the plane.” Not the mention the brochure. All ‘empowerment’ this and ‘awakening’ that.

Jude jude thought about it for a minute; she'd done so many things, it was hard to pick. still, she opened her mouth: "so, i was at this party, right? and i was drunk, and i'd skated there. and there was a pool. soooo, someone dared me to skate off the second story roof of andy tanaka's house into the pool - fully clothed. i did it, and i broke my collarbone and my ankle, some-fucking-way. just about fucking drowned, but this hot girl, she was a part-time lifeguard, and she hauled me out. i was conscious and everything, but she was all ready to do mouth-to-mouth, so i kinda let her. then i went to the hospital." "i got sent here for bein' a delinquent. but, like, i guess my uncle thought if he sent me to something less military school, and more 'female retreat,' i'd be more likely to buy into it or whatever. i mean, it's not scared straight or anything, i don't think, but i was definitely supposed to 'shape up and stop fucking around, jude' or whatever," she said, taking on a deep voice to mimic her uncle.

Andrea The others were raising some interesting points. But Andi wasn't sure what to think about the Dawn of Eve retreat. The way it'd been framed to her was that she didn't have a choice in the matter. She was going to go, and she was going to 'change her attitude,' or she'd end up having much more serious consequences. The retreat was a threat looming over the rest of her senior year. And while she knew why she was being forced to attend, she didn't quite realize that others might've been in the same boat. "So half of us believe the bullshit 'this is a chance for you to discover your true self and uplift other women and yourself' thing that's on the brochure. And the rest of us think this is some kind of punishment. Can't it be both? Some kind of retreat for us to like... bond over 'girl power,' but also... I don't know, put us on 'the right path' or whatever? Clearly all of our parents wanted us to get something out of this and come back different somehow."

[ageeksnerdyworld]

Guy’s Night

Characters: Jett Leach, Emery Becker, Kelly Ronan O’Connor

Word Count: 6,386

Trigger Warning: Swearing, Drinking, Bar Fight

Notes: Wrote out another one of those random ideas that often get stuck in my head. As always the Cyber World and the viruses therein belong to @voiceoflarka

Summary: One night the boys find themselves alone in the dorm. Instead of spending the night in the trio decides to go out. Drinks are drained, laughs are had, and shenanigans ensue. Confessions are said and long awaited secrets are spilled. Click the read more if you’d like.

~~~

The day was slowly bleeding into night as the sun began to set. Streams of sunlight, that came through the windows, diminished with the movement. On any given night like this the place was practically packed with its eight residents and various visitors. All manner of raucous from inside could be heard far down the hall. Time and again the group had been harassed by their downstairs neighbors. But on this night the dorm was far too quiet. Quiet and strangely empty. Only two members of the group, who called this place a second home, were inside its walls.

As far as they knew they were the only ones who didn’t have another place to call home.

Jett sat on the couch in front of the TV.

Sitting was putting it lightly.

His body was half on the couch cushion and half on the floor. Slumped in heap of boredom. His tail swished idly at his side. Both of his arms hung down on either side of him. Even the way his clothes, black jeans, a gray and red hoodie, hung off his body echoed his deep boredom. He didn’t even bother to put his hair up so it gathered around his shoulders. It was an odd sight to see. But the strangest part of Jett’s appearance was the fact that he was upside-down.

Emery sat next to him; cross-legged on the cushion.

His mohawk was bright, shockingly so, purple. A light gray tee, with the sleeves haphazardly cut off and a skeletal looking butterfly, covered his torso. He wore a pair of red tartan patterned pants. Mismatched patches, clearly from other articles of clothing, were sewn over the various sized holes. The jean jacket he had worn earlier was hanging on the back of the sofa. His collection of tattoos that covered his shoulders and arms were on full display. Emery’s face was a crinkled mess of confusion and concentration. A controller sat in his hands and he aggressively pushed its buttons.

"Bored."

"Shuddup bro," Emery snapped. "I'm trying to kill this boss."

"Booooooored," he continued to drone on as he slowly slid off the couch.

Suddenly the front door of the dorm slammed open with a loud bang. Kelly stormed through the door; fuming mad. He wore a dark burgundy bomber jacket, a white tee, and blue jeans. His brows furrowed deeply and red colored his normally pale cheeks. Kelly's dark gray veins pulsed brightly with the angry energy. He paced the floor in front of the door before slamming it closed. Leaning his back against the door his left leg bounced up and down.

"Fuckity fuckin' fuck fuck!"

"What's got your panties in a twist, Irish?" Emery asked; eyes still focused on the screen in front of him.

"Avia's gone."

Jett shot up and moved into a regular sitting position. He felt the sudden rush of confusion, worry, and fear. That mix of emotions made Kelly shake his head and put his hands. As he did so he explained the situation as best he could at a rapid pace. Halfway through his lengthy ramble he pulled his beanie off and ruffled his hair.

"No, no, no. It's not like that, Je. She is gone because she’s not here ‘least I don’t think so but it’s not in the way ye thinkin'. She's not abducted or anythin'. Well... technically she’s alright. Maybe? Yes. Wait... No? All I know is she didn't want to go, ye understand? She wanted me to come along but, ye know, it's her da. Éan beag can't say no."

Jett sighed and sunk back into the couch.

Kelly twisted his beanie in his hands as he took up the pacing once more. He mindlessly started to walk to the kitchen. Halfway there he stopped and backtracked to Avia’s room. But he didn’t go in. Instead he stood there for a minute; staring off into space. Fiddling with the zipper of his jacket he pulled it up and down repeatedly. Eventually he swore under his breath and turned around.

He walked to the others and plopped down in the empty space on the sofa.

The three teenage boys sat in almost total silence, save for the sounds from the TV, for quite some time. Emery was too focused on his game to care about anything else. Jett was half watching the gameplay and half checking his social media accounts. Kelly sat with his arms crossed, an angry scowl on his face, and his leg restlessly bouncing. Every once in a while he'd pull out his phone and look through it. But each time there was nothing new. He returned it to his jacket pocket and went back to fuming.

To no one's surprise Kelly broke the silence first.

"Where's everybody else?"

"It's date night for Holl and Kal, remember? And..." Jett said.

"Shit!" Emery shouted in frustration, as his character died yet again, breaking Jett's train of thought. He tossed the controller onto the coffee table with an annoyed sigh.

"Scribe dragged Isabelle to some boring ass lecture 'bout, uh, paleontology or whatever."

Jett nodded; "Yeah and Walker Texas Ranger's... Well, uh, I have no clue what they're doing."

"So," Kelly said with a mischievously raised eyebrow, "it's just us three?"

"Fucking obviously, Irish."

Kelly ignored the comment and slammed his hands on his knees. He stood up with an excited fervor. The others looked at him with slight confusion. Kelly was always a beanpole of energy, but, this was sudden. Not to mention the fact that he busted through the door furious.

"Off yer arses, boys," he said loudly.

They both rose off the couch with confused hesitation. Jett looked to Emery who only shrugged in response. So he turned his attention to Kelly; the source of his confusion. He could sense that the three of them were heading out and even though he didn’t know where, or why, Jett reached into the left hand pocket of his jeans and pulled out a thin, red, ribbon. As he gathered his hair together and tied the ribbon around it he gave Kelly a sideways glance.

"Where’re we going? What’s this about?"

"You'll see," he said with a smile and a wink.

~~~

Kelly led the others through the dark city streets. He dodged every question that was tossed his way. Eventually both of them gave up and let the man keep his secrets. Every so often he'd look back at them; smiling wide. His intense blue eyes shone brightly with overflowing energy that was also reflected in the glow of his dark gray veins.

After some time the trio reached their destination.

"Shit on a shiitake my feet hurt," Emery whined when they approached the bar.

The bar sat peacefully on the corner of an intersection. A pair of bouncers stood on either side of the front entrance. Sharp and almost blindingly bright lights hung high above the entrance. The flashy colors cut through the dark. Lights that formed the name of the bar; The Corner Pocket.

The bouncer nodded to Kelly and let the three teens in. Emery shot him a confused look. Kelly just shrugged and continued on in. While the other two began looking for an open table Jett pushed past them.

Clearly searching for an exit.

"Dude, where you going? We basically just fucking got here, man." Emery said.

"Heading out for a smoke," Jett replied as he pulled a carton from the hidden zipper pocket in his hoodie.

"We'll save ye a seat," Kelly said. "If we ever find one. Shite, this place is packed tighter than a whore's arse runnin’ a bloody two for one special on a Friday."

"Hurry back, dude," Emery said with an annoyed look on his face.

While Jett made his way to the rear exit the others looked for a place to sit. The bar was crowded with patrons, waiters, and a couple security people. Even though most of the patrons were seated throughout the bar the front was still crowded. It was very obvious that the three bartenders on staff were having a hard time keeping up with everything. Kelly looked above the crowds; scanning the area. Emery took a more hands on approach and weaseled his way through the crowds.

Kelly was exactly where he left him when Emery came back a few minutes later.

"Found an empty booth sorta in the back. It's shitty but it's probably as good as we're gonna get."

Meanwhile Jett was now outside; having made it out the back exit. The night was dark but he wasn't taking any chances so he moved some hair over his eyes. Just as an extra precaution he flipped his hood up. In recent months he felt better obscuring his face from strangers. People didn't approach him that way. People didn't try to make small talk or crowd around him.

