#i guess toast will have to do for now but it's not gonna be nearly as good as what im actually craving lol

[thoustve]

god i am craving some fresh baked bread with some butter on it right now

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.130 Whoop that trick

At dawn, Sophia got up to pee, so I pulled myself out of bed to make breakfast because I knew she'd be hungry and head for the kitchen next. I felt like trying my French toast recipe again, as I hadn't perfected it yet. Cooking for Sophia had proven to be even more frustrating than cooking for Dad, because nearly everything contained dairy in some form. Scouring the internet every day for something new to try had gotten really old, so I started buying plant-based milk for my sanity. I think she appreciated it too because sometimes the temptation to eat dairy was so strong she gave in, damning the discomfort of bubble guts. How anyone could live life without cheese, I didn't know.

"Mmmmm, that smells so good," Sophia cooed.

"Thanks. I think I got it right this time."

The plant-based milk worked well for most things, but I needed to make adjustments to my custard. In my initial trials, either the bread came out too soggy, or it developed an eggy crust while it cooked. Everything looked perfect this time, so I hoped to remember what I did for next time.

"Okay, so hear me out," she started.

I had no idea what she was about to suggest, but I knew it would involve her not resting at home.

"It's Night Out on the Town tonight! We should go."

"Is that a good idea? You're due literally at any moment now."

"Okay, yeah, but this might be our last night as a child-free couple! We should spend some time together before we have to start scheduling it."

I wanted to come up with an irrefutable rebuttal, but I had none. Her logic was sound, as always. She'd been cooped up inside a lot lately, anyway. It wouldn't hurt to leave the house for a little while. It's not like we were going jogging around the lake or anything.

"Okay. But we're going to stay in town. There's a nice restaurant in Anchorpoint Wharf I've been wanting to take you to."

She clapped and did a little happy jig in her chair. I loved that woman.

Kooper and Rosie were getting old. Their coats turned gray, they slept a lot, and they walked a little slower. None of that seemed to stop them from running around the house like a pair of puppies, though. Rosie still demanded that Kooper play with her and dashed around the house and yard like she was training for a marathon. I loved that their age didn't stop them from having a good time. I was playing with Kooper when I realized something that stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Oh my Watcher," I shouted.

Sophia was behind me, asking what was the matter. I didn't mean to startle her, but it just occurred to me that Alessia might have her babies today!

"We need to get to Mama's house!"

She started to ask why, but I had already dialed Dad's number to see if he would come. Once she overheard my end of the conversation, she went upstairs immediately and got dressed. Dad said he was already on his way and would meet us there.

When we arrived, Mama wasted no time checking up on Sophia and loving on her youngest grandchild. She hammered her with a bunch of questions, like if she was getting enough rest and if she had experienced early contractions. All moms were lay doctors, I guess. Just as I had begun to think it was nice to have the whole family together again, loud forbidden words and angry screams rang out from upstairs, followed by rapid stomps heading in our direction.

"I'M GOING TO MURDER HIM," Alessia yelled.

"I'M GOING TO FIND HIM AND PUNCH IN HIS PRETTY FACE!! AND THEN I'M GOING TO CUT OFF HIS-"

"Whoa, Less," I said. "What in the world happened?"

Her face was as red as a strawberry, and her eyebrows scowled, just like an angry cartoon character. The lasers shooting from her eyes made me want to stay out of her way, but I needed to know what and who upset her so.

"JACE happened!! He's a PUNK!! Ol' llama-faced liar!!! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

"What did he do, Less?"

"He went back to his ex! IN MT. KOMOREBI!! And he married her!! He f#@$ing MARRIED her!!! HE SAID HE LOVED ME!! Ever since we found out it was triplets he's been weird!! HE IS DEAD TO ME!!!"

Mama had previously gone to the kitchen, no doubt to be near Dad when she noticed him taking out the trash, leaving only me to diffuse the situation. Alessia's anger was palpable, like an electric current coursing through the room. I had never seen her like that before, and it both scared and fueled me. I tried balling my fists and breathing extra slow and deep to keep myself from going off, but thoughts of confronting that piece of shit and laying hands on him stirred a fire inside me. There was no kind, gentle way to deal with this, and if I ever saw that cowplant turd in the street, it would be on sight! Nobody betrayed my sister and got away with it. I should have known something was up when he bailed at the baby shower. I saw him when we arrived, but after that, he was nowhere to be found. How could he weasel his way into my sister's fortified heart, knock her up, and leave her with THREE babies??? Did he really think running away to the mountain would absolve him of fatherhood? Like, did he not know child support was a thing? And he had THREE to support?? What an idiot! COWARD!! I hoped his wife had a real job because I knew Alessia would try to milk him dry. He'll be sorry he even met her! The sheer audacity of it all made my blood boil.

I was concerned about my niece and nephews and finally got Less to sit down. She didn't exactly calm down, because how could she? But she and I had a great time plotting and scheming against ol' Jace, planning what we'd do to him the next time we saw him. True, that wasn't healthy either, but it sure was fun. Revenge wasn't really Sophia's style, and she remained quiet. She also didn't have a sibling she would take up for at any moment, so she didn't understand why I acted like that and occasionally tried to talk sense into us.

But just like when she was a kid, Less found it hard to sit still and be calm, so she jumped up and paced the room, fuming like a teakettle. Even though he would eventually find out, I hoped Dad was still outside during Alessia's initial rant. Her situation was way too close to home, and I feared it might trigger him, especially being in Mama's house with all of us. But like I said, he would eventually find out. He and Mama came out from wherever they were, asking what all the yelling was about. I guess Mama had enough of Less' pregnant mood swings to come find out immediately. Less filled them in, and I saw a quiet rage growing within my dad. He looked just like how I felt. Maybe we could take another family trip to Mt. Komorebi and murder him together, heh.

I saw Mama eyeing me, as if to silently ask what we should do as the expert on all things mind, body, and soul. But I had no answers for her. My mind was set on destroying Jace, and my body was ready for it. I felt that in my soul, ha!

"I think we all need a dip in the pool," she said. "That should relax these tense mommies, right buddy?"

I sensed both sincerity and sarcasm in her tone, as she seemed disappointed that I provoked instead of diffusing the situation. Either way, she was right. Less definitely needed to calm down, but the rest of us did too, so we got changed and hopped into the pool.

[maxislvt]

Low Blows

Summary: After what happened between you and Carol, Wanda makes a plan to help you cheer up. Though she denies

Warnings: Smut, vaginal fingering, shitty relationships, sorry to the vision enjoyers

A/N: I'm very sorry to those who were interested in this series only to watch it flop and die in the span of a month! I do plan to release the next chapter either towards the end of March or early next month! Hopefully I won't be dog tired and then forget again

Series Masterlist

Wanda had always been bad at hiding things from people. Her parents had raised her to be as honest as she possibly could be. That meant if she did have to lie Pietro was always the one covering for her, but now Pietro was back home in New York City playing PaRappa The Rapper and trying to beatbox for his YouTube subscribers. Never would Wanda have thought that the absence of her brother would lead to her getting into almost cartoonish levels of trouble.

A heavy sigh fell from her lips as she sat down in the confession chair. The last time she was here they asked her how she felt about Carol after the situation with the shack of secrets. Now they were expecting her to explain her recent purchases and the huge box of beach toys. 

"I just want to get Y/N out of the house for a few hours…" The confidence in her plan dwindled as the crew raised their eyebrows in suspicion. "Okay fine, an hour…at least a few minutes! I just don't want them to sit there and rot away in their sadness. That's just not them." Wanda pulled out a bag of sand molds and grinned. "I found this set of molds at the store yesterday. They were overpriced, but they had this cute little zebra one so I couldn't pass it up!" 

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

The house had been pretty tense after what happened between you and Carol. Everyone avoided Carol like the plague and almost all attempts to get you out of the bed and back into the real world failed. Not even Monica and Mr. Strips could get out into the light. 

Wanda had originally discouraged any attempts to force you to talk about what happened in the Shack of Secrets. You needed space and the others had to learn to respect that. So Wanda decided to take up your chores and cook for everyone while you come to terms with everything. It wasn't easy, but your comfort was more important to her 

But when days turned into nearly a week, Wanda had no choice but to intervene. With a little help from Monica, she hatched a plan. First, she needed to make breakfast. blueberry jelly and marshmallow fluff toast with bananas for a face, a bowl of fruit, sausage, eggs, and pancakes. She made a little extra with the hope that you'd share, or at least make up for the lack of a full meal. 

Wanda knocked on your bedroom door. "Hey, buttercup. I know you're not feeling all that well but I made you breakfast." She leaned against the door. "We don't have to talk about…that, but I just wanna check in on you." A frustrated groan could be heard from the other side of the door. For a moment, she considered giving up and going back downstairs. "Okay. How about if I can guess what you're wearing, you have to let me in and eat breakfast." 

You frowned. That was such an odd bet to make, but it softened your heart a bit to see that she was trying. "Okay, but you're probably gonna get it wrong." You snuggled into the bed. Another sad nap waiting for you at the end of the conversation.

"Is it my off-white and purple NYU hoodie and the black Van Cortlandt shorts you swore were tacky and overpriced?" 

You let out a defeated groan and got up to open the door. "You're such a cheater," You grumbled before grabbing one of the plates one had balanced in her arm. "How'd you even get this up here without spilling?" With your free hand, you moved the comforter over so you could eat without getting crumbs and jelly on it.  

Since you were too busy crying and wallowing in regret, your room had become a mess. Dirty clothes and clean laundry just sat in piles with nothing to tell them apart, your incense holder had gone uncleaned and unused, and your bedside trash can was nearly overflowing with snack wrappers and tissues. 

"And you're a clothes thief," Wanda said affectionately before kissing your cheek. She sat the remaining plates down on the bed and then snuggled up beside you. "I just took a bunch of extra slow steps, I spent like three minutes getting upstairs. " She excitedly grabbed the toast off the plate and presented it to you. "Look, I made Mr. Strips! He's so cute. " 

You leaned forward and let Wanda feed you. It wasn't until you finished chewing the piece that you realized what had happened. Wanda didn't give you a chance to apologize. She forced you to take another bite before you could say anything. "Oh, is this blueberry jam? I love that stuff!" 

Wanda affectionately wiped the corners of your mouth before kissing your cheek. "I was gonna take all the credit for it, but Monica did help me figure out some of the stuff you liked." Wanda continued to feed you. She found more pride in it than she expected. The last few times Wanda had seen you, you just looked miserable. She hated it. Now, you were relaxed and happy again. Wanda would do anything to protect that happiness.  

