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lcveaffairs · 1 year ago

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(—) ★ spotted!! NASRIN NAZARI on the cover of this week’s most recent tabloid! many say that the 24 year old looks like YARA SHAHIDI, but i don’t really see it. while the DANCE CHOREOGRAPHER / MODEL is known for being RESOURCEFUL my inside sources say that they have a tendency to be TWO-FACED i swear, every time i think of them, i hear the song UNLOYAL BY SUMMER WALKER & ARI LENNOX { she/her / cis female} - penned by IVY, 21, CISFEMALE, SHE / HER

guys i have bad impulse control i didn't even make it a WEEK before caving !!

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 :

name : nasrin amira nazari age : twenty - four birthday : august 21 sign : leo birthplace : queens , nyc career : dance choreographer , model , & owner of nasessities ( more info below ) inspirations : ashley everett ( career - wise ) , dongeun from the glory ( revenge sub-plot ) , ginny & georgia ( her & her mom )

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 :

tw: brief mentions of child abandonment , homelessness & stripping

nasrin amira nazari was born the only child to an iranian father & black mother in queens , nyc ! she comes from humble beginnings , w neither of her parents making much money. her dad was a lawyer , fresh on the scene , gaining more experience than he was money. her mom was a college student , still 20 by the time nasrin's born , and in school to be a pediatrician !

her parents split up only a year after nasrin's born though , after her father gets cold feet and takes off without a word. her mom , with a heightened responsibility over nasrin now , is forced to move in w her parents & drop out of school to work full-time in order to be able to properly care of nasrin.

but job hunting is hard , and despite months of searching there's no prospective options. until a friend of her mom tells her the local strip club is hiring for dancers , and they pay good money. while there was hesitation on her part initially , her mom was willing to do whatever it took to keep nasrin happy , so she takes the job.

in the mornings , her mom would get to spend time with nasrin & take her around the city , showing her all there was to see & teaching her everything she knew. but the nights she worked , nasrin would stay w her grandparents , fast asleep by the time her mom snuck out the bed and off to work.

yasrin always knew her mom was a " dancer " , as simple as that , and loved the attention it gave her. she always boasted about it , telling all her friends she wanted to be a star - whatever kind - just like she knew her mom was , and always loved dancing around the kitchen to 90's music until she couldn't anymore.

her grandparents , however , were made to believe she had finished school & gotten a night shift as a pediatrician. one night when she's 4 , nasrin naively told her grandparents her mom was a dancer , which caused a lot of confusion. this eventually blew up until revealing her mom's real profession , and got them kicked out the house. they offered to keep nasrin , but her mom refused , wanting them to be together above anything.

nasrin had been really insistent on wanting to be a star recently , and her mom saw how her eyes lit up everytime she puts on a show in the middle of the living room. by the day her mom was kicked out , her mom has lost nearly everything , but not nasrin. so from then on , she decides that she'll live to do whatever it takes to make sure her child doesn't have anything else taken from her.

the two float around - from hotels , to cheap monthly apartment rentals , to couchsurfing with friends. it's a lot , and it's difficulties slowly morph nasrin into a smart , quick-witted girl who's resourcefulness is her best friend. but she's never without the undying love of her mom. all this time , she's submitting dozens of auditions to different companies for nasrin , hoping soon she'll catch her big break.

eventually , she's offered a small guest role in a popular children's show at the time , but filming took place in la. instead of just flying there and back , her mom makes the drastic decision to just move , desperate to leave all the tension and drama of new york behind. so , she buys a discounted rv , transforms it into the best home they could , and sets off towards the city of angels.

by then , her mom had a lot saved up , so put her all into funding nasrin's dreams. ballet lessons , acting lessons , she has it all. and yet she feels ... different from the other girls , whose parents roll up in their bentleys and firmly-pressed collars. not only that , but she discovers very soon the reality of the entertainment industry , and how willing others are to let you fall if it meant they had a chance to climb down the ladder.

soon enough , some of la's most wealthy ( and unloyal ) husbands land themselves in strip clubs with wandering eyes , and it's not long before people find out what her mom does. she never doubted her mom was a dancer , and she was proud , but when her peers find out what kind she's quick to become a laughing stock , the target of ruthless bullying by those around her. " you're a different kind of rich , " she's told at 13 one day by her ballet teacher , who's firm fingernails hold her chin between them. " you're not old money , or new money . . . . you're dirty money. "

and that's the day that nasrin's heart starts growing cold. where all her differences become that much more apparent , and her end goal seems just a little further. but it doesn't discourage her , it fuels her.

once nasrin's old enough to understand , her mom explains everything to her , including where she really worked & how they came to live in cali. and while her mom was soooo nervous to tell her nasrin's literally like - you mean to tell me this is what people have been harrasing us for years over ?? she was just completely understanding and in fact found it weird everyone had made it such a big deal that her mom had a less conventional job.

that day , she puts all her acting & music dreams away to focus on dancing & dancing alone. it was her truest love , yes , but she also felt a burning to desire to become just like the thing everyone seemed to hate but she so deeply loved - her mother. so , she spends the rest of her childhood & teenage years on competition shows , dancing in musicals , performing backup for artists - whatever would get her face out there.

by the time she's out of high school , she's got a way more defined style , and is already making a name for herself in la. but after an appearance on a survival show , she's offered the chance of a lifetime at only 19 - join the tour of a famous musician as a backup dancer for the performance. she didn't know it then , but this skyrocketed her career , as she went viral for her solo , gaining major attention.

following that , things really kick off as she starts to become a familiar face within numerous entertainer's performances. she's even starting to get known for her unique choreography , which fuses the hard-hitting precision of hip hop styles with the grace and fluidity of ballet. in 2021 , she gets the honor of returning to tour with the artist , this time as the dance captain.

since , nasrin's been able to snag other appearances , such as dancing with the stars ( 2022 ) and as a guest judge on a competition show ! she's also modeled for several campaigns , most being either makeup or athletic brands. lastly , she's got a youtube channel , NASNAZ , where she occasionally posts covers , bts footage of tour life / dance performances , as well as other miscelanious vlogs !

but here's the reeeal tea. so a lot of those same girls she went to school with who so often bullied her are now stars in their own right , some smaller & some bigger. but nasrin never forgot what they did , and she doesn't intend on letting it slide , either. so , with a range of top - celeb contacts at her disposal now , she's made it her mission to use her career for the greater ... bad. she smiles in their face and says how good it is to catch up , but won't hesitate to send some gossip she overheard to celeb blogs , sabotage a performance to make them look bad , or whatever else it takes to bring them down to where they brought her.

now we thought karter's intro was bad THIS IS EVEN LONGER !!! i proomise to hush now

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀 :

when it comes to dancing , nasrin does not play around !! shes felt like people don't take her seriously - both due to her background and age - her entire life of dancing . so while those who first meet her think she's just a stuck-up dancer with no manners , it's not the truth . she's just gotten to the age where she's proved herself enough to earn a seat at the table , and she has no intention of making others feel like they can belittle her again.

on that note , she can be harsh , but it's because she's a perfectionist. she won't yell without good reason , and as captain she's also incredibly close to her dancers. will tell you without hesitation the last run you did was awful , but will also praise you when you've done your best , and says love you to all the dancers at the end of every night.

this year she debuted her brand , nasessities , a playon of her name that makes athleisure both affordable and stylish ( inspo : fabletics ) ! the huge part of the branding is inclusion , since it's something she hasn't always felt ! the band promotes body-inclusive models , wide ranges of sizing , as well as positive affirmation through branding !

huuuuge momma's girl. her mom really lost everything just to protect her & her dreams , so she quite literally thanks her everyday for it. in 2020 , she was able to buy a house for both her and her mom in la , where they both currently live. it's split in two sections , so they still feel like they live separate , but know they're only a staircase away from being with each other !

also when ashley started to become financially independent , she was able to go to school , now her mom's finally achieved her dream of becoming a pediatrician , by the way :')

definitely can get shrouded in her own work and forget to relax but is slowly trying to learn to balance work and play. oddly enough , she thinks she's too young to have fun , as she's scared it gives the public an excuse not to take her seriously , and that she could fall off after just one wrong move. so she can come off as a little tense in that regard , but once she let's go , she let's go.

speaking of , she can be very spontaneous when experiencing heightened emotions. i'd say usually she plays it safe , but when she feels intensely stressed , angry , excited , or sad , her body is on AUTOPILOT LMAOAOA. she simply will not care !! while in her career this can be great for when she has to make very last-minute creative choices. but in her personal life , it often lands her in a lot of messy situations.

also this probably doesn't come off as a shock but she is sooo competitive ! partially from birth , partially due to the pressure of being in the entertainment industry since she was young ! but she will literally even fight to the death playing rock paper scissor do not play w her HAHA !

i wouldn't say she hates celebrity culture but she ... hates celebrity culture LMAO ??? she's grown so cynical to the idea after being exposed to the uglier sides of it since an early age. she definitely knows there's still good celebs , and has numerous friends in the industry , in fact. but the cliche snobby , nepo baby , hot shit types ?? she cannot staaand them ! they really remind her of the type of people she encountered when she was younger.

but , like i said before , she's more of a calculated person , so she tends to be very kind to these people to their face. it's only to those who know her best that she complains about them , and for those who really wronged her she's sure to get revenge in her own time , without bringing suspicion to herself !

v much so the type to offend you but you don't realize until you walk away ?? she's v slick when she wants to be , but also knows she's at a disadvantage due to dancers being seen as "lesser" than to the main entertainers / actresses / etc. so , she's slick if she claps back s to not stir up too much drama & ruin her brand.

ex. she once danced backup for one of her old classmates who used to bully her as well , who's now a singer who's main selling point is all their performances are live. during a blackout in the performance , nasrin pushed the mic out their hand , so when the lights came back on and the track was still playing , they were exposed for lip singing , causing a huge stir online.

but for those who haven't wronged her ( LMAO ) , nasrin is a genuine friend who , although blunt at times , truly loves and puts energy to those she loves most. being an only child , she's a little spoiled affection-wise in her own right , too. but she was always raised not to let fame get to her head , so she's always putting in an effort to being kind to those who are fans of hers & staff.

romantically , she takes time to open up due to lack of trust & not quite believing in the concept of love yet ! she holds herself back , mainly though , because she knows how deeply she fall in loves. when she says she doesn't half-ass anything she means it !! puts her all into loving other's , but consequently , is very selective with who she loves out of fear of hurting herself.

she has a bengal cat named cleopatra , but shortened to cleo. she would literally DIE for her HAHA , i don't doubt that she spams her instagram story with pics of them together at least twice a day.

ok let's wrap it up damn !!