Tapping the carton against his open palm he nudged a cigarette out of the box. Grabbing it with two fingers he immediately put the filtered end in his mouth.

Digging into his pocket he returned the carton. Jett thought about lighting the cigarette himself. He could create fire, after all, so why not? Just as he was about to try he thought better of it. There was no telling what could happen. He could do what he wanted; light a small flame on his finger.

Or nothing happens, his conscious whispered.

Maybe you shoot out a massive fireball and hurt a lot of people. Maybe somebody dies. Again. Or you set yourself on fire and burn all your clothes off. Then you'd be buck naked, in an alley, outside a bar, alone, in the middle of the night.

Despite everything he still didn't have a good handle on his power. No. Because of everything that happened, and the nightmares that followed, he couldn't control it. There were too many risks.

So he reached back into the pocket inside his hoodie and pulled out a lighter. It was one of the cheap plastic ones grocery stores sell at an insane discount. The plastic was blue and semi-translucent so he could see the lighter fluid inside. There wasn't much left.

Hope this works.

Luckily he managed to get a flame going on the second try. Lighting the cigarette he took a long drag. When he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth he let the smoke flow from his lips. Just before the smoke dissipated into the night he took a sharp inhale. The small cloud of smoke filled his nostrils and his lungs. He sighed and returned the cigarette to his mouth. Standing with his back against the wall he stared out into the night.

Back inside Kelly followed Emery through the mass of bodies. His eyes darted around; looking for a waiter or waitress. There were quite a few around thanks to the obviously busy night. He tried to get the attention of whoever made the slightest bit of eye contact. Just before they reached the booth in question Kelly managed to flag down someone.

He ordered a vodka tonic for himself and a beer for Emery.

Just as the two teens sat at their table a loud, male, voice cut through the music. It sounded close by. Or at least close enough to be heard.

"Lemme get you another drink," the voice said.

Emery heard the voice first and nudged Kelly with his elbow. Across from where they sat, at one of the tables, was a pair of young women. One had tan skin, long brown hair, and an intricate tattoo on her shoulder. The other had a silvery dress on and a short, angled, pastel purple bob.

A male satyr virus was standing in between the ladies. It was obvious that he was the voice they had heard. It seemed as if the man didn’t care to hide his unwanted flirtations from the other patrons. He had long, curved, black horns on either side of his head. They were a sharp contrast from his blonde hair and goatee. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up haphazardly and a large wine stain splattered the front. Despite his clear drunkenness he somehow managed to stay standing. He had a clear look of lust in his eyes and his bright pineapple yellow veins pulsed with anticipation. And even though the women weren't having it he wouldn't back off.

"Fucking creep should leave 'em alone," Emery muttered to Kelly just as the waiter set their drinks down.

"You know," the satyr loudly whispered to the lady with the bob, "If you wanna get out of here I--"

"She clearly ain't interested creep!" Emery cupped his hands together and yelled.

"This don't involve you, punk."

The man went back to bothering the women. He leaned over again and began playing with the brunette's hair. Kelly pursed his lips together in anger as he watched the disgusting display. He bobbed up and down where he sat; filled with restless, furious, energy. Looking around he saw that no one else was seeing this. Or they did and just didn't care.

Acting instead of thinking he rushed over. Stopping just short of where the guy stood Kelly made sure that the ladies could see him but their harasser could not. He stood right behind the satyr, who barely came up to Kelly's chest, and waited. When the man didn't turn around Kelly tapped his shoulder.

"The fuck you want?"

"Ye better leave these women alone," he threatened. "Otherwise yer gonna regret it."

People began to gather around the two; itching for the obvious fight to breakout. Some of the onlookers began quietly whispering bets to one another. Quick exchanges of cash passed between hands. Emery chuckled and downed his beer before hopping off the booth. Once he was on the floor he pushed his way to the front of the growing crowd.

"Ha! Run back to your friend, kid."

"What's the matter," Kelly taunted. "Too scared ta fight? Makes sense seein' ye pick on these nice ladies."

The satyr virus groaned and then swung at Kelly.

He moved out of way barely quick enough to avoid the full effect of the punch. The left hook did connect. But, the impact wasn't as much as the satyr virus was hoping for.

Kelly smirked and backed up again. Holding his hands out he motioned towards himself; egging the satyr to follow. He wanted to get the creep away from the two women as quickly as possible. The virus grit his teeth and his rushed at Kelly.

But he saw that coming and already had his hands up. If the guy was going to try his left hook again Kelly was ready for it. Instead the man kicked with as much force as he could muster. The attack landed and slammed into Kelly's shin.

Immediately after Kelly returned the attack with a hard punch to the man's stomach. A loud gasp of air escaped the satyr’s lungs from the impact. He staggered a bit and Kelly used the advantage to hit him again. He managed to punch the man twice more before the satyr virus caught his third swing.

He bent Kelly's hand backward with all he had.

It hurt like hell. The satyr was trying his damnedest to break Kelly’s wrist. Kelly tried to hit the guy with his free hand. But the man's quick reflexes were even faster than he thought. The satyr grabbed Kelly's other hand just as quickly as he did the first. Before he let go of his grip on Kelly he kicked the teen in the stomach. Kelly slid back from the force of the kick and the crowd winced.

Kelly stood up, put his hands up once more, and waited. The satyr virus shot him a deadly look but didn’t move. He smirked and scoffed. With an annoyed air he turned around and waved a hand; dismissing Kelly.

"I don’t have time to deal with children."

Kelly said nothing.

Instead he turned around and snatched a beer bottle from the closest onlooker. He downed the rest and flipped the bottle in his hand. He was now holding it by the neck. Without any hesitation he swung the empty bottle at the man's head. The force was enough to shatter the glass on impact.

The satyr hit the ground not two seconds later.

The small crowd around him cheered; shouting to be heard above the music. Emery gave him a proud, and clearly impressed, nod. Jett walked in on the scene and had no clue about what was happening. Across the way the two female viruses who were harassed mouthed their thanks.

Kelly simply nodded.

"I leave for a smoke and I miss everything, huh?" Jett asked as the trio made their way back to their table.

