#he doesn't care if he has another five hours of work left he demands answers

[grievedifferent]

this is the seventh time he's called. you better pick up. ❝ @ottersden. it's me. me. me miles. don't fuck with me. hey, why didn't you answer? i've been calling you. learn how to answer your phone. what were you doing that was so important you couldn't pick up? ... is lisa over there? ❞ a beat. ❝ i'll come home right now, waylon. no, it's not "coming over" if i live there. ❞

[ghost-on-my-trick-till-i]

Ghost Trick: Small Difference

Chapter Five

First, <prev, next>

or you can read it on Ao3

fic below the cut

8:34 PM

Riding the red phone line, I wonder how it's come to this.

I don't know much about the police, or any part of the government, but I don't think it's very acceptable to spy on prisoners, even if I'm just checking on their wellbeing. 

However, this is the only lead I have left to follow, and I hope that somewhere along the line I'll be able to reunite with Yomiel.

Arriving at my destination, I am able to get a better look at this office-like space. The room is small and only has two officers occupying it, the one who was talking on the phone and another one off to the right. The phone officer is sitting up impossibly straight, to the point where his back is curving inwards. The second officer is the opposite, sitting in the world's worst slouch.

“So how are the preparations coming along?” The hunchback officer asks his colleague. 

“I think they're taking care of them right now.” The other replies.

“Yeah? Man… I'm not looking forward to this…” The slouch sighs.

“That kind of surprises me, coming from you. I didn't know you thought about such things.” He pauses. “By the way, that was me being sarcastic. Just in case you didn't catch that…”

“Two and a half more hours… and then it will be time.” The hunchback sighs.

“I guess we should just get back to work.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right.”

The two officers turn their chairs around to face their desks, and the straight-back officer pins a note to his board.

The atmosphere sure seems tense… I guess I'll get back to my work as well. Alma has asked me to check on prisoner D99 for whatever reason. However, I am unsure where the prisoner is kept, and how to get there.

It'd be best to try and get some information first.

In the ghost world, there's only a few things within my reach. Two notes attached to the wall, and a monitor hung on the ceiling. There's another monitor to my right but it's just out of reach.

The monitor is untrickable, so I return to one of the notes on the wall, the one that the officer had just hung up a few moments ago. I trick the note and it falls off the wall. The hunchback notices its fall and turns his chair around to catch it midair.

The officer waves the paper in his hand. “Hey, Bailey.” He calls out.

The other officer, Bailey, turns around to face his colleague.

“Try pinning up your memos a little better next time.” The slouch says. “Lemme see this thing… “Inspection, prisoner C74””

“Oh it's almost time for that. I better prepare.”

“Prisoner C74, eh?” The slouch ponders. “What did that big whale do anyway?”

“You don't know? About the “Metro Police Department Siege” case?” Bailey asks.

“Metro who-what?”

“C74 barricaded himself into the Metro Police Department and took siege of the place.” Bailey explains. “He even pointed a huge flamethrower at the chief commissioner.”

“Why the heck did he do all that?”

“That's what the detectives that surrounded him asked, too. “What are your demands?!”, they asked.” Bailey answers.

“And..?”

“The guy was unable to answer, he just stood there completely paralysed. He apparently had a very shocked and confused look on his face.” Bailey explains.

“He didn't say anything? Was that all he did?”

“Unfortunately, no. after a few minutes of holding him hostage…” Bailey pauses. “He touched the commissioner's office. With the flamethrower. Touched it good. Important documents, and the commissioner's moustache, were destroyed by the flames.”

“What the heck did he do all that for?!”

“Just like before, when he was questioned he gave no answer.” Bailey says.

“Huh, is the guy just crazy or something?”

“Nobody truly knows, but the case sent shockwaves throughout the country.” Bailey continues.

“But that doesn't make any sense! In the first place…” The slouch pauses. “How did a huge, armed guy make it to the commissioners office alone?”

“It's a complete mystery.”

“What?! Why don't they just ask C74 himself?!”

“Maybe they did, but they haven't released anything about it.” Bailey pauses. “Apparently, it's all a matter of national secrecy…”

The slouch grumbles, before crumpling the memo and throwing it across the room into Baileys trash can.

Bailey yells in annoyance and spins around in his chair dramatically. He then hops out of his chair and clenches his fists. “Will you quit throwing my important duty memos away?!”

The slouch doesn't reply, instead spinning his chair around to face his desk, Bailey soon does the same.

Hmm, what an interesting case. A big guy took siege of a police department without anyone knowing how, and when asked for demands he doesn't answer and torches the place anyway? It's incredibly strange.

I move from out of the trash can and on to the other memo Bailey has hung up, and release it. The paper falls and the slouch catches it again.

“Hey, Bailey.”

Bailey swings his chair around again.

“Whatsa matter, you can't even pin up a memo properly?” The hunchback looks at the paper. “Lemme see this thing… “Take prisoner C38 to the telephone room”.”

“Yes he made a request to use the phone a little while ago.” Bailey clarifies.

“You already told me that earlier.” He pauses. “C38, eh? What did that punk do, anyway?”

“You've never heard the story? About the “Secret Rendezvous” case?” Bailey asks.

“Secret who-what?”

“C38 was a singer in a band. His group was playing at a concert that was being broadcast all over the country live. And right in the middle of their encore there was a “huge incident”.”

“A “Huge Incident”? What was it, a murder or something?”

“Almost, When C38 was singing his song, Secret Rendezvous, he suddenly stopped before the final chorus when something strange occurred.” Bailey starts.

“Something strange?”

“A gun dropped from above the stage and C38 started shooting up the crowd.”

“What?! Did anyone die?”

“Miraculously there were no deaths.” Bailey says. “Witnesses say that paranormal-like activity saved many people that night.”

“What paranormal activity?! That doesn't make any sense!” The slouch huffs. “Why didn't his band-mates do anything?!”

“They tried, but apparently he was abnormally strong and they couldn't stop him.” Bailey pauses. “They claimed to have even teamed up all together to stop him but even that wasn't enough against his abnormal strength.”

“How could he fight off his entire band?! Where'd that gun come from anyway?!”

“We don't know, the guards backstage claimed that no one went above the stage during the performance.”

“Why the hell would he even do it?!”

“After the gun ran out of bullets his band-mates started demanding why he had just done a thing, but he gave no response.”

“Seriously?!”

“Apparently, all he had to give them was a scared and confused look on his face.” Bailey explains.

“But that doesn't make any sense! Where'd that gun come from and how was the crowd saved?!”

“No one knows, If anyone had figured it out they hadn't released anything about it.” Bailey pauses. “Apparently, it's all a matter of national secrecy…”

The slouch grumbles, before crumpling the memo and throwing it across the room into Baileys trash can.

Bailey yells in annoyance and spins around in his chair dramatically. He then hops out of his chair and clenches his fists. “Will you quit throwing my important duty memos away?!”

The slouch doesn't reply, instead spinning his chair around to face his desk, Bailey soon does the same.

Now this case really does interest me. “Paranormal activity”? Is it possible that a ghost was there that day? But that doesn't explain how he got so “Abnormally strong”.

Not a moment later, Bailey stands up to hang another memo on his board.

I wonder what kind of info I'll get from this one.

I remove myself from the trashcan once more and insert myself into the hanging note. I manipulate the memo into falling down, and just like before the slouch notices and catches it midair.

“Hey, Bailey”

Bailey turns around in his chair again.

“Lemme see this thing… “Bring Dinner To prisoner D99”.” The slouch reads.

“The chef is preparing it for him right now.”

“Ooh, how fancy.” The slouch pauses. “D99, eh? Even i know about this one.”

“Yeah..?” Bailey sighs. “Such a sad case… hard for us, too…”

“He shot his fellow detective, didn't he? Right outside in the courtyard?”

Bailey stays silent.

“It's just awful! Why in the world did he do it?!” The slouch winces. “Why would he of all people do that, and why would he shoot him out of all people?!”

“The motive, everything, all a complete mystery.”

“It's just ridiculous! It doesn't make sense that he would do anything like that!” The slouch yells.

“I don't know the details, but apparently…” Bailey pauses. “This case is a matter of national secrecy as well…”

“I don't get it! None of it makes any sense!”

“You do know what kind of prison this is, don't you?” Bailey asks. “It's a special prison, built for these special cases…”

“D99… I wonder if he thought he could just breeze past the consequences like that flowy coat of his breezes in the wind.” The slouch grumbles. “I don't like any of it. I knew I couldn't take my job seriously without it getting to me.”

So the prisoner I'm looking for, D99, was convicted of murder, eh? And apparently he wears a flowy coat…

The slouch grumbles, before crumpling the memo and throwing it across the room into Baileys trash can.

Bailey yells in annoyance and spins around in his chair dramatically. He then hops out of his chair and clenches his fists. “Will you quit throwing my important duty memos away?!”

The slouch doesn't reply, instead spinning his chair around to face his desk, Bailey soon does the same.

Bailey hangs up another memo, but before I'm able to get up there, the slouch gasps a little.

“It's time.” He reminds Bailey.

In the room beside me I can hear a door open as two pairs of feet walk in. Along with the footsteps I hear an awful screeching noise. Thankfully, the noise stops pretty quickly and the room goes mostly silent.

Back in the room I'm in, I see the hunchback officer finish making a tower of cards, and gently puts a fancy glass filled with red juice on top.

“There! It's done!” He says proudly.

I remove myself from the trash can and enter the new memo. I don't think I can get any more information out of these two, but the people next door feel like they can be my lead to where the prisoners are held.

I free the note and let it fall, where the slouch catches it like usual. I quickly move to a nearby switch before listening to their conversation.

“Hey, Bailey. Would you quit sending these memos over here?”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“Not until I figure out how you always know the exact instant a memo starts falling…” Bailey pauses dramatically. “Not until I solve that mystery!”

The slouch doesn't say anything else, before crumpling the memo and throwing it across the room into Baileys trash can.

Bailey yells in annoyance and spins around in his chair dramatically. He then hops out of his chair and clenches his fists. “Next time! I will find the answer next time!”

As I thought, these two don't have anything else important to say.

Looking around, there's nowhere else to go from this switch. The only thing I can do at this point is flip it, so I do exactly that.

Suddenly an alarm starts blaring in the room, red lights above start flashing, and a cabinet in the centre of the room opens up to reveal all sorts of weaponry.

Bailey yells in frustration while spinning his chair to face his coworker. He hops out of his chair. “There you go again! Fooling around with that thing!”

The slouch turns around in his chair with a grumble. “It wasn't me.”

“Don't lie! You know you love to see me jump up and prepare for an emergency!” Bailey exclaims.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Way back when I first got this job. But I've had enough of that now. Besides, you always react the same way.”

Bailey grumbles.

“The emergency switch is probably just loose. Probably because I fooled around with it too much…”

“Well, it's for emergencies! Don't play with it!”

“Anyways, it wasn't me. Maybe you oughta get it repaired, huh?”

“Well, close it back up! It's making me feel on edge.” Bailey says.

“Nah, too much of a pain.”

“A pain?!” Bailey exclaims. “Proper emergency procedures are “a pain” to you?! What a sad, sad state of affairs…”

Bailey doesn't sit back down, and the hunchback just ignores his nervous head looking back and forth.

I use this as an opportunity to leave the room, with the switch in a higher position I am able to climb up to the glass of juice onto a monitor onto a camera in the next room.

In the room there's a guard and one of the prisoners. The prisoner has spiky pink hair and a strange looking toy is sat beside him. That must be the noisemaker I heard earlier.

I move down from the camera onto a button, beside me in the door handle. I press the button to see what it does and the door beside me opens. The guard standing nearby notices that the door is now ajar and presses the button to close it again.

I press the button again, but I move from the button to the door handle before it gets out of my reach, then I quickly move from the door to the noisemaker before the guard can close it.

If I had to guess, this prisoner is the rock star that shot up a crowd. Not who I'm looking for.

