#hand of arlene reunion here i come

[ylge]

"Mr. Khun!!! Run away!! It's a trap!!"

"Why is he... Is he!?"

This is for my new layout on twitter!

[khunfounded]

We’ve Still Got Time

[ This is work is part of a collab I did with the wonderful, stupendous, and amazing @sweetpopcornkat for Day 2 of Khunbam Week. Find it here! Our chosen prompt was Reunion and this fic goes with the song Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard!]

Bam was back with everyone again, but he somehow still felt like he was a thousand, million pieces of himself all milling about. He was the Slayer Nominee, and the Sweet and Sour teammate, and the Irregular, and Viole, and the 25th Bam. He was something different to each person in the Wolhaiksong compound, and he had no idea how to reconcile that fact within himself. 

He missed the simplicity of the Floor of Test. No, he missed being able to confide in someone about the complexity. He and Khun would sit out on the balcony and talk and talk, or never say a word at all. On one miraculous night, they stayed up until dawn just listening to all kinds of music on Khun’s pocket, watching the shinsu stars dancing about.

Bam didn’t know what happened. Khun was so distant now, always busy and eyes always somewhere else even when they were talking. He worried that it was because of what happened at Arlene’s hand or maybe because Bam had spent years putting them all in danger. The worst thought that dared tread water in the light of day was that Khun didn’t like the way he’d changed, how much he had changed. That Khun had seen his darkest heart and decided to turn away.

Because Bam wasn’t just Bam anymore, he was so many things and it was all complicated and twisted even in his own head. He hadn’t had to stop and think about it when he was in FUG because there was never time to stop. He was always training, and killing, and clawing his way through the dirt just to survive, even as they all decreed him a god. But now, he was out, and suddenly his mind was collapsing in on itself. 

One evening, after a long day of training and trying to figure out who he was around new and old friends, his feet found themselves walking him to a balcony, like his subconscious was telling him that this was what he needed, the moon filling his bones and the stars racing through his veins. He never understood why Rachel wanted so much to see the real night sky, but he could appreciate the beauty of this false one.

He gripped the railing tightly, as all his pieces fell in on themselves, and he was just Bam. It felt like being naked on the battlefield, all his defences gone. He wanted to scream, and lash out, and tear off his skin at the beautiful unfairness of it all. He was safe, he was with all of his friends, but he didn’t feel like he was back. For one glorious night he had, when they first came back and he fell asleep in the arms of his two best friends. But nothing was ever so simple. The water had rushed up, and Bam had spent his days trying to build up the dam just to meet it. But the pressure was too much on his dam of broken bones and broken promises, and it fractured and fragmented and fell apart.

Under the soft, fake light of the moon, Bam cried. Tears mixed in with his long bangs and he brought his forehead down onto the railing. He was here, on the balcony, where everything was supposed to just fit together, but nothing was right. He missed Khun.

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Khun rubbed his eyes as he leaned back from his lighthouse. He had been at this for hours and he didn’t even need to be done with it for days, but it was a small price to pay for being distracted from his thousand, million thoughts. Ever since they had come to the Wolhaiksong compound, his worries had multiplied. The first night together had been a blessing, but when Khun had awoken with Bam gone from his and Rak’s arms, it was like a wakeup call. 

Bam had needed him during the Floor of Test, he had been of use. But now Bam had so many better people around him who could do so much more. Khun needed to prove to them all that he was someone that they needed, that he was someone worth Bam keeping. 

He had seven years of catching up to do, but for now he couldn’t let Bam see his weakness. So he kept himself busy, and planned and trained and absolutely did not hide himself away in his room.  It was only partially an excuse anyways, he had to make sure FUG never touched Bam again and he needed to hunt Rachel down to keep her grimy paws off of his best friend.

That was another thing. Rachel. If Bam ever found out what he had really been doing for five years, or what he was planning on doing now, Khun wasn’t sure he would ever be forgiven. Even after Rachel had pushed him, had caused him seven years of hell, Bam seemed more conflicted and confused than angry, like Khun would be. So if Khun ended the story before Bam could reach the conclusion, and his friend found out, Khun was absolutely sure he would be dropped.

But it was something that needed to be done. Khun could never let her get away with what she had done, and he could never allow her to do it again. So she had to die, no matter what.

Khun found his mind once more drifting to the balcony of the second floor, where countless times he was able to see the shinsu starlight reflected in sunshine eyes. He taught Bam so many things about the world, and learned countless things about the boy in return. His favorite time, that still played in his dreams, was when he first taught Bam about the music of the tower, and they rested upon each other until dawn as songs played softly from his pocket. Bam was ethereal, eyes closed and smile blissful. Khun had never wanted to kiss anyone before that night. 

He stretched his aching limbs and rose from his desk. He needed to get away from his thoughts, being here obviously wasn’t helping them.

He let his feet take him somewhere else, anywhere else.

Khun ended up at the balcony, where he was shocked, and yet somehow not, to see Bam, long hair twisting in the wind, shaking against the railing.

Bam hadn’t seen him yet. He should back away, go somewhere else, give him space.

“Bam,” He said.

Golden, sunshower eyes, hidden beneath curtains of hair, turned towards him.

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“Khun-ssi,” Bam, surprised, couldn’t keep his voice from cracking.

His most precious friend’s face scrunched up in helpless concern, lovely sapphire eyes turned sad. Bam would have done anything in that moment to change it, even though he was the one at fault. Especially because he was. He wanted Khun to smile. He was so, so beautiful when he smiled.

“Are you alright?” Khun was still in the doorway, at the barrier.

Yes, he was. Yes, he had to be. Yes, because if he wasn’t he was something else, something scary.

“No”.

Tears fell to the floor and he shook. Then, like something in Khun had broken, too, he rushed towards him and brought him into a tight, terrified hug. Bam clutched at his back, burying his face in Khun’s neck.

“I missed you,” Bam whimpered, “I missed you for seven years. I missed you for forever”.

A fractured sound came from Khun’s throat and Bam felt wetness on his shoulder as his friend sunk deeper into him.

“I missed you, too. When I saw you, it was like waking up from the worst nightmare I’ve ever had”.

“Then why are you gone?” Bam wailed, “Why are you gone when I need you here?”

“I don’t know,” Khun whispered, rocking both of them from side to side, “I don’t know.”

“I thought you hated me”.

“I thought you didn’t need me anymore”.

“I’ll always need you”.

“I’ll always love you”.

“Then stay,” Bam begged, trying to bring them impossibly closer, to keep Khun from going away again, “Then stay”.

“Okay,” Khun promised, bringing his head up, bringing their foreheads together, “I’ll be here”.

Bam saw his lovely, wonderful face again, and the tears that were falling down it.

“Forever,” Bam pleaded.

“Forever”.

Then, soft lips were at the corners of his eyes and brushing lightly against his cheeks. Khun was kissing his tears away, Bam realised. He nuzzled into those soft kisses, before doing the same. He brought his lips to Khun’s face and soothed his pain away. 

“You know,” Bam said, reluctantly pulling away, “I had to learn how to dance. To improve my agility and endurance in fighting”.

Khun, in a rare instance of not getting the picture, said, “I want to kill them all”.

Bam rubbed their noses together before taking one step back. He took his pocket out of invisible mode and played the song that had him thinking of Khun throughout his entire time in FUG. He had so many songs he wanted to show him, but this one had to go first.

As the song began to play, crooning out, “I don’t know you, but I want you all the more for that,” Bam reached out his hand.

“Khun,” he started, “Aguero, will you dance with me?”

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“Words fall through me, and always fool me, and I can’t react”.

Khun stared down at Bam’s hand, then up at his face. Bam was smiling at him like Khun was the only thing in the world, like he was the only thing that mattered.

Khun took his hand and Bam tugged him in, bringing a hand to his waist. They glided around the balcony, fingers threaded together. Khun needed to see those golden eyes more clearly, so he pushed Bam’s bangs out of his face. He kissed Bam’s forehead, and Bam hummed lightly.

Then, their eyes locked, and it was like everything was falling into place. 

“Take this sinking boat and point it home, we’ve still got time”.

“I’m finally awake now”, Khun felt the need to state.

“Good morning,” Bam giggled, and Khun couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. He knocked their foreheads together lightly.

“Hey, quit teasing. I’m being serious”.

“I know, it’s one of my favorite things about you”.

Then Khun was twirled around and brought safely back into loving arms.

“One of?”

“I have a list, I can show you sometime”.

“Please don’t. My heart might explode”.

“But, Aguero,” Bam whined, “It was one of the things that kept me sane in FUG. Are you saying you don’t care about that?”

“Fine, you can tell me. Later. And only four points”.

“But I have over three hundred! And they’re all very important”.

“Oh, god”.

“Falling slowly, eyes that know me, and I can't go back”.

Bam laughed, beautiful eyes crinkling.

“Just for that, I’m going to make a list of my own. See how you like it”.

“I’ll love it, just like I love you”.

Khun’s heart wasn’t able to handle this man. So, as a defense mechanism, he twirled Bam around, just so he could have a few seconds safe from those eyes. But then they were back, and Khun was falling again

“I missed touching you,” Bam said, “I think you were my anchor”.

“I know you’re mine,” He replied, then, “You can touch me as much as you want”.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me”.

“Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice. You'll make it now”.

“I think I have an idea”.

Khun’s eyes roved all over Bam’s face, drinking him in, before stopping at his smile. His gaze flickered up, and he saw that Bam was equally as enamored.

Then, like it was fate, like it was always meant to be, like a thousand million perfections, their lips met. Khun smiled into the kiss. Bam hummed. It was home.

They swayed together, Bam’s arms coming around his waist and Khun’s arms around his most precious person’s neck. They stayed in that perfect, lovely, loving moment, until they had to part. 

As they rested in each others’ arms, Khun stared into the eyes of the man he loved, utterly enraptured, as Bam sung the last line.

“Falling slowly, sing your melody. I'll sing along”.

[hiheyimhuy]

Movies/TV Shows

1 Roman Empire -Season 1 -Theme Funny -Golden Age

-Birthdays -Jayden Kouli Spring -Ian Spear Summer -Rex Woodbury Fall -Taylor Phillips Winter

-Jennie Mayer “Type 1” Insults -Arlene Williams “Type 2” Conversation -Tina Fey “Type 3” It’s Not Funny, But It Is Funny -Alison Kang “Type 4” Fighting

-Annie Bucher -Bayley Lichtenberg -Brenna Harrington -Briana Jackson -Carley Wood -Christine Baker -Ellie Hoekman -Emily Dugan -Emily Ross -Heather Bateman -Heather Stams -Jessie Torlai -Kailyn Pennock -Katie Fischbeck -Katie Theisen -Kirsten Brewer -Kristen Kemper -Kylie Barrett -Kyra Pennington -Lexi n Abby Klinkenberg -Meg Mullen -Meressa Mamon -Mia Torlai -Nicole Silver -Rebecca Nixon -Samantha Holler -Tahlia Carchedi 1/2 -Taylor Green 1/2 -Tessa Acay -Zoey Golden 1/2

-Austin From Gardenscapes -Kevin Hill

-Season 2 -Theme Suffering -50 Years After The Golden Age With New Complicated Rulers/King And Government Officials -Nice People -People Who Likes To Play Games -Hard Living -Ancient Technological Society -Consequences -Crimes -Passion of the Christ Roman Guards -Green River Teachers -Guys from Han Tinh Phan Kim Lien -Rating 100% -Jessica Clarke -Kelley Flanagan -Hannah Ann -Lindsey Allemeier -Julia Newell -Annika Brauer -Catherine Berner -Olivia Carlson -Louisa Dunwiddie -Emma Linde -Savannah Billedo -Danielle Brady -Jackie Robinson -Rachel Keyser -Angela Zhang -Megan Williams -Maia Lee -McKay Njos -Tylar Philpott -Vanessa Chukri -Dan Mitchell -Brett Goldstein -Brendan Welzien -Jackson Zariski -Adam Newton -Toro -Richard Ferguson -Jared -Royals Friends -Josh Brueckner -Katie Betzing -Matt Howard -Abby Howard -Charli D’amelio -Addison Rae -“Too Hot To Handle” IGTV video guys -Jacqueline Miller -Eileen Bruns -Johannes Huebl 2/3 -Matty Carrington -Franky Cammarata -Ben K Bowers -Colton Underwood -RJ King 2/3 -Graham Davis -Willem De Koch -Brian Pruett -Gigi Meyer  -Henry