Emery smirked; "Yeah, bro, looks like it."

~~~

The trio settled into some semblance of calm after the fight. As calm as they could’ve been under the circumstances. It helped that the bar had began to empty somewhat. Emery gave Jett a loud, somewhat exaggerated, play by play of the fight. Jett listened intently completely taken by each and every word. Kelly just sat there; drinking his vodka tonic and shaking his head at each new embellishment. At some point Jett flagged down a waitress and ordered a rum and coke. She brought it back swiftly thanks to the lull in bar patrons.

When the story was over they got to talking about other things.

Jett decided to order pizza for whenever they got home. The others agreed. They showed each other funny videos that were on a whole new level of comedy thanks to the alcohol. Emery found a marker on the booth and began drawing a faux tattoo on Jett’s hand. Kelly switched entirely to Gaelic halfway through the conversation and didn’t notice. He finally realized it when he tried to order a round of whisky shots and the waiter couldn’t understand him.

While that was happening Emery finished the tattoo. Jett took a picture of it and sent it to the team’s group chat. He also sent it to Mazarin; hoping she’d get a laugh out of it.

“You think Walker’ll even get it?” Emery sincerely asked. “They might not have signal wherever the fuck they are.”

“Maybe, maybe not, guess we’ll have to see when they get back,” Jett replied.

"And what happens then? When Walker gets back from whatever? They'll go right back to all this being secretive and distant shite again."

At that moment the shots arrived. Kelly told the waiter to go back and bring the bottle over. The man nodded but gave him a suspicious look before leaving. A few minutes passed before he dutifully returned with bottle in hand.

"They said they weren't doing that anymore," Jett said shooting Kelly a sideways glance as he reached for his shot. He winced against the burn of the liquor as it hit the back of his throat. The tinge of disbelief was obvious in his voice. None of them knew Walker like they knew each other that much was true. No one could be sure that they’d do good on their promise.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't blame ye for questionin' it, after everythin's that's happened, like." Kelly said before taking a shot and slamming the glass on the table.

"What's that supposed to mean, Irish?" Emery asked after he downed his shot.

Kelly twisted the cap off the bottle and refilled the three shot glasses. He immediately took his second before filling it up a third time. Setting the bottle down he looked at the others; waiting for them to take their shots. Jett shook his head but ultimately gave into Kelly’s pleading stare. Emery downed his quickly, with an angry glare, before continuing.

"Don’t get me wrong, dude, I get they're shady as fuck but c'mon! They gotta be attending the Academy, and in Dashland, trying to doing some decent shit with their life. Ain't that what we're all trying to do?"

"It means I just -- I've got a little leery of listenin' to all the bloody lies Walker tells us, of feckin' waitin' around like a bomb's gonna go off, of actin' like this shite is normal. Know what I mean?"

Kelly groaned as he pulled his beanie off and ran his hands through both sides of his hair. His left leg bounced aggressively under the table. He poured himself another shot and quickly knocked it back.

"You sure this isn't about something else, Kell?" Jett asked; shooting a suspicious glance at Kelly.

"I'm not the weird one here, ye bloody eejit!"

Emery laughed. It was jarringly loud and shook his whole body. His form buckled forward and he set his beer down on the table. Pounding on the table with his fist he continued to laugh. Jett and Kelly both stared at him with identical looks of confusion. When the laughing fit was over Emery sighed and wiped a tear from his right eye.

"We're all fucking weird, Irish. That's why we fit together dude. We're just a big ol' group of misfit fuck-ups. Ain't nothing wrong with that."

Kelly downed the rest of his vodka tonic and said nothing. Motioning for a refill he handed his glass to the nearest waiter.

The trio fell into a strange, and very uncomfortable, silence. Kelly touched his cheek with his fingers and winced a tiny bit. He muttered something about going to check his injuries and left. When he did the awkward silence left with him.

"The fuck's gotten into him?"

Jett shrugged; "I don't know, Beck. Could be the whole thing with his dad. Maybe it’s ‘cause Av isn’t here. Might be something totally different."

“Pretty sure Princess is ninety percent of his impulse control.”

Emery shook his head and sighed. He looked around the bar as if looking for someone or something. He started tapping his fingers on his beer bottle in perfect sync with the music. He watched the rhythmic movement of his own fingers before turning to Jett. Emery's bright purple eyes were filled with worry.

"And you?" he asked. "How're you holding up?"

Jett shrugged again; "Fine."

Emery shot him a look of disbelief. The two knew each far too well, and for far too long, to not catch one another's lies. "You sure?"

"Course I am," Jett said before taking a sip of his drink.

"Liar"

"No, I'm not."

Emery looked at Jett out of the corner of his eye and smirked; "Oh, so you're saying you're not okay?"

"I said I'm fine, bro. Just drop it alright?"

Emery put his hands up in defense; signifying that he was indeed dropping it. The two sat in an awkward, strange, silence for some time. This kind of silence was unfamiliar to them but neither knew how to fix it. In that lull Jett got a text from his sister about his “tattoo”.

You can’t be serious.

Serious as a heart attack, little lady.

Mom’s gonna kill you, dumbass.

His smile disappeared when he read her reply. Instinctively his hand flew to cover his mouth. Her words were a normal reaction under normal circumstances but they were far past normal. Even though it hurt he couldn’t blame her for forgetting. He did too sometimes. Just before Jett texted her back Mazarin sent him one.

Sorry. I forgot...

Don’t worry it’s alright. It’s just Sharpie anyway.

:P

“Something wrong with Maz?” Emery asked seeing his friend’s face.

Jett shook his head and wiped his eye with the back of his hand. Showing Emery his phone he bit his bottom lip to hold back the tears. He took a deep breath before explaining.

“I’m not mad or anything, you know, ‘cause I forget too. Hell, I do a lot more than just forget. Sometimes I text them stuff that’s going on. They would’ve wanted to know when they were here so... But, there’s times... There’s times where I call mom just to hear her voice ‘cause I haven’t talked to her in so long and then I get that pre-recorded out of service message and...”

The tears fell despite his best efforts and his eyes stung from crying. His breathing was shaky. He wiped his hand across his mouth and chin. Both ears were flat against his head.

“And then it hits me all over again. Sometimes I don’t believe it and I try to call dad but I just get that same stupid robot voice telling me the exact same thing.”

Emery took Jett’s hand in his own and squeezed it. Scooting closer to him Emery reached a hand behind Jett’s back. He slowly rubbed his hand against Jett’s back to reassure him. Emery told him that it was okay. What he did wasn’t anything wrong. It didn’t mean that he was going crazy. It was nothing different than people who talked to their loved ones at their graves.

Jett instinctively laid his head against his best friend’s shoulder.

The pair sat that way until they both found it too awkward.

Kelly arrived at the table a few minutes later. He no longer wore the black beanie on his head and his hair was slightly wet. Small beads of water clung to his eyelashes and made his left eye twitch. He rubbed it away with the back of his hand. It seemed like the bruises on his face, and his hand, darkened. It could’ve been shadows from the lights above but it was hard to tell.

He sat and chugged the vodka tonic before signaling for another.

“You alright, Irish?”

“Aye. Fuckin’ bastard’s gone though. He bloody disappeared.”

Jett spit his drink out in shock. Emery didn’t try to hide his laughter.

“I’m fuckin’ serious! Look!” he protested; pointing to the area where the satyr virus lie on the floor not too long ago. The spot was indeed empty.

“Dammit!” Emery shouted; pounding his fist on the table.

“Maybe he ran with his tail between his legs?” Jett offered.

But his hopes were dashed by the sound of approaching footsteps. A virus in a dark suit and sunglasses walked up to the table. With the lighting of the bar it was hard to tell if the person was male or female or neither. The only part of their appearance the trio could make out was the dull, pale, chartreuse colored veins that crawled along their neck and face. Whoever they were they stood with an intimidating air.

“Who’s in charge here?”

The three teens looked at each in confusion and surprise. Jett gave the others a questioning look and a shrug. Emery nodded; seriously. Kelly quickly peeked at the mysterious visitor before nodding as well. Jett held his fist out over an open palm. The others followed suit. Jett counted to three and the trio hit their fists against their palms in perfect unison with the count and each other. On three they simultaneously revealed their hand.

Both Emery and Kelly had two fingers out; forming a pair of scissors. Jett was the only one with paper.

“Shoulda just gone with you from the start, bro,” Emery said with a chuckle.

Jett rolled his eyes and gave Emery a friendly shove. Then he turned his attention to the mysterious stranger in front of them.

“So you’re it, huh?”

“Looks like it.”

“The boss wanted me to talk to you. Care to step outside, little man?”

“And who might your boss be?”

“That’s for me to know and you to figure out.”

Jett held his finger up; signaling the virus to wait. He picked up his drink and slowly drained the rest of it. He hoped that it wasn’t obvious that he was buying time. That this person couldn’t sense the fear bubbling inside him. When the rum and coke was gone he set the empty glass down.

“They’re coming too,” he said as he got off the booth.

The stranger shrugged; “Fine by me.”

Emery and Kelly got off the booth and followed Jett around the table. Jett motioned for the stranger to lead the way. They chuckled and turned around. Before the group left the table Kelly swiped the bottle of whisky from the table. He shoved it in the hidden pocket of his long, army green, coat. The three teens followed the mysterious virus out the back door.

“The fuck are ye doin’ eejit? This guy’s definitely with that satyr whose ass I kicked.”

Jett nodded; “Yeah, I know.”

“The fuck?”

“Don’t worry, Irish,” Emery said; clapping his hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “Je’s got a plan.”

~~~

As it turned out Jett did have a plan. Even though it worked, and they caught the stranger off guard, the virus was prepared to fight. To no one’s surprise the mysterious stranger didn’t go down easily. It seemed that the virus didn’t feel anything they hit them with. Emery’s sonic screams didn’t even affect them. And yet the trio somehow came out the victor. When the fight was over the three teenage boys were bruised and beaten. They held onto one another as they stumbled home.

“You think he went easy on us?”

“‘Cause we’re kids?” Jett replied.

Emery nodded.

“Don’t think they cared, bro. I think they just ran outta gas.”

As they walked Jett ordered pizza as he promised earlier. Kelly told him not to order any anchovies on the pizza. Jett jokingly threatened to order only anchovy pizzas just because he complained. Emery quietly sang some nonsensical made up lyrics to himself. Kelly pulled his beanie down so that it covered his eyes a bit and obscured his vision. Jett noticed but before he could say anything Emery bumped into him. Emery saw that something was up and rushed over to Kelly.

“Irish, Irish, Irish,” he said wrapping his arm around Kelly’s neck and pulling him closer.

“Your sadness is pouring off you, man. Wha’s up, bro?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar,” Emery and Jett yelled in unison.

“Let’s just go home an’ eat some pizza, yeah?” he said; clearly deflecting.

The others shrugged and went on their way.

When the trio arrived at the dorm they stumbled up the stairs. As they ascended the stairs they both held onto Kelly. For the time being he couldn’t stand very well on his own. He had secretly been drinking ever since they left the bar. The other two weren’t that surprised. Everyone knew that he owned a flask and often filled it with hard liquor. Even so neither Jett or Emery thought he’d bring it to a bar.

Or that he’d steal a bottle from the bar either.

Jett let go of Kelly when they reached the dorm. He fumbled about for his key. As he was about to admit that he might’ve lost them Emery told him to check his shoes. Confused and somewhat impressed he did as he was told. Pulling off his left shoe he overturned it. Smacking the bottom with his palm he hoped the key would fall out.

It didn’t.

He did the same thing with his right.

Sure enough the key was there.

“Heh, forgot about that,” he said with a chuckle.

When he finally got the door opened the three boys stumbled into the dorm. Emery half dropped Kelly onto the couch. He gave Kelly a light slap on the cheek to make sure he was still awake. Kelly muttered a couple obscenities and Emery laughed. He assured Jett that Kelly was fine. Jett suddenly remembered that he still had the Sharpie tattoo on his hand.

He rushed to the bathroom to attempt to wash it off.

“Gotta use nail polish remover bro,” Emery called out as he popped in a movie.

“What?” Jett yelled back.

“Dude trust me, alright. That shit doesn’t come off any other way.”

“Beck,” Jett called out; the worry getting heavy in his voice. “You sure? I--I don’t think we got any, bro.”

“Gotcha dude, no worries. Gimme a sec.”

“I can’t have this freaking jacked Kit-Kat on my hand forever.”

“I said I got it!” Emery screamed as he raced to kitchen pantry.

