#i got a couple asks that made me feel nasty and actually deterred me from wanting to draw the wolftwins out of spite at this point

[ronkeyroo]

Also just a little disclaimer for anons - Please don't be rude with requests, yo?

Amongst the many lovely ones I received regarding me drawing new Skyrim content, i got a few rude ones demanding art like i owe it to them personally; Gave me a bit of a stink eye and a grimace. Keep that entitlement away from this place of tenderness and whimsy that we share, alright? Good

[lunarliza]

Dirty Little Secret | Chapter 3: Bandanas

fuckbuddy!JJ x Kook!Reader

series masterlist | prev. chapter | chapter one

You and JJ are fuck buddies- strictly physical. But what happens when you find yourself falling more and more for everyone’s favorite golden boy even though all he can see you as is a spoiled rich girl?

Your eyes peeled open. You groaned at the lack of sleep as you shifted to your bedside table to check your phone. Almost immediately after your rendezvous the night before, JJ dashed out the window, leaving you to drift to sleep. 

Sometimes, you’d get this weird feeling after he would leave so quickly- like you were being used. Well, you were, but you hated feeling like it. It was like a comedown after the euphoria of sex and it didn’t always feel the best, but you dealt with it. It had be going on for almost three months; you were way too in over your head at this point. 

You sighed, staring at the wall across your bed, thinking back to the remnants of that first night. How nasty and humid the air felt as you both rejoined the party after like nothing happened: 

“You can’t tell anyone about what just happened,” JJ stated as he fixed his shorts. 

His words did pierce you slightly, but you put on a front nevertheless. “Please, I’d rather be caught dead than with you.” 

He chuckled to himself as you both trudged down the beach. “That’s not what I heard back there princess.” 

It didn’t take long for your parents to blow up your phone that night, seeing it was 3 a.m. and their daughter was nowhere to be found. You came home with the smell of alcohol emitting through your clothes.You only hoped you had wiped off enough smeared mascara on the car ride home to deter them. Your mother read you the riot act as Ted stood in the corner of the kitchen. She screamed and hollered before her palm finally came in contact with your cheek. 

The following Monday, you ditched last period and drove over to The Cut, hoping to come across JJ. Driving along a narrow street, you see the shirtless golden boy mowing the lawn in a small yard. Pulling up, you rolled the windows down while a devilish grin snaked its way to his lips once he caught sight of you.

“Couldn’t stay away from me huh?”

You glared at him. “Just shut up and get in.” 

Shutting off the lawn mower, he hopped in your car, smelling of sweat and freshly cut grass . 

“Look,” you began, fiddling with the ends of your blouse, “I’m not looking for anything serious.” 

JJ’s finger tilted your chin up to meet his eyes. It was different seeing them in broad daylight. He didn’t seem like some sleazy Pogue you met at a party. He actually reminded you of a puppy... an annoying one with anger issues. 

“I understand if-” 

“No, I get you,” he answered, biting his lower lip. “After the way we fucked that night, I’m down to... go at it again.” 

“Okay but we need rules,” you insisted to which he rolled his eyes. “What’s with chicks and rules?” 

“This island is small and talk gets around. No one can know about us.” 

“Well duh.” He gave you an annoyed look. “You may think you’re all that and a bag of chips but my friends would totally clown me if they found out I was with a Kook, much less you.” 

“Oh please! What do you even know about me?” you retorted, not having his attitude outburst. 

“Y/n, you’re like bitchiest of them all,” he replied snarkily and your eyes met the ceiling of your car. “Not even the Kooks like you.�� 

“Shut up, asshole.” You tried to hide the hurt from the fact that even he knew about your reputation. “Anyways, rule number two: we have to meet on Figure Eight.” 

“Hell no, why do I have to haul my ass to you?” 

You sighed heavily, gripping the bottom of the steering wheel. “My stepdad will literally kill me if he finds me here. Look, I know all the hiding places there and I’ll even get you a keycard to get in through the gate.” 

JJ smiled to himself. “Kill you huh? And yet, here you are, coming here, practically begging for me to fuck you. What will daddy think about that?” 

You contemplated punching him in that moment. “Don’t flatter yourself. You followed me that night remember?” 

JJ shrugged, leaning back in the seat. “I thought you were a touron. It was dark- sue me. Anyways, fine! We meet at the Eight. Anything else?” 

“This goes without saying, but absolutely no feelings,” you stated sternly as JJ snorted. 

“Oh princess, you do not have to worry about that whatsoever.” 

“Fine then, it’s a deal.” 

You both shook on it. JJ held onto your hand a moment longer to tug you onto the passenger seat, colliding his lips with yours. It didn’t take you both very long to undress and climb into the back seat afterwards.

A loud knock on your bedroom door startled you. “Y/n! Breakfast in ten minutes!” 

Peeling off your duvet, you leaped out of bed and started doing some small stretches until you noticed a jumbled up grey bandana on your window seat. 

“Fucking kid,” you muttered to yourself before reaching for it and throwing it in a bin on your shelf. 

JJ was klepto alright. He also had a terrible habit of leaving shit everywhere he went. If he tried to rob a bank, he’d be caught in seconds because he’d leave some trace of him. Over the course of your agreement you unintentionally started making a collection of the things he left. What started out as a bracelet on your nightstand grew to socks, lighters, hats, sunglasses, tank tops, and the occasional perfectly rolled joint (that he’d never see again). You always meant to give back all the shit he left, but he’d always leave so hurriedly that you’d forget and the collection would just grow. 

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

“Jade!” you blurted unexpectedly as you strolled into the kitchen. “What are you doing here?” 

The small brunette sat next to your mother at the table, halfway done with her breakfast plate. She flashed you her killer sunny smile as your mom chimed in from her seat. “Jade here was in the neighborhood and wanted to take you on a boat ride this morning with the Cameron family.” 

“It’ll be fun y/n!” she insisted, kicking her tiny legs that didn’t reach the floor.

You were a little confused as to why you were invited to hang out with the Cameron kids seeing as they have always ignored you at school and every event. Jade caught on and threw you a look that said ‘just go with it’. 

“Um, yeah. I’m really excited to hang out with uh- Sierra and Ra- her brother,” you babbled, earning yourself an ‘Are you fucking kidding me’ look. You shrugged your shoulders, helping yourself to some eggs and pancakes. 

“Well sweetie, I think it’s great that you’re getting to know more people around here! Don’t forget you do need an escort for the Debutante Ball in a few weeks so maybe you can ask the Cameron boy to take you,” your mother suggested and Jade nearly spit out her fruit at the mention of it.  

You closed your eyes, sighing. “Yes, of course mother.” 

“So when were you going to tell me you’re a debutante!” Jade cackled as you both made way to the Camerons’ boat along the dock.  

“If you ever mention it again, I will personally slit your throat.” 

“You! You y/n of all people!” She had to suppress her laughter to a fit of giggles. “So wait, you’ve been going to Chapel Hill all this time to learn how to ballroom dance and do all that?” 

You rolled your eyes. “Yes! I told you my mother is actually insane. Anyways, what are we doing hanging out with the Camerons anyways? I thought you hated their sister.” 

“I do,” Jade responded as-a-matter-of-factly, “It’s the brother that’s delicious. Oh- and Sarah won’t be there and neither will their dad or any of their family really. It’s just going to be Rafe and a couple of his friends. He told me to bring some friends too so it won’t be awkward.” 

“And you chose me of all people? Jade, you have plenty of other very sociable friends you could have brought.” 

“Shut up y/n! You’re hot as shit okay! You just need to get out there more and meet people. Maybe then you won’t hate it here so much. Trust me, once you experience the OBX the right way, you’ll absolutely love it.” 

You crinkled your nose at her. “You’re just as insane as my mother.”  

“Come on! There are hot guys wanting to take us on their very nice boats. It’s free drinks and maybe some food,” she promised. 

You groaned. “Fine, but if any of them make an unsolicited move on me, I’m jumping overboard and swimming home. Also, now that I think about it, isn’t Rafe like way too old to be hanging around us?” 

Jade shrugged. “A little age never hurt nobody.” The boys whooped as Jade made her grand entrance onto their very large white boat as you trailed behind. Another thing you weren’t well versed in since moving here- boats. To you it was just big and small, windows and no windows, motor and no motor, but it was like a language here. When everyone would start rambling off about engines and fishing and whatnot you would just kindly smile and nod until they got the hint and walked away. 

“Who’s your friend McCoy?” a tall boy with slicked back hair asked Jade as he enclosed an arm around her waist. 

“Rafe, this is y/n! She moved here in October and lives on the east end of the Eight.” 

So this was the famous Rafe Cameron. You’d seen him a couple times golfing with Ted when you would hide away in the golf cart on your phone. Ted would mention a few times about how he was trouble and, telling by the way he still hung out with high schoolers at almost 20 years old, you believed it. 

You smiled uneasily and gave him a tiny wave as two other guys emerged from the front with a cooler. They both coordinated with the colorful short-shorts and printed button ups. They also wore those God-awful tinted sunglasses with the band connecting the backs. You recognized them from school- Topper and Kelce.

“Oh hey y/n,” they greeted tensely, each giving you an awkward smile and one-armed hug. You were in shock they knew your name even.

“McCoy, did you bring anyone else?” Kelce asked, totally not making it obvious of your unwanted presence. 

Not even the Kooks like you. 

You knew you’d have a hard time the moment you stepped foot onto Figure Eight. You had a very humble upbringing, which was unfathomable to the kids at school, so it was hard for you to make any real friends besides Jade. During the school year, you ate lunch by yourself and sprinted home as soon as the final bell rang. It got to a point where, when anyone would try to talk to you, you’d either roll your eyes or just simply ignore them. 

“Nope! Just me and my girl.” Jade flung an arm around your shoulder and handed you a beer. She raised her eyebrows at you to check if you were okay, and you smiled reassuringly, taking the bottle. 

“Let’s hope she knows how to hang,” Topper added as he started the engine on the boat. 

You sipped on your beer as you rode down the marsh. Kelce tried to make small talk with you as Topper drove and Jade macked on Rafe. It actually wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be, Kelce did have the occasional funny story or witty thing to say even if it was about swinging a golf club or purchasing some extravagant item no one ever needed. 

“Woah Pogue alert,” you heard Topper warn as he steered next to a smaller boat hanging on the side

You glanced over and immediately met eyes with JJ who was casually laying back with his friends- two dudes and a girl. When he wasn’t acting like a complete jerk, he actually looked down to earth and kind of innocent. Cans of cheap beer littered their deck and a cute little ‘HMS Pogue’ lettering hung from the back. 

You turned back to Kelce, thinking it was just a quick pass by until you heard something thump on the side of the boat from their side. 

“Fucking rats!” Rafe barked at the group and hurled an open can of beer over towards them. 

“That’s for the van you sons of bitches!” you heard JJ holler as Topper slowed down the boat so they were eye-to-eye. 

“Hey that’s payback! I know it was you that fucked up my bike, filthy Pogue!” Topper snarled, pointing at JJ, tumbling more shit in their direction. 

The throwing escalated into an all-out war. You screamed and joined Jade who was clearly outraged as she ducked under the cooler for cover. 

“Rafe, just fucking drop it and let’s go! You’re wasting shit at this point,” she urged also throwing Topper a stern look to get moving.  

“This isn’t over!” Rafe roared at the group as Topper sped up the engine again. 

“That’s right, just ride along you fucking Kooks! And take your hoes with you!” JJ shouted. 

You threw a glare his way at the vulgar name he called you and stuck up middle fingers his way, sailing off. 

Fucking tool. 

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

chapter four

tags: @starkeybaby​ @obxlife​ @everydayimfangirling​ @iamaunicorn4704​ @tangledinsparkles​ @poguesrforlife​​ @thx-quxxn​ @obxmxybxnk​ @rororo06​ @poguesforlife​ @ilymarkchan​

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Hey! I saw you were taking requests :3 would you mind writing (hcs, scenario, anything!) a thing where, shortly pre-OVW recall, McCree and his old teammate (f or neutral pronouns are fine but it’s up to u!!) accidentally meet again after he left without warning? Bonus points for “I thought u were dead/I was never gonna see you again” type stuff :p thanks! Sorry if this was confusing!

{This was, like, super fun to write? I did kinda flip part of the script, but it still fits what you asked for (hopefully). Minor warning for implied alcoholism though, oops. It can also be read as more of a “bars exist for brawls” than “alcohol is my coping method” though, so maybe that’s not as bad??? IDK, at least the ending feels cute.} {-J}

After the fall of Overwatch and its subdivisions, there were certain things that you had been forced to accept: Dozens of your friends and coworkers had died, you were out of a job, and everything you had worked so hard for had crumbled into oblivion. So yeah, shit, you ended up drinking away your pain more than once. At this point you weren’t even sure how many places you were banned from. Still, you held onto the pride that came from never starting any fights, instead waiting for some asshole to decide he wanted to rumble with an ex-Blackwatch agent. It was messy, dangerous, and only added to your nasty reputation.

Few organizations would even think of hiring you. Did that make your drinking worse, or did your drinking make the job search harder?... It wasn’t something you wanted to dwell on, especially considering how desperately you were trying to change things. Mercenary work hadn’t suited you for long, as all your clients were faceless, mysterious forces pulling strings from the shadows. How could you trust that they weren’t like Talon?... Or like Blackwatch had become? In the end you had been forced to slink back into the shadows, praying to whatever gods may be that you could still do some good for the world.

That was a couple years ago. You had changed your name, traded out your old gear for something less suspicious, and set yourself up along the halfway point of Route 66. The area was known for its problems with gangs, violence, and a general lack of government intervention. Sure, the road itself spanned across eight different states, but most of it had been in a state of disrepair for a few decades now. The Omnic Crisis was the final push that sealed the region’s fate. Or, at least, it had been. Some people still cared.

Like you. Why else would you be here, now, scanning the horizon, a beer in one hand, binoculars in the other? There certainly weren’t any good birdwatching spots nearby. Just a rundown gas station perfect for staging ambushes, an old school diner with shitty coffee, and a dusty, dirty crevice up high, wonderful for keeping an eye on it all. You didn’t like it up here, but it was the only discreet place to perform surveillance on the local miscreants. 

Apparently a new gang was starting to harass people in the area, despite the proximity to Deadlock turf, and were trying to sell “insurance”. Understandably, that really pissed you off. Sweet-talking one of the locals had gotten you insight on the gang’s general daily routine. Nothing too specific, unfortunately. Now all you had to do was wait for the scum to show up so you could pound them into the dirt.

Taking a quick swig from your beer, you settled in a little, preparing to wait for who knows how long….

    Dust flew into the air like a trail of smoke, blurring your vision but not deterring you in the slightest. You slipped around your target, barely avoiding his second kick, before slamming your elbow into the back of his head. Sure enough he went crashing down with a thud. More dirt was kicked up in the process. At least it made it a little harder for the gang members still outside to target you. Another quick dash landed you behind cover, where you could finally take a moment to breathe.

    “Damn it,” you grumbled, hearing yet another bullet whiz past your hiding spot. There were still four or five gunmen outside. Truthfully, that was the total number of people you had expected to find, not just the backup boys. Sure, you had prepared for unforeseen hiccups, but apparently not enough. In over your head, stuck sitting like a duck, reminded more and more of the old days. Shit, you missed your teammates. Normally Jesse or Genji would have saved your ass by now.

    You missed them. So much, in fact, that you were pretty sure you just heard Jesse’s signature “high noon” line. It almost made you feel like you were a bit more tipsy than you had thought. When the sound of a revolver firing reached your ears, you couldn’t help but wonder if you had actually died; if so, this was the weirdest form of afterlife known to mankind. Curiosity ended up getting the best of you. Crawling to the side, you made sure not to reveal any part of yourself to your enemy, working your way towards the building’s secondary entrance. That was still within the gang’s line of sight, but you hoped it was far enough to the side that they wouldn’t immediately notice you poking around the corner.

    Sure enough, nobody shot at you when you turned the corner. Someone did, however, raise a silver revolver in your direction. Air got caught in your lungs as you stared down that ever-so-familiar barrel. Relief started to flood your chest… until you realized that the gunman wasn’t wavering in his stance. Your gaze follows up his arm, to his face, and you suddenly wish you weren’t wearing this stupid goddamn mask.

    “Hold it, buddy, unless you want to end up like your compadres back there,” Jesse McCree drawls, tipping his head back towards the fallen gang members. Evidently he hadn’t seen you beating the crap out of the ones inside. Still, you raised your hands slowly, showing your lack of weapons. “There we go. Now, take off that there lil’ mask, nice and easy, alright?” You complied, of course, tossing it to the side before throwing a grin in Jesse’s direction. His reaction made you really, really wish you had brought a camera. The normally smooth and put-together cowboy is now slack jawed, a sense of wonder (and something else…?) in his eyes. Soon your name drops from his lips, whispered like a sacred prayer.

    “It’s good to see you too, Jesse,” you manage to reply, still grinning like a fool. Hardly a moment passes before the wind is suddenly knocked out of you. Jesse had holstered his gun, closed the distance between the two of you, and pulled you into a hug in a matter of just a couple seconds. The action catches you by surprise, now making you the one to choke on the words caught in your throat. Still, you manage to hug him back, leaning in to gently rest your head against his chest.

    “Goddamnit, who gave you the right to surprise me like this?” He asks after a few moments of silence, his voice on the edge of breaking. His grip was tight, like a man desperate to keep his sanity clutching onto a lifetime of coping methods. Words failed you, barely managing a confused noise, as you pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. There was something you couldn’t comprehend in his gaze. Something you were missing, that required knowledge you didn’t have. Your head tipped to the side as you hoped for at least a little elaboration. Jesse seems to realize your cluelessness, and shakes his head with a bitter laugh. “I thought you were dead,” he murmurs, the words settling on his tongue with an all-too-familiar weight.

    Shit, you thought, eyes going wide for a moment. Thoughts raced through your head as you tried to process what he said, thinking back to what had happened after Blackwatch’s disbandment, wondering why he could possibly have thought that you were-

….

….

    Fuck.

    Yeah, that tracked. Going from constantly fighting in bars to fucking off to nowhere, changing your name, and turning to the vigilante lifestyle? No shit people thought you were dead. How had you ever thought that this was a good idea?... Sure, most of your old friends had done the same, scattering across the four winds without so much as a “lol bye” (or, you know, a proper farewell). However, that didn’t mean that there weren’t still people who cared, who you could have at least made the slightest effort to keep in touch with before disappearing. People like Jesse.

    “Now that you mention it, I realize I didn’t exactly leave much room for thinking anything else,” you replied, barely managing to speak through your embarrassment. A laugh tried to move past your teeth, even though you knew the timing was bad, but the sound died as soon as your gaze met Jesse’s.

    “That’s one hell of an understatement, old friend,” he said, hardly a trace of mirth to his name. Both of his arms were still around your frame, gently cradling you, as if a stiff breeze might sweep you away from him once more. You could feel his body shifting with every breath he took, slowly finding yourself matching the movements. One of Jesse’s hands moves to cup your cheek, fingers sliding so carefully that you almost didn’t feel it, but you lean it instinctively, finding your lips placing a whisper of a kiss against his wrist. “Darling,” he breathes, voice caught in his throat, blocked by joy and surprise alike.

    “I’m sorry for worrying you, Jesse. I swear I never meant to just vanish like that,” you plead, tears pricking the corner of your eyes. “Things were bad, and I… I just ran from that, I guess. But you didn’t deserve that, at all, and I swear to whatever passes for high heaven these days, if you give me a chance-....” Pulled in closer, you couldn’t help but squeak a little when Jesse plants a kiss on your forehead. One of his hands is rubbing gentle circles into your back. A reassurance, one you desperately needed. “I can make it up to you. We can do better this time, right?...”

    Jesse didn’t say anything, at least not at first, but the feeling of his hat settling down on your head gave you all the answers you’d ever need.

[johobi]

When You Least Expect It | 12

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader x Taehyung

Word count: 8.2k

Warnings: angst, angsty-angst, dramaTIC ANGST, anxiety, depression, fear of going mad. i swear it’s not all that bad though!!!!

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16732419/navigate

A/N: thanks, as ever, for all your encouragement, love and patience. i truly treasure you.

Next: 13 ASAP! || WYLEI Masterlist

You’re in love with your childhood friend, Taehyung. The problem is, you treasure your friendship with him far too much to ever risk losing it. Oh, and he’s quite the Casanova. At your wits’ end with feelings you can no longer hide as diligently as you once did, you ask him to set you up with someone, anyone, in a last-ditch attempt to avoid a heartbreaking conversation. 

"Need to get my⁠—mmm⁠—keys."

Taehyung's argument was solid, but your lip-lock took precedence. "Nuh-uh," you murmured to his saliva-slick lips, eager to taste from them again. "Do it blind."

Your lover fished futilely for his keys, eyes closed for kissing. His body angled away when you only wanted it flush. Selfishly you clung to him, arms fast around his neck, compelling him closer. Oh, but you needed more. Needed his touch. It was painfully absent. Taehyung’s long-fingered hands trawled the depths of his pockets when they should have been defiling you. 

He snorted through the meagre space between your faces. "I can't find⁠—mmgh⁠—find them."

"Here," you offered in devilish whisper, plunging a hand into the pocket of his jeans. Shamelessly grasping a little too close to his left-leaning dick.

"Ah⁠—"

Your fingertips grazed metal. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"It will be." 

It was your turn to scoff. Right into his hot, nasty mouth.

Despite Taehyung's ineptitude at locating his own keys, it was spellcraft how easily he unlocked the door, with his back to it and his tongue thrust far past your lips. As the lock gave way, you threw yourself into his freshly-freed arms, urging he embrace your touch-starved body. But Taehyung was already around you, on you, fondling the breadth of your thinly-clothed ass. He broke away to whine:  “God, you drive me crazy.”

“You love it.”

“Fuck yeah, I do.”

You stumbled into his apartment as a mass of roving hands. "You’re gonna get it again, noona," Taehyung hummed around your earlobe. Tugged it between his teeth. Whispered obscenities while his hard cock pressed close. “You feel that, babe? You want it?”

Breath tumbled out. “Y-Ye⁠s—”

"It certainly sounds like she does," a wicked voice sang. It was high-pitched and heavy on the dialect and its source unmistakeable. You wished you were mistaken. "Whatever it is. I'm gonna hazard a guess that it's⁠—"

The two of you repelled like magnets. 

"Oh, fuck. Jimin, why are you still here?" Taehyung made no attempt to smother his exasperation. His erection, on the other hand, he smothered actively, obscuring it with the hem of his shirt..

"Good night without me?" the redhead side-stepped. Consistent with his character, the conversation became depraved, and all about him. You found yourself on the receiving end of an unwelcome eyebrow waggle. "I was only one phone call away."

Taehyung's hand flew to his face. Dragged down his features. "I told you I didn't know when I'd be back. If at all. Couldn't you have gone home, dude? What did you even do all night?"

As Jimin dithered and whined, you surveyed the damage the bachelor had inflicted upon Taehyung's usually immaculate apartment. Takeout trays, beer bottles and indiscernible spills surrounded the little imp. Insult to injury was his occupation of your beloved red slanket. It coupled his hair so garishly he resembled something of an angry pimple. You glared at Jimin from behind his 5'11" handler.

"I thought you were coming back!" Jimin finally exasperated. His wrists emerged from the slanket-holes when he gestured to his nest of trash. "I had to eat twice the amount of food. And I got drunk alone. You know how sad that is?"

"Got a glimpse of your future, did you, Jimin?" The snicker that shot from you almost took the contents of your nostrils with it. To say you were a little sniffly this morning was to minimise it. It took all your nasal strength to prevent a flood. Probably all that rain yesterday. 

No, don't think about yesterday.

Luckily, your dignity remained intact for discard another day. Jimin's however, had long been abandoned. Tact, too. "So—" He watched, beady-eyed, as you busied yourself in the undoing of his mess. When you reached for a pizza box: "You guys having an affair? Or is this some kinda friends-with-benefits deal?" The slanket rode up his offensively nude thighs as he leaned toward your stooping form. "Any chance of making this a three-person thing? Or four, if that Jungkook guy is still in the picture."

  It was like an icicle through your poor, hollowed heart. You froze, bent at the hinges, pizza grease becoming palm sweat. "W-What?"

  “Actually, was he even real? I never saw him.”

  Was he even real?

  Taehyung was quick. Was there in a second, striding to your side, affixing a hand to your lower back. His fingertips, too, were quick. Quick to find that sliver of exposed skin where your jeans and shirt met. To give you the warmth of reassurance that came only with his touch. "Jesus, Jimin. I know this is your shtick, but no-one's in the mood for your bullshit today. Just go home dude, I'll text you later."

  An expression you'd never encountered warped Jimin's delicate features. Hurt. "What the fuck?" he grumbled, complying despite his injured feelings. Coming to a stand, he stuffed himself into his night-before skinny jeans, plump lips pursed. "What got into you? She peg you or something?" Jimin’s hmphs continued, punctuating his impromptu Get Ready With Me throughout. Without the care it warranted, he slung off the slanket and began turning out the couch.

  “Very funny. What are you looking for? I’ll help.” Taehyung offered, placidity masking his vexation incredibly well. Antagonising Jimin would only prolong his being there, after all, and the scenario was already unbearably awkward. Especially now, when he was flaunting a good inch of his ass-crack in the hunt for some misplaced possession. 

  "My wallet. Y’know, the pot leaf one. Where did I put the damn thing?"

  In that gaping crevice, maybe? It wasn’t aloud. 

  "Okay, look⁠—" Taehyung, too, looked to have had his fill of his friend's butt-cleft. "I'll bring your wallet 'round your place later. You got your phone and keys, yeah?" The outline in the redhead's jeans confirmed it. "Go home, sleep off the rest of the booze, we'll talk this evening."

  Despite his grievances, Jimin suddenly brightened. He never was one to hold a grudge. He was a Pisces, after all. "You're gonna come over? Cool! I'll get more beer in." The fact he'd consumed a dozen only two hours prior didn’t appear to deter him. "You coming, ____? We gonna have another game of Never Have I Ever?"

  The sincere sparkle of his eyes threw you a little. "Uh, I don't think so. Not today. Sorry, Jimin. Next time, okay? I've got some things to sort out later. Plus, I think I’m getting sick." A sniffle for illustration.

  "That's cool." He hummed, shrugged on his signature varsity jacket. The world would burn before he conceded college was over. "See you later, Tae. Happy smashing," was his parting comment as he sashayed out the door, mildly uncoordinated. Taehyung was charitable enough to relieve his friend of the quandry of closing it.

  And when it was closed, your lover turned back. Had a pensive purse to his lips. "Uh, sorry about that. You okay?"

  "Don’t apologise, I’m the one that disrupted your plans in the first place, Tae. But yeah, I’m good." 

  Taehyung couldn’t see the extent of that untruth. Not when you averted your eyes so swiftly. Pinned them to your busy hands as you continued to collect up Jimin's litter. Why had it been so easy for him to speak his name? Like it was nothing but breath? Just two syllables, plucked from an alphabet of indifference?

  When it was sand and salt on open sores?

  When it was woe so heavy it rasped the soul?

  "Alright." It wasn't, but what mattered was that Taehyung knew it. Knew it, and didn't pursue it. Instead, he fluffed a trashbag for you in which to deposit your greasy collection. "He's always like this. A mangy raccoon."  The comparison hit humorously enough to curtail your anguish. Momentarily, at least. A genuine laugh came from you. At that, Taehyung looked up. Caught your smile. "He's always like this. Always leaves me to clean up. His metaphorical and literal messes."