I sit in the noisemaker for a moment, waiting for the rocker to be done. He'll carry this thing back to his cell and hopefully that'll bring me closer to the prisoner I seek.

“Peace out!” The rocker speaks into the phone before returning it to its home. “I'm done.” He alerts the guard.

The guard opens the door then marches over to the prisoner. “All right, C38! Back to your cell!”

“Hey, guard man, how about given’ me a little bit of space?” the rocker chuckles. “That craaazy walk of yours is dangerous, man!”

The guard backs up a few steps. “A proper walk for a properly led life! Now, let's go!”

“Yo! No lectures, man… I walk my own path, my own way, to my own music!” 

The rocker picks up the noisemaker and begins to play it as the guard leads the rocker out of the room, carrying me with him. Hopefully the walk isn't that long, I don't know how much more of this noise I can take…

After a thankfully short walk later, I'm taken to where the prisoners are held. The guard places the rocker back in his cell before marching off.

So I finally made it. Now to find prisoner D99 and check up on him, and hopefully find something out about everything happening tonight.

Inside the cell, the rocker continues to make his awful noise. “Damn!” He exclaims. “Don't think I can take another second in this stinkin’ pit!” The rocker checks his nearby surroundings. “Looks like guard man is gone.” He rips a piece of paper with an “O” on it from the wall, scrunches it up, and throws it in the nearby toilet. “All this waitin’ is wipin’ me out! I hope this one’ll finally do it.” He walks over to the toilet and flushes it. “Go, go, go!” he exclaims as the paper gets sent down through the pipes below. “C’mon Sausage Head!”

That looks like my exit. I just have to figure out how to make him do that again. I move from the noisemaker to the two stacks of paper hung up on the wall. One is all marked with “O”s and the other is marked with “X”s. They are symbols of some sort but I can't for the life of me remember what they mean.

From the papers I move to the toilet and from the toilet I notice a phone just outside the cell. Nice! Phones are always nice to have nearby. I enter the phone and notice something odd about it. It seems this phone only connects to other phones in the prison, so far that's only the guards office i was in earlier but if i find other phones then i can move to them, but not outside of that.

Above the phone is an emergency switch. I can already feel myself getting a little trigger happy just looking at it. Unable to resist the urge, I move to the emergency switch and pull it.

Immediately alarms begin to blare throughout the building, and guards come from all over to inspect the area. Sweat begins to build on the rockers face as he quickly moves over to the papers on the wall.

This might be my chance! I move from the switch to the papers with “X”s. I'm not completely sure which of the two papers he'll flush this time but I'm hoping it's this one.

To my luck, the rocker rips off a paper with an “X” and quickly flushes it down the toilet. “Go, go, go!”

Now, I'm not the happiest about being flushed down a toilet, but if it's my only way down then I guess I don't have much of a choice.

Riding down the pipes, I realise I have no idea where I'm going, hopefully somewhere productive. After the short journey a hook grabs onto the paper and I hear the sound of a bell ringing above me. The sounds of odd shuffling can also be heard before the rope starts to pull me up.

A prisoner pulls the paper off of the hook and I'm able to get a good look at him, but I do regret it. The man is large and is wearing a bib on top of his prison uniform. Most disturbingly is his head, as it is too long and wobbles about uncomfortably. I understand why the rocker called him sausage head.

Sausage head crumples up the paper and drops it in a nearby trash can. He then takes the back of the toilet and moves it to cover a large hole in the wall.

Just what is going on in this strange prison?

Sausage man then hops onto his bed, and a strange device attaches to his head. It makes me unimaginably uncomfortable.

I would like to get out of here as soon as possible.

From the lack of flowy coat, and the largeness of this man, I deduce that this must be the guy from the police department siege case. In other words, not the guy I'm looking for.

From the trash bin I can reach the back of the toilet, the bell above, a blackboard hung on the wall, and the light on the ceiling. The blackboard doesn't interest me and the light above does lead anywhere so instead I turn my attention to the bell, as it's the only interactable thing in the room.

I ring the bell and sausage head gets up from his bed, and grabs a spoon sitting beside him. I move from the bell to the light on the ceiling, and as sausage head picks up the spoon I enter it. It's the only thing here that i haven't been in so it must be my way out of this awful room.

Sausage head carries the spoon over to the toilet, and pulls the rope up like he did before. He gives a confused look as he sees nothing on the hook but doesnt think about it much, and throws the spoon back to the cup on his bedside. Directly to my left is another phone.

Finally! My exit! I excitedly exit the spoon and move to the phone. This phone, like the last one, only connects to other phones in the prison, but now at least I have an easier method of going up and down.

To the left of the phone is the toilet of another cell, hopefully inside this one is the man I'm looking for. I move from the phone to the toilet in great anticipation.

The man in the next cell is pacing his room back and forth. He has a few papers in his hands and is reading over them intensely. The man himself has a defined jaw and nose, with sideburns and greying hair. The walls of the cell are covered in similar papers covered in tiny scribbles. However, to my delight, the man is wearing a long, flowy coat.

This must be who I'm looking for, and from the looks of things, he isn't doing well.

“Come on, baby, there has to be a connection somewhere…” The man speaks to himself.

The guards from before mentioned that this man was once a detective, I wonder if these papers are for an investigation. I wonder if his investigation somehow relates to what's happening tonight.

Many of the papers have cores, so I quickly move to the closest one to read it.

…

Tonight, I have lost a lot of things, my life, my memory…

But there is a certain skill that I have apparently lost, too…

I can't read!

I can see that there is some kind of writing on the paper…

But I have absolutely no idea what it means!

I stare dumbfounded at the paper in front of me. How have I managed to lose the ability to read?! These papers could have been important towards my investigation!

I move my attention from my illiteracy to the pacing man in the cell. According to the guards this man had shot another detective. I can't imagine why he'd do something like that, and I also can't imagine what seems to be worrying him so much.

The man continues to pace anxiously around the room, reading his notes. Occasionally he'll stop pacing to read something on the walls, but then will continue his march.

“There isn't much time leeeft, I gotta figure this out now.” He speaks to himself.

Unfortunately for Alma, the man she's worried about seems to have been driven insane. The anxious pacing, the mumbles to himself, the walls covered in nothing but notes, it all comes together to create a creepy vibe that I am not enjoying. 

I'd hate to bring Alma bad news but it's very clear that this man is not okay, but there's nothing I can do about this. 

I move from the paper on the wall back to the toilet, but just as I get there I hear a voice call out.

“D99, dinner!” The voice yells. D99 puts down the papers he was holding and pulls out a small table and chair from beneath his bed. A guard walks in, holding a large chicken. The guard places the chicken on the table and D99 sits himself down.

“Weeell, won't you look at this.” D99 says, eyeing the chicken. “I'm getting spoooiled rotten tonight.”

The guard stares intently at the prisoner.

“Oh,” D99 sighs. “It's cold though, what a shame!”

The guard continues to stare. “D99..?”

“Yes, baby?”

“Know it's kinda pointless to ask now, but…” The guard pauses. “But just the same, I want to know. Why did you do it?!”

D99 pauses before letting out a forced chuckle. “You know you won’t like the answer I'll give, it's the same one I always give, baby.”

The guard pauses. “Detective Cabanela…”

“Why don't you leave me to eat in peace? Wouldn't want to disturb this moment would you, baby?”

The guard stays silent as D99, Cabanela, moves more papers off of the small table. After a few moments the guard speaks. “There's one more thing I've been wondering for a long time.”

Cabanela turns his head towards the guard. “And what's that, baby?”

“What are you writing in all these papers?”

Cabanela shuffles the papers in his hands before putting down all but one. “Even with how long I've been here, I can't just stop my investigations. I'm a detective at heart and no time in the slammer is taking that away from me.” Cabanela begins while grabbing a thumb tack from a desk.

“But how could you possibly be investigating in here?”

“You underestimate me, baby.” Cabanela slams the paper against the wall with one hand, completely covering whatever's on it. “Just because I don't have my freedom doesn't mean I don't have what I need to investigate.”

“Just what exactly are you investigating anyway?”

Cabanela tacks the paper to the wall. “Just two suspicious folk.” Cabanela lets go of the paper, letting it hang on the wall and relieving the contents on it.

I move closer to the paper, I may not be able to read but from what I could see from the distance I don't think that'll be a problem.

Just like I suspected, the paper's contents is not scribbled writing like every other paper in this room, but a drawing. While Cabanelas drawing isn't perfect, it's easy to understand.

A man with hair slicked back to one point wearing sunglasses and a suit. A woman with two cone shaped hair buns with a triangular bang and an impractical outfit.

This is…

Yomiel and Sissel?!

“I don't understand, why are you investigating these two?” The guard asks, inspecting the drawing.

“It's not anything you need to be worried about, baby.” Cabanela turns to face the guard. “Now why won't you let a man eat in peace?”

“Okay, sure. Sorry to bother you.” The guard says before leaving the cell.

What in the world..? What in the world could this mean..? Why is there a drawing of Yomiel and Sissel in this man's cell?

Who exactly is this prisoner? The man that Alma expressed great worry about is a detective investigating Yomiel and Sissel!

I have to find Yomiel and Sissel again. Everything that's been happening tonight has all somehow connected back to them, there has to be more that they aren't telling me.

Eventually this all will connect back to me, right?

I leave the cell and travel through the phone line to the guards office as soon as I can. From here I can go wherever I want.

When I reach the guard room the phone is ringing. Bailey stops whatever he’s writing to pick up the phone.

On the other side of the phone I see a man with a moustache and a large chin.

“This is headquarters. What's the status over there?”

“Oh, Chief! it's you!” Bailey gasps. “They're making preparations now. No problems, sir!”

“How much longer, then?” The chief asks.

“One more hour, sir.” Bailey replies.

“I see, carry on then.” The chief pauses for a brief moment. “Oh, one more thing. I have a special request from the inspector.”

“What is it sir?”

“She wants you to report any suspicious activity at all, anything that seems at all unusual is to be reported directly to her or me.” 

“Understood sir.” Bailey says before hanging up the phone.

“What was that about?” The hunchback guard asks Bailey.

“Just the chief checking in on preparations.” Bailey answers. “And I was given a special request from the inspector to report anything odd.”

“The chief and the inspector, huh?” The slouch sighs. “Everyones on edge today.”

“Of course they are, this is the most important day the industry has had in decades.”

“It is, isn't it?” the slouch pauses. “Really makes you think if it's the right thing to do.”

“It was what was decided by the justice minister, there's no point thinking about that now.”

“I know, it's just…” The slouch grumbles and slams his fist against his desk, knocking down his tower of cards and the glass on top of it.

“What's wrong?” Bailey asks his coworker.

“Jowd was my hero, y’know. I wanted to be a detective because of him.”

Jowd? That's not a name I've heard before.

“But look at me! Rottin’ away in a place like this! And I can't help but wonder if that this is what he would've wanted.” the slouch exclaims.

“Detective Jowd and Detective Cabanela had always been great friends.” Bailey begins. “They were two of the best in the industry…”

“Then Cabanela just had to go and shoot him, ruining both of their futures and the future of the industry.” the slouch groans. “Nothings been the same since then.”

Jowd must be the name of the detective that Cabanela shot, and apparently they were good friends.

“Things have been rather difficult since then, huh?”

“Detective Jowd was such a nice guy… I bet that even though Cabanela shot him for no apparent reason that he wouldn't want this to happen.”

Bailey stays silent. 

“What's really even the point of this anymore? What am I doing with my life!”

“Th-This new side of you is kind of… endearing…” Bailey stutters.

The hunchback remains silent.

“Anyway, the thing to do is work at fixing what you can, little by little. Like, for example, your house of cards. It collapsed, you know.”

The slouch groans and Baileys turns back around in his chair.

I should probably return to Alma's place, I don't have any reason to be here any longer.

And I would like to ask her some questions if possible.