-Hailey Napier -Blake Napier -Alex Knutson 2/3 -Elle Petschl -Sam Petschl -Anna Lynch -Ana Rae Miller -Brenna Hudson -Madeline Huletz -Claire Kennedy -Connell O’Brien -Max Tychsen -Dylan Inman -Austin Budke -Cameron Sackett -Elliot Knapp -John Mark Lambert -Colby Franklin -Season 3 -Theme Conquering -Depicts The Fall Of The Roman Empire -Combat Tactics -Strategies -In Places That Trigger Fear -“X Ambassadors - Renegades” Feel -Austin Olson -Chris Torlai -Kevin Hall -Matt Mead -Max Liebl -Nathan Lantz -Nathan Rodland -Oak Griffith -Sean Redmond -Stefan Andonian -Tanner Patnode -Travis McGuire -Wes Concepcion -Ben Affleck -Christian Bale -Tom Cruise -Cavill -Simon Pegg -Sam Quinby -Garrett Yrigoyen -Ben Higgins -Peter Weber -Jack Weber -Chris Harrison -Arie Luyendyk -Jason -Blake -Jared Haibon -Chris Soules -Jordan -David -Joe Sessa -Josh Canova -Graham Bennett -Kevin Park -Aaron Park -Julien Isnardon -Armie Hammer -Maurice Laab -Keegan Selby -Tyler Pichette -Season 4 -In Heaven With Henry And Malcolm

-Season 5 -Reunion Live “Maplestory - Ergoth’s Throne” “Maplestory - Orbis Tower” “Maplestory - Ludi PQ” -“Imagine Dragons - To Exist” 2 -“Imagine Dragons - Darkness Lies Above” 3 -“Imagine Dragons - Fear Is In Your Eyes” 3 -“Imagine Dragons - Only Way Across Is Cold Water” 3 -“Alesso - To Live Without Music” 1 -“Alesso - Watery Feels” 1/2 -“Bastille - What Keeps You Awake At Night” 2 -“Bastille - Every Time You Close Your Eyes” 2 -“Benny Blanco - The 4 Amigos” 1 -“The Chainsmokers - Wishing You Can Untouch” 2 -Might Change Title When I Have Time -“Charlie Puth - Day And Night Changes” 2 -“Coldplay - To Make You Wish You Don’t Have A Soul” 2 -“DNCE - The First To Arrive And Last To Leave” 1 -“Linkin Park - Rather Fall Than Surrender” 3 -“Kaskade - Your Voice Is All I Need” 1 -“Lana Del Rey - The “H” Word” 2 -“The Lumineers - A Cold Winter Morning” 2 -“Major Lazer - Gets You Off The Ground” 1 -“Major Lazer - Hard Bed, Soft Together” 1 -“OneRepublic - Rather Whisper Than Say” 1/2 -“Selena Gomez - Hope You Can Make It Back To Me” 3 -“Selena Gomez - I Need To Give You” 3 -“Shawn Mendes - If I Was Your First Lover” 1/2 -“Shawn Mendes - Fulfill Your Wishes” 1/2 -“Taylor Swift - February Missing You” 3 -“Taylor Swift - Waking Up And You’re Not Here” 3 -“Tove Lo - Roses In Water” 1 -“X Ambassadors - Repentance” 2/3 -“X Ambassadors - Remorses” 2/3 -“X Ambassadors - Regrets” 2/3 -“X Ambassadors - In The Woods” 3 -“X Ambassadors - No One To Be Found” 3 -“X Ambassadors - Only Nature Exists Now” 3 -“X Ambassadors - When You’re Lost” 3 -“2AM Club - I Still Remember You” 1

2 Killer -Henry Farm Childhood -Tom Cruise -Henry Cavill -Simon Pegg -Kelly Hu -Mila Kunis -Chiaki Kuriyama -Amy Johnston -Connell O’Brien -Yugioh Main Characters -Yugi -Joey -Bakura -Pegasus -Marik -Mai Valentine -Weevil -Rafael -Dartz -Charli D’amelio -Matt Howard -Alessandro Dellisola -Johannes Huebl -Sean O’Pry -Taylor Swift -Shawn Mendes -Girls Non-Killers -“Soft, Tender, Delicate” IGTV video -“Finger 11 - Paralyzer” IGTV video -Excluding Claire Miller -Abby Howard -Armie Hammer -Chace Crawford

3 Witches History on Earth -Malcolm in Heaven -Hocus Pocus -Vietnamese Girls -Trang Nguyen -Nguyen Ha My -Yen Nguyen -Written By Henry And Malcolm

4 Paris by Night in Modern Time -Presidents -Ben Affleck -Leonardo DiCaprio -1/4 Europeans -Brody Jenner -1/4 Asians -Japanese -Chiaki Kuriyama -Substitute -Cheyenne Stacey Powell -Administration -Nia Nguyen -Stephanie Che -The Bachelor Girls -The Bachelorette Girls -Clothes -Elementary And Middle School -Less Normal -High School -Fashion -College -Travel After College -Love

5 Ancient Forests -Josh Brueckner -Katie Betzing -“131 Tall Tree Guys” IGTV video -“Soft, Tender, Delicate” IGTV video -The Bachelor -The Bachelorette

6 Toys

7 Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) -Inventions -Movable Type Printing (1041-1048 AD) -Gunpowder (1000 AD) -Compass (1100 AD) -Paper Money (11th century) -Arts -Music -Literature -Philosophy -Theme Romance -Marco Polo -Born in Venice -Silk Road -Visited China (1275-1292 AD) -Father and Uncle -Lingchi Torture -TVB Actors/Actresses -Kenneth Lam -Kacie Lo -Chloe Tsang -Clarissa Chan -Jessica Yi -Danny Shin -Joyce Lin -Shin -Alex Landi

8 Ancient Egypt -Theme Revenge, Ruling, Warfare -Pharaoh -Pyramids -Sphinx -Nile River -Farming -Hieroglyphics -New Kingdom (1570-1069 BCE) -Kings Are Called Pharaohs -Golden Age -Wealth -Prosperity -Power -Wars -Burned alive -Thrown into river with crocodiles -Charli/Dixie D’amelio -Addison Rae -“Roosevelt High School” IGTV video -Andrew Mead -Austin Perlatti -Bret Johnson -Carter Rey Johnson -Casey Manso -Christopher Wilson -Clay Barton -Colby Foss -Connor Bennett -Dalton Bond -Derek Pedersen -Hayden Njos -Jake Zylstra -Jared McAboy -Jeff Seid -Jett DiPalma -Jordan Kirkland -Ken Williams -Kevin Brown -Kevin Hall -Kevin Kennedy -Kramer Fairclough -Leo Trotz -Marco Amalfitano -Max Liebl -Michael Leverenz -Mike Suguro -Mitchell Booth -Nathan Lantz -Nathan Rodland -Matt Fisher -Nick Fisher -Nick Watson -Oak Griffith -Ozamataz Buckshank -Pabi Dhaliwal -Pat McGuire -Pierre Groenewald -Roddy Hanson -Ryan Johnson -Scott Andrew -Seth Gunning -Seth Shields -Sheldon Stober -Stephen Bishopp -Tanner Patnode -Taylor Tinney -Wes Concepcion -Zane McCanless -“Soft, Tender, Delicate” IGTV video -“INNA - Amazing” IGTV video -Elizabeth Rodland -Armie Hammer -Chace Crawford -Franky Cammarata -Johannes Huebl -Sean O’Pry -Blake Horstmann -Jan -Joe Sessa and his friends -Matt/Abby Howard -Taylor Dean -Kelley Flanagan -Jessica Clarke -Madison Prewett -Lindsey Allemeier -Katie Betzing -Ben Higgins -Hannah Ann -Ian Spear -Laguna Beach -Lauren -Kristin -Stephen -Talan -Jessica -Taylor -Adam Newton -Sean Lowe -Catherine Giudici -Brianne Schmidt -Connell O’Brien -Tyler Pichette -Hannah Brown -Max Tychsen -Dylan Inman -Tyler Cameron -Taylor Phillips

9 Mesopotamia -Daily Life -Learning To Be A Scribe -Ziggurat -One Of The Seven Wonders -Hanging Gardens -The Fertile Crescent -Invented The Plow -People Of The City-States -Nobles -Priests -Merchants -Scribes -Craftworkers -Free Farmers -Enslaved People -Farmers Who Did Not Own Their Land -Cut One Hand Off -Women’s Legal Status

10 Ancient Greece -Philosophers -Socrates -Plato -Aristotle -Mathematics/Science -Euclid -Archimedes -Eratosthenes -Hippocrates

11 Greek Gods/Goddesses -Athena, Goddess of Wisdom -Parthenon Temple

12 Alexander the Great

13 Medieval Europe (500-1500 AD) -Theme Suffering -Boiling -Baking -Burning -Brazen Bull -Cooking -Stretching Bones -Sleep Deprivation -Quartering -Children’s Crusades -Castles

14 Islam -Muhammad -Arabia -Persia -Pillars -Architecture -Learning -Astronomy -Algebra -Medicine -Mapmakers -1001 Nights Book

15 India In The Middle Centuries -Taj Mahal

16 Central/South America -Theme Coming of Age -Maya -Toltec -Aztec -Tenochtitlan -Teotihuacan -Olmec -Inca -Cotton -Maya Calendar -Maize Corn -Metal -Writing -Soccer -Rituals -Religious Ceremonies

17 Europe (1400-1750 AD) -Peasant Revolts -Wars -Renaissance -Coldplay -Exploration -North/South America -Slavery -Imperialism

18 Industrial Revolution (Late 1700s AD) -England

19 Nations in Conflict (1775-1921 AD) -Revolutions -Independence -Nationalism -Ending Ancient China

20 1900s Conflict -Hitler -Russia -Japan -Westernization -Communism -World War I -World War II -Cold War -Berlin Wall -Technology -Advancements -Independence -Space Race

21 1900s Fun -China -Shanghai -David Kangmeng -South Korea -Fashion -Music -Recreation -France -Coffee -Restaurants -Sex -Hugh Jackman -Germany -Hugh Jackman -Spain -Hugh Jackman -Great Britain -Hugh Jackman

22 United States 1970-1990 -Fraternity -Fun -Matt Damon

23 Adulthood in the United States -The Bachelor -The Bachelorette -City -Country -Jobs -Relationships -Financial Problems -Making It In Hollywood

24 Masculinity -Male To Male Friendships And Siblings -Domination -Dealing With Girls

25 Comedy PBN Part 2 “Spin Off” -Continues After “Paris By Night In Modern Time” -Age Around 30+ -Van Son Cast -Similar To “Adulthood in the United States” And “Virtues of Harmony II” But Different

26 Countryside “Que” In VN -Theme Suffering -Financial Problems -Hard Living -Making It As Singers -Dating Singers -Accidents -Human To Human Crimes -How To Get To The United States

27 Physical Buildings And Transportation -Thailand, Malaysia, And Singapore -Hotels -Motels -Apartments -Bars -Clubs -Supermalls -Supermarkets -Companies -Motorcycles -Taxis -Trains -Airports -Gambling

28 Companies And Corporations -India And The Middle East -Work Time -Play Time

29 Modeling -Brazil, Portugal, And Spain -Amazon Rainforest -Rio De Janeiro -Marcello Alvarez -Jobs -Pay Less -Require Effort -Tired -Time Consuming -High School Drop Out -Saving Money -Criminal Offenses -Competition

30 Hierarchy In Society -Mexico -Poor -Rich -Cartels -Illegal Immigration To The United States -MTV Reality And Game Shows -Cabo San Lucas -Travel To The Caribbean

31 Route To Antarctica -Theme Living With Air Pollution 1990s -Chile -Santiago -San Antonio -Argentina -Buenos Aires -Andes Mountains -Lake Titicaca -Atacama Desert -Tierra Del Fuego -Tip Of South America -Cape Horn -Herding Farm Animals -Biking

32 High School In Vietnam -Movie Length Duration -Fun During School -Hard Times Outside Of School

33 United States Road Trip -Washington -Oregon -California to East Coast -Variety Of Climates -Route 66

34 Girl Pornstars -Hot Girls -Hard Past -Family -Friendships -Relationships -School -Money -On The Street -Need Food -Need House -Need Home -Models -Real -Instagram -Victoria’s Secrets -Pornstars -Feelings -Resentful -Fearful -Anxious -Apprehensive -Insecure -Suspicious -Trust -Travel -Making It In The Porn Industry

35 Guy Pornstars -Straight Guys -Gay/Bi Guys -Henry Pheet -Malcolm -Random Grindr Hookups -Travel -Making It In The Porn Industry Leonardo DiCaprio Robert De Nero John Travolta Tom Cruise Henry Cavill Simon Pegg Christian Bale Hugh Jackman Keanu Reeves Edward Norton Sean Connery Matt Damon Mel Gibson George Clooney Tom Hardy Orlando Bloom Guy Pearce Heath Ledger Robert Redford Paul Newman Scarlett Johansson Rachel McAdams Amanda Bynes Japan -1900s WWI/II -Westernization South Korea -1990s K-POP China -Song Dynasty -Ending Ancient China -1900s Beijing Vietnam -School In United States -Travel -Love -Comedy -Countryside “Que” Thailand, Malaysia, And Singapore -Physical Buildings And Transportation Drama India -The Middle Centuries Taj Mahal -Companies And Corporations The Middle East -Companies And Corporations Europe -Medieval -Renaissance -Exploration -Imperialism Italy -Roman Empire France -1900s Great Britain -Industrial Revolution Mexico -“Hierarchy In Society” Brazil -Modeling Portugal -Modeling Spain -Modeling

[iamtheroger]

Queen Index Part 1: The Video Directors

I finally got round to starting this pretty big operation. I start off pretty simply with all the video directors of Queen music videos or concert videos. Just to keep this manageable to me I’ll only cover 1973-1995 (with some exceptions along the way). I’ll do this chronologically and then make a masterpost of all the different posts I’ve made.