Kelly ignored all of this as he took out his phone and, for the umpteenth time that night, checked his messages. Once again there weren’t any. Scrolling through for a second or two he looked for the last reply. It was right after. He sighed and pressed the phone icon that sat in the top right hand corner. Putting the phone to his ear he bit his bottom lip in anticipation. His right leg bounced up and down. The phone rang and rang before going to voicemail.

He didn’t leave a message.

Instead of closing his phone he walked out into the hallway and made two other phone calls.

Meanwhile, back inside, Emery reached up to the top shelf and began pushing various boxes and cans around. A hidden section of wall was revealed. He knew exactly where the space was and so he put his fingers on either side and pulled it away. Inside the secret compartment were a series of bottles of nail polish remover. He snatched one and set it on the shelf before returning the false section of wall. Before taking the bottle he quickly shoved the boxes and cans back to where they were before. He ran over to the bathroom and tossed the bottle at Jett. Jett was in the middle of trying to scrub the Sharpie off with soap and water. He caught it with one hand and then immediately dropped it.

“Nice.”

“Shuddup! It’s your fault I gotta do this anyway, Em!”

Emery laughed; “You asked for it, man. None of this is my fault.”

“I was drunk dumbass!”

“So was I bro!”

The stupidity of the situation made them suddenly burst into laughter. Jett cupped some water in his hand and splashed Emery in the face. Emery gasped in surprise. Jett chuckled, covering his mouth to hide it, and went to shut the faucet off. But he was laughing too much and Emery’s reflexes were faster. He slammed his hand against the spout and sprayed water all over Jett. When the impromptu water fight was all said and done both boys were practically soaked.

After drying off as best they could Jett went back to removing the Sharpie from his skin.

Emery went back to the couch and waited for the others so he could start the movie. There was no telling how long it stayed on the title screen. When Jett emerged from the bathroom he tossed the nail polish back to Emery. He stood up and caught it effortlessly. As he went to return it to its proper hiding spot Jett sat on the couch.

“Hey, uh, Beck?” he shouted.

“Yeah?”

“Why do have nail polish remover in the first place? Why’re you hiding it?”

“Oh, you know,” he said; response muffled by the walls. As he made his way back into the living room area his voice got louder. “That stuff’s good for a lot of things. Cleaning paint off windows, getting sticker gunk off pretty much everything, and whatever.”

At that moment Kelly walked back into the dorm.

“Doesn’t tell me why you’re hiding it.”

Kelly, who had missed the rest of the conversation, assumed that the others were talking about him.

“God, Mary, and the wee baby Jaysus, ye were right!” he shouted.

“Huh?”

“Earlier in the bar when ye asked if me rant was about somethin’ else. It was. Guess it’s a bunch of things. Me da’s one like always. But it’s been worse ‘cause me brother. He always says da’s a deadbeat and we’re better without him. That I’m away with the faeries when I talk about da. Avia gettin’ dragged away by her da was just the last straw. Made me feel I’m on me tod and needin’ some craic. Don’t why I fought that guy though honest. Ye know, ma always said I suffer from a double-dose of original sin.”

Silence fell when Kelly finally stopped talking.

Jett and Emery exchanged confused looks.

“I’m hiding it ‘cause acetone’s fucking flammable, and I’d rather be caught dead than have it anywhere that could have you burning the building down,” Emery shouted in exasperation.

A loud knock at the door made the boys jump.

“Delivery for, uh, Jett,” a voice called from behind the door.

Jett hopped off the couch and went to the door. Upon opening it he saw that it was the pizza that he had ordered. Digging into the back pocket of his pants he pulled out his wallet. Taking out just enough cash to pay he handed the money to the delivery man. The man handed the pizzas over and Jett went to close the door with his elbow.

But there was another pizza delivery person at the door.

“I only ordered these two,” he said lifting the boxes up for emphasis.

“Aye. I ordered those,” Kelly said as he went to pay the delivery person.

As Jett set his boxes down on the coffee table Kelly called for help. Emery rushed over and was immediately handed a series of boxes. It took some time to bring in everything but eventually the other pizza delivery person left. The teens were now looking at eight large pizzas, two orders of cinnamon sticks, an insane amount of dipping sauces and a few two-liters of soda. And that was just what Kelly ordered. In total they had ten pizzas.

“You never said you were getting pizza, Kell!”

“What can I say?” Kelly replied with a shrug. “I was really drunk and Avia’s pretty much all my impulse control.”

They all laughed and started on one of the pizzas. Emery rushed to the cupboards and took out three glasses. He filled each with some ice from the fridge before returning to the others. Jett poured the drinks when he brought the glasses over. Kelly opened a couple containers of marinara and ranch. Taking one for himself he dipped the end of his pizza into the ranch. Jett grabbed the remote and finally played the movie. When that movie ended they put in another.

The trio stayed there until the sodas were empty and all the pizza was gone.

[last-living-imagines]

Hi love! I’m not sure if you’re still taking requests but I have this idea , the idea is that the reader is bailing murdoc out of jail? Like she’s been in the band from the beginning and is really close to murdoc but they aren’t together yet and she’s mad at the band for just abandoning him, so she finds out finally where he is and bails him out and it’s all soft and fluffy because they missed eachother ? Thank you so much 💞💞💞

My dude, my inbox is ALWAYS open for requests. It’s also always open if anyone ever needs to vent or just needs a friend :) 

I’ve written this over a couple of weeks and realized it’s not as fluffy as I had hoped, but the parts that are there are pretty damn nice. Like fuck I want that lol Here’s a nice long imagine for you, tender! Also, I included a link to a cover from someone I absolutely adore and think you guys would like it :)

~

How the hell could they just kick Murdoc to the curb like this? He was the reason they were a world famous band! The fact that even Noodle, who Murdoc took in with open arms and protected her from day one, was happy that he was gone, appalled her. “Well, everything’s gotten better since Murdoc was put in Wormwood.” Noodle said, knocking a one of Russel’s chess pieces out of the way.

“Wormwood?” You paused, brows furrowing. “They’ve got him there?” 

“Yeah. He has no possible way of getting out of there either.” Russ rubbed his chin, looking for his next move. “Stop worrying about your boyfriend and move on.” You shook your head angrily, muttering, “Not my boyfriend.” before you lost it completely.

“You guys are fucking awful, you know that?” You spat, pushing Ace out of the way as he tried to enter the living room. As you retreated to your room, you could faintly hear him scoff: “What’d I do?”

You shook your head, looking at the letter you had gotten from Murdoc. Looking over his writing, you noted that his bail was set at $250,000. Fuck, how am I supposed to get that? You thought to yourself, pinching the bridge of your nose as you felt a headache coming on. 

Putting the letter back into your desk, you made your way down the hall to Murdoc’s room. Maybe there was something you could use in there. As you flicked on the light, a pile of paper on his desk caught your eye. Looking them over, they appeared to be pictures of the two of you over the years. One had fallen from the pile, landing backside up. “The hell?” You muttered, picking it up and reading Murdoc’s slightly messy script. Honestly hate this hair color on her. Still bangin’ though. The picture was from when you decided to dye your hair to match 2D’s.

You flipped some others over, reading the sarcastic and sometimes sweet comment he had written. You neared the end of the pile when a picture of a sunset appeared. The back simply had a name and an address quickly scribbled on the back. “Hmmm…” You put the address into your phone, deciding to continue your hunt for something helpful there, considering Murdoc would be pretty pissed if you tried selling any of his stuff. 

Walking into the court room, your blood red heels clicked against the linoleum floor. Your black skirt hugged your curves in just the right way, but still kept you looking professional. The judge raised an eye at you when you said you were there to bail out Murdoc, but looking over the paperwork, chuckled in surprise. “You’re crazy lady.” He shook his head but approved everything. “We’ll let the prison know. You can pick him up tomorrow.”

You flashed the judge a dazzling smile. “Thank you sir.” You took the paperwork back and began to leave the court room. “Oh and I can assure you, I’m completely sane.” You winked before striding out the door. After reading through his comments on the pictures you found as well as rereading the letter Murdoc had sent, you knew you had to do whatever it took to get him out. 

Even if you had to go behind everyone’s backs. Including his.

“Niccals.” A guard slammed his baton against the bars to Murdoc’s cell. “Niccals, get the fuck up!” He reached through and pushed him to the floor, causing him to let a slew of curses fly. “Get what little you have and follow me.”

Murdoc’s brows furrowed, wondering just what in Satan’s name could be happening now. He had already gotten solitary for a week after the fight he had gotten into with Big Balls after being in the infirmary for a while, so he had no clue what awaited him. He collected the small necklace (Y/N) had given him for his birthday out from the inside of his pillowcase and collected whatever else he felt like taking. He followed the officer to the door, being led out to the reception area of Wormwood. “What’s going on?” He questioned as he waited behind one of the barred areas.

“Some dumbass bailed you out.” The officer shrugged and shook his head, unlocking the gate. 

He was free? Who the hell could’ve paid off his bail? Oh fuck. Mudz thought. This might not be good.

As he entered the reception, his eyes landed on (Y/N), in her usual tight jeans, combat boots, and grungy looking top. Her hair had been dyed black again, with some darker purple mixed into the ends-- fuck, she looked good. He almost dropped the handful of his belongings he had clutched under his arm. “(Y/N)? What the hell?”