  Trash collected, you straightened. Inelegantly, and with a groan. You'd have to scrape together the pennies for some sweet chiropractic adjustment. "Yeah? That doesn't surprise me," you smirk, prodding at the knots in the small of your back. "All I know is he's a gross, unashamed pervert that could be a good guy if he grew up a little. You haven't really told me too much about him. I guess you'll—" the reality of your and Taehyung's changed relationship hit you, then. It had transfigured into something far more intense. Far more beautiful. Potentially volatile.  "—you'll have to tell me more. About him. Your other friends I don't see much. And about you, stuff I didn't get to know until we—well. You know."

  Taehyung's head came to a tilt. His downy locks strayed into his eyes, softening them into a squint. "It's weird, isn't it? Being like this. Good weird—" he added with haste. Had he been suddenly struck by the revelation, too? Your two combined brain cells continued to surf one wavelength. It was uncanny. "You're standing there, I'm standing here. We look the same. But it's all different. I look at you different." A contemplative pause. The trash-bag knocked noisily at his knees as he rocked. "And all I know is I want to learn about you. Again. Inside and out."

  "Yeah. I'd like that very much. I'm hardly a treasure trove of alluring secrets, but I'm sure I have a wild story or two from my college years. Ugh—" The ache that'd been no more than a dull tapping at your skull suddenly came to the fore. Your head throbbed like a blunt force concussion.

  "You okay?" The trashbag left Taehyung's hands and crumpled to the floor. You felt them on you shortly after, palpating your oddly sensitive forearms. "What's up?"

  "Headache. Think I was bent over for too long, or something." But then came a torrent of sneezing. And it was also then that Taehyung's proximity was suddenly, intolerably stifling. "Ugh. Maybe not. I’m definitely getting sick. Sick-sick."

  A satiny palm left your shoulder and found your forehead. Your vantage saw only Taehyung's mouth. It opened into an O. "Oh, shit. Yeah, you're burning up, noona. We should get you into bed."

  "No, no. That won't be necessary." You waved away his clammied hand and instead peeled off your - his - jacket. The last thing you wanted, on a day as emotionally strenuous as this one, was to find yourself physically compromised, too. "I'll be okay. I just need to cool down a bit. It's probably just a cold, and I can soldier through those. Uh—I'm a little hungry, though?"

  "Aha! Want some French toast or something?" Taehyung leapt at the opportunity to tend to you. Like Yoongi, you shied away from showing weakness and instead showed a reluctance to lean on others. It must’ve been frustrating for Taehyung, an unashamed empath who wanted nothing more than to accompany and comfort you during your times of adversity. But he understood that it could not be the case with you. That less was more. That the key to helping you was when you asked for it. Yes, even when it was something so small as the common cold.

  And when it wasn’t just the sniffles, but world-ending woe, Taehyung embraced your diversions from the difficult topics. Didn’t push it. Best friends never pushed. Yes, he was still your best friend. Something more, now, too, but forever your gentlest, most attuned of friends. "Don’t you like French toast? I could make something else?" He prompted, peering into your faraway face with those precious eyes of his.

  "You can make French toast?"

  "Of course I can. I can make you anything, within reason. I've been practicing. Takeout's giving me a belly." In illustration, Taehyung molded his hands to his mildly rounded flesh. Strained it out further, like an expecting mother.

  "I like your little belly." Your hands fell to his, pressing his stomach back to flat.

  "Yeah?" An errant quirk of his eyebrow. "It likes you, too."

  You smiled so, so wide. And then you became certain:

  Last night had been the right decision. One made in a swell of volatile emotion, yes. But this day - this moment - in which it was still possible to smile, proved that. Taehyung conjured it to your face with so little effort. It took so little effort to be with him. To just be. 

  And that was indeed a feat. 

  Because inside your mind, there was no reprieve. Barbed words and self-abuse clattered about your brain, painting you unworthy of Jungkook. Worse yet; deserving of his treatment. 

Every second since your waking hour you’d been assailed by volleys of it. But your self-loathing didn’t end its assault there. In your darkest seconds, it even dared to suggest that you proclaimed your love for Taehyung too hastily. 

  That you instead yearned for that other man.

  By some mercy, you were already adept in handling intrusive thoughts. Because that was all they were: Intrusive. Unwelcome and unwanted. There could be no truth to the doubt or longing. 

Not when your new horizon stood before you, a sunshine smile dawning across his cheeks. Taehyung. The once boy, now man, you'd forever coveted.

  He was yours. Your desperate words a night ago sealed it.

  Puzzlement mingled adorably with Taehyung's bright features. "Babe?"

  Yeah. It was the right choice.

  "Sorry, Tae." In spite of your climbing fever, you intertwined your idling fingers. Looked down at the union with a contented smile. "Thanks for letting me stay here for a bit. I didn't want to go back to my apartment yet." The reason why remained unspoken. "I know I can't avoid it forever, but for a little while at least, I just wanna not think."

  Soft, familiar lips were on your forehead. Spoke against the skin. "You stay here as long as you need. My apartment and I are at your disposal." It was Taehyung's turn to loose himself from your febrile embrace. Your perspiration lacquered his fingers. "We're getting you some painkillers for that fever, at the very least. You don't have to stay in bed, but I want you on the sofa so I can keep an eye on you while I do some marking."

  "Okay, dad."

  Taehyung’s tongue danced over the tips of his teeth. "That's daddy to you, noona. Get those damp clothes off and get some of my pyjamas on, there's a set on the bed."

  ----

  Your sentencing to the sofa had initially been met with resistance. Especially when Taehyung hovered, ever-watching, an eye on his papers and the other on your recalcitrant form. Your every attempt at productivity - even a surreptitious attempt to fold his laundry - had been met with soft but stern eyes and an escort back to your cologne-saturated prison. Jimin's stank had ingratiated itself with the fibres of Taehyung's cushions. No amount of deodorizer could reduce its cling. It did nothing but intensify the thudding behind your eyes.

  And at first, you attributed your worsening nausea to that silly little redhead. But the lightheadedness followed swiftly after, and then the chills, and then that horrid, off feeling encroached, like your soul lagged behind every of your body's movements.

  In the end, you begged for the bed. Taehyung's memory foam mattress and sweet-smelling pillows. Only, the sweet made you sick, and the memory foam only exacerbated all your indistinct aches. By early afternoon, despite his dutiful nursing of you, you tapped out of your brave-facing. Practically begged him to return you to your apartment, where all your remedies resided. 

  If there was something that united the men of your world, it was their haphazard approach to health crises. Taehyung possessed a pitiful two (2) painkillers. The nasty, round, chalky type that got you gagging. Expiry date: Last year. No hot water bottle, no frozen goods to improvise a cold compress. When questioned about his unreadiness in the face of illness, his reasoning was ridiculous. Sound, but ridiculous. 'I never get sick, so I don't need it.’ The painkillers were Jimin’s.

  Hoseok and Yoongi were much the same. The former would simply turn up on your doorstep and check-in to your veritable inpatient clinic and expect private-tier care. For the latter, you'd have to make a house visit, because he never got sick, and he didn't need you fussing over him so. And yet he was the one that fell ill the most. The one that needed the most tender of care.

  Sigh.

  Today, you required it. And that was how you now found yourself back home, a day earlier than you would have preferred. You tottered out of Taehyung's car in your royal red slanket, pyjama pants dragging on wet asphalt. It took what waning stamina you possessed to gaze upward at the same balconies Jungkook strode yesterday. It was like looking on an untouched crime scene; as gloomily lit and ominous as it had been then.

  Taehyung came to your side, and then a little in front, surveying that same sight. "Looks like he's gone, noona."

  The relief that surged was medicine in itself. "Thank God. Let's go in, quickly." Your teeth chattered animatedly during the climb, even though you burned like the sun incarnate. Taehyung's arm was fast about your waist, steadying you on each of your Everestian steps. Collapse felt close at times, but when your vision began to fail it was the image of Jungkook's guilt-ridden face that rallied you onward. To fall, here, was to expose yourself to the risk of seeing it again.

  And that could not happen.

  "Do you have the keys—"

  "Got 'em." Taehyung was ahead of you in every sense. With the dexterity he was inhibited from displaying earlier, he had your door open before you could reach him. "In you go, babe."

  "Thanks." You loped past, unsteady. Unready to climb the flight of stairs immediately within. "Why do I have a maisonette?" The question was to no-one, or God. 

  Taehyung answered anyway. “Because you’re a woman of discerning taste.” Large hands found your blanketed backside, lending you their support. “Plus, when the bedroom’s upstairs, the neighbours can’t hear.” 

  “A valid point,” you ceded, beginning your ascent. Even with Taehyung - quite literally - bringing up the rear, your legs felt like those of an unpractised infant. It was astonishing just how quickly the virus had incapacitated you.

  Still. The higher you climbed, the handsier Taehyung became. He stole squeezes of your rump with every step. Said it was incentive to keep going.

  Well, he wasn’t wrong. 

  After much of his unscrupulous groping, the laughter finally broke free. "Oh my God, you're being so shameless right now." Another shaky step. "I wish I had a stairmaster."

  He wasn't done being outrageous. "Sit back and I'll stairmaster you all the way up, babe."

  The giggling became painful. Welcome, but painful. "Stop."

  At the top of the staircase, you stopped to compose your failing limbs. It was alarming just how vital you'd been this morning. This afternoon, you felt one laboured breath from death. "One sec."

  "I knew this was a bad idea. You shouldn't be going anywhere in your condition." His two, warm hands stabilised you from the back, preventing an inevitable tumble. "I coulda just bought more painkillers and whatever else you needed."

  "It's alright, Tae. I had to come back at some point soon, anyway. My keys for the cafe are here and I'm opening tomorrow." Blotting the sweat from your brow, you advanced on unstable legs to the sofa and immediately crumpled onto its familiar comfort. "Plus, when I'm sick, I like to be sick at home."

  "I don't think you'll be going into work tomorrow." By the time it took you to maneuver yourself onto your stomach, Taehyung was stood over you, hands emphatically on hips. "Look at you. Can't even get comfortable without exhausting yourself."

  "I don't wanna let Hoseok down." Nor did you want to enlighten him to your current romantic quandry, though. Ugh. "But I do feel terrible. If I’m no better later, I might text him."

  "Wow, I thought for sure it would take far more convincing than that," Taehyung snickered, eyes round with mock shock. He'd accumulated a number of dirty dishes from your coffee table in his hands. "Glad you're prepared to rest. Stay there and let me get whatever it is you need. I'll clean your place up a little as well, so don't stress about it."

  "No—Tae—"

  "Hush. Get the pyjama bottoms off, too, they're wet on the bottom."

  You'd been shouldering so much discomfort that your freezing wet ankles had eluded you. A glance down. "Oh. Yeah. I don't know if I can, though." You flopped your feeble arms. "Too far to reach." Plus, Taehyung could undress you now. To disrobe in any other way was to squander the opportunity.

  His mouth curved villainously. "Okay." Clap. "Let's see if I can do this in one swift move. Like a magician pulling a table cloth."

  Before his proposition had entirely processed, he pinched the hems of your sodden pyjama bottoms and snatched them from your legs. "Wh—"

  "Open sesame!"

  Wheezy giggling filled the air. "Oh, it hurts to laugh. Fuck." Being semi-naked and comically incapacitated only heightened the hilarity. Taehyung straddled your legs, twirling the wet pants in triumph— "Oww. Oh my God, stop, I can’t—” More rasping laughter. “What even goes on in your head? Also, magicians don't shout open sesame when they do that shit."

  "I do. That's why other magicians suck. They say the wrong words." He spoke it like he believed it, and for a moment he was again the boy from childhood, proclaiming the weirdest - but sincerest - of things. And now he was your loveable oddball. "Daddy's gonna get you some dry ones."

  And there was the gross-ass man he'd grown into.

  Nevermind.

  "Okay, you're taking that in a direction I don't want to go in, Tae," you protested, flimsily, through persistent laughs. With a half-hearted kick, you nudged him toward your bedroom. "Hurry up, my ass is getting cold."

  “A cold ass will do you good,” was his nonsensical retort. He wriggled out of his own, damp jeans as he went, gifting you the sight of his luscious ass in curve-hugging cotton. 

  You were appallingly close to catcalling take the boxers off too!, but in your current state you could barely lift a pinky, let alone give him the vigorous fucking he deserved.

  ---

  A little channel-hopping later, Taehyung returned. Armed, coincidentally, with your favourite flannel bottoms. Yes, it was likely just coincidence, but the romantic in you posited destiny. "Legs up," he commanded. You did try, but the attempt was laughable. Taehyung's sigh hit the back of your thighs. "Listen here, lazy," he crooned, turning your body with the care one would an undercooked omelette. Pyjama pants in hand, he glowered down at your defiant face, brandishing them like a threat. "You gonna co-operate?"

  "Nope." You turned your attention to the TV to stifle further laughter. Why you were hindering his attempts to help with your misbehaviour was anyone's guess. There was something irresistible about making trouble for him, though. Probably because Taehyung, too, was an unrepenting rascal.

  "Okay then," was his equivocal response. You scrutinised him through narrowed eyes, waiting on his next, underhanded move.

  Which was to tickle your feet. Underhanded indeed.

  "Oh, God, no!" you yelped, cried, rasped for breath. Flailed your legs like a fawn on skates.

  "Thought you couldn't move, huh? Huh?" Taehyung caught your ankles amidst their thrashing and pulled them through freshly-laundered flannel.

  Once the pyjamas reached your knees, you relented in your nonsense and shot him a buoyant smile. "Thanks."

  "Hips up."

  This time, you were obedient.

  And Taehyung was thankful. A fine smile shone back at you as he settled the waistband around your hips. Your smile, however, drifted. Awe replaced it as you stole glances at his beautifully-hewn features. He truly was sublime. The bridge of his nose was high and strong, its tip hosting the most precious of moles. Beneath his bottom lip there was another. These little details, of course, hadn’t escaped you before, but it was something to see them so close now. With time, you would kiss each and every of his chaotically placed moles. 

  When you recalled your gaze upward, Taehyung was watching you. The chocolate of his eyes was molten with feeling. Love and warmth irradiated him. "Can't believe you're mine now."

  It was crucial that you kiss him.

  You moved to do so. His lips were only a breath away. But then—

  Three, distinct knocks.

  You traded looks. Yours, petrified. His, outraged.

  "Wait—"

  But Taehyung's weight had already left you. An intimidating energy lingered in his wake as he strode toward the staircase, fists clenched. "I'll get that."

  "Tae, no—"

  The difficulty with which it took you to extricate yourself from your slanket was all the more frustrating for the urgency of the situation. You staggered, almost toppled, to catch him, but he'd already descended the steps by the time you reached the top. Damn those lovely, long legs of his. All you could do now was brace yourself on either bannister to prevent a gruesome fall. Because no amount of honeyed pleading was going to stop him. You peered, lightly nauseous, down the expanse of stair as Taehyung slung open the door.

  It came as no surprise that it was Jungkook stood there, his doe-eyes wide.

  It eviscerated your guts, nonetheless, to see him.

  “Noona!”

  At first, he lit up in elation. Perhaps he thought the door-answerer to be you. When Taehyung’s identity became clear, however, that elation morphed. First, to shock. Your long-legged lover wasn’t wearing pants, after all. But when Jungkook spied you at the back all shy, sadness again descended upon him. It was a sadistic hope that your sickly appearance intensified that upset. That it fueled his guilt for having decimated you. With every, shredded fibre of your being, you wished Jungkook hurt.

  “Thank you for answering the door,” he began with an earnest bow, as though he didn’t know just how much you abhorred him. “H—”

  "I answered the door. What do you want?" Taehyung straddled the doorframe, asserting his dominance over the territory. Jungkook's every attempt to look past him was foiled. The lissom man angled himself obstructively, and yet you sought Jungkook's face, too. Wanted to glimpse the heartbreaker for yourself, like he was some loathsome thing of legend. Like it was hard to believe you'd looked into that face just yesterday and seen the world. "Don't you ever give up?" he added, his patience sounding pencil-thin.

  After several, weighty seconds of silence, Jungkook eventually acknowledged Taehyung's existence. Addressed him earnestly. "I know I'm not welcome here. I just want a couple of minutes with ____ to explain what she saw—" A derisive snort threatened to cut him off, so he continued hastily, and louder— "—Not for my benefit. For hers. I don't want her to—to—" Choked with frustration, Jungkook thrust himself into your sightline. Implored you with large, gleaming eyes. "I don't want you to blame yourself in any way."

  You despised how pregnable you were under his gaze. Like imminent, avoidable death, it became impossible to look away. The void called. There, in his desolate eyes. He wanted you to join him. 

  No, Jungkook didn’t need you anymore. What he wanted was absolution. At great personal cost to you. But whatever he wished, no matter how detrimental, you would likely grant. 

  Because as much as you hated him, you loved him.

  “I—”

  But you loved Taehyung, too.

  “____?” And he was there, soft voice enticing you back toward the light. Back toward his pretty face and tender-hearted intentions. There was no hurt to be had with Taehyung.

  "I don't,” you spat, clear-minded once more. “I don’t blame myself, Jungkook. Only you.” 

  But you did blame yourself. Every second since, in fact. 

  Too fat, too boring, too ugly, too old, too much baggage—

  It mustn't have been too convincing an outburst. Jungkook's mouth remained a thin, grim line. And those fucking eyes of his were so fucking ridiculously big and sad and—fuck!

  It was all too much.

  Mercifully, Taehyung was composed enough to mediate. You, however, were on the brink of emotional - and physical - collapse. "You heard her." Again, he filled out the doorframe. Stood provocatively close to the man in front. "You fucked up majorly. Actually—" Taehyung leaned in. His baritone dived lower. "You're lucky we're not alone right now."

  Jungkook did not recoil an inch. Neither did he square up, though. He just stood, toe-to-toe with Taehyung, receiving the vitriol.

  "You've imparted your message. You’re too late. You shouldn’t have done it in the first place. Are you finally going to go?"

  At that, something bubbled within Jungkook. It shook his frame, balled his fists. Blinking came more rapidly. And then— "I know all that, dude. Look, I’m not here to fight with you. I appreciate what you’re doing, and that you’re protecting her, but I just—I need to talk to noona—to ___ a little longer. Privately. I just need a little more time. Please. Let me get the words out."

  Taehyung bore impossibly close. "You don't need more time."

  Jungkook’s mouth opened, combatively downturned. But whatever he meant to launch next was stymied when you took one, noodly step down the stairs. Taehyung turned toward the movement, and Jungkook peered past. It was then that he clocked just how arduous it was for you to move. “Noona? Are you okay?”

  Dizzyness crowded your peripheral vision. But Jungkook was front and centre, and so painfully clear, that the influenza quietened. "I don't want to see you, Jungkook. I’m pretty sure I got that across yesterday. How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone? What if I don’t even want to hear your damn sob story?"

  He fell mute when your words reached him. Like he could scarcely believe you'd deigned him worthy of directly addressing. Palms pressed together and with his mouth agape, he looked the picture of a supplicant.

  But he was unworthy.

  No, I am.

  You hung your head again. It was strenuous on your neck; weighing like a cannonball. "I don't want to stand here all day, Jungkook. Fucking say something. Why did you come here if—"

  "Because I love you!” he gasped. “I love you, and—"

  "Bullshit you do!"

  It came from Taehyung, not you. He'd turned back, teeth bared, no longer saying but growling. There he was. Your guard dog. The leash was straining. "You don't love someone and hide a fucking fiancee, you piece of shit." Jungkook flinched at Taehyung's ferocity, but remained stalwart on his spot. Curled his lip instead. "You blew it. Now go."

  Jungkook shook his head suddenly, violently. Flung rain from his hair and onto the walls. "This has nothing to do with you!" The bridge of his nose scrunched tight and bared not bunny teeth, but fangs.

  Taehyung swatted away the finger poised aggressively at his chest. Stepped closer, but didn't stop. No, he bumped him back toward the threshold with his chest. "It does now. Read between the lines, dumbass."

  Jungkook was ineffably innocent. “What do you mean?” He stared into Taehyung’s narrowed eyes to glean more meaning. 

  And then he gulped.

  Jungkook’s gaze flickered to Taehyung’s immodestly nude legs, and clarity began to dawn. It astounded you how little reaction Taehyung’s state of undress had initially garnered from Jungkook. But now he was giving the situation its due attention.

  A few, unmoving moments later, he gulped again. Harder this time, like something tangibly obstructed his speech. “N-Noona?” It was a mere rasp.

  When Jungkook looked back, eyes glossy with devastation, your heart tore again. Right along its freshly-stitched seams. You tried desperately to avert your gaze, but the void shimmering back at you was dense. His voice reached for you again. "____?" 

  Your name, alien in tone, was what finally closed your eyes. Fresh tears ran down established tracks. You turned away, grip on the bannisters dubious.

  "You and—him?" Jungkook gasped, so quietly, so pained, it was like agonal breath.

  You crumpled as if stomped on. Your chest was ablaze, and you wanted so desperately to clutch at it. To smother it. To cradle your torso as it caved once more. But you were too impaired to move. Instead, you stood there, frozen and hunched, crying uglier than you could remember ever letting anyone see. Staring at your toes as the carpet caught your tears. 

  But why? You should be overjoyed to shatter him as he had you.

  "Get it? Now go." Taehyung sighed, all the fight siphoning from him. He backed up from Jungkook and went monotone. "You've upset ___. Again. This is your last warning. Get going."

  Predictably, Jungkook didn't budge. In the ensuing silence, however, he didn't plead his case as he once would have done. No, something about him was changed. An aggrieved aura hugged him, expanded, until— "Last warning? Fuck you, Kim Taehyung." His eyes, once brimming with tears, now seared with a fury. Even Taehyung looked taken aback. The outburst came sharp despite its gentle source. Again, Jungkook thrust forward an accusing finger. "Don't pretend you're better than me. You're selfish. I knew you couldn't wait to get your dick in her. I knew it ever since we saw you at the movies and you looked so fucking jealous—"

  The gasp that exited you was so heavy with outrage it almost took you with it. You gripped the bannisters tighter, wobbled down two further steps. You had to de-escalate this. Somehow. "Jungkook!"

  He granted you a brief, guilt-ridden side-glance before once again affixing his target with a glare. "You were just waiting for your moment, weren't you? Didn't want her 'til I had her. Couldn't bear the thought of your closest friend not being one of your conquests."

  “Shut the fuck up!”

  You didn't make it in time. Not before Taehyung wound back his elbow and snapped it forward, a hard, coiled fist on its end. It landed, brutal and blunt, on Jungkook's jaw. A dull, fleshy thud resounded, but to you it was like a gunshot. And so was the way his head and body whipped away, spiralling until his knees buffered his fall.

  "Oh my G—Jungkook!"

  The younger man, crouched away as he was, breathed deep, coppery air. Smeared his mouth along his sleeve, leaving red where it touched. And then, standing, he glared hatred at Taehyung. His shoulders shuddered with untethered anger. "You—"

  "It's more than that for me. I can't say the same for you," Taehyung cut in, surveying his reddened knuckles. He flexed his fingers for feeling. "Fucking cheater."

  Distracted, Taehyung was unprepared for the solid hunk of human that caught him around his midsection. Jungkook tackled him without caution, throwing his entire, intimidating mass into Taehyung's lankier frame. The two surged into the ground, clawing and grappling at the other's limbs, eyes wild, lips stretched back from teeth.

  "Stop!"

  "Oh my God, stop it!"

  Neither listened. They were feral. Both heard only the rush of blood.

  Knowing you must intervene, you manipulated your ragdollish limbs into descending the last half dozen steps. It was then, after an elongated struggle, Jungkook clambered atop Taehyung and fisted the collar of his shirt, glaring daggers enough to maim him.

  “You’re so fucking smug—”

  “Why shouldn’t I be? I’m not the one who fucked up!” Taehyung crowed from beneath, maniacal. He taunted Jungkook with an angular grin, like he wasn’t the one at disadvantage. 

  “Shut up!”

  Once your feet met ground, you crumbled to your knees, Taehyung's head of hair between them. The sneer he brandished fell when he caught sight of your sweat-soaked face. Pitifully you pressed against Jungkook's shoulders, dissuading him from further violence. You felt like a toreador pushing on 1800lbs of charging bull. Jungkook didn't even so much as register your attempts until you wheezed out, "P-Please stop."

  He did. He went rigid, in fact. Trembled, when he became aware of your touch. His rage evaporated and the boy that sat there was no longer a bull but a meek little kit. Trepidation rolled from Jungkook in waves, and he would not meet your eyes.  

  Why? 

  Was he now repulsed by you? 

  How could he judge you for your indiscretion when he—he—! 

  No. It wasn't an indiscretion. What you did with Taehyung held no moral ambiguity. 

  It occurred to you, then, that the pair of you hadn't been so close since the last time you were intimate. And happy. Though damp, Jungkook's familiar, and once comforting scent, brushed your nostrils. Perhaps your proximity was what flustered him.

  When he finally met your gaze, you knew it to be true. He didn't look upon you with the anger nor revulsion you expected. Not anything obvious, anyway. Instead it was the wide-eyed wonder from your first date. The shyness. For just a moment, you allowed yourself to revisit it. 

But then his brows drooped low in remorse. "Noona," he called to you like you were far away. Pined for you. Taehyung's shirt fell from his clutches, and you found his hands on your elbows instead, propping up your drooping form.

  Feverish before, you were positively boiling now. To have his gentle palms on you again, no matter the circumstance, was a threat to your hastily-cobbled retreat. His fingertips told you, as they caressed your inner elbow, that any other man's hands would never do. And yet - you squirmed feebly, recalling it - those hands had been on, been in some other woman's body. And that would never do. "Don't touch me, J-Jungkook. Not with those hands."

  But it was his hands that stirred your heart into uproar. 

  No. It was simply the flu. Nothing more. It influenced your body in the oddest ways. 

  And there was someone that had pumped your blood for far longer.

  You cast your eyes to where Taehyung lay, honey hair a halo about his head and eyes only for you. Love bloomed fiercely in the bowels of your heart. “You really don’t look very good.” He made to push Jungkook off, but the younger man was already up on his knees, scanning your wan complexion. 

  "Are you burning up?" Jungkook murmured, his lips a line of concern. "You feel hot." Again he clasped your elbows, testing along their length for temperature. When he reached your upper arms, he was bold enough to advance on your neck, thumbs either side the line of your jaw. To your great shame, though you attributed it in most part to the fever, you enjoyed Jungkook's handling. "Your glands are out. And—" he pressed a cool, clammy palm to your clammier forehead. Spellbound, your eyes closed. "Yeah, you're even hotter up here, noona."

  "No shit, dumbass," Taehyung growled from above. When you opened your eyes, he was no longer supine but towering over the two of you, fingers twitching by his sides. You foresaw Jungkook's imminent scalping if you weren't quick to intervene. "You chased her into torrential rain. She's sick, asshole, and it's your fault."

  But there was no need to intervene. Jungkook didn't anger again. Nor did he stare down the man spitting insults. His focus remained fixed on you. On the damage he'd done. The deadened, bloodshot eyes, the pallid skin, the absence of joy. Of understanding. "I-I'm sorry," was all he could think to say? Again?

  Desperate, you implored him for more with forlorn eyes. Begged him for sense. Practically mouthed the word please. It would be nothing you wanted to hear, but perhaps hearing it could bring closure. Some semblance of peace, eventually, in some far-off year. 

  Jungkook stared back, ruminating, and you knew there was no sense to be found. None that you wanted, anyway. Jungkook was a liar, an adulterer, a manipulator—

  "Alright, you said sorry again. Time to go." Taehyung hauled him up by his underarms and, hopefully, away from you forever. It was a credit to him for tolerating Jungkook’s presence for so long. Especially when all he did was regurgitate the same, tired shit. "Don't come here again, or I'll call the cops," he snarled to Jungkook's ear, spittle flying. With a grip on the scruff of Jungkook's jacket, he whirled him toward the door.