Mike Mansfield - Director of the first promo videos of Keep Yourself Alive & Liar shot at Brewer Street in London on 9th August 1973.

Bruce Gowers - Was first used as the director of the Bohemian Rhapsody video, shot on 10th November 1975 at Elstree Studios in London.

Faced with a difficult situation, the group improvised, setting aside a budget of £3,500 and hiring director Bruce Gowers for a four-hour (might have been three - yogurtbattle) shoot that took place without storyboarding or much of any rehearsal — and found Gowers rolling tape while the band members kept one eye on the clock, intent on getting out of the shoot in time to make it to the pub before last call (they did - yogurtbattle). (x)

(BTW, I’ve seen Roger say that they left on 2 AM that night to take the bus to their first concert, but the date of the video is widely reported as 10th of November so one of those has to be wrong and right now I’m going for Roger’s memory :P)

He also directed the video for You’re My Best Friend, no exact date. Now there is a bit of confusion over this video, and this is the closest I’ve found, from Ratty’s book, that makes sense:

So it was recorded it a disused barn at Ridge Farm but not in April (as widely reported), but in mid-June (that’s when they rehearsed there). Makes far more sense as the single was released in mid-June as well.

Next up he directed the video for Somebody To Love shot both at Wessex Studios and Hyde Park in London, the former on 4th November 1976 and the latter on 18th September 1976, during the concert. Lastly, on 18th February 1977 he flew out to Miami (not as sometimes reported at Nassau Colisseum in Uniondale) to direct the video of Tie Your Mother Down in the Sportorium. The reason he never worked for Queen again afterwards, as told by him:

Gowers worked with Queen three more times before falling out with late singer Freddie Mercury because he was booked for another job. The pair had a “shouting match” in a London restaurant. “Freddie felt betrayed,” he said, “but didn't understand I was not under contract with them, and as a freelancer took work where I could get it. We never spoke properly after that.” 

He did went on to work with (amongst others) Rod Stewart, the Rolling Stones, Genesis, Bee Gees, Elton John, Michael Jackson & Prince.

Derek Burnbridge - The director of We Are The Champions, shot on 6th October 1977 at New Royal Theatre in London. This was the first time the band called on the fan club for cheap extras and the band gave an impromptu short performance afterwards. It is unknown why the band never worked with him again, but he did went on to direct videos for The Police & AC/DC.

Rock Flicks - Now, this sounds more like the name of a company than a person to me, especially as the Queen videos are the only videos found related to it, but anyway ‘Rock Flicks’ was behind the Spread Your Wings/We Will Rock You video shoot, shot in January 1978 at Roger’s new home in Surrey, the one where Freddie was drunk and everyone cold. It is therefore unknown who really directed this videos.

Dennis De Vallance - This guy worked on several Queen videos, which is odd as the band didn’t like any of them. Not like the band which is normally so perfectionistic. Anyway, he first directed the Fat Bottomed Girls video on 28th October 1978 at the Convention Center in Dallas, where Queen were playing. At the same time, the performance footage for Bicycle Race was shot, but the band hated that so much only the footage of the nude cyclists was used in the original cut. This footage is also credited to Dennis as director, and was shot on 17th September at Wimbledon Stadium in London. He later returned to direct the Love Of My Life promo video on the 25th April 1979 in Tokyo. At last, he made a good Queen video when he directed the Crazy Little Thing Called Love one, on the 22nd September 1979 at Trillion Studios in London.

Interesting side note on the Crazy video: it was choreographed by Arlene Phillips, who also choreographed the We Will Rock You musical!

Now the next one is a bit tricky, his name is written as both Jorgen Kliebenst and Jörgen Kliebenstein (it certainly isn’t the first one), but I wonder if this might be the same guy as Hans-Jürgen Kliebenstein, as that is the only person with a similar name I can found on Google who is also working for TV - Anyway, this guy, whatever his name is, directed the Don’t Stop Me Now video shot at Forrest Nationale in Belgium before Queen’s concert there on 26th January 1979.

Keith McMillan - The guy that managed to fall down an orchestra pit at the Rainbow Theatre in London while working on the video for Save Me. Because the director injured himself, the band had to return to the video shoot a week later, on 22nd December 1979 at Alexandra Palace. This guy had worked before Queen with Kate Bush and Paul McCartney (who might have recommended him to them as he was the one behind the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea that Queen performed in the same month, which Keith also directed). He later worked with Blondie and Simple Minds.

Brian Grant - Directed multiple Queen videos, with mixed successes. His first was the video for Play The Game at Trillion Studios in London on 29th May 1980. Two years later he also shot the ill-fated videos for Back Chat and Calling All Girls back-to-back, in an unknown location in July 1982. He worked with various famous acts in the 80s, amongst them Kim Wilde, Peter Gabriel, Spandau Ballet, Whitney Houston and Van Halen.

Daniella Green - Hey, a female director! She directed the video for Another One Bites The Dust, shot on the 9th August 1980 in Dallas at the Reunion Arena. Nothing else I could find about her, sadly.

Mike Hodges - Just after Queen finished work on the Flash Gordon soundtrack, they shot a video for the theme song with Flash Gordon director Mike directing it - I’ll come back to him when discussing Flash Gordon. The video was shot in November 1980 at Anvil Studios and Roger had to take a break from recording his solo album to shoot it. Mike also shot the video for Body Language (yes, that one) in April 1982 in Toronto. Here’s Mike talking about that one:

Your promo video for Queen's song Body Language was apparently the first film banned by MTV. It's certainly the most erotic piece of work you've made. How did you and the band arrive at the concept? While recording the music for FLASH GORDON, I became friendly with all the members of Queen. They were fantastic fun to work with. In fact, shortly afterwards, I shot the movie’s music video. Then Freddie Mercury approached me to do the same with a song he’d written, Body Language. There’s the eroticism you talk about - in the song itself. The concept was Freddie’s and I was only too happy to capture it on film. We completed it in a Toronto studio after a truly exhausting 24-hour (okay, that makes the lack of enthusiasm by the band even more understandable - yogurtbattle) shoot! (x)

David Mallet - Now, there’s a guy that should have his own page, so much has he done with Queen. He came to work with Queen as he had worked with David Bowie previously. His first video was the one for Under Pressure, and he went on to do the videos for Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free, Hammer To Fall, Who Wants To Live Forever, I Want It All, several of Freddie’s solo videos, and some work with Queen since Freddie’s death. Other people he has worked with include Joan Jett, Def Leppard, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Tina Turner, AC/DC and INXS.

Radio Ga Ga: Shot on the 22nd & 23rd of November 1983 at Shepperton Studios in London.

I Want To Break Free: Shot on 22nd March  (the audience part), 23rd March (the drag part), 1st April (the ballet part rehearsal) and 5th April 1984 (the ballet part performance) at Limehouse Studios in London.

Hammer To Fall: Shot on the 25th August 1984 at the Forrest Nationale in Brussels. Footage from the 24th was also used for audience shots, as not enough fans showed up.

Who Wants To Live Forever: Shot on 16th September 1986 at a warehouse in Tobacco Wharf in London (by now demolished). Of course Roger was drunk here.

I Want It All: Shot on 22nd April 1989 at Elstree Studios.

The producer on several of these videos was Jacqui Byford, mentioned in the liner notes of The Miracle.

Tim Pope - Right. This guy had previously done the oh-so-great Man On Fire video, so Queen decided to hire him to shoot the video for It’s A Hard Life. The shoot ended up lasting one week, by far the longest of any Queen video. It was shot in Munich of course, in mid-June 1984 at Arri Film Studios. Now it wasn’t just Pope, the band was getting a bit out of hand with their videos then anyway, which probably had other reasons as well. He also worked with Soft Cell, The Cure, The Cars, Hall & Oates, Talk Talk, David Bowie & Paul McCartney (there’s a bit of an eighties theme going on here).

DoRo, The Torpedo Twins or Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher - The other prominent Queen directors, from one of their favourite cities Vienna. Responsible for even more Queen videos than David Mallet, especially in Freddie’s dying days:

One Vision: Shot in August 1985 in Munich, where Queen where recording for A Kind Of Magic. Also directed the shot documentary surrounding the video.

Friends Will Be Friends: Shot at JVC Studios in London on 15th May 1986, another Fan Club call.

Breakthru: Shot in June 1989 on the Nene Valley Railway in Cambridgeshire. Starring of course Debbie.

The Invisible Man: A video for Roger’s song shot on Roger’s birthday! Not very surprising then that Freddie had those glasses on for Roger’s birthday party. Apparently there was also a birthday cake wheeled in during recording and large amounts of champagne were drunk! Date of course was 26th July 1989, location Pinewood Studios in London.

Scandal: Again at Pinewood Studios, this one was shot on 27th September 1989.

The Miracle: Shot at Elstree Studios on 23rd November 1989. Freddie was portrayed by Ross McCall, who went on to become a professional actor, playing most famously in Band of Brothers.

Innuendo: This one was actually a collaboration between Rudi Dolezal and Jerry Hibbert (mentioned in the album notes). Jerry is an animator who has also worked on Fireman Sam. The video was made in December 1990.

Headlong: Shot at Metropolis Studios in London on 23rd November 1991 and another unknown date late 1990.

I’m Going Slightly Mad: Shot on 15th February 1991 at Wembley Studios in London.

These Are The Days Of Our Lives: Shot on 30th May 1991 (Freddie’s last video) at Limestone Studios in London. Brian couldn’t attend as he was in the US promoting Innuendo, but he was later edited in, with his parts filmed in June.

The Show Must Go On: The band wasn’t in this as Freddie has become too ill, but an edited montage was release as the video in October 1991.

No-One But You: Filmed at the Bray Studios in London in 1997.

After Freddie’s death Roger and Brian also made appearances at DoRo parties in 1992 (Hannes’ 40th) and 1998 (Rudi’s 40th).

Saul Swimmer - The amongst Queen members not very popular director of We Will Rock You, by now known as Rock Montreal, filmed on the 24th and 25th November 1981. It was renamed to its current name after Queen bought out Saul in 2006, after spending 25 years trying to get of him basically.

Gavin Taylor - The director of Live At Wembley, filmed on 13th July 1986. Also directed Live At The Bowl on 5th June 1982. Sadly not with us anymore.

Zsombolyai János -The director of the Hungarian Rhapsody, filmed on 27th July 1986 in of course Budapest.

That was it for the first part of the Queen index!

[sonicrainicorn]

Made of Love, Chapter 17

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Table of Contents

Ship(s): Logicality, (platonic) Prinxiety

All Characters: Thomas, Virgil, Roman, Logan, Patton, Dr. Picani, Joan, Talyn, and Deceit

Synopsis: Humans Roman and Virgil get wrapped up in some serious magic business without meaning to. Their other companions aren’t exactly as they seem, either. Together they all must defeat a great threat for the safety of humanity.

Chapter Desc.: The gang deals with the aftermath of Anxiety. Thomas has a hard time with some things

TW: Cursing, child abuse (mentioned), blood

Prefer to read it on Ao3? Click here!

The blade, and subsequently the hole in Anxiety’s stomach, turned a dark red. A deep red that could have passed for a human’s blood if something about it wasn’t off. Something made it unnatural to look at.

