#he just sees Toto coming down with me and thinks he's getting extra human time

[flock-talk]

so proud of these boys tonight!

I brought out one dish of veggies this evening and they shared pretty successfully! Newt Took over the dish and was politely guarding it (giving a hard stare when Toto tried to take food out of the bowl), I helped out by dumping some veg out and scattering it a couple inches away from the bowl. After a couple more attempts at eating from the bowl and politely shuffling away when newt said "no" Toto turned to the scattered veg and happily ate that. Newt even allowed him to nibble at the debris newt had wiped on the edge of the veggie bowl.

Really reasonable levels of resource guarding, respectful response, ample patience, and both of them self-settling on a communal compromise. lovely!

and this was downstairs, just outside of the bird room. I switched up the routine a bit so instead of grabbing Toto and heading down I grab Newt, head up for Toto, then head back down. and that seems to have completely resolved the chasing problem.

Poor sweet noodle man was just feeling like he was second best :(

[super-marvel-dc]

Imagine Wade Wilson and Y/N running into team free will + Bobby and crowley

➳ I'm so sorry this took forever to write. I've been tired lately and super busy with stuff at home! @whatrambles ➳

Warning: language, because it's Wade. And probably a d!ck joke.

Y/N: Wade, are you sure this is the right turn? We've been driving for hours.

Wade: Pfft! Of course I'm not sure! How long have you known me?

Y/N: *Sighs* That's what I thought.

Y/N: *See's sign that says welcome to Kansas* Uh, Wade?

Wade: Yeah?

Y/N: Why are we in Kansas? I told you you missed the turn! We were supposed to be going to Virginia!

Wade: Huh. Well shit! Will ya look at that! *Laughs*

Y/N: *Sighs annoyed* Next time you're taking that metal dude that you broke your hand on his dick.

Wade: Ok, firstly, we don't need to talk about that. And secondly, just go to sleep I'll wake you when I find someplace to stop.

*A few hours later*

Wade: *Shakes Y/N* Rise and shine chicken shit!

Y/N: Why can't you ever wake me up normally!?

Wade: Where's the fun in that!

Y/N: Where are we anyway?

Wade: Still in Kansas Toto.

Y/N: Where in Kansas?

Wade: Some places called Lawrence, And we're out of gas so I stopped at a gas station.

Y/N: Let me guess you didn't bring much money?

Wade: *Smiles innocently*

Y/N: I will go pay. Again *gets out of the car and goes into the store*

*Meanwhile, Sam, Dean, Bobby, Cas and Crowley stop at the same gas station*

Sam: I gotta run to the bathroom.

Dean: Yeah, didn't need to know that, Sammy!

Dean: Welp, I'm gonna go stock up on candy! *Giggles like a child*

Crowley: Idjit.

Bobby: *Smacks Crowley upside the head* Only I get to call him that.

Cas: Is anyone supposed to get the gas?

Bobby: Looks like I'll be pumping it *rolls eyes*

Cas, to Crowley: Do you think the bee's still miss me as their queen?

Crowley: *Sighs* Yes.

Cas: I should visit them again just to make them happy *smiles adorably*

Y/N, leaving the store: *See's a guy with his arms full of candy and holds the door for him*

Dean: *muffled thank you*

Sam: Thanks.

Y/N: No problem!

*Everyone walks to their vehicle*

Y/N: Uh, Wade, You know the tires are flat?

Wade: *Gasps dramatically* Oh shit balls! They're flatter then my ass.

Y/N: Actually you have a nice ass but that's besides the point.

Bobby: *Hears someone say balls and looks over* Hey, you two ok?

Y/N, to Bobby: Uh, kinda. This idiot has been driving for hours without checking the tire pressure.

Wade: Hey! That's Mr. Idiot to you.

Y/N, to Bobby: Do you know anywhere we can get the tires done?

Bobby: I have a shop not too far down from here, I can help you there.

Y/N: Thank you! But, um, where would we sit?

*A few moments later. Y/N is in between Cas and Crowley while Wade sits on Y/N's lap, sleeping*

Y/N: You should really lay off the extra fries next time!

Wade: *Snores loudly*

Crowley: Would you like me to put him on the roof?

Y/N: I would say yes but that would be too mean of me.

Cas: I'm glad you chose the right thing to do *smiles*

Y/N: You're cute. I like this one.

Cas: Well thank you kind human.

Y/N: So, uh, what's with you guys?

Cas: We're monster hunters. I'm an angel of the lord and that's a demon *Points to Crowley*

Y/N: Ok.

Dean: That's it? You believe us just like that?

Y/N: I'm a superhero that fights alongside This idiot *looks at Wade*. I've fought aliens, Gods, humans, etc. I've even fought this guy and Thor for a Pop-Tart, so none of this surprises me.

Sam: I knew you looked familiar! I've seen you on the news, you're (your superhero name), right?

Y/N: At least someone recognized me.

Wade: *Wakes up* Oh please, he's just saying that because he likes you *goes back to sleep*

Sam: *Blushes* I- I, what? No!

Dean: Ohhh, Sammy has a crush!

Sam: No I don't!

Dean: Yes you do!

Sam: No-

Bobby, sitting between Sam and Dean: *Smacks them both on the back of the head* What are yous five!?

Sam, and Dean: Sorry Bobby.

Bobby: Just focus on the road, boys. Whispers* Idjits.

*Hours later, The car tires are taken care of*

Bobby: Well, there ya go. All fixed up.

Y/N: Thank you. I don't know how to repay you, um?

Bobby: The names Bobby.

Y/N: Bobby. I'm Y/N, that idiot over there is Wade.

Crowley: I'm Crowley, the big one over there is named moose, the other tall one is named squirrel and the other one is named baby in a trench coat.

Bobby: *Smacks Crowley upside the head* The tall one over there is Sam, the one next to him is his brother Dean and the one balancing a pencil on his upper lip is Castiel. Cas for short.

Y/N: Well it was nice meeting you all. Thank you again for your kindness.

Bobby: No problem. Here *hands Y/N a card with Bobby's name and phone number on it* call me if you ever need help, or if you're even in the neighborhood again, stop by.

Y/N: Will do! Thank you again but I have to get going now.

Y/N, to Wade: Come on dumb ass!

Wade: *Slides down a car* Coming!

Y/N: Bye guys! It was nice meeting you all *winks at Cas*

Cas: *Waves at Y/N*

*Wade and Y/N leave*

Cas: I'm gonna miss Y/N.

Sam: Me too.

Crowley: Aw, don't worry you two, they'll come back.

Sam: And how would you know that?

Crowley: Because I made the Wilson guy a deal *smirks*

Dean: You dumbass. You do realize he can't die right?

Crowley: *Stops smirking* Balls!

[i8jisoo]

victon reaction to going to them to cuddle 🥺

𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐍 ⇉ victon & a cuddly s/o

victon x reader | reaction

↬ genre; fluff 

↬ warnings; cursing but we super cute

↬ notes; this was cute but i was so backed up lmfao so we doin’ it

seungwoo

okay starting off he’s a tall one, so since i usually picture everyone my height which is 4′9, your cuddles might start off with you climbing on him like a child and a mother. if you’re as tall as him or just the average, he still doesn’t give a shit, he will carry you and he’ll take you over to either the couch or the bed and he’ll set you down first before settling behind you. he’ll snuggle up to your neck, his arms around your shoulders, he’ll practically be choking you deadass. 

i don’t see him doing this around people though, i think he likes to be secretive and discreet about this. when it’s just you to, the cuddliest most teddy-bear like guy ever. the small cuddle time turns into hours and you two will end up falling asleep wherever y’all are at. snuggle on the couch, your head is on his chest and his feet aren’t even on the sofa.

“alright, up you go.” seungwoo sighed, pulling you up and pulling your legs around his waist while he takes you to the couch to come cuddle you. 

seungsik

i see him always being really tired when he asks for a cuddle, but he wants one instantly and will not take no for an answer. seungsik definitely will go to you more for a cuddle, but when you come to him, he is so happy. seungsik is definitely this leader who is great and strong to everyone, but in his home — he is the one to be babied. seungsik is baby let’s be honest, he will always be the one scooped up in your arms.

he had a bad day? cuddle. you had a bad day? cuddle. feeling cold? cuddle. it’s hot as hell outside? cuddle. anything and everything will have cuddles involved. you two will just sit at first and then by the end of the night will find him in your arms, snoring with his head against your tummy and his arms around your waist. he also scares the fuck out of you when he’ll sleep walk or talk in his sleep, you’re deadass jumping at the movement or sounds.

“come here, baby.” you say softly, your arms wide and seungsik walks over. you’ll take him in, sitting on the couch as you do so and rolling back with him. you two will lay there for hours while you play with his hair or watch a show.

heo-chan

another big baby, chan will come to you or you come to him and you two will wobble until you’re on the bed. he is abnormally soft and loves to just tangle your legs up and lay there. he’ll probably have his arms around you most of the time, his fingers laced with yours and his head against the pillow with you on top of him.

100% you always get up and straddle him, only to tickle him and have a giggly chan begging for you to stop. this boy can talk, he isn’t shy with you and he just talks and talks. he will make you cuddle a lot and need extra ones when he has a bad day. chan is pouty and will let you hold him while he rants and talks to you, he might just cry.

you two had just got back from chan’s check-up at the doctor, the boy devastated at the fact he had to get a vaccine. “i do not like you right now.” he just hmph’ed, crossing his arms. “come here baby, i know you want to.” you open your arms, chan doing a double take before accepting and letting you take him to the comfort of his bed to cuddle him. you gave him a kiss on his band-aid on his arm, rubbing his back.

sejun

he will probably have a bowl of whatever snack on ur back, turning on a movie or show as you sleep soundly and unknowingly have a bowl of food resting atop you. he will sometimes see how much shit he can put on top of you, then to have you wake up and everything tumble down or he’ll scare you when he shouts for you to stay still.

if he isn’t eating — poke, poke, poke — sejun is annoying you as you try to cuddle. he will be going after you when you pull up and off of him, leaving him alone on the couch so you can close your eyes and rest. 9/10 times he will pull your arm back and make you fall so then he’ll feel super shitty but that just means more cuddles so it’s alright. sejun is here to kiss your boo-boo’s.

“y/n! no! don’t go!!!” he shouts, watching you rush down the hallway and into the room. he’ll slide down the hallway in his socks and open the door, practically jumping on top of you and into the bed. “go away..” you murmur tiredly, yawning. he cuddles into you and holds onto you like a sloth hold, giving you the most comfortable sleep of all time. “goodnight y/n.”

hanse

laying in his room is not good, you will probably 7/10 times be laying on a shit-ton of clothes that he doesn’t pick up. i feel like he’s a human heater, you just cuddle up to him and he’s warming you up instantly, no blankets needed. you also have to remind him to take off his glasses or contacts before cuddling, y’all fall asleep often so you don’t want him to break his glasses or accidentally irritate his eyes. 

you guys might lay in bed and paint his nails or do his hair, it doesn’t matter to him. he likes doing these things. you will break his arm to paint his nails, the next week he’ll switch to another color. there is always music playing, blasting and making subin very annoyed!!!! 

“that hurts, ow!!” hanse whines, your hand turning his arm in a direction it obviously does not go in. “shh! stop moving, you’re gonna make me mess them up!” you tell him to suck it up of course, your back to his chest and you lay on top of him with his arm stuck in the air and turned so you could paint them.

byungchan

he’s tall, he’s y’know.. he’s a giant. that doesn’t stop him from being your very small baby though, he loves to feel babied. he’ll want to cuddle into your neck and wrap his arms around your waist, his body on top of yours and his body definitely weighing on you. occasionally he will be humming a girl group song or he’ll be mumbling the lyrics to one, earning him a glare from you to be quiet while you were trying to watch the screen on your phone. 

he loves cuddling. he will come home just to cuddle matter of fact, he’ll drop anything and everything to lay there in your arms and just snuggle into you. he’s sad when you leave for work or aren’t there when he’s back, he guesses the trace of your shampoo on the pillow case will have to work.

“where are you!” byungchan calls out, dropping his bag for practice on the floor and his shoes are kicked off as soon as he walks through the door. “i’m watching a movie, go away!” you yelled, byungchan knowing instantly you were in the bedroom and doing a sprint towards there. he practically jumps on you and into the bed, clinging to you like a baby on a mother’s hip. you groan, “no talking, i’m trying to watch.” you mumble, soon enough hearing his soft breathing and feeling it on your neck as he relaxes.

subin

he is a baby himself but in the dorms you and his small furry babies are his own. toto, mimi, and jaws will lay next to you guys or underneath the covers with y’all. he’ll wiggle around before finding a comfortable spot and sticking with it. if you fuck up his bed for perfect cuddling, he will fuck you up. his bed is clear and perfect for only you, if anybody else fucks it up before he comes back and it’s not in perfect condition, he will hunt them down. 

short baby will drown in large clothes, but you are smaller so you two are both equally drowning in clothes. he will watch a movie while texting the boys or texting somebody, all screens are on but don’t worry, he hasn’t forgotten about his little baby that’s in his arms.