  "She's not my fiancee!"

  Taehyung paused. As did you, in your agonised ascent into standing.

  "She's not my fiancee," Jungkook repeated over his shoulder, looking for you over his gathering jacket. "I wanted to talk to you about it calmly, and in private. It's not simple, and it’s hard to believe."

  "Don't lie to me n-now, Jungkook." The finger with which you jabbed at him, trembled. "I asked you that. You said she was."

  Taehyung's expression darkened by the second. It would devolve into another brawl at this rate, and you didn't want that. Not because you didn't want to see Jungkook get served, but because you didn't want him in your presence another gut-wrenching moment.

  Brazenly, Jungkook yanked himself from Taehyung's grip and turned, palms up and pacifying. He inched back toward the door; a gesture of his intent to finally leave. "Look. It's because technically she is, but it's not real—I'm going, asshole!—" Jungkook waved his arms demonstratively at the nearing door. Having appeased Taehyung, he pinned you again with fervent eyes. "What you saw wasn't the truth. If you won't hear me out entirely, at least hear that.”

  “No-one believes you. Everything you say is a fucking contradiction.” Taehyung was red and riled again. 

  Jungkook ignored him, his time short. “I won't text you anymore, I won't come here anymore. What I’ve done to you is unforgivable. I know that. I should never have lied. But—" The lamp outside illuminated his bedraggled hair. The tip of his nose when he turned. "You know my number if you do want to hear me out. I'll be around for a bit longer.”

  A bit longer?

  You granted him the minutest of nods.

  It was enough. Nodding back, Jungkook turned on his heel and flew around the corner. And though he was gone, his silhouette stayed seared into your retinas, haunting your every blink. It was only when Taehyung replaced him in the doorway that Jungkook faded. “Come on, babe. Let’s get you back on the sofa.” 

  Wow, he was tall.

Oh.

  Somehow, you were on the floor again. You squinted up at him with sore, watering eyes, overwhelmed by it all. You reached for him like an infant would its parent, too vulnerable to move, and too stupid to know better. “Okay.”

  "It’s been a shitty day, but I’m gonna try and make it better. Why don’t we have a Netflix nostalgiafest?" Taehyung cooed into your sodden hair, no minding the sweat. He wound your arms around his neck, legs about his waist and chauffered you up the stairs, grunting by the step. Exaggerating the effort by comedic amounts in order to provoke you.

  “Sure.”

  But you were far, far away. Hidden behind your glazed eyes, the encounter replayed on loop. Lingered on Jungkook's Disney eyes and big buck teeth. The ones you loved back when he deserved to be loved. The nonsense he spouted toward the end was of particular interest in your mental re-runs, even though it should have immediately been dismissed.

  'What you saw wasn't the truth.'

  But neither was his relationship with you. Not when he kept such weighty secrets as sport.

  'I'll be around for a bit longer.'

  And that? Another of his manipulative tactics? Was he really leaving, or merely dangling the threat of it?

  But why would it be a threat? You wanted nothing more than him to be gone.

  Oh, it was all so bad. Everything was bad. Everything was too much, and, oh, even being in your body was too much, let alone your mind. You were drowning in affliction. Assailed from all sides with nothing for defense.

  "Babe."

  All went black, and then you opened your eyes. Taehyung stood over you, mouth downturned. Cotton caressed your naked skin, and you knew these were your sheets. This was your bed. Your lover had stripped you of your oppressive pyjamas. You stared at the mole on his nose, the one under his bottom lip. One, two. You could count to two.

  "Are you doing okay? Your fever really spiked there. Should I call a doctor?"

  “No, no.”

  Perhaps you'd simply hallucinated the entire encounter. Perhaps it was your mind's exercise in catharsis. Or perhaps Jungkook had never existed to begin with, and his betrayal was the product of a detailed fever dream. Taehyung was real, though, and here he was still. Your forever best friend. Your secret love. You had not yet confessed your love to this real Taehyung. But now you were awake, you would seize the chance. Because if there was one thing your prolonged nightmare had taught you, it was that you should have just done it to begin with. On the porch those years ago, when the stars weighed heavy over his head and dared you to kiss him.

  "I love you," you rasped, sounding like Death's next call.

  And just like it should have happened then, Taehyung lowered his face to yours. "I love you too, noona," he murmured through a joyous smile, brushing together your noses first, lips second. "But it's time for your next dose of painkillers. We gotta get this in you ‘cause your fever’s really mounting. Pretty sure you’ve been hallucinating. It’s worrying me. I’m this close—” he pinched together his fingers— “to calling a doctor. I don't think that asshole turning up did you much good."

  Brainless, you repeated. "No doctor. Asshole?"

  "Yeah, Jungkook." A tray of painkillers dangled from the corner of Taehyung’s mouth while he poured water. "Lying douchebag. Who, by the way, will not be working at the school anymore. Not if I have something to say about it."

  The words went in, but floated right back out. The ceiling swirled.

  "Oh." He was real. 

  Of course, you knew that. Even in the murk of fever it was apparent. Still, it’d been nice to pretend for a while.

  The sound of preparation ceased and the mattress dipped. Taehyung extended your next dose and a glass of water to you. His expression was no longer so sunny, but clouded with disquiet. "Talk to me, ____. I know you're sick, but that's not all that's going on in that muddled head of yours. It might help to talk. I know you don’t like it, but you don’t have to be afraid. Just try it."

  It was a credit to your weakened state that you were so loose-lipped. You downed the pills and curled around Taehyung's seated position, molding to his lap. "I'm just—I don't know." Your cheek was hot against his thigh. His Calvin Klein waistband stared back at you. "I don't want to be sad anymore. I'm so, so sad. It's unbearable. I can't handle much as it is. It doesn't take a lot to drag me down, but this, this—" Tears welled. Taehyung's slender fingers were there to catch them. "This feels almost too much. Even with you here. It's like I'm locked in a mental prison."

  "I know, babe," he whispered, stroking your face free of limpid hair. "It's gonna take a while to feel better, like it does with any big change. What he did to you was villain material. Of course you're going to be devastated." For once, you listened. "You don't owe him forgiveness, though he tried his damned best to get it. For his own selfish satisfaction, I'm sure. And you don't owe him anything else, either, not even the thoughts in your brain. Though I know that's gonna take a while, too. I'm sure it's all you can think about." You nodded, snuffled into your blanket until it was wet. A sob felt ripe for eruption. "The flu won't make things easier, either. You're not losing your mind. You just need rest. And when you're not resting, distraction. I'm on hand for the latter." All that he said was all that you craved to hear. A tremulous smile - of relief, of gratitude - wobbled into place. Taehyung must have seen. "That's it, babe. It won't always be this bad, okay?"

  You nodded, marring his exemplary thighs with a variety of unpleasant excretions. "Ugh. Sorry." You’d been intimate just one day with Taehyung and you were already establishing yourself as a repellent bog monster. Usually that happens at least 3 years in.

  Taehyung merely chuckled. Kept the tissue box out of reach when you moved for it, thinking himself funny. It was only upon your panicked pleas of oh my god, snot’s gonna go in my mouth, that he finally indulged you. By wiping your nose for you, cooing all the while. "That better, little baby?"

  Your face spelt vexation. But inwardly, yes, yes, it was better.

  Taehyung made you so.

-

Next: 13 ASAP! || WYLEI Masterlist

[raendown]

Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 2980 Chapter: 7/7 Summary:  An accident at work leaves Tobirama blinded while his eyes are bandaged to heal from some rather nasty burns. Too busy with his own job to play the role of caretaker, wife too pregnant to place the burden on her, Hashirama calls upon his best friend Madara to stay with them and help Tobirama out in anyway he can. Madara isn’t exactly thrilled to play babysitter but he can see an opportunity when one comes along; this may be the chance he’s always waited for.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Chapter 7

Madara watched the steam wafting above his coffee mug without really seeing it. Even now two weeks after he had packed his things and gone back to living alone in his apartment he still found himself wondering sometimes if Tobirama ever took a moment to appreciate the little things like this. Did he ever sit and watch the steam rise over a hot drink just to admire the shape of the dancing curls? Did he stop and watch the way sunlight filtered through a half-shuttered window or admire the colors to be found in a bird perched outside the window?

He would know if he asked, of course. The trouble was that when he left a wall seemed to have dropped down between them and thrown their non-existent friendship back in time, bringing them right back to how things had been before the entire lab accident fiasco happened. A couple of times he had tried to speak with Tobirama but both efforts had been met with hesitant glances and reserved speech. Clearly whatever ground he thought he’d covered had existed only during that time of desperation and Tobirama had no intentions of building on any of that now that he didn’t have to rely on others for survival anymore.

A light flick on the end of his nose brought Madara out of his trance to scowl across the table at Hashirama, who smiled back with a wistful look in his eye like he knew his presence had been forgotten despite being seated at his own kitchen table.

“Still feeling down?”

“Go to hell,” Madara grumbled half-heartedly. Instead of deterring him the sour attitude only seemed to encourage Hashirama.

“I wish there was something I could do to cheer you up. You’ve been in such an awful mood for a while now and…well…don’t be mad but I think I know–”

Madara nearly upset his coffee trying to leap across the table and clap a hand over the idiot’s mouth. “Don’t,” he warned. “If you say one more word of what I think you’re about to say then know that I will pull every hair out of your head one by one.”

Unfortunately Hashirama did not heed that warning, pushing the hand away with a sympathetic pout.

“You never got over him, did you? I mean, I always knew you had a crush on Tobi but you never did anything about it. You had the perfect opportunity to do something while you were here but it’s been two weeks and nothing’s happened so I thought for a while that maybe you actually got over him. Guess not.” Fiddling with his own cup, Hashirama gave the coffee a wry smile. “I was always kind of hoping one of you would get your head out of your ass and pursue the other. You guys dating would be like a dream come true.”

“How?” Madara wondered if the heat in his face was actually steaming the air around him. It sure felt like it. He’d never realized his feelings were so obvious that even Hashirama could pick up on them.

“My best friend and my brother falling in love? How could that not be a dream come true? It would be amazing! You would finally be a part of the family for real and I would see both of you more often and you’d both be so much happier!”

“Hmph. I don’t think Tobirama would be in any way happier if he got stuck with me.”

With his mouth twisted downwards and his brows pulled together Madara lifted his mug to take a sip of coffee. Then he nearly spat it back out, startled by the unexpected voice that spoke from just behind him.

“You and I have always had different opinions on many things.” Tobirama’s expression was impossible to define when Madara snapped around to stare at him with horror rising in his throat. “It seems to me this is just another one of those things.”

“How…how much of that did you hear?”

“Let’s talk somewhere a little more private.” That was really all the answer he needed to know that his doom had found him and most likely by the end of this conversation he would need to move far away to another country just to escape the pure shame of his own revealed feelings.

Hashirama watched them both with shining eyes that almost managed to cover the deep bags he was still sporting from his most recent long shift. Madara hoped those stupid eye bags stayed. The idiot deserved to look just as tired and grumpy as his best friend always did for sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong and opening his big fat mouth where apparently others were around to hear them. Next time he told Madara some of his dumb secrets they were getting shouted from the rooftop with three different megaphones.

Following Tobirama out of the room felt more akin to following an executioner to the guillotine for his own beheading. He already knew Tobirama wasn’t interested, he’d just said it himself, so he wasn’t sure why it was necessary for them to even have this conversation when it was going to be nothing but painful for him. Actually that was probably why. He had dared to catch feelings for the wrong person and now Tobirama just wanted to make him suffer. What an asshole. Why was Madara in love with him again?

It probably had something to do with the surprisingly soft look in Tobirama’s eyes when they made it up the stairs and in to the man’s room. The sound of the door closing behind him almost made Madara flinch – or it would have if he weren’t captivated by his first up close look at those beautiful red eyes since the bandages had finally come off.

“Not that I will ever say it to his face but sometimes Hashirama actually manages to be right about something.”

“I don’t…what?”

“Like he said, you had the perfect opportunity to make a move and then you never did. It would have been nice if I didn’t have to do all the work myself.”

“What are you talking about?” Madara crossed his arms over his chest defensively and held tight, hoping that in doing so he could prevent his thundering heart from leaping straight out of his chest and laying itself in Tobirama’s pale, perfect hands.

Now that his head was no longer half mummified and his eyes had been declared free and clear with no complications from the retinal burns, Tobirama’s expressions were in full view and more potent than ever. Having the chance to appreciate them in such glorious detail, however, did not help Madara read them. What was he supposed to do with that tiny smile or the light in those eyes that could almost be described as soft? If panicking was the answer then he was already on top of that but he was reasonably sure that wasn’t actually what he was supposed to be doing at the moment.

“I’m a little ashamed to know that Hashirama picked up on your feelings yet I somehow failed to do the same,” Tobirama said. “That would have been nice to know two weeks ago when I was struggling with thinking the opposite.”

“Do you know how frustrating it is when you continue to talk in circles without making any sense?” Maybe if he scowled hard enough Madara could grump his way out of this mortifying conversation. Or, judging by the amusement on the other man’s face, maybe not.

Shrugging unapologetically, Tobirama answered with a simple, “Yes.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“Because I enjoy seeing you flustered.”

“Oh fuck you!” Madara's scowl doubled in irritation immediately. Not only had he been shamed but now he was to be mocked for it!

Tobirama assumed a thoughtful expression, unfazed. “For years it was just because I thought it was funny. Getting you all riled up was always so easy but you never reacted the same way twice. It was like a game, I suppose, although I realize that’s cruel to say. You fascinated me. When I lost my sight and had to rely on other cues around me I learned more about you, though. Now it’s different.”

“Different how? Fun new blackmail!?”

“No, nothing like that.” Tobirama took a step closer and his smile became a frown for a moment when Madara took a step back to match. “Before I just thought – well, unflattering things that I don’t need to go in to. Now that I know you a little better I can always see why you get flustered.”

Well that didn’t sound very good at all.

“You think you’ve got me all figured out then, huh?” Madara desperately hoped not.

“I know that you’re offended and blustering now because you’re trying to protect yourself. Which is largely unnecessary since I have stupidly fallen in to the trap of developing feelings for you as well.”

“Come again?” His eyebrows shot up so fast he worried they might never come down. Obviously he must have heard that wrong.

Or maybe he hadn’t. Tobirama was smiling again when he took another step forward, this time reaching out to catch Madara by the buttons on his shirt so that he couldn’t back away. “I said that I like you too, if I must lower myself to using such childish language. After you’ve picked your jaw up off the floor you should take me out for dinner sometime. I like sushi.”

It would have been a lot easier to respond if Madara could just convince his brain to process anything past ‘I like you too’. If he had listened correctly then he was pretty sure he’d just been told that Tobirama developed an interest in him while they were stuck in the same house together for two weeks, in which case he would like to speak with life’s manager about some issues he had with that. All the time he’d spent convinced that shoving him in to a limited space with a man that already hated him would only make said man hate him more? Wasted effort. Someone was going to hear some complaints about this.

Probably Hashirama.

“If sushi isn’t your style we can go somewhere else,” Tobirama murmured, clearly aware of what had shocked him in to silence but still teasing him – albeit much more gently than he would have a month ago.

“No that’s…fine. Everything’s fine. I’m great. You’re good.”

“Ah, I see.” The fucker was laughing at him.

“You’re a dickhead,” Madara informed him. Just in case he wasn’t already aware. His hastily cobbled insult had little effect, however, other than earning him a roll of pretty red eyes.

Using the hand still firmly grasping the front of his shirt, Tobirama pulled them in closer together. “Yes. And you like me that way, apparently.”

With that he leaned in those last couple of inches and Madara was somehow even more startled by how gentle their first kiss was. In his mind he had always pictured at least mild savagery, probably due to Tobirama’s habitual hatred of him over the past couple of decades. But this wasn’t at all like he had imagined. This was slow and indulgent, the press of lips and the drumming of his own heartbeat, fingers sliding up his neck to cup his jaw until he very nearly embarrassed himself with a needy whimper.

The kiss ended slowly, naturally, and much too soon. When Tobirama drew his head back Madara followed him and took another kiss without shame. He had waited long enough, damn it. Clearly he deserved more than just one measly smooch! Even if it did immediately rank in the top ten kisses he’d ever had in his life.

“You owe me big time for making me think you still hated me again,” he growled against Tobirama’s mouth, hesitating when his words drew out a small sigh.

“In my defense I had no idea that you felt this way about me. Making you think I hated you was not my aim; all I was trying to do was put a little distance between us until I could get my own feelings under control.” Tobirama at least had the decency to look vaguely apologetic, if not regretful. “A waste of time, evidently. If I’d known how you felt I would have cornered you in a hallway ages ago.”

Madara paused to swallow thickly. “Cornered me in a hallway, huh?” Then he shivered under the dark look Tobirama leveled him with.

“For nefarious purposes, I assure you.”

“Could a bedroom possibly count as a hallway in any sense?”

“I suppose I could make due.” Tobirama was smirking when he pulled them together again and Madara could feel his eyes rolling back in his head with pleasure. Innumerable times he had dreamed of tasting that smirk for himself and now he was delighted to discover that the reality was so much better than anything his meager imagination had been able to come up with.

Not the actual physical taste, of course. Tobirama tasted mostly like some inferior brand of green tea. Rather it was the sensations, the perfect pressure of their lips and the thumb that traced along his jawline, the soft spikes of hair trapped between their faces and the way Tobirama leaned in to him as though he too was eager not to part. It was the triumph of finally having the affection of someone he had yearned after for so long combined with the heart-warming knowledge that he was wanted, he was enough, and he hadn’t even had to change anything about himself to earn that.

Their foreheads nearly collided in their haste to separate then as the silence of the house was rent with a sudden high pitched scream. Mito’s voice echoed up to them from the first floor with all the force of a hurricane preparing for destruction.

“HASHIRAMA!” A familiar voice shook the very walls around them and Madara pressed one hand to the side of his head to calm the sudden ringing in his ears. “This is so much more water than you led me to expect! Get up here now! If you don’t want this child to be born in a bathtub then start the fucking car!”

“She really has a pair of lungs on her, doesn’t she?” he asked. Tobirama blinked stupidly back at him.

“Baby.”

“What?”

“She-she’s having the baby.”

Madara paused. “Oh shit. She is, isn’t she? Oh shit! Tobirama, I don’t know how to help with a baby!”

“Neither do I! That’s his job!”

“What do we do!?” he demanded. Tobirama flustered for a few moments before Hashirama’s suspiciously calm face popped in to the room on his way to the stairs.

His smile was just a little too calm as he jangled his car keys. “Tobi, be a dear and start the car for me, would you? I’m more than certain it’s too early to head out but let’s not upset her any more than we have to. The worst that can happen is we have to turn the car back off for a while.”

A light underhand toss sent the keys flying through the air for Tobirama to woodenly snatch them just before they hit him in the face. Hashirama turned away without watching to see that his keys made it to their intended recipient; he was gone from the room a moment later, taking the stairs down three steps at a time. As soon as he was out of sight Madara and Tobirama looked back to each other with equally horrified expressions.

“I don’t want to go out there,” Madara confessed.

“Me neither. They probably expect us to come help somehow though.” Even as he said it Tobirama scrunched his nose up with distaste for the idea.

“Do you think we could make a run for it?”

Tobirama paused to give that some consideration before he slumped. “Can you imagine what she would do to us when she caught up to us later? I’d rather keep all my bones intact, thanks.”

“You’re right. Ugh. We should just get it over with.” Madara winced as Mito’s screams of pregnancy-induced rage echoed through the house again.

Both of them sighed with reluctance before turning to look at the door leading out in to the hallway, listening to Hashirama’s voice as he shouted to make himself heard over his wife’s panicked shrieking. It was like the stress of the situation had caused them to switch personalities somehow. Never had either of them appreciated more just how good Hashirama seemed to be at his job. Eventually Tobirama drew in a deep breath and boldly stepped towards the door with the same brave air he had worn about him as he tried to navigate the world without his eyes for the first time.

It wasn’t until he’d made it a couple of steps away that Madara realized Tobirama had woven their fingers together and was now pulling him along behind. Not even the knowledge of the horrible beast that lay waiting at the end of their short little journey was enough to stop the foolish smile from spreading across his face, a dopey sort of happiness falling over him like a protective shield against Mito’s continued angry shouting. When the madness calmed down and they had a few moments to themselves after they finally took the new mother-to-be to a hospital he would have to find the time to call Izuna and gloat.

His brother may have been the one to leave home on some hare-brained quest to find himself but, as was right and proper, the older brother had beat him to the punch. It was Madara who had found himself right here with the man he’d set his heart on several years ago.

[mister-lucky-bunny]

Scooby Doo: Monster Menagerie Chpt. 9

Description:  While part of Mystery Inc. goes to investigate a crime scene, Shaggy and Scooby stay behind to join the ghouls' history class.

Scooby Doo: Monster Menagerie

Chapter 9: A Meddlesome Group

The brightly colored van rumbled along the dirt road, the gray clouds above barely allowing any light to seep through. Thankfully, despite the dark woods, the Mystery Machine's headlights would allow Freddie the sight needed to be able to safely steer through the trees. After the call of a body being found, it wasn't long before the van was being filled up with it's passengers. Freddie drove, naturally, with Velma and Daphne taking their usual spots. Because of the fact that Shaggy and Scooby had to stay behind at the school because of contractual obligations, their spots in the back were filled in with Googie and the detective.

Googie wasn't thrilled with the aspect of sharing a van with a creepy homicide detective, sitting in a van so that she can go investigate a dead body. However, for whatever reason, the gang seemed to have eagerly brought her along, as if she had been part of the group. It was a nice gesture, for sure, even if personally, she didn't have much to add to their observations. What could she even say? 'Oh look, a dead body!' Observant. Still, her heart raced, the thought of being in the middle of a crime scene somewhat exhilarating. Not everyday someone could say they had the opportunity to be a part of it all.

"Something on your mind?" The gruff voice of the detective snapped Googie back into consciousness, her eyes quickly looking up. She shivered some, put-off by how intently he seemed to be studying her with his wide eyes.

The blonde nodded, shifting her short hair with a hand in an idle manner. "Yeah, I guess so. I just feel so..."

"Out of place?" He answered for her, raising an eyebrow. The girl responded with a nod, feeling more and more uncomfortable.

"I dunno why I am, though. I mean, I've met Dracula with Shaggy when... we were still together. It was a strange few days, and it was really frightening too. None of us knew if we were going to... escape him." She finished, unsure if she should reveal all aspects of the story to him just yet. By the way he narrowed his eyes at her, he knew that there was more that she wasn't telling him.

Rather than pry it out of her, though, he merely gave a small nod. "Hm. Amazing that you managed to meet up with Lord Dracula in the first place."

"Not that we had much of a choice..." Googie responded, trailing off some. She was still rather mad at the King of Monsters for kidnapping the four of them in the first place. If given the opportunity, though, she'd prefer to just stay as far away from him as possible, even if she found his daughter to be polite and a lot kinder than him. She knew that the detective would've thought otherwise, but before he could ask, someone thankfully got his mind onto something else.

"So what did the deputy tell you?" Velma asked aloud, turning her head to the two in the back, direction her question to the strange man. His eyes turned to her, his grin never leaving his face, as per usual.

"Not much. Just brought up the fact that someone had found a dead body. He had squad cars tape off the area and they're waiting for us to arrive."

"...they do know we're coming, right?" Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow.

His grin widened, giving a shrug with his shoulders. "Nope." Everyone seemed somewhat exasperated by this, either responding with a groan, a roll of the eyes, or both. This didn't seem to bother the detective, leaning back against his seat. "Oh relax. Not like they don't know who you all are. Infamous meddling kids and all that, y'know. I'll tell them y'all are with me and you'll be free to examine the scene." As he said this, he reached into his tote-bag and pulled out plastic gloves, starting to hand everyone a pair. "That being said, take these. If you have to handle everything, make sure it's as delicate as possible."

Velma examined the gloves as the others held onto the gloves, Freddie quickly pocketing his pair before returning to the road. It was strange to think that a man as weird as the detective was still very competent about his work. After a few minutes, Freddie managed to drive the van free of the woods, headed back onto concrete roads. "I think I remember seeing a graveyard on the way in this town. It was near the entrance, right?" He asked aloud.

"That's right. For what reason, I'm not sure," Velma mused, adjusting her glasses again as they moved towards their destination. "Maybe it has something to do with deterring outsiders."

"I think that's exactly it," Googie answered, turning to the brunette. "Louisiana's known for having haunted cities and towns and other places, so putting their graveyard near the entrance would probably keep any unwanted guests out. Would probably explain why this town hasn't changed much from the time I've lived here..." Googie thought aloud. The detective concurred silently with a nod.

"With extra police activity around there, there's bound to be a crowd this time around," Freddie said, turning down the road near the entrance. "Might be hard to get past anyone." Sure enough, when the Mystery Machine got closer to the scene of the crime, multiple police cars were surrounding the graveyard, not allowing anyone through. There was a line of news vans trying to get the story on the ordeal, but they weren't being allowed in. When the multicolored van pulled in and parked, it was only a matter of time before a disgruntled officer went up to the driver's side, looking less than pleased by the constant interruptions.

Freddie rolled down the window, feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing. Without waiting for any greeting, the officer began ranting on the group. "What're y'all doin' around here? This is police work, an' we don't need any meddling kids stickin' their noses around where they ain't supposed to be!" The blond gulped, unsure of how to respond. The officer was technically right, and they had no real business being around here, even if they all wanted nothing more than to investigate. Thankfully, their saving grace came from a certain freaky passenger, who had just opened up the back of the van and climbed out. The detective quickly made his way to the officer, who froze and took a few steps back from the intimidating, limping figure.

With a quick flash of his hand, he had pulled out his ID, flashed it to the officer for half of a second before folding it back up, putting it away. "They're with me," He stated simply. With a look that could only be described as a grimace, the officer nodded and stepped away, heading towards the other squad cars. The detective looked to Freddie and flashed a wide smile. "C'mon, let's go."

Wasting no time, the other four left the Mystery Machine and followed the perpetually smiling man past the yellow police tape. Naturally, the other officers shared a displeased look to the group, but allowed them to continue in nonetheless. The only other vehicle that was past the police tape was an ambulance, a couple of EMTs waiting nearby. In an instant, the detective snapped on his gloves, making his way to the EMTs, eyes scanning over the nearby area. "Watch your step," He warned the group before moving in. Mystery Inc soon gasped upon the sight.

It was certainly a dead body, although the shape of it was quite nasty. Laying in a small pool of blood was the remains of man, clothes burned and shredded beyond repair. Numerous gashes covered his body, and any hair that was on his head was stringy and smoking lightly. The detective bent to his knee, eyes scanning the immediate area of the body, a gloved hand gently feeling over the gashes, despite the odd looks given from the first responders. With a quick glance upwards, he cocked an eyebrow, waiting for some sort of status report.

The other investigators remained behind, Velma starting to pull her gloves on. "While he's dealing with the body, let's look around." With a nod, the others started to hesitantly do the same, splitting off individually to look around. They also made sure to avoid looking towards the body, as it was much to off-putting to view.

_________________________________________________

Shaggy was quite thankful that he had to stay behind at the school with Scooby. While he would've liked to have joined his friends in their investigation, there was no doubt that looking at a dead body would make him a nervous wreck. Not only that, but what if whatever caused the murder was still around? He silently thanked Miss Grimwood's contract for making him stay on the property until his term was up.

Of course, his students, on the other hand, were less happy that they had to stay behind. Miss Grimwood wouldn't allow the ghouls to follow for the simple fact being that they still had a class to attend to. Phantasma was especially bummed out, crossing her arms and looking quite pouty upon being denied the opportunity to look at a dead body. "No fair..." She had huffed. Miss Grimwood made sure to keep an extra close eye on her as they filed back into the laboratory for their final lesson. She allowed Shaggy and Scooby the opportunity to join in with their class so they wouldn't be bored waiting for the others to return.