Time seemed to slow around him as she came forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Murdoc knew he would never be going to heaven, but he was pretty sure this is what it felt like. He wrapped his arms around her waist, breathing in her scent. Even after months away from her, the smell of sea salt and sage made him feel right at home.

“Let’s get you outta here, Mudz.” (Y/N) pulled away, taking his hand and leading him out to her car. 

Murdoc hadn’t been ready to get back to the band yet-- he needed some time alone with (Y/N) first. They had been laying in the back of her car at a pier, the sun having gone down hours ago. There was some soft music coming from a nearby bar, setting a comfortable mood in the small space. How convenient that some bird is singing Fly Me to the Moon. (Y/N) always loved that song. He smiled to himself, humming along quietly to the song. Murdoc pulled (Y/N) closer to his body, letting her head settle under his chin. He had missed her so goddamn much-- even though he’d never admit that out loud. His hand made it’s way up and down her back, letting his nails scratch lightly at some of the exposed skin. She sighed in content at the feeling, her hand that had been resting on his hip tightening slightly. 

The past evening had been spent having some much needed sex. Murdoc hadn’t had any human touch for months, aside from the hard knuckles of the Wormwood occupants. (Y/N) had admitted to him that she had been falling for him hard for a while, knowing she had to get him home after finding his stack of pictures. After that, everything just seemed to fall into place. 

“(Y/N),” Murdoc mumbled after a while of mindlessly rubbing her back. “How did you get the money for my bail?”

She stiffened in his arms at the question. He could feel her heart beat harder in her chest before she sat up. “I, um...fuck...” She ran her hands through her hair, biting her lip as she looked out at the dark waves in front of them. Even though she fell hard for him, she still feared his anger. 

“(Y/N).” He sat up in front of her. “What did you do?”

She sighed, closing her eyes. Her voice came out shaky, knowing what was going to happen next. “I made a deal.” She pulled out the sunset picture he had taken years ago from her pocket, dropping it in his lap. 

“How fucking stupid can you be?!” Murdoc exploded, crushing the picture in his fist. “I’ve told you time and time again, never--”

“I did it for you!” She cried out, frustrated. “I sold my soul and got all the information on El Mierda for you!” (Y/N) pushed the heels of her hands into her eyes to keep the angry tears from falling. She was pissed he just had to ruin a perfect night with that dreaded question. “I know you said to never make a deal with the devil for any reason, but I need you! Gorillaz needs you! And if you yell at me one more fucking time--”

His anger was forgotten as her words registered in his mind. “Wait, wait, wait!” He held up his hands, cutting off her rant. “Did you just say you got the dirt on El Mierda?”

“What’re you a fuckin’ parrot? Yes, I got the dirt on him. You really think I’d just make a deal to get you out?” (Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“If you got the dirt, what the fuck are we doing sitting here, woman?! Let’s go get Noodle and find that asshole.” He grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss, before reaching his hand down to pull her back into his lap.

“I think we have something more important to do right this second.” She smirked, her fingers tangling in his dark locks.

[pendulumprince]

Episode 35, here we fucking go.

Okay, well Blue Angel just went down

Shoichi is Shooketh(tm)

Akira bounces into the crib

FUCKIN SMACKS AOI JR OUT OF THE WAY

Sees Aoi’s unconscious body

And, to no one’s surprise, goes straight into Link Vrains

Goddamn, the Tower is just as pretty as ever

Some sort of weird sigil comes over it

A glowing… pink ball begins to go up the Tower’s center

Ah, okay: another ring has been added to the Tower

Back to Blue Angel’s unconscious body:

“I pulverized your blue love. But it wasn’t much of a love to begin with.”

Omgggg Specter wtf is your damage

Like he hates Blue Angel on a personal level and I need to know why

He goes on: “you can no longer leave.”

I thought she couldn’t leave in the first place?

“You’ll vanish with us. >:D”

Okay, so Specter 100% expects to die when the Tower goes off

Like, we sort of knew that before

But okay, his suicide mission is confirmed.

“How fitting for Link Vrains’s pathetic idol.”

He’s just mad that Blue Angel is better than him in ever conceivable way

He’s not even fuckin talking to anyone anymore, Blue Angel can’t hear his taunting; this is 100% for his own ears

Specter walks off into some portal, off to go fuck up Playmaker’s shit

Frog and Pigeon decide to go after Specter, since they’re the only ones left reporting on anything in Link Vrains—

AND HERE COMES ‘AKIRA’, SCREAMING AOI’S NAME AS HE DASHES THROUGH THE STREETS

Alright, Frog and Pigeon bounce

AND BEFORE ‘AKIRA’ CAN MAKE IT TO BLUE ANGEL

A CAGE COMES UP FROM THE GROUND, TRAPPING HIM INSIDE

He tries to touch the cage, but

“You shouldn’t touch that.”

Someone comes in through a portal!

AND! IT’S KOGAMI

And judging by ‘Akira’s’ face, he sure as hell remembers who this dude is

“There’s a strong computer virus in those vines. If you touch it, you’ll lose consciousness.”

Loving that smug smile you got there, Kogami.

“Dr. Kogami! Aren’t you dead?”

“I did die. Due to SOL Technologies.”

OH SHIT, KOGAMI JUST SPILLED THE GODDAMN TEA.

“SOL Technologies?”

“But I resurrected >:3”

After the opening!

Playmaker on his way to the Tower

He comes across this huge crater in the ground

Ah, even the ground is being turned into data

So he’s running… he’s running…

He makes it to a bridge

According to Ai, they need to make it across before it turns into data

Or else they’ll never be able to get to the Tower

Ai considers creating a Data Storm, but Playmaker tells him not to because it’ll only get absorbed

Thus completing the Tower even faster

Buuuuut of course Specter comes to block off his way

“My name is Specter. We finally meet, Playmaker.”

“Move out of the way!”

“I can’t let you pass. Revolver ordered me to destroy anyone who interfered with our plans. You’ll meet the same fate as Blue Angel.”

Just like the rest of us, Playmaker and Ai are shocked that Specter actually beat Blue Angel

“Yes. Without having to use my full strength.”

SOMEBODY PLEASE COME CHOP THIS MOTHERFUCKER DOWN.

Back in the real world, Shoichi decides to send Frog and Pigeon Playmaker’s coordinates so he can get a visual

AND YOU CAN BET OUR GOOD REPORTER BOYS ARE HAPPY ABOUT IT

Back to ‘Akira’ and Kogami”

“SOL Technologies killed you? What do you mean?”

AHHHHH IT’S STORY TIME

“Ten years ago, I worked for SOL Technologies.”

“You’re saying that the company ordered The Lost Incident?”

“No. That company can’t comprehend my ideas.”

ALL RIGHT, IT’S BEEN CONFIRMED: SOL REALLY *WASN’T* BEHIND THE LOST INCIDENT.

Kogami goes on: “When the incident came to light, the company imprisoned me and covered everything up.”

I never thought I’d say this, but: GOOD JOB SOL.

Like it’s not cool that they covered up The Lost Incident

But at least they fucked him up lmao

He goes on: “In order to monopolize the ignis I developed.”

You know what? I take it back. Fuck SOL.

He continues: “They smelled money when it came to ignis. If the incident was publicized, they thought the police would seize the ignis.”

“No way…”

“They infected me with a computer virus to put me in a coma. I was able to go home years after the incident. They thought I was dead. But my son didn’t give up. He removed the virus, and he recreated my mind in the network.”

“You formed the Knights of Hanoi to get revenge on SOL Technologies?”

“Revenge is incorrect. Our only goal is to kill the ignis.”

“Why?”

“They were supposed to guide the world. But they’re savages that’ll destroy the world.”

“Savages?”

“No one knows what it truly means for an AI to have free will. They’re far beyond what I imagined. They must be dealt with.”

“Wait! What’ll happen to my sister?”

‘Akira’. ‘Akira’. Listen to me:

This motherfucker kidnapped six kids and tortured them for six months. He shows not an ounce of regret over that.

Why do you think he’d give a shit about killing Aoi?

“Those imprisoned in the Tower can no longer escape. When the Tower of Hanoi is completed, data worldwide will be destroyed. Even us, since we’re part of the data.”

So in other words: your sister is going to die, and so are you. And me too! Death to everyone!! :) :D :3

“You’ve involved everything for the ignis, including yourselves.”

“It’s the only way left. The Tower of Hanoi will be completed soon. If you want to see the world end, stay there.”

Okay but?? He doesn’t have a choice??? It’s either chill in that cage or pass out.

Kogami dips back into his portal

“Dr. Kogami!!”

‘Akira’ turns back to Blue Angel…

Just in time to see her get turned into data! Nice. Nice nice nice.

Back to Playmaker and Specter

“You defeated Blue Angel??”

“She was talking about blue love or something.”

Ai is so flattered?? “Blue Ai (love)? What do you mean??”

“Who knows? I have no clue what that vain girl was talking about.”

Lmao I can’t get over how much vitriol he has against Blue Angel

Specter goes on: “Perfect timing. Please look at that.”

Annnnd there’s here sparking Blue data, floating in the air.

Playmaker sees her face in the data shards

“Now do you believe me? She had no skill, so she wasn’t ready to save me.”

“You…”

“I’ll send you to the same place as her :D :D :D”

ALRIGHT, THEY GET TO DUELIN’

Specter goes first!