“subin!!! subiiinnn!!!!!” you say loudly, muffled by the large hoodie draped over him. he’s focused on the messages on his screen, his fingers probably burned at his rapid typing. you pull at his phone, “whaaaattt!!!” he mocks, looking at you to see what you wanted. “toto just peed on the floor, dummy!” sure enough, you’re right. there is a puddle and toto will be sitting next to it, proud and unbothered by the accident on the floor. “toto no!!” he whines, pushing you off and having to clean up the mess with a pout.

©️ maysdiors 2020 :: all rights reserved. do not repost my work on tumblr or other platforms.

[sunshinejins]

if i was dying on my knees (you’d be the one to rescue me)

(title from brother by kodaline)

so, hi!  jatp has reignited my desire to write again and this time i think i might actually finish a whole fic.  so uh, here it is :) please let me know if you like it, I’ll hopefully update asap, but i’m in uni so asap may be in like two weeks.  unless people really like it.  then, probably sooner lmao.

pairing: julie molina x luke patterson

fandom: julie and the phantoms

warnings: death bc rose, and i swear once but other than that i think nothing else?

Julie didn’t want to be frustrated, she really didn’t.  In fact, she wanted to be sad, mourning, depressed, or literally anything other than slightly pissed off all the time.  It’s incredibly exhausting to be angry all the time, and she felt like being sad would at least give her blood a break from simmering.

But her mom died.  And apparently her body only knows how to process grief by developing a rather annoying tendency to be irritated constantly.

She tries to forget it though.  Instead of wallowing in the negative feelings that cloud her family in the months following Rose Molina’s death, she throws herself into distractions.  She gets a job at a coffee shop near the USC campus and puts almost all her effort into becoming a top employee.  Her grades don’t drop because thankfully her professors seemed to all inherently understand that she just couldn’t sing anymore.  Like at all.

The world kept spinning.  Julie could only hope to hold on.

That’s how she ended up, six months later, complaining over a milk frother about her very well-intentioned best friend to the only person she knew would listen.

“Flynn just doesn’t understand,” Julie moans, shutting off the machine and dumping the contents unceremoniously into a to-go cup.  Her coworker, Allison, raises an eyebrow and swipes a rag at the milk spill that pools under the cup.

“Did she try to get you to sing again?”

“Surprise karaoke night with her girlfriend and a couple kids from class.  Her intentions were pure though so I don’t even know why I’m upset.” Julie shoves a lid onto the cup and slides it across the counter to a pre-occupied businessman who doesn’t notice the extra milk soaked into the bottom.  Allison nods thoughtfully and starts dumping coffee beans into the espresso machine.  Julie watches her with slight awe.  Allison was one of those people that terrified Julie when she met her; everything about her felt polished and put together down to the blunt cut of her pale blonde hair and the curve of her smirk when she smiled.  Soon enough, Julie discovered that she was as warm as any of her other friends, but it had taken a lot of closing shifts and smoothie runs to come to that conclusion.

Allison sets down the bag of coffee beans and gives Julie one of her solemn looks; it’s the sort of look where Julie thinks Allison could probably read her mind if she tried hard enough.

“Maybe they’re going about it wrong.  You haven’t been around music properly in what?  A year?  What if you just need to sit and listen to music again to just get you used to the environment?” Julie thinks for a moment.  Allison raises a fair point, and it’s the complete opposite tactic that everyone else has been trying, which has been to shove music in front of her to sing and give her expectant and hopeful looks. It’s a trial run.  Something casual.

“Where would I go?” Allison smiles a bit and passes Julie a container of oat milk to put away.

“There’s a bar off Sunset that’s hosting an open mic tonight.  Very relaxed and casual vibes.  I could pick you up from your apartment and take you.  We haven’t hung out since that movie night a while ago.”  Julie hesitates.  It’s not that she’s opposed to spending a night with Allison, but a small part of her feels like she’s cheating on her current circle of emotional support humans by agreeing to go. Not that her dad or Carlos or Tia would mind, but Flynn would possibly take offence and that alone stalled Julie for longer than she realized. Allison clocks the look on her face and amends the statement.

“Flynn is obviously welcome too.”

A mind reader, Julie swears. 

“Hell yeah. Let’s do this.”

***

Julie’s feeling significantly less optimistic when Allison’s car has been driven away by the valet and herself, Flynn, and Allison are all standing in line outside the club. Julie can feel the bass of the songs playing more than she can hear them, but the proximity of music is enough to make her palms sweat. Other than the music the coffee shop plays and the strains of country she hears through Carlos’ wall, Julie hasn’t heard proper music since Tia Victoria sang “Amazing Grace” for her mother’s funeral. Flynn notices her nervous look. 

“Chill, Jules. It’s all very chill. We’re just gonna listen to a couple bands.” 

“Flynn’s right. And if at any point you want to bail, we can go get soft pretzels.” 

“But we should try and stay for the whole thing!”

“However, we’re also going to respect you if you can’t do that,” Allison punctuates this sentence with a meaningful eyebrow raise and Flynn nods vigorously. Julie swallows and tries to mimic the courage she had a few hours ago.  The bartender scrutinizes their IDs for a moment before allowing them to sweep into the bar and Julie’s jaw nearly drops at the volume of people contained inside.  Nearly every seat is filled, and the standing areas are packed with people all jamming to the band onstage that’s currently playing what Julie has to admit is a pretty kick ass cover of “Somebody Told Me” by The Killers.  

Allison somehow discovers a table near the edge of the bar, and disappears off to get them drinks.  Flynn’s rocking out already, and Julie feels a few of the nerves in her stomach even out as the realization that she doesn’t have to sing sinks into her bones.  Allison was right, unsurprisingly.  If she focuses hard enough, she can even push out the memories of coming to these sorts of open nights with her mom.  Flynn shoots her a large and grateful grin and Julie lets herself smile back.  She’s taking a step.  She’s doing it.

Allison returns as the band switches and a new band begins to play a hyped up cover of “Africa” by Toto.  The three girls lapse into quiet appreciation of the music, with Flynn singing along to every song played, Allison bobbing her head to herself and occasionally letting out a few notes in her vocal range, and Julie just quietly appreciating the fact that she doesn’t feel like throwing up.

It’s all very casual, just like her friends said.

Until it’s not.

As the third band of the night begins their last song, Julie retreats to find the bathroom.  It’s hidden nearly backstage, and she’s just about to make it to the door when she hears the panicked shouts of someone from near the curtain which separates the small backstage from the actual performing area.

“Dude, I cannot believe he bailed on us.”

“Are you really surprised?  Bobby was a piece of shit.”

“Hey, he didn’t use to be!”

“Calm down, Reg.  You know he’s been treating us like garbage ever since that record label thought he had a ‘marketable voice’ or whatever they said.”

“Guys he bailed on us, what are we supposed to do?”

Julie, despite all the “stranger danger” lessons running through her brain, backed up far enough to see into the backstage area.  Three guys stood there, two with a guitar and a bass each and one with drumsticks he was nervously twirling.  The one with the guitar had his face buried in his hands and kept swearing heavily under his breath.  The other two seemed frozen in their own panic as well.  Guitar Player removed his hands from his face and Julie caught a glimpse of worried hazel eyes and dark curls.  Bass Player opened his arms and Guitar Player tumbled into them for a hug while Drum Player rubbed his back.  The three guys looked absolutely wrecked.

Here’s the thing: Julie had an uncontrollable urge to help people.  It’s how she got roped into half of Flynn’s schemes, how she ended up teaching Carlos all of his second grade science curriculum herself, and how she somehow became the unofficial backbone of her family after her mom died.  Seeing three guys utterly wrecked because, presumably, their fourth bandmate had bailed on them?  It activated that uncontrollable urge deep in her stomach.

Here’s another thing: Julie hasn’t played music or sang in six months.  She’s had no desire to, and every time she’s tried, the distinct urge to throw up overtook her.  Tonight was supposed to be the baby step that showed her whether or not music was something she could seriously consider again; whether or not she could feel that itch to perform anymore.

“Hey, do you guys need a fourth?”

She felt the itch.  

The three guys looked up in varying levels of shock.  Drum Player recovered first, and stepped towards her hesitantly, wringing his pink hoodie as he did.

“Um, what?”

“It sounded like someone bailed on you.  I can play.  If you need it.”  Guitar Player recovers next and nearly bounds over to her in barely contained excitement.

“You can play rhythm guitar?”

“No,” the three boys deflate, “I can play piano though.”  Guitar Player tilts his head to the side as though playing a melody through in his head.  He turns back to the other two.

“Bright could fit piano.”

“We never wrote the music for a piano component,” Drum Player wrinkles his nose.

“I did,” Guitar Player admits.  The other two don’t look phased, though Bass Player does raise an eyebrow.  “I was bored!”

“Okay, but we don’t want to put you out,” Drum Player turns back to Julie and she swallows.  

“No, I offered.  Let me see the music.”

“Okay, but you have like ten minutes!” Bass Player finally chips in with a surprisingly cheerful tone.  Guitar Player hands Julie what looks like a piece of notebook paper and her eyes skim the words and notes.  It’s feasible for sure, but she can feel the nerves prickling at her stomach.  Guitar Player leans into her space and she clocks how ridiculously attractive he is up close.  He gives her a smile.

“We alternative verses like this, see?  And I don’t know your range, but we can figure that out on the go.”  Julie gives him a small smile.

“Somewhere between mezzo-soprano and soprano.”

“We can work with that.” Guitar Player seems to vibrate with energy.  “Are you sure you wanna do this?”

“No pressure,” Bass Player adds.

“Like seriously, none.  We can just go home and cry,” Drum Player says.  Julie isn’t sure.  She really isn’t.  In fact, she’s pretty sure she should just run away and hope she never sees these guys again.

“I’m sure.”

Well, that’s that.

Guitar Player sends her a smile that looks genuinely like someone has funnelled sunlight into his body and Julie feels the nerves lift for half a second.  Then, they’re called to the stage and all of a sudden she feels like she could puke all over again.  Guitar Player grabs her hand and squeezes it.

“You got this.”

Julie files out with the rest of the band and she’s extremely grateful her friends aren’t sitting in her direct line of sight.  The piano is definitely worn out from use, but her fingers settle naturally on the keys and Julie tries to focus on the budding itch to perform in her stomach rather than the urge to throw up.  She’s supposed to start this song.  This song that she became aware of ten minutes earlier.  She catches Guitar Player’s eye and he nods encouragingly.

She presses down on the keys and opens her mouth. 

Sometimes I think I'm falling down

I wanna cry, I'm calling out

For one more try to feel alive

And when I feel lost and alone

I know that I can make it home

Fight through the dark and find the spark

[writersrealmbts]

Alternate Reality Nightmare: Part 1

Description: You end up in an alternate reality with your bias when you got lost trying to get out, and things definitely aren’t the same here as they are where you’re from. Namjoon x Reader.

Warnings: Violence, other issues, (You should always be careful when reading things)

Posted: 10/27/2018

Tags: Namjoon, Reader X Namjoon, AlternateReality!AU

Angst: 3,522 words

A/N: This one has been in the works for a while. The next part won’t be as together, with some time skips for the sake of my sanity, but hopefully the ending will be satisfying for you.