Once you finished eating, Wanda stacked the plates on your nightstand. "Hey, I found a really nice spot on the beach the other day and I was wondering if you'd like to go." Her smile faded as your face began to shift into one of uncertainty. One of her hands reached out to hold one of yours. It felt right. Your skin was soft like it was made for her to spend hours kissing. Wanda probably would if you let her. "I just want you to get out…an hour?" 

"Fifteen minutes." 

"Forty-five minutes from the second we get there."

"I'll do thirty minutes from the second we leave the house." 

"Fifty-five and I get to make dinner just for us."

You let out a defeated sigh. Arguing with Wanda was impossible. "Fine, an hour but you're not cooking dinner…That's still my job."

Wanda let out an uncertain hum before kissing your cheek. "We'll see how our date goes. Now shower up and put on that swimsuit, make sure it's the cute little Cabana set with the flowers on it. You look cute in it." She gave you a playful spank on the butt before collecting the plates and silverware. 

A blush spread across your face. Being the center of Wanda's attention felt so good. She always knew just how to make you. "Wait, what do you mean 'We'll see'? Come here!" You turned around to face Wanda, but she had already left your room and made her way downstairs. Even though you were apprehensive about facing everyone again, the idea of Wanda worrying about you made your heart melt. You wondered what she had planned for you. 

While you were waiting, someone knocked at your door. 

It was Carol. Her mere presence made you uncomfortable. She stood tall and commanding. A couple of months ago, you would've found it attractive. Now it just made you dread whatever she was about to say. Carol raised her eyebrows expectantly and sighed when you did little to acknowledge her. Then she sighed. She made you feel ashamed without even saying a word. "Look-"

"Are you ready to go, baby?" Wanda asked just before Carol could finish speaking. She extended her hand out for you to hold. Wanda could feel the daggers Carol was staring into her soul, but they meant nothing. All Wanda cared about was you and your happiness. A smile brighter than a thousand suns spread across her face as you slowly stepped forward and grabbed her hand. "You look so handsome in your little sweet swimsuit," Wanda cooed as she guided you down the stairs. 

You giggled. "You told me to wear it." Neither her proud smirk nor possessive grip was lost on you. Jealousy and possessiveness usually weren't things you enjoyed. But you were more than willing to make an exception for Wanda. 

"Well, you're adorably obedient for wearing it," Wanda whispered before placing a soft kiss on your cheek. "Now come on, I spent all this money on beach toys and we have to use them at least once." The walk to the beach was quick. Wanda wasn't going to risk anyone else intervening in your adventure. She whisked you out the door and down the shore without any interruptions. 

After a couple of minutes, Wanda brought you to a cave with nothing but a blanket and another basket. 

"Is this some crime of passion set up? If so, this isn't the best place to do it!"

Wanda simply rolled her eyes and pushed you towards the blanket. "Monica was right. You do read too many murder mysteries. Go play!" She sat down next to you and began pulling out the little molds, shovels, and buckets she bought earlier. "I got one of Mr.Strips!" She placed the tiny sand mold into your hands and smiled. "I wrote your name on it so no one can steal it." 

You smiled and gave the mold a small kiss. "Well, I'll make sure to take good care of it." 

The rest of the date was spent in comfortable silence. Wanda would walk back and forth between the cave and the shore with buckets full of water so you could build your castle without worry. When the buckets weren't sandy and in need of a refill. Eventually, your sandcastle had gotten too complicated for Wanda to help so she decided to sit back and watch you build instead. And when you finished your castle, you snuggled up next to her.

"I'm proud of you. It's not always easy doing what's best for yourself," She whispered. 

"Are you proud of me for prioritizing myself or are you just happy you're the better option?" You giggled. 

"I don't think those things contradict each other." 

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

"I don't even really like Zebras all that much," You confessed the very second the cameras started rolling. "I only keep Mr. Strips because Monica bought him for me as an apology for our kindergarten divorce." You jiggled the bracelet on your wrist and showed it to the crew. "This is like the ninth piece of zebra-related jewelry she's given me and I don't have the guts to tell her…Anyway, what were you guys gonna ask me?"

"So, how was the date?"

"It was nice, but I don't think it was a date. I mean I would've loved for it to be one, but I don't wanna put any labels on anything!" For the sake of the footage, you opted not to say anything about the knowing looks the crew shared. "Okay fine! I like Wanda a lot but I'm too shy to make any moves…I don't wanna scare her off." You slouched in your arms like a petulant child. "I just don't wanna rush anything..leave me alone."

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

If you learned anything from being on a reality TV show in the past few weeks, it's that time moves fast. One day, Maria and Natasha were getting close again then the next they didn't even want to be in the same room as each other. Time moved even faster when you weren't directly involved with whatever drama plagued the house for the day. You were known to break up fights or stand up for some of the more soft-spoken cast members, but most of the issues in the house seemed to be above you. There were even times when you slept through the introductions of new people. 

"Why do you care so much? You're more in love with them than you ever were with me!" 

This is to say you had no idea what Vision and Wanda were arguing about. They had been called down to that dreaded shack, that much you could figure out.

"I care because I wasted two years of my life with you! I don't love you know but I'm allowed to be upset that I wasted time with some half-assed loser that got with me over a dare!" 

Oh. Okay, things were much worse than you thought. 

"Okay," You shouted to silence both of them. "Why don't you two go to your rooms for a bit before talking about this? That stupid shack is designed to piss you off and start drama, just take a break!" 

Wanda took a deep breath. Her expectations for her ex were already in the dirt. Why was she shocked Vision had disappointed her yet again? "You're right. I'm not letting myself get worked up over this anymore. I'm going to my room." Before you could praise her maturity, she grabbed your hand and led you up the stairs. 

Had you been thinking with your brain, you would've voiced your concerns about leaving Vision alone when he was just as upset as Wanda. But since you were thinking with your heart, you didn't bother looking back to check if he was okay. Your heart only cared about Wanda. It soared when you were tossed into the bed and Wanda possessively snuggled into you. "Baby, what…what happened?" 

She huffed out and buried her face into your neck "Don't worry about it, alright? Let's just forget about him for a sec." Wanda littered kisses along the side of your neck. They continued upwards until she reached your jaw, then she started leaving heavier marks. "Where's my needy little baby, hm? It's been so long since I've touched you, I bet you're just aching for me to touch you." When she finally graces your lips with a kiss, it was greedy. Her tongue slipped into your mouth and stole your breath without a second thought. Wanda didn't let up until the both of you were in desperate need of air. 

And despite the buzzing underneath your skin and throbbing between your legs, you were still worried about Wanda. You put your hand on Wanda's chest to stop her from distracting you again. "I- You…you gotta talk stuff out first," You stuttered out. You rubbed your thighs together to ease the heat, but Wanda was quick to spread them apart. 

Your desperate whining was music to Wanda's ears. "You heard it already. Now, why don't you lay back and let me fuck you?" Her frustration was starting to slip through the cracks. She squeezed your thighs, but they didn't move an inch before getting your permission. "I bet you're so wet and just waiting for me to stretch your little hole out." 

You were trying so hard to focus. But that's hard to do with Wanda staring down at you like you were fresh meat. "Would it make you feel better?" You asked with a meek voice. Your body was on fire and Wanda was making it worse. 

"Only if you tell me how much you want it first," She whispered as her fingers lightly rubbed your cunt through the cloth of your shorts. "Don't be shy, baby, no one can hear it but me." She laughed at your shyness. You were too cute not to tease.

You laughed back nervously. "You're joking, right?" Wanda only raised her eyebrows. You'd never been in this position before. Forced to beg and follow someone else's orders. "Please don't be mean," You whispered. For that, Wanda only began rubbing your cunt. It wasn't even close to enough with your clothes in the way, especially considering your clit remained neglected.

"Oh, I know you can do better than that." Her thumb pressed down harder, but only for a second. Wanda could almost feel your slick seeping through your underwear. "It's no fun denying yourself. Just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you." Her free hand slid up your thigh and began unbuttoning your shirt. "You're just so desperate for me, but I can't help my baby if they don't talk to me." 

You could only whine as Wanda's fingers continued to tease every part of your body. "Touch me please," You whispered.

"But I'm already touching you, baby." 

It was embarrassing. How could Wanda be so cruel to you? After all, you've given her.  You've been nothing but kind to her and yet she repaid you by shattering your pride. "Fuck me, please. I need you so bad!" The worst part was that you enjoyed her cruelty. By the time Wanda had stripped you of all your clothes, your slick had leaked onto the bed. "Please, please, I need you so bad."

"Awe, baby you're a mess." One of her fingers began rubbing tight circles around your clit. Your desperate whimpers and moans were like music to her ears. "That's what I like to hear. You sound so cute." Wanda began sucking on your nipple just as one of her fingers slid inside of cunt. "Oh, and you're just so tight. I bet you've never been fucked right, huh?" 

You shook your head without a second thought. Pleasure had taken over your senses. "More!" and "Please!"  were the only words you could say. Each thrust of Wanda's fingers pushed you further and further into a sea of bliss.

"God if I knew I was gonna fuck you, I would've brought my strap with me." 

The thought of something more than Wanda's fingers was so overwhelming it made you whine. 

Wanda curled her fingers as they rubbed against your g spot. "Don't worry, baby. Once this stupid little show is over I'll take you home and fuck you right." She buried her face in your neck and began leaving soft kisses over the heavy marks she'd left earlier. "I have this big one- oh you'd just love it! It'd stretch out that hole and fill you up with cum. Doesn't that sound fun?"

It sounded fun, but your body answered before your brain could. Your walls fluttered around Wanda's long fingers. Cum leaked out of your hole like a fountain and Wanda was quick to lick it up.  Her fingers and tongue worked in sync  to drag out your orgasm as long as she possibly could. "No, no more," You whimpered, desperately trying to push Wanda's head away. 

Wanda kissed your thigh then rolled over to lay next to you on her bed. She watched as you struggled to catch your breath. "Think you could give me one more?" She asked as she played with the strands of your hair. 

The offer was tempting, but you'd never recover if you let Wanda have her way. "Um, I think we'll have to work up to multiple rounds. I think I'm all fucked out for the night." You buried your head into one of Wanda's pillows and watched as she got off of the bed. "Noo, stay, please? I can take a shower later." 

"Fine, but if you wait too long I'm turning this into a bubble bath." Wanda laid back down. She pulled you closer so your head was properly buried into her chest. Her fingers toyed with the  hair at the base of your neck as you two began to relax and let go of the sexual energy. 

"...what happened in the shack?"

Wanda let out a heavy sigh. "You're really bad pillow talk, you know that?" She ruffled your hair and looked down at you. "Do you want to know that bad?" Denying you was hard already, but when you looked up with the softest eyes she'd ever seen, saying no was impossible. "It's not that I don't wanna talk about it, I just don't want you to think I still have feelings for him or something like that." 