He summons a 0 ATKer

Link summons

And look at that, it’s the goddamn tree. What a surprise.

Specter sets a facedown and ends his turn

Ughhhhh I’m so sick of this dude

I can’t believe we’re stuck with him till episode 37

Playmaker figures that is Specter beat Blue Angel, he’s got to be dangerous

But Ai notes that his deck doesn’t seem offense heavy (AND ITS NOT!! LOOK OUT FOR THIS LP BUILDING BITCH ! !!)

“Let me ask one thing before the fight.”

“What is it? Scared before the duel begins?”

Ai thinks all these motherfuckers are vain

Playmaker asks: “Why do you fight?”

“What a basic question. I fight for Revolver, of course.” (Ow, my shipper’s heart?? But fuck Specter, so)

“Then withdraw. Do you know what Revolver is trying to do?”

“I think I do.”

Omgggg why is Playmaker giving this bitch the benefit of the doubt

“If the Tower of Hanoi is finished, the worldwide network will be destroyed. That’ll lead to many casualties in the real world.”

“I am aware of that. Even if the world is destroyed, I’ll always be in Revolver’s side!”

Okay. Okay. I need to know where this deep love for Revolver came from.

“You don’t know anything above what Revolver and the Knights of Hanoi did! It’s been continuing since the incident ten years ago! That incident hurt many people and ruined their lives! An outsider shouldn’t get involved!”

“Oh, so you think I’m an outsider? But I’m full involved in the incident.”

“You’re involved? What do you mean?”

“The Lost Incident ten years ago… six children were kidnapped. They were imprisoned in separate rooms… so the six didn’t know each other’s faces. Just like I didn’t know you, and you didn’t know me.”

“Can it be?”

“It can be. I’m one of the six children.”

SPECTER WAS A LOST BABY, CONFIRMED

AND PLAYMAKER IS SHAKEN TO HIS CORE

“You’re one of the six?”

Ai is equally bamboozled. “Seriously? Then why is he a Knight of Hanoi?”

“If you endured the same hell as me—“

“Hell? What do you mean? :3 Am I different? Seems to, from your point of view:

I grew up in an orphanage. because I never had relatives. I lacked the ability to mingle with others. Even among people, I was always alone and bored.

That’s when that incident occurred. That incident entertained me.”

WHAT THE FUCK

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, PLAYMAKER IS TRULY TAKEN ABACK

“You enjoyed the incident…?”

“Yes. I enjoyed it. It was fun. Even if I could go home, loneliness and boredom awaited me. I lived like a specter, a ghost. No one talked to me. No one cared about me. But it was different there… someone was testing me. Someone expected big things for me. When I realized that, I felt the will to live for the first time. It was like a dream! Unfortunately, that fun time came to an end.”

Yoooooo this bitch craaaaaaazy

Ai jumps in: “Most people feel hurt, right?”

Don’t feel bad for not getting this guy, kiddo

None of us do, either

“You probably can’t understand. Because if the incident hurt you, you must’ve led a happy life before the incident.

“After the incident, I was returned to the orphanage. I was forbidden to talk about my experience. Adults treated me cautiously, keeping me at arm’s length. I was more alone than before. I escaped from the orphanage and went to the restricted area. It was locked after the incident.

“I kept waiting there.”

“Waited?”

“Thinking about that time… hoping those fun times would come back.”

PLAYMAKER IS CLEARLY DISTURBED

Specter continues: “And that hope came true.”

Okay, so baby!Specter’s in the forest, when he sees a hooded figure approaching.

“When I saw him, I knew instantly that he came for me.”

Playmaker figures that it was Rev

And the figure had white hair, so: Mystery Man=Rev confirmed!

Playmaker looks hella confused. “You don’t hate the Knights of Hanoi?”

“Hate? Revolver gave me a place to belong. So why would I?

Am I weird? But I think you’re weirder, loudly proclaiming your sense of justice.”

“Due to that incident, time has stopped moving for me.”

“But due to that incident, time has started moving for me.”

Ai (internally?) thinks. “This is bad. He’s dangerous. Playmaker’s conviction is wavering.”

Out loud, he says: “Playmaker! It’s pointless to talk to him! You and him are totally different! Look! If you waste more time, the Tower of Hanoi will be completed! Playmaker!”

“I know! Let’s go!”

“Sure. Please try to defeat me.”

PLAYMAKER TAKES HIS TURN

HIS DISCARDS A CARD TO SPECIAL SUMMON A 1500 ATKER

HE LINK SUMMONS

BRINGS OUT A 500 ATK LINK MONSTER

SPECIAL SUMMONS A 0 ATKER

LINK SUMMONS AGAIN

BRINGS OUT A 500 ATKER

RELEASES IT

ACTIVATES HIS OTHER MONSTER’S EFFECT

DRAWS A CARD, RETURNS ANOTHER IN HIS HAND TO THE BOTTOM OF HIS DECK

ACTIVATES HIS MONSTERS EFFECT:

BY TRIBUTING IT, HE SPECIAL SUMMONS TWO LINK TOKENS AT 0 DEF

BEINGS OUT A 1400 ATKER

ACTIVATES IT’S EFFECT

SPECIAL SUMMONS A 0 DEF MONSTER

“HERE COMES THREE CONSECUTIVE LINK SUMMONS” OMFG

USES THE TWO MONSTERS HE HAS ON THE FIELD

BRINGS OUT A 1600 ATKER

ACTIVATES SOME-FUCKING-BODY’S EFFECT

SPECIAL SUMMONS A 0 DEF MONSTER

LINK SUMMONS YET AGAIN

BRINGS OUT A 1000 ATKER

LINK SUMMONS ONCE MORE

IT’S A 1800 ATKER

HE GOES IN FOR THE ATTACK

SPECTER INFORMS HIM THAT HIS MONSTER CANNOT BE ATTACKED, AND HE TAKES THE HIT INSTEAD

HE GOES DOWN TO 2400 LP

AND HIS MONSTER’S EFFECT COMES INTO PLAY

HE SPECIAL SUMMONS A 600 ATKER

AND HIS LP IS REPLENISHED

HE’S BACK UP TO 4000 LP

“I was abandoned at the case of this tree.”

Flashback time! Infant!Specter was ugly as hell.

“When I was a baby. I still remember the view I saw from this tree.”

Um?? He has memories from when he was an infant??? The fuck

“This tree was I the mountain behind the orphanage. After I was abandoned, it took days until they found me.”

UM. THE TREE MOVED.

THE BRANCHES LITERALLY MOVED TO PROTECT INFANT!SPECTER FROM THE RAIN

W H A T

OH SHIT, IT EVEN PROTECTED HIM FROM WOLVES.

“For several years, I was raised in the orphanage. But I only felt peace when I was by this tree. When times were tough, this tree healed me.

“And then the incident occurred. I had fun during the incident. My only concern was that I couldn’t come to this tree. But after the incident… when I returned, the tree was gone.”

Oh shit. 

Someone chopped that motherfucker down.

Specter continues: “Adults had their dumb reasons. That’s when my attachment to society completely vanished. The only place for me is by Revolver’s side. I give my soul to Revolver!”

And that’s a wrap! Preview time!

The duel goes on!

“This is a personal fight he must win. He vowed not to get others involved, but reality wouldn’t allow that. Only his sense of justice prevents his spirit from breaking.”

Playmaker is still confused. Doesn’t get how any of the victims can “feel anything but hate.”

[tumblunni]

OH MAN HOLY SHIT IM FINALLY GETTING TO READ THE NEXT VOLUME OF SHOULDER-A-COFFIN KURO

man it was really fucking sweet that  bunch of friends the travellers made in earlier chapters helped nurse Kuro back to health after [the spoily bad thing] happened

and I TOTALLY FELL FOR the misdirect in the opening chapter! this series often has out-of-order flashbacks just casually thrown in, so i assumed this was them taking a break from the sad ‘will kuro be okay’ stuff to show us one of her pas adventrues, especially cos she was alone without nijiku and sanju. But NOPE this is her dream while she’s sleeping, and all the people she just helped move on to their next journey are actually all already dead and she was giving them hope for stuff they never really managed to achieve. Like HOLY SHIT when the last person she saw was a glimpse of an actual alive person and then she steps off the train and wakes up?? And you only realize it cos she says ‘But I thought his eyes were getting better’ about the last guy Kuro met, who had that head injury from the war, and its like ‘but he’s right there? why are you saying ‘I was too late’- OH GOD HOLY SHIT’. Like seriously, was he on the way to go home and died on the train and then she was there at the station and had to see it, after she’d waited for him for so long and just AAAAA. And like, if Kuro is briefly visiting the afterlife and having a choice to take the death train because she’s in this paralyzing moment of depression, is that why the lady was there too? Did Kuro accidentally save her from comitting suicide to be with him? Its really fuckin’ good luck that they were able to cross paths in this dreamworld and she could pass on his last words. But also its REALLY DEPRESSING that her telling him to ‘take the train home’ is like.. thats what he was trying to do when he was on the brink of death, and being unable to do it is why he stayed here waiting in this afterlife train station, hoping against hope that he’d somehow be able to actually see his hometown and his girlfriend again, when the only option he had was a far more depressing journey to take. So even though its good that kuro helped him be able to pass on instead of being in pain, but still, would he have actually been able to talk to his girlfriend if he’d waited just a few minutes more??? god this mysterious dream is so confusing and tantalizing aaaaaa it would be a really good way to kill my heart if we actually meet the girlfriend character in the real world later on and see how she’s getting her life back together after his death or if we meet more relatives of the dead folks we saw in that dream