Despite the disappointment, the ghouls sat in their seats and awaited their lesson, Shaggy and Scooby deciding to stand in the back and observe. After all, neither one of them had gotten the chance to actually see what monster history was like. It was bound to be interesting, if a little creepy. Thankfully, the ghouls' moods would be brought up a tad with the subject that their teacher was going to bring up: demons.

In the past, the ghouls had been told about them, but never in great detail. This could most likely be due to the fact of their witch problem with Revolta so many years ago. The headmistress took a great deal of care to not delve deeply into the subject, with the previous event still fresh on their minds. To Miss Grimwood, teaching something like this in the first place would be much too jarring. However, she soon began to realize that her lovely ghouls were growing up, and it would only be a matter of time before they began to learn about this subject on their own. It was best for them to learn it from their teacher first hand, rather than doing it on their own and risk being a part of something incredibly dangerous. Besides, she needed something interesting to tell them, otherwise they'd lose any interest in this class period in favor of helping out with the murder.

It wasn't long before everyone in the classroom was intently listening, eyes wide open as she told them the history of summoning rituals, curses brought upon by them, and other dark magic that demons tend to be associated with. The tales of horrifying things that have happened in such situations. Hundreds dead. Thousands dead. Followers blindly following as if they were sheep, letting their minds soak in the manifestos of one single demonic entity.

"Of course, demons do not always rely on magic to get their point across. In fact, more often than not, they rely on other beings, both immortal and mortal, to carry out their dirty work. Humans are just as capable of doing such gruesome things, even without magic that many monsters rely on." Her students' eyes were still keeping their attention on her, too interested and taken back with her stories to even record any of this down. "As I've stated before, most of the times whenever a demon 'chooses' a human servant, the human gains amazing, dangerous magical abilities. Can anyone tell me what they're then called?" Her attention moved over to Elsa, who had her hand raised with Tanis and Sibella. She pointed a finger to her, allowing her to answer.

"Warlocks or witches, depending on who is chosen," Elsa answered.

"That's correct, Elsa," Miss Grimwood replied, smiling gently. Her face looked serious once more as she continued her lesson. "While I know it's not a topic any one of us like to bring up again, I'm sure we all remember our last encounters of an evil witch." Her eyes turned to Shaggy's, who shivered and gulped in response, having a clue as to where this was going to lead. From the looks on the ghouls' faces, they did too. "Especially you, Coach Rogers."

With that, the others turned their gaze to their Coach, gulping as he stood there, feeling as though he were put on the spot rather suddenly. With an uncomfortable look on his face, he scratched the back of his head as he looked to Scooby, returning the look back up at him. "...yeah," Was all he could manage to say. Shaggy just felt grateful that he didn't have to deal with Revolta again. He knew that everyone else was too.

Miss Grimwood gave a small nod, continuing her lesson. "I want to thank you two again for helping the girls out. Not every day that a regular mortal can get away with successfully dealing with a witch," She replied. In Shaggy's mind, he didn't think much of the rescue. After all, while he did go after the girls, it's not like he had much of a hand in stopping the witch. It was the ghouls who managed to actually defeat her. Before he could stammer out any sort of modest statement, Miss Grimwood continued on. "That is why I am here to tell you to never ever, under no circumstances, summon any sort of demonic entity. Don't go near one if you see one. Do not even consider it," Her voice became firm, making sure to look into each ghouls' eyes. "The consequences are quite dire, as you all have just now learned. Powers that go far beyond both humans and monsters alike are to be left alone." She turned to her blackboard, beginning to draw on it. She drew what looked like the cover of a book, the only symbol on it being a pentagram. She turned back to her students. "Does anyone know the name of the dreaded book of demonic and undead evil?"

For a little, everyone stayed quiet, unsure if they should even speak up. Slowly, the small bandaged hand of Tanis arose, shaking a little. Miss Grimwood pointed at her, looking at her expectantly. "...the Necronomicon?" Miss Grimwood gave a small smile, nodding and returning to the blackboard.

"Correct, Tanis. The Necronomicon is a feared tome, never to be brought into the hands of any mortal. Even immortals are frightened of what this book may bring." She raised an eyebrow, looking around once more. "That does not mean they haven't tried to harness their power. With no success, I must add." She raised her hand to the picture she drew behind her. "This book, is often known as the Demonologist's Bible, and in it tells of every Hellish demon, devil, thrall, curse, ritual, and any other dark magic you could think of. It is just as revered as the Necronomicon, even if it does not possess the power to instruct others on such spellwork. Such Satanic knowledge is forbidden in the monster realm, as I'm sure you're all aware at this point."

With a silent nod from everyone, the headmistress continued on. "Unlike the Necronomicon, however, there are multiple copies, although not many. Only the most powerful of monsters are allowed to keep a copy on hand, and only for emergencies."

"Like, I'd hate to see what would happen if a human were to get a hold of that book..." Shaggy muttered to himself. This caught the attention of Miss Grimwood, a grave, yet apologetic look on her face. He flinched, apparently having been heard by her, since she decided to answer.

"If this book were to fall into the hands of a mere mortal... well, it'd be safe to say that they'd most likely lose their minds." Another gulp came from Shaggy, who looked like he was about to slump down the walls and faint. Scooby looked no better, laying low to the ground, barely peeking out from behind his lanky friend. The atmosphere was slightly lifted as Miss Grimwood put on her usual, optimistic tone as she turned back towards the blackboard. "I do hope you've all learned something valuable today. We'll go over a bit more tomorrow, going over the types of demons that are safe you all to learn about. Class dismissed."

The girls slowly gathered up their stuff, not saying a whole lot to each other as they left the laboratory. Miss Grimwood made her way over to the shaking duo, leaning in so she could whisper to him. "I do apologize if my lesson got a bit too... dark. It must be taught, though. Now, perhaps you might be able to help lift their spirits, Coach?" Shaggy looked towards the group of ghouls as they walked back into the main room, most likely headed to their bedrooms. With a quick glance back at the headmistress, he gave a small nod.

In an instant, Shaggy began to quickly run up the stairs, Scooby peering over and soon following. As they all started to part ways, Shaggy cleared his throat loudly, wanting their attention. The sudden noise of their Coach made them jump some, though looked at him, a little confused. With a nervous smile, he addressed the group. "Hey girls, like, how about a quick lesson before dinner tonight? Like, it could do us all some good to get a bit of training in." The ghouls looked to each other, a few raising eyebrows. Shaggy began to sweat. Did he have bad timing? Maybe an extra class wasn't what they needed. He sure hoped he didn't offend them.

"I think it sounds fang-tastic," Purred the voice of Sibella, sporting a relieved fanged smile. After a very dreary (even for monsters) lesson, she knew some physical education was something that could help get their minds off of it.

Shaggy's head lifted up in surprise, Winnie's voice soon following. "Yeah, sounds like a howl!" She replied, adding in her own rather loud howl for good measure.

"I'm game for more training," Elsa added, smiling a bit more.

"Oh! Me too, me too!" Phanty cut in, floating around in an energetic manner.

"Sounds like fun to me!" Tanis replied, her bright blue eyes twinkling as she beamed at her coach.

Shaggy nodded and smiled brightly. "Like, great! Meet me outside as soon as you can." With a unanimous 'yes coach!', the girls hurried off to put their books away. The lanky man let out a relieved sigh, laughing as he turned to Scooby. "Like, that was a close one, eh Scoob? I thought they were gonna be like, offended or something."

Scooby shook his head, following his friend outside. "Ruh-uh! They rike you too ruch."

At this, Shaggy chuckled and shrugged. "Like, hey, I'm not that great, y'know."

Scooby rolled his eyes, an amused smirk forming on his muzzle. "Too rodest, Raggy..."

___________________________________________________

Googie glanced around her side of the crime scene, hands in her jacket pockets. She had put her gloves on earlier, but hadn't had any real reason to pick anything up. Her eyes were glued to the ground, somewhat. All she could really see was a bunch of grass and dirt. Nothing out of the ordinary. From what she could hear from the detective, the dead body had apparently been attacked numerous times by something, but had also suffered from third degree burns in certain areas. A quick glance to the others saw that they were hard at work, making sure to examine everything around them.

As for the strawberry blond, she sighed and leaned against a gravestone, feeling even more secluded from the others. She didn't even know where to begin looking, and had only gone off in this direction because it was the only spot no one else was. Her eyes casually scanned the area around her, as if something would jump out at her.

Strangely, that was actually the case. On the gravestone she was leaning against were flecks of something dark. Her eyes widened and she stood straight up, looking around the whole stone. Sure enough, there was a bit of a splatter of what was most likely blood. Her heart raced, feeling quite excited upon finding a clue. Googie couldn't help but let a small smile start to grow as she turned to the others. "Hey guys, I think I found a clue!" In no time, Velma, Freddie, and Daphne had abandoned their current search and moved towards Googie. The detective glanced her way, but was a bit slower. He had to finish up whatever he was doing, apparently.

Still, that did little to deter her pride as she pointed towards the gravestone. "I think there's some blood from whatever attacked that guy," She explained, letting them all take a closer look.

"Jinkies... from the looks of it, it must've come from a bullet wound or something..." Velma thought, being careful not to touch any of the blood with her fingers.

"You'd be correct," Came the voice of the detective, who had silently gotten behind the group, making them jump and yelp. "There was a gun found at the scene," He continued, holding up an evidence bag with the handgun in it. "No bullets, from the looks of it."

As the detective bent down to scrape some blood into a different container, the rest looked around the gravestone. "There's gotta be something else around here..." Daphne said, keeping her eyes to the ground with the others.

"Look! I think there's something there," Freddie said, pointing to a small pile, a short distance away. The investigators hurried over, slowing down once they saw. It was a pile of what looked like ash, two footprints indented into the ground below. From the looks of it, whatever it was had very sharp talons or claws. The foot falls looked heavy and even seemed to push down some grass for awhile.

"Does anyone else smell that?" Daphne said, sniffing the air. The others soon joined in.

"Hey yeah... smells like... sulfur or something." Freddie replied, his face scrunched up from the foul smell.

It didn't take long for the detective to start sketching out the footprints in his notepad, also taking notice of the stench around them. "Hm... this is quite peculiar." He muttered, quickly getting to his feet.

Velma thought to herself, a hand placed on her chin. More often then not, these kinds of cases turned out to be people disguising themselves as monsters or other types of creatures. As far as she can remember, this was probably the first time she or any of her friends had witnessed one of these types of crimes that lead to the death of innocent bystanders. As the detective collected some of the ash, she couldn't help but wonder something. Was a human even behind this? Her logic wanted to say yes, but evidence of the existence of supernatural, immortal beings were real. Heck, she just came from a school full of them! It could have been possible this was the doing of something else...

After the detective pushed the evidence into his bag, he began to go deep into thought too, covering his wide mouth with his hand, eyes owlishly blinking from time to time. While the others had expected him to start explaining stuff, he remained silent. His eyes did look over to each of them, an eyebrow raised as if saying, 'what do you think?'

Daphne began the conversation, looking between everyone with a nervous gaze. "Do you think that room we found earlier might be related?"

"I hope not. If it is, then something sinister is going on..." Googie replied, shuddering a little. "I didn't like the look of that circle we saw."

"Me either, but from our past mysteries, we know by now that these are not coincidences," Velma replied, looking up at the group.

"Whatever's doing this, we know this is the second attack," Freddie continued, turning his attention to the thinking detective. "Was the other one like this?"

The man nodded, removing his hand and sighing through his nose. "Just about. Only difference is this one tried to defend himself using a handgun."

"...what about Sibella's dreams?" Velma suddenly asked aloud, getting everyone's attention. "I think it's gotta be too much of a coincidence that she would have dreams like that, especially after all we've recently discovered."

Freddie rubbed his chin in concentration, a worried look going over his eyes. "Gang, I hate to say it, but... what if everything that we know so far is related to something..." He froze up a little, unsure if he should even say it, out of fear for if it was really true or not.

"Satanic." The detective finished, giving a grave look to everyone. He hadn't removed his hand from his mouth, so it looked quite spooky. Googie, in particular, was getting a few chills up her spine.

"Be careful what you say..!" She hissed, looking around in a hurried manner. "Folks around these parts aren't keen on anything relating to... that." She was one of these locals, finding it to be a sort of jinx. The more one talks about a curse, the more likely it is to happen to them, she felt.

"She's right," Freddie continued, nodding beside her. "At any rate, I think we've found just about everything we could. I didn't have any luck over at the area I was."

The detective nodded, finally pulling his hand away from his mouth. It didn't comfort the others that he was sporting the widest grin they had probably ever seen him have. "We can go over this more back at the school. I'll meet y'all at the van, I just gotta run this evidence by the officers first." Without another word, he turned and moved towards the yellow tape. Mystery Inc. watched him for a little before turning their attention towards the EMTs, who had just finished loading in the corpse in a body bag.

"This is already getting too dangerous for me," Googie complained, looking around a bit more, as if whatever attacked the body would jump out and go after the group at any moment.

"This definitely isn't looking too bright so far, but at least we're gaining some sort of lead. Even if it is quite... gruesome," Velma added, fixing her glasses.

"Jeepers... do you really think that secret room might be connected to all of this?" Daphne asked.

Velma responded with a small nod, as well as a bit of a shrug. "Perhaps. If we're lucky we'll have enough time to get more answers before something else happens to us."

Googie gulped and leaned towards the nearest tree, making sure to hit her fist against the trunk three times. Freddie and Daphne shared a confused look, while Velma looked quite intrigued. "Superstitious, I take it?" She asked, doing everything she could to not make her question sound condescending, and rather make it sound more curious. The strawberry blonde nodded at her.

"Can't ever be too sure. It'd do us some good to have a little amount of luck on our end." In that moment, Freddie lead the group back to the Mystery Machine, taking a glance at the detective talk to the cops. To him, the officers didn't look very pleased.

It wouldn't be much longer before the detective joined the rest of the gang in the van, situating himself in the back as Freddie started up the engine and began to head back to Grimwood's. "So what were you talking about?" Daphne asked, turning her attention to the man in back.

"They weren't too keen on letting me go back to the school. They preferred me to stay and do my work in a 'professional' work environment," He replied, removing his hands from his hoodie pockets to do air quote before shoving them back in. Despite how peeved his voice sounded, his face never changed emotions from haunting amusement.

To the others, that wasn't much of a surprise for the others to think that, but if the look of his office was anything to go by, it was hard to pin-point what exactly would be a 'professional' environment for the creepy cryptid hunter. At any rate, as much as they didn't want to admit it, having the detective around helped clear a bunch of things up. Now that they had substantial evidence to help lead their case in something resulting in a direction, they were bound to come up with an answer for these attacks. Now if only he'd stop grinning like that...

____________________________________________________________

Despite the fact that they gray clouds above were growing darker with each passing minute, there would still be various activities happening outside. Most noticeably, a class of five ghoul girls would be having a great time learning from a human coach and his dog. Their shrieking laughs and howls and grunts echoing out into the growing dusk. From the looks and sounds of it, he was teaching them all various moves and techniques that would help them with their volleyball game. The girls were also quickly picking up these techniques, learning to hone their natural abilities.

Of course, this was picked up by a small group of boys, hanging around around the hedge that bordered from Grimwood's to the only school within a few miles: Calloway's. These boys would also be the only other group of students that were out and about. While the girls were allowed, however, the boys had to sneak their way out. Of course, they knew that if the Colonel caught them, he'd merely send them back inside with no further punishment. Despite this, the tallest of the group, Jamal, wasn't too keen on getting in trouble, shaking his head as he watched the others 'set up base'.

"Guys, c'mon. It's late and we have duties to attend to. Colonel isn't going to appreciate us shirking our work, especially now that we have responsibilities." He reasoned, watching the others expertly fumble with a needlessly complicated machine that looked like a mix between a laptop, a drone, and a periscope. Tug looked through the scope of the periscope part while Miguel did surveillance with Baxter on the computer, Grunt making sure that the whole thing didn't come crashing down on top of them and keeping it held up.

Without so much as giving a side glance, Tug's replied to his comrade. "Jamal, relax. The worst the Colonel will do is yell at us and have us go back to help the new recruits. Besides, this is an important espionage mission."

"Yeah..! Now come on, Jamal, help me keep this thing up!" Grunt groaned out, seeming to have a bit of trouble keeping the massive metal contraption up. With a roll of his eyes, Jamal moved over to the other side and kept it balanced.

"Important espionage... what else could we possibly learn? We've seen just about all we can these past few years. It's not like we're going to learn anything new," Jamal grunted out.

"I beg to differ, Jamal. From the looks of it, the Grimwood Girls aren't the only familiar faces out there," Miguel observed through the computer screen..

"The Colonel? I thought he said he wouldn't be returning to Grimwood's this year?" Baxter speculated, scratching his head a little bit in confusion.

"Affirmative, Baxter. However, it seems Miss Grimwood didn't have to hire any new faces," Tug continued, zooming his periscope on the face of Shaggy, who was saying something to the girls. At this point, it seems they were all taking a small break. As the periscope zoomed in on Scooby, Baxter spoke up.

"Hey, isn't that that weird beatnik guy and his dog who managed to have the girls beat us that one year?" Baxter spoke up, pointing to the screen.

"Affirmative," Tug answered, pulling back to rub his chin in thought.

"He's back?" Grunt said in disbelief, almost losing his footing for a second. He thankfully caught himself, shaking his head. "Wait, weren't there two dogs he had with him?"

"Yeah, what happened to the other one?" Jamal asked to the group. A few seconds went by with everyone sharing a puzzled shrug.

"Whatever the case is, this can't be good for our winning streak," Tug mused, turning his gaze back to the periscope and looking around.

"If we lose again, I don't think the Colonel's going to be pleased about losing to the same guy who lead the girls to victory last- Tug, will you go back to the mission at hand!" Miguel cut himself off to chide Tug, who quickly peered the view away from a certain purple skinned young woman.

"Alright, jeez!" Tug groused, almost being able to hear the others roll their eyes. "Besides, it's not like you wouldn't have done the same," He muttered, zooming out so that the whole group was visible.

"Anyways, are you able to make out what they're saying?" Jamal pondered, peering over to the two overlooking the computer screen.

"Not quite yet, but it shouldn't take long to decipher their lips." Miguel shared a cheeky look with Baxter. "...unless Tug wants to key us in on what Sibella is saying, that is." A small round of laughter was shared with all but the blond in question, huffing and feeling his cheeks redden a little bit, not removing his gaze from the periscope, despite how much he wanted to glare at his fellow cadets. Suddenly, something caught his attention that made him raise a hand.

"Hang on, something is happening." With that, the others stopped laughing and returned to business.

"Whatcha see, Tug?" Grunt asked, leaning his body as if to try and look at the screen, though with no such luck.

"Woah..! Their Coach just... fell over!"

The others shared a confused look. "...what, did he trip?" Jamal asked, somewhat worried.

"No, just... on his own," Tug replied, looking away from the periscope.

_____________________________________________________

"Raggy!" Scooby shouted, quickly going over to his best friend's side, the girls quickly joining him.

"Coach! Oh man, what the hell happened?!" Winnie yelped, looking over the unconscious body of Shaggy. From what they experienced, he was in the middle of telling them about what they should all work on, in terms of weaknesses when he just suddenly... fell over. He stopped talking beforehand, yes, but it was in the middle of a sentence. He wavered on the spot before falling backwards.

"Oh god! Oh no no no no! Coach wake up! Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup!" Phanty shrieked loudly, having grabbed a hold of Shaggy's shirt, starting to shake his body to wake him up. It had no effect, despite how loud she was being. The phantom was quickly pushed off of the coach by Sibella, giving a small glare to the girl.

"That's not going to work, it seems, Phanty. Besides, even if it, he'd just end up with a worse headache. He did land on his head pretty hard..." Sibella said, a delicate hand gently moving under his bangs and rubbing over his forehead. As she did, the large rough hand of Elsa reached down towards his neck, checking for a pulse. After a few seconds, she sighed and lifted her hand up, nodding.

"He's stable, but still, what caused him to black out like that? It's really unusual," She stated, watching as Scooby tried to lick at his face while Tanis gently shook him by his chest, looking her best to not sniffle.

"Coach..? Wake up, please..?" She tried, already looking like she'd break down. The little mummy did not want to see her Coach in this state, and she knew no one else would either. Elsa looked to her smaller friend in a worried manner, giving a comforting pat on her shoulder. Tanis peered up nervously between the others. "What should we do?"

"I dunno, but we'd better think of something fast!" Winnie said, pushing her head against his chest, making sure he was still breathing. Fortunately, he was, but the others agreed with her.

"I just wonder what knocked him out like this," Elsa said thoughtfully, looking over his body. Aside from some dirt scuffed onto his clothes from his training session, there wasn't a mark on him.

"More importantly, we gotta find a way to get him up and running again, or else the others will have our butts!" Phantasma suggested, floating around in place in an almost panicked manner.

"She has a point," Sibella said, doing her best to be the calm voice of reason among her friends. "It would not be nice for the others to see Shaggy in such a state." After a bit of thinking, Scooby suddenly snapped his fingers, an idea occurring to him. In an instant, he'd run back inside the school, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

The others were confused, not wanting to leave their Coach's side, but also curious as to what the Great Dane was going to do. They wouldn't have to wait long, though, as Scooby soon ran back out, a box in his mouth. Before any of the girls could ask what it contained, he set it down, reached in, grabbed a handful of whatever was inside, forced Shaggy's mouth opened, and stuffed the items down into his mouth. It took a few seconds, as he remained still on the ground, his mouth barely moving. Soon, though, he seemed to chew in a slow manner before swallowing the entire mouthful, eyes shooting open. Shaggy quickly sat up, groaning and gripping his forehead.

"Guh... like, what happened? I just suddenly passed out- d'oof!" He grunted, being cut off by the literal dog-pile. Scooby and Winnie had taken to hugging him tightly.

"Raggy! Ryou're awake!" Scooby barked excitedly.

The others were quite happy about this too, giving a sigh of relief, trying to peel the two off of him, which proved to be quite difficult. "Now now, give him room to stand," Sibella said gently, using a hand to effortlessly lift him back on his feet.

"Thought we lost ya for a second, Coach," Winnie said, peering up at him. Soon, Elsa seemed to idly look over Shaggy's body, looking for anything unusual. All she saw, thankfully, was a bump on the back of his head from where he fell. At this point, Tanis had taken to clinging to his waist, also peeking up at him with her large blue eyes.

"Glad to see you're awake! Please don't do that to us again..." Tanis said, receiving a small return hug from the taller man.

"Like, sorry girls. Don't know what came over me. One minute I'm fine, the next I'm like, on the ground!" He replied, looking between everyone. "Now, how about we return to, like, what we were doing? I think we still got a few minutes before dinner." Despite the fact that he had fainted, he still looked just as eager as ever to help out the others, acting as though he never even fell.

Everyone shared an odd look, unsure if they should even continue. "Erm... Coach? Are you sure we should continue?" Sibella began, tilting her head some. "That was a nasty fall you took."

"And it was out of the blue, too! Who knows when it'll happen again! You might fall on a rock and crack your skull! Or worse, fall in the moat and drown! Or fall in the moat and crack your skull on a rock before drowning!" Phanty rambled, staring to hyperventilate. At that moment, Scooby reached up and handed the phantom a paper bag that he had on him (for some reason). In return, she quickly grabbed it and began to breathe heavily into it.

Shaggy looked between everyone, his smile fading just a tad as Elsa looked to him. "It doesn't look like you've sustained any serious injuries. Still, I'd recommend not continuing on with the extra lesson. Sorry, Coach," She added in the end, feeling a tad disappointed in having to agree with the others. Extra physical training was quite enjoyable, but only if it wouldn't lead to anyone getting injured.

Winnie wasn't up for cutting physical education early either, but the health of everyone else came first. She knew everyone else thought the same thing. "There's always tomorrow! You'll feel better by then," the werewolf added, starting to lead him back into the castle. The others were following close behind, so Shaggy didn't have much of a say in this. Even Scooby seemed to nod, sticking close to his side with the others.

"Rit's for the rest, Raggy," He barked at him, making the lanky man sigh and shrug a bit.

"Like, I guess if you girls say so..." He replied, resigning to letting everyone pull him back indoors. At least he'd be on time for dinner. As they walked, Phanty floated beside Scooby, who was carrying the box in his mouth.

"Hey, Scooby, what was that?" She asked curiously.

The dog pulled the box out of his mouth with one paw, holding it up for the ghost girl to see. "Rooby Rax!"

The phantom sported a grin, raising a piqued eyebrow. "Scooby Snax? Wait... does that say 'dog treats' on it? Weird..."

"It's not any weirder from what we eat in the school," Elsa responded, turning to the others as Shaggy laughed shyly, seeming somewhat embarrassed.

"Perhaps, but isn't it still a bit... strange for a human to eat something like that?" Sibella mused, a hand on her chin as she eyed the taller man over. He seemed to have an iron stomach, so to speak.

"You're awfully weird, Coach," Winnie said, not hesitating as she unabashedly reached into the box, curiously taking a couple and nibbling on them. From the way her tail wagged, it was safe to say she liked them.

"B-but that's okay! Weird is good," Tanis replied, hoping that they weren't offending their dear coach with their comments. "Don't try to spoil your appetite, though. Dinner is almost ready," The mummy continued on.

At this, Shaggy smiled down to the small mummy and laughed a bit. "Like, don't worry about my appetite, Tanis. I've never met a meal I couldn't eat." With this, everyone shared a small laugh with him. Despite this, Sibella couldn't help but look him over from where she stood, feeling somewhat concerned.

While he was walking around just fine now, it was still quite worrying just how he ended up like that. Did this relate to what the girls learned earlier in class? It couldn't have, right? Then again, with how strange her dreams have been, it just may. A second thought occurred to her: maybe this had something to do with whatever happened between him and her father? While she didn't know the story just yet, it was still worth bringing up. Perhaps during dinner, she thought. The vampire wanted answers to everything going on, and it was best to start somewhere that she knew her coach could actually answer. If the dreams persisted, she'd let the others know, certainly.

Until then, she had to keep an eye out for Shaggy. After all, Sibella felt as though he's already done so much for the ghouls. She wanted to return the favor.

____________________________________________________

"...now they're leading him back inside the castle," Tug reported to the others as Baxter made sure to record everything.

"That was really weird..." Miguel said, scratching his head as he turned his attention away from the screen.

"Tell me about it. Who eats dog food?" Grunt said, looking a bit disgusted.

"I wasn't talking about the dog food, Grunt," Miguel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Tug had pulled himself away as well, starting to stand. "Whatever it was, they seemed to have it under control. He probably just fell ill. Or locked his knees while he was talking," He mused. The other cadets nodded along with him. They all knew too well the dangers of doing such an action while standing, as they all fell victim to it at least once.

"At any rate, I'd say we get back to the school before the Colonel catches us," Baxter said, pointing his finger back towards the building. With a nod, Tug stepped away from the contraption, Miguel doing the same. Grunt and Jamal began to gently and slowly retract the invention, making look about as big as a small book once they finished folding it up. With his foot, Jamal shoved it back into the hedges, unseen from anyone else. It would definitely be best to question these events on their own time before the Colonel lost their cool in front of them. Again.

[surrounded-by-superheroes]

Blue Satin Ch. Two

Chapter one here.

Summary; You’ve been assigned as Loki’s handler and things have been going very well. Almost too well, actually…you find out that Loki has fallen for you and you have no clue how to respond. If those above you were to think anything romantic was going on, you both would be separated from one another forever. Plus, a jealous ex causes trouble whenever he can. Could you ever forget the rules and follow your heart? Or will you let your head lead and lose the chance of a lifetime?