I trick the phone and ride the phone line back to Alma's apartment.

When I return, Alma isn't there.

I guess that makes sense, I did tell her to get some rest.

Thankfully, Missile is there.

I follow a path down to where Missile is asleep and enter his core.

“Hey, Missile.” I call out to the little doggie.

“You're back!” Missile exclaims. “Welcome back!”

“Hopefully I wasn't gone for too long.”

“You were! It felt like forever since I've seen you!”

I chuckle at the dramatic little doggie. “Could you go get Alma for me? I need to ask her a few things.”

“Sure thing!” Missile exclaims before running off to retrieve his mistress. It makes me a little jealous that I don't have legs to run around with.

In the distance, I can hear excited barking as Missile jumps around, trying to convince Alma to go to the living room.

After a few minutes, an excited Missile and a tired Alma enter the area, and Missile leads her to the couch.

“What's up with you, boy?” Alma asks the dog.

I decide to answer the question for her, by entering her core.

“Ah!” Alma exclaims. “You're back!”

“Yeah, sorry about Missile. It was the only way I could think of to get you back here.”

“So that's what got you so excited, huh, Missile?”

“Sorry I woke you up Miss Alma, I had too!”

Alma laughs. “All is forgiven.”

“Now we can move onto why I'm back.” I start.

“You checked on him?” Alma asks.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“He didn't look like he was doing well. His cell was covered in papers and he spent a lot of time reading over them while pacing around.” I explain.

Alma deflates. “I expected as much but I was hoping it wouldn't be the case.”

“Could I ask you a few questions? A lot is going on and you're the only person I'm able to ask.”

Alma pauses to think. “There's no harm I suppose. What do you want to know?”

“I'm mostly confused about the relationship between you, Cabanela, and…” I hesitate. “Jowd.”

Alma winces at the name. “You've learned quite a bit since we last spoke, huh?”

“I've just picked up some things from the people around me.”

“Well, um” Alma begins. “Me and Cabanela have been good friends for a long time, and I met Jowd through him because they both joined the industry on the same day and quickly became friends.”

“So you've known Cabanela for a long time, and I'm assuming that Jowd was also a friend of yours.” I say.

“Jowd…” Alma pauses. “Jowd was my husband.”

Oh shoot, I wasn't expecting that.

“O-Oh, I'm sorry.” I stutter a bit pathetically.

“It's alright, it has been five years.”

��Okay,” I should change the conversation. “Can you think of any reason that Cabanela would find Yomiel and Sissel suspicious?”

“...What?”

“When i was checking out his cell every possible surface was covered in papers, when a guard asked Cabanela what they were for he said he was investigating two suspicious individuals.” I say. “When the guard asked who they were he showed him a drawing that was clearly of Yomiel and Sissel.”

“Cabanela is investigating them, how?” Alma asks.

“All he said about that was to “Not underestimate him”” I answer.

“Leave it to Cabanela to be confidently cryptic.” Alma pauses. “But to answer your question, no.” She thinks for a moment. “Well, maybe Sissel.”

“Explain?”

“Ever since that incident five years ago, Cabanela has been claiming that it was like he was being controlled, when he shot Jowd.” Alma begins to explain. “Obviously that's not believable, but he's been confident that's what happened at the time.”

“And what does this have to do with Sissel?” I ask.

“Sissel was nearby, when it happened.”

“Nearby? How close?”

“For some reason she was at the station, and just randomly passed out in the courtyard. Jowd rushed over to her to check if she was alright, and he was directly above her when he… died.” Alma explains.

I'll have to ask Yomiel about that when I get the chance. “Is that the only connection you can think of?”

“Well it's clear that Cabanela… isn't doing well, and that might be the connection he could come up with, but that doesn't really involve Yomiel at all. Other than the fact that they are married.”

“Well thank you for giving the best answers you can. It's pretty clear that I need to find Yomiel and get the answers straight from his mouth.” I say.

“Yes, you said you had lost him. How did that happen?” Alma asks.

“Simple, he just went to a place where I was unable to follow.”

“Do you know where he went? Maybe I can help.”

“He said that he was going to someplace called “The Chicken Kitchen”, but I have no idea what that even is.”

“The Chicken Kitchen? This late?” Alma questions. “Bit odd.”

“He said he was going to meet Sissel there.”

“All you need is a call to be able to go to a new location, right?” Alma asks.

“Yup.”

“Then I'll call the Chicken Kitchen, I owe you one anyway.”

“You can just call?” I say, for some reason that hadn't crossed my mind.

“Yup, then hopefully you'll be able to reunite with Yomiel.”

“That'll be fantastic!”

“Let me call then.” Alma says as I'm pushed out of the ghost world. I'm a little embarrassed that the solution is so simple but I'm not here to complain, as long as I can get to where I need to be I'm happy.

Alma stands up from the couch and walks over to the phone, immediately dialling a number.

I move from my spot over to the phone.

Alma picks up the phone and holds it to her ear.

“Hello? This is The Chicken Kitchen” a strange looking man in chef attire answers on the other side of the phone.

Alma doesn't say anything, but holds the phone for a little while before hanging up.

“Hope that helps.” She says.

It does, a lot. I trick the phone and ride the phone line to my next destination, The Chicken Kitchen.

[miyacreampie]

Lenny sensei's night class has begun!~♡

“Senpai~♡”

synopsis 💭;; Tanaka gets jealous bc some bitch talking to his man.

note 🖋️;; IT TOOK A WHOLE FUCKIN WEEK TO WRITE THIS. WHY DOES WORK ALWAYS PREVENT ME FROM DOING THE THINGS I LIKE? WHAT THE ACTUAL FU- by the way, ‘Isayama Misaki’ is based off of some asswipe I used to know- also, I ran out of ideas at the end, so it kinda cuts of lf at the good part. I apologize to the anon that requested this.

Requested by anon ♡

Male pronouns used

Tanaka wasn't a jealous man. Or at least he'd like to think so.

(Y/n) was pretty popular around campus, so it wasn't a surprise to see a few fangirls here or there. It kinda reminded him of Oikawa—except (Y/n) didn't exactly pay his fangirls any attention. (And he didn't have an ass as flat as printer paper.) But did that stop them from trying to get into his pants? No.

In all honesty, Ryu felt lucky that he had someone like (Y/n) as a boyfriend, although he didn't like the fangirls—who paid him no mind whenever they were together. It annoyed him that they kept surrounding (Y/n) who clearly wanted nothing to do with them, begging him for dates, one night stands, anything.

To say that Tanaka was mildly uncomfortable was an understatement.

🌇🌇

Today was a bit different. Instead of a crowd of women rushing towards (Y/n), it was just one—; Misaki Isayama. The woman (almost) every guy considered perfect. This was...manageable, but what did she want? Well—at least it was only one girl. He had only woken up a little over an hour ago, and wasn't exactly ready for his simps just yet.

“(L/n)-chan, can you help me study for the science exam that's coming up?”

“Just because you're my upperclassman, doesn't mean you can call me that.” (Y/n) said quietly, rubbing his eyes, then yawning. “I'm on my way to the lecture hall though, so maybe after that? I should be fully awake by then..”

Misaki smiled and nodded her head. “It's a date!”

“No. No it's not.”

🏙️🏙️

Tanaka let (Y/n) lean on him during the lecture. That turned into one sided cuddling from the sleepy man. Ryu thought it was cute how (Y/n) always clung to him when he was sleepy. He was a little sad when (Y/n) fully awoke, and let him go, but it was for the best.

“Oh, Ryu-san. I'm tutoring the rumored ‘perfect woman’, and it's gonna be awkward with just the two of us, so can y—”

“You headin to the library? I was on my way there anyway. I'll join ya.”

The (h/c) haired man nodded, and they both walked all the way to the other side of the schoolyard to the library building. Tanaka even held (Y/n)'s hand to flex on the girls they passed by. Some of the girls were noticeably annoyed or a little angry, which pleased him.

When they finally arrived, Misaki was standing by the door. Upon seeing Ryu, she scowled. But it was only for a second.

“Ah, (L/n)-kun..who's this?”

(Y/n) smiled, oblivious to Misaki and Tanaka glaring at each other. Needless to say, the intense atmosphere went right over his head. “This is my boyfriend..Tanaka. He'll be joining us if that's okay.”

“‘Perfect woman’ my ass..the only ‘perfect woman’ I know is Kiyoko-san.” Tanaka mumbled under his breath. (Y/n) may not have known, but Misaki and Tanaka were always competitive with each other. Other times he wouldn't have cared, but now that (Y/n) is what he's fighting for, he wasn't gonna back down.

“Oh, it's fine.” Misaki said through gritted teeth.

🏙️🏙️

Isayama and Tanaka were left sitting at a table alone, while (Y/n) searched for the science books. They sat in complete silence, but it was almost as if you could hear their thoughts—mentally arguing with one another.

(Y/n) returned with three books, seating himself between Isayama and Ryu. “Okay! Let's get started!”

***

As (Y/n) went on explaining the laws of physics (because Tetsurou used to tutor him), Misaki and Tanaka continued their epic staring battle. The battle ended once they noticed that (Y/n) had stopped talking. He was chewing his tongue in thought, trying to figure out how to pronounce a word.

Misaki didn't notice, but (Y/n) had gone from physics, to microbiology. In less than five minutes.

“Something wrong?”

“How do you say this word again..?” The (e/c) eyed man pointed to a bolded word in the textbook, leaning back a bit so the other two could see.

A suffocating silence reigned over the three of them, but only for about three seconds.

Isayama squinted a bit before she spoke. “Endothelial?”

“Oh yeah. Thanks, senpai.”

Isayama smiled smugly at Ryuunosuke. The said man had a visible tick mark (💢) on the side of his head, symbolizing his annoyance. Tanaka only wanted (Y/n) to call him ‘senpai’—even if they were the same age (if not, then (Y/n) might be older). It made him feel like he was a dependable upperclassman, maybe even a bit turned on in certain situations. But hearing (Y/n) call someone else senpai..made him a little sad.

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone vibrating. As Tanaka reached into his pocket to get his phone, he caught (Y/n) putting his own phone in his jacket pocket. Tanaka turned on his phone to see a message from (Y/n) in his recent notifications.

Pretty boy💖: Go to the bathroom. I'll join you later.

Although he was a bit confused, he got up from his chair. “‘M gonna go take a leak.” Ryu said as he started to make his way towards the men's restroom.

Almost five minutes pass before (Y/n) goes into the bathroom after Tanaka, telling Misaki that he was checking on him. As soon as (Y/n) had passed the first bathroom stall, he was yanked into the second one, the door locking almost immediately after it shut behind him. He wasn't given any time to react before he felt a familiar pair of soft lips violently smash against his own. (Not violent enough to make his mouth bleed or anything. Chill.)

A heated battle for dominance arose between the two, (Y/n) quickly taking the lead as he gently bit Ryu's lip.

They didn't want this to end, but eventually Tanaka had to break the kiss because he couldn't breathe. He stood there, breathless in his boyfriend's arms, not wanting (Y/n) to let go.

“Ryuunosuke..” Tanaka flinched upon his first name being said—even though (Y/n) said it many times before. His reaction brought a smile to (Y/n)'s face. “I love you~..” He said, drawing out the three words in a sing-song voice.

Ryu felt his legs getting weak, and held onto (Y/n) for dear life. (Somewhat out of fear that he might fall.) He wasn't actually feeling like this because of three words...right? “Babe..am I supposed to be kinda horny right now?” It was a bit of a strange question, but hey, it never hurts to ask.

(Y/n) chuckled. “Well, yeah. I might have to carry you out of here once we're done.” His warm smile from earlier didn't falter as he spoke.

‘How can he say something like that so casually? If I say something like that, I'd get d–’ Ryu's thoughts were snapped away when he felt his chest touch the stall divider and his pants being pulled down. He let out a soft moan as (Y/n) stroked him through his boxers.