You raced through the event center, trying to get out. To go back to your hotel to calm yourself down and get the sleep you needed. You shouldn’t have come here. It was too much with the jet-lag. You fell forward, but someone caught you. You looked up and just about died. It was him. Then you saw past him in your panic and you ended up ignoring him when he asked if you were okay with a surprised little smile. You pointed behind him. He turned to look and flinched. “Oh shit.” The two of you were no longer in the event center with thousands of other screaming fans and his band mates. His grip on your arms tightened. “Where are we?” You looked around, panic welling up. “I…I think we’re in the same spot, but…” “But there’s no building.” He finished the statement, moving his grip from your arms to one hand of your hands. “All of the signs are still in Korean.” You shuddered, suddenly glad he spoke English. You knew a little bit of Korean, what you had studied so that you could function when you came over. “Alright, let’s walk down the road and see what happens,” he suggested, sounding calm and rationale but looking almost as freaked out as you were. “Um, is it okay if I don’t let go?” You asked, your voice shaking. You thought you might panic if you lost the contact with his hand, which was opposite of what you had been thinking earlier. You had thought you might panic if you got this close to any of the boys. Now you were clinging to his hand because it was the only thing you recognized. He looked down at you and then gave your hand an extra squeeze. “Yeah, stay close…?” “Y/n.” “Namjoon. Anyway, if everything is different, then…” “For sanity,” you suggested. He gave a nervous smile. “For sanity.” The two of you slowly made your way down the street, noting the glares and whispers that followed. His grip tightened more and more. Someone stopped you, speaking in angry Korean. You glanced between Namjoon and this older woman. Finally, Namjoon dodged around the woman, pulling you with him. “Hurry.” You picked up your pace to match his rushed one. “What did she say?” “She called you my slave.” “Excuse me?!” He gave you a scared and worried look. “She told me that I shouldn’t be so familiar with my slave and that I shouldn’t let you on main roads where you could be seen. Something is off and I can’t place it. Please just come with me.” You caught up with him, sticking close to his side. Slave. The political implications of that were pretty clear. Your parents came to your mind and the panic kept rising. He suddenly pulled you into an alley, navigating through it until the two of you came out on a smaller, dirt street that was virtually abandoned. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” you murmured, letting go of his hand and dropping against a wall. He stood in the middle of the street, looking up and down it. “I’m sorry.” “For what? It’s not like you were the one that dropped us into an alternate reality.” You were regulating your breathing to try and keep from crying or panicking. “You came to see us, though. If you hadn’t you might be safe. You aren’t safe now.” “But I’m not alone. This would be a lot worse if I was alone. Though, I’m sorry that it was you. Everyone will be worried about you. The boys, your family, the company, and your fans.” “People will be worried about you too.” “Just my mom and dad. A couple friends. It’s almost inconsequential compared to—“ “It’s not. You are just as important as I am.” He knelt in front of you. “We’ll find a way back to our families.” You stared into his eyes, hoping he was right but knowing it was possible that he was wrong. “What were you doing in that hallway anyway?” He asked, smiling a little. “Chickening out of actually meeting any of you,” you answered, inhaling sharply, and letting out a shaky breath. He looked surprised. “You were leaving?” “I have panic attacks sometimes and I felt a little…I didn’t want to have a panic attack there. It would have been too embarrassing. I didn’t want to be that girl. The one who passes out from meeting human beings who just happen to make amazing music. I promised myself I would never be like that.” “You have panic attacks?” He frowned. You nodded. “I don’t have them as often since I switched jobs, and since I started taking medicine. Got regular sleep, didn’t have caffeine.” “Jet lag?” You nodded. He nodded in return, then stood, holding his hand out to you. “Come on. We’re in this together.” “Namjoon?” A deep voice asked off to one side. One that both of you recognized. Taehyung was staring at Namjoon, but he didn’t look like the Taehyung you both knew. This Taehyung had his hair blue, royal blue, but he was also wearing some sort of fancy uniform, and had strange designs painted on his face. “Taehyung-ssi?” Namjoon stood up slowly, glancing nervously at you. Taehyung swallowed hard. “But…you were…by her…” Taehyung suddenly had his gaze fixed on you, and he was glaring. “Don’t tell me you work for them now!” “I don’t work for anyone Taehyung. I don’t know what’s going on. Please, we need to get her off the street. Please.” Taehyung looked angry and confused. “Why should I help her? Why would you help her? She’s the one that took you from us!” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Namjoon held up both of his hands. “It’s hard to explain. Please, if you ever trusted me, help me get her somewhere safe. She’s scared. I’m scared.” You could hear people coming and whatever they were saying sent Namjoon off. “Taehyung, please!” Namjoon grabbed his friends arm. Taehyung’s gaze was sad as he nodded. “Alright, Hyung. Follow me.” Namjoon quickly turned to you. You got up and took his hand and both of you hurried after Taehyung. Every time someone saw you they were outraged and were yelling at Namjoon and Taehyung. The second crowd was when Taehyung took matters into his own hands. He grabbed your arm and pulled you roughly to his side. He said something in Korean as he dragged you through the crowds and Namjoon followed. He definitely wasn’t just doing it for show, his grip on your arm painful. And he didn’t let go until he basically threw you through the gate of a large residence. You fell down, scraping your hands and knees, and officially unable to breathe. You heard the gate close, then gentle hands and angry Korean greeted you. Taehyung responded in a frustrated tone. Namjoon brushed his fingers over your arm where Taehyung had handled you. He spoke harshly. You looked up at Taehyung as you managed to calm down. “Thank you.” Both of them shut up, mouths open in shock. You looked at Namjoon. “They thought I was a slave. The best explanation is for me to be in trouble. It made my reaction genuine.” “You’re having a panic attack,” Namjoon argued, pulling you to your feet. Taehyung said something that seemed to calm Namjoon down. You looked back up at Taehyung. “Hang on, you spoke English fluently earlier.” He nodded. Namjoon looked at his little brother and shook his head. “When did you learn English?” “We all learned it after you…after she took you. We were trying to find you. Know your enemies, right?” He stared at the ground, looking like he didn’t know whether to glare or be sad. “We should get inside. The other guys should know.” Namjoon looked at you, then at Taehyung. “You’ll help me keep her safe?” “Yes, Hyung. But only until you explain what’s going on. Then I make no promises.” “That’s enough,” Namjoon said, relief evident in his voice. Taehyung led the way inside. “Hyungs! Jimin-ssi! Jungkook-ssi! Meeting in the Living room!” Namjoon kept hold of your hand, whispering calming words to try and help you come back from the panic. It really wasn’t too bad of an attack as far as your attacks went, but… Taehyung gestured for you to take a seat on the couch, then went into the kitchen, yelling out in Korean. He came back with a cup of water, putting it in your shaking free hand and holding it steady even though he obviously disliked you. You took a drink, calming surprisingly fast. “Taehyung,” Jin said. He was staring at you and Namjoon looking like he had seen a ghost. He had different markings from Taehyung, but like Taehyung was still extremely handsome with his silver hair. His clothes were a little more normal. Taehyung went over and guided him to a seat, speaking softly in Korean. Jin slowly nodded. Jungkook, Jimin, and J-Hope came in next but their reactions weren’t as subdued as Jin’s. Jungkook‘s eyes widened and Namjoon’s name slipped between his lips, but then he saw you. Jimin had seen you first, then Namjoon. J-Hope was probably the scariest difference, looking like some sort of demon with his markings and hair, and his fingers pressing into your neck and cutting off oxygen. “Hoseok!” Namjoon tried to push J-Hope away, finally succeeding when Taehyung helped him. J-Hope spat out words that were filled with venom despite your inability to understand. You gasped for breath, pressing back into the cushions of the couch as they argued loudly and J-Hope glared at you. “Hey!” Someone finally yelled over everyone. Silence fell as everyone fell still and everyone looked at Jin. Suga had snuck in at some point and was standing beside him looking shocked. Jin’s glare was intense. He barked out an order in a tone that had all of the boys except Namjoon scrambling to sit at attention. Namjoon looked at them in confusion, then slowly moved back to your side and sat. “What’s going on?” You whispered, your voice pitched ultra high from the panic that was overwhelming you. He looked at you, then quickly wrapped his arms around you. “I don’t know. Are you okay?” You shook your head. He helped you go through some different things to calm down, ignoring the other boys. It took a while, and the whole time they were perfectly silent. Waiting. Finally, you were able to breathe easily and didn’t feel like you were going to die. You and Namjoon faced his group members and you could see them all clearly. Suga had the least markings, most of his were on his neck and hands. He was wearing the lightest colored clothing, a pale blue that went well with his brown hair. Jimin looked a little creepy, his gaze intense and fixed on you, the dark markings around his eyes emphasizing his glare. It gave you flashbacks to the beginning of their music career when they always had dark eyeliner on, but this was also very different. There was something ominous about the markings. This pink-haired Jimin looked nothing like the soft Mochi you remembered from the Spring Day era. Jungkook somehow looked even more like a bunny with his markings and his dark purple hair. His eyes looked huge as he looked nervously back and forth between Namjoon, Jin, and J-Hope. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t dare. J-hopes markings almost completely covered his face, and his hair looked like it had been dyed with blood. He wore blacks and dark greys, and looked at you so casually murderous that you had a feeling he didn’t go by J-Hope here. “Namjoon…explain,” Jin finally ordered in that same voice that brooked no argument. Namjoon squeezes your hand, checking one last time that you were okay before facing the boys. “Is it okay if I speak in English?” Jin nodded sharply. Namjoon nodded, seeming nervous. He took a breath but his voice didn’t come out. “Hyung, what happened to your marks?” Jungkook asked in a soft voice, glancing nervously at Jin after. Jin made a slight gesture that seemed to be forgiving him and prompting Namjoon to answer. There was something about Jin that was so…authoritative. “I’ve never had…marks,” Namjoon answered slowly. “I don’t know what is going on. I just know that she’s considered a slave or something and there’s some sort of war…and apparently, your Namjoon was taken or killed.” “Do you think this is a joke?” J-Hope hissed, tensing as if he was getting ready to pounce. “Hoseok,” Jin growled, shooting a glare in that direction. J-Hope looked away with an apology in Korean. “Explain,” Jin demanded, fixing his gaze on both of you. Namjoon hesitated. “Where we’re from, the seven of you make up a very popular music group, Bangtan Sonyeondan, or BTS. I’m a fan. I was at an event that you were throwing. I was leaving and I ran into Namjoon. When we looked up again, we weren’t there anymore. We were here. Where I’m a slave, or some sort of soldier, and let me tell you right now, I’m really not.” Jin’s eyes flashed silver as his gaze flicked between you and Namjoon. The others seemed to be waiting for him. “They’re telling the truth.” You flinched, sharing a glance with Namjoon. “How do you know?” Namjoon asked, curious despite the intensity of the situation. They all looked at him like he grew a second head. Hoseok cleared his throat, suddenly looking less hostile. “So, another dimension?” Jin leaned back into his seat. “Taehyung and Jimin, go prepare a room for y/n. Jungkook, back to work. Yoongi, you too. Hoseok, we’ll discuss your temper and punishment later.” “Yes, Hyung,” the other boys chorused, then dispersed, with many glances back towards the two of you. Then it was just the three of you. Jin deflated and dropped his head into his hands, the heels of his hands rubbing his eyes. “Sorry about Hoseok. He hasn’t been the same since his family was killed, and when you…when our Namjoon was taken he sort of snapped. We all did, but in different ways. We can’t even get Jungkook-ssi to leave the barrack.” “And you all know English,” you murmured. He nodded, sitting straight again and fixing you both with a serious gaze. “I’ll have to talk to Jungkook and see what he’s been up to. He should know better than to mess with things beyond his understanding.” You stared for a moment. “You think Jungkook did this?” “Him or Jimin. If not them, then something is going on that is beyond my rank.” Jin looked worried. And he looked too thin. Drawn out. Like he had been shoved into a role that he had no idea how to fill and was at his wits end to do so. “Was I the leader?” Namjoon asked, taking your hand in his again and squeezing it. Jin nodded slowly. “We always thought Hoseok would be the leader if something happened to you, but he couldn’t be rational. He was in so much pain. It’s been a long time since he’s acted like our hope.” “Hyung,” Namjoon murmured, obviously worried about them even though you both knew that they weren’t the same people. “I’m sorry.” You wanted to just tuck Jin into a bed and feed him and tell him everything would be okay. You wanted to make him smile and laugh. “Yoongi has been doing what he could to help, but most of the time it’s all he can do just to keep Hoseok under control when I’m busy. Jimin and Taehyung stick together. Taehyung makes sure Jimin doesn’t get too upset when Hoseok brushes him off. Jungkook doesn’t normally cause any problems. He sticks with Taehyung and Jimin when they’re home. And he’s one of the few that Hoseok still seems to remember to care about.” Jin got up and straightened up the couch, then gestured for the two of you to follow him into the kitchen. He started scrubbing counters. “I’m doing my best, but i guess I’m failing. I don’t know why you…why he kept me in his team. Especially once Jungkook was able to do everything I could teach him. And our Namjoon has the same gifts I did. It should have been Hoseok. Maybe the responsibility would have kept him from going off. Namjoon. That idiot. He shouldn’t have saved me. He shouldn’t have chosen me.” You squeezed Namjoon’s hand to resist the urge to make Jin stop working so hard. He looked so pale. His eyes flashed silver and he flinched, knocking the vase to the ground as he almost collapsed. “Hyung!” Namjoon hurried to Jin’s side. You looked around and spotted the broom, waiting for Namjoon to help the protesting man out of the way so you could sweep. Namjoon practically forced Jin into one of the chairs. “I’m fine. It was just a small one,” Jin said. Jungkook came running in. “Hyung?” “I’m fine. It was just a small one.” “The physician said you should call him if you have one,” Jungkook murmured, still acting respectful, but also acting casually. “They’re getting more frequent…” “Everything will be okay, Jungkook-ssi. Don’t worry about me. I…” his eyes flashed again and he stiffened then his eyes rolled back. “Hyung?!” Jungkook caught Jin as he fell sideways. “Yoongi-Hyung! Hurry!” “Is—is he having a seizure?” You asked. Yoongi darted in. “Get him on the floor.” Jungkook and Namjoon got him on the floor and Yoongi put a hand on Jin’s chest as the man convulsed. Yoongi’s eyes glowed warmly despite his worried expression. He was focused intently on Jin, his own breathing getting rapid and shallow and the markings on his hands turning white. Jungkook pushes Yoongi away with a conflicted sound. “It’s not working!” “I called the doctor,” Jimin said in a worried voice from the doorway. Namjoon was staring in horror. “What’s happening?” “Jin is sick. That happens when…” Taehyung started to answer before he choked up. Namjoon dropped beside Jin, grabbing his hand. “What’s wrong with him? What does he have?” “He’s dying because Namjoon is too far away. They’re soul-bonded. It allows one of them to fight longer and harder, but if they’re separated for too long before the bond is broken…one of them will get sick and die.” Hoseok knelt on the other side of Jin, his expression more like that of J-Hope’s. He felt Jin’s forehead. “Come on, wake up. Wake up, Hyung.” You swallowed hard. “What happens if he doesn’t wake up?” Jungkook looked at you with big, scared eyes. “If? No…no, he has to. Wake up, Jin-ssi!” He started toward Jin but Yoongi and Jimin held him back.  “Wake up, wake up, please!” You looked at Namjoon and saw that he was looking at you. You knew what he wanted to ask. He wanted to help his family here before you went back to your own dimension. You slowly nodded your agreement. He nodded back. “We should look for you. That might be the best way to find him.” You nodded. Then his eyes widened. “Wait, you understood me? I forgot to switch from Korean to English.” You stared at him. “Say something in Korean.” “You can speak Korean?” Taehyung asked you, looking surprised. “No,” you replied, folding your arms. “I only know a couple phrases.” “You’re speaking it now,” Hoseok said, his gaze still fixed on Jin, who had gone still. “And if you two aren’t the same as ours, then how do you intend to find her?” “Will it have changed who my parents are? Or my siblings? Will it change my name or my grandparents?” You asked, taking a deep breathe. “I have to believe that there will be enough similarities that we can recognize me. Or, this version of me.” Unless they were sent to your own universe. Jimin ran to let in the physician. You looked down at Jin, shuddering slightly. Yoongi was cradling his hand in his other, looking like he was in pain. Hoseok looked up at you, catching your gaze and holding it as he stood up and stood in front of you. Taehyung pulled Namjoon away and pushed him into a closet. Jin started convulsing again. The physician dropped next to Jin, murmuring and pulling out equipment. Hoseok turned your face back toward him. “Your Namjoon can help him. I know this version of you better than anyone else. He stays here. You go with me. You get me to him. I’ll get you back here.” You didn’t see any warmth or sincerity in his eyes. You were a tool. “Alive or dead?” He smirked. “That depends entirely on you.” The physician cursed. “He’s stopped breathing.”