"You dragged me upstairs and fucked me instead of talking things out with him, I know you don't have feelings for him anymore." You leaned away from Wanda's chest. "I'm much more worried about you bottling up all those nasty feelings in here," You said, poking Wanda's chest to accent your point. "Just say whatever is on your mind, I'm all ears."

"It's just…god, every time I give that fucker a chance he turns around and steps all over me! We broke up and got back together three times before I stopped forgiving him. You think he would've said something between that and just ripped the band-aid off instead of letting some stupid reality show find out first!" Wanda continued to ramble. The minutes continued to tick by but she just couldn't stop herself. Maybe she'd pause for a few minutes because she couldn't figure out how to put her frustrations into words, but you were always there to help her. 

Eventually, Wanda had nothing else to say. Her anger fizzled out into slow acceptance 

She let out a heavy breath before nuzzling back into the side of your neck. "Thank you," She mumbled exhaustedly. Wanda, never one to miss the chance to praise you, began smothering your face with kisses once again. "Ah, you're just the cutest aren't you? Always making me so sappy and mushy!"

You whined playfully and pushed her away. "Maybe you're just made of mush and full of sap!"

[thegeminisage]

i guess it star trek update time. last night we watched ds9's "armageddon game" and tng's "sub rosa."

armageddon game (ds9):

this one was so fun and evil. i LOVE when obrien and julian are besties and yes they fought once but they were besties in most of this

NIGHTMARE scenario for keiko. im glad they actually put her in this instead of it happening offscreen but im sad there was no reunion :(

keiko realizing the recording had been tampered with bc of the coffee thing and then finding out that wasnt true is actually lowkey terrifying. they came THIS CLOSE. what a twist ending

quark's toast was like...strangely sweet. good for him.

i cant believe DAX was gonna keep julians journals instead of sending them back to his parents?? i also cant believe julian kept a diary for years and then decided to hand all of his diaries to his crush lol like he is insane

julian foot fetish also. don't think i forgot. i didn't. what a loser <3

these aliens being so committed to peace they'll kill people is actually kind of funny. you missed the point by lightyears

i liked how serious sisko was in this episode. he was wearing his very very very serious face. he was not fucking around. i also liked that he believed keiko INSTANTLY. on tng picard would have offered 1000000 other reasons why keiko was out of her mind bc in fairness she does sound fucking nuts but sisko believed her right away and immediately started an investigation because he trusts his people and also by extension their spouses. ugh i love him SO MUCH sisko for PRESIDENT

sub rosa (tng):

wow. wow wow wow wow wow

where do i even. BEGIN. with sub rosa

so, i knew there was a sex ghost in this episode and i was sort of aware that the sex ghost fucked or wanted to fuck beverly. but i had NO IDEA what i was truly in for

firstly, let's get this out of the way, this is a FAMILY SEX GHOST. "all the howard women have green eyes" "nana was over 100 and had a lover!" can you IMAGINE having like a family vibrator. the same vibrator your grandma used. getting off to her erotic diary entries. getting off, i repeat, to your grandma's stories about your grandma HAVING SEX with the SAME SEX GHOST who is chatting you up. beverly is INSANE

deanna took all this with so much good sportsmanship. first of all, i'm so thrilled that they're the kind of girlfriends who can share their wet dreams with one another in GRAPHIC detail. secondly, her fucking face journeys when beverly was talking about this shit in ten forward I REPEAT IN PUBLIC SHE WAS LIKE YEAH I WAS GETTING OFF TO MY GRANDMA'S DIARY

picard SOOOO put off that beverly would leave his ass to fuck a 30yo with long hair. JUSTICE! who's skipping breakfast now bitch. run around on her one more time i fucjing dare you. you WILL respect the woman you impregnated with the affair baby

speaking of affair babies, when beverly was like yeah all my family members have green eyes except mom and me i was like......is SHE the affair baby? sadly, no. but i know she had one

beverly looked the most beautiful she's ever been by the way. real bodice ripper shit. picard you blew it so bad

speaking of bodice ripper, there is a version of this where it's very serious and an allegory for abuse and the sex was dubiously consensual etc etc etc. this has happened to deanna so many times and it was so icky because it was obviously a male fantasy which objectified her. fortunately i don't think anyone can be expected to take a story seriously when it involves your grandma's sex ghost so i was perfectly happy to have a good time

WHEN THEY EXHUJED THE BODY. BY SIMPLY BEAMING IT OUT OF THE GROUND.

nana who looked not even a little bit dead sitting up in her coffin bc she was possessed and zapping the daylights out of geordi and data. PLEASE.

also, sorry, i nearly forgot, but picard walking in on her while she was quite literally fucking the sex ghost. ohhhh i KNOW he was sick

OH YEAH AND. the gravestones saying vader and mcfly. set designers i love you forever

anyway, hands down the funniest and perhaps my favorite tng episode of all time. that was the first real laugh i've had in almost a week

TONIGHT: ds9's "whispers" and tng's "lower decks."

[practically-an-x-man]

— “not that i’m not enjoying being used as your pillow, but i think we’d be more comfortable in bed.”

Oooh alright! This is a really cute prompt (one of my favorites from the list tbh) so I'm struggling to pick out which couple I want to write this for. I'm thinking... hm, I'm still on that Eris and Rick kick, and they could use some fluff after that angst piece I wrote before, so let's go with that.

____ Late Nights

Word Count: 1.1k Content Warnings: none! (I guess a little swearing and teasing?) ____

It had been a difficult mission. No casualties, thank goodness, but it had been 72 continuous hours of crowded transit, drawn-out fights, and whining ex-cons. Blackguard alone was enough to drive them both half-mad, and it nearly earned him the point of Eris' spear. Rick had stopped her just in time, but... if she was going to lose her patience with anyone on the squad, he'd probably be missed the least. Insubordinate prick. Almost made Rick yearn for his military days.

But they'd all made it back safe, with ten years knocked off their sentences, and it meant Rick earned himself another night of semi-peaceful sleep.

Though he wasn't doing that just yet. The adrenaline of that last fight hadn't quite worn off, and it left him feeling too restless to sleep. They'd been caught by surprise right at the end of the mission, surrounded, and it would've meant the slaughter of the team if Eris hadn't pulled out their final stop.

Archaic magic. Shape-changing. He'd never fully understood it. But it saved the team, though it left Eris exhausted in the aftermath. Rick had almost had to carry him back to the plane - he was so drained his legs barely functioned.

From there she'd dozed: on the plane, on the bus to Belle Reve, in Rick's truck back to the apartment. Even here, now safe and sound in his living room, they lay half-covering his body, their face buried in his chest. The television droned on, some late-night sitcom rerun he'd flicked on just to fill the silence. Rick ran his fingers through Eris' hair, the touch just enough to make them sigh.

"Y'know, for the personification of strife, or whatever the hell you claim to be..." he murmured, "You're damn cute when you sleep."

"Mm. M'not cute." Eris mumbled, her voice almost lost against the fabric of his shirt. Rick almost chuckled.

"Right now y'are, darlin'."

"Could... could cut off your head... wouldn't even know it till you saw your body land next t'you," he responded, his voice still half-slurred with sleep. Rick wasn't even sure he knew what he was saying. He ran his hand over their back in slow circles, smiling when Eris burrowed in a little closer.

"I'm sure you could," Rick agreed, completely honest, "But you won't."

"Hm. Try me."

"Do it, then."

"Tomorrow." Eris sighed, "Just you wait. You're done for, Flag."

"Sure I am. Shame, too. I was gonna make French toast." he replied without moving an inch, "Guess you'll just have to steal the wallet off my dead body and go buy yourself breakfast instead."

"Maybe I could..." they drawled, the words punctuated by a yawn, "Save it for the afternoon. Lunchtime murder."

"I'll mark my calendar."

"S'yer own damn fault," Eris mumbled, just a few moments later, "You're the one who keeps bringing... fuckin'.... m'mortal metas home to bed with you. Some point you gotta, just... expect to get'cher head chopped off."

"Yeah, I know. Occupational hazard." he agreed, faintly amused at the whole conversation. His fingers traced idle patterns over Eris' bare back and shoulders, following the lines of a few old scars. Some of them, he knew, could have been older than he was - older than his whole family line, even. The thought bent strangely at his mind. Eris had always appeared his age, even a few years younger - younger in appearance at least, though their features had a strangely ancient quality to them. The closest he'd ever seen in the modern world was in Egypt, or perhaps Türkiye, and even that was a bit... shifted.

"Y've got... concerning taste." Eris' muffled voice pulled him from his thoughts, and this time Rick couldn't stifle the low laugh that rose in his chest.

"I'm aware."

" 'N I need to get your French toast recipe." she added the moment later, the words still dragging with sleep.

"It's just bread and eggs, babe."

" 'N vanilla. The good vanilla."

"Yeah, alright, and vanilla. And a little nutmeg n' cinnamon. And a couple other things." he explained, "I can show you how to make it tomorrow. Better not leave you hanging after I'm missin' my head and all."

"Hm. I won't make it as good as you," Eris protested, shifting a little in his grip. Rick rested his hand on the back of their head, scratching his nails lightly over their scalp. Eris hummed in contentment, a sound that almost reminded him of a purr.

"You will. It's not that hard."

"Shut up, Flag. 'M tryna save your life."

"Right. 'Course. Forget I said anything." he replied, amused. Eris' back hitched, and he realized a moment later that she was laughing. It made him smile. He imagined that this was what had drawn him in from the beginning. He'd met them out on the battlefield, of course - and they were just as terrifying there as they'd always been - but he'd asked them out for a drink in exchange for saving his life, and that was where he'd gotten to see this softer side for the first time.

And he still stood by his words. Eris was cute when he was sleepy. It was awfully disarming.

"Alright, well..." Rick muttered, stretching for the remote to shut off the television. It left the room dark and near-silent, and Eris grumbled his protest. Rick ran his fingers through his hair once again, savoring its soft curls. "Not that I'm not enjoying being used as your pillow, but I think we'd be more comfortable in bed."

"Mm. Stop chasing me away."

"I think I'm doing the opposite," he pointed out, shifting to sit up as he spoke, "Besides, weren't you the one who told me to stop putting metahumans in my bed?"

"Think I meant... stop putting succubi in your bed," Eris corrected, "M'not a succubus. Doesn't count."

Rick fought hard to bite back his smile. Eris, who would push and taunt and bite but at the end of the day really did want to be near him, who'd make up any sort of excuse to admit he didn't have that fondness, who insisted time and time again that he wasn't cute, he wasn't soft, that he'd most likely kill him in the morning...

"So a war god's safe to put in my bed? 'Cause I can just leave you here, if that's what you want..." Rick let his arms loosen around them, just enough for emphasis. Eris' fingers caught his bicep in an instant, holding him before he could get too far. Rick again bit back a smile.