🏙️

‘What the hell is taking them so long?!’ Isayama got up from where she sat, and went to the men's bathroom. There wasn't anyone around, so no one would see her going in. She opened the first stall's door. ‘If they ditched me, I swear to go–’

“W-Wait, (Y/n)!~ Haa!~♡”

“Geez senpai, you're so wet inside~..♡”

Misaki froze. She couldn't be sure that it was (Y/n) and Tanaka in there—but those were definitely Tanaka's pants hanging over the second stall's door. Now she felt more..curious than angry. Isayama slipped into the first stall, carefully and quietly closing the door behind her, and slowly locking it so it didn't make noise.

Ryu tried to keep his breathing steady as (Y/n) fucked him with his fingers—even though that did absolutely nothing to help his current situation. Hell, he couldn't even process words anymore. The only actual word he could say was his boyfriend's name. He eventually remembered how to speak after about two minutes of being finger-fucked.

He wanted to sound more demanding, but his voice came out more whiny than what he'd have liked it to. “Fuck me already..ya fuckin– Hng!~” It may have been that he couldn't process it, or that (Y/n) had moved at the speed of sound, but Tanaka wasn't able to register how fast (Y/n) pulled his fingers out, and shoved his cock into his still tight hole. He wanted to say something, but all that came out was a choked whine.

“You were saying?~♡” (Y/n) asked, though it sounded more like a demand than a question.

Tanaka wasn't given a chance to answer due to (Y/n) ruthlessly fucking the poor man senseless. His loud whines and moans echoed throughout the bathroom, much to (Y/n)'s pleasure. He wanted everyone to know that he was a taken man. He wanted everyone on campus to hear Ryuunosuke's pleasurable cries.

Hearing the two men fucking in the next stall turned Isayama on to no end. (Even though it was more of (Y/n)'s voice that made her wet.) But she resisted touching herself because she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she masturbated to her rival getting fucked. (A kinda stupid reason, but okay.)

“Fu–fuck, (Y/n)!~ So good..it feels so good!~” Ryu babbled, the words almost incoherent as he attempted to push back against his boyfriend's cock. “More!~ Give me more!~♡” He begged, voice broken and choking on his own breath.

The (e/c) eyed man didn't say a word. As his senpai had politely asked of him, (Y/n) drove his cock so deep into Tanaka that the said man let out the loudest drawn out moan (Y/n) had ever heard from him. If it weren't for the cum spewing from the teary eyed man, (Y/n) would've thought he had hurt his lover. He wasn't entirely sure until he felt Ryu continue to push back against him, desperate for more friction.

“Aww..you're so cute when you act like a bitch in heat, senpai~..♡”

He only got a choked whine in response.

“I'm pretty close anyway..do you want it inside?~♡” (Y/n) asked, pulling the shaky man up to his chest. Again, only a whine. (Y/n) parted Ryu's lips with his fingers, those fingers soon being coated in saliva. “Use your words~..”

Finally, Tanaka spoke, despite his unintentional dry heaving. “Fuck me- please~..”

“As you wish~♡” (Y/n) almost whispered, gripping Tanaka's cock firmly, earning another broken moan from the said man. “You're the only person I'd fuck like this, you know that, right?” He said, as he rubbed the shorter man's stomach.

“Y-Yeah..that makes me happy~..”

Lmao this was like- 80% highschool drama (in a college setting), and the remaining 20% being me getting horny for no reason. Also, I'm aware this made no sense. None of the stuff I write makes sense. :)

The class session is now over!~♡

[sylverstorms]

Mother Miranda x Lawyer!Oc ----Tilted Scales

Hello guys :) This is another commission I wrote for the amazing, wonderful @saltwatereulogies

Your support has been insane, I can't thank you enough. Hope you enjoy the story ❣

Three days.

That is how long you've been in the village, after years of studying abroad, before everything turns to shit.

As you slowly blink focus back into your eyes, you try to clear the haze from your mind. It feels as though you've collided with a truck. Your body hurts, your wrists protest in their iron cuffs, stuck to the wall as they are, having supported your weight while you were unconscious.

Desperately, you try to recollect the events that led you here...

A grey sky. A bleak day. One moment you were making coffee for your mother, excited to be able to sit down with her in the mornings again... and the next you heard the echo of screams.

Overcome by adrenaline, you bolted out of your house, only to witness a scene straight from a nightmare; humanoid monsters ripping villagers apart, cries and blood and animalistic growls all blending together into one mad mix.

And before you could even warn your mother...

Damn it all, what the fuck happened!

You suddenly struggle against your bonds, hard enough to rattle your whole frame. Your wrists burn from the grind against metal, but you don't care–

“Stop that. It is pointless and you will only injure yourself.” A cold voice, strangely familiar, says from far to your right.

You peer deep into the shadows, searching for the only other person in the empty room... until you see her. A mask advances on you, gold and shaped like a crow's visage, then wings folded into a cloak come into view.

You would be a fool to not recognize her. The local saint. The village's prophet. The very 'saint' your mother prayed to, for your safe return, all these years. Mother Miranda.

The sound of her heels bounces off the walls until she comes to stand directly in front of you. Looking past the openings of her mask now, you realize....

This isn't possible.

She hasn't aged a day. Not a single day, since you left the village. The years should show around her deadly blue eyes, somewhere, and yet they don't.

“I see you remember me...” she says, while you're still trying to find your voice. “Miss Warren.”

“What is going on? Mother Miranda, what happened to the village?!” you demand.

Her expression shows nothing. “The village is in need of... renovation.” she speaks, even, regal. “Repopulation, even.”

You stare at her with wide eyes.

“Now, don't give me that look. You would not be here if you weren't of the ones I chose to keep.” she continues. “You see, from now on, every single person in my domain will make themselves useful in some way, or they will be replaced. And you... you have been abroad studying law for a while now, yes?”

“I... yes.” you reply, still not fully having wrapped your mind around your situation.

“Excellent. What I need from you is simple. You will make the village independent from the state’s taxes as a religious organization... and you will keep foreign investors out from that point onward.”

What... what part of that is simple?!

“Do that for me and in return I guarantee your mother and you will go back to your house safe and sound. You will have no shortage of Lei for as long as you live, Miss Warren.” Miranda promises.

But it is not the sweet part of the deal your mind stays glued to. “And if...” you gulp. “If I can't work around the law to do that...?”

Miranda blinks slowly at you, like you shouldn't even ask such a basic question. Like the answer is obvious.

“Well. Then I have no further use for either of you.”

It is in this moment that it dawns on you.

This woman is no angel and no saint.

She is a devil.

-

-

You spend countless sleepless nights pouring over every single paragraph, every little opening or ambiguity in the law you can use to free the village of taxes.

To keep your mother in the dark about this, you work in the office Mother Miranda has provided for you, in her very stronghold.

Although technically it's her home, you don't see her nearly as much as you initially thought. She is gone throughout the day and returns late at night, not even sparing you a glance before heading for her chambers, at the upper sections of the building.

The days she does come into your office to inquire on your progress are few and far-between, your conversations always short and cold.

This evening is different.

“How is your work coming along, Miss Warren?” the prophetess asks with her aggravatingly nice accent, seating herself like a queen on the chair in front of your desk.

Your eyes are tired, but you force them on hers, through the mask obscuring her face. “I think I've got it. I'll be sending the necessary papers tomorrow and the answer shouldn't take longer than a month.”

“Very good.” she nods, a miniscule curve to her lips.

Icy eyes then drop to the wine in the whiskey glass at the corner of the desk. You think she will make a comment about drinking at work, but instead she says;

“Pour me a glass, will you?”

You will your hands steady as you comply, then carefully slide her drink over.

Miranda takes her mask with claw-shrouded fingers... and soundnessly sets it on the wooden surface. Then she pushes the veil at her hair back, shaking long, platinum locks free.

You do a double take you hope she doesn't notice. Because what the actual fuck.

You didn't think her hair was that long, or that straight, or that it would fall over her shoulders like she's staring in a shampoo ad. You didn't think her lips were shaped like a cupid's bow or that her skin was this flawless and radiant.

The helplessly lesbian part of you could begrudgingly admit she was beautiful before... but now you arrive to the painful realization she's drop-dead gorgeous.

“So. I've heard you won cases others would describe as impossible.” she begins.

“Nothing's impossible. You just need to know where to look.” you reply. Law is your comfort zone and she is not that far above you here. “But how do you know that?”

“I have my sources.”

"Nobody truly leaves this village, huh.”

“Not without my consent, no. But I knew you'd come back.” At your slight frown, she elaborates, “You would never leave your mother behind.”

She's right. There was a whole world of opportunities waiting for you out there and yet... here you are.

“Good work, so far. You can take the next two days off. Your eyes could use the rest, Miss Warren.” Miranda speaks, finishing her wine.

“Sarah.” you say. 'Miss Warren' is for clients and she is your boss.

Miranda's lips give a slight quirk that may or may not be a trick of the light.

“I know.” she replies and exits the room, long hair billowing behind her back.

-

-

The taxes were only the first challenge. Now that the village is free of them, investors are flying in circles around it like vultures over meat.

In the meantime, Miranda comes to talk to you more frequently.

Lately, it seems she has more free time. You wish that was a good thing, but...

“So... are you like... going to stay here?” You ask after reading the same sentence five times to make sense of it, because her gaze on you is distracting as fuck.

“I'm not getting in the way of your work.” she says. You want to argue she is, but can't quite do that in a way that won't get you killed.

“I'm simply not used to working with company. Isn't this boring for you?”

“No, actually. I find it interesting, even though science is my field of expertise.” she answers. “And the way you take notes is… amusing.”

You try not to blush as you look down at your notebook, filled with different colored markers and post-it squares with tiny stick figures pointing to the more important paragraphs. You have been doing this for so long to sort out information you didn't even realize you were keeping it up in her presence.

“What is this supposed to be?” she asks with a small smile, the first of its kind you've seen.

To your horror, her clawed pointer aims at a particularly silly doodle, barely the size of a pencil's eraser.

“A... bird.” you grimace like you've been stabbed.

“Ah, of course.” Miranda holds back a chuckle but you can tell she's dying to make a comment.

Studying becomes hell for the rest of the time she's there with you, those sharp eyes picking apart every little move you make. At the same time, though, the hours you spend with her make you realize...

She's not a saint, though she may look like one. She's not completely a devil, either, even if she may act as one, at times.

She's human.

-

-

Miranda shares nothing about herself when you chat, but she seems to like it when you speak about your time abroad and all the things that left an impression on you there.

Your conversation over wine is cut short, however, when you receive a call from a number you learned means nothing but trouble, lately.

“Sorry, I have to take this.” you tell her.

The one calling you is none other than this month's rival lawyer, trying to dispute your claim over the land for his own boss. He's lost to you before, so it's also personal, but you are confident you have cornered them good with the latest papers you sent them...

And you are proven correct, when, a few seconds later, he is all faux polite on the other line, resorting to offering you money for you to withdraw your arguments.

Miranda comes to stand next to you, listening in to what he's saying.

The problem with that is, the second her arm brushes yours and you catch a whiff of her perfume –which always lingers in your office long after she's left— youare the one who stops listening to him.

Your attention flies to other things, like the inches she has on you, the exact color of her pale blonde hair, the little glint of victory in her stunning eyes.

Oh, no. God, no...

You know what this is, the feeling in the pit of your stomach. Alarm bells go off in the back of your head, as though your own mind is telling your body how foolish it's being.

There isn't a worse thing you can do to yourself than be attracted to Miranda.

-

-

Over time, familiarity with the prophetess brings higher levels of difficulty into your 'try to ignore your crush on her' game.

Miranda joins your side and leans over your shoulder, sometimes, to peer down at what you're doing. You don't move and don't breathe until she's within a safe distance again.

Then there are the wayward 'reward' touches, when you turn another investor away from the village. She may pat your back or leave her hand on your shoulder, or even scratch your nape with her claws as a job well done.