Masterlist.  Part 2.

[clown-bait]

29 Neibolt ST (Monster Roommate AU) Chapter 9

Hi friends! Heres Chapter 9! Got inspired by that post awhile back about Africa by Toto being played in the sewer and Penny jamming to it. Leech is a huge music connoisseur so I head cannon that she plays a lot of Guitar Hero with Freddy. Also theres slapstick/horror comedy in this one! The story is going to get more and more comedic from here because of the characters that are soon to be involved. Bonus points if anyone can guess which monster(s) I plan on bringing in next!

Warnings: Fluff, Horror, Alcohol

chapter 9

Africa

Pennywise climbed the basement stairs of the Neibolt House in annoyance. Leech hadn't come to see him yet today and as much as he hated to admit it her visits had become the highlight of his day especially when she had the weekend off to spend all her time with him. he had noticed that the more he was around her the more her scent changed, it was something that initially drew him to her in the first place. Her scent started out faintly sweet, but ever since they became intimate it was becoming overwhelming to him. A human would probably describe the scent similar to that of a freshly baked cake or pie being shoved right up against your nose. When he first noticed it, he had caught her looking at him while they had been both been casually chatting doing their chore wheel tasks. Something about her smell changed when she smiled at him. It got worse that night she got drunk while watching movies with the gang. Leech was sitting next to him on the couch and that sweet smell drifted into his nose when she reached over him for the popcorn in his lap. It would get stronger and stronger as their interactions increased Pennywise noticing that he could draw it out of her by doing certain things like putting his hand on her shoulder, or giving her certain looks.

He tried desperately to cope with the strange new feelings, he stopped eating for a bit and avoided her as much as possible. When Dracula finally confronted him he was a confused mess and he was even more confused when the elder vampire helped him realize that this new feeling was lust. After Chucky found out about his terrible affliction the two had begun bugging him non stop about it. Their “helping” him ending up feeding his obsession and he eventually gave in, fully accepting that he had feelings for this nearly human girl. These awful feelings are even worse now having started this…..complicated thing. He found himself with a whole new mess of emotions that he had no idea what to do with other than bury them deep and hope she didn't notice.

When usually he found her Leech would be listening to music or messing with her phone in her room where he'd promptly scare her before flopping down onto her bed to annoy her further. Today however he could hear her shouting passionately at Freddy in the living room, a hobby that they both shared.

“Your ass is mine Kruger I spent an entire week perfecting this solo.”

“Sweet cheeks you weren't even born when this song came out”

The two were in front of the old tv violently playing with fake guitars in their pjs. Leatherface was behind them gleefully hitting a toy drum-set and Dracula sat amused on an old chair.

“Does anyone want to explain this to me?”

“I don't quite know what it is but they have been at this for at least 12 hours now” the vampire exclaimed motioning for the clown to join.

“Have they even slept?”

“I do not think they have, my young apprentice hasn't even fed or bathed yet. Her determination to crush my roommate at this strange musical game is quite admirable.”

“Speaking of, Drac need refreshments!” Freddy called over his shoulder as the song Free Bird headed into its big solo.

“You cant do that! I haven't had anything to eat all day!”

“You’re just mad because you're all alone in this battle. THERES NO ONE TO SAVE YOU LEECH GIVE UP” Freddy shredded on the rock band controller aggressively

“Bite my nearly undead ass Freddy”

“I’m sure the clown does that plenty for you already bitch.”

Pennywise cleared his throat.

“Oh hey Pen, you wanna be a peach and get me some fuel.” Leech said glancing over her shoulder.

“Do I look like your servant? You're perfectly capable of getting it yourself you're just too lazy to go out and practice apparently.”

“OH HE BURNED YOU GOOD BLOODSUCKER”

“There are more pressing matters at hand Penny, asses need to be kicked right now”

“More pressing matters than not starving to death?”

“I’ll live”

“Barely. You look half dead, go sleep”

“Sleep is for the weak” she said turning to him with an absolutely feral look on her face.

“You're taking a break” the clown said as he scooped her up before she could protest. He carried her off to the bathroom where he turned on the shower and pushed her in still wearing her clothes.

“PENNYWISE what the hell!”

“Get clean.”

“But?

“No you can kick Freddy’s ass later” he crossed his arms and watched her expectantly.

“Um….. are you gong to leave?”

“Need to make sure you listen dear. Come now out of those wet clothes.” he said with a lusty tone, shit eating grin now forming on his face. Leech rolled her eyes and shut the curtain causing the clown to groan in disappointment. He nearly began to leave when the curtain reopened he turned back around quickly. Leech was now holding her wet clothing in a nice little ball and a drop of drool left the clowns lips at the sight.

“Hey Penny~” she said with a seductive voice

“Y-yes?”

“Hang these out to dry douchebag” she chucked the ball at his head wet clothes landing smack on his face before the curtain shut again.

“you torture me.”

“Its my favorite hobby.”

Pennywise growled in annoyance and left to find some extra hangers. He knew he kept some somewhere in his clown room where he kept a collection of circus memorabilia. When he opened the door and was greeted with a puff of dust causing him to scrunch his nose in annoyance it'd been a while since he was up here “I’ve been slacking off” he thought aloud to himself as he rummaged for hangers. After finding what he was looking for he decided to try to tidy the place up a bit grabbing a mix tape he had acquired from some poor soul standing outside his ex girlfriends window with a boombox. The clown never really liked the songs on the tape at first but lately they've been growing on him due to….certain circumstances. A few cheesy love songs had gone by and he was halfway done, Pennywise felt himself getting carried away with the current song playing singing along while dusting off an antique mannequin. He removed the clown wig from its head glancing fondly at it now as it was reminding him of a certain almost-vampire a few doors down. The clown found himself serenading it as if it was actually her, picking it up and beginning to dance to the song Africa by Toto. Freddy walked by the door just in time and froze to watch the scene unfold before him in amusement. “My darling little Leech you know I have grown quite fond of you” the clown growled into the mannequins cheek. Freddy had to bite down on his hat to keep quiet. “Whats that? You've fallen for me as well?” The clown dipped the mannequin down kissing its chest as the song came to an end. Freddy gave him a round of applause wiping away fake tears doing everything he could not to explode in laughter. “That was beautiful Jingles.”

Pennywise dropped the mannequin. “H-how long were you s-standing there for?”

“How long have you been in love?”

“I’m not in love. I don't love.”

“You just admitted it to your doll there jackass.”

“WAIT HE FINALLY SAID IT ALOUD?” came Chucky’s voice from down the hall

“NO I DID NOT AND SHUT UP PLEASE”

“This is great, I'm going to tell Dracula he's going to flip out.” Freddy began running for the stairs

“I wish those kids actually killed me in the 80s.” Pennywise mumbled

Just then a scream of terror could be heard from the bathroom followed by a series of curses of the clowns name. “PENNYWISEEEE”

Freddy and Chucky both came back out to look at him.

“What? I'm not doing anything?”

The three monsters eyes grew wide.

“oh no…. I'm not doing anything….”  The clown whispered

He bolted to the bathroom busting down the door “LEECH! What hap-” he slipped on a puddle of…. something and comically landed on his back. When he sat up she was covered in a weird black sludge that was shooting out of the shower head and bath tub faucet. The curtain had been yanked off and she was using it as a shield from the strange substance.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT” yelled Chucky

“Also, nice butterfly tattoo under your boobs there Leech” Freddy added

“Its a moth!” Penny said from the floor.

“CAN WE FOCUS ON THE GOO PLEASE?? PEN MAKE IT FUCKING STOP”

“I told you I'm not doing it!”

Leech flopped out of the antique bathtub still clutching the curtains to herself and scrambling backwards into Pennywise as the tub began to overflow.

“AH Leech! You’re getting it all over me!” he yelled .

“PEN STRANGE BLACK GOO IS EXPLODING FROM OUR BATHTUB AND SHOWER HEAD. YOU LIVE IN THE SEWER! STAINS SHOULD BE THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES.”

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR SINK CLOWN” came a scream from downstairs flowed by frantic stomping up the stairs from both Leatherface and Drac

All the boys plus Leech were now staring at the massacre that was the upstairs bathroom.

“JINGLES MAKE IT STOP” screamed Chucky

“I CANT I’M NOT DOING IT”

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIFF WILL DO TO ME IF SHE COMES HOME AND FINDS ALL HER BATHROOM SHIT COVERED IN BLACK SLUDGE. I. WILL. DIE.”

Leech reached a trembling claw up to her head and pulled out what looks like a piece of scalp with long hair still attached to it her eyes began to grow wide in horror.

“IS THIS HAIR? WHY IS THERE HAIR IN IT? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT” Leech turned around and grabbed Pennywise ruffles.

“DO NOT LET IT GET ON ME THIS IS AN ANTIQUE OUTFIT” shrieked Dracula

Leatherface was hooting and crying. He Began smashing a hole in the wall in panic. Chucky did his best to calm him but ended up being thrown down the hall screaming out in pain.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOUR HOUSE CLOWN” Freddy was shouting.

“EVERYONE SHUT UP AND STOP BEING AFRAID I CANT FUCKING THINK WITH ALL THIS FEAR IN THE ROOM”

“YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT FOOD AT A TIME LIKE THIS??? WE ARE GOING TO DROWN IN BLACK GOO THAT HAS PIECES OF SCALP IN IT! I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE THAT CANT RESURRECT YET! IM GOING TO DIE PEN! IM GOING TO FUCKING DIE!” Leech started hyperventilating and twitching claws out now tearing at the fabric of Pennywise’s costume.

Everyone was frantically “trying” to do something to stop the sludge oozing out of the bathroom Freddy ran up to the shower with a towel in an attempt to plug it up, Dracula was backed up against the corner on the ceiling, Chucky was attempting to stand back up after being thrown like a rag doll and Leatherface was chucking anything he could at the bathroom (mostly hitting Freddy.)

“SHUT UP ALL OF YOU” Pennywise roared rising to his feet, a door materialized behind the clown and he disappeared into it slamming it shut.

“YOU FUCKER! YOU CANT LEAVE ME PEN. DONT YOU DARE ABANDON ME. GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE IM NAKED AND AFRAID AND I FUCKING NEED YOU RIGHT NOW! PENNYWISE THE DANCING CLOWN GET YOUR PASTY RUFFLED BUTT BACK HERE AND STOP THIS BLACK SLUDGE.” Leech was pounding at the wall were the door had appeared still on the floor making big black hand prints on the wall.