Anxiety didn’t react beyond a shocked expression. His body began to fizzle out. Like an old TV losing a station. Once he vanished, the shadows in the room curled back to their natural locations. The lighting (or lack thereof) returned to normal.

Virgil skipped out on the celebration to check on everyone. They were still stuck in their trance. He had an odd feeling that he needed to snap them out of it.

Since Thomas was the last one affected, Virgil figured he would be the easiest to fix. And there was absolutely no other reasoning to that. Nope. If anyone said otherwise he’d stab them in the eye with a sewing needle. Whatever the real reason, he ran over and kneeled down.

Tears streamed down Thomas’s face, and his eyes were a deep black. He kept begging for someone to not be dead. He sounded like a scared little boy.

Virgil ignored the pain that sent him and placed a hand on Thomas’s shoulder to shake him. “Kid. C’mon, you have to snap out of it.” He swallowed his rising panic when that didn’t make an improvement. “Thomas!”

Thomas gasped and fell back, his arms coming out to catch himself. He blinked a few times and his eyes returned to normal, then they looked up at Virgil in surprise. “Virgil.” He reached out to touch him. “You’re real.”

“Welcome back.” He smiled a bit.

“It’s dark.”

He fished his phone out of his pocket and shoved it into Thomas’s hands. “Go get Patton and Logan. I’ll handle Roman.” He patted his shoulder then left to go to Roman.

Once Virgil could see him, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He looked lost. No tears streamed down his face. No pain etched onto his features. He was just… broken. That needed to stop. Virgil tried to put a hand on his shoulder as he did with Thomas, but a voice prevented him.

“Don’t touch him.” It was his dagger (which he decided to name Left. Because, well, y’know). Surprisingly, it took Picani’s voice. That was a new one.

Virgil retracted his hand. “What? Why?”

“Look.”

Virgil did so. He paid careful attention to see what Left did. Then it happened. Roman flinched. Like someone who expected a hand to fly their way. Alright, so no touching then. Wouldn’t want to open those cans of worms right now. But what the hell was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just leave Roman like this.

“You have a voice.”

Virgil frowned. He didn’t know what to do with that information. How was he supposed to only use his voice? It took him a minute to realize something.

Roman was adopted. It was something he revealed after one of his rare drunken splurges. Now, that exact fact wasn’t important, but what was important, was the distinguishing factors Roman made. When referring to the woman that birthed him, he always used “mother”. When referring to the woman that raised him, he used “mom” or “mamá”. And his mom would always sing to him to get him to calm down.

So, with minor embarrassment, Virgil realized he would have to sing if he wanted Roman’s attention. It was for a good cause, at least. He racked his brain for a gentle song and found that “Feed The Birds” was the single song that kept coming to mind. Hopefully, that would get the job done. He took a shaky breath and started in a soft voice,

Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul's The little old bird woman comes In her own special way to the people, she calls Come, buy my bags full of crumbs

He continued to keep his voice steady and low. The words dripped out in a sweet lull.

Soon, Roman came out of it. He became less stiff and the black in his eyes faded away and focused on Virgil. For a moment, they just stared at each other. “I knew you liked Mary Poppins,” Roman joked. Or rather, tried to. His voice sounded tired and his grin lacked his usual snark.

“Whatever,” Virgil grumbled as he stood up. “Want some help?”

Roman blinked at him. Then held out his hand to allow Virgil to pull him up without a word. They made their way over to the other three, who were trying to break Logan out of it. Patton had his hands around Logan’s wrists, easing them away from his hair.

“I don’t, I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Logan cried. “I’m not a monster.”

“You’re not,” Patton assured. His voice was surprisingly calm. “You haven’t hurt anyone. We’re all here. We’re all fine.”

“But Arlene --”

“No. She’s not here. You’re with me, remember? She’s gone.”

Logan’s eyes shot open and shadows retracted from them. Once he processed where he was he darted up from the ground to turn away from them while wiping at his tears.

“The gang’s all here,” Virgil muttered. He tapped Left so he could put it back in his pocket. This wasn’t the best reunion in the world.

“I think we should go home,” Thomas said quietly. He stared at the floor with an intense frown.

“You’re absolutely right, Thomas.” Patton picked himself up. “We all just need to go home and relax and try to get our minds off what happened.” He seemed more cheery than he should have been.

“I don’t think anyone’s against it,” Roman mumbled.

Virgil grimaced a bit as he surveyed everyone. They were all jittery. Whatever Anxiety showed them -- the regrets, the fears -- wasn’t something they could walk off. Everyone still seemed to have their head in those moments.

“Then let’s leave.” Logan turned back around. His face was unusually stoic -- which was saying something.

No one had anything to comment.

The car ride back was eerily quiet. No one wanted to speak up. The tension might have also been increased by Patton a little bit, but that couldn’t be certain. They were all a little out of it. Virgil felt like he was the most put together at the moment, which didn’t sit right with him. That wasn’t the case under normal circumstances.

“Do you think,” Thomas broke the silence with stiff, uncertain words, “we could have a sleepover in the living room again?”

There was a beat of silence before Patton answered in a voice far too sweet, “Sure thing! That sounds like a good idea. What do you think, Logan?”

“Sure,” Logan murmured. He didn’t speak any further.

Upon arriving at the house, they all decided to get ready for bed. There weren’t any arguments or questions; they all wanted to end this night. When Virgil stepped out of his room, he saw Logan, Patton, and Thomas all sitting in the living room. But no Roman. Odd. Virgil tended to be the last one to these kinds of things. He decided to walk back into the hall.

Across from Virgil’s room was Roman’s. Without so much as knocking, Virgil pushed the door open. “Roman? Are you --” The rest of his words got caught in his throat.

Roman sat on the bed with one of his pajama pant legs rolled up. A long, faded scar ran across his leg, diagonal to his shin. It must have been from a cut many years ago. Once the shock of someone barging into his room passed, Roman pulled down his pant leg. “Jesus, Virgil, don’t you knock?”

“You never knock when you come into my room,” Virgil shot back defensively on complete impulse.

He sighed in annoyance. “Whatever. Just come in and close the door.”

Virgil did so. He didn’t know if he should sit down or not so he opted to stay where he was.

Roman moved his leg off the bed then gave Virgil a weird look. “You just gonna stand there or?”

“Uh,” Virgil shifted his footing, “you didn’t imply you wanted me to do anything.”

Roman rolled his eyes and scooted over. “Come over here, you awkward nightmare.”

Virgil sat on the bed and brought his legs up to sit criss-cross. He didn’t want to say anything first. He didn’t even know what to say. He was afraid he’d ask the wrong question or offend Roman somehow -- which is something he didn’t want to do right now. Not after tonight.

“Sorry for getting mad,” Roman muttered. “You have full permission to come into my room as long as I do it to you.”

“Glad to know we’re even, then.”

A swift silence washed over them.

“So are you gonna ask?”

Virgil forgot how to breathe for a second. “What?”

Roman didn’t look at him. “I know you want to know, but I won’t tell you unless you ask about it.”

“Uh.” Virgil hesitated. He did want to know, but he wasn’t sure if he was deserving of that information. The last time someone told him a secret he kind of forced it out of them. “Um, why -- how, uh, how did you get that?”

“It was a gift from my mother,” Roman seemed to choose his words with care. They fell out in a choppy rhythm rather than the usual steady stream he talked with. “I don’t remember much of it. Just that I was young and I learned not to make her mad.”

Mother. The woman that birthed him. He never said much about her other than he hated her and wished he had been separated from her sooner. Now Virgil could see why. That wasn’t something you did to a child.

“I’m sorry.”

Roman waved his hand. “It’s whatever. It happened a long time ago.”

But Anxiety made you see it.

He hopped off the bed. “Let’s go start our sleepover, shall we?” He grinned and held out an arm for Virgil.

Virgil decided not to fight it. Roman pushing away less than awesome feelings was a task to take up for another time. Right now, they all needed a breather. He took Roman’s arm and they set out to the living room.

Patton and Logan sat together on the couch. Much closer than they would have normally, Virgil noticed. Thomas had his legs pulled up onto the armchair with him, eyes studying the coffee table and his mouth in a tight frown. As they left the hall, Virgil flicked the light off and the living room flooded into darkness.

Thomas yelped. “Turn the light back on!”

The urgency in his voice caused Virgil to flip the switch without a second thought. He wasn’t sure how he managed to move so fast.

Thomas let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

The little boy who’s still afraid of the dark.

Virgil didn’t think that Anxiety meant that literally, but then again, he didn’t know how much of Anxiety’s words he could even trust. Despite that, he wondered what could make Thomas still afraid. Sure, everyone was afraid of the dark a little bit, but most people could stand a light switching off for the night. That was a serious phobia issue.

“I know a fun little thing we can do,” Roman’s voice stopped Virgil from delving any deeper into that topic. He crossed his legs onto the sofa cushion. Virgil decided to ignore the intrusion of personal space for now. “Just to calm us down before we sleep.”

“What is it?” Patton asked with a little too much enthusiasm.

“We could do ice breaker questions. Like favorite colors or whatever. It should be a decent distraction.”

“The minute I hear the words ‘ice breaker’ my anxiety goes through the roof and my soul leaves my body,” Virgil replied.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re not being forced to meet anyone new.” Roman paused, eyes glancing toward Virgil for a moment. “You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to.”

Virgil’s brain needed a second to process Roman showing him kindness. It wasn’t often that he showed consideration like this. “I mean -- I don’t -- it’s whatever. You’re right. I’m not in a room with strangers or anything.”

“Why don’t you start, Roman?” Thomas asked.

“Okay, uh,” he thought about it. “If you had to describe yourself using a Disney princess, which one would you be?”

“Merida,” Virgil answered without hesitation.

Roman snorted. “Why Merida?” He sent him a grin.

Virgil pretended that he didn’t feel a swell of pride at getting a genuine smile out of Roman. “It’s obvious. I don’t need a man.”

“Of course.” He rolled his eyes.

“I think I’d be Vanellope,” Thomas answered.

“Why’s that?” Logan looked at Thomas curiously.

“Uh,” he struggled to form a proper sentence.

“Because she’s awesome,” Virgil swooped in. He had a feeling the real reason was because Vanellope was ‘the glitch’. A misunderstood character that everyone considered wrong before her reveal as the princess. “She has a lot of potential and determination. Also, she's a pretty big trouble maker. I think that describes Thomas pretty well."

Thomas sent him a small, grateful smile.

Logan still looked a bit suspicious but didn't ask any further questions.

"I'd be Ariel," Patton said, a wistful smile gracing his face for a brief moment. "And then Logan would be Elsa."

"What?" Logan looked at him incredulously. "What makes you think I'd be Elsa?"

Patton returned the look as if it was obvious. "Do I really need to explain that? Magic that’s kinda hard to control? Being forced to hide it away to save face?"

Logan considered it. "Alright, fine."

"What about you, Roman?" Virgil turned to him.

Roman blinked. "What? Me?" He glanced at everyone in uncertainty. "Uh…"

"Tiana," Thomas answered with no room for debate. "She's a hard worker and a dreamer like you are."

"Plus, she kisses a frog to break a curse because that's how it works in fairytales," Virgil added. "I get the feeling you'd do the same."

"Hey, if I got to marry a handsome prince because of it, I wouldn't complain." Roman smirked.

They continued to ask each other silly, easy questions like that. It turned out to be a pretty good distraction after all. They all asked at least one question -- some of which led to a few long discussions. Roman and Logan even had an argument at one point. Not an intense one, just one of those “why would you answer it that way, this way is obviously the best way to do it” arguments. It brought a sense of normalcy back into their night.

Soon, time started to catch up with them. Their conversations reached a gentle decline until they stopped altogether. It was already approaching one in the morning.

Virgil glanced around the room. Thomas, curled up on the armchair, was fast asleep. So was Roman with his legs in Virgil's lap. Logan appeared to be sleeping against Patton, who was still awake. He looked exhausted though. Unfortunately, Virgil wouldn't be able to let him sleep without one major question answered.

“Patton,” he whispered. He didn't want to wake anyone up. “I know this isn’t the best time, but I have a question.”

“What is it?”

He hesitated. “When that, uh, thing was messing with us, he kind of told me some… information. About an old friend of yours. Uh, Remy?” He took note of the way Patton tensed. “And I just, I kind of -- how did he die?”

Patton floundered for a minute. He seemed unsure of how to answer. Or perhaps he didn't want to.

“Killed in action,” came Logan's low voice.

“Hey, I thought you were sleeping.” He looked down at the sleepy nerd on his shoulder.