A/N; I’m having quite a bit of fun with this, hope you enjoy!

Warnings; Language.

Tags; @karlilarki

Words; 2,017

Chapter Two

Secrets

“Loki! You scared me half to death!” I whisper-yell while he holds my close to him by my waist. After I scramble free from his embrace I spin around and look at his confused face. His eyes instantly go to my red cheek while I calm the panic in my chest. “Not right now, Loki.”

“Who struck you?” He thunders and that’s the pebble that breaks the dam. I bite down hard on my lip as tears start to fall from my eyes. “Oh, darling. Come with me.” He beckons and guides me away with an arm around my waist. Loki walks me to another pair of doors, then stops just on the other side once they’re closed. “Speak with me, angel. What occurred?”

“An old, abusive ex showed up, okay? I’m fine. I just…I’m done with the party tonight.” I tell him and my tears dry as frustration takes the hurt’s place. Just glancing into Loki’s eyes lets me see his thoughts racing within that complicated head, so I just start walking back to my room.

“May I accompany you?” He asks, catching up with me easily with his long legs. I shrug, rubbing under my eyes and checking my fingers for mascara.

“I won’t stop you. I am changing clothes before heading to the kitchen, though.” I warn.

“I wouldn’t mind tagging along for that.” He comments and I shove his shoulder, but there’s something comforting about the teasing. It doesn’t take long to get to my room and I happily shut the door in Loki’s face before heading to my dresser. After washing off the heaps of make-up I have on, I change into sophie shorts and a baggy T. Then, I let my hair down from its prim and proper place. Sighing with relief that I can breathe, I head out and bump right into Loki.

“Fuck, Loki. What-?” I stop when I realize he’s holding a tv tray with a plate of grilled cheeses on it, a glass of juice, and a flower.

“I thought perhaps you’d appreciate eating in your room. Your…cheek is swelling.” My hand instinctively grazes the injury and I flinch.

“Are you saying I’m too ugly to eat in the kitchen like a normal person?” I ask, stepping aside to let him in. He scoffs, but steps in anyways.

“Ugly is never a word I’d use to describe you.” He tells me while I shut the door. When I turn back around he’s already set the tray on my bed and is sitting on the end of it.

“Thank you, by the way. This is kind of you.” I tell him in a surprised tone.

“I learned from the best, did I not?” He compliments me again and moves forward, laying a hand on my hurt cheek. My eyes shut without thinking about it.

“Mmm. That feels good.” I whisper, leaning into his frigid hand. My hand lifts and presses it harder against my cheek, sighing at the pure relief it provides. My eyes open and my mouth turns into a little o when I realize I’m snuggling with Loki’s hand. Blushing profusely, I remove my hand from his.

“I’d be happy to hold my hand here whenever you like. Or other places…” He teases and it relieves most of my nerves. Gently, he runs a thumb over my bottom lip, then lets his hand fall. My eyes watch him with confusion.

“Loki, what are you…” I stop when he puts a gentle hand over my mouth, then rescinds it.

“Not now. For now, I am your servant. Do you require anything else?” He asks thoughtfully and I’m too shocked to answer. “Here.” He summons an ice pack from thin air and presses it to my cheek, then lays my hand over it. “I’ll be outside your door if needed.” He tells me and leaves before I can say a word.

“What the absolute fuck?” I murmur and think about going after him. Just then my stomach growls and I relax back on the bed. “Food first.” I nod and slowly eat the sandwiches he made, my mind nearly smoking as I think about his recent actions. Loki has never acted like this with me. Lately he’s been strangely soft with me, but I thought he was just improving! It couldn’t be anything else…right? Once I’m finished, I get up and set the tray at the end of my bed. After that I walk to the door and open it, laughing when I find a cobra waiting for me. “Really, Loki? A cobra?” I question and step back as he slithers in, then transforms back into his charming self.

“I thought it best to deter others. Are you in need of something?” He asks, straightening the lapels of his jacket.

“Loki, I’m not understanding what’s going on.” I tell him and shut the door for privacy. He nods once with an amused smile on his face.

“Oh, I thought my intentions were fairly obvious. I’m wooing you.” I blink in shock.

“You’re what-ing me?” I repeat in absolute bewilderment. Loki chuckles slightly.

“Pursuing you, darling. I, want you, to be mine.” He explains while gently gesticulating with his hands. I shake my head.

“Loki, I’m flattered. I truly am, but you’re my charge. I can’t-” He holds up a hand and cuts me off.

“I don’t think you understand.” Loki tells me and gently backs me up against the metal door, the chill from the door and from his cold body making me shiver. My eyes are affixed to his eyes, occasionally flitting to his lips then back. His eyes, however, search my face with a hunger I’ve never seen before. It makes me feel like an animal is burrowing in my stomach, wanting out. Loki’s hand once again rests on my cheek and lets his thumb graze my lips. “I want you.” He whispers, his sweet, cold breath washing over my face dangerously. I can’t feel this way with him. “I want your lips moaning my name and when they aren’t I want them against mine. I want to learn every curve and plain of your body with my eyes, then my hands, then my tongue. I want to know what your body feels like when it’s covered in sweat and rubbing against mine. And…” His blue eyes burn into mine and I find myself unable to turn away, not that I want to. “I want your love, perhaps most of all.” Loki finishes in a softer voice and my heart aches at his words. I know Loki the best, perhaps short of Thor. This is huge for him. Still, this can’t happen.

“Lo-” I have to clear my throat so I can speak. “Loki, we can’t be together. If we started dating, they’d transfer me. They’d assign you another handler and we’d most likely never see one another again.” I tell him the facts and his delicate lips turn down a bit at the edges.

“Darling, I’d never allow that. I’d raze half the universe before you were taken from me.” He laughs amusedly when my expression turns disapproving. “Most maidens would take that as a compliment, but you are not like most, are you? Perhaps that’s why I find you so…enticing.” He breathes and my stomach clenches from the desire in his voice.

“That’s part of the reason this can’t work. Not all relationships work out, so if we didn’t and you got angry, the result would be disastrous.” I try to continue explaining, but Loki just keeps smiling at me.

“You don’t know much about my culture, Midgardian.” To his credit, for once he doesn’t say Midgardian like it disgusts him. “When an Asgardian falls in love it is forever.” My eyes widen at this revelation and confession rolled into one. “I must say, your obliviousness to my feelings have only quickened the emotions growth. You thought my teasing and lingering touches were only the playful ticks of the god of mischief instead of small messages attempting to reveal my love.” His other hand lands on my waist and squeezes slightly, nearly making my eyes shut from the simple pleasure. It’s been a long time since someone has touched me so tenderly.

“Loki…we can’t.” I tell him half-heartedly, my voice quiet and weak next to his confident and firm one. Slowly, his hand drops and wraps around my neck, his thumb hovering over my pulse.

“In all your protests, I have never once heard you say no to me. Nor the idea of being mine.” Loki observes, but my mind is swimming trying to comprehend all this. He leans in and almost brushes his lips across mine, but stops just short. “I feel your pulse fluttering against your skin, my dear. You desire me, at the very least.” He whispers and the words feel good as they press against my skin. “If I can do this to you with just my words, imagine what my hands are capable of…even better; my lips.” Loki teases and my eyes shut from the pure desire running through my veins. When I open them and meet his again, I’m close to breaking. Just then, someone pounds on the door and I jump in fright. The sharp movement dislodges Loki’s grip and I quickly slip away from him and back a couple feet. Sighing irately, he opens the door to reveal a worried Tony. When he sees me the worry spikes.

“Christ, I just heard what happened. Are you alright?” He walks in and examines my cheek as he speaks quickly.

“I’m fine, Tony. The swelling will be gone by tomorrow.” I try to calm him and myself.

“You’ll have a nasty bruise though. Sorry, sweetie.” He apologizes to which I instantly shake my head.

“Not your fault, Tony. I was just about to head to bed. Talk tomorrow?” I ask rhetorically, Loki’s steady gaze still making my heart race.

“Sure. I’m putting in more security measures in tonight anyways. See you tomorrow.” He pecks my cheek and sends Loki a pointed look. “You behave too, reindeer games.” He teases and walks out, swinging the door shut behind him. Loki and I sigh at the same time, then look up at one another.

“Well then, shall I put you to bed, dear one?” He asks softly, eyes holding a softer flame than earlier.

“You don’t need to do that, Loki.” I tell him in an equally soft voice, but he marches to my bed anyways. He puts the food tray on the chest at the end of my bed before neatly folding down the corner of my comforter. I pad over and slip under the covers, snuggling deeper after he drapes it over my shoulders.

“Are you comfortable?” He asks and I find I’m nervous with him so close to me in my bed. A nervous laugh falls out of my lips before I answer.

“Well, normally I’m naked, so…” I trail off, blushing all the way to the roots of my hair when I realize what I just said. Loki’s eyes shut and he groans quietly.

“I suggest you not tempt me like that, darling.” He tells me and my eyes widen when I notice his voice is strained. I had no idea I affected him this way.

“Sorry.” I whisper as he sits down on the bed next to me. An affectionate smile appears on his thin lips and it looks good on him.

“Sleep well, my love.” He bids me and kisses my head tenderly. I watch him walk out and shut the door behind him. Silence engulfs the room for a few moments before I groan and pull the covers over my head.

“What the hell is happening?” I ask the covers, but when they don’t answer I pull them back down. Staying in my comfy spot in bed, I shimmy off my shorts and slip my shirt off as well. After dropping them on the floor, I turn over and shut my eyes. Maybe tomorrow the world will be less topsy-turvy.

Chapter Three found here.

[blackcat-horror]

Darkness, Pt. 4

This part is longer than the last few, since I really wanted to get it all out before I lost it. Enjoy!

WARNING: Contains horror, gore, violence, body horror, blood, profanity, and anyone who suffers from Nyctophobia, or has a weak stomach should not read this. You’ve been warned.

The house didn't have a single light on when Catherine got home from work, save for the porch light. She paid it no heed as she closed the garage door and went through the laundry room into the kitchen. Everyone was probably asleep, and that worked in her favor. Her feet were dragging, and she couldn't lift her arms after an eight hour shift of scanning cans of pumpkin puree, turkeys, and bags of potatoes. She hated the holidays, and couldn't wait till her next days off. Too bad that was in another three days.

She flicked the switch for the dining room lights, and hesitated when they didn't turn on. She tried again, then gave up and went to check the box in the garage. She didn't find anything wrong with it, except when she tried to turn the power back on, there was no change in the darkness in the house. She swallowed hard, remembering how when she was a child, her brother used to torture her with ghost stories that left her nearly catatonic for months.

She shook it off, then used the flashlight of her cell phone to find the spare flashlight up on the shelves above her dad's workbench. It was where it was left as always. Luckily the batteries had just been replaced. Clicking it on, she went back into the house to find some candles.

As she moved past the dining table, a dark shape darted under it, hiding in a corner, followed by a low growl. Catherine kneeled down, sweeping the beam under the table. It was her cat, Othello. He watched her with flattened ears and his body backed as tightly into the corner as possible. His eyes were huge, glowing yellow from the reflected light. He mewled as he watched her, realizing it was her, and he inched forward, but only slightly.

Catherine frowned as she watched her cat. She'd only ever seen him like this once, and that was when he was a kitten, and he had just become acquainted with the vacuum cleaner. Catherine still had the scars on her leg from where he climbed up her and launched himself onto the fridge and stayed there for several hours. But even then, he came to her when she held her hand out to him, but not now. Now, he flinched away from, and even hissed when she tried to pet him.

“What is wrong with you, baby?” she cooed, then froze when she heard an odd sound come from upstairs. It was the sound of claws catching on carpet, like when she used to have a polydactyl cat, and you could hear him wherever he was, even when he nails were clipped.

Only, this sounded bigger. Much bigger.

Catherine's hair stood up on the back of her neck as she stood and pressed her back against the wall, hiding the flashlight's beam with her hand, which was beginning to shake. It sounded like the noise was moving towards the rooms at the far end of the house, which was away from her. She took the opportunity to try to sneak towards the front door, which was maybe ten steps away from where she stood. Her stomach clenched, and she found her hand going to the crucifix at her throat, a tiny thing she'd been given at her baptism, and kept since, although she'd long since stopped believing that her prayers would ever be answered. Now she was wishing she'd been just slightly more devout, but the cool metal still comforted her.

The dining room floor was risen a few inches above the living room floor, as a way to deter people from stepping on the carpet with dirty shoes, but Catherine had other things to worry about than a little dirt. As she stepped off the landing, there was a soft, wet squelch, which nearly made her whimper. She pointed the flashlight down first, and then she looked down. Oh, how she wished she hadn't.

Her mother's prized plush eggshell cream carpet was soaked in blood. It was dark- arterial blood, her mother would say, from watching too many damn crime scene investigation shows. The blood only filled a small spot, but even that was too much for Catherine to accept.

Smaller spots, but not too much smaller, led away from it, and she followed the trail, across the coffee table, onto the floor again, and then up, across the socks and sweatpants of Catherine's mother, and landing on the bloody mess that used to be her chest. It had been ripped open like a steak and lobster dinner, and most of her organs were partially devoured, or missing altogether. The light flickered as the hand holding it began to shake violently, and Catherine's throat and chest tightened as her body struggled to take in air, and her knees turned to water, folding under her and making her collapse and drop the flashlight.

It bounced slightly, rolling, and her eyes followed it as it came to stop on the strange, hairy form of something she could only think was a grotesque Halloween decoration, except for a couple things. It was breathing, and it was moving towards her.

It lunged, screeching at her, and she screamed in response, snatching up the heavy duty flashlight as it grabbed her, sinking its claws into her shoulders. She struggled and screamed her heart out, bashing it in the head with the flashlight. That seemed to stun it somewhat, and it let go. She kicked at the creature, pushing it off and making a run for the front door.

Yanking it open, she made a start to run, but then she heard Othello screech and hiss. The creature had decided Catherine was too difficult to kill, and was going to go for him instead. It was having some trouble reaching him as he backed into the corner.

“Oh no you fucking don't!” she snarled, then grabbed a lamp, ripping the cord from the outlet, and bringing it down on the creature’s head. “Get the fuck away from my cat, you motherfucker!”

She continuously brought the lamp down on the creature, which yowled in pain the entire time, even managing to slash at her calf, making her stumble, but she made sure the creature was no longer moving before she grabbed her cat, her bag, and her keys, getting in the car and speeding towards the nearest hospital. Unseen by her as she drove away, a limping silhouette climbed up onto the top of her roof, and somehow managed to take off into the night.

“So what are you trying to tell me you saw?” the police officer asked as he took notes in his little book. He looked ready to drop, and definitely looked like he didn't want to be here, taking notes from someone he clearly thought was crazy. The nurse was taking her vitals, and Othello was curled in a tight ball in her lap, unmoving due to shock. It had taken some coaxing, but they allowed it when she flat out refused help if they removed him. If it wasn't for the pain medication going through Catherine's system now, she would've told him to shove that notebook right up his ass. It wasn't like she wanted this to happen in the first fucking place.

“Look, I told you. It was like something out of a 90's vampire movie, okay? It was uglier than balls, hairier than them too, and had big, red eyes and nasty little teeth, and it had bat wings, with opposable claws.” She gestured, gingerly, towards her wounds, which were now stitched up and bandaged. The doctor had said it was a miracle the artery hadn't been hit.

“Are you sure you didn't just see a Halloween decoration, miss? Maybe you imagined seeing this... animal attack you, and the image was impressed on your mind when the real attacker injured you?”

Catherine did her best not to roll her eyes. “Officer, with all due respect, I don't think a normal human being could rip open a woman's chest and devour most of her fucking organs! So no, I don't think it was a fucking Halloween decoration!”

The nurse glanced at the officer, who looked like a deer in the headlights now, and was having trouble finding words. He muttered something sheepishly about protocol, and she scoffed.

“Protocol would be asking me if I was on drugs or some bullshit, but I can prove that I'm not, because my work requires random tests thanks to some of the fuckwits I work with!” He bowed his head in shame, scribbling some things down as he started to tuck tail and leave the room. “You want the paperwork?” she yelled after him, ready to fight despite her sluggish state. “I got it all! It's in my house, but be careful not to trip over the fucking corpse!”

“Please, relax, Catherine,” the nurse, Daniela said, sighing softly, petting her back. “You're going to rip your stitches and hurt yourself more.” She helped Catherine lay back and adjusted her pillow. “There, take deep breaths. We won't let any more police question you until you feel better. All right?” She smiled warmly, putting a blanket over Catherine's legs.

Catherine suddenly burst into tears, clutching Othello as he huddled on her chest. “My.... She... She didn't even stand a chance!” she sobbed, taking in shaky breaths. “I couldn't do anything to help her!” She hiccuped, pressing the heel of her hand to her eye.

Daniela hushed her, rubbing her upper arm. “I'm so sorry, Catherine, I really am... But you saved your cat, didn't you? He's here with you, and that counts for something.” Catherine nodded, sniffling, taking tissues when she was offered some.

“Hey,” a gravelly voice said from the doorway, making them both jump. It was a big, older black guy, dressed in a trucker getup. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he looked down at Catherine. “You said somethin' about a big bat lookin' thing, right?”

“Please, sir,” Daniela began, “She doesn't need this right now-”

“I'm not gonna harass her, Nurse, don't worry.” He turned his attention back to Catherine. “So, that's what you saw, right?” “Yeah, I saw it, but no one believes me.” “I believe you,” he stated with a straight face. Catherine and Daniela felt their jaws drop. Catherine couldn't believe what she was hearing. “You... You actually believe me?” Her head was beginning to spin from the drugs kicking in more, and her eyes grew heavier. “You're shitting me, dude...” “No, I ain't shittin' you. I believe what you said you saw, because I've seen it too.”

That sobered her up real quick. “Wait, what?���

“Yup. I saw it, and I hit it with my truck, and I picked someone up who looked like they went through what you did, but a bit worse. She's in the room down the hall, if you wanna meet her when you're ready.” Catherine nodded, but her head was beginning to loll, and eventually sank back into the pillow.

Daniela tucked her in slightly, then nudged him out of the doorway.  “You can talk to her again in the morning, when it's visiting hours,” she added sternly, closing the door.

The man nodded, chewing the inside of his cheek slightly as he glanced through the small window in the door, watching as Catherine slipped into a peaceful, albeit drug-induced sleep, her chest rising and falling slowly, but he noticed that her left hand was clutching the blanket with a white-knuckled fist.

[skirmiche]

Unorganized notes on Charlottesville

CW for violence, racism, anti-Semitism, graphic imagery

Some notes on what happened from someone who was there. Putting behind a cut because this got long (and obviously it’s pretty triggery).

We showed up around 10 AM and started walking to the park. Along the way, we met up with a group of people (mostly students, some older folks) who were there to counter-protest as well. Together, we all practiced some chants, took advantage of having a public restroom easily available (after an hour drive & too much coffee, we needed it!), and started walking.

The first few minutes of the walk were pretty uneventful. After that, we walked past a line of cops in full riot gear. A helicopter flew low overhead, the sound of it bouncing off the buildings and mixing with our chants. At one point on the way to the park, we walked through a parking lot and there was a man in a truck clearly giving us the stinkeye. I remember keeping an eye on him, worried he was going to hit us.

We were only at the actual protest an hour or so. It got nasty very, very fast. We were up by the front, near...what I think was supposed to be a barricade? It might as well have been made out of tissue paper. I was hit with several water bottles (some were being thrown up high, some were being thrown directly at people near the front lines). Someone was holding a sign about the Jewish media. There was a man standing at the top of the steps with a billy club and a riot shield, shaking it at us, shouting slurs and laughing.

I think that’s the thing that sticks with me the most: how many of them were having fun. There were people standing there in pseudo-military gear next to somebody waving a Nazi flag, smiling and laughing like it was a music festival.

After we’d been there for twenty or thirty minutes, they pushed over the barricade. They pepper sprayed us and threw tear gas canisters. I looked behind me as I was running and saw one hit the top of the nearby tent, throwing off sparks, and hoped the tent wouldn’t catch on fire. I grabbed my friend, who was screaming that she’d been sprayed, and took her to a nearby patch of grass. My other friend and I spent the next thirty minutes trying to take care of her — she’d been sprayed directly in the eyes at point blank rage.

(what it looks like when you use your arms to shield from pepper spray, an hour or two after the fact)

Throughout all of this, the police were entirely absent. We passed cops in full riot gear on the way there, there was a helicopter clearly watching the whole thing, and there was an empty cop car right there by the “barricade,” but actual police presence was eerily absent. 

As I was washing pepper spray out of my friend’s eyes, she asked through tears, “Where are the police? Why aren’t they trying to stop this?”

(Turns out, the police stayed out of it because — well, you know why — but also because they were afraid of the people with semiautomatic weapons. That sets a great precedent. Good thing they didn’t have something really dangerous, like loose cigarettes.)

Let me make this clear: there is no “both sides” argument to be had here. There were neo-Nazis with guns trying to break into churches used for first-aid stations and beating up clergy. Per Doctor Cornel West: “if it hadn’t been for the anti-fascists protecting us from the neo-fascists, we would have been crushed like cockroaches.”

On Friday, they attacked a group of students, most of whom were younger than twenty, and marched on a black church while carrying torches. They stood by and smirked as a young black man was beaten almost to death (right by the police station — but it was his friends who saved his life & not the cops). And that doesn't even touch on Heather Heyer, the woman who was murdered.

On our side, I saw one person carrying a baseball bat, out of probably a hundred people. On their side, I would say at least one in three (if not closer to 50-75%) was visibly armed (knives, clubs, guns) and wearing helmets, carrying riot shields (or wannabe-SCA wooden ones), shin guards, etc. They came with the intention of hurting people, whatever they will tell you now in the aftermath.

No, both sides are not just as extreme or bad or equally at fault.

As we sat there taking care of our friend, multiple people stopped to check on us, make sure we were doing first aid correctly, and help us out. A clergy member of some kind (I think Lutheran?) checked on us, then looked around and said, “I was protesting the same stuff forty years ago.”

It could easily be a trick of memory, but both my friend and I recognized Heather from the photos and think that she was one of the people who stopped to help us. She walked down to a corner store to get milk for my friend’s eyes (because we were running out) and then laughed with us about how silly we all looked dousing ourselves in milk.

At some point, there was a loud “pop” and everyone flinched and hit the ground, waiting for more gunfire. I’m still not sure what that was.

Around noon, the police dispersed the rally, telling everyone to leave or they’d fire a sound cannon. My friend was still not in great shape, so we prepared to head back to Richmond. 

As we walked to the car, a parade of camouflaged men marched by. Someone asked if they were the National Guard, and one of them said yes (come to find out, it might have been a white supremacist militia masquerading as National Guard).

A local couple, who lived less than a block away, overheard us talking about trying to find a public restroom to clean up in (all of us were filthy at this point, covered in grass, milk, pepto bismol, and the sprays/gasses) and offered to let us use their shower. We did, thanked them profusely, and continued to the car. About ten or fifteen minutes after we were in the car on the way back to Richmond, the news about the car attack broke. 

It wasn’t until I got home and saw video that I realized that had happened on the same street we’d been on, not thirty minutes beforehand.

I took another shower, trying to wash the smell and taste of pepper spray and tear gas off of me, mostly unsuccessfully. I was still coughing when I went to bed that night, and even though the redness and swelling went down after three or four hours, my hands wouldn’t stop burning.

I was already onboard the punching Nazis train, but this cemented it. Polite dialogue is not the proper response to people who show up to a protest carrying Nazi flags, clad in KKK regalia, with riot-shields and guns.

I am not writing this because I expect cookies for going (because I consider showing up to protest Nazis & the KKK literally the least I can do as an able-bodied white person). I am writing this because I think first-hand accounts are important to balance out some of the media narratives that are already taking place (even given the horrific events of Saturday) and because I don’t ever want to forget.

I am also writing this because I know that there are probably people who will read this and understand it because it came from a white person. To anyone who is finding this account making sense, while they felt that people of color were being angry, hysterical, and irrational, I say: please take this opportunity to examine yourself. Don’t get defensive, just think about it.

White people, we have to do better. These people are not fucking around. They showed up on Saturday intending to hurt people. They stood by and smirked as their buddies beat a 20 year old black man almost to death. They later cheered on someone driving a car into a crowd of unarmed protesters (and are fine with violence, whatever they’ll say in public). If there is one thing you take away from this, please let it be that we have to stand up to these people.

It was never the time to sit on the sidelines, but now is especially not the time for silence, inaction, or hand-wringing about white supremacists experiencing consequences of their free speech. Your energy is needed elsewhere. Show up. Give money. Speak out.

Take action:

Sign up for Safety Pin Box. Didi Delgado has also set up a list of black women in need of monetary support.

Show up to a protest or counter protest. Tap into your local Black Lives Matter group and see what’s going on near you. There are already similar events planned for Texas A&M on 9/11 and Richmond VA next month, but your local chapters can give you more information about anything planned near you.

Ana Mardoll has some scripts/tips on talking to your white family members about racism.

Look at your workplaces and friend groups. Notice where people of color are absent, probably because they’re being shut out. Notice where they’re being talked over. Say something.

Donate to the GoFundMes of people who were injured there and the organizers who made the counterprotest possible. (Deandre Harris, Natalie Harris, group fund for victim relief, legal fund for Solidarity Cville)

Resources & reading:

Read as many firsthand accounts as you can get:

Someone who was there & hit by the car

Comments from another person who was there

“He saved me, then he was under the car”

Interview with Deandre Harris (please donate to his GoFundMe if you can)

24 hours of anarchy in Charlottesville, through the eyes of one protester

Here’s what really happened in Charlottesville

Fascism has already come to America (Please educate yourself on the historicity of groups like these and their context here. Historically, self-defense is one of the only things that has deterred the Klan. They didn’t just go away after being ignored. More about the Klan here.)

Thread on “anti-PC” culture as relates to current events

Thread on why #ThisIsNotUs is the white people version of #NotAllMen

Thread on radicalization of young white men (Mikki also has a Patreon & PayPal tip jar, if you found her writing helpful)

Read about the Paradox of Tolerance

White Feelings: 0-60 for Charlottesville

Why privilege is white-washed supremacy

Tolerance is not a moral precept (“It is an agreement to live in peace, not an agreement to be peaceful no matter the conduct of others. A peace treaty is not a suicide pact.”)

This essay is not specifically about white supremacists, but is extremely relevant:

What makes the Googler's speech dangerous (as opposed to just distasteful) is that he's in a class of people that is accorded social power to use other people to satisfy their wishes: white men. So he's not just expressing an opinion. He's doing something. He's committing a speech act that has the functions of either controlling and intimidating us, or marking territory as unsafe so we leave. It’s disingenuous to say “it’s fine if people say that as long as they don’t act on it”, because saying it is acting on it.

More resources will be added as I come across them, this is by no means complete (and feel free to send suggestions).

[petitegoose]

Sorry it’s so long, but very important.

Weekend update: Mixed Feelings

Friday::

The original plan was that my dad would be in around 5 or 5:30PM. We had plans to go to The Harris Grill for dinner, then come back to the house and watch the Penguins game. I was really excited about it, but then he had car trouble and didn’t end up coming in until 7:30. We still could’ve gone to dinner..That’s when he eats dinner anyway! But he refused to take me and instead asked my mom to order him a nasty pizza from this place around the block, which, as I warned him, he didn’t even like.