Suddenly everything stopped. The boys and Leech all were frozen and panting in fear and confusion. The door reappeared and Pennywise walked out sludge splattered on his costume. “Did ANY ONE here think to turn the fucking water off? No? Just Pennywise? WOW imagine that! I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO FUCKING DIDNT FREAK OUT AND MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE!!! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT???? NOW EVERYONE GET OUT SO I CAN FUCKING FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT WITHOUT HAVING YOU SCREAMING BANSHEES TAINTING THE AIR WITH YOUR PANIC AND FEAR!” The usual yellow of the clown’s eyes were almost completely red. He was livid. Not only were his fangs and claws on full display he seemed to be even taller than before looming over everyone in the room. It was truly terrifying to behold. The gang went silent.

“C-can I at least p-put some clothes on?” Leech asked still covering herself with the shower curtain

“OUT.”

“Leaving!” she and everyone else scrambled for the door slamming it behind them.

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

Poor Penny he’s having a hard time. I totally head cannon that Pen is a secret plumbing expert since he lives in the sewers. Next chapter is going to have terrifying monster hate fucking so get hype for that friends! 

[theladyofspaceandtime]

The Winchester Sister Tales - Tale 6: Part 2: Oh my God!

Jayne Winchester is the daughter of Mary and John Winchester, Sister to Dean, Sam and Adam, Vessel to Gabriel the archangel and The Slayer to the demons. A girl with a lot on her plate, these are her tales of the crazy life she lives. These are 'The Winchester Sister Tales' as written and told by Chuck himself! Published by me. 

The continuation of the last chapter. Enjoy~!

The Winchester Sister Tales

Tale 6 - part 2: Oh my God

Chuck and Jayne are sitting at the bar and petting Toto, the dog that arrived with Metatron. The slayer happily pets the dog and tells him how adorable he is. She looks to Chuck. "I'm glad you invented dogs as well. They are good friends."

The two had been chatting and it was mostly with Jayne thanking him for the little things he created that she appreciated. For some reason it warmed him. He knew Jayne was special when he made her essence long ago. The way she was grateful for small things and always trying her best to stick with her faith when it was hard to. She had a way of making people feel happy when they were down, especially himself.

He was afraid to tell the truth though. Funny right?! God, the almighty, afraid to tell someone, especially a human girl the truth about himself? About how he felt about...well...anything? Jayne was his best friend, but the truth about himself would hurt her. Finding out the image she had of God wasn't actually the truth...it would hurt her.

She had so much faith in him...

Chuck gave a small nod to her and continued to silently pet Toto. He then turned once more to look over at Metatron sitting in the booth working on editing his manuscript.

The ex angel looks over to see the impatient Chuck.

"Are you in a hurry or something?" Metatron asked.

This causes Jayne to look to Chuck in question, waiting for his reply.

"I'm on a bit of a deadline." Chuck goes over and sits across from Metraton. Jayne follows behind him standing by the edge of the table. "Just give me some broad strokes, first impressions. Come on, hit me."

"It's good. Real good." Metatron scoffs.

"Oh, man. You hate it." Chuck looks to him worried.

"It's fan time! Let me look at it!" Jayne bumps Metatron to scoot over as she sits down in the booth, reading the manuscript.

"What? No. I love it. Love it." Metatron said, the tone in his voice saying otherwise.

Chuck sighed. "Last time I saw that look on an editor's face, I just handed in Bugs. All right, come on. Safe place."

"Huh." Jayne comments reading over the manuscript. Her brows are furrowed in confusion.

Metatron looks to her. "You see what I'm talking about slayer." He looks back to Chuck. "Details are what make a story great. This is lacking in some details. Like all of them."

Jayne looks up to Chuck with a raised eyebrow. "I have to agree with Metatron here, which is weird to say. Coming from a fan's point of view we would like to know the details about you. Like did you have a childhood? How do you feel about things? " She hands the manuscript to him.

Chuck takes it and gives a smile. "In the beginning, there was me. Boom – detail. And what a grabber. I mean, I'm hooked, and I was there."

"I'm hooked too, and yet... details. You weren't alone in the beginning. Your sister was with you."

Jayne looks solemnly to Chuck, knowing about the Darkness. She was waiting to see his reaction.

Chuck leans back and crosses his arms at this. "Who cares about her?"

Metatron looks at Jayne and they both share the same look before looking back to him. "Um... us. For starters. I assume you're aware that she's... out and about."

Chuck becomes angrier and Jayne could sense it looking to him. It sent a bit of a chill down her back at seeing the anger of God. What had gotten him so mad? Was it because of his sister's betrayal or something else?

"Tanned, rested, and ready. I mean, that's why you're back right?" Metatron continued on and Jayne put a hand to his shoulder, trying to stop him from angering Chuck more.

Chuck looked to Metatron with pure anger in his eyes. "This isn't her story. It's mine."

Jayne is sitting by Metatron while the ex angel is finishing working on the manuscript. She watches her friend playing pool by himself, looking to him with worry and wonder. Could this whole thing between Amara and Chuck just be another sibling fight?

She knew how that could be. Sometimes she would be mad at Dean and Sam for the things they did. It hurt and she didn't like it, but they were still brothers and sister in the end. They were family and loved each other.

Jayne debated if she should try talking to him and see if she could help with it...but yet she didn't want to invoke his wrath. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but it was still a scary thing to unleash his wrath. Just look at the bible. But he was a loving and understanding person too...maybe he would know her reasoning for trying to help.

She sucked in a breath and walked over to him. "Hey."

Chuck looked to her with a small smile. "Hey. I know you want to ask me something and I know what it concerns. I'd rather not talk about the subject." He put a hand to her shoulder. "Jayne I know you want to help, it's just in your nature, but please leave this one alone."

She looks to him with a sad face and nods, accepting his wishes. "I just...I care for you. Just know that and I'm here for you."

He nods and continues with playing pool. "Care to join me?"

Jayne nods just as Metatron takes off his glasses, walks over to the counter with a cup and fills it with Whiskey. Both the slayer and Chuck walk over to him. Toto is lying on the counter next to them.

"That bad?" Chuck asked.

"I'll tell you. There's some great bones there. I'm thinking what's missing – maybe less about detail and more about balance."

"How do you mean?"

"You're giving the wrong stuff too much real estate. Like that chapter about being Chuck."

"Mm-hmm. And what about it?"

"Once you've explained the Vonnegut performance art... that should be it. Noone cares about the rest. Especially involving the winchesters."

Jayne stuck her tongue out at Metatron.

Chuck chuckled at this and began to walk across the room. "I did some great stuff as Chuck. I mean, I-I told you about my blog."

"Your uh – your cat-pic blog."

The almighty being nodded. "Right. They're super cute."

"It was believed that cats were gifts from the god's...so it's logical you would like them. They are super adorable!" Jayne commented.

"So, there's that. And, uh, I traveled a lot, you know?"

"Oh."

"And, uh, I dated. Yeah, I had some girlfriends."

Jayne looked surprised at this.

"Had a few boyfriends."

Her eyes became wider at this and then she nodded. Well at least it meant that God was accepting of gays and such. Someone tell the people who say otherwise.

Metatron chuckled. "Oh."

Chuck walked over to the stage. "Oh! And I learned how to play guitar." He picks up a guitar and strums a few notes.

"Hmm. Yeah. That, you know, makes you seem like a really grounded, likable person." Metatron said sarcastically.

Chuck suddenly stopped playing the guitar. "Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"You are neither grounded nor a person!" The ex angel pointed out.

"So, you're saying I'm likable."

"No, no. I am saying the chapter Chuckles is devouring pounds of pages at the expense of... juicier stuff. Stuff that people might actually want to read." Jayne looked to him and was understanding what Metatron was getting at. His writing about Chuck but not about himself, not about God.

"Like what?"

"Well, like, uh..." Metatron picked up the manuscript. "...like the archangels. I mean, you have got maybe two paragraphs on them in here."

Jayne looked down as she felt her heart ache remembering her dear friend and angel host Gabriel. She was still mad at Metatron and his trick with Gabriel, but she was trying to forgive him for it. Chuck noticed and continued to strum more notes on the guitar.

"I agree!" She found herself shouting out. Gabriel's death still struck a nerve with her.

"And that's it! Don't you think they deserve a few extra words. Especially your favorite, – Lucifer." Metatron continued on, edging onto thin ground once more.

Chuck stops playing the guitar. "He wasn't my favorite."

"Oh. He helped you defeat Amara. You trusted him with the Mark. And when you asked him to bow to mankind —"

"He refused." Chuck said with bitterness.

"He rebelled! And in doing so, kinda wrecked Christmas."

"Okay, all that's in there, except the – the bit about Christmas."

"If you say that Amara is off limits, fine. But you know every great hero is defined by his or her villain."

Chuck replied with a sad tone. "Lucifer was not a villain. He – He – He's...H-He wasn't a villain."

Jayne looked to him with empathy. She always thought the betrayal of Lucifer and having to lock him away must have been the hardest thing for him to do. It would explain as to why he left like Gabriel said. He was very hurt.

Metatron looks to the transcript. "Okay. Real talk. Th-This is still a safe place, right?"

"Safest place ever created." Chuck answered.

"Okay. There are two types of memoir. One is honest... The other, not so much. Truth and fairy tale. Now, do you want to write Life by Keith Richards? Or do you want to write Wouldn't It Be Nice by Brian Wilson?"

Chuck looked to Jayne then back to Metatron. "I want to tell the truth."

"Then you've got some work to do. There are no revelations in this book! And that's weird, given who you are. There's no new information, no soul-bearing."

"That's because I don't have a soul." Chuck pointed out to him.

Metatron gave a bright smile. "Right! But you invented them. You invented souls. Souls! Try shining a light on that. How did that make you feel?"

"Nauseous."

Metatron sighed, clearly annoyed with this. Jayne watched the happenings before her. "Oh. You know what?! No. That is not G-O-D talking. That's Chuck talking. And I get it – when you were on Earth, you had to go full method. Heck, I'm starting to think that maybe this is all an act for the slayer because you're afraid of something! Of revealing your true self. Well, it's time for you to get back into character."

"This is me." Chuck said, looking between the two.

"Really? This –" Metatron holds up the manuscript flipping the pages. "This pile of self-doubt and nebbishness flooded the Earth?"

Chuck crossed his arms.

"Followed up Sodum with a blockbuster Gomorrah? Created as much as he punished? No! Unh-unh! The guy I worked for – total badass! And yes, he could be a dick. Now, that guy... had some stories to tell. And he has a lot to answer for."

Jayne walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "I've known Chuck for a long time and he is my best friend. Now as for God I don't really know about him except from what's told in the bible. I've always considered him a best friend of mine as well regardless of not knowing. Even so, I'd really like to get to know about him. I think he deserves his moment to shine and be fully known. Tell us who exactly is God."

Chuck looked to her contemplating. "Okay so..." He cleared his throat. "...what do I do?"

"Hold up a mirror and show us who you are. Warts and all. Write for an audience of one... you." Metatron replied back.

"Dance like no one else is watching."

Metatron nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna help you either way. But you've got to pick a lane." He hands him the manuscript. "Richards or Wilson, Chuck?"

"And I'll be here supporting you as well." Jayne smiled to him warmly.

Chuck walks by them, looking to the manuscript and sighs. He throws it into the air, all the pages scatter about the floor. "Richards – All the way."

A printer begins printing fresh, new pages and Metatron who is wearing his glasses, takes one of the pages and looks proud of himself. Jayne is sitting by Chuck who is typing away on his computer, pouring all his thoughts in every page. Metatron turns off the printer and looks hungrily at the pages.

The ex angel laughs and chuckles. "Oh, this! This is what I was talking about." Metatron looks over the pages. "Chapter Ten – Why I Never Answer Prayers, and You Should Be Glad I Don't and Chapter Eleven – The Truth About Divine Intervention and Why I Avoid It At All Costs."

Jayne blinks her eyes in disbelief. "Wait, but every time I've prayed you've answered it, right? Like with Adam for example!"

"I gave you the vision to help save him, that's all. It was an exception though because you're the slayer."

For some reason the winchester sister felt a sharp pang from his response. So he was only helping her because she was the slayer? Is that what he was saying? It couldn't be.

Chuck looks over to Metatron. "It's better now, isn't it?"

"It's gold! Kind of angry with a side of bitter, but, hey, it's real. Now..." Metatron takes off his glasses. "..not to overstep my bounds, but since you're on a roll, there's one thing I've always wondered. Maybe it will make a good chapter, maybe even a whole book."

"Shoot."

"Why?" Metatron asked.

"Good question." Jayne replied, looking to Chuck.

"Can you be more specific? I kind of get that question a lot about pretty much everything." Chuck looked between them and noticed how Jayne seemed tense.

"Why did you create life?"

Chuck sighed. "I was lonely."

"Your sister wasn't company enough?" Metatron asked curiously.