“I was getting there,” he sat up slowly, rubbing his eye, “but I heard a topic you might need help on.”

Patton gave him a sad smile.

“So were you even there when he died?”

“No,” he muttered.

Virgil frowned in thought.

“When we got the news, it was devastating.”

“We felt responsible somehow,” Logan continued. “If we could have done something more -- something different -- then maybe he could have made it. But, of course, there was nothing we could have done. It was out of our control.” He pushed his bangs out of his face. Without his glasses, he looked more open -- vulnerable.

“Sometimes, when you lose someone close to you, you feel like it's all your fault.” He coaxed Logan into laying back down. “And it isn't. But it's hard to accept it. Because you want to blame someone. Because they should still be there, but they're not, so what are you supposed to do without them?”

Virgil didn't respond for a moment. So Anxiety was lying. He knew Picani wasn't capable of that. Still, a little part of him continued to be wary. “Why doesn't Thomas know?”

They looked to the sleeping form on the armchair. Patton sighed. “Thomas was so afraid of everything. The dark, strangers, being alone. He never wanted anything to do with Remy because too many strangers in the past tried to take him away from us. By the time he came over these fears, Remy was… no longer available for meetups.”

“Why not tell him?”

“Why let him mourn for someone he never got the chance to meet?” He tried to give a smile, but it quickly fell into a frown. His eyes lingered on Thomas before turning them to Virgil. “Maybe one day, but certainly not right now.”

Virgil nodded.

Patton sighed again, this one more gentle than the heavy bearing ones before it. “You two should be getting some rest. It’s late.” He pulled Logan, who was already drifting back to sleep, closer to him.

“Yeah. Goodnight, guys.”

“G'night, Virgil.”

Virgil found himself in an awkward position because of Roman. He could have pushed his legs off to get into a better position, but that seemed a little cruel. So instead he opted to inconvenience himself. He shifted to be in the crook of the couch. It wasn't the most comfortable place but he'd live. He leaned his head back and put an arm over his eyes. Already, he began to feel sleep weigh on him.

After a few minutes of silence, Virgil heard Logan's groggy voice mumble, “You need sleep too.”

“Of course,” Patton answered, voice gentle, “I'll just be up for a bit.”

“M'not goin’ anywhere.”

“I-I know. I just, I just want to be sure.”

“If that'll make you feel better.”