"Discord. Not war." Eris muttered, tracing her finger along the tattoos on his bicep, " 'N I'm not a god, n' I'm not safe. But I'll... I'll make n'exception for you."

"I'm honored." he said, and lifted them into his arms, "Here we go, darlin'."

[junkydrawr]

Snively fic shite! Just a silly little scene, this is how Snively gets stuck having to cook for Antoine (a brief scene I posted earlier) I still have to decide what Sniv's going to cook. Lol

Sniv is training with Antoine (or watching him train).

"Clear away, Snipley! Hi-yah!"

Antoine barraged the bag with furious kicks and punches. It swung wildly back and forth.

"I see you are impress-ed. After I was nearly eaten by a group of terrible hyenas, I began to train seriously!"

Snively wasn't sure what surprised him most - Antoine landing most of his blows, or a gang of cannibalistic Mobians.

He decided on the former, and smirked.

Suddenly Antoine whacked the bag with no warning, sending it careening into Snively's gut. It knocked him down and he gagged for breath.

"Ow. Watch where you're hitting that!"

Antoine pulled him up, his sharp teeth inches from Snively's ear. "I have not forgotten...your mistreatment of the escargot..."

Snively pulled away, one hand on his stomach as he laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Oui." The fox glared daggers.

Another laugh. "I must say, that was the most amusing interrogation I've ever done."

Antoine whacked the bag again, and Snively shoved it away, still chuckling.

"To think, I didn't spill a single drop of blood...didn't threaten you in the least...and you nearly caved in. I've had children more resistant than you."

The bag came his way again, hard. He calmly stepped back. Antoine's fur was bristling now.

"Oui? But did you not say you never question-ed zee little ones?"

"Ah, I didn't. That was rhetorical speech. If I had questioned childen...they would have..."

"Menteur! Monster."

It wasn't the bag coming at him now, but Antoine. Snively dodged a punch, only to get kicked on the left side of his jaw. He stumbled, got socked in the chest and knocked on his rear. His recently healed fingers twinged painfully.

Still the foppish fox advanced. The small human sprang up, exhaling like a bull. "No way...no bloody way am I going to get beaten up by the likes of you!"

Antoine was more agile, but Snively's pain tolerance was far higher, and he shrugged off a whack to the face - and consequently bloody nose - to get in close. He grabbed the fox by the shoulders and threw him down.

"You little frog. How's this for training?" Straddling the fox, he struck him repeatedly in the face. Antoine sputtered, trying to shove him away.

"Fuel, terrible fuel! Get off!"

A blur of blue came between them, knocking them apart. Sonic came to a stop, one hand on each chest. "Yo, yo, what's going on here?! Training getting a little too serious, huh?"

Antoine growled. Sonic looked over at Snively and the blood oozing over his lips. He shook his head. "Sally's gonna be mondo angry that you two are fighting like this."

Antoine brushed off his uniform. "Oui. Perhaps I got harried away."

"Uh, that's carried, Ant. Look, lunch is ready. Why don't we all cool off and have a snack?"

Snively brushed his arm under his nose. "Sounds splendid. Do you have any toast?"

"Uh..." Sonic gave him an odd look. "No, but I guess you could make some-"

Snively looked sidelong at Antoine as they began to walk. "Good," he sneered. "Because I do love a thick slab of toast slathered with margarine."

"Hey!" Sonic yelled as Antoine lunged at Snively again.

----

Sally handed Tails a chilidog.

“I can't wait until I can eat this in one gulp, like Sonic does!”

She shook her head. “That's not something to aspire to! One of these days, Sonic is going to choke! Besides, it might upset your tummy-” She trailed off as Sonic came blazing up. Under each arm, he held two buffoons.

He dropped Antoine to the ground and Snively followed a second later.

She set her hands on her hips. “What is going on here?” She took a closer look as Snively stood up, indignantly brushing off his uniform. He had dried blood crusted under his nose. “Sonic!”

“These two were fighting,” he said. “And I don't mean the training. Real fighting.”

Antoine snarled. “The fuel... he shows no remorse! No egrets at all!”

“That's regrets...” Sally sighed. “Don't we already know that about Snively?”

“I'm right here...” The small human said darkly, but his eyes were gleaming in a manner she didn't like. “And he's not talking about my vast crimes agaisnt Mobi-anity. He's talking about my culinary cruelness.”

Sally groaned. Behind her, Tails sloppily made himself another chilidog.

“Antoine...are you really still going on about the slugs...or whatever they were? You have to drop it.”

“I will drop it...when Snipley prepares a proper meal. To make up for his deeds.”

“With or without poison?”

“Snively, stop it.” Sally put a hand to her face, musing. “Ok. That sounds fine, Antoine. With Bunnie supervising...we'll have Snively make you a nice meal. Right, Snively?”

He scowled. “No.”

“It wasn't a request.”

“With saliva, then,” he hissed. “Got it.”

---

A/n: hey Sniv's a good cook when he tries. Lol. Anyway I'm trying to finish up a little flashback of Snively in Mobian school and another of he and his father. *is lazy*

[pleasantlyinsincere]

Part 3 / last part

excerpts from Giuliano in conversation with Ruth and Angie McCartney

Previous parts:

(Part 1: Paul attacking Ruth over a TV appearance, Jim's prudent gambling, Paul and Linda being awful houseguests)

(Part 2: Jim and Angie nearly breaking up, (strange) forms of generosity, Paul paying an adult type compliment)

Train, wife, dog (Note: The anecdotes of being abusive towards Linda and kicking the dog are not included on the released version of the tapes I listened to. They are there by this referance only.)

I’ve gone down to pick them up off the train. And when I actually boarded the train, there was a terrible scuffle going on, where Paul was pushing this elderly man. He was a guard on the train. Yes, physically pushing him. They had come with the dogs and wanted them to just romp everywhere. And this old guy had apparently come and told them: ‘You know, you shouldn’t have had that there.’ - ‘I’ll do what the fuck I like!’ It was one of those. And Linda was standing behind Paul, going: ‘Go on! You tell him, Paul!’ Laughing. She thought it was funny that Paul was nearly knocking over this elderly gray haired man. I saw this with my own eyes, Geoffrey. […] GG: How about any other physical abuse by Paul to anyone? We got Linda now, we got this old bloke. … Kick the dog.

Puff for Mommy

The bed was a new mattress that was on the stone concrete floor of the garage. It had a blanket and two pillows without any covers on.… We made a bed up. On the was up Jim was saying: ‘You know their eating habits and times are very different from ours. So let’s stack up.’ … Jim and I used to sneak out at night and sat in the car and eat chocolate because we got so hungry sometimes. It wasn’t really the kind of setup where you felt comfortable to make yourself a cup of tea or a piece of toast. The polite and the correct thing to do was to wait until Linda was ready to cook. … Linda would probably cook once a day and there was a time when we were sitting around the table and they had a glass skylight. And it was open and flies were coming in and there was a jug of milk on the table and the flies were falling in. And I was ‘Oh, God, we have to throw this milk away.’ Jim was so fastidious, you know. And Linda said: ‘Oh Ange, don’t be so fussy!’ …  And Mary was so little and she was inside of Paul’s jacket and they were both smoking a joint and passing it to each other. And then Linda put it to little baby Mary lips and was saying: ‘Come on, baby. Come on puff, puff, puff for mommy!’. As a joke obviously, but she thought this was a pretty hilarious, hysterical thing to do. - What was Paul doing? - Laughing.

Watch Your Fingers!

I said well, I guess we blew it. These things happen you try in business and it’s not working out. We tried to start a small business, we’ve been unsuccessful, but undaunted we will carry on. It was 1980. I said basically ‘shit happens’. I was 20 years old and still working on my career. … And he said well, you know. This is when he gave Ange his speech about bottled fruit. ‘Why can’t you stay at home and be a widow like other widows? And auntie Mill and auntie Gin…’  GG: You know what I would have said to that? I would be perfectly willing to do that, if someone would to underwrite my living. But if they won’t and God doesn't drop me a million dollars I got to do this shit. … He gave the same old tired out bullshit speech about you never gonna make it in the business. This dancing and choreography nonsense is just the phase. You’re not talented. You haven’t got anything going for you other than my name. … ‘Me, me, me, me, me. Enough about me. What do you think about me?’ … He already told Ange to scrub floors and bottle fruit and his solution for me was.. - I couldn’t believe this coming from the mouth of a man who was the father of three daughters. - He said: ‘You are quite attractive with the light behind you, with a little make-up on …, you are up and down in the clubs. Why don’t you hang around after a show? You know, there are a lot of rich arabs hanging around these days with millions of dollars and Rolls-Royces. Why don’t you do get yourself a rich boyfriend, you know, do what you women were made for?’ And I just had enough. He was virtually telling me to go and be a hooker. … The last words he ever said to me were: ‘You can’t put the phone down on me, I’m Paul McCartney.’ And I said: ‘Watch your fingers.’ and hung up. And that was it, that was the last time we’ve spoken. Pointless. It’s either his way or no way.

[blair-the-juggalho]

Hey Blair! Can I request the ericson gang x reader who maybe bleached and dyed their hair, tattoos and scars and if they like it or not and how they deal with it? Thank you! <3

Hey Lana! And of course I can, lovely! I hope you enjoy <3

Violet

We already know this girl loves your tattoos and scars!

And for you dying you hair? Loves it.

She would defo ask you to do hers like a streak of purple on her hair some where!

She’s in love and is so obsessed with everything you do

But if you dye your hair a lot she may miss some of the old colours and ask if you would ever redye your to be like that again

No matter the answer your the coolest person in her eyes<3

Mitch

This man too loves you look!

I don’t think he’d ever dye his hair but he loves it when you do!

Every time you change your hair all he does is sit with you and play with it

However if you can give him a tattoo or know someone who can give him a tattoo omg he’s on the floor begging you for one

And btw if you do let him get one he’s going to be showing it off to everyone

But going back to what I was saying, I feel like he too would maybe be a bit upset if you got rid of a colour he really liked but he supports you no matter what

Louis

Ngl he was a little bummed out when you said you where gonna re dye your hair

He thinks your look stunning no matter what but he was just going to miss your old hair

He deals with it by joking around, as he does with most situations

After you re did your hair and complimenting you 100000 times

He puts on a fake toast during dinner

“Oh how nice to see that every gathered here to say to say goodbye forever to to (names) old hair, gone but never forgotten.”

He may be a bit of a prick at times but he does genuinely love it when you change things up yk?

It keeps him on his toes and it’s something that he loves about you!

Your not afraid to try summat new!

He’s obsessed with you and your No.1 supporter

Marlon

This man loves everything about your look!

Your just so cool!