The music in the bar began to fade as Chuck tried to contain his anger. "I am being. She's nothingness. It's not exactly the makings of a fun two-hander, you know?"

"Yeah. But you didn't stop at one archangel or a handful of angels. You created worlds."

Chuck sighed again, frustration evident in his voice. "I was stupid. Naive. I thought if I could show my sister that there was something more than just us, something better than us, then maybe she'd change. Maybe she'd stop... being... her. But... every time I'd build a new world... she'd destroy it."

"So you and your archangels... locked her away? And you got down to unfettered Creation."

Chuck leans forward. "Tried to, anyway. But..." Suddenly the scenery changes around them and they find themselves at a foggy lake with mountains by it. "...this was as close as I got to something as good as or better than me or my sister."

"The National Park System?" Metatron looked confused.

"No he means Nature." Jayne replied taking it in. It helped her start to feel like tense.

Chuck nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I mean, look at what nature created on its own. What's more, nature's smart enough to know that sometimes, there's no fixing things. Sometimes, you just have to wipe the slate clean."

Jayne raised an eyebrow at him, hoping he wasn't meaning what he said.

"Wipe the slate clean. Sure. Natural selection. Good times. Of course, in your case, that means flood the Earth, but build and stock a boat. Start over fresh on the B-side. If Amara wipes the slate, the slate's destroyed. Everything's destroyed. All your great work... lost forever." Metatron told him.

Chuck patted his back with a sad smile. "We should take a stroll, then. Enjoy it all one last time... before it's all gone."

He walks away leaving Metatron and Jayne to both exchange shocked and worried looks. No...it can't be. She couldn't believe this. Was he going to give up so easy? Was this who God was?

The slayer shook her head and ran after Chuck. "No, this can't be happening!"

He looked to her with a sad smile. "I'm sorry Jayne, but it is."

"B-But you aren't even going to try and stop her, maybe even reason with her? She is your sister after all!" Her voice was showing the sadness and shock she felt by this.

"There is no reasoning with her! I've tried many times to no success." Thunder could be heard off in the distance, showing his anger. "It's not like how it would be with you, Sam, Dean and Adam."

Tears began to fall from Jayne's eyes from hearing this. She shook her head. "There has got to be a loophole. I know there is always a way."

Chuck gave her a sad smile and changed the subject. "Nature? Divine. Human nature – toxic."

"They do like blowing stuff up." Metatron commented.

"Yeah. And the worst part – they do it in my name. And then they come crying to me, asking me to forgive, to fix things. Never taking any responsibility."

"What about your responsibility?"

"I took responsibility... by leaving. At a certain point, training wheels got to come off. No one likes a helicopter parent."

"What about Amara? She's your sister."

"I took responsibility for her, too. Locked her away – barely, I might add. And who let her out?"

Jayne was quietly listening adding all of this together. "My brothers..." She replied. "I know they did wrong. But they are trying to fix their mistake."

"You know I love those guys, but the world would still be spinning with Demon Dean in it. But Sam couldn't have that, though, could he? And so how is Amara being out on me?"

"It's not." She replied. "I know it's my brothers fault...and he knows that too."

"But I-you helped the Winchesters before." Metatron replied as well.

Frustration was still in Chuck's voice. "Helped them? I've saved them! I've rebuilt Castiel more times than I can remember! Look where that got me."

"So, you're just gonna let Amara win?" Metatron asked angerily.

Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "Eh... It's her time to shine."

Jayne looked to him with her mouth wide happening. This wasn't happening right now. No freaking way. God was just going to let his sister destroy everyone, the whole universe and all because 'it was her time to shine.' Unbelievable.

"Then, why the hell are we working on your stupid memoir?!" Metatron yelled to Chuck.

Chuck looks to him offended and furious as thunder rumbles off in the distance. "You think it's stupid?"

"No, I think it's stupid to write a book nobody is gonna be around to read!"

"You told me to write for an audience of one – Me. And I —" The scene changes as they are all back in God's bar. "think we're finally getting somewhere."

"You started writing the second she came back, didn't you?" Metatron asked. Chuck remained silent putting his hands in his pockets. "No wonder you're on a deadline! Now I understand why you're masquerading in that sad, little meat suit! For the same reason you created this nostalgic bar to write your masterpiece in – you're hiding!"

"Okay. First of all, this gift..." Chuck points to his face. "..is super cute. Secondly, I'm not hiding. I just like the ambiance in here."

Metatron points at Chuck. "You said... the safest place ever created. Created by you... to keep you safe from Amara! She can't touch you in here, can she?!"

"You're upset. I-I understand. And it's good to let it out." Chuck begins to walk away from them back to the table. "But, uh, let's focus on, uh, finishing my book." He claps his hands and starts to work on more pages for his book.

Metatron looks over to Jayne, seeing her silently crying. He then looks back to Chuck. "You know, I was a crappy, terrible god. My work was pretty much a lame, half-assed rewrite of your greatest hits. But at least I was never a coward!"

The God looks up furious at what Metatron had said. He stands up, looks at him, and he flings him out the doors. Toto gets up and watches what happened. The Ex angel gets on his feet holding his shoulder. He starts to groan and looks at an angry Chuck and starts to chuckle.

Metatron points at Chuck and walks back inside."There he is. That's the guy I know, the guy I love. I remember the first time I saw you. All the angels were terrified, but I wasn't. The feeling of your light was... was just beyond measure. And then the unthinkable. You picked me to help you with your tablets."

"You were just the closest angel to the door when I walked into the room." Chuck replies angrily walking over to him. "There's nothing special about you, Metatron. Not then... not now. Now... I've been called many things – absentee father, wrathful monster. But, coward..." He shakes his head. "I am not hiding. I am just done watching my experiments' failures."

"You mean your failures, Chuck?"

This causes his eye to twitch in angry and hurt, because he knows part of it is his fault. Chuck then looks up to Jayne who has remained quiet, but very loud inside her mind. "Jayne...I know there is something you wish to say, so just say it out loud already."

"No!" Jayne finally yelled out. "I can't believe this. I can't believe YOU!"

Chuck keeps his tough facade up, looking to her with narrowed eyes silently. He lets her speak and get her opinion out even though he knows what she will say.

Tears fall from her eyes, anger and shock fuel her as she looks directly at him. She's trying her best to hang onto that last little thread of faith - hope that she has in God, in the God she grew up learning about and coming to trust. Not the one in front of her. He can see how much this is hurting her, but it's hurting him just as equally. He doesn't know of any other way than this.

"You're seriously just going to sit back and let your sister destroy all of this, all of us? I think we already do a pretty good job destroying each other enough as is. Like you said, human nature - toxic. We are always blowing things up, killing others, destroying not only each other, but ourselves. Yes we do wrong and you have a right to be mad and disappointed in us. You've even punished us for our terrible deeds. Yes we're failures! But have you ever asked yourself why we do them? Why do we keep failing you?" Jayne paused waiting for Chuck to say something before continuing. "Because we NEED guidance. We need love and support. You may not like it or even want to deal with the responsibility anymore, but we NEED you! You're our creator and in a way our father as well. Parents are suppose to help guide, love and support their children to help them become the best person they can be. It's what makes them grow."

Metatron and Chuck listen to her speech quietly and take it to heart.

"People go to church and pray for you. They pray for your help and guidance. They put their FAITH in you. Now, I don't know how it must feel being God, but I can imagine it. It's just as hard to be God as it must be being Death himself. Probably even harder. " She paused a bit. "There, that's all I had to say. Now throw me through a door as well if you want to. Give me whatever punishment you think I deserve for saying all of that, but I mean what I said."

Jayne and Chuck looked at each other for a few moments, no words being said. Metatron looks uncomfortably between the two wondering what will go down. It is like the two of them are having a staring contest before Chuck looks back to his computer and types away.

The Winchester sister nods and walks away, leaving them to their thoughts.

To be Continued in the next chapter...

[emulatingrizal-blog]

Rise Up (Short Stort)

By: Bernace'e Sara D. Diana

"No to Extra Judicial Killings!"

A cacophony of activists chanting and police officers screaming filled the air. A barricade has been placed in front of the Malacañang, which has been barely standing with all the rallyists forcing it open.

"This is an act of abandonment of our rights- THEIR rights," a single voice stood out, while raising a compiled picture of the bodies found lying on the streets. ADIK AKO HUWAG TULARAN, a placard on one of the bodies read. A police officer looked for the source and there she stood, a 5-foot tall morena, drenched in sweat and eyes filled with anger; like a predator ready to lunge. Just when he was about to ask if she's the one behind all this, the police have started throwing tear gas at the crowd of rallyists. The chanting faded and was replaced with screams. People scurried away, not caring who they bump into. Their voices grow further and further, and then it stopped.

"Neneng!" Aling Maria's voice erupted. Their house- if you can even call it one- trembled at the intensity of her voice. "Yes, inay?" Neneng answered while desperately hiding the placards she made under a pile of clothes. "Is it true?! That you slapped Diego?!" Aling Maria, still seething with rage screamed. Neneng came to meet her at the door. "That's the least I could've done. He was harrassing me." "Well now his mom no longer wants to me to do her laundry so maybe you shouldn't have done that!"

"But inay-" Neneng tried to defend herself but stopped at the sight of her mother crying."We barely even eat 3 times a day and now- THIS. If only your father didn't leave us in this hell-hole..." She started sobbing as she grasped for anything she can wipe her tears with.The words that were supposed to leave Neneng's lips hung in the air- suspended in the sound of her mom's agonizing cries. She took a breath, lips quivering at the threat of tears to fall. She held it in.

The memory of her father's death clung at the back of her mind, waiting to be acknowledged. It gnaws at her, now, even stronger than before. The sight of her father lying dead face-down on a rainy Sunday evening flashed into her mind for a brief moment. He has been accused of being a drug addict but their family knew better. They tried to clear that up, but it's far too late now. She tried to push the thought further at the the back of her mind-but to no avail. "I'm so sorry inay I didn't mean to," she mumbled.

It was a daily struggle for the family to sweep aside the thoughts that would bring them back to the memory of her father's death. Each of them has grown accustomed to a coping mechanism: Neneng rallying to make her feel something and her mom working really hard not to attend to the empty side of her bed. It was only her younger brother, Toto, who never truly grasped what was going on. Each of them faces a demon far stronger than disasters human being can do- living.

Neneng has always been a smart girl. People around her knew that. But someone knowledgeable in the face of poverty and oppression have instilled a fear on the tyrants above them. The people her mom work for refused to help fund her studies. Luckily she was able to pass the UPCAT and study in UP Diliman with free tuition and a monthly stipend.

“Hey Neneng are you sure you want to join the rally later?” Her best friend, Kathy, asked her the moment she entered their classroom. “Yes, of course! Won’t you?” Kathy paused for a minute and took a deep breath as she fumbles with her notebook. “It’s just that... Don’t you think it’s dangerous? There’s been news that it will be much more violent now.”

There she goes again, Neneng thought. Kathy always tend to avoid these kinds of things. She thinks rallies are dangerous, yet she goes there as a support for her best friend. They only have each other after all. After what happened to Crispin and Basilio. Unlike Neneng who gained strength to fight, her fear only grew.

“But you will go right?” Kathy can only nod her head.

After class they went straight to Malacanang. Neneng was amazed at the number of people gathered there- it must be more than 5000 people. There are people chanting everywhere; music to Neneng’s ears. She was overcome with adrenaline rush: this is it, the biggest fight she has ever been part of. “Hey, Neneng... I think we should go now” Kathy tugged at her sleeve. Still amazed by her surrounding, she wasn’t able to pay attention to her friend much. “Neneng look at the buildings beside us...” Kathy’s voice quivered like she just saw a ghost-but what Neneng saw placed her feet firmly on the ground, all energy from her absorbed by it; snipers. Tons of them. “But It doesn’t mean they’re going to use it right?” She laughed it off, trying to comfort her friend and herself.

The thought of danger left her mind when the rally was almost ending. Nothing bad happened after all. Then the screams resonated and before she could even react people started panicking. People are running to different directions and they were stuck in between. She searched for Kathy but she couldn’t find her. She kept screaming but her voice is drowned by the cacophony of other people screaming as well. Eventually she got out and found Kathy with a bunch of medics, tending to her wounds. Panicked, she approached her but she can feel her glare 3 feet away. Kathy limped towards her instead, tears welling and eyes filled with rage. “I told you something bad was going to happen.” Neneng can’t even protest against it. “I’m so sorry Kathy” “No you’re not sorry. This is the last straw Neneng, I almost got trampled on by people. Maybe this is not worth it. What you’re fighting for that is.” “How can you say that Kathy?? What about Crispin and Basilio? Aling Sisa? Aren’t we fighting for them?”

“We can’t fight something far more greater than us.” Kathy said in between sobs. “Everyone’s been fighting so long Neneng, yet nothing’s changed until now. I’m tired of fighting. And if you still want to be my friend stop it before something bad happens to us too.” Neneng tried to protest but her voice betrayed her. Kathy walked away, leaving her confused and hurt. She has a point; is this still worth fighting for?