“Yes. Now go to sleep, Lo.”

~~~

Thomas woke up at five in the morning. He only knew because the clock mocked him; it faced him with its dumb glowing numbers. How dare it. He could have been sleeping more. Instead, he uncurled himself from the armchair. His joints popped and a tingly feeling shot up from his toes. Maybe staying in one position the whole night wasn't the best way to sleep.

He took note of the rest of the people in the room with him. Lucky for them, they got to stay sleeping. Patton stretched against the length of the sofa with Logan on his chest and his arms wrapped around him protectively. Patton's glasses were pushed against the top of his head. How they managed to get themselves into that position was beyond him. Roman and Virgil's legs were tangled together. Somehow, Roman had Virgil's hoodie draped over him like a blanket even though Thomas was pretty sure Virgil didn't take it off. It was cute, though.

Sending a final glare at the clock, Thomas picked himself up and headed toward the bathroom. He didn't bother shutting the door. Everyone else was still asleep so it wasn't as if they would intrude.

He placed his hands on the counter and stared at himself in the mirror. His reflection stared back at him with tired eyes. For the first time ever, he became all too aware of the long life he's lived. Ninety-four years didn't feel like anything. In the blink of an eye, he was ninety-four. It didn't feel any different than eighty or thirty. He hardly aged during those times. Maybe faster than he should have been, but still not much at all. So the eyes that stared back at him looked as old as they were rather than as young as they looked.

There was so much that they’d seen. Too much, some might say.

He frowned.

Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he stayed with his family. If he and Picani hadn’t been forced to leave, how could have things played out? Would his parents be proud of him? What about his brothers? Would they grow up to be amazing in every way -- would they be masters in their magic types? What would they think of Thomas? Would they look down on him for still not having magic? Would they even care?

He liked to think they were out there somewhere looking for him. He wanted to think it -- needed to. If they were gone… he didn’t even want to consider it. It was his fault. There wasn’t any other way of saying it. It was all his fault. Everything.

Way back when he was five years old, he made the first of many grave mistakes. He told Terrance that magic was real -- showed him proof. And Terrance went off to tell everyone he knew in his excitement. They were just kids. They didn’t know that anything bad would happen. In a perfect world, nothing would have happened. People would have brushed off Terrance’s words as the imagination of a child. Except that wasn't how it went down.

Someone heard about it who shouldn't have. Then they told Altair.

From what Thomas remembers, people broke into the house. There was a lot of commotion. His mother took him away from his brothers and handed him over to Picani. She told them to run. He didn’t know what was happening. There was so much noise. He never got to give a proper goodbye, but they were far away by the time that he realized it. It wasn't until Picani explained things later that Thomas found out it was his fault. No one was supposed to know where his family was. No one should have known they had magic.

Thomas didn't know how Picani couldn't hate him after that. He could have left him somewhere at any point and been done with it. He could have handed him over to one of his parents' friends. But he didn't. He decided to stay. No matter how many times Thomas messed up or hurt him, he always stayed. He always came back. And Thomas couldn't understand that.

He was such a problem -- he caused so many problems. Last night showed him how much trouble he really was. He was faced with every horrible decision he ever made. There were quite a few. He had to watch himself tell Terrance about magic all over again. He felt Picani’s blood on his hands. He caused so much pain. He’s said so many things he didn’t mean, and did so much he couldn’t take back.

“Oh gosh,” Thomas muttered. He wiped his face as tears started to fall. Another thing that was common in the incidents he saw was how much he cried. "I'm such a baby." He needed to stop crying so much.

"Thomas?"

Thomas froze. He saw Logan squinting at him from the mirror. Whether it was from sleepiness or lack of glasses was debatable.

"What are you doing up?"

"I-I, uh," he hurried to wipe his eyes, "what are you doing up?"

"I wanted to get water, but then I saw you in here." He stepped into the room. "Are you okay?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

"Ugh, feelings." Logan leaned against the wall. He could still be seen in the reflection of the mirror.

Thomas couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I know. They're pretty bad sometimes."

"Tell me about it." He paused. "If Patton heard us talking like that we'd probably get a whole lecture saying the opposite."

There was no argument there. "Speaking of Patton, how'd you get out of the death grip he had on you?"

"Very carefully."

Thomas snorted. "That was such a teacher answer."

"I wouldn't know."

"You went to college."

"That's hardly the same thing."

Perhaps not. Thomas wouldn't know. He's never been -- not yet at least. Still, he couldn't let go of a thought he had. In truth, it had been plaguing him since last night. "Logan, have you ever…" He didn't know how to word it without raising any alarms.

"Ever what?" Logan's brows knitted together.

There wasn’t an easy way to say it. “Why have you and Patton stayed with me so long?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he sighed, “why didn’t you ever give me up? You had plenty of opportunities to.”

“Why would we ever want to give you up?” Logan seemed genuinely confused by the question. “What reasoning would we have for that?”

Thomas found himself getting frustrated. Not at Logan or at himself or even at anything, really. It built up inside of him because it needed to. Because he spent so long being told that he was a mistake except by the one person who had every right to. “I’m the reason we’re even here right now. I’m the reason we had to run away -- I’m the reason you lost your magic.” He buried his face in his hands. “I cause a lot of bad things to happen.”

“Well, let’s get at least one of those things straight.” He pushed himself off the wall to join Thomas at the sink. “You didn’t make me lose my magic. I made a brash decision that came with undesirable consequences, that wasn’t any of your doing. We were supposed to get you and then leave, but what happened wasn’t because of you. It was something that happened all on its own -- spurred by a decision that I made. It had nothing to do with you.

“I can’t say that you’re not partially responsible for us having to run, but it isn’t your fault. You were only a child, Thomas, you had no idea that anything would have happened. As far as you knew, you were just telling your friend about your family. Neither of you explicitly told anyone to come after us. It was a rather unfortunate series of events. The wrong thing said at the wrong time. There was no way to predict anything would happen.”

Thomas frowned. “I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” He gave him a tiny smile. “Stopping at every crack in the road isn't going to get you where you need to be. Things happen whether we want them to or not, but no matter what you think you’ve done, you’ll always be our favorite person in the whole wide world.”

Oh gosh. Now Thomas was going to cry for a different reason. That’s something Picani would always say to him when he was younger. “Thanks.”

Logan’s smile widened for a fraction of a second before returning to a more subtle one. “We should get back. All hell might break loose if Patton wakes up and sees that we’re gone.”

Thomas didn’t doubt that.

(Next)

[the-record-columns]

July 17, 2019: Columns

Willa Mae Lankford, this one’s for you…

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

Note: The Record’s Editor, Jerry Lankford, was blessed with a mother who was one of the kindest souls I ever knew. Willa Mae Lankford would have been unknown to me except for Jerry, and I thank him often for allowing me to get to know this wonderful lady. Willa Mae was a faithful reader of my column and would often call me with a kind word or a comment, but no column I ever wrote made her laugh and reminisce like the one which follows today — my Fourth of July Mother-in-Law from Hell column. Thank you Willa Mae, I miss you.

 During the Fourth of July week, and, for most of my adult life, this story has come to mind around this time of year.  Well, truth is, it hits me at other selected moments, too.

This event took place nearly 50 years ago, during my association with the family of my first wife, Debbie - the Hamby’s of Purlear.

Her father’s name was Albert and, as you might imagine, through the years I got to know his brothers.  Among them were Woodrow, Chelsie, and Grady, the preacher.

It was a long-standing tradition in the Hamby family to have a big picnic on the Fourth of July. The Fourth was a special holiday to those Hamby brothers.  Albert was a veteran of World War II who had fought on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.  He and his brothers served their country proudly. They knew all too well the price of freedom, and never took it for granted.

The two Hamby brothers I remember best from those days are Woodrow and Grady.  Woodrow was a big man who enjoyed life to the fullest.  He always had a smile on his face and something of a twinkle in his eye.  He also had a thick head of beautiful wavy, silver hair - with a matching silver mustache.  I used to say if I had to have gray hair, I would hope it could be just like Woodrow Hamby’s.

In those days, Woodrow worked for James Richardson at the Foster-Richardson Rest Home on 421.  I’m not sure what Woodrow’s job there was, but I feel comfortable saying he wasn’t the chaplain.

Grady Hamby, on the other hand, was indeed a chaplain, theologian, preacher, minister, and an all around righteous guy.  It usually didn’t take him long to tell you about it, either.  Grady lived away somewhere, and it was always something of an event when he returned to Wilkes County.

At least, it was to him

Well, on this particular Fourth of July, the Hambys, along with assorted in-laws, outlaws, and hangers-on, gathered for the annual picnic.  The food was, as always, wonderful.  Stony Hill Baptist Church-wonderful, in fact.  The only real exception where the food was concerned, was that of my mother-in-law, Shirley Jean Ina Marie. She was forever trying to repackage some of Colonel Sander’s chicken, or a frozen pie, as her own.   

The picnic was held under a shelter, with the food on one end and tables on the other.  On the end with the food stood Uncle Woodrow, sweating profusely as he tended hamburgers and hot dogs on a charcoal grill.  You could smell charcoal lighter fluid all the way from Purlear to Big Ivy.  At the other end of the shelter was the Reverend Grady - expounding, pontificating and, in general, holding court as only he could.  Truly, Uncle Grady loved the sound of his own voice.

Everyone was getting pretty hungry, so the oldest brother, Chelsie, called the gathering to order.  After a greeting, and after recognizing his wife, Mae, as the best cook on the premises, Chelsie asked his brother, Grady, to return thanks.

Grady was proud to oblige.

He grabbed onto one of the poles, which held up the shelter, leaned back and began to do what appeared to be squat thrusts.  I thought he was warming up for a marathon run, or was getting ready to work out.

I guess in a way, he was.

After loosening up for a while, Grady began to pray.  Now folks, I have been to a lot of reunions and homecomings, and I have heard a lot of blessings, but this one capped the stack.  Uncle Grady went way past being thankful for the food and a safe journey, and quickly moved on to conditions in the state, the nation, and the world.

All the while that Grady prayed, Woodrow stood silently puffing and sweating over the hot dogs.

Grady continued the blessing; clearly planning to leave no stone unturned.  Before we knew it, he had eased seamlessly into something of a sermon and had several of Debbie’s cousins squirming.

About that time, the fire blazed back up and Woodrow could wait no longer.

“Wind it up, Grady!” Woodrow barked, “My weenies are burning!”

There was a thunderous silence, broken only by my uncontrollable laughing, and a soft “Amen” from Uncle Grady.

The weenies were saved, but Woodrow and I were not.

My mother-in-law never forgave either of us.

Encourage our Israeli friends 

 By EARL COX

Special to The Record

July/August 2019 marks thirteen years since the month long 2nd Lebanon War. Ehud Olmert was Prime Minister. George W. Bush was US President. Kofi Annan led the United Nations. The Iron Dome was not yet operational. Those leaders have changed, the Iron Dome is now a superstar, but Iran’s terrorist Hezbollah leader Nasrallah remains. Although threats have increased with missiles and tunnels, Christian support for Israel has multiplied, too.

Often folks ask what can be done to encourage the people of Israel and how Christians can play a role.  While everyone has a different mission, here’s one example of how The Lord led a group of Christians back in 2006. 

A few days after the Second Lebanon War, I placed a call to my executive assistant and began by saying, “Arlene, I think the Lord wants us to go to Israel as soon as possible.” Her surprised response was, ”Earl, why would we go now?” Aside from feeling pressed by The Lord to make the trip, the thought which came to mind was, “When friends are in crisis, true friends go and stand with them.” A full-force organizational whirlwind began and in 7 days Arlene, along with my wife, Kathleen, recruited 25 Christians to journey with us to Israel.  Some did not even have passports but they signed up on faith and God made a way for passports to be processed almost overnight. When asked about our agenda, Arlene succinctly put it in four words: ENCOURAGE OUR ISRAELI FRIENDS.

The trip was a working solidarity mission rather than a classic Biblical tour. We set our schedule day by day as we had no time to map out a plan.  For several years prior, God had been opening doors for me to senior ranking Israeli officials.  This proved invaluable as I reached out to these contacts to schedule visits and briefings.  Our group traveled to Haifa where the mayor welcomed us to his city with a briefing and refreshments at Haifa’s municipal building. He spoke about the harmonious history between Arabs and Jews in Haifa and how “the Hezbollah War is hurting all people in the city.”

Officials at Rambam Hospital then welcomed us with a briefing and allowed us to visit civilians and IDF soldiers alike. We walked from room to room leaving smiles, encouragement, and prayers behind. We learned that Rambam Hospital is staffed by skillful Jewish and Arab doctors alike who treat everyone who comes through the doors of the gleaming, state of the art facility. At Rambam, we also visited their bomb shelter teeming with 75-100 children including those of the hospital staff. Beforehand, we managed to run into a store and buy some toys to distribute. With their children nearby, the Rambam staff could continue treating the war-wounded patients with the assurance that their own children were safe.

On another day, we rolled into Tiberias only to find a “ghost-town’ in the usually bustling tourist destination loved by Christians worldwide and where Jesus spent so much time. The few people we encountered were business owners and security personnel. We finally found an open restaurant and when several employees saw us walk in, they treated us like celebrities. Tears filled their eyes and expressions of surprise and gratitude came pouring out. Even the mayor came to welcome us. Everywhere we went our message was clear and simple. “We are Christians from the United  States. We are friends who are here to stand with you.”

We traveled north again to Rosh Pina where arrangements were made for an IDF spokesman to brief us. During his talk the “red alert” air raid sirens began blaring warnings of incoming rockets forcing the group into bomb shelters. A Katyusha rocket fell nearby causing the ground to actually quake. The IDF Colonel expressed the value Israelis place on human life saying, “I’m sad and concerned to see innocents killed. To protect ourselves against Hezbollah is very complex. Hezbollah recruits poor people by promising to make them strong and happy. Now they are human shields. Israel wants peace. Not one Israeli is happy about war but Hezbollah is happy when there’s a missile strike and overjoyed when Israelis are killed or wounded. Now Hezbollah is a military monster and it’s impossible to have a clean war. To extract cancer, we must open it.”

In Rosh Pina, everyone in our group faced a serious decision. The Lord pressed upon me to go further north to the front lines to encourage the men and women of the IDF standing ready with tanks and awaiting orders. I asked the group to pray before making a choice - go to the front lines, or return to Jerusalem. Half decided to go to the front lines while the rest traveled south to Jerusalem with a mandate to remain at the Western Wall to pray for our friends, IDF, and all Israelis. Our team made it to the front lines due to hiring a brave driver. Imagine the IDF soldiers’ shock to see American civilians there! Honestly, we looked like typical American tourists wearing shorts and hats with cameras around the necks of many.  Tank battalions were lined up single file along the side of the road. We stopped so that the team could walk up and down the lines, giving out small American flags on sticks, shaking hands, offering prayers for safety, and words of comfort. I’m sure some of those soldiers are still talking about those crazy Christians. We spent the night in a hotel where the world’s major media were also camped out. No one really slept as bombs fell most of the night rattling the windows. The next day we boarded the van making our descent on curvy roads.  We were the only vehicle (outside of IDF tanks) traveling these roads as Katyusha rockets landed on either side for miles. It’s a mystery to me how we were permitted to travel this road and even more of a mystery that we had a willing driver (who, by the way, was very well paid). 

Finally, we reunited with the part of our team which stayed and prayed for us in Jerusalem.  But, our mission was not over.  War impacts everyone.  Not just those on the front lines.  Next stop was a senior citizens home in Jerusalem where elderly people sat waiting out the war, praying for their grandchildren in the IDF and IAF. All had been evacuated from the north.

We hugged the elderly men and women and grasped their hands. While hugs, smiles and hand-holding are universally understood, through a translator we shared our message of friendship. Tears puddled in their eyes and we later heard their message back to us: “We are one.” And that is exactly the message we wanted to communicate.”