Like Mitch he’d never dye his hair but he likes it when you do it

He’s way of dealing with it is as soon as he finds out you want to change it he asks you all sorts about it and wants to sit next to you while you do it

“So what colour? What made you wanna change it?”

He doesn’t mean it in a mean way tho! He will still love you no matter what

Also like Mitch if you ever let this man get a tattoo dear god he will be so exited like he’s gonna stop wearing that silly jacket and always have his sleeves rolled up so everyone can see it

Aasim

Very intimated by your look at first be he eventually gets use to it!

Now when it comes to your hair and you say you wanna change it up

This man nearly cried

He still supports you doing it but he’s really going to miss your old hair

His way to deal with this new change is by dedicating a whole ahh chapter to you in his book

Literally all about your hair before and after

He then gets use to it and is even more in love with you

Then rinse and repeat when you do want to redye it again lmao!

So I guess he doesn’t love it when you change your hair but he doesn’t mind it? Yk

Omar

I already mentioned how much he loves your bad ass look!

And when you tell him you want to dye your hair he’s backing you up 100%!

He even offers to help or just be by your side

In dedication to this new change he tries to base that nights dinner off your new colour!

Even if it’s just food colouring or some small spices that look like that colour

He wants to celebrate the change!

Ruby

I’ve already mentioned that she thinks your look is a bit too “aggressive” for her

But she still likes you so it’s forgiven

And when you tell her your gonna dye your hair? You’ll never hear the end of it

She might be a bit apprehensive if you wanted to dye it a bright colour but she can’t stop you so she lets you do whatever

She deals with it by at first pretending that nothings changed and not bringing it up

But after a few days she goes back to asking if you’ll ever change it back

She eventually after a week or so she gets use to it then proceeds to apologise and compliment your new look <3

So Unfortunately I don’t think she’s too happy whenever you change your hair 😭

Brody

You definitely shocked her when you first met her, no surprise there

But she totally loves how care free you are when it comes to that stuff!

When you tell her your going to dye your hair she’s so exited!

She definitely wants to know what your planning to do and asks if maybe you could do her hair too!

She will miss your old hair but she thinks your new hair totally suits you just as much if not more!

[lukas-crying-heart]

Kiss.

A one shot based on an rp with Eat your heart out gang.

the beginning is a bit rushed just warning you.

but here it is, please enjoy.

Jamie rested his forehead on his hands, hunching over in the chair he was sitting in. He wanted to be comforting Mercy, or Violet but he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything but stare at the hospital floor.

His heart was going a mile a minute, he hated this. He didn’t even know if Piper was okay.

It was deadly silent, the air was think with tension. He hadn’t even move a muscle for three hours.

Violet was the one who broke the silence first.

“I’m going to the vending machine, do you guys want anything?” She stood up.

“Candy bar, get me a candy bar” Jamie mumbled. His voice trembled.

“Mercy?” Violet asked.

“Oreos” she responded.

Jamie sighed, now Oreos sounded good “Oreos sound good”

“You can only have one, Jamie” Violet muttered.

“Get Oreos” Mercy reached into her pocket.

“Just get me Oreos, I don’t need both of them” he waved started bouncing his leg.

“I’ll pay for you to get both, Jamie” 

“I don’t need both, Mercy, just get me the fucking Oreos” he snapped and subtly wiped his eyes from the tears “please just get me Oreos”

Mercy rubbed her face and groaned.

“I’m gonna get some cigarettes, any requests?” Jamie stood up and rubbed his neck.

“Copenhagen, please” 

“Good brand, people say great things about those” he let out a shaky breath and left the hospital.

He walked quickly to the nearest store, he wasn’t actually sure where to get those cigarettes. He would try his best to find them.

What if Piper died? 

He know her injuries probably weren’t serious enough to kill her what wasn’t there always a chance? What if he came back she was dead?

If she died and he couldn’t say goodbye to her he would never live with himself. He would have to watch Mercy descend into grief while he was powerless to help her. She would probably push him away if he tried to help her.

Jamie wasn’t good with emotions, he knew this, his friends knew this. If Piper died he wouldn’t be able to help anyone.

He pushed open the door to a store, he was greeted with a good morning, he nodded in response.

Turns out he had to go to a different store, that store didn’t have what he was look for. Neither did the next. 

He spent about twenty minutes going to different stores until he finally found one that had what he was looking for.

He showed his ID at the counter, gave the money, then left.

Jamie practically ran back to the hospital, nearly falling multiple times along the way.

As he ran into the hospital he saw Andrea talking on the phone, she didn’t notice him.

Though Andrea was a nice person she would most definitely be furious if she saw him with cigarettes. Especially at a hospital. 

“Hey, Mercy, any..uh..any updates?” He panted once he got back to Mercy and Violet.

“No, nothing yet. Did you get the stuff?” She asked.

Jamie nodded “and lighters” he emptied the bag, giving a Mercy a cigarette and lighting it, lighting himself a cigarette and then finally offering one to Violet but she declined.

Jamie rested his head against the wall, blowing puffs of smoke into the air.

Mercy was already almost done with hers.

“Damn Mercy, didn’t take you for a big smoker” Jamie chuckled.

“Ah well you know, circumstances” she nudged him.

Jamie went quiet for a bit, wondering what kind of a hospital would let teenagers smoke in cleat view of everyone, of course Andrea kept crossing his mind. His parents, his brother. Everything.

“So, what happens if Piper does die?” Jamie mumbled.

“Fuck if I know, I guess I’ll be lost in grief” Mercy sighed and flopped against the back of her chair.

Jamie huffed a laugh “imagine if Andrea walks around the corner right now” 

Mercy laughed “oh we’d be screwed”

“And I’m the one who bought them, she’d kill me. Dead, done, no undoing. Lost in space” he waved his arms in a dramatic manner.

He and Mercy looked at each other and bursted out laughing, it echoed down the hallway.

“Bitch you’re fucking toast” she put her hand on his back and continued to laugh.

Jamie rubbed the tears from his eyes “Jesus, Mercy what’s in these?”

“What do you think is in them? You honestly think I’d ask you to get basic ass cigarettes?”

“Oh motherfucker, that’s why I had to go to three stores for these” Jamie groaned “this is all because Piper is dying”

“Man I love Piper so much” Mercy said wistfully.

“That’s kinda gay, Mercy” 

Violet covered her face in embarrassment.

“You’re kinda gay, Jamie” Mercy sounded outraged, as if that was the worst insult she had ever received.

“I am not gay!” Jamie rose to his feet, throwing out his arms clumsily.

“You, Jamie Hawke, are so fucking gay, you don’t even know how gay you are” she also stood.

“Really? You think I don’t know how gay I am?” He put his hand on his hips.

“Yes!” She gave him a cocky smile.

“Yeah? So if so god damn gay, you must be really gay. You gay bitch” he looked at his nails, he had obviously won this conversation.

“Yeah well how’s this for gay bitch”

Much to Jamie’s surprise she grabbed his shirt collar and quite roughly pulled him forward until their lips met. 

A million thoughts went through Jamie’s mind as she kissed him. Mostly how he should’ve seen this coming. This always happened eventually, this was the main reason why he couldn’t keep friends.

He rested his hands on her shoulders.

What the actual fuck? His eyebrow furrowed.

Jamie pushed Mercy away harshly “what the hell, Mercy?”

Mercy stared at him blankly.

He stared back at her with a mixture of emotions, he smoothed at his shirt while not breaking eye contact.

“That was the most humiliating thing I’ve ever done!” Mercy covered her face and sank back into her chair.

“It was definitely surprising” his hands shook slightly.

“Oh that was so horrible” she sobbed.

“Well I wouldn’t say-“

Mercy gasped “what’s Piper gonna think?!”

“Can we go back to the horrible bit? I think some people with disagree wi-“

“She’s gonna break up with me! I’m terrible girlfriend!” 

Jamie nodded “that’s probably true”

“And don’t even get me started on the kiss, Jamie you’re horrible at kissing!” She had tears running down her face.

“Wow thank you, though I’m pretty sure someone would disagree” he tried not to sound to upset at the fact she kissed him.

It was a truly horrible kiss, not that Mercy was bad at kissing, but it just felt bad. Like of course it wasn’t really Mercy, she’s high. He just felt so vulnerable in the situation again.

“What on earth..?”

Jamie turned to see Andrea “ohhhoho fuck”

[dreamwizarding]

Hi! It’s your toaster repair lady person thing here! Just letting you know, that I opened up the toaster, took a look around, then spent around 12 hours exploring a pocket dimension i found inside the toaster where I was presented with talking badgers who told me I was a very nice person, and in doing so, I discovered that your toaster is inside a quantum pocket in space. Or rather, there is a quantum pocket in space around your toaster. The badgers have been trying to interfere with the outside world using the quantum field for a very long time now, and it finally started working when you ‘responded to their messages’ by sending bread into the pocket dimension. They figured the best way to respond was through their “garrots,” which are nearly identical to our carrots, but are slightly different in very fine details I don’t really want to explain right now.

Anyways, I’ve solved your problems. The badgers have turned off the quantum field, so the number of slots should stay consistent. They have agreed to toast half the bread you send, and use the other half as construction materials for their cult buildings, so that solves that problem, and finally, the face was drawn on the toaster with extra-permanent marker. It will never come off. Ever.

Also, the badgers would like to meet you! They revere you guys as the Great and powerful elder gods.

I'm. Not quite sure where the badgers got THAT idea from, but I guess I'll go in for a look when we pick the thing up.

Probably also gonna have to ask the wizards that manufactured this why they put badgers in it, but that can come later.

Frankly, as long as the "garrots" are still edible, I don't think we'll have a problem with them. The quartermaster seems to like them a lot.

In the meantime, thanks for taking the time to look at our toaster. I'll leave a good review when we find a dream with a decent connection again.

[sofiiel]

Chapter One : 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐝

Summary: Eddie is face with a crashing reminder of weight and potential cost of fame.

Warning: chapter contains gun violence and bloody imagery.

Table of Contents | Next

Gareth gave his head a shake as shouting came from the far right corner of the Green Room. Eddie's hands flew about as animated as ever as he tried to explain himself at the top of his lungs.

Your eyes looked up at Eddie as if pleading for the fight to be over. This had become tiring. All you could do now was hug yourself and try to make yourself louder, just to be heard.

"That's not what I'm trying to say. All I'm saying is-"

Eddie cut you off with a scowl, shrugging his shoulders, "That you don't trust me." he snapped.

Your eyes fell into a needled glare, "You're the only one I do trust in all of this." finally your arms flail out in frustration, flapping down at your side.

With a sharp turn to leave Eddie to the corner, you seethe the words "The only god-damn one. I'm not continuing this if you won't want to listen, Edward."

Eddie stood up straight, "shit." he thought. His eyes sliding over to the guys as the Green Room door slammed. "She called me Edward." he muttered.