𝐖𝐂𝐒 :

artist who gave her her first big break !! this would've been anywhere between 2018 - 2019 , and they would be at least relatively big since this brought a lot of attention to her ! she would also now be their dance captain for tour performances. this could be someone who genuinely discovered her & really wanted to give a young dancer a chance to prove themselves ! or , they could've been pressured to do it for pr , and they actually don't get along at all off camera. it could literally go anywhere !

on that note , also other celebrities who she's worked with / performed with ! or even celebs who come to her to improve their dance skills in their private time. it could really be in any capacity , as long as it's around 2019 onward ! good , bad , wholesome , messy , i love all the dynamics !

also anyone on or who was on her dance team !! i don't know if there are currently any other dncers but if so i would loveee her to have dance friends if not this could be a great idea for a new muse 👀

any celebs she has drama with from back in the day !!! oooh this one is messy. as u saw tldr nasrin was often picked on for not being a " conventional " rich kid & now has a personal vendetta against her bullies who became famous ! either this person knowingly sabotaged nasrin for their own benefit , was one of the ones who picked on her , or their parents just picked on her & she completely misguided her anger and targeted the whole family ?? whatever font you want lmaoo !! anyways , nasrin never forgot , and now has something personally against this muse.

aside from the childhood revenge subplot siojoisios , casual enemies or even healthy competition would be so fun !! ofc also the messy exes plots too ! i'm sorry so many of these are messy LMAO she's just such a fiery spirit it's only natural

someone please thaw her heart out a little and give her somebody to have a little crush on HAHA !! she can be so in her head sometimes that i think it'd be cute for her to have a little romance !

also casual fwbs and all that !! tourin life is hard she gets lonely okay LMFAO !! anywho she could definitely also use some more casual connections that provide physical company without all the emotions tied in !

pr relationship !! especially maybe after a scandal one of them had ?? it could be current or ended , but i think it'd be equally funny if they absolutely hated each other the entire time or surprisingly actually started to like each other ??

childhood friends !! could be someone from nyc , but since she moved to cali relatively young they could be from there , too ! i'f they're from cali , it could be someone who either went to school w her ! i'd love her to have a friend who grew up w connections & whose family was well-established, and helped her adjust to the lifestyle ! esp since she can be so pessimistic about nepo babies sometimes it could be someone who gives them a better name & she gets really close too !!

and ofc the obvious ones - besties , party buddies , coworkers , all that !!

give me mess give me tea give me plots <;33

#hillzintro #yall it's so long I'M SORRY !!!! 😭#establishing bg takes FOREVER

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goonsgospel · 1 year ago

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I need to know more about Ev immediately (also it's hilarious to me you chose jerma as the voice claim bc that's my voice claim for spam 😭)

Ok SO

I believe I've mentioned before but Ev was not always a UTDR oc, in fact Everett isn't his real name at all! "Everett" is simply an iteration of another character I've been working on for the better part of five years. A catalyst to organize and rationalize any self-insert characters, but also something much more personal.

Everett, much like Spamton, is a living contradiction; One and many, sweet and sour, cowardice and courage, wielder of the pen and the sword. It's all very poetic until you realize he's the biggest idiot this side of the multiverse (I say this with affection, of course.)

This is actually something I've been meaning to talk about for awhile, but my thoughts and my drafts get so jumbled that I just Don't. Anywho, the way Ev and Spam's dynamic works is very similar to this concept of contradiction: they're too similar, yet too different. They can barely stand one another, yet they rely on each other because right now, that's all they have. Spamton, alone after being used to further some unknown being's goals, only to be discarded, and Everett, alone in a city he doesn't understand as he runs from something he can barely stand to think about. Again, beautiful poetry until you realize they're both dumb as bricks.

You know that cow tools comic? I think about it a lot in terms of writing and storytelling, and I cannot think of a better example to describe how writing Ev went. The pen/sword has been a concept I've held onto for awhile, like pre-Deltarune Ch1 release. Kris using their pencil as a sword occurred to me as I was playing, which was surreal in the best way. It was only after I designed Ev, with his blue cloak, that I found this:

There are many more accidental connections I've made, some very glaring in the context of Ev's story (wings, wink wink), but I've been rambling for long enough.

I have the basic outline of a story blocked out. I'm hesitant to post it, or even continue writing it, but I do truly enjoy doing it. I love dropping hints, but actually telling a story seems so much more fun.

Regardless, I can't thank you enough for your ask. I absolutely adore talking about Ev, and I have SO MUCH to talk about. This barely scratches the surface. I know I've mentioned this before but I love your work, and you taking an interest in mine too is so so cool!! I'm always more than willing to spill some secrets about my characters.

(Also, Spamton is 100% Jerma voice coded, but that one clip of Tom Kenny in jimmy neutron catches my attention all the same. I think I'll let Ev and Spam share a voice claim. As a treat)

#im normall im normal normal #everett oc #ask goon #ALSO HIIIII HOW YOU DOING MY FRIEDN

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clochanamarc · 1 year ago

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@agntross asked: 💕 (u know this shit been comin’ for a long time hehehehe)

she calls him three days after they part ways. not because she didn't want to see him, or didn't know what she might say when she saw him next. no. it took three days, an absurd amount of elbow grease, seven tide pens and countless google searches to finally get the blood stain out of his shirt. a tiny drop, stubborn, taunting, reminding them of a close call that nearly got everett killed back in the early days of their travels.

" don't worry. i'll send you the laundry bill. "

" i have seven kids at home. i think i can clean a little blood off a sleeve. "

she very nearly failed her own earnest predictions. but then, at 6 this morning, following the fifteenth dose of baking soda and lemon juice, it finally faded out of sight. that one, stupid, godforsaken pinprick of red caved. and she texted everett a photo and a voice message suggesting a place to meet. after all, she did owe him a good meal. months of promises had to mean something, right?

when he shows up an hour later, the diner is closed up, and she's sitting on the doorstep, his shirt folded pain-stakingly in her lap. it's only when he steps into view that aisling's face lights up with a smile. six months ago, they'd been rushing out of her apartment with just a few bits in a plastic bag and a cluster of agents left to take care of the kids. it's a jarring yet entirely lovely change to know that they're all at school, safe and sound, leaving the only danger to the capable hands of the PTA presidents and their lethal legacy.

" i made some coffee inside. and a proper breakfast; figured it was the least i could do. and let me tell you, i'll be glad to see the last of this shirt-- "

it's not the first time they've kissed. but somehow, with nobody around to hide from or pretend in front of, this is the first time she's ever taken full stock of it. the first time she's felt that connection, and yearned for more without feeling foolish for doing so. his hand cradles her cheek, fingertips tracing gently in her hair, and their lips meet with the kind of perfect magnetism that she's only ever seen before in broken plate shards. they touch, they join, and they connect. the shirt ( that stupid damn shirt ) drops into the most misfortunately placed puddle in the world, and her free hands lift, one buried into his hair, the other balanced gently against his shoulder, two sides waging a war between wanting more and fearing the risk of frightening him off.

it's not until the sleeve of the shirt unravels in the mucky water and nearly trips her over that she finally stops for air, careful not to pull apart too much. " god... i thought it'd never happen. what took you so long? " breathless words conclude with a teasing smile, and her hand moves from his shoulder to his hand. " wanna come inside? "

#agntross #( ' a soul for a soul... ' / reply. )#( v 001: cathair na aisling. ( main verse. ) )#( LISTEN I WANNA EDIT BUT I ALSO NEED TO WASH THE COCONUT OIL OUT OF MY HAIR )#( BUT THIS IS IT THIS IS MY FERALITY AT A PEAK )#( I LOVE THEM A STUPID AMOUNT WTF-- )

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wiypt-writes · 3 years ago

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25 Days Of CHRIS-mas Interactive Christmas Calendar

So, I thought this year I would get into the spirit and run an interactive Calendar of sorts.

There are no deadline, no rules… just a list of 24 Characters, plus the man himself.

So, what do you do?

Simple! Just pen a drabble or one shot for the character which corresponds with the date, use the hashtag #wiypt25daysofchrismas and tag me and voila!

You’re free to do as you see fit with the characters! OCs, reader inserts… dark, smut, fluff. But no underage or bodily fluid play please… I won’t reblog anything like that!

Please use the read more tag if you post anything over 100 words or so… and obviously ensure your fics contain the relevant warnings.

Kicking off on 1st December! Characters and their dates below the cut!

Wiypt Masterlist

Participant Masterlist

1 Jake Wyler (Not Another Teen Movie)

2 Kyle (Perfect Score)

3 Ryan (Cellular)

4 Bryce Langley (Fierce People)

5 Johnny Storm (Fantastic Four)

6 Syd (London)

7 Mace (Sunshine)

8 Harvard Hottie (The Nanny Diaries)

9 Paul Diskant (Street Kings)

10 Jimmy Dobyne (Loss Of A Tear Drop Diamond)

11 Nick Gant (Push)

12 Jake Jensen (The Losers)

13 Lucas Lee (Scott Pilgrim)

14 Mike Weiss (Puncture/Injustice)

15 Steve Rogers (Captain America)

16 Colin Shea (What’s Your Number)

17 Mr. Freezy (The Iceman)

18 Curtis Everett (Snowpiercer)

19 Nick Vaughn (Before We Go)

20 Me (Playing It Cool)

21 Frank Adler (Gifted)

22 Ari Levinson (The Red Sea Diving Resort)

23 Ransom Drysdale (Knives Out)

24 Andy Barber (Defending Jacob)

25 Chris Evans (as himself!)

#wiypt25daysofchrismas #Chris Evans #Chris Evans characters

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mtreebeardiles · 3 years ago

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Teasing Game #15

Thanks for the prompt! Interruptions

(also over on AO3)

It started slow, subtle, small inconsistencies easy to write off at first. A datapad a few inches farther away than he'd left it; a pen mysteriously vanishing, only to reappear just as mysteriously after he'd already gone to get a new one. Papers -- he always had an easier time drawing out certain ideas -- shuffled inexplicably out of order.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was caught between a grin and a roll of the eyes, annoyed and impressed all at the same time. But he wasn't about to let on that he'd figured it out, letting the tiny interruptions build and build into something bigger until his thermos was anchored to the table and his pen was gone entirely.