She was spacing out all the way home until she heard the sound of a bulldozer at a distance. One of her neighbours called her out; the government was demolishing their area. She ran as fast as she could towards their house and saw her mother picking up whatever she could save from the ruins that was once their home. Her mother was crying, that’s for sure but she still had the energy to do it. “Mom why didn’t you protest?!” She was angry now; seeing her mother like that makes her angry more than anything. “Caloy protested. Got beaten up by the police officers. Thankfully he wasn’t shot. How are we supposed to fight?!” Her mom was mad now, too. Aggressively wiping her tears as she searches for anything she can save under the rubble. “You’re so busy fighting for other people that you can’t even help me ease our situation. Are they worth fighting for? They’re the one supporting your enemy. They’re the one who put him into position. Go fight for them, that’s what you want right?” Her mother didn’t even sound mad, it was calmer; she was in pain, betrayed.

Neneng’s dreams of calmer nights and a better life is gone now; dragged back into the sea of despair by the waves called life. She never intended to sail on calm seas, that won’t make her a good sailor, after all. In fact the seas only become more violent once she overcomes the waves; it just doesn’t stop. Now, she is tired, rendered defenceless by the unknown. If there is a way to make this end, she knows it’s abandoning her ship and allow the waves to consume her whole. Maybe the waves are telling me I do not belong here.

She always thought of herself as a relatively strong girl; that she can overcome anything life sets to block her path. Now she’s debating if this is the right path at all. Maybe her mom was right; all she’s been doing until now is useless. Now that they have nowhere to live, the weight of that fact knocked her down. Regret is not the word for it, oh no, she despised herself now. What’s the point in fighting someone far stronger than you after all? Stupid, stupid girl.

Filing a leave of absence, she decided to help her mom to get by. The poor woman is old and barely getting rest after all. She originally planned to permanently stop going to university, but her adviser insisted that she should just rest for a while and think about it. There’s nothing to even think about.

She then started working as a contractual worker at a fast food chain. Oh, the irony of having to work under someone she was really against. It annoys her for sure but she keeps her mouth shut. She wants to live a normal life now. Aling Nena saw something changed in her daughter; who now doesn’t protest as much as she used to. This relieved her a bit, but mostly bothered her; who is Neneng without her strong persona? It’s like living with a stranger.

A month swept by with a breeze and Neneng have finally cut all ties with her past. She no longer protested every time she is getting oppressed; she’s learned to keep her mouth shut. It’s better that way, right? Either way she’s getting used to it now. Their family also have house to stay in now, owned by the relative or her mother. Being indifferent about everything is not that bad. As long as the problems no longer affect her, she should be fine as she is now.

She always get home late because she tend to extend her time working. Most of the time his brother is the one taking care of their mother since he comes home early. This night, however, he still wasn’t home.

“Inay where is Toto?” she promptly asked the moment she saw her mother. “Oh, probably just having a study session with his classmates.” “This late?” she wondered; she just can’t shake the feeling that something’s off. She stayed up late waiting for her brother to get home. If only he had a phone so she can text him; but they can never afford one. She started getting really uneasy now, so she decided to walk around and search for him.

She was about to just shake the feeling off and go back home when she heard something; a sound of someone crying. It was coming from a narrow alleyway, barely visible. “Please don’t hurt me” a voice of a young man begged. “Okay, we’ll count to 3 and you run as fast as you can, okay? Then just dodge the bullet.” Neneng froze in her place, not even thinking straight. What is she going to do? The men laughed, two of them, and she heard one of them cocking a gun. Suddenly Neneng regained her strength and ran as fast as she could back to the house. She could barely breathe with her conscience gnawing at her. Was it right that she let that person die? But she could’ve also been shot by those men! She shakes the thought off her. She is not getting any sleep tonight.

Dawn came and the feeling got off her now. She will just have to deal with this some other time. She only did it for her safety and for her family, she thought. Neneng was just about to get back to sleep when her aunt barged into their room, drenched in sweat and eyes puffy from crying. “What’s wrong, auntie?” She worriedly asked, Her aunt didn’t answer and just held her hand, leading her to what it seems to be an alleyway. Her heart pounded faster in her chest. Something’s not right. She stopped at her tracks the moment she saw the person dressed in her brother’s clothes, face planted on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood. The whispers of the people grew louder as she approached it. She can barely breathe now- for it was the same alleyway she heard the cries last night. “It- it couldn’t be” her chest feels like being crushed now, her ribs enclosing her lungs tighter and tighter that she can barely breathe; and it was the last thing she remembered before she fainted.

She woke up to her mom crying beside her; ears drowning every other sound. She could only cry as she stare at her brother’s lifeless body. “Why did this have to happen?!” hear mom cried. “We didn’t do anything wrong.. we never did anything wrong…”

“No to extrajudicial killings!”

A cacophony of activists chanting and police officers screaming filled the air. A barricade has been placed in front of the Malacanang, barely standing with all the rallyists prying it open. “This is an abandonment of our rights- their rights,” a single voice stood out, Neneng, holding a picture of her brother face-down with a placard behind him saying “ADIK AKO, WAG TULARAN.” Now she stood higher than how she usually would, hands held by her mother. A phoenix risen from the ashes, the fire within her was even stronger now. Drenched in sweat and eyes filled with rage; but now she is ready to lunge and fight for the lives she had to sacrifice.

[digicomgroup]

No Fair Blaming Lewisville Dam Problems on the Bible. It’s You and Me, Babe.

EXPAND

Corps officials told a small army of reporters that this eroded site on the Lewisville Dam is totally under control.

Jim Schutze

North Texas journalism professor George Getschow’s piece in The Dallas Morning News on dangers in the Lewisville Dam managed to put urban flooding in Texas in what I have always believed is the most useful framework — the Bible. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for safety of this 6-mile earthen dam in the midst of vast suburban sprawl, was quick to assemble a press event after the Getschow story broke to assure the public that nothing biblical was about to ensue. I guess that was fair enough for their part, even if their assurances did seem kind of heavily cross-hatched with caveats about our luck holding out and the creek not rising.

But those assurances did nothing to allay the true core impact of the Getschow piece, which was to wake people up to the full dimension of the danger. Even if we trust the Corps to manage that danger, it’s healthy for us to understand the size of the urban flooding risk where we live. That’s where biblical comes in.

EXPAND

Officials of the Fort Worth District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers quickly assembled a press event to tamp down fears spawned by a story saying Lewisville Dam was in trouble.

Jim Schutze

We think of bodies of water like Lake Lewisville as reservoirs — huge containers of drinking and lawn-watering water. But the Corps builds them as flood safety measures, to hold the runoff created by suburban sprawl during wet months until that water can be safely released during the dry months. The urban flooding we are beginning to see more frequently, as well as worn-out infrastructure like Lewisville Dam, are indications that our flood control measures are beginning to be overwhelmed.

If the Corps can’t stay ahead of that game — if Lewisville Dam were undermined by invisible seepage and broke loose without warning one night — then we could be talking about the potential for thousands of deaths in Dallas and an amount of property damage almost exceeding our ability to count.

So maybe while we’re on the topic anyway, we might actually devote a little bit of thought to how this risk has been created — how did these enormous risks pile up against us and what might we be able to do about reducing them?

There is a pretty general consensus among people who study 21st-century flooding in the built environment that the number one driver of flooding now is suburban sprawl and the sealing of formerly permeable land — land nature designed to soak up rain — with a stubborn hardscape of concrete and rooftops. The only meaningful way to address that risk is by reforming building codes and land-use policies.

And, in fact, efforts to do just that are underway at the federal level. Congress is considering raising the amount of elevation above a floodplain considered safe for residential development. The proposed change, from a so-called 100-year flood level to a 500-year level (just think higher) matches what major reinsurance companies are calling for in the private sector. 

But especially here in Texas, that kind of talk butts up against ferocious opposition from the real estate development interests and the town promoters. Nicholas Pinter, professor and chair of applied geosciences at the University of California-Davis, talked to me about the proposed new standard, still on the drawing board in Washington: “You know what, if that had been implemented last May when all the Central Texas flooding occurred south of Austin, a lot of the damages that happened then would have been avoided.

“Just weeks before that flooding,” he said, “a letter authored and co-signed by a number of (state and federal Texas legislators) was submitted to the president vocally opposing the new flood-risk standards. It’s ironic that the legislators whose own constituents were so heavily damaged, whose own constituents would have been safe had that standard been in place earlier, were among those most vocally arguing against a more robust safety margin in U.S. floodplains.”

In the letter Pinter refers to, Congressman Pete Olson, Republican of suburban Houston, told the president the proposed new standard would “likely dry up economic investment in these areas.”

That’s not a response to stricter flood control that should surprise anybody, at least not in Texas, according to Kevin Simmons. He’s an economics professor at Austin College who studies the economic relationship between damages from natural disasters and efforts to mitigate those damages with regulation.

Simmons says the anti-regulatory climate in Texas needs to be understood in terms of spirited competition for local growth dollars:

“Let’s say you’re a city on the edge of the metroplex. You’re just in northern Collin County or in Denton County, something like that, which probably is going to be a part of the metroplex in the next 10 years.

“You want developers to come and build in your city as opposed to a neighboring city,” Simmons says. “You want to be the next Frisco.” 

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“Do you want to give these developers stringent guidelines that would inhibit development in some areas of your city, or do you want to do things that would encourage them to build in your city?”

But the absence of meaningful land-use controls to control flooding — turning developers loose to build what they want, where they want — is exactly what piles up those huge risks and huge potential costs that somebody is going to have to pay some day when some dam or levee breaks in a densely developed area.

Somebody is you. The taxpayer. Pinter at UC-Davis points out that the costs for massive flood damage fell back on the taxpayers even when the taxpayers tried to protect themselves by setting up a national flood insurance program. (And remind us again: Who was it who thought an insurance company run by congressmen was a good idea?)

“The flood insurance program has been overgenerous with the result that we taxpayers are now $24 billion dollars in debt to the U.S. treasury,” Pinter said, “because pervasively across the country we have yielded the floodplains, inch by inch, acre by acre to these pressures to develop them.”

Maybe the most interesting thing to think about in all of this is not the doom and gloom, however. Simmons at Austin College co-authored a study in Moore, Oklahoma, published this year, not about flooding but tornadoes, the more frequent bane of that long-suffering community. Simmons looked at a tougher building code adopted by Moore officials after a tornado in 2013 killed seven children in an elementary school, the third catastrophic tornado to hit Moore in 14 years.

What they found was that if all the homes in Oklahoma had been built to the new Moore standards, the extra cost would have been about $3.3 billion, adding an average of $2,000 to each new house. But the savings in wind damages that Oklahoma could expect in the next 25 years would be about $11 billion. Not a bad trade-off.

I asked Simmons about the cost of running off developers by imposing stricter standards versus the benefit of attracting more people to Oklahoma because they’re less afraid of getting blown away with their little dog, Toto. He said it’s too early to tell. I think what he really meant was, “Only reporters ask things like that,” but he was too nice to say it.

There’s maybe one more strand of this puzzle that I hear from people — a very tangled version of the climate change debate. Some people say to me — and I could swear they’re the same ones who deny climate change at other times — that the increased flooding we are seeing in urban/suburban areas is not the result of development but of changes in rain patterns.

I don’t know what that means in terms of policy. Go ahead and develop where you want, because we’re all doomed anyway? But I did find one person with both academic and official standing to address it, John W. Nielsen-Gammon, a professor in the department of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University and the state climatologist of Texas. His studies of weather in Texas over the last half-century have found evidence of robust aggregate increases in the intensityof downpours but not in stream flows.

Nielson-Gammon says the evidence confirms climate change but not enough to make it a primary driver of the increased flooding we are seeing in urban areas.

“It is not obvious and probably I would say unlikely that changes in rainfall are the biggest driver in changes in flooding over the historical period,” Nielsen-Gammon told me. “I think land-use changes are probably the biggest driver of increases of flooding in urban areas.”

Why is that important? Well, going back to Getschow’s piece and the biblical catastrophe we face if that dam ever breaks loose, maybe it’s time to stop blaming it on the Bible. We created this mess. We continue to make it worse every day, when each new acre of permeable land falls beneath a shroud of rooftops, swimming pools, tennis courts and shopping malls.

The fascinating point in the work of Simmons at Austin College is the indication that tougher regulation is not necessarily an economy-killer. There is money to be saved and profit to be gained in common sense measures. Every little hick cow-patch town competing to become the next going-and-blowing big suburb may well be an economy-killer ultimately, not to mention loss of human life.

None of us is surprised when another dude in a heavily starched shirt and cowboy boots runs out on stage to promote his own cow patch as the next great suburban Nirvana. Any one of us might be tempted to do the same thing if the same size bag of gold were sitting on our own table just beyond our own grasping fingertips.