ALSO its really good that Kuro is battling her suicidal inclinations now and actually feeling like she wants to live, because of these lil kids but at the same time its tragic cos she’s still got this deadly plague thats gonna kill her anyway, and its like.. having hope makes it hurt more and OH GOD the line about how she’s decided the new purpose of her journey is to ‘make a new path for them to follow when I’m gone’ she’s decided that instead of having to choose between them and her goal, its just gonna be that if she fails and ends up dying she just wants to have taught them enough to survive on their own afterwards. she could still feel her story was completed if it ends with her having given these kids a new life, even if she never finds out who the witch was or how to stop the curse. OH GOD I CRY SO MUCH FOR THIS WEIRD LITTLE FAMILY

and then OH MAN the mysterious flashback too! that was a good misdirect without even being a twist, sorta?? there’s no big revelation moment and knowing the thing doesnt really change anything, and honestly it makes me feel a bit ‘whoops i should have figured it out straight away’ lol Its a really cool way of delivering a stealth backstory for Sen! Cos we never saw his face in human form before, we kinda were expecting it to continue being shadowed or at least be revealed in some sort of actual reveal scene. but nope, we just get introduced to apparantly some new character who’s a loner prince everyone thinks is a vampire, and then WHOOPS it was sen all along! (also LOL DUDE YOU’LL BE A VAMPIRE IN LIKE FIVE SECONDS, DONT WORRY) And its so obvious in retrospect, we even see that he has a lil girl as his apprentice and he's like ‘just call me sensei, i dont want you to get attatched to me’. But she looks completely different to Kuro so at most I just thought ‘oh it’ll be some sort of analogy or moral to the main story or something’. And then seriously there is NO INSIGHT TO ANYTHING and no explanation of what happened to them or why, its just horribly shocking both to them and the audience. We just get some disconnected cute 4-koma adventures of flashback kuro and sen, revealing a little of how they first met, and then literally kuro just turns around the corner and the panels dissolve into horrifying shadowy hands that tear her apart as she begs sen not to touch her or he’ll be cursed too. AND IT JUST ENDS Like seriously, there wasnt even a STORY to the witch cursing them?? she just appeared in their house one day?? she was fuckin lurking in the library and cursed the first person she made eye contact with???? and sen got dragged into it too cos he was trying to save the poor kid, after all these panels of him being cynical jerk saying he doesn’t care about her, and just.. *SOB*

But actually, I’m wondering why his curse was so much different compared to the formula we’ve seen for every other case of it? its always been this one same disease that makes you rot apart into shadow stuff until you die. Why did he turn into 1000 bats instead? A random theory: maybe he actually did die, and this isn’t really the same curse as kuro’s, this is something that happened to him to save him. The first time we saw the curse in action was from that kid who innocently talked to the witch and wished to use magic too, so maybe it like.. actually is that? Maybe this curse is a literal granting of the wish, maybe this is how she passes on her powers and it just kills people who arent worthy, or something. So i dunno, maybe Kuro has some degree of witch magic locked away deep inside her rotting heart now, and she subconciously used it to save Sen’s life by cursing him with this different curse? that could be A Good Depressing Twist later, cos it could mean that if Kuro gets cured, Sen will die. And I mean, it would explain why Kuro doesnt know she has witch powers, maybe the constant upkeep of maintaining Sen’s spell is taking up all her energy, or something? We never get to see if Mo actually got her wish for magic powers in that terrifying flashback, we just see how she started dying of the shadow plague and then how Kuro found her on the last day of her life and they became friends and then HER LEGS FUCKING FELL OFF AND CRUMBLED INTO DUST AND HER EYE FELL OUT OF HER HEAD and then kuro’s last scrap of optimism died and she decided to carry Mo’s coffin forever out of certainty that the curse would indeed kill her, her quest would fail, and she’d better be prepared for her own funeral And like, when i first read that chapter I thought that this was where Kuro got the curse?? I thought it was contagious from touch or something and by giving Mo a bit of peace on her deathbed she’d picked it up from her. (Though that wouldnt explain why nobody’s ever got infected from interacting with kuro throughout the rest of the story, so it was a bit confusing.) But now we know that apparantly Kuro got the disease way earlier and Mo was just the closest clue she’s ever got to finding the witch again, and a horrible vision of the future that will await her when her curse finishes its course. It makes the whole chapter way more depressing, cos you know the whole time she was suffering from the same disease and she just didnt wanna ruin Mo’s hope that she’d met some cool traveller who was totally gonna go on and live a long life of all the adventures she wanted to have. GODDDD THIS SERIESSSS

and okay seriously THE WORST BIT THAT DESTROYED ME is that we find out the evil witch who did this to both of them is actually the same person as the apaprantly good witch we saw in an earlier chapter who befriended those kids and had a badass retort to the asshole guy and just was really cool?? And its even more depressing if she isnt really evil at all and maybe somehow thinks what she’s doing is helping? she was really innocent in that first chapter and didnt seem to know much about humans. So like.. who did she meet? What did she do? Who taught her something very VERY wrong in the time between that flashback and now? is this just the result of some small shred of her old self left, her wanting to ‘help’ more children...? Cos actually it was kind of a big hint in that chapter, she said ‘i will give you one of my voices’ when she taught that kid how to read as ‘payment’ for him helping her learn what a ‘witch’ is, and that she can be a good one if she wants to. So I mean.. is this just her trying to more literally give part of herself to others to help them, not knowing that it’s hurting them, or maybe being so twisted now that she doesnt even care? ITS SO DEPRESSING! Its funny how I loved and trusted this literal eldritch abomination I saw in this chapter goofily dressing herself up in people clothes and practising pick-up lines, and how terrified I was of what I assumed was a perfectly normal human witch who hurt these poor children. But now its even more depressing if we have this strange nonhuman creature who everyone treated as evil, who was good at heart, who made her first friend, who had so much futrue ahead of her, and then just SOMETHING has happened that sent her down the path of becoming that evil thing everyone said she was in the beginning...

Oh and also i really like the theory I saw that she’s another alchemy experiment of the professor who created Nijiku and Sanju? Cos people call her ‘Hifumi’ and thats a name that can mean a number, same as those two. And it might maybe explain why the professor died in the first place. We just hear him saying he has to finish something before he can allow them out of their cage, and then he never comes back down that staircase ever again, and kuro sees some other empty cage next to his body... Oh and also WHY DONT YOU JUST FUCK ME UP, FINAL CHAPTER IN THIS VOLUME, HOLY SHITTTT It actually fits A LOT with this theory... The last chapter has Sanju accidentally horribly injuring a kitten she was trying to hold, and being terrified because it cant just be stitched together like a toy, or.. well, like herself. We see a flashback of how the twins would break a lot back when they were first created, and the professor would just stitch back Sanju’s one arm that kept rotting off. And they’re like.. kinda terrifyingly eldritch too, more than just simple lil kids who can shapeshift into animals. There was that earlier flashback about how they took a long time to adjust to having physical bodies, and used to phase through walls like ghosts until the professor explained how a cage is supposed to work. Like... only being limited by the laws of reality once they hear them spoken aloud. And apparantly they sat sleeping in those alchemy tubes for a long time and might have even like.. slowly developed into humanoid forms, they might have been some sort of visually terrifying thing in their newborn state. We the audience know that they’re just the same as any other innocent kid in personality, that they’re good kiddos no matter how they were born. But then sometimes we get reminded of their actual origins, and how they’d be potentially VERY dangerous in the wrong hands. And like.. even now we’ve just had a really sad reminder how they can be dangerous even when they’re being raised as normal kids by our kind protagonist, how just forgetting that they lack something that normal humans have can lead to this traumatic experience of one of them killing a small animal and not understanding that it cant be fixed, gAAAAAAHHHH :( Also the associated flashback was REALLY FUCKED UP, holy shit! you see the professor talking about redesigning their next beta with a sense of pain, so they stop accidentally breaking themselves, and apparantly he only managed to finish that modification to nijiku before he died. or, perhaps he only intended to give it to one of them, and is having this creepy detatched view of them where he can think ‘hey I’ll deliberately leave one broken to act as a test case’. that would actually fit a lot with the subtle stuff we know, like how apparantly when they were first born they’d randomly grow and de-grow and fluctuate everything between humanoid and animallike. And he notes how Sanju’s hair always returns to a long length whenever its cut, and just... like, he didnt fix that in her but it seems like Nijiku doesnt have the same problem? Does this mean that he actually did give nijiku a bunch of extra features and not fix mistakes that were hindering sanju, that he’s been doing that from the very beginning? I just thought it was maybe that nijiku never had the same hair problem, but I mean it seems like they started off identical in every other way. God I hope its not gonna be revealed that the prof never loved them at all and he was an abusive dad :(

GAHHH THIS MYSTERIOUS GODDAMN MANGA WITH NO ANSWERS FOR ANYTHING AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[johnjohnkook]

Don’t Go // MiniCat

WARNINGS: MPREG (IF YOU’RE NOT OKAY WITH IT, DON’T READ.)