Then, and only then, does he get up.

He stepped carefully out of the maze he'd made around himself, piles of reports and datapads and scribbled notes precariously balanced on the coffee table, the couch, the floor on either side of where he'd been sitting with his legs tucked under the table. Impressed bypassed annoyed as he observed that none of the piles had been disturbed to the point of tipping over.

Evvy had come a long way in learning finer control over his biotics.

The man in question was seated cross-legged on the bed, elbows braced on his knees and chin perched on his hands as he read over a report. It was a sight that always made Kaidan smile, so painfully Evvy, from the poor posture to the way he essentially vanished into his hoodie, a vision he'd grown familiar with all the way back to the SR-1.

Everett had been a little shit back then, too.

Kaidan leaned down and gently tugged the datapad out of Everett's lap. The Commander glanced up, eyebrows arching in feigned innocence, arching even higher as Kaidan rested both hands on his shoulders and pushed him back against the pillows. He straddled his hips, narrowing his eyes at the man below him, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Something wrong, Major?"

"You're a goddamned menace, Everett Shepard."

"What makes you say that?" Definitely trying not to laugh now.

"You know," Kaidan went on, his hands slipping from Evvy's shoulders down his arms to seek out his. He laced their fingers together. "There are easier ways to get my attention."

Everett had the audacity to bat his eyelashes at him, playing up his innocence with the sort of dramatic flare that always got Kaidan to laugh.

"Are you accusing me of getting fresh with a superior officer, sir?"

"I did this," Kaidan replied with a sigh. "I'm the one who taught you how to use your biotics. I should have known you'd only use them for mischief."

"What can I say?" Evvy asked, breaking, flashing a cheeky grin up at Kaidan as the Major pointedly took Everett's hands and trapped them against the bed on either side of his head -- preventing the use of further mnemonics. "Annoying you is what I'm best at."

"You have other skills."

"Yeah, but you're already impressed by those! Gotta change it up to keep it interesting."

"Fucking with my papers is interesting?" Kaidan asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Admit it," Evvy retorted. "You like how in control I am of the space magic. Otherwise you'd've just thrown something at me instead of coming to straddle my hips." He canted his head to the side, a slyness in his gaze. "That sort of fine-tuned technique do something for you, Kaidan?"

The look, the drop of pitch in his voice, and Kaidan knew Evvy had seen right through him.

"…shut up."

"You're a nerd for the space magic, baby, it's okay."

"You're the worst."

"You love me."

"God." Kaidan shook his head, leaning down to catch his lips with his own. "I really fucking do."

#my writing #prompt response #mass effect #mshenko #Everett Shepard #Kaidan Alenko

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whatsonmedia · 2 years ago

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Wednesday Wisdom- Top Book Collection of the Week!

Black people have always been discriminated throughout the world for their colour and ethnicity. There is no perfect time to honour them for their struggles, stories and journey of life. This month is the Black History Month- which marks the history of their ethnicity and their struggles for identity and acceptance in the society. To celebrate their struggle, many new books by Black authors are being released. Books provide us solace, joy, and a way to escape reality. But for Black people the reality itself is presented through medium of pen and paper. With "Black Live Matter" movement gaining momentum worldwide against the atrocities committed against them. WhatsOn brings some of the top books by Black authors which you can add to your collections. What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris*** what the fireflies knew In this heartfelt portrayal of Black girlhood, KB's world is turned upside down when her father dies of an overdose. Leaving a mountain of debt behind. As a result, KB's mother drops her and her teenage sister to their grandfather. Over the summer, KB has trouble making friends and staying connected with her sister. As she tries to bring her family together before school starts. As she tries to bring her family together, she's forced to move from her childish perception into harsh realities. Kai Harris's coming-of-age debut captures all the nuance and vulnerability of growing up Black and poor in America. On Rotation By Shirlene Obuobi *** on Rotation The novel explores the struggles and expectations of the immigrant experience, from the perspective of Angie Appiah. She is the eldest daughter of a Ghanian household who has been a success her whole life. However, when she fails a major medical school exam and her boyfriend breaks up with her, that her life get unraveled. The Accidental Pinup by Danielle Jackson**** the accidental pinup Cassie is a plus-size Black photographer who is offered the opportunity to shoot and direct a nationwide campaign aimed at empowering plus-size body types. After some minor incidents occur, she ends up a model instead of a photographer. Which would be just fine, if she wasn't working with her competitor, fellow photographer Reid Montgomery. But enemies can turn to lovers, and the romance that blossoms is irresistible. How to Live Without You by Sarah Everett**** how to live without you Emmy and Rose are sisters and best friends who separate when their parents get a divorce. Six years later, Rose disappears, and Em decides to pay a visit to her father in Ohio and look for her missing older sister. However, the longer she searches, the more she realizes how little she knew about Rose. This touching YA novel tackles family dynamics and the bond of Black sisterhood. Cafe Con Lychee by Emery Lee*** cafe Con Lychee Out-and-proud Theo and closeted Gabi are rival sons of competing family business. An Asian-American cafe and a Puerto Richan bakery, respectively. When a new fusion cafe threatens to destroy families' businesses and their dreams, they form an unlikely alliance running an underground coffee and boba shop at school. And of course, they must also navigate their growing feelings for one another. Read the full article

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everettofhatchetfield · 8 months ago

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[Ooc; made Everett if they were in the style of Potatolord lol]

//ooc: WOAHAHAH

EVERETT MY LITTLE FELLA!!!

THATS THEM!!

#hatchetfield rp #hatchetblr #everett's explanations #everett's dropped pen #ooc post

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cain-gunn · 3 years ago

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“Have you seen a fox?” Cain asked when Everett pulled the door open. His fist was still raised in the air ready to knock again, so he dropped it at his side. “One of my foxes is out, so I thought maybe he was here. Have you seen him?” It was his own fault for forgetting to lock the pen when he’d put them out last, but it didn’t mean he didn’t want to get Kratos back safely. He looked past Everett to search for any sign that the creature was in the house somewhere. “It’s, like, this big,” he used his hands to demonstrate the size. “And it barks. So, you know, if you hear any barking, it’s probably Kratos.”

@everettlance

#im too lazy to pick gifs rn #for when you get back #in time of peace prepare for war; interactions.#everett #at home 127 #127

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lifeofkaze · 3 years ago

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An Art of Balance #37 (Bonus)

Orion Amari x MC

A/N: First bonus chapter! Quite some people asked me when Everett might get what he deserves. Well, here you go (finally)! Judith Harris belongs to @judediangelo75 , David Willows to @that-scouse-wizard and Katriona KC Cassiopeia – as always – to my wonderful wifey @kc-needs-coffee

Warning: The smallest mention of blood

Word Count: ~ 2.700

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Bonus - Chapter 37: Doppelbeater Defense

Despite of the biting wind in her face as she whizzed through the air, Lizzie could feel a drop of sweat making its way down beneath her shoulder blades and along her spine. Ignoring the soft tickle, she gripped the Quaffle tighter and held it to her body as she ducked beneath a Bludger send in her direction by Erika Rath and prepared to make her move.

Whipping her broomstick sideways at the last possible moment, she used the momentum to let go of the Quaffle and send it through the left one of the other team’s hoops. The Keeper had no chance to block her throw and she broke into a grin as the goalposts lit up for a moment, signalling her success to the crowd.

“Jameson scores for her team in an almost artistic manner!” Murphy reaffirmed only moments later. “Her choice of hoop came 68.5 % unexpected and left the Keeper with no chance to deflect the Quaffle in time.”

Her grin widened as she flew along the stands and let the whooping of the fans spur her on. Considering that they were only playing a friendly, the stands were packed. The Quidditch season was over and Hufflepuff the reigning Quidditch champion; to let out some of the penned up energy, Orion and Rath had decided to organise a mixed match for the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams. With the exams being almost over, a lot of their peers had found their way onto the scalding hot pitch today, just happy to escape the dusky shadows of the castle for a few hours.

In full flight, she held onto the handle of her broom before coming into a standing position as she surfed past her friends, raising her fist into the air. Lizzie had pretty much abandoned broom surfing for a long time, but had picked it up again this year; ever since she and Orion had started dating officially three weeks earlier, it had slowly but surely developed into her favourite way to celebrate a scored goal.

Sitting down, Lizzie made her way back into the middle of the pitch again. With a smile just as bright as her own, Orion came up beside her, visibly proud of both her goal and her skilled display of his favourite flying technique; he had taught it to her after all. He clapped his gloved hand on her shoulder and gave her the smallest wink. When the Quaffle re-entered the game, he smirked, turned around and was gone chasing after it.

Completely lost in thought, Lizzie stared after him. The place on her shoulder where his hand had rested only moments earlier, was still tingling and she felt her heart beat faster. She watched as he relieved Skye of the Quaffle with a laugh and a graceful swipe of his hand. Even though it had been some time since they had gotten together now, the thought that he was actually her boyfriend still felt surreal to her.

She was violently broken out of her dazed state when she saw a Bludger racing towards her at a ridiculous speed. It was aimed straight for her head and she only managed to duck out of it’s way at the last moment. She could feel the air move as it whizzed past her, her heart beating in her ears, this time from pure adrenaline. She let out a shaky breath; that had been a close one.

Straightening up again, she whipped her broomstick around and flew over to Everett, who had beat the iron sphere her way. He smirked at her flustered state as she came to a halt directly in front of him.

“Are you mad or what?” Lizzie snapped at him. “This is supposed to be a friendly! We don’t go for the head in a friendly!”

Unimpressed, Everett looked her up and down haughtily. “Shut it, Jameson, it’s your problem if your distracted.”

His sneer turned into a derogatory smirk as he continued, “You’d better focus, sunshine; we wouldn’t want that pretty face of yours smashed, would we? I guess, the captain would like you considerably less then. After all, there’s not much more to you than a halfway decent look.”

Her temper flaring for a moment, Lizzie had the strong urge to just push Everett of his broom and be done with it. Instead, she took a deep breath, grit her teeth and left him behind. Arguing with the sixth-year was no use; she knew it was his hurt pride speaking. He had been shooting snide remarks at her ever since she and Orion had become a couple. Letting him get under her skin was exactly what he wanted.

Even though she tried to ignore his comments, Everett was far from done with her. Every time she came close to him over the course of the match, he was shouting a new profanity at her, every new one worse than the last. After a while, despite her best efforts, his verbal attacks were distracting her so much she couldn’t concentrate on playing anymore.