You hope your poker face hides the fact you feel her touch on you for far longer than you should, after she's gone.

Tonight, the situation is the toughest it's ever been for you.

There is a rainstorm going on outside; the waterdrops are tapping against the windows of your office as though they're trying to break it. Miranda has pulled her chair next to you so you can talk easier, without having to shout over the cacophony.

“And basically the judge's decision was that—”

You are interrupted by a blinding flash of lighting, during which your mind lets you know the stronghold is easily the tallest structure in it's vicinity—

When thunder cracks down the sky and strikes the building, you nearly scream. Your body tenses and you jump; but Miranda's hands come to your biceps and hold you steady, against herself and your desk.

Another flash comes before you really have time to think about your proximity. She covers your ears with her palms before the thunderclap can send you into overdrive again.

“You are with me and you're scared of a little thunder?” she teases when things quiet down and your heartbeat eases.

It's true; Miranda is the more terrifying force of nature. At the same time, however...

You feel oddly safe to be this close to her.

“Well... I'm not scared right now...” you quietly admit.

Her pointer comes underneath your chin and lifts it so you are looking straight into her hypnotic blue eyes. How is this color even real...

“And why is that?” Miranda asks, her wings coming around you both. They're curtains of black, cutting out some of the storm's sounds.

You want nothing more in this moment than to run your fingers through each individual feather.

You lick your lips. That's...not a question you can answer if you want the balance in your arrangement with her to remain.

Perhaps, though, the scales have tilted for you long ago. You just haven't been brave enough to admit it.

You have the courage to face it now when she leans down and covers your lips with hers, warm in a manner you never imagined she could be.

Her wings pull tighter around you and your mouths slide more firmly together. Lipbalm and creamy lipstick mix, tongues brush, tasting of wine. You are shaking so bad on the inside from how much you want this, more of this, the rumbling of the thunder be damned.

Miranda's palm cups your flaming cheek when she pulls back, perfectly composed and staring at you with a little smirk in place.

You dare to turn a little, lay a tiny kiss on the inside of her wrist, beyond her rings and accessories.

You aren't very fond of storms, but...

You willingly walk right into the eye of this one.

[itsclydebitches]

The post about how characters don't connect to the setting is one of the reasons why the beginning of V7 frustrated me so much. James gives this plan of telling the world about Salem, Weiss rightfully points out their will be panic everywhere and NO ONE connects that with the very real fear that this plan could put all their families in danger. Nor does anyone get excited about the Amity project potentially allowing them to call home. Ruby's been away for A YEAR. Doesn't she miss her dad at all?

Exactly! This isn't a bad faith criticism where we're demanding the show do a ton of emotional work that there just isn't time for in the fighting focused plot; a claim that it's awful because it's not functioning as one genre (like a drama, soap opera, etc.) over another (action/adventure, fantasy, sci-fi)... I mean we get nothing in regards to this issue. Not even crumbs. And these connections are, supposedly, at the very heart of the "trust love" narrative. I think it's easy for people to forget what happens between volumes — especially given the "Only the latest volume is canon" mentality — but we literally had Ironwood announce to Ruby that he'd need to use his army to keep the grimm attacks at bay once the Salem secret was revealed and then a volume later Ruby reveals the Salem secret (along with a whole lot else that is scary, horrifying, and generally negative-emotion educing) after she's cut all ties with Ironwood and his army is fully engaged in keeping Salem at bay. There is no discussion, let along concern and worry, about how many people she just got killed for an announcement that the show has failed to justify. Why is telling the world about Salem worth the casualties it will cause? What is the world going to do against the immortal witch? Ruby doesn't know. That's her whole dilemma this volume: wanting easy answers and then crumbling when she can't think of any. Problem is, she endangered the whole world before admitting, "Oh, I have no idea how to stop all this awfulness."

I mean, I understand on an emotional level why the hypocrisy of Ruby's lies and secrets don't land because most people in the fandom dislike, or outright hate, Ozpin. That's really going to color any reading there, when suddenly the beloved hero is mirroring someone you despise — you'll do whatever mental gymnastics are necessary to keep them separate. But Ruby has no evil contrast here. This is all her. We watch her make a decision that she knows will endanger the entire world, including her loved ones, and it's never even raised as a concern. The same way no one raises concerns about going to Vacuo. Yes, supposedly escaping was the only option available (I say "supposedly" because the plot did a terrible job of convincing us that evacuation was still necessary with Salem currently exploded and it having been established that she's only after the Relic on Atlas), and in a crisis situation they aren't necessarily thinking about long-term survival (that's my own stance regarding Ironwood's desire to rise high: he's not thinking about how to live there indefinitely, just how to survive the next few hours), but why send them to the Kingdom they know Salem will attack next? The Crown is hidden. You have the Lamp and the Staff. You know Salem is after all the Relics, so of course she's going to Vacuo. And so you dump however many refugees there, in the city she's gunning for next, intentionally setting up the next Fall of Atlas? Yeah, we all know it's because structurally the story hasn't been to Vacuo yet, but in-world it makes the characters look incredibly stupid. Why dump an entire Kingdom's worth of people in the most hostile environment, with the most wary citizens, a place you know the Big Bad is heading to next, when you could instead split them up and send them to safer Kingdoms that aren't currently in Salem's path? "Oh, it's because Vacuo still has huntsmen and they need huntsmen to combat all the grimm." There wouldn't be a massive grimm problem is Ruby hadn't told the whole world about Salem!

And this problem of not thinking through actions in a way that demonstrates real care for the world is just compounded over and over on a personal level. It's the same way Ruby doesn't care about what happened to Qrow until she hopes he can fix everything. The same way she doesn't react to Yang "dying." The same way Yang didn't mention Summer for five volumes. The same way Jaune, Yang, and Nora rejected Ren until he fell in line. The same way Blake is trying to inspire Ruby when they've barely exchanged a handful of sentences since Beacon. The same way, as you say, no one has made mention of the family they've left behind, let alone considered how building a communications tower might be a way of reconnecting with them, especially when at least two of them — Ruby and Oscar — left completely out of the blue. Are they presented as caring about how that inevitably hurt their care givers? Nah. The fandom gives Tai so little slack, but at least the story showed him watching Ruby's message and being upset at the danger she's in. When was the last time the girls mentioned Tai?

... have they mentioned him since they left home?

The show has done a terrible job in the last couple of years of showing that these characters actually care for one another, beyond a superficial level, especially when all the cute friendship moments that function as filler are obliterated the moment one of them disagrees about something (see: Ren). There's no sense of place and little sense of real family, from Weiss doing multiple 180s with Whitley, to Blake being the only one who reacts to Yang's "death." It all rings so hollow. I'm supposed to believe that Ruby is still the one to inspire the world towards unity when she, at the point of her speech, still hasn't even tried to reconcile with Ozpin, has been betraying Ironwood this whole time, insta-turned on the Ace Ops for trying to make her face consequences for the crimes she knows she committed, fought her way into the kingdom because she didn't like the peaceful solution Cordovin offered (send Weiss), hasn't made mention of her father, collapsed over hearing her mother's name only to get over it seconds later, at this point in the volume barely interacts with her sister, and is leading a team whose attitude ranges from "Glares at Marrow for daring to suggest she works with anyone other than Yang" and "Points a weapon at her baby brother because she, apparently, can't even manage to work with a minor civilian family member." This is the team who is going to inspire Remnant to unify against Salem, the group who keeps not unifying with everyone they need to work with? There is a serious disconnect here. You can't tell the audience to "trust love" while failing to show basic love and support among the cast, and you can't try to make Ruby the poster child for unity when she has, since Volume 6, has consistently failed to unify with anyone: not Cordovin, not Qrow until he agreed to stop questioning her, not Ozpin, not Ironwood, not the Ace Ops, not even Robyn considering that was all Yang and Blake. Ruby's struggle right now is an inability to work with people who don't agree with her 100%, her biggest flaw is an all or nothing attitude, and the writing is failing to see how that might just be a problem when she's telling everyone else to put their differences aside to work together. Having Ruby actually try to connect with people more, worry about them, express love for them, etc. — both family and allies — would at least help soften this issue, but without it her characterization has severely tanked in terms of the compassion the show wants us to believe is still there.

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Seventy-One

Sorry it's late, I ended up accidentally drugging myself when I got in from work last. I had a migraine and my mom gave me one her of Amitriptyline and I didn't realize it was going to knock me the fuck out for 12 fucking hours. I woke up earlier today and was so confused, work clothes still on, makeup still on, but my migraine went away so I guess it worked.

I told you guys a cut a part out (I'm saving it for another chapter) part of it was the preview for this chapter with the flashback of when Nikki came home after Viv and Duff were being nasty in his bed...anyway enjoy the chapter!

Words: 4k

Warning(s): explicit language, violence, mentions of drug abuse

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"What?" I ask Fred, taking a few deep breaths and he raises his brows. 

"They just got here today, Viv, there's no way in hell that kid's biting the hand that's feeding him, over you, without there being a damn good reason." He states and I sigh, only causing him to nod his head. "That's what I thought. Does Sixx know?"

My eyes widen as I glare at him as if he's crazy. 

"Is Nikki acting like he knows?" I sarcastically say and Fred crosses his arms. "No." I add, deciding now is not the time for sarcasm. "No, Nikki doesn't know...I mean, we haven't been seeing each other, really. We've only hooked up one time." I try to reason.

"When?"

"When we went on break in September for a few days." I explain, fumbling with my fingers. 

"What, you got a hotel room or something?" He presses and I apparently give away what happened because his eyes are going to the size of saucers and he's raising his eyebrows. 

"Fred," I start.

"You fucked another man in Sixx's house?" He asks me in shock that I had the audacity to do such a thing. 

"He slept with Vanity in our house, so why not?" 

"Yes, because the way to put a fire out is to start a completely different fire!" He raises his voice. 

"Shh!" I put my hand over his mouth. "If anyone finds out about this, I'm done with, and so is Guns N' Roses." I hiss at him. 

"Highly doubt Duff's waking up after a night of plowing you like a field, thinking about his career, or else he wouldn't be sleeping with you in the first place." Fred says back quietly. "And you, what the fuck are you doing? Are you insane? If you get caught you're done for." 

"I know." 

"Then why're you letting it happen?" 

"I don't know, alright? I just…" I let out a breath and think for a moment. 

"Do you like, love him or something?"

"No, of course not." I insist. "Well, I love him, but not like in love with him." 

"Do you love Nikki?" 

"It doesn't matter if I do or not. We're over with once the tour is done." 

"You've both completely annihilated your vows, Vivian, I think it's safe to say you two have been over." He replies and I don't answer, ignoring that realization. 

I continued to ignore that realization until Nikki served me divorce papers once he got out of the hospital after he overdosed.

I try to hold back a laugh as Donna politely rejects Steven for the umpteenth time since he met her, and he pouts at me as she walks away.

“Viv, I’m going crazy.” He tells me. “I’m losing the charm, I think.”

“Oh, c’mon, Stevie, you aren’t losing the charm. Donna’s just a hard nut to crack because she and Emi have been put on a ‘don’t sleep with the opening band’ order.” I suggest and he maintains his let down facial expression. “And Emi and Mick are already a thing and catch hell for it, so Donna’s more than likely not wanting to be in the same predicament.”

“This is so unfair.” He crosses his arms.

“Just hook up with groupies.” I shrug.

“I’m trying but they’re all leftovers from what Tommy, Vince and Nikk--” He abruptly stops speaking and I raise my brows.

“What was that?” I ask him.

“Nothing…” He mumbles.

“I already thought Nikki was hooking up with groupies, but thank you for confirming it.”

“Well,” He starts, glancing around to make sure the coast is clear before he’s pointing out, “you’re hooking up with someone else, too, so does it matter?”

He’s got a valid point and I raise my brows, deciding I can’t argue with that.

“No.” I say quietly. “I suppose it doesn’t.”