***THIS IS ONLY PART ONE. IF YOU LIKE THIS, LET ME KNOW, AND I’LL WRITE A SECOND PART. ENJOY (:

Craig’s head was pounding. 

He can’t even remember anything last night. His vision was blurred and he assumed he was suffering a massive hangover. He searched for his phone, pressing the power button. The screen lit up, blinding his already blurred vision. He figured he should look for his glasses just so his eyes wouldn’t be completely useless. 

He patted the table near him, unintentionally slamming his wrist against the corner of the table. “Fuck,” he breathed, his throat throbbing. A groan erupted from the other side of the room and Craig realized he wasn’t alone. 

Craig also realized that he was naked. Naked and not alone.

He reached for his glasses again, surprisingly finding them and putting them on his face. He rolled over to see none other than his best bud Tyler, naked from the waist up and presumably naked under the sheet covering his waist.

Holy. Fuck.

He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to figure out what happened the night before. His mind raising, Craig glanced back over at the sleeping figure. His arm was thrown over his eyes, his chest rising up and down with his breaths. 

How did he end up in this situation? How did he allow himself to have sex with his best friend? Why doesn’t he remember anything?

Tyler muttered something, causing Craig to look over at him. Tyler hurriedly threw the comforter off of him, got out of bed, and ran out of the room and into his bathroom suite. Craig squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he could just disappear into nothingness.

Once Tyler returned, he had a pair of boxers on. He didn’t seem to notice Craig and once he did, he stopped in his tracks. His eyes were wide.

“Did we--?” he inquired, staring at Craig in utter shock.

“Well, we both woke up naked in the same bed, so I’d assume so,” Craig answered, quickly sucking his bottom lip between his teeth.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Tyler muttered, running a hand through his hair. Craig reached down without exposing his junk to pick up his boxers. He picked them up and looked at Tyler. Tyler sighed, turning around so Craig could get up and put the boxers on. His ass was throbbing. 

After he pulled his boxer briefs up, he told Tyler it was clear and Tyler spun back around. “So what now?” Tyler asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“I honestly have no fucking clue,” Craig answered, adjusting his glasses on his nose. He limped over to pick up the rest of his clothes and Tyler raised his eyebrows and was secretly glad he wasn’t the one who got a dick up the ass. 

“Are you okay?” Tyler asked because Craig was still his best friend, even if they had sex they don’t even remember having. 

“Yeah,” Craig answered, slipping on his shirt. He realized Tyler was referring to his limping, “The hangover’s bothering me more.”

“I’ve got some painkillers in the kitchen, bud,” Tyler offered, “and some coffee because I know how you like the bean.”

Craig smiled. Maybe last night won’t change them after all.

It’s been about two weeks since that day, and Craig was awoken by the urge to vomit. He ran quickly into the bathroom and let it all out into the toilet. He thought that since it was getting colder, maybe the weather change was giving him a cold. Or maybe sinus drainage was the culprit. 

He quickly brushed his teeth and continued his morning routine since it was eighty thirty anyways, and he needed to hit the gym.

He felt pretty great until the body odor of the workout section of the gym made him feel sick again. He dropped his stuff on a nearby bench and ran towards the nearest bathroom. Craig thought that was unusual because yes, body odor bothered him but never enough to make him nauseous. 

He was also feeling a little dizzy. He shrugged it off, popping a peppermint into his mouth and began his workout, trying to ignore the smells.

Craig was hungry, more so than usual. I mean, Craig eats a lot for someone buff, but nothing seemed to fill him up. On his way back home, he went into the drive-through of a fast food restaurant and ordered as much as he could afford. 

He parked to munch out and he was full until he made it back home. He was afraid. He thought that maybe he was getting a virus or something more than just a cold. He called Tyler, but of course, it went straight to voicemail so he called the next person he could think of.

“Yeah?” Brian’s voice rang through the other line, “What do ya want, Craig-o?”

“Brian, I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to call,” he laughed nervously, “Um, I need advice.”

“Fire away.”

“So this morning, I had this feeling of nauseous when I woke up, and I’ve puked twice in two hours, and I’m constantly hungry. I’m curious and kind of afraid because I’ve never experienced so many symptoms in a day.”

“You sound like a pregnant lady, dude,” Brian joked, laughing.

“That’s impossible,” Craig replied, even though he knew he was only joking, “I’m serious, Brian, what do I do?”

“Call a doctor,” Brian responded seriously, “Whatever ya have, it sounds bizarre and maybe you can get some prescription.”

“Thanks,” Craig responded, quickly hanging up and searching his contacts for his doctor’s office’s phone number.

A few days later, Craig had an appointment with his doctor Brock--he preferred to be called by his first name. 

“Hey, Craig, what seems to be the problem?” Brock smiled at him, checking Craig’s chart.

“Well, Doctor, I don’t really know how to explain it,” Craig said, biting his lip.

“Do the best you can,” Brock assured, smiling at him.

“I’ve been feeling really nauseous at smells, foods, like I have a weak stomach, which I’ve never had experienced before, and I’ve also been like excessively hungry,” Craig paused, watching Brock type something into his laptop, “and I’ve also felt dizzy after I vomit, and most of the time before I even feel nauseous.” Brock furrowed his eyebrows and continued typing. “At first, I thought I was sick, but now, I don’t know.”

“You’re right, this is very strange,” Brock said,  looking back over at Craig.

Craig only nodded.

Brock furrowed his eyebrows as he read off the laptop screen, “Are you sleeping well at night?” He looked over at Craig again, awaiting an answer.

“No, not recently,” Craig answered softly.

Brock hummed, typing something into his computer.

“Constantly needing to use the bathroom?”

“Yes,” answered Craig.

Brock typed once more into the laptop before standing up from his stool and walking over towards the patient bed where Craig was sitting.

“Do you mind if we take a urine sample from you?” Brock asked professionally slipping on his blue latex gloves.

“Not at all. Whatever will help you figure out what’s wrong,” Craig replied, adjusting his glasses on his nose.

Brock brought two latex-covered fingers to his stomach, pressing gently before taking the stethoscope from around his neck. He pressed the end to Craig’s chest, listening intently. After he finished checking his heart, he checked his blood pressure.

“It’s a little higher than usual,” Brock spoke, furrowing his eyebrows once again before pulling the velcro cuff off his bicep. He handed the patient a urine cup. “Do you need to go?” Brock asked and Craig nodded. 

“Restroom is two doors down on the left. Fill it at least halfway, and bring it back to me in here once you’ve finished,” Brock instructed, smiling at him. Craig nodded obediently before heading out of the room. He returned about two minutes later and handed the doctor.

There was a nurse in the room now. She looked to be about forty. Her blonde-almost gray hair was up in a ponytail and her bluish purple scrubs looked a bit big on her. “Miss Carol, bring this to Vicky, please. Tell her it needs to go to NSLR,” he requested and she nodded. Her latex-covered hands picked up the cup halfway full with urine out of the room. 

Brock pulled off his latex gloves, typing away at his computer again. “Craig, all I can say to do now is to be patient and wait for the results. Try to rest up because hopefully, that should bring the symptoms down. We should have results tomorrow afternoon and if not, Monday morning,” Brock instructed, giving Craig a polite smile.

“Thank you,” Craig told him, hopping off the patient bed and grabbing his jacket.

“It’s my job.” Brock smiled.

It wasn’t until Monday when Craig got the results. Brock had called him himself instead of his receptionist. 

“Hey, Craig.” His tone triggered a nervous tremble out of Craig. “It appears you have a problem. Now, don’t worry, there may have been issues with the lab report, but I think you ought to come down here to hear this for yourself. My last appointment is at four, but I will allow you to come without an appointment under the circumstances.”

Craig was scared now, more scared than he was before. Even Brock didn’t seem to know what exactly is wrong, and he’s a professional. 

At four thirty, Craig left his home and drove the thirteen-minute drive to his medical care center. When he entered the building, the receptionist was on the phone. She looked at Craig and just pointed to the entrance door that led into the doctors’ hallway. Brock wasn’t the alone doctor there, just like Carol wasn’t the only nurse. One day when Brock was under the weather and wasn’t able to work the day Craig had a checkup, a doctor by the name of David Nolan took Brock’s appointments for that day, so no one had to reschedule.

Brock was standing in front of nurse Carol’s desk, seeming to be deeply conversating with her. He noticed Craig, their attention both turning on him.

“Come with me,” Brock instructed gently, walking down a hallway. He led Craig to the unfamiliar room. 

“The reason this was so urgent is because what you have I have never seen before,” Brock explained, hooking up a cord to his laptop. It lit up a small projector hanging from the ceiling. Craig sat in a chair just as uncomfortable as the waiting room ones. “This-This is the organs of a man in the ages between 20-45.” A chart with different organ names popped up. “These are all male organs, of course.” Craig nodded in understanding, scanning through the scientific names, trying to find one that sounded familiar.

“You may know the male anatomy since you are a male, yes?” Brock asked and Craig nodded. “Good because take a look at this.” An image popped up of another chart of simple male organs with their simplified names and Craig knew what almost all of them were male organs, except for two. “Uh, Brock, there are some female reproductive organs in there,” Craig pointed out.

“Yes, I am aware, Craig. This is your chart.”

Craig furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“It sounds impossible, and I swore it was, but the results are that you are pregnant.” Brock pulled up the lab report from the urinal test.

Craig felt nauseous again.