Her passes were starting to get unprecise, her manoeuvres were failing more often than not. When she tried to bring the Quaffle past the opposing Keeper, her throw got blocked with ease. Annoyed with herself, Lizzie gave vent to her frustration with a scream and a hit against the handle of her Comet.

Her increasing anger didn’t go unnoticed by Orion. Hovering beside her, he was trying to centre her again with his calm, reassuring voice until Lizzie felt her rage melt away at the sight of his smile. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him thankfully and returned into action by his side.

But Orion hadn’t been the only one to notice Everett’s constant slurs. Judith and Katriona, who was one of the Ravenclaws playing on Lizzie’s team, had already shared more than one eyeroll ever since Everett had started attacking their friend. All of them were sick and tired of his rudeness anyway, but his behaviour today was just downright disgusting.

When the Hufflepuff Beater made the mistake of sending a Bludger to the spot where both of them were hovering in the air, KC and Judith only needed to share a look between them to know what to do.

Anticipating the rotating Bludger with their bats raised and ready, they hit the Bludger both at the same time. It changed its course back to its sender with incredible speed, leaving Everett no time to dodge it. With an audible, ugly sounding crack it collided with his nose, blood spurting out of his nostrils as he dropped his bat and cried out in pain.

Murphy winced into his megaphone as the stands around him erupted into cheers. “Ouch, that must have hurt, ladies and gentlemen! Someone had better get Madam Pomfrey to take a look at this, there’s a 98.6 % chance of a really nasty bruise.”

The laughter in Murphy’s clear voice was very badly hidden and he had to clear his throat before he could continue. “But all jokes aside, the only thing more fabulous than this perfect display of one of the most challenging Beater manoeuvres known to any skilled Quidditch strategist is the sheer perfection of the two players conducting it! With Harris’s unmatched strength and Cassiopeia’s unrivalled technique, the Tigress and Ravenclaw’s rising star effectively knock Everett out of the game, giving their team a considerable advantage.”

It was true; Everett had clapped his hands in front of his face and was in no state to stay on his broomstick much longer, let alone continue playing. His eyes shot daggers at them through his fingers, Judith glaring back and KC only shrugging it off nonchalantly; he’d had it coming after all.

Luckily for all of them, the Snitch had been caught pretty quickly after KC and Judith had broken Everett’s nose, leaving no room for more injuries, accidental or no.

Being a member of his original team, Orion had insisted on escorting Everett to the Hospital Wing, however impossible he might have acted. Madam Pomfrey had been busy when they had arrived, so her assistant had taken care of him. Her healing spells were usually impeccable, but today she claimed she had been distracted by a nasty headache. Lizzie suspected very much she hadn’t been distracted at all. They had left a cursing and ranting Everett to her further care and had made their way to the Great Hall.

With one more exam still ahead of them, Murphy and Orion had separated from the rest of the team to go over their notes together, while Judith, KC and Lizzie had found seats at the Hufflepuff table.

They were chatting about the match, the Charms exam taking place in two days’ time and the prospect of new players come next season. While KC was enjoying the prospect of fresh blood, both Lizzie and Judith were sighing at the idea of having to spend another year with Everett on their team.

“You know, David Willows could step up,” Judith suggested between two bites of her dinner. “He’d fit the team so much better than that airhead.”

Lizzie tilted her head. “I thought he was stuck in detention forever.”

“Only for the whole year, next year he should be free again,” Judith shrugged, “if he doesn’t do any more stupid stunts, that is.”

“Any more stupid stunts and get caught, you mean,” KC added with a smirk.

Judith laughed. “Naturally.”

Her golden eyes wandered from her friends’ faces to something in Lizzie’s back and one of her eyebrows arched in dismay. “Speaking of the devil…”

Lizzie turned around to see Everett stomping their way. His face was looking truly dreadful; his nose was hidden under a thick bandage and the skin around it red and bruised. The proportions of his usually not unattractive face were oddly contorted by the swelling. What was visible of the rest of his face was screaming murder as he approached them.

He drew himself up to his full height as he stared down at the three girls. He would have looked threatening had his broken nose not made quiet wheezing noises every time he breathed.

“Look what you did to my face,” he snarled at them through gritted teeth, his fists shaking with rage. “This is all your fault! That incompetent amateur of a healer said my nose might not go back to the way it was before! You’ll answer for this!”

Lizzie shifted uncomfortably in her seat under his glare. She was honestly sick of him and his attitude and wished he would just leave them in peace; she’d had her share of insults for the day and was too tired to get into a fight.

Judith and KC, on the other hand, didn’t seem to share her notion. Judith looked him up and down, her muscular arms crossed in front of her chest, while KC’s eyes never left him. She took a deliberately slow sip of her coffee.

“I don’t see your problem,” she answered coolly after setting her mug back down. “How did you put it? It’s your fault if you’re distracted.”

She turned her attention to her fingernails, as if the sheer presence of the seething Hufflepuff Beater was boring her out of her mind.

“Look at it that way: a crooked nose might suit you after all,” she continued. “I heard it gives people more character; Godric knows you’d need that.”

Despite herself, Lizzie had to snort into her cup of pumpkin juice at KC’s words. This turned out to be a mistake, however, when Everett turned all his attention on her.

He stepped forward, right into Lizzie’s personal space. He was effectively towering over her with no chance for her to get away as he bend down to hiss into her face.

“I have no idea what’s so funny about that, Jameson. Only because you’re shagging the captain doesn’t mean you’re special in any way. Harming your teammate intentionally is against the rules, I’ll have you and Harris kicked off the team. You’ll regret this!”

He abruptly straightened himself up and began striding away, head held high, not even sparing them another glance. If he had, he had probably seen KC turning and sneakily sticking her foot out. He caught on it and swayed for a moment before he tipped over and landed face down onto the floor with a resounding bang. He screamed and Lizzie was sure to hear the crunch deformed bones for a second time that day.

Everett turned around, staring up at them with pain and hate edged onto his face. He opened his mouth to say something but there was nothing coming out of it but a loud, high pitched whine.

Not impressed in the slightest, KC rose from her seat and set a foot on Everett’s chest to prevent him from getting up. Bending down, her long, strawberry blonde curls almost grazing his face, she locked eyes with him. There was a fury burning in her blue eyes that made him go cold on the inside.

“You’re right, harming your teammates is against the rules – good thing you aren’t one of mine,” she hissed at him.

She slightly increased the pressure of her foot on his chest. “So, if I hear one more word about our lovely Lizzie or my fantastic friend Orion coming from your filthy mouth ever again, be sure to know that the next Bludger will be aimed lower – a lot lower.”

A confident smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Consider this a warning; according to Murphy I have a pretty good accuracy of 97.8 %.”

Everett made a strangled sound as KC stepped over him, applying her full weight onto his body for a moment. Judith followed her, driving the point home by tapping her Beater’s bat on his chest as she walked by with a hard stare.

KC turned her head and looked down at him; she might as well have looked at a cockroach.

“On a sidenote,” she added, suddenly sounding very sweet, “I heard the N.E.W.T.s are pretty tough to prepare for. Maybe you might want to reconsider returning to the Hufflepuff team next year. Don’t you worry about your position, we know just the replacement for you.”

“You’re bright spirit will be missed, but I think we’ll get over it,” Judith agreed with a satisfied smirk.

Everett’s gaze flicked from one to the other; if Lizzie didn’t know any better, she’d say he was actually scared of her friends.

When KC and Judith turned around to walk away, he muttered a curse under his breath, prompting the redheaded Ravenclaw to turn around again.

“What was that?”

All defiance lost, Everett cowered in on himself. “Nothing.”

“Good.”

KC’s eyes rose to Lizzie, who was still sitting at the table, staring at the scene unfolding in front of her. “Liz, are you coming?”

Lizzie snapped out of it, got up and didn’t miss out on stepping over Everett herself, a big grin on her face. Judith and KC both flanked her, linking arms with each other as they marched her out of the Great Hall.

“Godric, did you see his face?” Lizzie chuckled as soon as they were out of earshot. “He’s going to have nightmares, I bet.”

Turned more serious again, she glanced at KC. “But was that really necessary?”

“It was,” KC answered equally as serious. “He practically begged for this for a long time now.”

“I’d have done anything to not have to put up with him for another year,” Judith agreed wholeheartedly.

Lizzie laughed and pulled her friends closer as the three of them marched across the Entrance Hall in lockstep.

“Thanks girls, I appreciate it. Just do me the favour of reminding me to never ever cross my Beater Babes.”

#hphm #hogwats mystery #quidditch #lizzie jameson #katriona cassiopeia #judith harris #he's had it coming #never cross the beater babes #aob #art of balance

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wickedsrest-rp-archive · 4 years ago

Text

Invest-eye-gation || POTW Chatzy

TIMING: Current LOCATION: In a conference room at the WC Morgue SUMMARY: The WCPD and ME’s Office are hard at work trying to analyze as many eyes as possible, and learn more about what it all means.

It felt wrong to move the trays of eyeballs out of the autopsy suite and into the conference room, but if they were going to get as many of these finished as possible, she needed all hands on deck, and it wasn’t feasible to cram everyone in there. Regan stayed in her corner of the conference room, trying to keep her distance from everyone while slowly and methodically pulling vitreous humor from each eye, and squirting it into the tubes laid out in front of her. At least no one was urging her to take a break and go on a coffee run after she failed to return from the last one. “Test tube rack is full. Can anyone grab me a new one?” She sighed, looking over at the remaining trays full of eyes. So many of them. “Any new locations to pin on the map?”

"Mmm-St Loo" Agatha wrinkled her nose and swallowed her bite, looking over the screen of her laptop with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, St Louis. Mark Everett, went missing in October 1988," the detective picked up her coffee mug and took a long sip. She didn't know for how long this all would last, but each time she crossed out a DNA profile, it seemed like her list of profiles to check had gotten longer again.

In another circumstance, maybe it could have been nice to finally see Regan after a few days. Considering Kaden still wasn't sure if that scream was for him or not. This however, was very much work. And he wanted nothing to do with sticking needles in eyes. So database duty it was. "We got Argentina listed yet? Looks like this person went missing off the coast. Reported in November 2004."

He didn't want to be here. Why was he here. Simon handed Regan the rack she asked for, deciding that it would've been easier for him to help deal with the samples than the database files. He remained quiet, content to listen to the conversation and do whatever it was that needed to be done or marked though part of him had a mind to just... mark a big circle around the entirety of the map.