The guys are getting off stage soon enough, being brought back down from hyperventilation before starting in for tonight’s plans.

“Strip club.” Tommy and Vince say simultaneously.

“Stevie, you comin’ with?” Tommy offers  and Steven glances at me as if asking for permission although I honestly don’t care if he hangs out with them or not.

I’m just waiting for Duff to finish up his conversation with Axl and Izzy in their dressing room.

“Mick, you wanna come?” Tommy asks next, resulting in Mick glancing at Emi.

She shakes her head a little bit, barely noticeable. Barely.

Nikki lets out a shiteating laugh and I prepare for what’s about to happen.

“Nikki, lay off--”

“--Tommy, you shouldn’t have asked. You know Mick can’t take his mouth away from Emi’s teat long enough to make his own big boy decisions.” Vince and Tommy laugh at Nikki’s words, while Mick just lets out a heavy sigh and looks down at the ground not wanting to argue.

“Okay, Nikki, seriously, stop.” I state, glaring at him.

“Okay, Vivian, seriously, mind your own fucking business and stop being such a--”

“--Hey, everybody shut it.” Fred pops his head in, hearing an argument about to start. “Guns is riding back to the hotel with us, their ride has a flat.” He adds.

"Whoo!" Steven cheers, high-fiving Tommy.

I slip past Fred to see Axl and Duff waiting for us to get ready to go.

"Where's Slash?" I ask them, furrowing my brows a little. 

He's soon enough stumbling from the bathroom, wiping vomit from his mouth, causing me to wrinkle my nose as he mutters, "I'm right here." 

Slash was Nikki's trouble-buddy on the tour. They'd stay at the hotel bar until it closed nearly every night before hitting the town. Most of the time Tommy and Steven would tag along or split and go do something else of their own. 

Axl never really bonded with the guys as much as Izzy, Duff, Slash, and Stevie did, but everyone got along and considered each other good friends. 

Crazy how things would take a turn a couple years later.

We all wait patiently to file into the bus one by one and, of course, Vince and Tommy have girls with them while Nikki seems satisfied by just having a conversation with Slash and Izzy.

I catch myself looking for Tansy and Sparkie...until I remember they left to go score. 

All is well until Mick says something to Emi and she giggles like a school girl with a crush, and I can see Nikki's face getting red with anger as she's about to step ahead of Mick onto the bus. 

Nikki's plucking Slash's Jack bottle from his hand and pours the whiskey down Emi's jacket. 

She gasps, stopping in her tracks, horror on her face as she turns around to face him. 

"Nikki, what the hell is wrong with you?!" I demand. 

"Oops." Nikki slickly smirks, handing the now empty bottle back to Slash, who--like everyone else--is at a loss for words as Nikki cuts in line and gets on the bus before Emi can recover. 

I look at Duff, trying not to get overwhelmed with anger. 

He shrugs his jacket off, preparing to offer it to Emi so she doesn't have to wear her wet jacket. 

"Here, you can borrow mine." He tells her and she looks at him a second, tears in her eyes as Tommy, Vince, and their groupies walk around her to get inside. 

"Thanks." She mumbles, taking her wet jacket off and slipping on Duff's warm, dry one. 

"That wasn't cool." Steven mumbles about Nikki when we get on the bus, seeing him and Tommy laughing obnoxiously while Emi and Mick sit as far away as possible. 

I'm about to plop down beside Steven when I see Nikki whisper something to Tommy a couple seats ahead of us.

He smiles deviously at whatever Nikki just told him, before he's drinking a gulp of Jack and keeping it in his mouth, only to stand up, walk to the back seats, and spit it on Emi and Mick.

Nikki ruptures into sick laughter with Tommy, and I've had enough. 

I glance down at Steven's skull ring and take advantage of him not paying attention, to take it off of him, quickly. 

"Viv, what're you--"

I don't give him the time to finish his question before I've got the ring on, and I'm standing up as Tommy comes back by, punching him--his skin splitting where the heavy ring made contact.

I can tell he’s seeing red, I don’t help much when I sarcastically add, “oops.”

Everyone’s struggling to get as apart before he can slap me, Steven letting out a high-pitched scream when Tommy tries to bombard over him to get to me after Stevie pushes me on the other side of him.

Duff and Nikki get Tommy off of me and Steven, a trail of blood running down my friend’s cheek.

“Get her off my fucking bus!” Tommy demands at Fred once he comes back here to settle everyone off while Doc is behind the wheel.

“I wish someone would try to kick me off.” I threaten, knowing they wouldn’t get my ass off the bus without getting mauled first.

“Why the fuck can’t you take a fucking joke without being a fucking psychopath?!” Tommy asks me, yelling.

“You spitting a drink on them isn’t a fucking joke, just like Nikki pouring alcohol all over her isn’t a fucking joke!” I hiss back.

“If it bothered her, she would fucking speak up, Vivian, you’re not Jesus--stop trying to save everybody!” He sneers.

“She can’t speak up for herself because you assholes would try to fucking fire her!”

“And that’s none of your business if we did!”

“Both of you, shut the fuck up and calm do--”

“--I’m not calming down until you get that crazy bitch off this fucking bus.” Tommy interrupts Fred.

“Tommy, we’re not kicking her off the bus, now sit down!” Fred insists.

“You don’t have to kick me out, I’m gone.” I state, grabbing my purse, stepping over Steven’s legs to get in the aisle.

“Vivian, sit down!” Nikki orders me where he’s now standing, and I scoff in his face and shove past him.

“Vivian, please, don’t go anywhere.” Fred pleads, tired, and just wanting everyone to behave.

“I’d rather burn for an eternity than spend another minute on this bus with such sad, disgusting, strung out, drunk, bitter people!” I shout, walking to the door.

I hear several steps behind me, and I think it’s Nikki and Fred stomping after me, but I turn to see Axl, Izzy, Duff, and Steven following after me.

Slash is already passed out, oblivious to what’s been happening.

“K.” I say to Doc as he glances at me and sighs out. “Can you stop the bus and open this door?”

I thought we would get off that bus and walk to the hotel in peace, but turns out I left one fight and got into another one.

“You didn’t have to follow me, Axl, alright? I didn’t ask you to so there was no reason for you to come out here with me!” I tell him after he makes a comment about me getting them in trouble, possibly.

“No, I didn’t have to, but you’re my friend and I didn’t want you to be out here by yourself, even though you wouldn’t have to be if you would have just taken a breath and let it go instead of starting a fight, as usual!”

“We’re in Alabama, Axl! It’s not like I’m gonna get kidnapped--nobody wants to fuck me down here because I’m not related to any of them!”

“Both of you are overreacting! Vivian, you shouldn’t have punched Tommy but I understand why you did! Axl, we’re not gonna get in trouble or kicked off the tour for making sure Nikki’s wife doesn’t get snatched up! Now, can we please go to the hotel so I can get ready and go out and get some chicks of my own because I’m tired of sloppy seconds!” Steven outbursts.

Me and Axl look at each other, knowing we’re arguing over something deeper than just him getting off the bus for me.

"Axl, this is not what it looks like, alright?” Duff camly says as we get covered up.

“Not what it looks like?! Do you think I’m fucking blind, Duff, what the fuck are you thinking?! Oh, wait, sorry, you’re not!” He explodes, his face bright red.

“Axl, can you please just let us explai--”

“--You shut up, Viv! I don’t wanna hear another damn thing from you because you just proved to me you could give a fuck about our band.” He points at me. “And what you--all of us--have busted our fucking balls for is about to be completely undone over some fucking pussy?! Are you fucking me right now?!” He says to Duff.

“It’s not just ‘some pussy’, Axl.” Duff states, getting defensive.

“I swear to fucking God, Duff, if you say ‘I love her’ I’m going to--”

“--I do love her.” Duff interrupts him, and Axl’s throwing one of his rings at the wall, causing it to hit a decorative painting, breaking the glass in the photo frame, causing me to jolt a little.

“Axl, c’mon, now it could be worse.” Izzy steps into the room, sitting down on the bed next to us, rubbing his forehead.

“Could be worse? These guys--her fucking husband, Nikki Sixx, yeah, you fucking remember him--are giving us a fucking shot on this tour. And the first fucking night in…” He trails off, at a loss for words, clenching his jaw and rubbing at his face.

“It wasn’t just tonight.” I start, waiting for Axl to look at me as Duff lets out a ragged breath, waiting for Axl to scream again. “It happened back in September, too.”

“You sound awfully proud of that, Viv, you really do. Cheating on Nikki--”

“--He cheated first, Axl. And then you all hid it from me.” I snap.

“I don’t care if you fucking cheat back, Vivian, but out of all the fucking people there is to get your revenge fuck in with, you choose somebody in our band--who’s friends with the band Nikki’s in. That’s what I don’t fucking like. But hey, if you wanna go down as the whore who wrecked Guns N’ Roses’ shot, then go ahead, but if we get kicked off this tour because of you, Nikki will be the least of your worries.”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through, Axl, you don’t know the living hell I’ve been enduring for three years of my relationship, you don’t know.”

“That’s not my fault when you could’ve left him then. But you stayed and now you’re putting our necks at risk just so you can get your fucking rocks off.”

“He and I are getting divorced anyway so what the hell does it matter?”

“It’s my fucking band!” He insists. “It’s our fucking career, our fucking music, our fucking dream, all on the line over you! And if Nikki finds out, he’s not gonna be going through the technicalities of ‘well, we’re getting divorced anyway so it doesn’t matter’, he’s just gonna think of his wife getting screwed by one of his friends whose band he’s given a chance! That’s why it fucking matters!”

“Hey, this isn’t her fault, man, alright?!” Duff jumps in. “If you wanna blame someone, blame me, it’s my fault anyway! I’m the one who told her how I felt about her when she was vulnerable and shit happened!”

“Fine.” Axl says, exhaling.

“Sorry for fighting.” I mumble.

We finally get back to the hotel in an hour, managing to dodge seeing any of the guys, Fred, or Doc when we get in.

Once Duff and I are back in his room, he’s getting out of my shower while I'm aimlessly flipping through TV channels, trying to find something to watch. 

"Hey, Viv?" I hear him call and I put the remote down and step to him, leaning against the bathroom door, nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. 

"What's up?" I ask and he looks at me. 

"I forgot my hairbrush." He tells me and I smile a little before stepping to my suitcase to grab mine while he finishes drying off and pulls his boxer shorts on, stepping into the room. "Thanks." He says when I hand it to him and he roughly goes through the strands of his hair, making me cringe. 

"Don't be so mean to your hair, Duff, geez." I comment, taking the brush from him, sitting on the bed. "C'mere." I motion him over and he playfully rolls his eyes and sits in front of me while I stand on my knees at his back and gently brush through his bleached tresses. "You need to start using more conditioner." I tell him.

"That's what Stevie tells me when he sees me struggling with it." He informs me with a chuckle. 

When I'm done, I'm putting my brush back in my bag and getting into bed, under the covers. 

"I'm sorry if this is a let down but I'm too tired to finish what we started earlier." I admit to him as he gets into bed with me and shuts the light off. 

"Tell me about it." He replies, his hand gently playing with the red strands of my hair strewn across my pillow. "And it's not a let down. Just laying in the same bed as you is well over good enough." He assures me and I look at him, smiling. 

I scoot a little closer to him, my arm wrapping around his waist, my lips kissing at his for a brief second as his arm snakes around me. 

"Goodnight, Duff." I say quietly. 

"G'night, Viv." He tells me, and for the first time in months, I sleep through the night, completely. 

I sleep through the entire day, waking up to the feeling of lips kissing up my neck, Duff’s soft hair brushing against my skin and I hum.

“What time is it?” I ask him, stretching, smiling softly as he kisses at my cheek next.

“Five o’clock.” He replies, moving to get off of me, but I wrap my legs around his hips and stop him.

“What time do we have to leave here for the show?”