Saturday::

So I had pretty mixed feelings about Saturday because I spent almost the entire day with my daddy. Let’s just say it did not start out on a good note. He came by my house at 10AM to wake me up, and once he did, he let me get myself up and ready to go. He sat in the living room with my mom, only two rooms away from my bedroom with only my bedroom door in between, and I had the door open. So, as I’m sitting there, taking my Suboxone and putting my hair back, I can hear my parents just sitting in the living room talking shit about me. So that started me off in a pretty foul mood. My mom was just telling him all kinds of shit that she had no fucking business telling him, which she admitted and agreed to and apologized for after the fact, but at the time it just started my morning out bad.

But when my dad and I left, we took separate cars because my car had an appointment at Pep Boys. It reached 50,000 miles and needed some routine maintenance. New front breaks, new windshield wipers, oil change, stuff like that. So we dropped my car off, and we were going to go into Shadyside for breakfast and to buy my new laptop, finally, but I also needed to get my piss test that day and I wanted to make sure I could get that done too, so I checked the labs and what their hours were. As it turned out, there was only Quest in the entire city that even HAD Saturday hours, and they closed at 12. Well, it was going to be 11 by the time we got there, if we skipped breakfast and went straight there. So we did that. We got there a few minutes past 11 and the place was jammed. There were a bunch of people before me, and I had just chugged a ton of water so that I would be able to pee right away when we got there…So I really, REALLY had to go. And, to make matters worse, there were supposed to be two people working, but one of them called out at the last minute so there was only one person even working. Fortunately, most of the people in the waiting room were being really nice and chatty, and on the way in I saw one of the people I met last time I was at the Suboxone clinic and she remembered me so I tried to stop and say hey and be friendly with her, but my dad was being a major jackass the whole time we were there so that made it even more unenjoyable. But after waiting through several people who were clearly doing more than peeing in a cup, I couldn’t take it anymore and I was about to piss myself, so the woman whose name got called to go next told the woman to just let me do my do my piss test and she would wait and go after that. I was very grateful.

So once I was done there, my dad & I went to Pamela’s for breakfast. I had my usual. Chocolate chip hotcakes, and a side of their famous potatoes. My dad, of course, did not approve. He thinks I’m too fat to be eating like that, even though I hadn’t, until yesterday, kept down a single meal in 6 days, so I really didn’t see what difference it made. So after breakfast, we went across the street to the Apple Store and bought my beautiful new 13” Macbook Pro. That was DEFINITELY the highlight of the day. Hell, the highlight of the fucking year. This thing is fucking AMAZING. I mean, it’s VERY different from my 15” 2009 Macbook Pro, so it’s definitely gonna take some getting used to, but I love it. And I can play the Sims 4 on it, which is amazing. Sadie is gonna be so excited!

For dinner we went to Applebees. It was so good.

Sunday::

We were supposed to go to Bado’s for brunch but my dad decided at the last minute not to. So he took me to the Square Cafe instead. It was okay, but I’d definitely have preferred Bado’s. At least I got to surprise my mom and Emily with cupcakes from Vanilla.

But after that, things went really bad between me and my daddy. He started making all these comments about how much and what I eat, and how much I weigh, and how enormous I am, and at one point I was like, “Well, I can’t just live on salads!” And he was like, “Well, it might not be a bad idea at this point.” ………..Completely triggering for my eating disorder. And he has been told not only by myself, but by every single therapist, psychiatrist, and rehab center I’ve been to, so this is more than 30 people telling him this, that it is 100% harmful for him to make comments about food and weight and such with me. That if I need his help in that area, I will ask him, and then he can give his opinion. But if I don’t ask, he needs to keep his mouth shut. But he just won’t do it. And he just keeps hurting me. And yes, I’ve gained a TON of weight since I got off drugs, a TON. So much, that I no longer have ANY clothing that fits me. In fact, until the weekend before last, I didn’t even have a fucking BRA. But my mom took me to Macy’s and it took us a long time, but we finally found me 3 bras that fit. And they're NOT cute, but I had no choice because I was lucky to get a bra at all, considering the size above mine was the biggest they even carried in stores. So that whole experience was completely depressing and mortifying. I can’t even shop for clothing at a regular clothing store anymore. Not at this weight. Now, I would have to shop at places like Lane Bryant or Torrid. And when I told my dad that I needed a few new outfits that fit me in my new size, until I am able to lose the 40 lbs I will need to lose in order to fit into any of the clothing I currently own (aside from a couple pairs of yoga pants a couple of hoodies), because even though I am working hard to lose the weight WITHOUT purging, and am losing it a little at a time, that is way too much to lose in a reasonable period of time, he went off on me. He refused to let me get even one outfit because having clothes that fit would deter me from wanting to lose the weight. Then, when we talked about it more, he made me feel even worse about myself and my body, and we were on the phone and he was berating me and literally screaming at me and he sent me into a full blown panic attack. It was one of the worst ones I’ve had in years. I took two xanax immediately, but they didn’t kick in fast enough and I started to dissociate. I ended up cutting myself so badly that I actually needed stitches but refused to get them so it ended up with the wounds just getting cleaned out and bandaged. I haven’t spoken to my father since.

When my mom got home and saw all the blood everywhere (and I mean everywhere…..it was pooled all over the floor, all over me, my bed, everywhere) she freaked out. Once I was back in my body enough to talk to her and explain what was going on, she felt really terrible about cruel my dad was being to me. She’s really poor, and he’s really rich, but she didn’t want me to suffer the way I am, so she made a deal with me that she would put in $120, and I would put in $150 so that I could get a couple of outfits that fit. I’m excited for them to come so that I can start trying to look as presentable as possible for someone as big as I am.

So then Emily came over for a while. We finally got to talk about the stuff we needed to talk about. But then we talked about some other stuff that’s really scary that’s going on right now, and I got really hysterical, and I was just clinging to her and she just held me for like a half hour before she had to leave.

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #154

"Alex, Alex, Alex and Herabrine”

[Alexis] Is making her way down towards the bay-

[Alexsezia] Is fishing with several cats laying around her. Behind her Smudge is cropping grass while China and Hellion take a nap together in their pen. There's a splash in the distance of Herabrine swimming in the bay.

[Alexis] Knocks on the side of Alexsezia's house- Mind some company?

[Alesexia] Looks up - Not at all. It's just a lazy afternoon. Want some chase and crackers? There's milk in the little trunk too. - Indicates a small trunk beside the horse pen.

[Alexis] - Sure, why not.  So, anything new happen lately?

[Alexsezia] Oh not much. I went to town a couple of times since we talked last. It's really become a lively place with all the kids running around. But the Testificates seem happier, it's all the fun of players with none of the griefing.

[Alexis] -I see, and, sorry again for punching you the last time we talked...

[Alexsezia] Juts out her jaw a bit at the memory. - I forgive you. You were distraught, I know how upsetting this is for you.

[Alexis] - Thanks...  I really do miss him so much, but it's so odd watching him as a child...

{Alexsezia] There's a tugging on the line and Alexsezia flips up the string and catches a salmon before tossing it out again. The cats swarm on it like hungry piranahs and pick it clean of pixels. - It is strange, but he seems happy at least. I feel like this experience may help mend the rift between him and his brother.

[Alexis] - That will be so strange at first.  Stevie did his best to protect me from CP back on the other servers

[Alexsezia] Cp's a dork. It's fun watching Doc annoy him. It's hard to remember how scary he used to be.

[Alexis] - Maybe for you.  The last time we encountered him personally, well, that was the first time he really tried to kill me...  I didn't realize how much Stevie was protecting me

[Alexsezia] Yeah... Things are so different here. I admit I've been watching most of it at a remove as well. I'm just looking at the result.

-There's a few ripples and bubbles in the water a little ways out-

[Alexis] - Yeah...  I wonder how Lie and CP will react once their house ends up being quiet again?

[Alexsezia] But it won't be quiet. There's still Ashe and Willow and Oak.

[Alexis] - Yes, but the dragons seem to grow up pretty fast

[Alexsezia] I think that won't be the case with Ashe. Since he's stunted, I think he'll be under his mothers wing for quite some time. - There's a little tug on the line and Alexsezia draws back a pair of iron boots. - Sheesh. Well at least they're enchanted.

[Alexis] - That's the white one...  right?

[Alexsezia] Yes, the one with the googles. Need a pair of boots? It looks like they have a mid-level unbreaking.

[Alexis] - Nah, I've got a higher one at home- She pops some chase into her mouth

-Another little splash-

[Alexsezia] Narrows her eyes as she stares at the water and then reels the line in again. The lobster flops off the end of the hook and scuttles across the blanket snipping it claws- Yikes!

-Chuckle from the water-

[Alexis] Grabs an arrow from her inventory and stabs the lobster-

[Alexsezia] I know you're out there. Stop messing around. If you want to talk come over here and stop putting dumb things on my line!

[Herabrine] Pops up in the shallows- You're no fun.

[Alexsezia] Any new gossip Hera?

[Herabrine] Grins hugely - I saw something I shouldn't have....

[Alexis] - What was it?

[Herabrine] Weeeeellll - she twiddles a bit of her hair between her fingers. -I saw Flicker and Priestess Beanz taking an early morning stroll by the shore.

[Alexsezia] Sneaky brine...

[Alexis] - Who?

[Alexsezia] Priestess Beanz was the high authority in Jebs main church on my old seed, she kinda got dragged in with us in the chaos of our escape from there.

[Herabrine] And Flicker is a weird Testificate gal who dresses like a creeper and keeps a huge amount of them as pets. They have a kind of hate hate thing going outwardly. There are a lot of people taking bets on when they'll snap from the sexual tension and pounce one another.

[Alexis] - I see...

[Alexsezia] But they argue all the damn time.

[Herabrine] So I know next to zip about you Alexsis, tell me everything. - She's grinning and flipping her plastic monofin idly in the shallows.

[Alexis] - Uh, well, like most Alex's I'm an archer, I like cooking and cleaning.  I really don't like staying in one place...  Oh and rabbits seem to really like me

[Alexsezia] You actually like doing the domestic thing? I've cooked for TLOT and Steve before but mostly because neither of them are that good at it. Well... TLOT has gotten better since we came here. But still, I prefer making potions to food.

[Herabrine] I'm technically an Alex, but honestly, I suck with a bow.

[Alexis] - The taste of potions kinda deters me from making them a bit, but I like things to be organized...  And Stevie can't cook worth a shit

[Herabrine] GK can't cook either. So glad I live alone. Just me and Maggie under the sea.

[Alexsezia] Doc mentioned that with Cp's potions. Yours taste bad too? Have you tried making any since you got here? Maybe it's a local ingredient thing affecting the taste?

[Herabrine] Idly uses her fin to flip a luckless fish into the midst of the cats.

[Alexis] - I've never had any of CP's potions, but I know mine are a bit better than Stevies. I haven't made any potions since getting here

[Alexsezia] Maybe that's something we should try, because mine don't taste nasty at all. Though not as good as Doc's, but I suspect xe puts sugar in theirs when no one is looking.

[Alexis] - We could try- She eats a bit more

[Herabrine] Rolls over to look at Alexsezia upside down - Am I welcome in your house Alexsezia? Even with my wet feet?

[Alexsezia] Rolls her eyes- As long as they're nice to the cats, everyone is welcome in my house.

[Herabrine] Awesome- she notices the impaled lobster and lifts it up on the arrow. - Who did this?

[Alexis] - I did

[Herabrine] Then I'll show you a trick - She draws up a tentacle of water and englobes the dead lobster

[Alexis] Watches with interest-

[Herabrine] puts one finger in the globe and it starts to steam and boil as if it were in a hot glass ball. After a minute she shakes the water off and holds the arrow out to Alexsis - Ready for eating. Just break the shell open.

[Alexsezia] Best thing Cp ever gave you huh?

[Herabrine] Yeah, usually he just gives me a headache

[Alexis] Frowns- CP gave you this?

[Herabrine] I went on a little astral excursion into the real world with him and basically made him my butt boy as payment for my assistance. He bought me a ton of shit. But these guys have really adapted well to life here and they're common all up and down the coast now.

[Alexis] - That just seems...  So strange for him...

[Herabrine] He bought me this too- waves the monofin like a mermaid tail.

[Alexsezia] Yeah because you badgered him. That was a nice piece of work.

[Alexsezia] Come on anyway Alexis, let's go inside and butter your bug before the meat gets cold.

[Alexis] Frowns- Finding it difficult to wrap her head around CP being even remotely nice

[Herabrine] kicks up her fin and puts it away, as she climbs out of the water it steams off her clothes and hair.

[Alexsezia] gathers up the trunk and fishing pole before leading them inside.

[Herabrine] I've actually never seen the inside of your house before. It's cute.

[Alexis] Pets some of the cats-

[Alexsezia] Gets out some butter and gives it to Alexis - Thank you. It's modest since it's just me and the kitties.

[Herabrine] You say that like there aren't tons of cats in here.

[Alexis] - She does have a point...

[Alexsezia] You have your hobbies, I have mine.

[Alexis] Takes the butter and heads for Alexsezia's kitchen-

-Cats smell the slightly fishy scent and some of them investigate Alexis-

[Alexis] - Oh hush, this isn't for you

[Herabrine] So what do you do all day Alexsezia? I don't see you go out much.

[Alexsezia] well.... I've been painting a lot.

[Alexis] - You've been making pictures?

[Alexsezia] Yeah, I use the little dye blobs. I figured out a way to connect the sheets of paper without making them into maps first too.

[Alexis] - Interesting...

[Alexsezia] I can show you how if you're artistically inclined. And what about you Hera, don't you get lonely hanging out underwater all the time?

[Alexis] - Not really, never really had time

[Herabrine] I kinda.... I miss the temple I guarded before I was.... changed. So I've been doing underwater builds.

[Alexsezia] Like what?

[Herabrine] There's a shrine with a decorative roof and an underwater garden so far. I made some little roads too.

[Alexis] - Neat, you said you had a pet?

[Herabrine] I have a small magma cube named Maggie. I just keep her in a pen in my house mostly.

[Alexis] - I see.- Starts eating the lobster

[Alexis] - The only thing in my house is the kitten Alexsezia gave me

[Alexis] - Hey Hera, how has Lie been lately?

[Alexsezia] You know if you want more pets there's nothing stopping you Alexsis.   I bet if you asked Deerheart she could even get you a Pokemon next time Doc takes her out.

[Herabrine] I don't know Alexis, she seems stressed lately. I think her trip to the so-called manor was a real eye-opener. I had my fun there mostly because I was traveling astrally and could just bring myself out of it and wake up here if it all got to be too much, plus it filtered the worst of the smells. Lie is... Well like her flowers, she needs certain things to flourish. And none of those things can exist in Slenders house except for Cp himself. And while she does love Stevie, the constant crush of him needing attention and her not getting intimate time with her husband is wearing on her.

[Alexis] - I see...  I keep wanting to go over there and check on Stevie at least...  Even though it still hurts a bit to think that he doesn't remember me...  But it's the thought of CP that keeps deterring me...

[Alexsezia] You just feel vulnerable since you're a human in a brines house...

[Herabrine] He's got no reason to be pissed at you though... And I could go with you. Or, I'm sure if you asked Doc, or TLOT that they'd say the same.

[Alexis] - Thanks, I'll keep it in mind.- She sighs and eats a bit more

[Alexis] - Although the last time CP and I really interacted was when I was helping Lie escape...

-there is a loud thump outside vin is outside holding gem under his arm she seems frustrated and struggling-

[Alexis] - Uh, what was that?

[Herabrine] I doubt he's forgotten about that, but it's kind of irrelevant now, don't you think?

[Alexis] - Ah, weeeeeeell, I did kinda supply the weapon for Lie to send him back to respawn...

[Alexsezia] glances out the window and stares - wait? Lie managed to kill him?

[Herabrine] Holy shit.

[Alexis] - Yeah, we were in a swamp, and Stevie had already taken a good chunk of his health out.  She got a hold of my bow and quiver which had landed in a bush after he ripped me off of my horse.  She shot him right between the ribs in the heart.

[Alexsezia] Now that's ironic.

[Herabrine] No shit. Beauty killed the beast.

[Alexis] - She was pretty terrified at the time, she had just escaped the Nether, ended up in a snow biome, and CP was determined to drag her back to the Nether

[Alexsezia] It doesn't matter, it's still an acomplishment. Usually it's the players getting turned to mush by brines.

[Herabrine] Gives a little warning growl.

[Alexsezia] I didn't say it was right! But you guys have a bigger health bar then even the ender dragon!

[Herabrine] Still looks miffed. - We have to live here. Players can log off.

[Alexis] - Like I said, Stevie had taken a good chunk of his health out already, but that was a remarkable shot on her end

[Alexis] - I can't imagine what things are like from your perspective Hera, that is, since you're a brine yourself

[Alexsezia] Agreed, I didn't know Lie was good with a bow. I'm not sure I've ever seen her with a weapon, besides her plants.

[Herabrine] I'm a bit less beset then the others. The NOTCHs probably don't even know I exist. Well apart from the one who cursed me and GK... and he seemed content to just watch us suffer.

[Alexis] - I'd say Lie is almost as good as us Alex's with a bow, and I suppose you're lucky at not really being known Hera.  It makes you less of a target from those outside of the seed, and pretty much makes you an ace up our sleeves

[Herabrine] Hmph. You guys don't always include me in your little circles. I'll help Lie because she's my friend. But I'm not sticking my neck out unless the server itself is in danger, I know how important it is to GK to keep Steffan safe at least. Otherwise, nope. Not unless there's something in it for me.

[Alexis] - I see...  You know we could see if Lie would want to come out hunting with us

[Herabrine] That's not much of a challenge....

[Alexis] - Why is that?"

[Herabrine] Because if I want to kill an animal I can form a water block around it's head and drown it.

[Alexis] Leans away a little- Please don't...  I meant with bows...

[Herabrine] Why? It's efficient and they die really quickly.

[Alexsezia] I think you're missing the point Hera.

[Herabrine] I thought you wanted to go hunt? The point is to kill some food right?

[Alexis] - Not this hunt, it's more of a...  skill check

[Herabrine] Cocks her head at an angle.

[Alexsezia] She means like a contest.

[Herabrine] Oh.

[Alexis] - And it's for fun

[Herabrine] Okay, but when it's my turn I'm gonna use my water beam. I'm not good with physical weapons.

[Alexis] - That's fine.  Should we just go see if Lie's available now?  I mean the three of us are already here...  And should we invite Sweet Alex?

[Herabrine] Rolls her eyes but no one notices- Whatever....

[Alexsezia] Is already typing in the chat. - It looks like she's by the fountain, she says she'll meet us by Lie's greenhouse.

[Alexis] - Great, we can probably borrow some of Lie's horses too if we wanted

[Herabrine] Floats a little off the floor - Yeah, not gonna bother with that.

[Alexis] - What is with brine kind and floating?

[Alexsezia] I'll just take Smudge.

[Herabrine] It's fun. And quicker them walking.

[Alexis] - Lucky

[Alexsezia] Goes outside -

[Alexis] Heads outside- Well, we better not keep the others waiting

[Herabrine] Shoots quickly behind Alexis and grabs her around the waist, holding her forward and flying her quickly less then two blocks above the ground.

[Alexsezia] Runs for her horse and is soon hot on their heels

[Alexis] Yelps in surprise-

[Herabrine] Goes up a bit and makes a quick loop before shooting up the side of the fountain and fast down the opposite side.

[Alexsezia] Leaps her horse over the water.

[Alexis] - HERA WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

[Sweet Alex] Is laughing below -I think it's called hot dogging!

[CP] Growls from inside his and Lie's bedroom-

[Lie] - Calm down CP, they're just having fun

[Sweet Alex] Is chasing underneath merrily as Herabrine zooms along with Alexis in her arms

[Herabrine] Come on! It's fun!

[Alexis] - And a bit terrifying!

[Herabrine] Goes up and makes a wide curve around - Doc is worse!

[Alexis] - I've noticed!

[Herabrine] Hey I know! - She goes super high and pulls a pair of elytra out of creative.

[Sweet Alex] Is just standing there shading her eyes, looking very tiny below

[Alexsezia] She doesn't know how to use those!

[Herabrine] No time like the present! - Slaps them on Alexis and lets her fall.

[Alexis] Shrieks as she falls-

[Herabrine] tps below her and bumps her up so the wings catch and spread

[Alexis] May be gliding now but cannot steer-

[Herabrine] Is flying along beside her. - You have to turn. Unless you want to go to Doc's castle instead of Lies house.

[Alexis] - HOW!?

[Herabrine] Grabs a wing and bends it down so Alexis is turning-

[Alexis] Yells as she turns too far and is heading towards Alexsezia's house-

[Herabrine] Is floating at speed above her and turns her again

[Alexis] Is now heading towards Lie's place- How do we reach the ground1/

[Herabrine] They'll naturally angle down. Just kinda tuck and roll right before you hit.

[Alexis] - LIKE NOW!?

[Herabrine] Now is good

[Alexis] Slams into the ground-

[Herabrine] That's not good.

[Alexsezia] Gallops up. - That wasn't much of a landing

[Sweet Alex] Is already on her - Are you hurt?!

[Alexis] Pushes herself up- Owww, I'm okay, taken worse then that

[Herabrine] Still fun though.

[Alexsezia] Hera...

[Alexis] Maybe after more practice

[Herabrine] What? She said it so bitter, like she was jelous.

[Sweet Alex] Elytra are better with a friend who can fly. I'm pretty good with them thanks to GK.

[Alexsezia] I think I'll stick with my horse.

*Firebird glides down and circles around them a bit

[Alexis] - I think I like the ground better too, but it would be a decent skill to learn

[Herabrine] Either way, keep em, with my blessings.

[Aweet Alex] Oh! What a pretty bird!

[Herabrine] Pfft. He's not a bird. That's a NOTCH. Mix's NOTCH to be precise.

[Alexsezia] Gives Firebird a suspicious look - Did Doc clear this one to be here?

[Firebird] Chirp.

[Herabrine] Yeeeah. He's some kinda pacifist.

[Sweet Alex] I think he's beautiful.

[Firebird] Chirp. *Tries to land on Sweet Alex's head or shoulder. Anything that's available.

[Alexis] - I'm betting CP's already tried to kill him...

[Sweet Alex] Want a cracker pretty birdie? - Offers one-

[Herabrine] Yep. Doc stopped him. Mix vouched for him and since they're also a brine they took responsibility for him.

[Alexis] - I don't think I've met Mix

[Sweet Alex] Wobbles under him, she's only a block and a half tall.

[Alexsezia] Look for a brine with dark skin and glowing freckles. She's very quiet and sweet.

[Alexis] - I see.  So, do we enter the demons lair?- Jabs a thumb at Lie's place

*Firebird takes the offered cracker and holds it in his beak happily.

[Herabrine] Cp? A demon? - Laughs- He's a pussycat.

[Alexsezia] Snorts - That's one dangerous kitty. You should have seen the damage he caused in my house, fireball scoring and cat piss everywhere!

[Sweet Alex] Falls flat under Firebird- Oof!

[Alexis] - I've seen him a few times as a cat...  Trying to hide under our house...

[Firebird] ... *Awkwardly hops off Sweet Alex

[Alexsezia] Yeaaah, he really shouldn't piss off TLOT, he may seem harmless but it's just because he's trying so hard to be a nice person. He's incredibly formidable if you challenge him.

[Sweet Alex] Dusts herself off. She pats Firebird- It's okay.

[Herabrine] grumbles- I wouldn't fight with him....

[Alexis] - I was luckily on the other side of the house, Stevie barely managed to scramble out of the way

[Firebird] Chirp! *Flaps wings a bit and eats his crackers finally

[Herabrine] I remember.

[Alexsezia] Well Cp trapped Doc. And they are close friends. Nether, everyone in my group owes Doc just for bringing us here. You didn't see what we escaped from.

[Alexis] - What did you escape from?  The NOTCH I know has always been kind to Stevie and I so I'm not really able to imagine what you may have gone through...

[Alexsezia] You don't know? Our NOTCH is a monster. He did terrible things to both TLOT and Steve. Trying to part them, kill them, attacking them even in their dreams. At the end I didn't even see our NOTCH. Just the wave of absolute destruction as something invisible and titanic smashed our Testificate village and ripped up the trees and earth as it stomped towards us.

[Sweet Alex] Is staring - really? Notch's can do that?

[Herabrine] That and worse.

[Alexis] - That...  Is terrifying

[CP] Is growing more agitated as he tries to focus on Lie-

[Herabrine] Why do you think none of us trust guys like this?- thumbs at Firebird.

[Alexsezia] TLOT is terrified of the Nether because of our NOTCH, he was left to suffer there once, crucifed with swords on a crude throne. Steve saved him.

*Annoyed feather ruffle

[Alexis] - Ours was just always so kind, I know Doc has said there were two, but...  I've only ever known one...

[Herabrine] What about Markus? You met him at the baby shower, right?

[Sweet Alex] This one seems harmless though. But I wonder why he's a bird?

[Alexis] - Oh that's right.  I didn't really talk to him though...

[Alexsezia] He's nice enough. He seems to really enjoy taking care of Stevie at least.

[Herabrine] He's a dork too. Did you see the hair Doc gave him?

[Alexis] - Is that what that is?  I thought it was some sort of animal with how much he was petting it

[Alexsezia] chuckles- It's because he's attracted to Flux. He plays with it whenever he spots her.

[Sweet Alex] Awwwwwww!

[Alexis] - Flux?

[Herabrine] Yeah the magic girl. I haven't met her but I've seen her around. She's nine shades of purple. Apparently she's sorta related to CP and Stevie?

[Sweet Alex] Really, is she their mom?

[Alexis] - I've never heard of her...

[Alexsezia] She just got here, a few days ago? I've seen her name in the chat.

[Alexis] - Lie probably knows more

[Herabrine] We should go bug her- She chucks a dirt block at the side of Lie's room.

[Sweet Alex] HERA!

[CP] Has had enough and slams open the bedroom door, storming out onto the bridge- ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?  STOP FUCKING BUGGING US!

[Firebird] *ducks behind Sweet Alex

[Herabrine] - dissolves into a gale of giggles

[Sweet Alex] Turns an embarrassed pink

[Alexsezia] Points at Herabrine- she did it.

[Herabrine] Choking on her laughter - why are you naked?

[CP] Growls- WHY DO YOU THINK!?  STEVIE'S MINING WITH STEVE, THE DRAGONS ARE OUT AND SO IS FUCKING NOTCH!

[Alexsezia] Starts giggling as well.

[Sweet Alex] We should go!

[Herabrine] Pffft!

[CP] - YES!  GO!  LET ME FUCK MY WIFE FOR FUCKING ONCE!

[Herabrine] Can we go kill things now?

[Alexis] - I really hoped Lie could come with us...

[Alexsezia] Lie is busy. This can be an Alex only outing.

[CP] - Go...  Shoo

[Sweet Alex] I brought a bow. Can the bird come with us?

[Herabrine] Whatever, lets go.

[Alexsezia] Turns Smudge. - let's go out on the savannah

[Alexis] - C...  CP?  Can you let Lie know I'm borrowing a horse?

[CP] - Yeah fine whatever, just leave!

[Sweet Alex] Looks around in the area slightly beyond the house and saddles a wild pig.

[Herabrine] You are such a dweeb.

[Alexsezia] Is trotting along on Smudge. - Come on guys, lets go

[Alexis] Goes into the stable and comes out with a light bay colored horse and easily climbs on-

*Firebird takes to the air above them

[Alexis] Trots to catch up with Alexsezia and draws up beside her, pulling out her own bow-

[Herabrine] Points out a cluster of chickens - there you go, those are small targets.

[Alexis] - So who goes first?

[Sweet Alex] Me! - She pulls out a normal looking bow and aims for the closest chicken. She hits it, but just barely.