Roland had spent most of the past week at the station or morgue, going through the database and connecting the eyeballs to as many missing persons cases as he could, trying to make any connection he would. The dates spanned so far back his head was spinning. How were these all turning up and why now? "Got Huntington Beach, California. Lisa Claymore. December 1995," he answered.

Cece had kept herself busy helping collect fluid from the eyes, but had briefly taken a break from the duty to study the map. It was just coincidence that people started naming off towns and locations while she was by the map anyways, so she began adding thumbtacks onto the board, “St. Louis. Argentina. Huntington beach. These eyes have been all over the place. Really seen some things.” She grinned at her own joke, too focused on the map to force others to laugh at her joke.

Simon did, in fact, quietly chuckle at the joke.

Regan gave Simon a nod as a thank you and got back to work. It was hard to completely tune out what everyone was saying -- none of this made sense, and she couldn't reconcile the dates with the eyes in front of her. "1995." She repeated. "Yet the eyes are intact. Not a blow fly egg to be seen on them." Decomposition would be far more comforting, in this case.

Touching eyeballs was not on the agenda for today, so Marley had stuck herself on file duty. She'd been doing work similar to this, anyway, so she was used to combing through files for any sort of connection. Each time a new name was called out, she pinned it up on the board, then wrote the name and area on the list. She stuck a new tack in St. Louis, Argentina, and Huntington Beach. "Can't imagine the things they've seen," she chimed in, reaching over for her pen to write some more names down.

Kaden shook his head at Cece's joke. And of course Stryder chimed in. "And they came to White Crest of all places for final observation." He downed some more of his coffee, it was the only thing keeping him upright staring at all the numbers and charts and shit. "Shit. This case is a John Doe from 1973." He double checked the results. "Uh, can someone check I put this in right? That can't be right."

"What I wonder is, how are these things still in good shape after so many years?" There must have been a logical explanation to it, and she expected Regan to answer this question, or Cece, whose joke brought the usual ugly laugh from Agatha. "Cece !" She might have sounded like she was shocked but her laughter told another story. "Mmmmh, this one's from Bogota. He was reported missing in January 1991." Hearing Kaden's question, Agatha stood up from her seat to have a look. "Let me see." She adjusted her glasses back up her nose and looked over his shoulder, squinting at the screen. "What's the matter?"

Roland wasn't quite amused by the jokes, but didn't want to ruin morale during such a crazy time. Everyone was a little worn thin right now. Better to not aggravate anyone though the mention of 1973 got his attention. "1973? That can't be right. Let me take a look." That was nearly 50 years ago. How could they be turning up in good shape now and here of all times? He looked over Kaden's screen and confirmed everything was input correctly. "No, you got that right. That's... How is it possible for them to be turning up so many years later?"

"Lucky them," Marley said, giving Kaden a side eye as she finished writing down her new names. Dates were less important to her, but still noteworthy. "Seriously?" she asked, perking up at the new discovery. She stuck a pin in Bogota as Sarge and Agatha made their way over. She wished Jane were here, she needed someone else here to know that the explanation wasn't going to be found in this lab. Someone to exchange "that glance" with. And she needed her coffee.

There was no doubt in Kaden's mind all this shit was supernatural. Clearly. He kept hoping there'd be some sort of pattern they could see here but this was fucking weird. Even by White Crest standards. "So you're telling me a fully intact eyeball from October 19 fucking 73 was just put into evidence? Putain de merde." He sighed and looked over the file again. "There's no way these are preserved or something, right?" He looked over at Regan and then at Cece, hoping for some answers.

"These aren't typical post-mortem eyes." Regan said, studying one closely. "They're perfect. No decomp at all, even from the ones that have been outside for days. I don't -- there has to be something preserving them. Perhaps they were kept in a freezer for years, until recently. But more likely, this is the work of some compound. I intend to dig into it further."

Jane stumbled into the room with a neat stack of files under her arm and her coffee and sunglasses on her face. She had a pounding headache, her mouth felt like sandpaper, and pain and exhaustion crept into ever step she took. She was technically on leave, so she didn't even know why she was here - there was no plausible explanation anyone was going to believe anyway. Maybe it was to drive the guilt of buying drugs away, but she hadn't been this hungover since college and she knew she looked like shit. When had she gotten so old? Jane mumbled an unintelligible greeting, pointedly looking anywhere but Regan, before going to go sit and start picking through files with Marley.

The room engulfed Regan as Wu stumbled in, adorned in mismatching clothes and dropping files with each step. Wasn't she taking time off? The only reason Regan was here, and not stuffed into her office doing this work alone, was that she thought Wu would be absent. The eyeball in Regan's hands fell back onto the tray and she sank back into her seat, willing it to swallow her whole. She looked over at Simon. Then Kaden. Then Wu. Back down to the eyeballs. At least she could make eye contact with them.

Simon caught the look Regan gave him and he quirked an eyebrow in turn, his own eyes darting from the doctor to Jane; something changed when the latter stepped into the room. And she was kind enough not to bring any coffee for anyone else. His shoulders drooped... someone should've told him so he could've been anywhere else but still helping.

"Yikes," Marley mumbled as Jane stumbled in-- still looking relatively alive. She noted her aversion of Regan, glancing anywhere but her, taking the files she handed over and muttering, "so did you kill the tequila or did it kill you?" quietly, hoping only Jane would hear. She glanced back at the others, then to her board, before writing down the okayed 1973 date next to a John Doe. "Seems almost...impossible, right?" braced for the onslaughts of it's not impossible if it happened and etc. But she'd already turned away from them, filing through more papers. There had to be a connection. And she would find it.

"For real?" Hands on her hips, Agatha looked at Jane from where she stood. Late, without coffee for anyone but herself, and looking like she was in no shape to help. Perfect. She tried not to roll her eyes and glanced at the sergeant instead, expecting him to say something.

Cece abandoned her post immediately, flocking to Jane. “Word of advice? Steer clear of the eye stuff. Not as glamorous as it looks. Take the casework.”

Kaden didn't expect to see Wu show up at all. Hell, he wasn't sure he was going to show up but he sure as shit needed something to do instead of fucking panic. "Thanks for completing that coffee run. Oh wait." He caught the look Regan gave him and considered going over. No. Seemed bad to bring up any personal shit. Not with Sarge right behind him. Putain. His eyes narrowed at Stryder's comment. "Yeah. It's a little fucking weird. Like just about everything here. You can double check the fucking file if you want, though. You know. If you don't believe me," he said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Roland was surprised to see Jane walking in the room, looking like she'd been to hell and back. She was supposed to be on leave due to some emergency and she didn't look like she was in any shape to be working. He cocked a brow and asked, "What are you doing here, Wu? Aren't you supposed to be on leave?"

Regan tried to just keep her head down. Keep extracting some of that beautifully cloudy fluid from impossibly perfect post-mortem eyes. But every time she heard Wu's name, the panic in her chest tightened and her lungs started to burn. "What Bishop said!" Regan yelped, her voice sharp and screechy, just for a moment. At least the glass in the morgue was more durable now. Or... most of it, she realized with a pang of horror, as a few of the vials in front of her cracked. Regan quickly brushed them aside like it hadn't happened. No one would notice, right? "Don't help with the eyes, Wu. Do... something else. Something over there." She pointed to the opposite side of the room.

"I'm, uh..." Simon cast another quick glance at Regan, then did a head count of everyone else in the room sans Jane before flinching and covering his ears again at Regan's noise. "I'm... going to get some coffee." He finished the rest of his sentence quietly, going over and retrieving yet another set of tubes for Regan and maneuvering around everything and everyone to leave the room. "I'll be back."

Jane shot Marley a look, snorting quietly as she shook her head. What exactly had she done last night? Jane didn't remember. There was a bar, then nothing until she woke up early the next morning in someone else's apartment, where she stumbled home to feed her pet step stool French Fry before she remembered step stools didn't eat, and ended up here at work instead. About to answer Cece, Sarge cut in and she gave a half shrug. "Yes. But I'm here figuring you'd need help combing through paperwork." Regan pipped up, quite literally, and she flinched. Jane turned her head, pulling her sunglasses down over her nose to peer at her. "As much as looking at the actual eyeballs sounds riveting, Kavanagh, I'll stay here and work on the case files. Just try to keep it down. Please."

Agatha finally rolled her eyes and headed back to her laptop. Another day of unprofessionalism going unpunished, she supposed. "Maybe we could back to those eyes, perhaps?" She had pulled her hair up into a bun and stuck a pencil in to keep it up. "Carol Griffin, Canberra, went missing in November 1979," she did not look up from her screen this time, instead picking up her notepad to go to the next name. "Germaine Lacroix, Toulouse, reported missing in December 1997."

Winston was aware that they were late. But they'd been held up working through some glitches in the database that they'd been building for Roland. They had lost track of time and then several of the other interns had started pestering them with questions. Pushing their glasses up the bridge of their nose, Winston looked up at everyone and smiled tiredly. "Sorry, I know I'm really late but I got held up with other stuff. What did I miss?"

Okay, something was clearly going on between Kavanagh and Jane, but Marley wasn't sure what. It couldn't just be because Kavanagh was on Jane's ass about the werewolf thing. Marley knew Jane's normal annoyed behavior, and this went beyond that. She'd have to bother her later, though, because as she pinned up a few more locations from the file, she noticed a pattern, finally. "Hey, Sarge," she waved, "check this out." Pointed to the map, filled with plenty of tacks now, and all of them around large bodies of water. "It looks like almost every case is around a lake or near the ocean. Or some sort of water. That's gotta be something. We should check in to activity around the lakes at the times some of these people went missing. I bet we'll find something interesting." Like, cultists activity, perhaps?

Dahlia didn't really have a good excuse for being late. It had taken her longer then expected to get her notes together. She had to come prepared. It was her job role it was just as important to keep the supernatural truth from those she worked with you remained in the dark. She slipped in, and just in time it seemed. "Speaking as someone who understands people it makes sense that whoever did this had a preferred hunting ground."

Kaden winced at the slight screech from Regan and braced himself for any breaking glass. Nothing, just a few vials. Still, he shot a look at Wu. Keep it down? Fucking really? Sure she might be dying soon but she'd come fucking back. Unlike him. Well, so long as he didn't have to kill her, that was up in the air for the moment. He went back to the database and plugged away at another result. "Ethan Drummond. Portland, Oregon, reported October 2012. So far your shit checks out, Stryder."