“It’s an off day, remember?” He reminds me and I raise a brow.

“Oh, it is. I forgot.” I admit.

“Well, you have been asleep the whole day, so.” He brushes some of my hair from my face.

“Wanna get some room service tonight?” I offer. 

"Me and the guys were gonna hangout tonight." He explains. "But Steven already said I needed to bring you." He adds. "So if you wanna come, you can."

"Okay." I nod, rubbing my lips together. "Have you seen Nikki today?"

"He and Tommy were by the pool with Tansy and Sparkie earlier." 

"Is Tommy's cheek okay?"

"It's bruised, but I don't think it'll scar where Steven's ring got him." 

"Ughh, I'm gonna have to apologize to him for that." I mumble, looking at the ceiling. "I just wish him and Nikki would just leave Emi and Mick alone. I mean, you can't help who you like, you know?" 

"Talk to Nikki and Tommy about it." Duff suggests. 

"They'll laugh in my face if I say, 'you can't help who you like'." I state. 

"...Yeah, maybe don't say anything." He agrees after thinking on it for a moment. 

"Yeah." I giggle, kissing his cheek. "Alright, you're free." I release my legs from his waist so he can get up. "I gotta shower and get ready and I'll meet you guys. Who's room do I need to go to?"

"Probably Stevie's." He tells me, getting up. 

"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes." I reply, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. 

He stops me before I can close the bathroom door, about to kiss me. 

"Babe, my breath." I lean back to avoid embarrassment. 

"I don't care." He states, pressing his lips to mine chastely. "See you in a few." He says before walking out. 

Once I get a shower and get clothes on, skipping out on doing my hair and makeup because these guys saw me look like hell for weeks when Nikki and I took those couple months apart, before I head down to Steven's room. 

When I go to knock on the door, it's cracked open already, and I peek inside to see he and the guys are nowhere around. 

"Oh-kay." I mumble, stepping inside to see if there's any sign they'll be back, like room keys, or shoes, or jackets. 

Nothing. 

I turn on my heel and head to the door when something appealing catches my eye. 

A ziplock of brownies. 

My stomach growls, and I realize I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning. 

"Just one won't hurt anything." I say to myself. 

Fifteen minutes and five brownies later, I'm not even hungry for actual dinner. 

I put the bag back where I got it and head downstairs to see Steven, Axl, Izzy, Duff, Slash, Nikki and Tommy at the bar. 

I don't give Tommy or Nikki a second glance before sitting next to Steven and Duff. 

"You drinking?" Izzy asks me, amused I'm sitting at the "big boy" table. 

"No." I reply. 

"You want food?" Duff asks me.

"Nah, I'm full on brownies." I explain and Slash and Steven suddenly stop dead in their tracks, mid-drink, before looking down the bar at each other, and then to me. 

"On what?" Slash asks me, cautiously. 

"She said, 'brownies'." Axl tells him. 

"Oh...from where?" Steven asks me and I furrow my brows. 

"Your room, why?" 

"Oh, okay...um, hey, I think I forgot my rubbers in my room." Steven gets off the barstool. "Slash, you wanna come with me?" 

"Nah, man, I'm--" Steven's pulling him off the stool by the back of his jacket, the two of them walking quickly to the elevator. 

Me and Duff exchange glances and follow after them, Duff's hand keeping the elevator doors from closing at the last second. 

Steven looks pained when we step in with them, eyeing the two of them. 

"What's going on?" Duff asks them, casually, wanting to get to the bottom of it. 

"Nothing." Stevie denies, shaking his head a little. 

"Steven, be honest." I add and he shrugs. 

"Nothing's going on." He says, matter-of-fact.

"Stevie--"

I'm cut off when the doors open on our floor and Steven takes off to his room, getting the door unlocked, heading to the bag of brownies with Slash on his heels. 

"Steven, what's wrong?" I ask when me and Duff catch up. 

"Oh, no." He lets out, slightly panicked. "Oh, no, no. Not good. Oh, God. Oh, I'm gonna be sick." He runs his fingers through this blonde hair. 

"Steven, what is it?" Duff asks him next. 

"She ate, like, five!" Steven explains. 

"I can get you some more brownies, Steven, it's okay." I chuckle. 

Duff looks at the brownies, then and Slash and Steven, then back at the brownies, then at me, then back at the brownies…

"Were these…? Duff asks them, raising his brows. 

"Uh huh." Steven winces out and Duff's eyes widen. 

"A-And she ate five?" 

"Yeah." 

"How much was in them?" 

"Well...there was like ten in each brownie and she had five so--"

"--You gave her fifty milligrams of weed brownies?!" 

"Of what?!" I ask.

"I didn't give them to her, she ate them herself!" Steven points out. 

"Oh, no." I say aloud.

"Oh, no" was right.

[sinsofafangirl]

Chapter Three.

"You're just a stupid little girl who has done nothing but ruin everything I've ever worked for - your father would be ashamed"

"I'm glad your father's dead, he doesn't have to see what a wretch and a cancer you've become"

"Police Academy?! Ha! Maybe I'll get lucky and someone sensible with half a brain will shoot you like your failure of a father"

Ava woke with a start, her body jolting upright, her eyes still heavy with sleep unable to focus on her unfamiliar surroundings as her heart pounded erratically and her chest heaved as she struggled to shake off the remnants of the all too familiar dream. Too caught up in regaining her composure she never noticed the bucket of water or the person throwing it until she was drenched and spluttering. Her hands came up to rub her eyes in an attempt to once again clear her vision before throwing a glare at the offending person "'bout time you woke up, almost thought you'd died and saved me a whole lotta trouble" a roll of her eyes indicated she'd heard him, she just refused to give him a reaction. Of fucking course it'd be Jacob Seed to get her wet in the frosty early morning air and not in the good way. "Fuck off, Seed" came her irked reply mentally slapping herself for actually responding to him "someone wake up on the wrong side of the cage this morning?" a question asked without an ounce of genuine care and a smirk so fraudulent it made her old Barbie dolls seem a hundred per cent real in comparison. Ava didn't reply and instead huffed in annoyance; she was exhausted and her entire body ached from having to sleep on the dirty floor all night so she was in no mood for being patronised by an asshole choosing to focus on trying to untangle the mess of brunette hair with nothing but her fingers - unsuccessfully I might add which only worsened her already sour mood. Refusing to give up her hands continued as best they could to untangle some of the easier knots and avoiding the still tender area of where she'd been struck a few hours earlier.

Cerulean blue eyes watched as she stubbornly refused to give up enjoying the small huffs of frustration he'd hear occasionally. If he was any sort of gentleman he'd offer her an extra set of hands but he found watching her struggle much more entertaining. Instead the former army marksman took the opportunity to study the young woman sitting awkwardly in his cage; always know your enemy he thought as his gaze wandered over her. Now that it was daytime he could get a good look at her; hair a chocolaty brown and even though it was currently a mess you could see she took care of it, she must have been about 5"2 and a hundred and five pounds if that which surprised him considering she put quite a bit of force into the kick to his face last night - not enough to hurt him too much but she still managed to draw blood. That didn't mean anything to him though, she was still weak and he looked forward to putting her through her paces and beyond but for now his studying continued now noting her eyes that were a sea green "you getting off on this, Seed?" then there was that mouth of hers always too quick with a smart remark and a sarcastic comment - that would soon change, he'd break that bad habit first. "You could have avoided all of this if you and your friends had just walked away" which was true but Ava wasn't about to admit that especially not to Jacob who currently sat upon a metal chair, his large arms folded across his chest whilst his legs stretched out before him crossing at his feet; dickhead came to mind as she finally gave up on trying to tame her unruly hair and turned her attention to the eldest of the three siblings. Easier to see him properly within the early morning rays of sunshine peeking through. The photos provided within the manila folder didn't give much detail; too grainy to actually make anything out but now in the morning light she noticed just how beautiful his eyes were and yes, she hated herself for admitting it and yes, she almost threw up in her mouth but she couldn't deny that they were strikingly beautiful and one of the first things she'd noticed. His scars and his burns weren't even on her radar as she casually studied him whilst his attention was momentarily elsewhere, of course they were noticeable and of course she was curious about them; how had he gotten such severe scarring? Did they bother him? Then she snorted realising what a stupid thought that was - it was Jacob Seed as if anything bothered him.

Her snort caught his attention and his eyes snapped back to her making her look away "somethin' funny?" completely ignoring his question Ava rose to her knees and shuffled until she was at the front of the cage "to answer your previous statement. If you and your freakshow of a family acted like decent human beings none of this would have happened" she spat venomously, her facial expression twisting into something that conveyed hatred. Within an instant Jacob's demeanor changed from one of mild amusement and boredom to that of white hot rage, his hands came up to slam on the bars of the cage as he shot forward making the young woman fall back in fear and shuffle as far back as possible - everyone knew not to slander his family in anyway but apparently Ava didn't get that memo and instantly regretted running her mouth as she saw the sheer anger in his glare and the way his hands gripped the bars hard enough to turn his knuckles white. She wasn't afraid to admit that she was terrified right now but her wide green eyes couldn't look away "don't ever talk ill of my family" his voice despite being low was filled with rage and a fierce protectiveness that almost sounded like a growl, it made a chill run down her spine. If making situations worse by running your mouth was an Olympic event Ava would get gold everytime, it was a talent and right now it was one she wished she never had.

His gaze lingered on her for a few more moments as if contemplating his next move and Ava just prayed to whatever higher power that existed that it didn't involve him opening the cage. Instead Jacob released his grip, stood swiftly from the chair and moved towards two of his Chosen; unable to hear what he was saying Ava closed her eyes and made a mental note not to mention his family again. When she reopened them she noticed Jacob had headed inside the Veterans Centre and the men he'd been talking to heading her way "time to get cleaned up little lady, brother Jacob's orders" cleaned up? Wonderful she thought knowing it wasn't about to be a warm bubble bath waiting for her. When she hadn't moved quickly enough the cage door was wrenched open and a dirty hand grasped her hair making Ava his in pain as he dragged her kicking and screaming across the compound "quite ya flappin' girly, it ain't doin' ya no good" she didn't listen and despite her ankle throbbing she managed to get a lucky hit on the shin of the second man who cursed loudly before regaining his composure and back handing her for the trouble making her head swing back, almost seeing stars from the impact.

Ava was thrown unceremoniously onto the hard floor of a dimly lit concrete room, her hands and knees stinging from taking the brunt of the impact, this made her glance over her shoulder and glare at her two 'knights in shining armour' but they'd already left leaving her to her own devices for the time being. Her mind wondered what their version of 'getting cleaned up' was because judging from the state of them and the smell she had to endure on the way over they hadn't bathed in quite some time; hypocrites.

Ava noticed the medium sized drainage hole in the middle of the room and the large hose pipe hanging neatly on the wall near the door but her muddled mind didn't put two and two together and paid no attention to it, instead she focused on the door and wondered if they'd been stupid enough to leave it unlocked. It couldn't possibly be that easy to get off here, right? As if she'd be able to just open the door and go? Seeing as she was cold, exhausted and hungry Ava didn't think she had much of a choice and even with a bad ankle she could suffer through the pain long enough to get away from this place.

Without hesitation she slowly pushed herself up off the unforgiving floor and hobbled towards the door; her ankle protesting every step she made but she wasn't about to let that stop her when her freedom was so close that she could almost taste it.

A shaky hand reached out towards the handle, her fingers brushing it gently but to her horror it moved and the door began to open making her recoil from the fiery haired brute who had just stepped inside "goin' somewhere, pup?" he asked, his face showed no emotion and neither did his voice which didn't bode well for the brunette now sat on the floor - the momentum of trying to move away quick enough meant she fell ass backwards and her ass had no padding so no doubt that would be yet another bruise for her.