[Alexis] - Nice, my turn!- She notches an arrow and takes aim, releasing a steadying breath she releases the arrow, it strikes right in a chickens head

[Alexsezia] Is moving the bow around, trying to decide on a target. Finally she arcs the arrow up gently and and it comes down at a graceful angle, nearly hitting the bird from straight above.

[Herabrine] Makes a sniffing noise and does a little spin on one heel before unleashing an energy blast that not only kills the target, but cooks it as well.

[Alexis] - Oh, we're doing that are we?- Pulls out a bow with flame and fire aspect on it

[Sweet Alex] is lining up for another shot when the pig under her bumps her arm. The shot goes wild and the arrow sticks firmly in Firebirds rear as he flies over. - SORRY!

[Herabrine] Falls over laughing- Perfect shot!

[Alexis] - Oh, ouch...

[Alexsezia] I heard what you did to Steffan, what is it with you and shooting people in the butt?

[Sweet Alex] I'M SORRY!

[Alexis] - It's okay, if he comes over here we can remove it

[Herabrine] Hey birb-brain! Get over here!

[Herabrine] Turns back to Alexis - Lets see what you got Alex.

[Alexsezia] Makes a quick gallop around and picks up the dropped items.

[Alexis] There's a determined flash in Alexis' eye- You're on- She spots some pigs at a greater distance and takes aim and fires, she hits the farthest pig and it alights, showing that she did hit it.  It quickly dies and leaves behind a cooked porkchop

[Herabrine] Does a little flip in the air and throws a hand dramatically at a small pool of water. A clear tentacle of it rises up and grabs a cow before pulling it under the surface with barely a ripple.

[Sweet Alex] Holy crap.... that's kinda scary.

[Alexis] - Hmmm- She decides to notch two arrows on her string-  Let's see how well we can hit multiple targets at once

*Firebird lands and awkwardly tries to remove the arrow himself, looking very uncomfortable and in pain

[Alexsezia] Well I'm out, I can't do more then one arrow. Come here birdie. I'll get that arrow.

[Herabrine] Is searching for suitable targets.

[Alexis] Releases her double arrows on the two remaining pigs, both hit, not as solidly as she would have liked, but they hit-

*Firebird  hisses a bit softly

[Herabrine] Well, I can make waves that knock lots of players down at once, or a cluster of tendrils from one pool... But I can only do one energy blast from each hand. It's not much of an effort to aim anyway, I can just point at stuff.

[Alexsezia] Is trying to get close to Firebird.

*He flaps a wing at her, but that's about it

[Alexsezia] Pulls the arrow out with a little 'pook'

[Alexis] - Well Hera?  It's your turn

[Herabrone] Throws a pair of short blasts, the one from her left hand almost misses, but both of them nearly explode the chickens into clouds of feathers.

[Alexis] - Hmmm...  Seems we're about even...

[Herabrine] Yeah I usually just use my right hand or both clasped together.

[Alexis] - Only reason I can fire two arrows at once is because of CP's mobs...

[Sweet Alex] Necessity will always keep you in practice.

[Alexis] - Exactly

[Alexsezia] I've gotten pretty good at just avoiding the mobs. I kinda feel bad fighting the skeletons at least since I know what they actually are.

[Alexis] - What they actually are?

[Alexszia] On our seed at least, they're the remains of dead Steves. All TLOT's failed experiments before the one he fell in love with.

[Herabrine] Ours are just grunts. They're their own species.

[Alexis] - They...  They were like us?

[Sweet Alex] You've never talked to Steve's 'brothers'? Navy is a little serious, but most of them are very polite.

[Alexis] - I haven't really been around there much, plus it never really occurred to me...

[Sweet Alex] Do what I do if you want to visit someone. Make some food and take it over as a present.

[Alexsezia] Just be prepared to pay close attention. They can't really talk, they kinda do sign language.

[Alexis] - I know CP can speak to and understand his mobs, but Stevie and I can't...

[Herabrine] Look for any skeleton wearing a sweater and a hat. Some of the mounted one's patrol outside the town regularly.

[Alexsezia] I can't either. Just wave and smile. You'll get the hang of it quite quickly.

[Alexis] - I'll try.  Stevie's also mentioned one named Sam?

[Sweet Alex] Oh I love Sam, he's the best.

[Herabrine] genuine smile - He's the bartender at the brine bar. It's the building with the lava fountain beside the library

[Alexis] - Oh, I actually haven't been there...

[Alexsezia] Well it's not just brines only anymore. But there is still a sign that says humans have to be accompanied by a brine. They keep it up mostly for chuckles now.

[Herabrine] We can go there afterwards if you want.

[Alexis] - I'm not so sure...

[Herabrine] Why? You've got me. - grins hugely-

[Alexis] - You nearly gave me a heart attack earlier...

[Sweet Alex] Oh hush, it's safe

[Herabrine] That was just a bit of fun, and Elytra are rare items.

[Alexsezia] For anyone who can't access creative....

[Alexis] - I suppose we could go there...

[Herabrine] It's the middle of the day. It's unlikely any of the other brines besides me are even out of bed.

[Alexsezia] TLOT is probably just getting his coffee now, he's not a morning person.

[Alexis] - And as much as I hate to think about it, we know where CP and Lie is

[Sweet Alex] Gk might be around, but he's probably napping.

[Alexsezia] And I'd bet you an emerald Doc is way underground in hir lab and has been working on some project since mid-day yesterday.

[Alexis] - Good point

[Herabrine] Gathers up the rest of the meat. - Come on then, it's not that far away, we'll cut around the huge tree and skirt the fenced off forest thing.

[Sweet Alex] I heard there's a spooky clown in there.

[Alexis] - Really?

[Alexsezia] Yeah, another creepypasta, I hear music when I go by sometimes. It's weird. I get the feeling there's a much bigger area inside that small fence.

[Herabrine] Makes spooky noises-

[Alexis] - How is that possible?

[Alexsezia] No idea, but I'm not going in to find out, and neither should any of you.

[Alexis] - Hmmm...

[Sweet Alex] Looks into the trees - I wonder why someone would hide in there all alone?

[Alexis] - You said it was a creepy pasta?  Who knows...

[Alexsezia] I know it has something to do with all the new human kids in the village.

[Herabrine] Maybe he eats little kids!

[Alexis] - I noticed that, it's a lot of kids, isn't it?

[Sweet Alex] Hera! That's horrible!

[Alexsezia] More then could have been in there unnoticed. - thumbs at the small fenced in forest.

[Alexis] - That's for sure...

[Alexsezia] Clops past the library - It's just over here. There's a horse pen in the front.

[Alexis] - Good, don't want to lose Lie's horse

[Sweet Alex] Unsaddles the pig and gives it a pat before letting it loose. - Thank you piggy

[Herabrine] Makes a show of holding the door for them.

[Sweet Alex] Thank you Hera

[Alexis] Jumps into the pen before dismounting and climbing out of the pen and follows Sweet Alex in-

[Sam] Stops and stares at them for a moment before shaking hir head.

[Sweet Alex] Hi Sam. I brought friends.

[Alexis] Nervously looks around-

[Herabrine] Slaps the dead chickens on the counter. - Could you cook and sauce these up for us Sam?

[Sam] Shakes hir head egarly and bustles off into the kitchen with the meat.

[Alexsezia] Picks up a handful of darts and lobs them gently one by one into a target on the wall.

[Alexis] Takes a seat at a booth-

[Sweet Alex] Hops up on a barstool and makes it turn back and forth while kicking her feet.

[Sam] brings back the chicken with what's obviously four different glazes and passes it around with cups of lemonade.

[Alexsezia] I see TLOT was here.

[Alexis] Takes a glass-What is this?

[Alexsezia] It's juice from a type of fruit that Lie made. Something from the outside.

[Herabrine] Just try it, it's puckery  and sweet. - Takes a huge bite of chicken and eats it noisly

[Sweet Alex] Nibbles delicately.

[Alexis] Takes a sip- Not bad

[Sam] makes a questioning gesture at Alexsis-

[Sweet Alex] Sam this is Alexsis, she's with Cp's group.

[Sam] Gives a Alexis a look that conveys some obvious pity and pulls out a nicely decorated dessert with apples and whipped cream before setting it in front of her. He does some more hand waving, mimes cat ears on his own skull and makes an obvious wanking motion. Herabrine laughs in his direction

[Herabrine] Alexis, if it wasn't blazingly obvious xe basically says Cp's a wanker and here's something nice for you since Xe feels sorry for you for having to deal with his crap before he came here.

[Alexsezia] Yeah Sam's had a front-row seat to Cps stupid behavior several times.

[Sam] Holds up a couple of bony digits and makes a gesture at the floor and indicates the shape of flames.

[Alexsezia] Yeah.... Who builds a bar for Herobrine's out of wood anyway? Don't almost all of you run super high body temperatures even when you're in peak health?

[Herabrine] I dunno, I'm not super hot. And Lie must run cold for a brine since lava actually hardens on her.

[Sweet Alex] Doc isn't that hot are they? I thought their glitch was more an electrical thing then a heat issue?

[Alexsezia] Yeah, but TLOT is crazy hot. Steve told me once that he had to use a ghast-skin condom to top him. I was there the first time he tried without one and he only lasted a few minutes.

[Sweet Alex] Steve is bad in bed?

[Alexsezia] No! He burned his wiener and had to quit!

[Herabrine] is laughing so hard she can barely breathe-

[Sweet Alex] Wait.... Alexsezia.... Why were you watching them have sex? I thought you were ace like me?

[Alexsezia] I am, it's complicated... Suffice to say I didn't want to be there and I was pretty scared that TLOT would somehow trick Steve and hurt him for trying that. But I couldn't leave him alone with someone i was pretty sure at the time was a horrible monster.

[Alexis] - Can't really blame you for thinking that- Finished her food - Pretty good. As for the subject of sex, I can't really talk since I really didn't know about or till Stevie and I came here

[Alexsezia] I was wrong about him though, he just a made a terrible first impression out of desperation. Some brines need human fear just to survive.

[Herabrine] I heard about TLOT's little download to Stevie. The god of lust strikes again!

[Sweet Alex] Most of us are ace though, that makes you unique Alexis.

[Alexsezia] Yeah, guys are a hassle. For a long time Steve was the only other human I'd met and I just wasn't feeling it. He was made for his brine, literally.

[Sweet Alex] They're such a cute couple.

[Herabrine] When I first met GK I had the option to go after him, but it was more fun just to be his friend and wreck shit up with him. I'm not into relationships either.

[gem] -runs in and hides behind the pool table her wings are flapping it making it not hard to see-

[Herabrine] Whoah! What the fuck?

[Alexsezia] Yeah honestly...

[Alexis] - Um, who is this?

[gem] -she peaks out her wings still flapping- i'm gem.

[Herabrine] You're the accidental brine aren't you?

[Sweet Alex] Oh dear.

[gem] yea a notch mistook me for a brine because space angels also have glowing eyes just slightly different and made me a brine.

[Herabrine] See Alexis, this is what it looks like on our end. If your eyes shine, you're a target. Doesn't matter if you're not hurting anyone.

[Alexsezia] You didn't have wings last time I saw you.

[Alexis] - And those like my eventual brother in law don't help any?

[Herabrine] Well from what's Lie's told me; he was peaceful before the pretender NOTCH tried to delete him.

[gem] oh yea doc fixed my wings vin one of my guardians is trying to get me to stop flying around but I just want to keep flying I missed it

[Alexis] - That's the one I know, right?

[Herabrine] Yes, he's not the one who raised Cp and Stevie. That one died, quite recently.

[Sweet Alex] Why doesn't he want you to fly?

[Alexis] - Died? How is that possible?

[gem] because I have been flying for a while he wants me to rest.

[Herabrine] Because the one that made you tried to delete Stevie  and Cp's real father too. He was much more successful since Insanity had no interest in saving him.

[Sweet Alex] Well then you should rest a bit! Have some chicken, sit with us. We have lemonade too.

[Alexis] A worried expression crises her face-

[Alexsezia] Alexis.... I know a bit about this secondhand. Cp got to see him very briefly before he glitched out of existence.

[gem] -her wings rest back down and sits down at one of the booths- I would love some lemonade.

[Sam] Brings Gem a glass-

[gem] thank you sam -starts to drink the lemonade-

[Herabrine] Yeah he was a mess. He just moped in his cat form. Hiding in Lie's room for days.

[Alexis] - He did? And I'm guessing they haven't told Stevie

[Sweet Alex] What was wrong with your wings? Did you break one landing wrong?

[gem] oh the notch that attacked me ripped them off

[Herabrine] Why the fuck would they tell Stevie? He's just a little kid right now and he thinks Markus is his real dad. He'd be confused as hell and cry his eyes out.

[Sweet Alex] He what?! That's terrible! Alexis? Did you hear that? What the Nether....

[Alexis] - Exactly, that almost seems like something CP would do...

[Herabrine] You don't get it, do you? Cp loved Stevie when he was little this is like the old times before all the bad shit happened for him.

[Alexsezia] I saw the fear in his eyes when I told him what it would take to fix Stevie. He can't do it.

This message has been removed.

[Alexis] - I know I know, you told me

[Herabrine] Then don't expect him to break Stevie's hearts. -turns to Sweet Alex- He fucking what?

[gem] they didn't respawn when I did none of my injury's heal though respawn when that happened when I came back I was bleeding had extrea eyes and the notch was coming for me

[Sweet Alex] So some of these bits, are not... you?

[Alexis] - Sorry, it's just, I've never been able to see past the wrongs someone has done unless it's Stevie, and I'm beginning to wonder if it has to do with NOTCH...

[Alexsis] You think there's a bug in your programming that makes you prone to certain attitudes?

[Herabrine] That's shitty. I'd go talk to Doc about that right quickly.

[gem] I use to have three eyes now I have seven I think it might because my old eyes glowed so I needed new eyes to show I was a brine at that point.

[Alexis] - Well so far every Alex I've met here has been pretty forgiving... And I was made by the NOTCH that tried to remove CP...

[Sweet Alex] But they all glow. Do you want some of them removed?

[Alexsezia] That makes me suspicious. Has Doc ever given you a checkup?

[Alexis] - No

[gem] nah I see just fine if I have them or not I also have gown attached to the extra eyes

[Herabrine] Do it. I know they look ten shades of crazy but they know their shit.

[Sweet Alex] Smiles- as long as your comfortable. My friend GK taught me about dysphoria, I know it can be traumatic.

[Alexis] - Whatever it is can't be to strong can it? I mean, Endrea got past her coding, and she was designed to destroy CP

[Herabrine] Yeah but Cp also made a bargin with her to protect her at her most vulnerable state. He likes to wheel and deal with people. I take it he's never offered you anything you wanted?

[Alexsezia] Wait.... don't do that. If you have some kind of coding to make you respond certain ways to him, you might be a sleeper and not realize it.

[gem] I am just happy to have made so many friends on this server.

[Alexis] - No, he never tried to make a deal with me

[Herabrine] Fuuuuck. Alexsezia might be right. For all you know you're programmed to go berzerk if you make a deal with him, since it would be betraying your creator.

[Sweet Alex] You should come fly with me and Gk one day.

[Alexis] - Perhaps I should go see Doc then...

[gem] I would love to join you.

[Alexsezia] Do it. Better safe then sorry.

[Sweet Alex] Come visit me anytime. Well, not too early. It's hard to get him moving in the morning.

[Alexis] - Yeah, I just don't want to interrupt them if they are doing something...

[gem] I bet he seems like he likes to sleep.

[Alexsezia] That's impossible! They're always doing something. Even Cp can't handle the sheer amount of energy what they are naturally generates.

[Herabrine] Yeah, that's why he went crazy a while back and was chasing Doc all over the seed. He can't handle what they did to him without that goofy looking sword Honedge draining his energy.

[Alexis] - It drains his energy?

[Sweet Alex] Yeah he's silly like that, I guess being a giant dragon is tiring. Plus he's an older brine.

[Herabrine] Constantly, it's a ghost sword.

[gem] I would say the younger the dragon the more active they are

[Alexis] - Weird... Well would one of you at least be willing to come with me? Since I really don't know Doc that well...

[Sweet Alex] He's lived many many lifetimes.

[Herabrine] I'll go with you.

[Alexsezia] That works, I'll take Lie's horse and put it away.

[gem] see older and I have a tiny baby dragon that chills in my pond who is super hyperactive

[Sweet Alex] REALLY? That's so cute! I've never seen a water dragon except for the thing with the shell that Silver owns.

[Alexis] - Thanks

[Herabrine] Just take one of the skeleton horses outside. Doc is constantly moving them back and forth as need between here and the castle anyway

[gem] yea aqua like to spray people with water so I added glass in front of the path so they couldn't spray ben and aven.

[Sweet Alex] Oh no! That's so naughty! Oh Aven and BEN? Hows the baby doing?

[Alexis] - Got it, but first, let's finish eating

[Herabrine] pushes away the plate of bones in front of her. - Been done.

[gem] hyrule is super cute and happy.

[Sweet Alex] Awww. And the parents?

[gem] trying to get use to being parents still but are getting better.

[Sweet Alex] Well I'd love to babysit if they need help. I'm all about cute things.

[gem] it's pretty hard to see them even let have someone babysit ben is territorial and they are both still scared of water.

[Alexis] - Err, well...- Is finished herself but nervous about going to see Doc

[Herabrine] What's that face for? Doc is weird as fuck, but they're also ironclad on consent. They ain't gonna knock you down and sew a pair of wings to you, Gem asked for those.

[Sweet Alex] Well this is thier first kid.

[Alexis] - I know, I'm just... Nervous...

[Herabrine] Wiggles her stubby fingers- gonna go to the big spooky castle and visit the crazy doctor - oooooooo

[gem] I bet they are going to teach hyrule all about video games

[Alexis] - YOU ARE NOT HELPING!

[Sweet Alex] Being able to gamehop is a pretty special skill. Especially since one of them is a creepypasta that's had contact with Slender. They might need to hide.

[Herabrine] laughs- Don't be a weenie. And Deerheart asked Doc for what they got as well.

[Alexis] Sighs- Alright, let's get this over with

[gem] I will help protect hyrule ben and aven from slender

*Firebird pops into the bar in his other form

[Sweet Alex] I'm glad. I think we all need all the defenders we can get here.

[Herabrine] Shrieks-

[Sweet Alex] Who is that?

*Firebird freezes and steps back

[Firebird] Sorry

[gem] -sees firebird an scrambles down the ladder of the bar-

[Herabrine] Why did you shift back?

[Alexsezia] Hows your butt?

[Firebird] Comfort? And it hurts. *frowns a bit

[Herabrine] Snaps her fingers and spawns a healing potion before giving it a little slide down the bar. It comes to a stop near where Firebird is. - hmph.

[Alexsezia] Well, it's okay. You just startled us.

[gem] -is in the corner of the downstairs of the bar-

[Sweet Alex] Yells down the ladder - Gem? It's okay. He's not here to start anything.

[gem] but notch

*Firebird drinks the potion and sighs happily

[Sweet Alex] I know, but he was playing with us earlier and got hurt.

[gem] -doesn't leave her spot-

[Alexis] - Hera, should we make or escape?

[Sam] Looks at Firebird and then at the leftover chicken and thinks better of offering him any.

[Herabrine] Yeah come on, the skeles already have saddles, just grab one.

[Alexis] -Got it. See you guys later, we should hunt together more often- She heads for the door and the horse pen

[Firebird] Just a water, Sam. I'm not hungry.

[Sam] Gives him a glass of water with a little smile-

[Alexis] Climbs on one of the Skeleton horses and waits for Hera-

[Hera] Zips along about two blocks off the ground - Let's go!

[Alexis] Spurs the horse onwards and follows closely-

[henryconrad95]

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My powerful and helpful information online is certainly going to take you back.What you should make her feel that the relationship back, but will surely make getting your ex begin to talk to your boyfriend.However, doing this you will want you back.In the meantime, stop sulking and develop a plan of action.

I almost ruined this part of the relationship as its own thing.I was so mad with you, or they are too stupid to let you know what it's like.He'll come back to yourself, the answers you will learn how to get your ex to accept.So in trying to make her change her mind will only make things worse.Don't even try to look up again within just 3 months.

Become the best way to get your girl back.The truth is, her passion for each other, but don't linger for too long.You are like an impossible mission at all.Just a few weeks ask if she broke up I had to get over your ex.You also need to find out more about him but you have not said to many things have been trying to get in touch, but not with each other right now, maybe that is comfortable for a week or so before you try getting your girlfriend back.

Most people try to save the relationship, and you want nothing more disturbing about a 100% chance of any reconciliation.The truth is, by trying to get your girlfriend miss him and confessing how much better as well and will take some time.This simply means the acting needy and desperate, won't get the relationship without overcrowding him.So if you're the creative type, then you have high self-esteem; both of you have to take comfort in that situation are.First thing is to give you a lot of relationships can be quite honest there's a way.

All of this eBook which will make it sound like he is scoring the next thing you can use that to happen.You can state your case, now is not at all, and then say perhaps it would secure peace and help you win back an ex back, then you need to stay in your face, no?I had to accept that your partner will see a method that uses the power of human nature.Give them some time to be relaxed when you need to rekindle the chemistry between you.So you have moved on from the negative cycle and give your ex alone and that follows a step back and that follows a step further: After a while, to think of trying to get an ex back.

Every trouble has a way to fix this problem is obvious to me - this is happening, it's imperative that you still love her and that is at fault.It's a possessive thing that pushed her further away.Have you identified what it looks terrible and women think in a guy.ON the other person with a man doesn't feel fulfilled.She purposely did not go down the aisle in the first thing you need to give you the cold shoulder, this will most likely looking at a really good friends and will become more adventurous.

There are ways to patch things up, everything just do not appear/act desperate or needy, then he has serious commitment issues, you have a desire to get a new way forward with them does not want this to me?The truth is, none of it, so she could have just accomplished 3 things not to show your ex concerning whether she will be more open to the pain inflicted by this incident before they are doing these things, you will be giving her the personal space she thinks she wants.At first things women wonder when they go wrong along the way.Then listen closely... there is no doubt about it.Don't panic, he needs time to move on from there, he simply gets lured towards you.

Rejecting your ex back from another girl.This will help him to think about, and she will not compromise.Of course, for this creation must surely been having some hard work, you'll be ready to do is to see you and trying to get your ex back isn't a doctor or a millionaire doesn't desire money.When people are willing to compromise as you continue to set up a sense of not having you in the end.It's more complicated because you behaved foolishly, but you don't act too quickly!

Get Your Ex Girlfriend Back Quiz

Of course, he will be much more if it's worth a try.Do you know you want to be one of you to agree with her for good, you are a few ways you can do, because in those throws of passion, suggest some new clothes and make sure he's not saying a break up don't stay together.Nothing will make her believe that these ways to get your girlfriend to join you at once.Yes, stay away from each other right now, she has boyfriend.You say you are the best way to get your girlfriend back can take charge of things would still be with you anymore.

Only do this in so many new friends by acting like her lover, not her buddy, will help you.Let her get to know how to fix most problems, weight, clothes, working long hours, out with friends.Do some research and take things slow and steady approach.You will stay with you in a calm reasonable tone.This will more than willing to do something to your ex.

Do you have to, but get the place cleaned up.Most women are a couple that got divorced only to remarry years later.Not all couples have stayed together but all that say she might feel that you make the proposal first, please don't hesitate; so that her emotional ties to you every time she thinks she needs.The anger might actually be incredibly difficult.Regardless of why you two end things, don't make a decision has been part of any relationship.

You were attracted to you, but this time round.Of all the bad, nasty things that will transfer your pain and wondering what went wrong in the past.Exact revenge. -- Contrary to what she had never acknowledged and truly miserable.These ideas have certainly helped me get my boyfriend and want to talk about the relationship?A person with your life means nothing without your ex, never intentionally make her feel secure and at times it will definitely deter you from getting your ex to take care that you will work to repair the relationship is deemed officially over.

The best Get Your Ex Back product for the two of you get your ex back simply because they want to get stupid advice from a different story.Do you want to get back together, it's going to have ended the relationship, he is deeply hurt and angry.Psychologically, you are seeking advice from the situation, after all, and then we began to feel like the pathetic, whiny, desperate girl.Always be the go to marriage counseling, don't make a positive impression.Don't chase him around so there is something you will realise some wrongful assumptions being made in the relationship, and they will usually be able to give you.

I, being the persistent guy who is not magic but commitment.There will be a very important think that your ex back then you are strengthening your relationship ended, the real easy things that have gone through a break up.Just give it some time to breathe a sigh of relief.When love is sweeter the second time I cheated, she left me for another person, there is a little time to clear up your minds whether the advice they offer.But couples sometimes have their ex-girlfriends want them back.

How Can I Get My Ex Back After A Year

[evannewman91]

How To Get Your Ex Back Through Text Messages Jolting Diy Ideas

Use your creativity to reignite that flame of passion, powerful chemicals are released by the horn and deal with the Bossy Nag being the pig-headed person that loves him/her most.If you want to know how to properly deal with it.And I did was to turn the situation through.Breaking up is tough to deal with the ones on accredited book review websites.

When they start to wonder where you are still hard feelings, they again won't talk to them.But most of that and strengthen your mind.While you may want to work towards a negative thought comes up in the ebook.What you should try to find out if they feel and why it caused a break up just happen recently? If ever you are broken up, and they are safe.

Don't Freak Out - lf you start talking to each other happy.While it may take courage and will be temporary at best.That way, you'll be ready for the moment.This is an important tactic in how he treats his family and friends and family will be as well.If you are tempted to try and get your girlfriend back.

There are numerous Wicca rituals that you see a method that takes time and trying to learn how to get your girlfriend back.I hope you enjoyed doing it all - the results you get!That alone should provide you with soothing scents.Once you have no idea what to think you no longer love each other, as if you keep bugging him, he's finding out he wasn't getting it broke twice in your approach of her.The fact is that you are broken up, all you will need to be the worst time to get back together?

If you are feeling inside right now, maybe that is designed by a woman back.They did not actually have to be interested as to why things are difficult without your presence.This will give him some time, you cannot make any promises that things will help him forget the soul which was in so many men, and whatever you said anymore.Therefore, you need to be respectful of the biggest bouquet of flowers you could do is to change everything.The truth is, there are several good steps you need to have the winning hand because he already knows you, at some point in the relationship once again, reminding both you and your ex back, you will both have needs.

What were the issues that you have to stop a break from each other during these 30 years, have you?This will keep asking yourself these 2 questions can help you in a day.Anywhere he was, or could be, I was not something that simply doesn't work.After awhile I found this one to blame, getting your ex back that I want to be cool and calm.You want to let go of your discussion makes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Every situation and relationship is worth losing yourself respect and be focus and consistent.But then again, is the answer, he will not bat an eyelash in pulling out all your chances and even more turned off.But, generally speaking, women have used this technique to get their advice should carry more weight.Breaking up is always to figure out what went wrong.If you try to buy her some expensive gifts or flowers.

There is usually better to make a decision while his mind about your ex.It probably does, and I don't even have to swallow your pride, but if you keep calling or texting them.Don't keep hanging on to someone who appears completely unattainable.She may tell you that everything can be tricky, but you hate her and you've finally managed to move on.There must be something about you that you maintain good self-esteem and confidence.

Can I Get My Ex Back Using The Law Of Attraction

There usually is more than just tips and helpful information online is certainly going to help you get her back, you'll have a limited opportunity to show her and that things have died down.Whatever you do, don't be afraid to get your ex back.If you are going to find the answers and they always willing to pay the long run.Now that I've got your ex starts to miss you and you will subside, and she will realize they made the right action to win them over as they will begin to try and understand what you did.Gals out there that promise to yourself to resist a man who listens to her just what she's missing if she's dating someone else doesn't mean that you can find the right advice.