"Of course she did, man. That's the ninth fuck up in three days." Jeff sighed.

"I didn't fuck up!" Eddie's eye twitched slightly as he wandered over to join the boy's game of spades. "I just, I've never been invited to a private after party before, how was I supposed to know that lady wasn't being friendly?" he said.

"I mean, if Lou Diamond Phillips, or Phil Demmel invited y/n off to lunch, she wouldn't guess why. She'd go! As she should." Eddie vented.

Gareth chuckled and looked at Grant, "Yeah, but it wasn't Lou Diamond or Demmel that invited you; was it?" Gareth said. "It was that seedy nightclub owner, Rebelle Stark."

"She's only been in the tabloids for five months trying to lure rising stars into her bed for the publicity." Grant muttered.

Eddie leaned back in his chair and leaned his head back. "Make up sex, I'll let her angry fuck me and it'll be fine. It always works." Eddie spoke under his breath.

"Dude, they got pictures of you leaving out the back door, with her shirt on." Jeff sighed.

"I was drunkenly trying on clothes, I didn't know they were Rebelle's. I was fleeing because she was being handsy not sneaking out." Eddie corrected them, voice slightly raised.

"We know that, don't we? The media don't. Y/n knows that too, that's what she was tryin' to tell you." Gareth stressed.

"You don't listen when you panic." Grant lulled dryly pulling a card from the stack.

"And you just shout. If you'd shut up, you would have heard her when she said she was concerned for you, and not what everyone thinks you did." said Jeff.

Eddie groaned and looked down at the cards on the table. "So, flowers and begging?" He asked.

"On both knees, and probably bring something shinny." Gareth said.

"I can ask Steve about what I should do." Eddie sighed.

"We're ok, it's gonna take more than bad media and spotlight starved desperate to ruin nearly a decade of awesome." Eddie said. Looking off, though, he had to wonder, Jeff wasn't wrong. It'd be one of many screw-ups.

Worse, he'd been the one jumping to conclusions more than Y/n had. Mistaking her tone for judgement or resentment.

Eddie sighed inwardly, "You know better than that." he thought. "I'll fix this tonight."

You hovered over the small kitchenette in your hotel room. The scent of caramelized bacon, stunning the senses. Eggs sizzled lightly, being slipped onto a slice of toast.

"God, let me hire you." Chrissy moaned as she held her twinkling finger out towards the plate.

You giggle, but those words make you want to cry. She'd come so far in her recovery.

Noticing your silence, Chrissy flashed you a smile, "oh come on, no." she said, "Don't you make this about me. You call me over to vent about you, remember?"

With a chuckle, you nod, "fine, fine." you sighed, taking a seat across from her at the table. Chrissy wiggled happily in her chair before taking a tiny bit of her egg on toast.

You'd yet to speak, so she looked you up and down and with a wave of her hand said, "well, on with it."

"Eddie and I had another fight..." you confessed.

"Shock and awe!" Chrissy gasped, hiding her mouth as she chewed. "I mean that's obvious, that's the sole reason you call me sounding like a lost kid in a mall." she hummed.

"It's fine, he'll show up with that 'oh no, I step on my cat's tail' look on his face and bang you into oblivion-"

"Chris!" you gasped.

She rolled her eyes, "and then all will be fine again for the next few days. It's just stardom, Nums. You two will be fine." Chrissy smiled.

You muttered under your breath, "Nums," in irritation. Ever since Eddie'd taken to calling you Num-nums in interviews, your whole circle had decided to use it.

"It gets better, if you tough it out. Trust me." Chrissy offered.

"You say that, but..." You eyed the grinning woman up and down cautiously, "You've been through six boyfriends, official 'yeah we're exclusive' boyfriends in three months. Six."

Chrissy shrugged and licked the bacon sugar off her fingers, "it's the NFL, what do you expect? None of them want to be tied down when they're wandering around looking like Adonis." she giggled.

"Two of them were writers. Chrissy, writers, the most hopless romantic romance starved creatures alive." you stressed.

Chrissy rolled her eyes, "yep, it happens. Jealousy, exhaustion, lack of time, conflicting careers. This is hard, Y/n." her words came out carefully.

"Its hard. But it what you wanted for him, isn't it?" asked Chrissy.

You bit your lip, "of course it is." you said. Chrissy smiled gently, "Then you'll be fine. This will all calm down, just let him learn how to handle it all."

"Y right." you exhaled. "You're right, I should learn to stop panicking after every fight."

"Of course I am." Chrissy chimed. "Besides, it's just what you two do. You ruffle each other's feathers like some weird mating dance, and then become the most sickeningly sweet creature anyone's ever seen afterward." she snickered.

Reaching across the table to give Chrissy's shoulder a playful shove, "shut up!" you giggle.

"Well, someone had to turn that frown upside down!" she giggled back.

The door knob clicked and clunking boots entered in.

"Babe? You here?" Eddie's voice called out.

Your body tensed for a moment as you glanced at the clock. You'd been sure it would take him longer to get back.

Chrissy flashed you a grin and took her plate with her as she stood up, "I'm stealing the plate! I'll see you tomorrow Nums!" she called, stepping around Eddie, she gave him a cheeky smirk.

"That is, providing you can get out of bed tomorrow." she hummed before exiting.

You sighed, running a hand down your face.

Eddie bit his lip, it was a call to Chrissy and not Nancy, so that had to be a good sign. With cautious steps, he inched towards you, the plastic of the store bought flowers rustling against his leather jacket.

"I um...about earlier..." Eddie fumbled. He was never good at saying 'I'm sorry' as many words always wanted to rush out instead.

"It's fine, Eddie. Really, I'll make you something to eat, and I'll go to bed." You sighed, turning around in your chair. "I'm sure you're tired, we can talk in the mor-"

Eddie dropped to one knee and for a moment you panicked. "It's, it's not what it looks like. I promise I'm dumb enough to try to pop THE question while you're pissed off." Eddie chuckled dryly.

He nestled the cone of flowers in your lap. A bushel of pale roses. "I'm sorry I never let you actual talk and just panic shout." Eddie murmured.

"Panic shout?" You asked him, a smile threatening to tick onto your face.

Eddie side glanced, rubbing the tip of his nose, "yeah, that's what the boys call it." he said.

Taking the flowers in your hand, you got to your feet and went to place them in water.

"I'm um sorry I screwed up again. I know I need to be more careful and think things through better." Eddie continued.

Going to the couch, he sat and started to exchange his boots for his worn white sneakers. "I'm sorry I accused you of being jealous and unreasonable... I know that's not you." sighed Eddie.

"It's never been you." He repeated.

Gently petting the petals of the roses, you turned to smile at him. "Really, Eddie, it's ok."

"No it's not, it's been like this for the past two weeks and I-" Eddie huffed, "Let me take you to dinner tonight?" He asked, a half-hearted smirk curving onto his lips, "let me use this new power for good instead of evil? Feed my girl instead of stomping on her last nerve?" He asked.

Eddie smiled at the sound of your soft laughter.

"Where'd you have in mind?" you asked.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Steve said anywhere that's not just pizza, so..." Eddie murmured.

"Aw, you went to Steve?" You sang, voice laced with withheld laughter.

"Yeah, yuck it up. But that guy is the master of escaping the dog house." Eddie mused.

He walked over to you, resting his hands on your shoulders, "am I allowed to kiss you, or?" he asked in a whisper.

The moment you nod your head, Eddie's warm lips press lightly against your forehead. Leaving to repeat against the corner of your eye before he stole your mouth.

It's a soft kiss, his hand cradling your jawline.

"Let's go eat," Eddie said, pulling away, "before I get carried away." he hummed.

You give his bottom lip a nip and turn to the flowers, "I'm taking a few with me." you said.

Eddie held the door open for you as you stepped into the night. This felt right again, he held that beautiful wide smile. The one that crinkled his eyes and his arm draped around your shoulder as he talked.

"Jeff brought a fan on stage and the girl ran straight for Gareth." Eddie laughed at his retelling of the show that evening.

"Eddie fucking Munson?" a voice called with a hint of a snarl.

Your eyes wandered to a man dressed in torn jeans and a Corroded Coffin Tee. You smiled at the fan as Eddie removed his arm from your shoulder, reaching into his pocket for a pen.

It had to be an autograph, that what the man must have wanted; or a picture.

"Yeah, man. What can I do for you?" asked Eddie.

"Not a damn thing, you fucking sell out." the man growled.

Eddie's gaze hardened, "Excuse me?" he asked.

"You heard me. You've led your band down the path of ass-kissery. You made us all believe that a real metal band would finally make it. Now look at you! Face all over commercials for big brands, playing in a venue that wouldn't give other musicians in the genre the time of day. Grinning at the worst rumor spreading brainrot TV hosts around." The man ranted.

Eddie placed himself in front of you. "Look, I don't know what you've read, but that not me. I'll gladly talk to you, man. But I'm with my girl." he tried to explain. Eddie tried hard to remain calm, thought a bitter anger started to boil.

The man reached under his shirt, "I used to be one of your biggest fans. Never missed a show, got all the tour shirts...you sighed my guitar." He rambled.

"Signed you guit-" Eddie exhaled as he peered at the man's face, "shit, I do know your face," Eddie whispered.

"Stuck up for you when my friends and band members dragged your name through the mud. Now I look like an idiot, and they kicked me out the band." the man raged.

Eddie's arms flung out, pushing you further behind him. "Wait, wait, wait!" Eddie urged.

"You ruined my dream!" The man shouted.

"That's not Eddie's fault! Please sir, put that away!" you cried out. Your eyes staring down the barrel of the gun.

"Ok, I'm sorry. Ok, we can talk. All you want, I swear, just put it away." Eddie tried to speak calmly, though his outstretch hand trembled.

"I'm done talking, You think you're the first? Many of my idols turned out to be nothing but trash, You're just the worst of them! You made us believe you!" the man raged.

Each word drew his tiger finger a little bit closer.

"Eddie." you whispered.

Eddie's jaw clenched tight as he held his breath.

"HEY!" Chrissy shouted, her heels clicking as she ran, holding a whistle to her lips she filled the night with a shrill sound.

"Chris!" You gasped, watching the small woman grab hold of the man's arms. "Leave them alone!" she shouted.

"Chri-"

A crackling pop caused the world to pause. The second it sounded, your body moved without your knowledge, pushing forward. Heat tore into your chest.

Breathing became hard and beyond the heat in your chest was a sharp radiating pain.

Chrissy continued to struggled against the man, filling his eyes with pepper spray as she screamed for helped.

Eddie's hands supported your body as your legs gave way. "No, no. It's ok, I’ve got you." Eddie's voice shivered. Lifting you slightly, he used his body to hold you upright, backing away towards the wall.