"Strip" came his clipped demand, his gaze fixed and hard on the woman in front of him. His arms were folded across his chest again and Ava wondered if that was a natural stance for him or if it was to stop him from possibly murdering her. Her brows furrowed in confusion at his demand "what?" "you heard me, I said strip" again, his tone was short and clipped but that didn't stop Ava who scoffed and point blank refused. There was no way she was going to strip for him "and if I don't?" she asked raising an eyebrow as if to challenge him which with all things considered was probably pretty stupid on her part but up until this point her life had been a series of stupid events so why not continue?

It was then she realised her mistake and her eyes widened in absolute fear as Jacob stormed across the room and it was in that moment she saw that rage within his eyes from earlier and prayed that whatever death was coming it'd be quick. All of a sudden she found herself pinned to the cold, harsh floor with one of his hands around her throat, his grip hard enough to leave bruises whilst his other hand pinned both her wrist above her - she had nowhere to go because her legs were useless at this point and even they weren't she doubted she'd have enough strength to fend him off long enough to reach the door. His face was now right above hers, his breath hot on her face as she struggled to for air "you'll learn why I'm the best at what I do and you'll either play nice and fall in line remembering that you're nothin' more than meat that's expendable" as if to emphasize his point his grip around her throat became that much tighter that she'd started to squirm beneath him, panic mode had kicked in as her vision became cloudy. She truly thought she was about to die and in the back of her mind she found she was okay with that because that would mean she would finally meet her father. In her current situation she was completely powerless to stop him from choking the life out of her and snapping her neck like a twig but apparently he wasn't feeling that murderous today and released his grip just enough for her to gasp for air " - or you'll be culled, tied up and used as live target practice for my Chosen, so what will it be, princess?"

Ava gasped and spluttered again fighting for air unable to give him a physical answer Ava weakly nodded as much as his grip allowed making a cruel smirk replace the scowl he'd been wearing previously" good girl, you know what to do" within an instant he'd relinquished his grip on both her wrists and her throat and had returned to his previous position. His gaze hardened and cold as watched her pathetically regain her composure.

With no other option but to do as she was told the young brunette cautiously and fearfully began to slip out of her deputy uniform as shaking hands fumbled with zips, buckles and buttons. His never wavering gaze didn't help her much either and not knowing if he would strangle her again also didn't help but soon enough she'd managed to discard her uniform leaving her in nothing but her bra and underwear; surely I can keep these on, right? This made Ava look over towards him and in return he merely nodded making tears spring to her eyes as she tentatively reached for the clasp of her bra at the back to unhook it before letting it drop to the floor. Ava gulped down the feeling of nausea before scrunching her face in pain as she winced - her throat would be sore for a good while and no doubt the bruises he left will last weeks before they fade.

Refusing to let him have the satisfaction of seeing her cry, Ava thumbed the elastic of her underwear before tugging them down over her hips, thighs and legs before discarding them with the rest of her clothes. Every part of her was open to him, she felt extremely vulnerable wished she was anywhere but here. Her earlier bravado had been stripped from her and now she naked and exposed in front of him. A face full of cold, harsh water soon broke her train of thought as the force of the pressure slammed her against the nearest wall making her cry out but this only resulted in more coughing and spluttering from the woman. Not that she could see but she could already tell that her skin had probably turned a nice shade of red if pain was anything to go by.

No matter how hard she tried to cover herself from the onslaught of water it just never made a difference, instead she gave up and pressed herself against the cold wall waiting for it to be over.

After what felt like an eternity the water stopped and she was left sore, drenched and very, very cold if her shivering was anything to go by. It's the type of cold that works its way into your bones and then it's icy tendrils wrap itself around your core and you genuinely wonder if you'll ever feel warmth again. "Get dressed" a flurry of definitely used clothes that consisted of ratty dark jeans and a fade flannel shirt hit her but Ava was that cold she would have worn a garbage bag to get warm at this point so she hurriedly threw them on making a note of just how big they were on her, not that she was about to complain especially if it meant being stripped again.

By now Jacob stood in front of what he could only assume was a drowned rat, her hair now forcefully untangled hung dripping onto the flannel she wore as he grasped her jaw he noticed how she flinched but said nothing, his grip just hard enough to have her attention and possibly leave bruises "when you behave yourself you get privileges like clothes but if you keep running that mouth of yours and misbehaving those privileges get taken away and you'll get punished. I'm sure my men out there would love to see the sight that I just saw and I mean, who knows what would happen if I'm not around" his not so subtle threat was quickly understood; the possibility of getting raped wasn't something she wanted "have I made myself clear?" "y - yes" Jacob quirked an eyebrow and gripped her jaw that little bit harder; more bruises to add to the collection she thought as she painfully cleared her throat "y - yes, sir" her voice was hoarse and it hurt to talk but her answer seemed to satisfy him because relinquished his grip and strode to the door, an arm keeping it open as he glanced at the sorry state of a deputy.

"Time for your trainin', let's go, pup" Ava meekly nodded; too tired and too fearful at this point to put up a fight. Her stomach filled with dread as she made her way towards the door.

It couldn't get any worse, right?

[lxvexx]

Just because Keith is an orphan, doesn't mean he doesn't have family....

So I’ve had this AU in my head for awhile, that Keith actually comes from a really large family. His mom had a lot of kids when she was young, and because of this they lived in a really small, dirty house. I’m thinking because they have such little galra blood they don’t show any signs, and none of them know about it. It’s literally 1:30 in the morning and I’ve been typing this for almost two hours. My fingers are cramped and I’m ready to go to sleep, but I’m really proud of it so it would mean a lot to me if someone read it. Have fun :))

Keith- 1 yr Michael-4 yr Chris-6 yr Daniel-9 yr Louise-10 yr Jacob-14 yr Maggie-15 yr Max-16 yr Henry-17 yr Bethany- 18 yr Susan- 20 yr

•Susan leaves when she’s 19 to raise money/ get a stable job/ apartment to hopefully gain custody of her younger siblings •Dad was an abusive drunk •Mom ended up dying after giving birth to Keith •Gave birth in the house •Bethany leaves after mom dies and dad goes way off into the deep end. No one hears from her for a long time. •Cops come one year after Keith was born - Chaos. Yelling. Gunshots. Dad is killed. Kids are put into separate cars. “Someone grab Keith! Where’s Keith!”

• All get put into the system except Susan and Beth •Keith gets adopted because of age (closed adoption) and due to personality issues gets put back into the system at age 6. Never finds a real family after that. Doesn’t find his siblings until later in life. •Michael and Chris get adopted, Chris’s family stays in touch with Susan, but Michael’s family thinks it’s a bad influence and tries to bury that part of Michael’s life

~four years after being separated •Susan ends up being able to adopt Daniel and Louise after 4 years •By then Jacob Maggie Henry and Max are all of the legal age and looks for apartments together •Susan has a small restaurant and they live in apartment on top of it

~five years after being separated •Jacob moves out to go to LA to become a singer at age 19 but it doesn’t end up working. He stays though, and travels the west coast preforming at bars in exchange for letting him stay •Max (21) and Maggie (20) move to Europe to backpack and photograph their experiences. They sell their prints on their Etsy shop and make quite a lot of money. They end up sending most of it to Susan. •Henry stays in the apartment for a couple more months, but after getting evicted he ends up hitchhiking and train hopping to the South American rainforest. He’s always liked plants more than people anyways.

~six years after being separated •Bethany (24) shows up one day and Susan takes the day off work to catch up. Bethany is now working as a spiritual healer and is traveling across the country helping people. When she stays with Susan she often gets in fights with Daniel (15) who wants to be a doctor but gets along with Louise (16) who has been practicing witchcraft since age 13.

~ten years after being separated •Louise (20), gets on a plane to Iceland and never looks back. She falls in love with the people and the culture, and ends up living out in the middle of nowhere, setting up a witchcraft shop in town. Max and Maggie love staying with her when they travel to Iceland.

~thirteen years after being separated •Daniel (22) visits Alaska in his summer between undergrad and medical school. He ends up falling in love with a local woman, and stays, taking over the small clinic. They soon have twin boys. •Susan (33) shortly after Daniel moves out, she finds out that she’s pregnant. This comes as a shock to both her and her boyfriend, but they are ecstatic. He soon moves in with her above the restaurant, and they set a date for their wedding. •Chris (19) still lives with his parents, but he begins to develop video games. He becomes successful, and sets a money jar aside and starts saving up. He wants to travel to Asia and start a video game company there. •Michael (17) finds out he’s adopted. He demands for his parents to tell him who his parents were. He learns about Susan, and he starts to look for her to reach out.

•Keith (14) was put into a foster home close to where Susan’s restaurant is. He often steals loaves of bread and other food from the grocery store across the street and bring them back to his foster siblings. He has ups and downs with his luck of getting foster parents, and this set ended up being a down. Keith shows up to school with bruises most days, because he would talk back to his foster mom. Due the foster parents not caring about the health of the kids they were fostering, they went unfed most nights. •One afternoon when Susan and her fiancé were coming back from a doctors appointment, Susan’s fiancé caught Keith stealing and cornered him in a alleyway next to the grocery store. Keith hid behind his hair, crossing his arms and wouldn’t say a word. Susan crouched to his height and got a glimpse of his face. She was taken aback, “K-Keith?” Keith’s head shot up, and he questioned how she knew his name. She started crying. Explained to him that she thought he was her brother. Keith was horrified. He ran all the way home as soon as Susan and her fiancé moved enough so he could squeeze through.

•Two days later Keith came back. He felt bad for running out on Susan, and wanted to know more about his family. Susan took the day off and closed the restaurant just for Keith. They talked for hours. Finally, when it was time for Keith to leave, he left with a huge paper bag to bring back to his foster siblings. •Susan is 6 months along. The wedding date is in 11 and a half months. Susan invites Keith to the wedding one day when he after school, but he says that he not sure if he could make it. His foster parents are sending him back to the orphanage, and he doesn't know how long it would be until he was with another family. Susan writes down her phone number and address for him on a napkin. •Susan had been applying for a while to try and adopt Keith, but because of his behavioral problems, it was a lot harder than adopting Daniel and Louise. Susan had wanted to take in Keith ever since she started noticed the cuts and bruises on his face. When she asked him what they were from he wouldn’t give her a straight answer.

•A week later Keith was on his way to the orphanage, which ended up being 4 hours away. He ripped up the napkin on the drive. Susan was going to have a family soon. He didn’t want to ruin that.

~fourteen years after being separated •Susan didn’t hear from Keith again until 10 months later. He was put in another bad foster home pretty close to where she lives, and ended up running away and sleeping on her couch. They both knew he couldn’t stay away for long. Keith often baby sat for Susan. •2 weeks before the wedding the rest of the siblings show up. First Daniel and his wife with their two kids (Susan had only seen pictures) who stayed in a motel down the street. Then Louise with her girlfriend, who stayed in Louise’s old room. Susan had to fire extinguish Louise’s candles multiple times. Then came Bethany, who slept on the couch with Keith. Max and Maggie soon show up. They take the wedding photos. Somewhere in between Jacob, Chris, and Henry show up. The restaurant downstairs soon becomes a mixed-match hotel, with Daniel’s old room having been turned into nursery. Each sibling sleeps in a booth at night, and works shifts during the day. Keith has never been happier. •Michael shows up two days before the wedding. The look of shock on Susan’s face is priceless. •Michael (18) has moved away from his controlling parents. He is now traveling the Midwest in his rv, creating pottery and selling it at art shows on the road.

~fifteen years after being separated •Keith lives with Susan for another year, but soon learns about the Galaxy Garrison. Keith is 16 now and he enrolls. One of his foster brothers from a good foster family is already there. His name is Shiro. •Keith ends up getting kicked out of the garrison for behavioral issues. He lives in the desert as a hermit until something mysterious falls out of the sky. •Keith has no way of contacting Susan to let her know he’s alright. Susan is used to not hearing from her siblings for a couple of months, but after she visits the garrison and finds out Keith was reported missing 6 months ago, Susan turns frantic. She never stops looking for him.