The second Dahlia entered the room, it felt like bugs were biting into Regan's flesh. She jolted uncomfortably, glad that Simon had momentarily left and couldn't press her on it. Between Wu and Dahlia and the risk of breaking more glassware when they really needed every last piece they could get, Regan wasn't sure this was the best idea. But Stryder's comment gave her pause. "I think you're right. I mean, based on the map, I know you are." She considered. "Do you think the cultists wanted their eyes?"

Roland didn't want to push Jane any further in front of everyone else. Her arriving out of sorts could be addressed later. He understood the need to work through a crisis, but perhaps a group setting wasn't the best idea. He ignored it and plugged away at the database, when Stryder called him over. He looked over the map and every pin was near some body of water. "Strange," he mused, "That does seem like it could be cultist, taking eyes near a body of water. Can't say I've ever heard of anything like it though." There had to be some other connection in the database. Were these happening around a certain time? What were the ages of the individuals? These were connections that needed to be made. "Good eye," he told Marley, grimacing as he realized his wording may not have been entirely appropriate.

"It's within reason for that to be assumed," Marley said, rubbing her chin as she examined the map, blocking out the useless chatter. "We've seen other radical behaviors from cults, though collecting human body parts has never really been one. Cults usually have more of a set of goals and rules, though it's not unheard of a cult leader to convince their subjects to do things they'd never consider themselves." She stuck another pin in when Keen piped up, but did not take her eyes from the map. "What's the database looking like, Keen?" she asked, finally turning away.

"It could be a cult," Agatha stood up from her chair once again, this time heading to where Marley stood. "You said that it's connected to the water," she held a finger up, checking the dates on Marley's pins. It couldn't be a coincidence. All these people, they had been reported missing either in October, November, December or January. No one in the spring or summer. "Okay, so. The years don't check out, but all these people disappeared somewhere between October and January. We all know how sometimes things are reported way too late," she trailed off. "Maybe we could narrow it down a bit. I think it's safe to assume, considering how little of them were reported in January, that they all disappeared in the last third of the year."

"Not that unlikely though, not if the eyes were part of a ritual, or something to show alligiance to the leader," Dahlia chimed in. A cult would be a good cover regardless of whether it was the truth or not. "I've studied and written about them before, I can find my old notes." She began pulling out her laptop, letting then carry on talking about all things detective.

Kaden continued to work away at the database while the detectives chatted. His brow furrowed when the results came up. "This one's recent." It was right around when he came to White Crest. "Last seen date was October 2, 2019. Shit." He felt a pit drop in his stomach. "Officer Kim McPhee. Last seen headed towards the Drop Off. On an animal control assignment." Kaden stared at the file. This was who he replaced. She was-- He could be next. Just as quickly. He was going to be sick. It was easier to have distance with the other names that came up. The ones from years ago. Suddenly it felt very real.

Simon slipped in almost as easily as he left in the first place, carrying two large bags rather easily all things considered and muttered an apology, presumably for the noise he made temporarily as he pulled out several drink carriers of coffee and managed to find places for each of them on the tables for people to reach - and he made sure he got enough for everyone to have at least one. He folded up the bags neatly, apologising again and he awkwardly made his way back over near Regan's desk, crossing is arms as he leaned against the wall and picked up where he left off to observe the rest of the team's findings - looked like they got a lead.

Marley shot a look at Dahlia. "I'm well aware of what cult leaders can influence their subjects to do. I did study human behavior, after all," she said, "lengthily." She turned to focus back on the dates with Agatha. "That's good. Maybe narrow it down somehow? Can we cross check reports to see how long people were missing before they were reported?"

Eventually, Cece found her way back to her original job. Collecting samples from the eyes. For whatever reason, Regan seemed to have beef with Jane. Which was probably the most interesting development at this shindig. Collecting the fluids felt like a waste of time anyways. At this point, it was pretty obvious that this was supernatural. Cece could run every test available on every single eye they had collected and they still probably wouldn’t find anything. It seemed obvious which people here still didn’t want to believe in the supernatural and which had resigned themselves to that fact already. But at least the cult talk was some sort of middle ground for the group. “It’s a lot of eyes. A cult could explain how so many eyes got here. Not like cults need any logical reason for the crazy shit they do.”

Actually, a cult wasn't that outlandish by any means. "People could have be being sacrificed between October and January to... whatever it is they believe. That makes sense. How all their eyes ended up here, however..." Jane mused, considering a moment. Her gaze snapped to Kaden, though, brows knitting together when he mentioned the animal control officer that went missing last October. Considering recent screaming circumstances, it probably wasn't a good thing to think about. Her head was pounding, and she just shook her head. "I'll start cross referencing reported dates to when the victims were last seen," Jane said, leaning forward to pull a stack of files towards her.

"I can run all of these reports through various pattern recognition algorithms and see if there is any combination of dates, locations, demographics, age, gender, socio-economic background, we can really narrow everything down if you can give me the specific information on it." As Winston spoke they tapped away at their laptop. "The more information that we can get on the database the easier it will be to develop some level of correlational analysis."

The last animal control officer went missing. That information chilled her marrow, and Regan looked over at Kaden. It was rare that he looked so shaken, and she wanted to help, but that seemed like a poor idea given everyone else in the room with them right now, and the professional setting. Still... "Kaden." Regan said, taking a very short break from the tray of eyes in front of her. "We're going to prevent this from happening to others." They had to, right? What else were they good for if they couldn't protect? "There are far too many eyes here for one individual to be responsible, and that's ignoring the -- well --" the motioned over toward the map, stuffed full of pins. "A cult makes sense. Bishop, I'd like the two of us to proceed with testing the eyes for any uncommon drug presence. I know we ran the standard tox panels, but I'd like some ELISAs run for preservatives. Substances not usually found in decedents."

Roland gave Winston an approving look as he walked back over to his own laptop. A cult or some other sort of group made the most sense with the sheer volume of eyes they had to go through. Either way, there was a pattern there with the time of year that he wasn't surprised Keen had picked up on. "Good catch, Keen. Here are some to start inputting, Winston." He pushed his own stack of finished files with his updated notes over to them.

Agatha looked from the pinboard to Jane, arms crossed over her chest. Her stance relaxed as the detective agreed with her, although, just like her, she reacted to Kaden's words. She had known Kim, and her going missing had shaken up the station quite a lot back then. Agatha went back to her seat and shot Winston a small smile as she did. Considering what had just been said, she didn't feel too cheerful. "You can add those to the Sergeant's," she told them, sliding her stack across the table, with a chocolate donut on top. "I'll help you with that, Jane," she too went to grab a stack of files and before starting to get to worked, she mouthed at her a "Are you ok?" She might not have been too happy with her earlier, she could tell something was off.

Jane started flipping through files and reports, nodding at Agatha as she joined her. She saw her attempt to checking, and Jane almost laughed outright - not because Keen had said something funny by any means, but because it was just funny that Jane had even bothered to show up. She made a note on her computer, before glancing back at Agatha. "Well, I'm still alive, so." Jane replied in a low voice, chuckling humorlessly to herself as started combing over another file.

Kaden thought about getting up and leaving. To do... what, exactly? Fuck. The last thing he wanted to do was collect the fluids from the eyeballs, wondering what sort of connections he may or may not have to any of those while looking at them. But he couldn't take the result off of his screen just yet. He looked up at Regan and all he could manage was a nod. "Yeah. Well. That's the plan, at least." No single police unit or hell, any police unit was going to be able to figure out shit about whatever supernatural crap was going on here. Let alone prevent it. So hardly a comforting thought. "The cultists on the beach and the lake, they all seem to have their eyes sewn shut. You think these belong to any of them maybe? Like they ran away from home, gouged out their own eyes or something?" It sure sounded crazy but with the supernatural involved, likely not the craziest way to lose an eyeball.

Winston set to work with the new information that Roland had provided them with. They were apprehensive about the WCPD becoming heavily embroiled with anything related to the cult. After all they had already demonstrated that they were willing and capable to hurt others if it suited them. Winston just hoped that whatever they had done with all of these people wasn't too heavily supernatural. After all, there were plenty of officers that weren't going to be able to play nicely with that. "Thanks Agatha," Winston replied taking the doughnut appreciatively and typing as quick as they could, "there have been reports that the cult is operating out of the lake, but do we know if there is any leads as to where they have their headquarters set up?"

The janitor part of Simon was acting up, despite everything else that was going on around him with their findings of cults and eyes and dates and stuff - so he did what he would've done anyway and picked up some MORE glass that Regan broke. As he moved over to collect the broken vial on her desk, noting her break to address Kaden and reached over the trey of eyes, one of them vibrated before lifting and clinging to his hand as if the two were magnetized. Well, this was new. Doing his best to not freak out about it, he subtly placed his fingers around the eye and attempted to pull it off but as he applied pressure, something flashed before his eyes. A big flash, a sign - the White Crest sign, sitting there before exploding in a dazzle of... magic? He had only seen magic utilized a few times before this point but never like this. The sign splintered, crackling like electricity and he flinched away from it as a shard of wood propelled itself towards him, holding his hands up to shield his face from it like it was actually happening and backing into the wall roughly.

Regan wanted to tell Simon to forget about the broken glass, she'd get it later, but before she could say anything, one of the eyeballs seemed to propel itself toward Simon's hand. It slithered around before settling itself into his flesh, and Regan jumped up from her seat, a screech forming in her lungs and emptying from her throat in a split second. The rest of the tubes in front of her shattered but, more importantly, Simon was writhing around, trying to yank the eye from his hand, but it was like it was glued on there, and for a moment, his eyes flipped in and out of focus like he was elsewhere. Backed himself into the wall covered in sweat. Regan bounded toward him, less concerned about helping him up than she was about carefully extricating the eye from his hand in one piece. She gave it a tug, and it popped off, though part of her thought it might not have been anything she had done. Regan gave it a close inspection before plopping it back onto the tray. Blinked at the eye, the broken glass, and Simon. Then looked around the room. This was fine. None of that just happened. More hallucinations. "Um, did you trip? Over something?"

Cece nodded at Regan. Just as expected. She would run the tests. Most likely, nothing would come back from it, but why the hell not? Better to just run the tests like the Doc instructed. She was working on another eye when she noticed the eye attach itself to Simon. Cece’s head tilted curiously, watching the scene as it seemed be absorbed into Simon’s skin. She stood back, examining it silently until Simon started moving around. What the hell was that? She moved closer to him, mumbling under her breath so maybe only he and Regan, who seemed to have noticed the moment too, could hear. “You alright dude? What… just happened?”