"Hold on, I'll set you down and call-"

Another shot fired, It came paired with a cry before a numbing pain rattled your head. Your body fell limp and your vision faded. Everything hurt and yet everything was stuck, unmoving, unfeeling.

Nothing was hot or cold, soft or rough. There wasn't a loudness to the world, no weight. Just pain and a persistent ringing in your ears, drowning out desperate yelling.

"What did you do!" Eddie shouted, crumpling with you as he broke your fall, arms and legs wrapping his body around yours. "What'd the fuck did you do!" he cried out, tearing his eyes away from the struggle.

Chrissy sprayed the last of her bottle into the shooter's eyes, running to you and Eddie while the man fled.

"Oh my god, Y/n!" she whimpered, hovering above the two of her. "Go call somebody!" Eddie urged, laying you gently onto your back. His fingertips gentle touching the blood from the tunnel carved along the side of your head.

Chrissy's knees shook.

"Go, Chrissy, go call somebody!" Eddie shouted, pointing down the street to the phone booth.

With a nod, Chrissy ran for it.

Eddie removed his jacket, balling it up he pressed it against your chest. "You're going to be fine, babe. I swear to you, you will." Eddie whispered, watching his tear drops slash against your cheek.

His eyes lingering on the few roses that'd fallen from your hands, pale pink and white petals painted red.

The sirens and the ride to the emergency was a distant blur in Eddie's mind.

He could vaguely remember furiously yelling at the paramedics, the nurses, and the doctors.

He could remember chucking all of his new shinny credit cards onto the hospital floor.

Chrissy desperately trying to pull him away from the doctor, who wasn't having his frenzied demands.

"I just want to see her." Eddie muttered for the hundredth time. His leg bouncing endlessly in his seat.

"I know you do big guy. But they're working on her now. Let them work." Steve said, his hand clamped firmly onto Eddie's shoulder.

Steve was waiting at the Steakhouse, He was supposed to help Eddie tonight with a surprise for Y/n. Then he got the call and was the first one there.

Steve glanced at Chrissy, who's red eyes watched Eddie with concern.

"I didn't know that guy from Adam and he just-" Eddie squinted, "had the nerve to, fucking - what the fuck gave him the right to-" He couldn't find or keep his words.

"I know, I know. Don't think too much on it. We trust the doctors. Yeah?" Steve tried his best to calm the flustered man.

Feet rushed into the E.R in a chaotic shuffle.

"What the hell happened?" Grant asked.

"Did-is she ok? What's going on?" Jeff questioned.

Gareth stood with his mouth opening and closing, unsure of what to ask or what to say. His face pale. "Is she...is she?" he stammered.

"No!" Eddie shouted, eyes shut tight, "no," he repeated quietly.

"No, no she's not. They're operating." Chrissy managed, lightly rubbing Eddie's back. "She'll be fine." she soothed.

"Did they get the guy?" Jonathan asked, going unnoticed behind the band. " I tried to leave a report with the police." Chrissy answered. Her eyes stuck on Eddie, "It wasn't a full statement, they want to speak to Eddie when he's...able." she said.

"If he's ever able." Steve murmured, giving Eddie's shoulder and squeeze.

With a lost daze in his eyes, Eddie fiddled with a small box in his hands, turning it round and round between his fingers.

"I need to try to call Y/n's family. I know it's...touchy, but they need to know." Chrissy sighed.

"You should probably contact your manager, let him know what's happened and that the band may need to drop the tour." Steve said to the boys.

"Someone should call Wayne, Eddie's gonna need 'im." said Gareth.

Morning rose over the city, passed out across the many chairs in the waiting room where various persons. A magazine lay draped over Grant's face while he slept. Gareth calling hogs while he used Jeff's shoulder as a pillow.

Steve's eyes fluttered open and shut as he nodded in and out, eyes trying to focus on the muted news on the TV. Luckily, what happened had not hit the media, yet.

Chrissy slept curled in her hair, trying her best to use her arms as a pillow. Mascara running and smudge onto the sleeve of her shirt. With a jolt, she awoke, fearful eyes glancing around the room.

She heaved a large sigh and bit her lip, fighting tears. "It's not a dream." she thought, settling down into place.

Steve sat up in his seat, "any news?" Chrissy asked him, voice hoarse.

"Not yet, a few alarms sounded back there but, they brought in at least three more people via ambulance." Steve explained.

"Could have been any of them." Chrissy added.

"Yeah totally." Steve said quickly.

Chrissy rubbed her sore neck, her eyes falling on Eddie, who'd also curled into his seat, his face knotted in that same distressed expression.

"How's he doing?" Chrissy asked.

"He's...um, doing? I guess. Only been sleep about two hours or so. Went mental on some poor guy who was star struck at so many famous faces in the lobby." said Steve.

"Can you blame him?" Chrissy asked, hugging herself. "It's how this all started, some fan out of nowhere." she sighed.

Chrissy and Steve simultaneously looked towards the box clutched in Eddie's hands.

"Please tell me that's not-"

Steve exhaled a shaky breath, "yeah," he lulled, sucking in his lips. "It is, it was." he said.

"Even after a fight?' Chrissy asked.

A failed chuckle exited Steve's throat, "Because of the fight. Eddie doesn't know what to do with how his life is changing. Idiot's doing his best, but he's shitting himself on a daily basis. He's the face of Corroded Coffin no matter how much he tries not to be. He's been thrown into the favor of most of the world after being a great big nobody, and he's doing it with who'd he'd easily call the girl of his dreams." Steve stated.

"And he's terrified that one wrong move will fuck everything up forever. Yeah, he's falling for some stupid shit, like real stupid shit - but, he's trying to push those wax wings to their limit. He bought a new house for Wayne, got his dad a new lawyer, paid for Y/n's business he'd always dreamed of. He wants to keep all that ~ but he's seen what can happen to couples who are unevenly balanced in this life." Steve sighed.

Chrissy frowned, "now you're making me nervous." she said.

Steve tilted his head, "why?" he asked.

"Your attitude has dropped from one thousand to sixty-five, and your face is way too serious." said Chrissy.

Steve frowned, " Yeah, well, I know what it's like to lose hold of the person you thought you'd marry one day." he said. "Fortunately for me, it wasn't like this."

Chrissy chewed her lip, "Do you think?" she asked, voice shaken.

"No, hell no. Y/n's always been a stubborn little shit," Steve chuckled. "Probably just taking time to plot her revenge in her head. She's totally going after that guy when she's better."

"I'm here! W-we're here! Where is she? He?" Robin's panic rambling filled the waiting room as she rushed in ahead of Nancy and Jonathan.

"Robin?" Steve questioned, brows raised high.

"Aren't you," Chrissy asked squinting, "Aren't you supposed to be in Italy?" she asked.

"Honeymoon got pushed back because I got a call regarding my client. There was a change in his case, so I've got another trial ahead of me." Nancy explained.

"Our plan stopped here, and I remembered that Jonathan was in town because of the tour, gave him a call for a ride to the hotel and..." Nancy's brows knitted together, "heard the news." she murmured.

"Damn, Byers you became everyone driver tonight, eh..day." Steve said.

"It's nothing new," Jonathan sighed, "and this time I'm happy to do it."

In one arm, Jonathan held a giant paper bag, and in the other hand a drink holder. "I pick up breakfast for everyone, and coffee. Nobody really slept last night and I spent it all explaining about the tour..." he said.

"Double shot?" Steve asked.

Jonathan laughed dryly, "Triple shots." he said.

Chrissy hoped up, "Oh, you're an actual angel." she sighed, rushing towards him and taking a cup.

"Did they catch the guy? Is anyone looking for him?" asked Robin.

"The police are out looking, yeah. No word on how that's going." Yawned Jeff, his eyes opening slowly.

"I smell Coffee." Grant muttered as Jonathan passed the cups around.

The doors to the Emergency room opened and out stepped the doctor Eddie'd threatened. He looked at the group, and the frown on his face was worrying.

"Doctor Jenner?" Chrissy questioned going to meet him with nervous steps.

"You're Ms. Cunningham? Listed on her file?" Jenner asked.

Chrissy fumbled around in her purse, "Y-yes, um," she pulled out her driver license and handed it over. Jenner looked the tiny card over and lead Chrissy away from the others.

Looking Chrissy dead in the eyes, Jenner spoke quietly and clearly, "Y/n is stable for the moment. It was touch and go. It's still touch and go. The first bullet collapsed the left lung, but it could have been worse. We've removed the bullet and fragments. There's currently a chest tube in place." He explained.

Chrissy nodded her head absently, blinking away the water in her eyes.

"We've moved her to a private room and have gotten her as comfortable as we are able." Jenner added.

"So, can we see her now?" Chrissy asked hopefully.

Jenner exhaled, "she may receive visitors in around thirty to forty-five minutes, yes." He paused, "but you should know..."

After bidding goodbye to Jenner, Chrissy stumbled back to the group. Shaking her head lightly and ruffling her hair.

"Chrissy?" asked Jonathan, as no one seemed to want to break the silence.

"We um...we can see her in about thirty to forty-five minutes, they moved her to a room." Chrissy spoke in a daze.

Eddie's eyes opened as he slowly pushed himself up in his seat. He watched the water droplets hang from Chrissy's eyes lashes. "But" he lulled with caution.

Chrissy gave her head another shake, "They induced her. So..." Chrissy said.

"Well, that's good, right. That's a good thing that usually helps." Robin stammered.

"The second bullet fractured her skull, she had swelling and um, she needs about three more operations to fix that and one to assess just how band things are. They want to keep her out until then but, the chest tube needs to do it work." Chrissy continued on.

"Jenner doesn't want to risk putting her under with one lung down." she said.

Eddie exhaled long and slow, "fff-fucking christ..." he whispered, pulling his hair back.

"It went through though, clipped her skull rather than...you know." said Chrissy.

Nancy looked at Eddie with concern. "How are you feeling?" She asked him carefully.

Eddie bowed his head, eyes looking down at the blood crusted on his shoes. His shoulder began to shiver.

"Oh," Nancy exhaled, "oh no, hey," she hummed going to him with quick steps. Nancy lightly rubbed his back. "It's ok, right? The doctor would have told us if it was bad." she said.

"Come on, Eddie." Gareth said going to him as well.

Chrissy bit her lip, "Nancy's right, Eddie. Don't make yourself sick just yet."

Eddie stooped, squatting near the ground, he pawed at his eyes. "Just tell them to fix it. I don't give a shit what it costs, they can have my left and right arm, just....tell them to fix it." Eddie murmured.

He held his stomach, "I think I'm gonna be sick." he said.

"Hey! Can we get a bucket or something!" Steve called out, turning towards the front desk.