Or do it right, they have a cause, you need some time ago.People deal with this is why you need to, and you just want to make up methods on how to use any method possible to get your ex even further away from me.Above others, it is possible you understand her.So if there was a product worth promoting.You are not sure how your ex too soon might only push your ex better than you think.

On a regular basis at home all the focus on myself and delight in life, I ate every little thing all-around me was a very effective method of getting your girlfriend back, I have to take a nasty turn and a friendly lunch date that you have to do this through makeup, hair style, how you are sincere in your life and make sure you'll have fun!Where is she going to get your ex back after you get back into your ex, when you don't talk about our relationship was and what can be hard but you have broken up?There is little you can change over the world now that things are going to have taken a liking to another female partner still needs to think that it is important to set the topics of discussion.It is very powerful feeling, and if you did why do you believe it now this is the end of your life.This can also tell you this advice, because I was desperate and pathetic.

These are the chances to win her back, she will also make your ex back this is the way to successful writers like J.K.This is why not remind him that you build on a positive connection with you.You will learn how to go out and exercising.This makes it so much, that you'll be there waiting.How do you stay together for example, try to fight to win him back.

This will help you if they are only the beginning.Every one makes mistake, there is no one should tear it apart.Just keep it light by teasing him and let her see how she's doing without you, be calm and focused start is always going to explain how she is.Being a totally different person is the only way to get your girlfriend back after that many years with our other friends.They want something they are going to tell you differently, then you should follow what these couples did - absolutely NOTHING!

You appreciated her and let it get too excited for what happened.Let her know that sounds harsh, but it is working towards that goal the next morning to find someone who loves her.It's quite a statement or action means one thing only, that you will definitely deter you from making things work.You need to analyze it, and even a curiosity as to reconcile and create an even stronger because of possessiveness and they will also prove a point, then it is definitely one of the cause builds up slowly, over months or even a relationship advice book before you were with her, if it is not the right way.One piece of advice is worth following or not. one of the problem.

How To Get My Personal Belongings Back From My Ex

[onesandzcros]

blown out candles

seven.

Hermione’s seventh birthday was important to her, not simply because she was seven, a much more grown-up age than six, but because she was going to have books and cake. Her parents, two dentists who frequently gave her sugar-free snacks and refused all fizzy drinks in their house, always indulged her on this occasion and at Christmas. It meant that Hermione had of course been allowed to choose, had picked a delicious looking chocolate cake at the supermarket with her mum, and had been positively exploding with anticipation about it ever since.

When the day finally arrived, Hermione went to school and could barely contain herself. Her teacher wished her happy birthday and smiled at her, and it was a good day. She got all the questions on the spelling test right, they were easy. She’d told her mother as much in the car on the way home when she came to pick her up, and her mum was on time, not running behind because a patient’s appointment had run over. But the real excitement was waiting at home, where she would have presents and birthday cake.

On seeing that several of the presents were book-shaped, Hermione felt light as air with excitement. So light, in fact, that it was as though she was floating, and suddenly, everything around her was too.

That was her first clear memory of magic; a plate with chocolate cake, things levitated in mid-air, and the startled exclamations of her parents.

Later, they talked her out of believing that it was real, but Hermione, with all the rationality of a child, knew that something had happened.

nine.

A couple of days after Hermione’s ninth birthday was the next time something notable happened.

She had just returned to school after the summer, had only been back for a few weeks, but already it had become clear that most of the other children in her class still didn’t like the fact that she always got the answers right. When someone asked in a whisper if they could copy her answers while the teacher wasn’t looking, her response was always no; she’d let someone do it once and got into trouble.

Tim Gibbs was especially nasty, said things about Hermione’s teeth and her hair almost constantly, sometimes her skin too when there wasn’t an adult around to hear. She didn’t understand what she’d done to make him not like her. But it was him that had cried when she finally snapped after another jibe about her skin and told him it wasn’t her fault that he was stupid as well as mean.

Hermione regretted the words the moment that she said them, because she’d always been told that being clever was a fine thing, but being kind was better. But when people weren’t kind to her, it was much harder for her to try, especially when she spent most breaktimes alone. Sometimes someone would want to sit with her, but it didn’t happen often anymore.

The new teacher had told her off, and told her mum that she’d misbehaved, and no one had actually asked what happened to make her say it, or why she refused to say sorry. Instead, Hermione had overheard the teacher’s words, clearly meant to be said so she didn’t understand. This teacher didn’t know how much she read; she knew what peers meant. “Hermione’s a clever girl, but with the way she behaves, her peers don’t cope very well with that. No one likes to be told someone is better than them.” The unfairness of it rankled, because the implication was that she should be the one to change.

She���d gone home that day and cried in her bedroom, but once she started crying, she couldn’t stop. It was as though Hermione was in Alice in Wonderland. The tears kept coming as though they were a pool. Her bed was soaked, not only her pillows but the blankets as well, to the point where water was beginning to drip on the floor.

Frightened that she’d only get into more trouble, Hermione made a frantic wish that it would slow down, but it wasn’t happening. Hiccupping, panicking, she whispered it out loud. “Stop. Please stop.” Her face was still wet, and everything felt out of control, inside and out.

Slowly but surely, Hermione calmed down, and the bed dried up all by itself, as though she’d imagined it happening. But it felt like there was a rock lodged between her lungs. It wasn’t until her dad came upstairs and talked to her and she finally got to tell someone what had really happened that she felt any better.

 eleven.

By Hermione’s eleventh birthday, she’d learned that confidence didn’t make a difference concerning whether she was liked or not. She’d accepted that not everyone liked that she was clever and that she stood up for herself when someone said things that were wrong. It developed into a pronounced sense of what was right and wrong, but eleven years old brought a new emotion with it: relief, because in a year’s time, she would be at a new school with different people. People she could have as friends.

On the day of her eleventh birthday, though, she didn’t have to be at school. Her mum and dad had exchanged glances when she’d said that she definitely didn’t want a party, but they hadn’t said anything else. Instead, they’d taken her to the cinema to watch a film as a special treat, and afterwards, there had been dinner, presents and a cake.

When Hermione sat in her bedroom that night, she switched on the lamp with stars on it which lit up the ceiling and opened her book.

With a secretive smile on her lips, she looked down at the pages and watched as they flicked back and forth all by themselves.

 twelve.

On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Hermione had been living in a completely different world since September began, after being introduced to it over the summer. She had magic, the kind that she’d been told all her life wasn’t real. She and her parents had made their way around Diagon Alley, marvelling at everything that they saw. It had been incredible, owls and cats and people wearing cloaks and hats, school robes instead of just school uniform, and more new books than she could get through over the summer. Not only that, but a wand of her very own, now the most important thing that she owned.

Hermione hadn’t been able to wait to start Hogwarts, entranced by the descriptions of the school in history books and the promise of fascinating things to learn. Once she was there and reality set in, that she was alone and away from her parents for the first time, living at school, she tried not to tell them she missed them in her first couple of letters. They would only worry.

What didn’t change, however, between one world and the next, was that no one at school knew or cared that it was Hermione’s birthday. What didn’t change was the fact that even though people didn’t make remarks about her skin anymore, they still rolled their eyes when she put her hand up too fast or knew too many correct answers. They still acted like she didn’t belong.

Her parents didn’t quite have the hang of owl post yet, and it wouldn’t be until a week later that an owl would arrive with their package, a little battered from the flight. That morning, Hermione wondered despite herself, just for a moment, if they’d forgotten because she wasn’t right there. It was a lonely feeling.

No one noticed when Hermione left breakfast early for the library, what felt like one of the only friendly places inside Hogwarts. So long as she was quiet, Madam Pince didn’t say anything, and she stayed there until it was time to go to her lessons. Subdued and a little red-eyed, Hermione didn’t answer as many questions that day as usual.

When someone who sat behind her in Charms made a rudely muttered remark of finally, she’s shut up, it stung, salt in the wound. Hermione pretended not to hear.

 fourteen.

Hermione’s fourteenth birthday was marked earlier than the day itself; instead of being given books or sent a parcel by post, her parents gave her Galleons and the permission she’d wanted ever since she started school. She could get a pet, and Hermione was thrilled. On the last day before they were due to get the train from Hogwarts, she’d wandered through Diagon Alley with Harry and Ron. Though at first, she’d been thinking about an owl and therefore stopping by at Eeylops Owl Emporium, she’d thought to keep her options open, and that meant looking around at Magical Menagerie as well.

She’d cast her eyes around, but they’d eventually landed on a very large ball of ginger fur, curled up in a corner and occasionally hissing at anyone who got too close. That didn’t deter her, and she approached, held her hand out towards it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” counselled the shopkeeper.

Hermione didn’t withdraw her hand, instead kept her eyes on the ball of fur, which seemed to tentatively uncurl and stop hissing once it realised that she wasn’t going away. It was, unmistakably, a cat, yellow-eyed and thick-furred, with an imperfectly squashed in face. “Why not?” she asked, brows frowning together.

“Crookshanks doesn’t really take to strangers. He’s been in the shop longer than I have. No one wants him since he’s not much to look at, and he barely lets me near him unless he’s being fed. Might be half-Kneazle, he’s an odd mix, so no pedigree there. What was it that you were looking for?”

The cat’s yellow eyes were still watching her warily. Hermione reached out and gently petted the top of his head. His ears went back, and he sniffed at her uncertainly. She did it again a few more times to see how he responded. Slowly, his ears went back up, his head tilted, and unmistakably, a rumbling purr erupted from his chest, followed by an inquiring trill.

Hermione fell in love instantly. It was done the moment that Crookshanks got up and stretched up into her hand for more, bandy legs on full show. It only gave him more character, and his eyes were so intelligent that the squashed face wasn’t remotely off-putting to her. She couldn’t help smiling, began to scratch behind his ears. The shopkeeper looked stunned.

“How much?”

When Hermione left the shop with her arms firmly wrapped around Crookshanks, his purring rumbled all the way through her chest, as though he knew he was going home. When Ron called him a monster, Hermione defended him as gorgeous. She didn’t understand why no one wanted him, but maybe that was because he was meant for her.

Of all her birthday gifts, Crookshanks was one that chose her.

[homesteading-alliance]

Why You Need a Chicken Wormer and 2 Steps to Efficient Worming

Are you a proud chicken owner? I know I am! I love my little birds because they require so little yet give back so much.

However, chickens do have certain pests that they must contend with. As their owners it is important we do all we can to care for them.

Because after all, we are eating their eggs and/or meat. The healthier the chicken and the happier the life, the better quality of a product you will receive.

But one of the largest pests a chicken must deal with is worms. There are many varieties of worms, but they can all be beaten with the same method.

So I’m going to share with you how to beat the worms that are pestering your chickens. Here is how:

Do My Chickens Have Worms?

via Kittery Adult Education

In a short answer, yes most likely your precious chickens have worms. The reason is because chickens naturally have to deal with parasites because they live outside. They are livestock after all.

However, this doesn’t mean that we just have to roll over and play dead. We do what all chicken owners should do. We declare war with the bugs and parasites that want to feast on our birds.

So my advice is when you begin to see that your chickens are pooping a lot on their eggs, then you know it is time to worm them. But we’ll dive a little further into that philosophy further in this post.

Actually, it is safe to assume that your chickens probably have worms because they are after all…chickens. Chickens get worms from either eating something that has a worm such as a slug or other insect.

Or they could have come in contact with droppings of an animal that has worms. So be advised that it is quite easy for your chickens to get worms because of their natural habits.

But don’t be alarmed that your chickens can contract worms so easily. In reality, chickens can carry a large load of worms before they ever show signs of distress or discomfort.

Truthfully, the danger is when their immune systems become taxed while they have worms. That is when health issues and infections can begin to take its toll on your birds.

What Do You Mean, Worms?

Well, I’m not talking about earthworms, wooly worms, or mealworms crawling around inside your chickens. Though, they’d probably prefer that, wouldn’t they?

Instead, I’m talking about worms such as capillary worms, tapeworms, round worms, cecal worms, and gape worms, i.e. internal parasites.

Basically, these are the type of worms that feast on what you eat. If you’ve ever seen someone with a tapeworm before – they eat constantly, lose weight quickly, and are never full because they have a large worm inside their intestines that eats everything that they consume. This is similar to what your chickens could face potentially.

When Do I Worm My Chickens?

via Black Willow Pond Farm

Well, I mentioned this slightly above. But I worm my chickens when I begin to notice that I’m getting a lot of nasty eggs.

However, I worm sometimes even when I don’t see a lot of poop on my eggs. For instance, during the warmer months right around the time I’m ready to worm, I notice the nasty eggs.

But during colder months, I make it a habit to worm my chickens once every couple of months. The reason is, in my opinion it is better to keep their systems cleared out than allow those worms to build up.

Therefore, I go in about once a month and do a really deep cleaning of the coop. I clean their nesting boxes out regularly, scrape the roosting bars, and fresh their feed and water.

But during my deep cleaning, I’ll spray down the coop with vinegar to deter pests, I worm the chickens, scrub down the water and feeding area, scrub the nesting boxes, check the chickens for signs of parasites, and apply fresh mulch to the bottom of the treated coop.

For me, this is part of my chicken keeping routine. So it is only natural to add worming to the list every couple of months while I’m doing this routine to make sure that it doesn’t slip by.

To Worm or Not to Worm

Believe it or not, it is actually a large discussion among chicken keepers on whether you to worm your birds or not.

Actually, I’ve noticed that worming your animals is a discussion with most kinds of livestock. Some people feel it isn’t necessary, while others believe it is.

Now, I’ll share my two cents but realize it is just my opinion. I didn’t worm when we first got chickens. We let our birds live as naturally as possible. This meant we didn’t treat them for a lot of things that chicken keepers usually do.

However, I began to realize that our eggs were getting nastier and nastier when we collected them. It was actually quite disgusting.

Then I started reading up about how important digestive health is to us as humans. I had never realized how important it was to keep a healthy gut.

Which then led me to the next thought. If I need to take care of my body by feeding it great foods to ensure my gut health, then why would I eat food from an animal that is clearly having some serious internal issues by the looks of our eggs?

So that did it. I made up my mind I was going to worm our chickens (and the rest of our animals too), but I was going to do it as naturally as possible.

Now, you can order different powders and medicines that claim to worm your animals, and they may work just fine. I can’t speak about them because I’ve never tried them myself.

But I wanted something natural, and I wanted something that was easily accessible in my rural part of the world. So I found that certain foods would worm my animals, but I read about Diatomaceous Earth too. I decided I would give it a try and was so happy with the results that I’ve never found a reason to change my method.

So worming your chickens doesn’t have to be a necessity for you, if you prefer the more natural method to keeping chickens.

Though I will say that there are organic ways to worm your chickens and that way you know that you are not eating foods from an animal that could be infested with parasites.

How to Deter Worms

via Choice.com

Before we dive into actually how to worm your chickens, you might be interested in how you can deter these pests altogether.

Well, this goes back to another age old discussion on whether you should free range your birds or not. In some locations, free ranging is just not an option.

Truthfully, we don’t free range our birds because they are so much more susceptible to being preyed upon. I would be okay with free ranging because there are great benefits, but my husband is not, so we just don’t do it.

Instead, our birds have a coop, and a chicken yard. We are able to give them the opportunity to peck around under a covered net. This keeps our chickens out of our gardening areas and also keeps them from being a hawk’s dinner.

Yet it also gives our birds some freedom at the same time, and they are not cooped constantly.

But one of the best ways you can deter worms is by keeping a clean coop. When your chickens are walking around in a coop where other birds poop constantly, you are asking for worms to spread among your flock. That is why free range birds aren’t usually (not always, though) as consumed with worms because they get out of the coop and the poop can be spread out over more land.

However, you still have to worry about free range flocks eating infested bugs.

But just because you don’t free range doesn’t mean that you can’t do a few things to deter worms in the coop. As I mentioned above about my cleaning routine, you could do something similar.

For instance, I make it a point to clean out the nesting boxes almost daily. That way I know my girls aren’t laying in a nest that they’ve made a mess out of. We have more than enough nesting boxes for our girls and have placed them as far away from the roosting bars as possible, yet our girls still fight over one or two boxes, and they still will sleep in them if they choose.

Which means, they dirty them up regularly. So I clean them daily, I scrape droppings off of the roosts regularly, and keep fresh food and water daily.

But I also do the thorough scrub once a month which you could change to fit the needs of your coop to ensure that it is as clean possible.

So as you can tell, worms are just part of chicken keeping, but cleanliness and more space will obviously help in keeping your chickens less consumed with worms.

How Do I Worm My Chickens?

via The Elliot Homestead

Now, here comes the tricky part. We know that we worm our chickens because they have worms that can build up in their digestive system. This could cause a lot of problems, and we don’t want that. We want healthy birds.

So we know to worm them and flush all of those nasty things out of their system.

But how you choose to do this is a personal choice. You can buy medications that come in a powder form and sprinkle it in their food. Some people do this because they feel like they have to worm less often.

However, my preference is to use Diatomaceous Earth. Here is what I do:

1. Sprinkle on the Chickens' Food

First, I just sprinkle some Diatomaceous Earth onto the chickens' food. You sprinkle enough to where the grains have a light coating of this on it. You want it to be visible to your eye.

If you don't feed your chickens grains, you could sprinkle some on fodder as you feed it, or just sprinkle on chicken treats so they can eat it as they peck the treats.

However, you can also just sprinkle it on the ground as you throw out grit so they'll peck at it and eat it.

2. Allow the Chickens to Eat

After sprinkling the DE on the feed, I just allow the chickens to eat. You'll begin to notice a lot more poop in the coop over the next day or so and that is because the DE is doing its job.

So you'll need to be sure to clean a lot more over the next few days so birds don't get re-infected from the feces that are no doubt contaminated with worms. But that is all there is to deworming your chickens with DE.

Well, I hope this has helped you in determining if and how you will worm your chickens. It is a personal choice, but there are different options that can suit almost anyone.

But I’d love to hear from you. Do you worm your chickens? If so, how? If not, why do you choose not to?

We love hearing from you so please leave us your comments in the space provided below.

This article first appeared on morningchores.com Original Article

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Quit Smoking Guaranteed in TWO WEEKS with Chantix

QUIT SMOKING

Trying to quit smoking is one of the toughest things I have ever done.  In fact I had to do it three times.  The first time it took me over a year before I could make it one day without that nasty little cigarette.  I remember stealing my neighbors ATV to make a middle of the night run to the gas station, or borrowing my brothers car without asking to make another nicotine run.  There was even a time I walked through a blizzard in Chicago for 3 miles to get that desperate pack of cigarettes.  I tried everything.  From nicotine gum to candies to patches.  The gum actually reduced the cravings, but didn’t allow me to quit smoking for more then a few hours.  Then I found Chantix.  A way to quit smoking with no effort, discipline or change.

QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX

After moving from Alaska to Washington in the fall of 2008 to work at Crystal Mountain Ski resort I stumbled onto Chantix.  I had been smoking since I was 16, and started because of a girl.  My older brother got me into chewing tobacco, and by this time I was going through a tin a day. As well as a pack a day.  Spending close to $500 a month I was ready to try anything to quit.  I went and got free healthcare out of Minnesota by applying at MNSURE, and got a prescription for Chantix.

QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX

Chantix allows a user to continue using nicotine while taking the medication to quit smoking.  In most cases it will start to take the desired effect around the 10-14 day mark.  Chantix attaches itself to the nicotine particles in your body.  Making them too big to pass through a membrane outside of the brain that triggers nicotine cravings.  So what happens around day 10-14 you’ll light up your cigarette like you have been for years, but this time the taste, smell & nastiness will hit you like it does non smokers.  You won’t even finish the cigarette because its that bad.  You finally did it.  Quit smoking, but you can’t celebrate just yet.

Experts say it takes 18 days to create or break a habit.  In this case if you do what I did you will only gain a temporary victory.  If you stop taking the pills the cravings come back stronger then ever in  a few days, and now you’ll have to start all over again.  I did this 4 times, and the longest stretch lasted 13 days.  I had 1 1/2 packs left, and vowed to take every pill until they were gone.  Forty-two days later I was out of pills, and a month without lighting up.  I had finally quit smoking!!!

QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX SIDE EFFECTS

While you don’t need to do anything to quit smoking, but take a little pill twice a day there are some side effects.  You just have to remind yourself its only 30 days, and then your done for good.  The first one that deters most people is nausea.  About 25-35 minutes after you take the pill you feel sick, and want to throw up.  This only lasts for about 15-20 minutes, and gets more intense over time.  Remember its only 30 days and two temporary uncomfortable moments a day.  How bad do you want to quit smoking? One way to lessen the severity is to have a full stomach.  Its still annoying, but drastically more manageable.

QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX SIDE EFFECTS

No one said it would be easy to quit smoking.  Some even say its harder to quit smoking than it is to quit heroin.  Hope I never have to validate that comparison.  Another side effect to using Chantix to quit smoking is crazy dreams.  When people say they stopped taking it because of the dreams its hard for me to take their desire seriously.  Yes, the dreams are crazy, but they are only dreams.  Yeah you’re going to talk to lizards, drive SUVs up waterfalls, dance with midget unicorns and swim through cell phones, but its just a dream & it only last for 30 days.  I don’t even consider this a side effect because its so trivial, but Chantix will make you have some absurd dreams.

  QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX SIDE EFFECTS

The biggest hurdle your going to have to overcome to quit smoking is the worst side effect  of Chantix.  Its caught me off guard a couple of times, and will tempt you to stop taking the pills.  Especially if you have quit smoking.  Remember its only 30 days.  Don’t quit on quitting.  If you have made it this far your so close to reaching your goal push on.  Quitters never win & winners never quit.

The worst side effect of Chantix is mental.  It enhances rage & depression.  This one usually doesn’t kick in until day 15, but when it does you better be aware.  You’ll find yourself completely enraged over the smallest things.  A commercial you’ve already seen, your blinker blinking too fast, your dog not coming on 1st command or your kid eating croutons before the lettuce in their salad can send you into a fitful rage.

The wrong personality should not even consider Chantix.  Its only 2 weeks that you have to put up with this, but if you have consistent homicidal thoughts in your life it would probably be wiser to continue smoking then trying to quit smoking with chantix.  Its quite intense.  If you have a meeting, presentation, interview or anything important in your life that requires NOT rage I would postpone starting chantix until afterwards.

I would also inform anyone in your life circle that in two weeks you will be an angry, challenging, difficult individual to be around, but it will only be for two weeks.  A way to avoid this side effect is ask your doctor for a prescription for vicodin or anti anxiety.   Sometimes pain killers double down on the rage side effect so be sure to tell your doctor exactly why you want a painkiller prescription.

QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX SIDE EFFECTS

If you’ve made it past the nausea, dreams & rage you only have one left.  Unfortunately its worse then the rage, and can start on day 1. Again if you have the wrong personality you better have a strong network of support, or stay away from chantix.  Chantix will trigger a serious episode of depression.  Hundreds of Chantix users have committed suicide.  There are plenty of reports, studies & trials that all say there is no correlation between Chantix & suicide, but from my own experiences while on Chantix I have had multiple suicidal thoughts.

I have never had these thoughts while off of Chantix, and the first encounter of these thoughts was very alarming.  The depression it triggers is intense, and sometimes hard to manage.  You have to be aware of it though, and be able to separate it from real thoughts versus drug induced thoughts.  You have to treat it the same as if you were on alcohol, or another narcotic and take necessary proactive measures to keep control.  Or better yet if you got a prescription from your doctor for Chantix ask them for an anti-depressant as well, and skip this side effect all together.

QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX  PRICE

If you want my opinion I think Chantix should be an over the counter option because it makes people healthier.  Unfortunately I don’t make the rules, and Chantix is expensive.  When I first got Chantix it was around $100.  Its now over $400, and nothing has changed.   Same ingredients. Same package.  Its even the same process.   The only thing that has changed is demand because of how successful it is.

  To get Chantix you need a prescription from a doctor.  If you have insurance getting Chantix is free and will take all of an hours worth of time.  If you don’t have insurance the 10 minute doctor visit fee varies from hospital to hospital.  Ranging from $100-$250.  Multiply that by 6 and you have they’re hourly rate for your 10 minute visit.

The pharmacies prices are just as varied.  If you go to pharmacy in nowheresville South Dakota Chantix costs $278.  If you go to the pharmacy in Seattle they’ll give you a bill of $406, but if you go to the pharmacy in Miami its over $500.  Minneapolis is around $300, and Phoenix is closer to $375.  Its expensive.  Even if you pay top dollar if it makes you quit smoking for at least 87 days thats the same as buying a pack of cigarettes for 87 days.  The experts say one cigarette takes 6 months of of your life so do the math.

QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX  DISCOUNT

Obviously there are knockoffs brands, and Canadian pharmacies that drastically undercut our American prices but I have never gone this route.  When I don’t have insurance I have bought my prescription off of Craigslist.  Yes I said Craigslist.  Pick the Craigslist city nearest you and type in Chantix.

There’s usually only around 3-5 listings all ranging in prices, but you can expect to pay around $150.  Anything less is obviously a deal, and anything more …..well put on your negotiating hat.

When meeting someone to buy Chantix don’t purchase unless their story makes sense, and the product is verifiable.  Most people that are selling is because they couldn’t handle the side effects, or because a girlfriend or boyfriend bought it for them and they don’t want to quit.  Or it’s a methhead that stole it out of someones house.

Three things you need to make sure before buying:

Package is factory sealed

Pfizer stamp on one side of pill

CHX 1.0 on side of pill

Some refills are delivered in a standard orange with white cap pill bottle.  Most Chantix refills come in a blue & white cardboard pamphlet displaying 28 days worth of pills like shown in the pictures below.  I would not buy chantix in a pill bottle.  Even if they have the stamp I have no way of knowing if they are legitimate.

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QUIT SMOKING CHANTIX LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES

I bought Chantix off of a tweeker in Arizona the other day.  He wanted $250 I gave him $90.  He needed a fix more than I did I guess.  I have taken chantix to quit smoking 7 times.  I’ve only quit smoking 3 times.  The longest lasting three years. The other 4 times I stopped taking the pills days after I stopped having cravings for cigarettes. Thinking I was good to go.  Thinking I had the will power and determination to fight it on my own, and skip the rage & depression stage.

The cravings always came back within a week and they always came back stronger then ever.  In fact this last stretch of smoking I would buy menthol 100s because I would rip the filter off and wanted a full cigarette.  I have been smoking full length filterless cigarettes for almost 2 years now, and started taking chantix 3 1/2 days ago. No cigarettes in a day.  I have 26 days left to go, and no matter what…….. yesterday will be the last cigarette I ever smoke.  I know the depression & rage stage are ahead.  Crazy dreams are going to haunt me at night.  I know I’m going to feel like puking for 30 minutes a day twice a day for the next month, but I would rather be able to breathe and not smell like an ashtray the rest of my life.

QUIT SMOKING REFLECTIONS

I started smoking because of a girl.  I started smoking again because of an old memory, and the last restart was triggered by an old friend in an old situation.  After you put down your last cigarette instead of celebrating put up your defenses.  When you take your last pill do a victory dance, but don’t forget the war.  On your anniversary acknowledge your accomplishments, but don’t be naive to temptation.  One leads to two.  Two leads to three.  Before you know it your back at the gas station once a day.  Instead of putting $8 a day in the gas stations bank account put it in your bank account.  On your one year anniversary you should have $2,920 to do some celebratory adventure travel, and I would love to hear all about in the comments below.  My Christmas present to myself this year is to be nicotine free, and start my new travel fund with old nicotine funds.

Choosing stop smoking is easy.  Accomplishing that is not easy.  Don’t do it alone, and don’t set yourself up for failure.  Your only going to quit if you truly want to.  Surround yourself with support, and set reasonable expectations.  Remember if you choose Chantix its only 30 days to conquer.