As Winston watched Simon's eye pulled from his hand, even though it wasn't actually his eye, Winston couldn't help but feel a shiver run down their spine. The eye in their own hand itched and Winston looked from Cece to Regan to Simon and then down to their own hand. Pulling the sleeve of their hoodie over their hand. "Woah, what happened?" they said as they tried to act like they couldn't put it all together, "There's broken glass we should probably try and clean that up and did something happen with that ... eye?"

Simon hadn't quite recovered from what he saw when suddenly Regan screamed again and he whimpered this time, breathing quickly as his other hand covered the ear it could reach. Though he was far from surprised and not paying all that much attention, Regan seemed more focused on the eye than him. Once it was off, he pulled the hand that the eye stuck to close to his body, shaking his head erratically as if trying to get rid of the scream that made his ears ring. "I-I don't know," He murmured to Cece, managing to hear her question though the noise. "There was-- the uh... White Crest sign and it- it blew up." He stuttered. "I don't-- it was there and then-then it... wasn't."

Everything happened before Marley could get a grip on anything. Her hands immediately went up to her ears as the scream shattered the glass vials in front of Regan. Whatever had happened to the weird janitor dude, which, why was he here, anyway? Wasn't this police work? Not that Marley cared, really. Everyone was gathering around him now, but something struck a chord in Marley's brain, her mind churning. A banshee had screamed for Jane. Jane was mad at Regan. Regan had just screamed at an ungodly decibel. The only conclusion-- Regan was the banshee that had screamed for Jane. Fuck how had she not noticed? She turned back to look at Jane, one brow raised. "Twice in one week," she muttered to her, "hopefully you don't lose your hearing before you die..." and pinned another tack on the board in white crest. For Kim McPhee.

"... Dude, what the hell," Agatha her fingers rubbing her ear, looked at Regan from over her glasses with an eyebrow raised. What was going on over there? Did ... Simon pick up an eye? Was he stealing an eye? Whatever had happened, it seemed like the medical examiner was handling it, but clearly, screeching like this was not necessary. "You should go get some fresh air, Doctor," she observed, going back to her computer, trying to ignore the ringing in her ears. "So... I already have 4 people who stopped being seen in October," looking up from her notepad, she glanced over at Jane. "What do you have?"

Kaden almost missed the fact that Simon was having some kind of issue because all he heard was another fucking scream and his hands shot to his ears while he let out a few choice curse words in couple languages. What a great fucking time to have sensitive hearing. It was nowhere near as bad as Brimm Stonne Court but putain. He looked back to see what the fuck had happened, rubbing his ears a bit as if it could dull the ringing. "The fuck was that?" He considered getting a dig in but it seemed like a bad fucking idea with Regan and Hills in the room. Not worth it. His eyes narrowed as he described the sign. "You saw something?" But he was a werewolf. Those didn't get visions. Couldn't be for that. He crossed the room to Cece. "Might want to check that one for more than just fluids," he whispered to her, hoping she caught the potential connection, too. The potential magical one. "Seems like it might have belonged to someone unusual."

Fresh air. Right. That hadn't been a hallucination, had it? Regan didn't make eye contact with anyone as she peeled out of the room. Wait. They were in the morgue. Her morgue. She backed up. "Bishop. You're in charge." She darted out of the conference room again and ran down the hall for her office to catch her breath, to will the panic to subside and her lungs to stop feeling so tight. And, if it were even possible, to stop the image of trays full of eyeballs from burning into her retinas.

Jane let out a loud curse as Regan screamed again, hands clamping over her ears. "What did I just say?!" She hissed. At least it was less catastrophic than the last time. Her ears ringing again for just a moment, she shook her head, the pounding in her head getting worse as people flocked around Simon. Something had happening, but she had missed it while her nose was in her files. Regan and Cece and everyone else that wasn't her was handling it. Good. She glanced to Agatha, brows knitting together. "Mine stopped being seen in October too," Jane replied. She pinched the bridge of her nose. Goddamn it. Whatever this was, supernatural or not, screaming banshees or not. "This," she mumbled to herself, "Is the bad place."

#wickedswriting #wickedsevent

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path-of-fire · 5 years ago

Note

If you're writing AUs, could you write a Modern!AU where MC is a detective and she's on a case involving a string of murders of well known (but secretly corrupted) government officials? And Caspian is her long time partner and best friend (but also the assassin behind the murders) and they've been in love with each other for so long, but have yet to act on those feelings? I can just imagine the sweet angst...

Important Note: This is NOT done, but I wanted to make the first part available for you all to read to see if you like it so far. As I think it's going to be pretty long, and I want to make sure you all like the direction it's going in. (As well as liking it too.)

-----

The clicking of my pen against my palm is the only sound within the confines of the bullpen. My gaze staring in front of me, but I wasn't seeing anything. My mind was too occupied by the thoughts running rampant through my mind. All centered around one thing.

The case that I haven't been able to solve for the past year.

At first it seemed like a straightforward case. A senator had gotten murdered in his brownstone on January 21, 2019. His throat having been slit from ear to ear. At first I assumed that it had something to do with the mafia, but as the case wore on other leads had started becoming apparent. The greatest of which was the fact that Senator Henry A. Greene was only the first of many. Each victim being connected to the government in someway, but having varying levels of clearance. Not to mention each victim was killed in different ways.

District Attorney Pauline Davies had been asphyxiated. While Governor Everette Cooper had been shot, execution style, in the head. Not to mention the many more victims that kept appearing. All with different stories to tell, and ramping up the fear that was beginning to grow in the streets of New York.

Closing my eyes I pinch the bridge of my nose. Trying with all my might to find a connection within my mind. Anything that would tie the people together, besides the obvious, which is something that I have been doing for months on end. Many of my days were entirely fueled by coffee and energy bars instead of sleep. I just couldn't find it within myself to sleep knowing that someone was going to be killed, and that I could have potentially done something to stop it.

Of course, I had tried the mafia angle but none of their enforcers had this M.O. And if there's anything I've learned about the mafia is that they're sticklers for tradition. Plus, the fact that none of the other victims, besides Henry, had connections with them.

A sigh escapes my lips as I roll my shoulders. Trying with all my might to relieve the tension that has built up. I could feel the familiar ache that seemed to seep into my bones. The knots that were already forming from my continued posture, but I've gotten used to these things after a while.

Running my hand through my hair I glance back at the file. The simple file that has become to bane of my existence. Showing me how I've failed in everything a good detective should never fail in. 24 people were dead because I haven't been able to stop the person responsible. 24 people that had lives and families, and because I wasn't able to find a connection they would never see them again. Children lost their parents and other's either lost their daughter or son. All because I wasn't good enough to stop this.

Leaning back in my chair, I bring the heels of palms to my eyes. Trying to rub out the sudden tiredness that had been creeping up within me. I couldn't sleep now, not when a body had just recently dropped. This time with something that had changed the entire case.

A partial bloody fingerprint was found against the victims throat. Hidden slightly behind her ear from the scuffle. Beverly Townsend had been one hell of lawyer when she was alive, and it seemed to have translated when she was fighting for it. Somehow she must have injured the killer in some way. Allowing forensics to be able to forge a path that could lead to the killer. It was the first really break in the case, and I was more than grateful for it. But that didn't mean that my work was over. Far from it in actuality, I still had to find the ties the bound them. As well as the motives behind the scenes. There was always a story within each murder, no matter how menial, and I was going to try my damn hardest to find this one.

Sighing I lean my elbows against the surface of my desk. Bracketing my arms on either side of the file, and I stare. Stare at the inanimate object that has ruled my life for so long. Dictating my sleeping and eating habits for the better part of a year. All because it's contents were filled with hidden threads. Threads that tied everything together in a neat little bow, but for now it was simply a clump of knots. Completely useless until I figured out how to untie them.

Groaning I slam my head against my desk. Wanting nothing more than for this case to end, but my stubbornness refusing to let it be given to anyone else. I had to see this through. There was no other option. I just wished it wasn't so mind numbingly difficult to do.

The soft footsteps approaching me pulls me out of my reverie. My countenance brightening slightly at the familiar gait. That and the smell of freshly brewed coffee didn't hurt. Raising my head I'm met with the sight of my best friend and partner, Caspian. His sparkling glacier blue eyes staring at me, but I could easily see the concern he held for me. He has been with me throughout this entire case. Has seen the mental breakdowns I have gone through at each new body, and each subsequent interview with the family. Each one more accusing than the last. Their angry eyes pleading with me for answers on why I haven't solved this yet. The children's innocent gazes as they wondered why their mommy or daddy wasn't coming back. He has been my rock throughout this entire thing. I don't think I could have ever continued without him.

Leaning back in my seat, hearing the old chair groaning in protest, I grin at him. Already holding out my hands for the warm mug in his left hand. Feeling the warmth seep into my chilled fingers as I clasp it. Smelling the aroma of the coffee as it wafts into my nose. A happy sigh escapes me as I take a sip. Already feeling the way the caffeine seeps into my body. Giving back some of the life my hours have taken away from it.

"You should really go home and rest, Lauren," he says, his voice tinged with concern at the sight of the dark circles underneath my eyes. Setting down his coffee and touching my hand lightly. The touch sending a wave of butterflies through my stomach. "You have been burning the candle at both ends for months. It's not healthy and soon you won't have any candle left."

Trying, and failing, to smile I respond. Wanting to appease his fears. "I'm alright Cas, I feel fine. Especially with this delicious coffee you just brought me." Turning towards the file once more I flip it open. Quickly scanning the contents of the first page. "Now has the lab come back with the results yet?"

"The results for what?"

Raising my gaze in confusion at the question, I couldn't help but frown. Before I remembered that Caspian hadn't been at the crime scene that morning. Feeling slightly foolish for not filling my partner in I immediately begin to explain.

"You heard about the body drop on 27th Street, near Madison Square?" At his nod of confirmation I continue. "Well the body was Beverly Townsend, the recently up in coming defense attorney, and apparently Ms. Townsend was able to get some of the attackers blood on their hand, because there was a bloody fingerprint right underneath her ear. I guess the killer didn't notice it because of her hair." I glance down at the file in front of me before looking back up towards Caspian, and almost blanche at his expression. I don't think I've ever seen Caspian look so pale before.