While the media didn’t report the displacement of Israelis, over a third were either in bomb shelters, evacuated south or left Israel altogether. Needless to say, tourists were not flocking to Israel at that time. Therefore, even when we rode the buses in Jerusalem, we made it a point to announce, “We are American Christians here to encourage you and let you know that we are your friends. You are not alone!” For many, this was a positive turning point in Christian-Jewish relations.  

 Two days before we were scheduled to fly back to the United States, we made a decision to visit Magen David Adom in Jerusalem to donate blood. As you can imagine, there was a blood shortage. When the staff saw 25 of us walk in, they were initially very surprised and then extremely grateful.  Never had they experienced so many American Christians wanting to give blood at the same time.  For them it was a surreal moment.  To us, it was a privilege.  Giving blood seemed like such a natural thing to do but one that spoke loudly in terms of the love for Israel we wanted to express. Thank God for the  help of the bi-lingual nurses as all the required forms were in Hebrew.  

As it was then, so it remains today.  Arabs and Jews are under constant threat from terrorists in Lebanon and surrounding countries. God’s heart, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, loves ALL people but HE has a special place and profound role in history for the apple of HIS eye, the Jewish community and the land of Israel - their ancestral homeland.

If you are planning a trip to Israel, and I hope you are, ask God how HE would have you to bring love and encouragement to HIS people. Just be open and obedient to HIS reply.  I know the 25 “crazy Christians” who embarked on this journey with me back in 2006 had a major impact on all those whom we encountered.  Now, 13 years later, there is still more to be done.  Please remember to pray daily for the peace of Jerusalem and for all of Israel. 

Christmas in July

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolina

West Jefferson is situated for a lot of enjoyment.

It’s a nice drive up the mountain and it’s cooler than the lower elevations. The people are friendly and if you enjoy quaint walkable sidewalks with a good amount of public art, you are likely to enjoy your visit.

Several years ago, we visited the Christmas in July festival. It was a great event. I recall that was when we had our first interview with well know musician and acoustic instrument luthier Wayne Henderson. We have enjoyed our visits with Wayne over the years and have a great appreciation for his work and encouragement for talented young musicians.

This year, I visited the 33rd Annual Christmas in July Festival on Friday. The weather was comfortable, and the diverse music seemed to be enjoyable for all those in attendance. After the presentation of the Color Guard and the singing of the National Anthem, muskets were fired. It was a respectable blending of patriotism and heritage, honoring the past and those who have and do serve.  

There was much excitement when the honored guest showed up.  Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrived on a vintage fire truck and made their way to the stage area. Everyone seemed pleased with the greetings from the jolly couple. With a few words from Santa, Christmas in July official kicked off. The food vendors were busy, and the music went on for hours. It was a comfortable feeling of old and new friends getting together.

I had the opportunity to talk with good number of people and enjoyed greeting several dogs who were also in attendance with their humans. I had a nice chat with Jeff Martin from Jefferson who is now in his mid-20’s. He shared stories of his youth, when his family visited Christmas in July. At that time the event was held on Main Street. His family attended every year and he recalled how much fun he and his siblings had visiting all the vendors and playing games. With only smiles he shared these memories and said it was a special time.

When I meet younger people who are excited about their local and hometown festivals, it’s reassuring that these events will have a future.  

The West Jefferson Christmas in July Festival is administered, produced and entirely worked by volunteers. It’s a labor of love that celebrates mountain culture, heritage and traditions and it all started to celebrate the Christmas Tree industry. Ashe County is ranked among the top areas for Christmas Tree growers in the United States and the area has sent its share of Christmas trees to the White House.

What a wonderful way for volunteers to honor the Carolinas and celebrate their hometown. I hope that the same spark of excitement and purpose that inspires current volunteers will also inspire younger volunteers. We understand it’s a lot of work and commitment. However, when you go to bed with aching feet and a sore back the night the event is over, you know that you have had a part of something very special.

All the smiles, laughs, chicken on a stick, pictures and good times are in part because of YOU. It’s a wonderful thing when we celebrate life together and, in the Carolinas, we have many great opportunities to do so.

One thing is for sure, if you enjoy a nice mid-year visit with the man in red, he certainly has a vested interest in showing up at a Christmas in July Festival in a place that is a national leader in growing Christmas Trees.

See you in West Jefferson friends.  

 Carl White is the Executive Producer and Host of the award-winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In The Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its 10th year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturday’s at noon and My 12. The show also streams on Amazon Prime. For more information visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com. You can email Carl at Carl@lifeinthecarolinas.com

[itsworn]

Car Craft’s Top 20 Picks from the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion

Beech Bend Raceway, on the outskirts of Bowling Green, Kentucky, is without equal in many ways. Located literally within a 180-degree bend of the Barren River, this is a combination dragstrip and oval facility with adjacent camping and amusement park, yet within easy driving distance from I-65. It is much more rural than a lot of the ‘big show’ racing facilities, with wide grassy areas in place of acres of asphalt. With a rich regional heritage of automotive history (including the legendary GM Corvette plant and manufacturer Holley’s headquarters), the track has been a popular destination of racers and car enthusiasts for many years, and hosts a number of large specialized shows each year. For number of them, that has included NHRA’s yearly Hot Rod Reunion, a Father’s Day tradition for over a decade. Scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this big weekend, the rewind is a mix of historic drag racing, vintage car show, swap meet and general get-together. Here are our top 20 highlights from 2017, and a gallery of action to boot…

here are our top 20 highlights from 2017, and a gallery of action to boot…

NHRA Motorsports Museum & NHRA Hot Rod Reunion : www.nhramuseum.org Bowling Green Raceway : www.beechbend.com

Wheelstanding station wagons. This is Doug Duell, who won the popular Nostalgia Super Stock program in this 1964 Plymouth wagon while doing wheelstands like this one. Doug’s late father Dave was a noted racer in the ‘60s, and the winning ways of this machine is carrying on the family tradition. It leads us off in honor of the late Arlen Vanke…

Push-starts. Back in the day, real men got a shove from behind, got up to speed, and clutch-started the engine. That tradition lives on as cars get ready for the grand finale ‘cacklefest’ as well as at select times during the event. This short-wheelbase machine looks the part of 1960…

Real road signs. Thanks to guys like American Pickers, real roadside signs are hot. While some guys are ok with new repops or even minty NOS versions, we think they look coolest in as-found condition. Here were a couple for sale in the swap meet. A little dent or rust adds character, and, hey, if you had bullet wounds, you’d show ‘em off, too.

Vintage funny cars. In keeping with the note above, the Hot Rod Reunions often shows the ‘barn finds’ of nitro history. Here is the old Super ‘Stang Mustang of east coast racer Paul Stafanski. Brian Hutton brought this car to the show. It has been painted by his father back in the day.

10-Second Hudsons. You never know what will show up in the race program at this event. After his pass, we found Jody Blalock in the pits, whose 1949 Hudson runs with a big Mopar wedge engine in it. 1948 was the first year of that drop-down body styling, and its cool look made history in NASCAR and the Carz cartoon movies. Not fast enough? His son, Jody Jr. had a ’47 model here as well, running in the nines!

Vintage NASCAR iron. How about a 1964 Chevelle in period paint? Seen in the car show, our buddy Jason Matthews picked it out for us and got a couple shots. The car had been raced at Beech Bend with dominating success for many years, and is now owned by Chris Deweese. We agree, its groovy, and don’t do a thing to it!

Racing heroes in action. Roland Leong and Top Fuel winner Jim Murphy show off the spoils of victory during the winner’s circle images. Murphy ran through the eight-car field with convincing purpose, and the owner of the legendary Hawaiian racecars of the Sixties and Seventies was on board helping the team out.

Nitro Carnage. A walk through the pits between qualifying rounds on Friday revealed a lot of thrashing going on. Here is a dead engine out of Murphy’s first run that day. How did that happen? Nitro, baby. Go fast or go home.

Swap meet tuner parts. You never know what may turn up at the swap meet, and for those playing with LS and Ford equipment engine swaps, here was a nice group of induction equipment for those late model powerplants. Oh, you could still find the Strombergs and early Hemi stuff as well, but this was a nice display of Car Craft-approved power possibilities.

Historic Funny Cars. In the area behind the grandstands gathered a number of restored funny cars (all of them can be seen singly in the photo gallery). On Saturday morning, ex-Petersen editor Jim McCraw, photographer Dave Kommel and enthusiast David Paine helped get them in order for this group shot.

Funny car burnouts. Top honors for this could have gone to one of the nitro cars, but Ron Heugli and the Tiki Warrior Monza were consistent in laying down the clouds all the way to half track. He also took the alcohol-fueled flopper to the semi-final round of the heads-up 7.0 bracket as well.

Historic Paint Jobs. Top of the list would have been this rendering on the Great Expections machine once raced by Jim and Allison Lee. Brian Beattie had the original car on display in the cackle area, while Tyler Hilton put the recreation into the 8-car program with a 6.10 run.

That wooden roller coaster and more. As seen here, the entrance to Beech Bend’s amusement park is right near the entrance to the racing arenas. There is also a water park and camping here. While we doubt you’ll have time for all of it, you never know when you may decide to take an extra vacation day with the family and do it all.

Wheels-up run. While there were a number of cars that pulled the front ends up off the ground, this Corvette with its straight front axle and early gasser look did not leave attendees disappointed. The car carried on and up this way on each pass, which did not help it go rounds on raceday but made a lot of fans.

An S/C Rambler drag car. We know the car is a tribute. That wasn’t that important considering how few AMCs you see at the track, and the fact that this one looked the part of street outlaw with its through-the-hood engine stacks. The owner is Michael Rados, and the beast runs in the 11-second zone.

A Camaro, of course. Our detractors used to accuse us of being Camaro Craft. We took it all in stride, but for you Camaro guys, Bill Porterfield chose this event to debut his just-completed, original (not recreated) 1970 Dick Harrell Camaro funny car, displayed on a ramp truck of like vintage. Porterfield, a former Oldmobile Engineering guy best known for figuring out the mystery of the 1969 ZL1s, also had the original-paint ’68 Harrell/Jim Kirby car on hand for the Cacklefest.

Beating the odds: Greg Jacobmeyer is a long-time campaigner of historic-looking funny cars, and his 1970 Challenger keeps the old-school look with its flat grille and slightly rescaled body. For us, watching his victory here over some of the more streamlined entries in Nostalgia Funny Car was a nice deal.

Awful Awful Fuel Altereds: Considered perhaps the most violent cars drag racing ever spawned, what could go wrong with a big nitro engine, a shortwheel base and fearless driving? AA/FA car owner Dave Hough, who drove these things himself, gives the ‘let’s go!’ sign to driver Vince Generalao as Nanook gets ready for another skate at 200 mph.

Six Packs in the campground: How could you not appreciate camping next to folks who had a Six Pack? No, this kind, a real V-code 1970 Super Bee, in Plum Crazy no less. Adding camping may not be for everyone, but if you dig it, you can come here and live for a few days, in your van down by the river.

HOT ROD Power Tour. Yes, if you had been here this year and still had not gotten your fill by Friday afternoon, the Hot Rod Power Tour landed in Bowling Green for the evening. Here we see a Falcon with some history proudly parked out front of Montana’s, a popular upscale dining locale in Bowling Green itself. Within the track and out of the town, what a weekend! AND ONE MORE…

Cacklefest. Saturday’s finale is sort of a gearhead’s fireworks show. Seen in front is the original version of the Lee’s Great Expections AAFD, rolling toward the final spot in the line-up. With fumes hanging in the air, the 2017 Hot Rod Reunion concluded with a ban and a pop. See you next year.

The post Car Craft’s Top 20 Picks from the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/car-crafts-top-20-picks-nhra-hot-rod-reunion/ via IFTTT

[gothic-safari-clown]

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

PART THREE: REMINISCENCE

Story Summary:  They only ever had each other. It had been that way since high school, ever since Elianna transferred to dreary Arlen and took Jonathan under her wing. They go separate ways for college, and when they’re reunited at Arkham Asylum professionally, Elianna comes to find that they’ve both changed during their time separated. Can she look past the promise of danger and stay by Jonathan’s side as they slide further and further into the darkness while she grapples to come to terms with the truth about herself? Can she accept what needs to be done in order to hold onto the only person who holds any meaning in her life? This is a very self-indulgent AU that draws from several different canons of the DCU and ignoring others, starting in the Batman Begins Nolanverse. This will follow the plot of the movie, although the timeline has been very slightly tweaked.

TW for bullying & choking

Part One / Part Two

Word count: 4427

When her alarm went off the next morning, Elianna awoke with an inspiring vigor for the day, doing her makeup and getting dressed in record time. She was excited actually to start working in a place that needed her; the main reason she had decided to move her career to Gotham—besides Jonathan, of course—was the dire and consistent need of psychiatrists to treat and diagnose the high concentration of criminals with psychological disorders in the city. As crude as it sounded, abnormal psychology had always been her favorite field of study, and this city had the best chance of taking her career where she wanted it to be.

She greeted the parking guard with an excited grin, flashing her new badge, to which he gave an enthusiastic thumbs up and raised the gate to let her in. In a few short minutes, she entered into the lobby of the asylum, picked up her schedule from the friendly secretary, and as she moved toward the stairs, she did a quick scan of the lobby for her friend, and with no sign of him she headed up to her office.

A glance over her itinerary for the week told her that it would be filled with relatively low profile sessions brought to her office for her to speak with. Makes sense; I would probably ease in a new hire too, she thought to herself. However, there was one at the end of the week that caught her attention. A Victor Zsasz, who she would be speaking to in a secure room rather than in her office. A small note next to that slot further stated that there would be two guards accompanying her on the assignment rather than one; she couldn’t be sure if it was that note or something subconscious, but something about that name gave Elianna a sinking feeling of apprehension in her stomach that she found surprisingly liberating.

This sort of high profile patient had been exactly what she had secretly been hoping for in moving to the city. As satisfying as it was to help those in need, such as the people who had come to her office in California, this felt right, and she found herself both terrified and excited for that particular session.

In the meantime, she decided to prepare for the four appointments she had scheduled that day. They were all scheduled for that morning, leaving her afternoon free, presumably for paperwork. In the end, all four seem to go by very quickly, and Elianna easily built a rapport with all of them. Technically speaking, she didn’t truly believe that any of them needed to be in the facility. In this city, having a touch of anxiety was probably better than not. Of course, they wouldn’t have been admitted for illegitimate reasons, so she ultimately decided that she simply didn’t know them well enough to have reached the root of the problem yet.

Looking at the clock, Elianna saw that it was 1 PM and decided to take a break before filling out all of her paperwork to meet a few of her coworkers, and hopefully, finally, see Jonathan.

She found herself chatting with a Doctor Harleen Quinzel, a bubbly blonde with a Jersey accent who insisted that El call her “Harley.” The redhead quickly decided that she liked Doctor Quinzel, even if she seemed a bit quirky.

“I can’t believe they gave you that corner office with the window; it is to die for!” The blonde practically oozed with amicable jealously.

“I didn’t realize it was in such high demand.” El laughed and took a moment to admire her new friend’s good spirit, whose smile suddenly dropped a bit as she caught sight of something over El’s shoulder.

“Oh, act natural, don’t turn around,” Harley said in a hushed voice.

“What?” Elianna was confused and a little concerned. “What’s going on, why shouldn’t I—”

“Excuse me, I’m looking for a Doctor Montgomery?” A familiar voice said from behind the woman in question, and she gave a slow smile—finally—to which Harley quirked an eyebrow. “I don’t suppose either of you has seen her around.” El fought the urge to hug Jonathan when she turned around and finally saw his face.

“Jonathan, you jerk, the look on Harley’s face made me think it was someone important.” She teased, and then hugged him anyway, which he returned.

“Glad to see you still think of me as highly as you used to.” He said smugly as they separated; he seemed to have gotten better at handling physical contact, but she didn’t want to push it. Taking him in, she found herself slightly stunned. He looked…good.