But for a society to be basically sane, some people have to be the grownups. That’s what I like best about the Getschow story. I read it, and I see Noah standing on his boat with his hands on his hips, telling us, “Hey, enough is enough, OK?”

The post No Fair Blaming Lewisville Dam Problems on the Bible. It’s You and Me, Babe. appeared first on Digicomgroup.

Read full post at: http://www.digicomgroup.com/2017/03/06/no-fair-blaming-lewisville-dam-problems-on-the-bible-its-you-and-me-babe/

[timkablogzosrdiecka]

Alfa & Omega

Toto je moja véľni stará poviedka v angličtine. Čo si myslíte?: )

„Good night, then.“ he said. One could hear he was almost sleeping, but even if he was tired, he enjoyed the conversation they just had had. As all the previous ones.

This was their anniversary. However, they weren't dating. They were just friends. But this was their seventh year of friendship, which started back on the elementary school and was strong and true enough to be retained.

Adam and his family moved to western Slovakia two years ago – his father got his dream job there – that was their first hardship. Since then, they kept in touch by phone. They talked almost everyday, but neither of them tried to neglect their other friends. It wasn't easy, but it worked. They talked trough hundreds of nights since then. This was one of them.

„Sleep well,“ she murmured, with a smile on her face. She turned over on the bed, making the duvets swoosh. Julia just graduated from high school – just that day – and felt really exhausted. She was an A-student all her life, and she remained an A-student on her graduation exams as well. Obviously, he used to say. But it's hard to keep your grades A-s and get enough sleep at the same time. She didn't mind, as long as she got both the A-s and Adam.

He sighed, already asleep at the moment the call ended.

They arranged a meeting. His family invited her to spend a weekend at their house. She gladly agreed.  A week after graduation, therefore, she stood on the train station, waiting for the train to come.

Julia enjoys travelling by train. You get to see the country in all of its colours, she says. You meet lots of interesting people, even though some are quite annoying. The only thing she hates are the toilets – stinky, cold and usually with holes in the floor, so you can see the rails underneath the train. If she doesn't have to, she won´t use them. Well, that Friday, she simply had to.

Make it quick, Julia, or you'll die of who knows what kind of infection, she whispered to herself so that she didn't focus on the monotone sound of the train moving. Zip up, open the door and walk as fast as possible, that was her motto. She tried to look calm, although anyone who was watching her would see her eyes wide open and her pale face, and would certainly notice the unnatural way she tried to hide her face with her hand, pretending her forehead was itchy.

Apart from basic human needs, she could enjoy the way to Bratislava uniterruptedly. She listened to music, going through the playlist Adam made for her last summer. She was thrilled to see him, and kept recalling the memories as she listened to the songs they used to sing together in high school. She clearly remembered all those awkward topics they discussed together, from childish fears to sexual maturing.

„I want a woman who allows me to make her happy,“ he said when she pulled out that topic again. „Is there really nothing you want from a relationship?“ she replied, wondering why all the other men couldn't be like him.

„There are a few things, you know them.“

She did. He dreamt about a woman who would never diminish his opinions even if they were foolish. He wanted someone, who would motivate him to do his best, not push him into it. And secretely, he hoped she would be ginger. Julia wasn't ginger.

„I do,“ she smiled when she answered. „I wish a man like you will once love me!“

„I love you, you know that.“

„Not that way.“ They never continued from this point on, even though Julia always wished for him to do so. But not all wishes come true, right?

Adam was younger than her, almost two years younger, but he never seemed to be bothered by that. Neither of them were. He loved music and honest people. Today, it is dangerous to be sincere unless you're also a fool, he said, but he truly admired and respected those, who decided to face that danger. He thought the world wasn't upside down, it was just him who didn't fit in. Having a nice family, lovely sister, happy childhood and clear life goals, he really stood out. He knew what he was looking for in a woman, but sometimes, he thought he forgot some important factors. He couldn't find out which.

Now there he was, standing outside the station, waiting for his best friend to come for a weekend, thinking about their friendship so far. He hoped they would continue the relationship conversation once. He had questions.

The train arrived to Bratislava with a slight delay. She noticed him first. He held a sheet of paper saying „Julia, I hope you can see me!“ and wore the smile that not only Julia, but none of the women at the station could not see.

Typical, she thought while she struggled to go down the stairs with her suitcase. She gave up after a short while and just threw it down on the platform.

„Don't ever bother!“ she shouted, since she knew he surely noticed a red suitcase falling down from the train.

„Okay, I have enough time.“ he answered but he grabbed the suitcase with one hand and made a sigh when he realized how heavy it was.

„I did't know we're so far in our relationship.“

„What?“

„I didn't know you're ready.“

„What on Earth are you talking about, Adam?“

„You know. To live with me,“ he whispered and lifted up her suitcase. „This would probably be all of your stuff, including your computer!“

„Oh, I brought some presents for your family, and you.“

He didn't answer, just rolled his eyes and thought of the huge wasting she probably did last night while shopping. He was happy to see her. Julia was the one and only he let close enough to know everything. Literally.

The plan was to take a bus that went straight to his village. The delay caused them to miss that one, so they gained an hour extra to spend in the city. It was Friday evening, so even getting a salad at the groceries took them 30 minutes due to endless slowly-moving rows. It´s hard to count the coins when you´re drunk, and in the capital – lot of people get drunk. Then they walked to the bus station. Finally, she had her salad and he had her, eating, which was the only period except sleeping when she didn't speak, so it was his turn to talk.

He talked about school being boring, hanging out with friends last week and this girl he's been dating for almost a month now.

„She's gorgeous and smart. Rare kind. I enjoy her company, I just don't know how to speak to her. She's never quiet. Rapport talk.“

She laughed while she tried to pick up a piece of cheese with the plastic fork. Eventually she grabbed it with her hand, looked around the station and put it into her mouth.

„I never stop talking either, and still you can tell me anything,“ she argued.

That was the problem. He knew that. He knew how to talk with Julia. He knew the exact reactions he would get for any kind of confession. He knew all the types of look her eyes could give. Looking at her lips, he allowed himself to believe, just for a second, and returned to Earth.  And down here, still, he had a thing with Becky.

They call it relationship. The romantic type.

„It's not the same,“ he quickly murmurred, shifting his focus from her lips back to her eyes again. His mobile rang, the third time that evening, and he recieved another text message. He didn't care.

„Something's wrong?“ Julia knew it was Becky, but she didn't want to force him to talk. She noticed him being nervous about something, but trusted him without asking.

Adam knew she was hoping for an explanation, but he was still creating the proper answer, so he tried to change the topic.

„You tell me. How 'bout John?“

The bus arrived.

„Getting worse. Never mind. We'll talk when we get there. How is it called? The Behind God's Back Village?“

Adam grinned. He grabbed her suitcase with one arm and her with the other one and walked her to the bus. They bought the tickets, shared his headphones, turned on the music and decided to ignore the complicated relationships they lived in, both convinced the other one needed to fix it without their help.

This wasn't the first time they felt this. Both of them have been there before, without the other one knowing. According to statistics, you're most likely to fall in love with your best friend. A strange loop, he called it. An unfulfilled dream in her eyes. It happened a few times during those seven years. They both found a way out in something else.

Julia hoped finding someone more perfect than he is could open her eyes to see his flaws. Result: flawless him, heartbroken her. And she started all over again. Viscious circle. She was getting close to the end of another chapter, named John, aged 22 and nothing what she was looking for. Probably because what she was looking for was named Adam, and lived at the other end of the country.

On the contrary, besides his short relationship, which usually didn´t last much longer than Julia's, Adam was an expert in not caring. Once he decided not to think about it, it usually went great. Except when she was nearby. But that didn't happen very often, so he closed all his attraction for her into a safe.

He kept staring out of the window when he realized the loud music wasn't able to keep him distracted, and he couldn't stop thinking of how lovely Julia's hair is when she wears an updo. It made her look younger, which made him feel better.

They were almost sleeping when they came to the village. The street lighting wasn't enough to break the dark, but sufficient for guiding them to the right house. Although it was a summer night, Julia shivered while they crossed the road and headed to the street. They ran up the small hill his house was at the top of, both eager to talk and listen.

They got in. She took a shower while he heated the food for late dinner. After a short argument they chose a movie to watch, sat down on the sofa and made a silent agreement that they will ignore the film and talk instead. Obviously, she opened the unread-text-messages-topic again.

„What's wrong, Adam? Tell me about it.“

Oh, how unfair that was. She knew he would tell her if she asked him. He did.

Becky was constantly trying to stay in touch with Adam. By constantly, understand 24/7. She kept refusing to go out with her friends, because she wanted to spend time chatting with Adam instead. In addition, she expected him to do the same.

Julia sighed. How ridiculous! Adam is not that kind of a guy you can own! He loves his friends and family and wants to spend time with them, including Julia, of course. Now she understood why his phone was always busy. She felt anger, but didn't know why. Julia wasn't clearly aware of how jealous she looked like since she didn't really care about any of her boyfriends that much as she did about Adam.

„On the other hand,“ he continued, „she is really funny.“ Becky paid a lot of attention to details, which made sense since she was an artist. Adam enjoyed the time spent with her, he just saw no future in them. Becky talked about lot of good things, but Julia spoke the truth to him every time. He knew how bad it was, only the thought of comparing them. What surprised him, however, was that he only thought of how it would hurt Julia, not Becky.

The film took an unexpected turn with the main character pulling out a gun and started shooting, so they muted the television.

„Do you think there's someone out there who will be ideal for us?“ she asked, thinking of John and how she sees no future in them, either.

He smiled sadly, and offered his shoulder for her to lean on. Repaying the smile, she put her head down slowly on his shoulder, grabbing his arm with both hands, and she closed her eyes.

She'd admitted it a long time ago. He knew it from the beginning. Still, after such a long time, they were unable to tell each other. They didn't have enough courage before, and now it was too late – he left.

Now it lingered in the room and they both felt it. You can force yourself to think of something else, but once you say it out loud, it won't come back. But they both desperately needed to say what was on their mind out loud.

She took a deep breath, feeling his warm and spicy scent, and decided to speak out.

„You first.“ That was it? She pulled her inner me into a boxing ring and was beating her up inside her mind for this, in her eyes, stupid and useless start of a conversation she'd been waiting for years. You first. First what? She's the one who has problems! She is unable to stay in a relationship with good guys, because she constantly thinks of a „better guy“. She's the one who has to talk about feelings and hopes and dreams and that they're all connected to Adam. Yet, all she does is she tells him to start. To start… what exactly? She said it as if she knew something was going on with him as well.

The silence was deafening, but not uncomfortable. She frowned since she was angry with herself for her stupid reaction. She was trying to make sense out of it. She remembered all the times he said he loved her, all those conversations about relationships they'd had before. Not that way, she used to reply. It was always her who replied. Always her who stopped the conversation. We all want to enjoy the rain, but we only keep protecting ourselves anytime it rains outside, her Mom used to say. That's what she's been doing for such a long while. It's her fault the conversation never reached its end.

Adam smiled when he understood what that meant. After all those nights spent in guilty prayer to a god he didn't even believe in, just to make sure someone except him would hear what he really feels. After such a long time trying not to think any of it, but it kept coming back, always stronger, always with new shared memories to be used as a weapon against his wall of disinterest. He felt no anger, nor regret. He was happy the moment came and made a decision that later he has to thank that uknown god.

There was only one thing he really needed to say. The rest was already lingering in the air.

„Not that way. That made me crazy. What way then, if not that one?“

Her heart stopped for a second while she tried to put together what he said with everything what she thought. Crazy how they can communicate without saying the actual words, huh? She was so crazy to think he isn't attracted!

None of them moved. Why would they? After all, they had two options and disliked both of them. Is it better to start something they both wanted so bad, thus putting in danger their sincere and clear friendship, or is it right to choose the opposite, work on their pure friendship and letting time show them what to do? The only thing they both knew was they needed to sort out their relationships with Becky and John.

Finally, they started to talk. It went slowly. Confessions, apologies and tears, all welling from the deepest dephts of their souls, well protected and controlled before, helped them realize not only how truly in love they were even before they were aware of it, but also how profusely they must had hurt their partners by not being honest to themselves and each other. They talked through the weekend, spent it remembering, laughing and crying but certainly not regretting, since they knew this weekend was the start of something new despite being the end of the period they didn't have to deal with their feelings. Now, at least, they could fight through them together.

They both broke up. John took it fine, Becky… not so fine. But she's strong, Adam said, she'll be okay eventually. They also made a promise they would never pretend anything again, and that they would always be honest to themselves. They didn't enter into a relationship, obviously, not that weekend nor that year.

Looked like lots of things they were used to suddenly ended. But you always need and ending in order to start again. You need to mark the omega to every chapter of your life you once started with an alpha. Even if you didn't realize the alpha before, once you know it's there, you know you're getting closer to the omega. But that's absolutely okay. 

Nothing's wrong with endings, as soon as the story that ended was worth living for.