"You doing okay partner? You sure you're not the one who needs to go rest?" I ask trying to keep my tone light, but even I could hear the tightness that suddenly appeared within it.

At my words Caspian seems to snap out of whatever daze he was in. "No-" he trails off for a moment and I could feel a concerned frown pull my brow down. "No, I'm quite alright but I just remembered I have to go see Oliver down in the labs. Something about one of the cold cases he's been looking in to, I'll make sure to ask him when I'm down there."

Giving a small nod I look back down at the file in front of me. Listening as Caspian retreats away from my desk. His steaming cup of coffee still sitting on my desk. I didn't want to but I feel something stirring inside of me at Caspian's words. A frown pulling at my brow and a gnawing feeling growing in my gut.

I have to go see Oliver down in the labs. Something about one of the cold cases he's been looking in to. The words repeat in my head like a taunt. Causing the gnawing feeling to grow into one of nausea.

Oliver hadn't been in for the past two weeks for medical reasons.

So why was he going down to the lab? And why did he lie to me?

#caspian #snippet #angst #modern au #anonymous

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thelittlestcheshire · 4 years ago

Text

Self Para 005: The Reminders Pull the Floor From Your Feet

Note: For starters, this takes place on Saturday. This involves the Leo plot, and for the most part it’s... lots of Ches’s thought process leading up to her visiting Leo. Any interactions with people are lead up / not really... the majority. So please, tread carefully. I was careful to avoid going too deep into her more... brutal thought processes in hopes of ensuring it’s not too triggering but given the context I do feel a need to mention it. I do discuss her finding her brother after his attempt a little bit too, so, please pay heed to the tws and if you think it may be an issue, I strongly urge you skip this self para. I love you guys, and your safety is the biggest priority always <3

TWs: Suicide / Suicide Attempts, Decapitation / Murder (mentioned in a comment about how displeased Leo will be to see her), Hanging, Amputation, Ches’s thought process while shopping does include her making considerations about what she can buy Leo can’t hurt himself with so I don’t know how to tag that but I am aware it could be triggering.

For once, Ches didn’t know how she was expected to react, but she was sure it didn’t align with how she currently felt as she tore through her wardrobe to try to find something to wear. What even was appropriate to wear today? Colors were too cheery, white too saintly, black was a staple in her wardrobe and entirely off the table. Everything in her closet was practically getting thrown without care as she desperately tried to find anything. Even as her front door opens, she doesn’t glance to see who was coming in until she hears Balo squeak as she tries to avoid yet another thrown object.

“Sorry! I just was wondering if I could maybe borrow a pair of shorts?” The blonde squeals and the redhead pauses her frantic search for something appropriate to wear. Was Balo really trying to carry on like normal when her friend was in the hospital after trying to kill himself? Sure, people were saying it was an accident, but that didn’t mean it was.

Emmett had told everyone it was an accident after his attempt, a prank gone wrong, that she had to cut him down from the ceiling after. And at this point, she simply didn’t believe in accidents.

“Of course, they’re in the dresser. Let me know if there’s something worth wearing to the hospital in there while you’re at it.” She glances away from what she was doing to wave her friend toward where the dresser was. She would have to rearrange the room to the way she liked it eventually, but she hadn’t exactly been happy about much of anything since they arrived in New Zealand.

“Is going to see Leo a good idea?”

Balo’s question throws her off, as it was one she had been asking herself over and over again. She still didn’t know the answer herself, and she just turns away from her friend to go back through her closet, tossing yet more things in the direction of her bed as she fails to find something worth wearing. “This is my fault. I have to go.” She finally speaks as she tosses the last item of clothing in the closet onto the floor. “If I had done more....”

“It was an accident, remember? Just breathe, okay? You dress like you usually would. Maybe ask if I’m allowed to visit if you think he’s up to it?” She shakes her head, grabbing the shorts she came for from the drawer before she tosses a pair of ripped jeans and a tank top her way. Ches catches it, grateful for the answer so she could move onto the next method to tear herself apart with. “Just promise me you’ll be gentle with him. He’s going through a lot.”

“I’m not going to be mean. I figured he might like some comfy clothes and stuff. If someone else already thought of it, great, but...” She glances at her shoe rack as she talks. Maybe she should wear sneakers instead of heels for once, it’d make her look shorter and left her feeling more vulnerable, but perhaps it’d ease his fears of her just showing up. She doubted she was the first person he wanted to see; in fact, she was likely the very last, perhaps Balo was right, and this was a horrible idea.

But she needed to do this. How else was she going to live with the guilt?

“Well, if you need to talk later, come find me. I’ve gotta go, but I love you.”

“I love you too.” And with those words, Ches was alone with her thoughts again. She takes a deep breath as she walks over to her dresser to set the clothes she was going to wear down. Stepping over multiple piles of discarded clothes carefully as she realizes just how much money she’d just carelessly thrown to the floor as if it didn’t matter. Perhaps, in the long run, it didn’t. Still, she kneels down and starts to sort through the discarded clothes on the floor, slowly beginning to put everything back onto hangers. How was she supposed to make intentions clear from the moment he saw her?

Maybe the gifts would help, but she was just going to have to accept that whatever she did, Leo was likely to be hostile. Emmett was after his attempt, and he liked her. Ches was entirely unwelcome, and she knew that, but she supposed that was well deserved. If the roles were reversed, she would have made Leo’s visit a living hell for daring to breathe near her after a failed attempt. He had every right to do the same to her now. She carefully puts the last dress back where it belongs, going through the motions of getting dressed and making herself presentable, throwing her hair up in a ponytail, grabbing her bag, and just leaving the dorms.

She would have to go to the store and try to find things Leo would be allowed to have. She was already starting a shopping list of things in her head, things he’d need, things he’d like.

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

Could she trust Leo with colored pencils, or was she going to have to stick with crayons? As Ches looks over the shelf of Crayola products, she ponders it for a few moments before she grabs both the washable crayons and the twistable colored pencils, glancing around before she tosses the bath crayons in too. She always got her worst thoughts in the shower. Maybe giving him a creative outlet he could take with him would be beneficial. On second thought, she tosses a box in for herself too. Her roommate was simply going to have to fucking deal with it.

The notebook had to have no wires, nothing he could pull off of it and cause harm. Any bags needed to be paper so he’d be allowed to have them. The slippers had to be sturdy yet stringless. She’d broken into his room in an attempt to figure out sizes, so she was hoping she was doing well on the clothing. She didn’t want to bring anything of his, not only because it’d require her to be honest that she had broken into his bedroom, but because she already knew how easily things got lost. The last thing she needed was to grab something that mattered and something happening to it. That was a problem she had no intention of being blamed for.

What else could be needed? Pre-paid call cards just in case what she’d read was wrong, and he wasn’t allowed to have his cell phone. If he did, she supposed it never hurt to have prepaid international calling cards either way.

He liked pen and ink, not paint, right?

For a moment, she tries to remember the art of his she had seen, none of it had been paintings, but maybe that was just simply because he couldn’t carry it around. She could ask, offer to make a second trip. She tosses comfy clothes into the cart as she goes, trying to find the most comfortable stringless things she could find, socks and underwear, because people probably weren’t thinking of it when they grabbed stuff. Toothbrush, he definitely needed a toothbrush. And inpatient units were usually cold, so a massive plush blanket probably help. He probably would be allowed to have zippers. Shit, what was his jeans size? Maybe Elizabeth would know, although was it a good idea to bother her at work with how busy she was. She glances at the racks for a minute, considering it for a moment.

Stuffed animals were usually taken in her experience, but if she could prove he wouldn’t hurt himself with it, maybe getting him something he was allowed to punch would be nice. After all, he did seem to enjoy his fights. Was Winnie the Pooh punchable? Balo was onto something when she said Leo looked like Christopher Robin. And he was a baby toy, so if Leo got him apart and found a way to hurt himself with it, it would be a feat. Still, she considers it a moment longer and puts an elephant in the cart instead.

She could always come back for it later if he’d appreciate the joke. What else would he like? Would the ward he was on allow her to drop by and grab him fast food? She probably could find a McDonalds’.

She takes a deep breath, already trying to find the number to find out. Hopefully, they’d allow outside food and drink. After all, what made someone’s day brighter than cheap junk food?

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

[To Momma Everett 😍😍:] I’m dropping by to see Leo, so I’m gonna put my phone on vibrate to avoid him ripping my head off, but I love you so so so so so much, and please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything. I’ve got everything handled here, I promise. I’m going to tell the front desk I’m your daughter, so that should get me in long enough to drop him off clothes and stuff. Hopefully, he won’t correct them? 🤞

Ches puts her phone into her purse after she’s done, tossing the bag over her shoulder before she goes around to the trunk of her rental to grab the stuff. It felt like it wasn’t enough, but it wasn’t as if she could bring him nearly as much as she wanted to, just essentials and a few small things in hopes of making him smile. She goes to the hospital’s front desk, explaining why she was here and that she had no idea where she was supposed to be going. As they led her in the direction of where he was, she tries to take deep breaths. Leo was going to kill her for this, wasn’t he? Maybe she should have dropped by to steal a kiss from Elliot before she left before he literally ripped her skull from her body.

Of course, nothing could have prepared her for what was to come after she got on the unit. She hands over the stuff to the nurse’s station for them to check over, insisting it’d be better if she waited to go in to see him until she had it back, and for a brief moment, she sees Leo, and everything comes crashing down. Where had his arm gone? Why hadn’t anyone told her?

“Your brother didn’t tell you.” The nurse guesses, and she glances over to the man and the art supplies she’d brought. Was it a dick move? Perhaps, but she wasn’t going to let anyone even dare suggest he couldn’t do art. It was only a matter of adjusting how he approached it, and suddenly she didn’t care if she had to import a physical therapist willing to try to help him. If anyone tried to tell Leo he wasn’t doing something, they would have to fight her.

“No, but that’s okay. He can still whomp me for bringing him children’s bath crayons after he gets home. He’ll be fine.”

If the nurse says anything else, she doesn’t listen. She just quietly waits for him to sticker the stuff and hand it back to her before she enters to see Leo, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she hopes that for once, maybe she wouldn’t say the wrong thing to him.

#suicide tw #suicide attempt tw #murder tw #hanging tw #amputation tw #oscar the grouch ( leo )#a hundred thrown out speeches i almost said to you ( self paras )#all of my heroes died all alone ( musings )

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