“God, look at you, you’re not a stick anymore, you have color in your face and everything!” The redhead found herself smiling, so excited to see Jonathan—her Jonathan—for the first time in years. He returned her smile with a faint one of his own, telling her in its own way that he was also happy to see her, even if he wouldn’t say it out loud.

“Hold on, I’m sorry, you two know each other?” Harley chimed in from behind Elianna, bringing her back to reality.

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I’m sure you two already know each other, but we actually went to high school together; we were the only two that weren’t complete assholes.” She explained, still a little giddy from the belated reunion.

“I wouldn’t say that; we just had boundaries,” Jonathan teased under his breath and shook Harley’s hand. “Good to see you again, Doctor Quinzel.”

“Wait, I thought you just moved here?” The blonde inquired to Elianna after giving their colleague a courteous nod.

“I did, we actually come from this tiny hick town in Georgia. Not that you could tell, thank goodness.”

“Aw, that’s fun that you’re both here now! In that case, I’ll leave you to catch up; I have an appointment to get to anyway. You two have fun, I’ll see you later El,” Harley gave her new friend a tight hug and a peck on the cheek before sashaying off to where she needed to be.

“Affectionate girl,” Jonathan quipped amusedly.

“Yeah, she’s a sweetheart.” Elianna smiled. “By the way, what did you do to her? The look on her face when she saw you really had me nervous for a second.”

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that I have some antisocial tendencies. As it turns out, it makes people nervous.”

“Yeah, most people. By the way, should we get to the part where you admit that you missed me, or are we just going to skip that altogether?” El teased, and Jonathan stood for a moment just looking at her with the faintest hint of a smile before glancing at his feet, and for that split second, he was that scrawny, awkward kid that she had known before.

“I did miss you,” he admitted quietly and suddenly made direct eye contact, and Elianna’s knees almost went weak. What the hell? Had his eyes always been that blue? Of course, he had never necessarily been unattractive, but it had been so hard to see through all of his misery and standoffishness. Well, she thought to herself, he still seems a bit standoffish, but confidence looks good on him.

“I wasn’t sure if you even knew I was here. I wanted to surprise you, actually.”

“Of course, I knew you were here. Who do you think made Sharpe read that essay you submitted in the first place?” He fired back with a slight smirk, and goddamn where did he learn to do that?

“I don’t know. I just assumed that he would read every submission resume he received. Does he not?” Jonathan shook his head.

“I happened to notice your name on a stack of folders on his desk during a meeting, and I made sure he would read it.”

“Wh- you knew the whole time?” She asked incredulously. “And you didn’t even send me a text or anything, you little rat.” Elianna faked upset, but once she thought about it, it actually made quite a bit of sense. Arkham was rather famous after all, and there were bound to be plenty of doctors as crazy as her applying regularly. And, she hated to think it, but the warden had seemed less than interested in taking a chance on hiring people, given his remark about someone else having quit “luckily for her.”

“Aww, you really did miss me, didn’t you?” She winked at him and nudged him with her elbow.

“Don’t make me repeat it,” he replied in an almost joking tone. “You’re still the only person I can actually tolerate.” He seemed to avoid the rest of that conversation by checking his watch. “And as much as I’d love to catch up some more, I also have an appointment to get to soon. Why don’t you come to my apartment tonight and we can catch up? I’ll text you the address.”

“Oh, sure, that sounds great.” He sent her the information, and they exchanged quick goodbyes, and El went back up to her office to finish her paperwork so that she would be ready to leave on time.

.xXx.

Elianna was still somewhat reeling from her friend’s newfound confidence when she left for the day. The last time that she had seen him, she had come to the city to visit for three days during college, and he couldn’t even ask for help on a report, and now he was able to blurt out “come to my apartment tonight” like it was nothing. All things considered, she was proud of him.

On the way to her car, Elianna found herself wondering if Jonathan had really changed that much in such a short amount of time. When she first met him, she had almost thought he was a ghost; he was so reserved. In fact, if she really thought about it, she could recall every detail of that day.

It had been her first day at Arlen High since moving to the town with her mother. Her parents had just been divorced, and her mother had thought that a small town would be a good change to the chaos of the city they had lived in, and Elianna could hardly believe that the spit of  road could be considered “civilization.”  As much as she enjoyed the spacious old home they had been able to afford, she wasn’t looking forward to the surely boring life they would lead there.

She had walked to school, and the whole time she couldn’t stop looking forward to finally being able to drive herself places. ‘Only a few months away.’ She had been immediately pegged as the new girl—unsurprising given the small student body—and had been swooped up by the popular crowd, one Sherry Squires, to be exact. She seemed horribly dull and shallow, but Elianna decided that letting Squires have her way would be the easiest way to make friends and survive the next few years.

However, the skinny, quiet boy with whom she had shared several classes had somehow caught her attention. Very unusual, given that he didn’t seem to speak to anyone and quietly did his work the whole time. Maybe it was the bitterness rolling off of him, or maybe that the lack of socialization in a room full of obnoxious teenagers, but something about him was just…distinctly different.

During the last passing period of the day, while expressing idle interest in whatever the hell Sherry was jabbering about, she had noticed that same boy shuffling through the hall on his own. Before El could ask Squires what his deal was, Bo Griggs, your stereotypical dumb jock, had schlepped over to him and shoulder checked him into the wall, his books tumbling to the floor while Sherry snickered.

“Looks like Ichabod is in for a pounding,” she sounded maliciously gleeful of that fact, and her arms cattily crossed over her chest only highlighted that fact.

“Ichabod?” Like the Sleepy Hollow character? It was a weird name, but alright.

“Oh, his real name is Jonathan, but nobody cares about that,” Sherry had explained dismissively. “His last name is Crane, like the character from that book or whatever, but he’s just so scrawny and weird, we all just call him Ichabod or Scarecrow.” El had nodded in understanding and watched with conflicted emotions as Jonathan did his best to ignore the taunting and shoving directed at him. However, her mind was made up when a particularly nasty push sent the boy to the floor, hitting his head on the wall as he fell.

“Okay, no! That’s enough,” she had spoken up before she even realized what she was doing. Sherry and Bo both seemed equally shocked as they looked at her in confusion, Bo actually stepping away from his quarry. “What the hell is your problem?” Bo’s face had turned red.

“It’s about to be you, new bitch.” He had snarled and took a few steps toward her.

“Sure, I get that, you’re intimidated by my brain cell count, but seriously, is that what the big deal is? You couldn’t find anyone more stupid and pathetic than you, so you take out our insecurities on him? Grow up; I think more people here relate to that than you think.” She snapped with a pointed look at Sherry, who gaped at El as she brushed past Bo like it was nothing. Wasting no time, she gathered Jonathan’s books in a pile with her own and hauled him up by the arm, dragging him down the hall and away from the crowd. If this was to be the only class they didn’t share, she would be very embarrassed.

“Is your head alright?” She had asked the boy—'Jonathan, his name is Jonathan'—as she handed back his books.

“It’s fine.” Hm. Not talkative. Shocker.

“It looked like you hit pretty hard from where I was standing, are you sure?”

“I’ve had worse.”

“Yeah, not surprised, given that bunch.” She had turned to look at him as she spoke; he seemed to have been distancing himself as much as he could without being rude. “I’m Elianna, by the way.”

“I know. You and your mother moved into the house next to ours. And you just ruined any chance you had of fitting in here.” She had shrugged, already knowing the second part.

“So what, I’m used to that. Besides, why would I want to fit in with those guys?” The corner of Jonathan’s mouth had twitched up in some facsimile of a smile.

“Hell if I know.” He had muttered. “But either way, it’ll just get worse if you hang around me, you might want to keep your distance.” He added flatly, all traces of any kind of personality from a second before gone.

Look, I believe you, but I’d rather not. I doubt I can get any standing back now, and you seem much more interesting anyway.“ She had shrugged, to which Jonathan shook his head.

"I mean it. Keep your distance.” He had repeated and sped up, leaving her behind in the hallway with his much longer legs. It had been awkward that period when the teacher had assigned her to sit in the empty seat next to him.

Looking back, it hadn’t altogether been a bad day. She had quickly established herself as someone not to be taken lightly, which had subsequently gotten her into some tight spots with the “popular” crowd. Besides that, even if it took a few extra weeks after Jonathan had realized that she wasn’t going to leave him alone, she had finally gotten him to open up a bit to her. It was strange to think about how far they had come.

Even more so when she pulled up outside of Jonathan’s apartment building, from what she could tell on the outside, each unit was fairly spacious; it seemed that he had done well for himself, although he hadn’t been very picky about his living spaces for the most part. Unsurprising, given the conditions that his grandmother had kept him in. He had dragged himself out of the pits of hell into a (presumably) swanky apartment and a fairly prestigious job; she couldn’t help but be impressed.

It didn’t take her long to find a spot in guest parking, take the elevator up seven floors and knock on his door. When Jonathan answered the door, he was still in his work clothes minus the suit jacket, indicating that he had only barely gotten home himself.

“Hello, love,” El greeted him with a quick hug before stepping inside and slipping her shoes off. She took a moment to take in the living area. It was furnished with that type of sturdy yet elegant old furniture, which suited him well. She had been right; it was a good size on the inside, just enough room for him and his stacks of research books and papers to be somewhat scattered around. Altogether, it built that sort of rustic studious aesthetic that she had always associated with him. “Very nice,” she commented approvingly.

“It’s certainly a few steps up from granny’s,” He agreed as he closed the door behind her.

“Yeah, quite a few,” El agreed. She had only been inside of his childhood home once, and only for a minute or two at Jonathan’s behest; he had been afraid that the old woman would wake up and catch him speaking to someone. “I see you still never learned to clean up after yourself, though.” She teased with a passing glance at a sheet of notes on a patient with severe agoraphobia.

“Please, I was there when you rearranged your room, don’t try to pretend I’m any worse than you are.” He shot back good-naturedly as they sat on the couch.

“At least none of that stuff was important,” she protested, gesturing to the stack of notes and diagnoses she had just looked at. “And is my mind playing tricks on me, or did your handwriting somehow get worse?”

“You hush,” he said, settling into the cushion next to her, resting a hand on her knee when she leaned against the armrest and draped her legs over his lap, both of them acting as though it was the most natural thing in the world, and for them it was. “How was California? Did it meet your expectations?”

“Yeah, for a while, eventually, I just got bored. What about Gotham?”

“Fine. Better than Arlen anyway. A fresh start can be useful, I suppose.” El nodded understandingly. Georgia really had been horrible to him. She supposed that she could attribute Gotham to his success and growth. She laid her head back against the armrest, thinking. “How did we let it get this long since we’ve talked?” She asked and rolled her head to the side to look at him. He’d let his head fall on the back of the couch and was staring at the ceiling as he shook his head.

“I don’t know,” he replied quietly and turned his head to the side without lifting it to look back at her. El found herself rememorizing everything about his face. He had changed so much. Again, it wasn’t as though he had ever been bad to look at, she mused to herself. A little skinny, maybe, but now that his face had filled out to match his cheekbones and could afford to eat regularly, he looked healthier. Even his hair was thicker, and maybe even a little bit darker, which made the blue of his eyes stand out shockingly. She could easily see how his maintained eye contact would be unsettling to someone who didn’t know him as well as she did.

In fact, the only thing about him that had stayed entirely unchanged was the subtle darkness that sat just behind the surface of those piercing eyes, and she knew exactly why.

“Have you been able to keep him under control?” She couldn’t help the soft question that came out. Over the silence of the apartment, her quiet voice sounded like a sin.

“For the most part,” Jonathan replied equally quietly. “There have been some…incidents few and far between, but other than that fine.” He blinked, and after a beat, he confessed, “He wants to talk to you.”

Elianna’s heart sunk to the floor, and she shook her head. The man sitting before her was her friend, but the Scarecrow terrified her. He was unpredictable and sadistic, and he turned Jonathan into something disturbing. “You know I wouldn’t let him,” he reassured El. “I won’t let him slip around you again.” El shivered involuntarily as she remembered what he meant.

It had been during that time that she had visited him during college. She had only been in one class that semester, and the professor had given everyone a week off while the air conditioning duct in his classroom needed to be repaired. Jonathan had seemed stressed during their weekly phone call, and she had some money saved up, so she had taken advantage of this opportunity to fly to Gotham and visit Jonathan for a few days.

As a rule, he didn’t like surprises, but Elianna had been able to tell that he was relieved to see her. He had even hugged her as she arrived and seemed glad to have her staying with him in his campus apartment for a few days.

On her first night there, they had taken a walk around campus after dark, and her suspicion that something was wrong was confirmed when his usual silence was strained, as were his short replies to her questions.

“Maybe we should go back; you clearly aren’t doing alright.” She had suggested gently, laying her hand on his arm, to which he had nodded slowly and taken a shaky breath.

“He’s trying to get out,” El had immediately known who he was talking about, even if she had never technically seen Scarecrow before. “Classes are really taking a lot out of me, and I don’t know if I can-” There had been a brief moment of dissociation, and when Jonathan’s eyes came back into focus, it wasn’t him.

“I don’t think we’ve met yet,” Scarecrow had started. “But you know I’ve been here longer than you have.” He finished smugly. The voice was Jonathan’s but rougher, and his eyes were filled with a sudden life at the prospect of whatever Scarecrow had in mind for her.

“Where is Jonathan?” She had barely been able to ask the question; something about the way he was looking at her made her horribly uneasy.

“Aw, what? You don’t like me?” Scarecrow had asked mockingly, stepping closer when she didn’t answer. She was frozen to the spot. “Do I scare you?” He continued, and her continued silence was the exact answer he had been looking for. “Good.”

Without any warning, after a moment of stillness, he had lunged for her, and somehow Elianna had managed to duck out of the way just in time and took off in the other direction with Scarecrow in close pursuit. She was looking for a place she might be able to hide, but her unfamiliarity with the campus had betrayed her, and just as she thought that she had lost him, he suddenly rounded the corner in front of her.

Her scream had been cut short when he had pinned her against the nearby wall with his forearm across her throat. He looked like he was saying something to her, but she couldn’t focus on what it was over the rushing blood in her ears. However, she could see with her fading vision Scarecrow using Jonathan’s body to laugh at her. She was going fuzzy around the edges, and the only thought that she had been able to manage was that she would die there.

Just as the last of her vision was beginning to fade and her lungs were screaming for air, the horrible grin had vanished, and she could see the difference as Jonathan had regained control with a panicked look on his face. The next thing El knew, he was helping her off the ground; she must have fallen when he removed his arm from her neck. Despite the knowledge that Scarecrow was gone, she had pulled herself out of his grip, opting to use the wall for support instead. The back of her head ached, and she had coughed hard, still struggling for breath and rubbing the growing bruise on her neck.

She had never seen anyone look so terrified and apologetic as Jonathan’s mouth silently opened and closed, fumbling for words. It wasn’t until his eyes fell to her throat that he stilled, sucking in a deep breath. The traces of tears in his eyes told El everything that she needed to know, and without another second of hesitation, she had thrown her arms around him in a tight embrace. She could remember how he had squeezed her back, and they stood there like that for a few minutes, both trembling from the close call. Finally, they had walked back to his apartment in silence and hadn’t even mentioned it since.

Until now.

El took a deep breath before finally asking, “Can you promise me that you have him under control?” He nodded silently in response.

“Never again, El. I promise.” He added a few seconds later. His answer seemed to satisfy the redhead, and she let herself relax again.

They stayed like that for a few more hours, sometimes talking and sometimes sitting in comfortable silence. When she left, Elianna managed to coax another hug out of him on her way out the door and stretched up to kiss his cheek, not an unusual thing for her to do, but he blushed faintly just like he always did at the affection. She smiled to herself on her way back to her car. He really wasn’t that different from the timid boy she had taken under her wing all those years ago, a soothing thought to send her home.