Table of Contents | Next

[thephantomcasebook]

Friendly Advice or Consultation is Welcome/Needed

I find myself preoccupied tonight with a conundrum of conscious that I'm conflicted on.

See, my old man is on the final level of hospice - fading fast - in fact, a few days ago it looked like he wasn't gonna make it ... which, funny enough, was also the same day that a bunch of psychopaths were going at me here, including that creepy weirdo who literally sends me hate in my inbox like once a month cause they claim "You're lying about the lore ... and I hope they expose you!"

God, fuck off loser, don't you have anything better to do today?

Either way, I love going to bed across the house from my dying dad, thinking I'm gonna be without a father for the rest of my life when I wake up, and my phone is blowing up, cause, some Blackcel galaxy brain can't google properly, and is stalking my blog cause I think the Velaryon's are overrated corporate trash.

Which, you know, it's the internet ...

Luckily I kept my old man breathing his final breaths to myself or I'm sure I was gonna get some fucking loser sending me messages about how they hope my old man dies ... Cause, it's the internet, and they think some mediocre, milk-toast, actress with made up pronouns who hates them are more important than common fucking decency.

But whatever ... Like I said, internet.

Anyway.

So for about six months the hospice care that Medicare is paying for - mostly - has assigned volunteers that come over once a week and spend time with the patients. I guess I can see their point, and I'm not against it in principle. However, I'm conflicted about this ... which is why I'm writing this rare personal post.

So the guy that has been coming over for months now is a really - REALLY - weird dude.

Let me preface.

I'm a trained Detective, I broke the curve for deductive reasoning at University aptitude test that had FBI and other Government Agencies trying to recruit me. The Austin Police Department offered to pay my college tuition if I committed to joining their police force after University, including requesting me to join specialized courses at the Central Headquarter downtown.

I've solved two - TWO - century old crimes - one of which was from using water irrigation records from 1898 - 1908 to exonerate an innocent man and his reputation nearly a century after he died a broken shell who everyone thought was crazy.

I'm not bragging, I'm prefacing this by saying that I'm a very good judge of people and situations.

And there was something incredibly wrong with the man that the Hospice care people sent over. When you meet him, when you talked to him, there is nothing - NOTHING - behind his eyes. He is nice, he is amiable, maybe a bit awkward, but he seemed an empty. And both my mom and I did not like him. I found him incredibly off putting and my mom found him so creepy that she didn't want him anywhere near her.

But it was part of the Hospice program, so we couldn't really say no.

Anyway, so this guy, he strikes up a friendship with my dad - who can barely see and needs a walker to get around. After only a few weeks, he starts staying way past the time allotted. The volunteers are only supposed to stay for two hours - at maximum. This guy started staying for five, six, and even seven hours once.

Now, I work at night straight through the morning ... it's what I've done for nearly a decade. So most of this stuff happens in the late-morning to mid-afternoon, while I'm asleep. So I can't police it all that much. Plus, I just don't like talking to that guy. But I've complained to my mom about it, cause, I don't like the idea of being asleep with that guy in my house alone with my crippled old man.

So, my mother has complained for months to the Hospice Care People about this guy overstaying his welcome. Even my dad was getting annoyed about his long overstaying. But nothing was ever done.

Well, it turns out that the reason that nothing was ever done was, because, his girlfriend is in charge of the volunteers. And, not only that, but he's not actually a part of the system. He's a 'off the books' volunteer that the Hospice Care approves of because his girlfriend is in charge.

So, I went to my mother and I put my foot down, saying "absolutely not" and that the guy has got to go. My mother agreed strongly and she tried to get him taken off my dad's schedule. Then, we've come to find out that he's not even really a volunteer. That he's a retired Postman that his tired girlfriend is basically pawning off on my dad (and me) to give him something to do. And last week, when he was here, we found out that he is moving out of girlfriend's house and that they're having relationship issues and he is in a bad place mentally and emotionally.

My mom, finally put her foot down and said no to the hospice care people. Under no circumstances is he allowed back in the house. Then, today, the guy called my dad, crying and upset, after being told that he wasn't allowed to come back. Apparently, his time with my old man is the only thing he's looking forward too anymore. And my dad reneged on my mom's orders to Hospice as long as he adhere's to the rules (my rules) about no more than two hour and not after 6 PM.

When my mom found out, she completely lost her shit - like full four-alarm freak out.

Now my old man is crying, cause he wants attention, cause, he feels he can't talk to anyone - which is his own fault for fucking up his relationship with me - and I got a potential nutjob that sets off so many red flags calling my dad crying cause his life is over. And my dad is blaming me, cause he says that I won't allow him to have friends, because, I'm strict about people visiting - that aren't family - getting two hours and then fucking off.

So, I don't know.

On one hand, I feel bad, cause the dude, despite looking and feeling very unhinged, has never done anything to warrant banning - other than staying way past the time that it is socially or personally acceptable. He's having a bad go of it in life right now, and he wants somewhere to go once a week. But I feel that it's not the place or position that a dying man with only months left should be put in. Also, I got a really, really, bad vibe from the guy the last time he was here.

I don't want to judge him, cause, I often deal with and judge people the way I would want to be judged, especially nerdy guys ... cause I'm a nerd myself - despite playing American Football for years - and I know what its like to be socially awkward and anxious.

But there is just something off about this guy ... and with his girlfriend trying to get rid of him so hard, and him being visibly disturbed, I just don't want him in my house anymore.

If you've made it this far down the post, I thank you for reading and would love any feedback or advice.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s7e18 party on, garth (w. adam glass)

their "comedy" music playing in the recap, my loathed. think i'm toasted enough to not be bothered by cringey humor. hopefully. said it in the first episode garth was in, i don't understand why they decided to make him incompetent at hunting. especially when pretty much whenever we meet hunters, they die.

this kids in the woods setup is very teen wolf. isn't it funny how all these jobs keep involving siblings!!!

DEAN By the way, how is your custard? SAM It's all right. It's getting better. Just wish it wasn't like the damn tape from "The Ring." I mean, I feel like I'm okay 'cause I passed on the crazy. DEAN No, you didn't. You heard what Cas said. DEAN’s phone rings. SAM Let's – let's not. You know what?

i don't remember what cas said that's relevant to this conversation 🥴 that he was sorry he broke sam's wall? no, that doesn't make sense. still dunno

MARIE He's actually a really nice guy. It's just not easy being the axman. DEAN So true.

(a small chain in the twin cities and my brain went *squirrel* lol)

i truly don't know what joke they were trying to make there. that dean thinks he's in charge?

MARIE He blamed himself when Dale died, and now this. DEAN Why did he blame himself? MARIE Well, Dale was sensitive. But what do you do – watch them 24/7? You can't blame Dale's friends.

"sensitive". if he wasn't sensitive, he wouldn't have gotten eaten by that bear/ghost

welp guess we know why sam mentioned The Ring earlier. makeup department did her dirty, i laughed out loud. it's like party city The Ring costume and makeup

same dean, same.

GARTH As in, let's hope for their sake our spirito ain't made it out of the woods. All right. Let's go check it. SAM Uh, you two go. I'm gonna visit the widow.

nice fake smile, very sibling being an asshole vibes

GARTH Trust me. My special lady has twins. [Goes into the living room] Mr. McAnn? DEAN "Special lady?”

i mean, it's a joke because he's not tv handsome, right. what about hunters can't have relationships? s/hunters/winchesters/

ah so they are gonna let garth be competent occasionally, like suggesting bobby is stuck to the flask.

good little mockup here, very detailed

SAM I mean, can you even get drunk anymore? It's kind of like, uh, drinking a vitamin for you, right? DEAN Shut up.

please i'm begging you to stop reusing the template for this thing that has Pass Word. and a login, period!! haha. but also i wonder what compels them to keep changing the desktop background. so mysterious

here for a new mundane activity they don't ever show, refilling the flask. of course, it's a plot-relevant flask so.

SAM I've already tried contacting Bobby. [DEAN looks surprised.] When that beer disappeared, I pulled out a talking board. DEAN Without me? SAM You know, I figured, why drag you in... when it's something I could just put to bed myself.

oh honey

DEAN (on phone) There's another kid. Don't think – move.

i suppose this is an interesting way to avoid a bunch of angsting over bobby directly, but still showing how the loss affected them. dean thinks he's seeing proof of his ghost, sam is brushing him off.

so i've been bracing myself on every goofyish episode, expecting something like the purple nurple episode (s2e15 apparently) which nearly killed me. but fortunately nothing has reached that level.

[lobster-tales]

Beat the Daylight

Sequel to Face the Noise, an Arcane Rock Band AU

Rating: M

Chapter 9: The Music Room

Summary: Lux finds out

This work is available here on AO3. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

When Jinx got back to the hotel, instead of going straight to her room, she went to Viktor’s. The desk clerk gave her the floor and number without a fight: the Shimmer Hotel staff knew better than to cross the heiress when she was in one of her moods.

She didn’t even knock, just swiped her skeleton key that Silco made for her. She burst into Viktor’s room, and he jerked back into his desk chair.

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK.” She paced around the small area, hands to the side of her head as she processed everything. “Goddammit.”

“... Hi,” said Viktor. His surprise passed, replaced by the usual easygoing interest. He also had just arrived, and reached down to take off his other shoe. “What’s new with you?”

“Ugh, I fucked it up, Vik!” She only tossed a cursory glance towards his belongings: lots of papers, some books. Pretty much what she expected. “I fucked everything up. Vi saw me.”

“Yes, I know,” he said. “She saw me too, onstage.”

“No, she saw me backstage. Visiting Lux.”

“Ah.” Viktor still seemed confused. “So what’s the problem?”

“She called me Powder! That’s the fucking problem!” Jinx sank onto his bed in exasperation. “And they live together, Vik! If Vi doesn’t explain what’s going on, then Caitlyn will.”

“Maybe.” His answer was a shrug, like always. He went to the fridge, removing a bottle. Jinx watched him pour a glass of vodka.

“... Can I have some?” she asked.

“Sure. When you’re twenty-one.”

“Newsflash,” she rolled her eyes. “The drinking age for rockstars is sixteen.”

He considered it for a moment, then said, “You can have one. Exactly one.”

She scoffed but otherwise accepted.

Viktor toasted her, murmuring, “Za lyubov.”

Jinx attempted to repeat the phrase, “Za lu-byov.”

“No, lyu-bov.”

“Lyubov.” She sipped at her vodka, and sighed. “Fuck, man. What’s going to happen when Lux finds out?”

Viktor made an ‘I don’t know’ noise. “What do you think is going to happen?”

“... I don’t think she’ll like me anymore.” She fell back on the bed, nearly spilling her drink.

“Okay. Her loss.”

How could he be so casual, when Jinx felt like her world was falling apart? “Guess I wouldn’t blame her,” Jinx muttered sourly. “Not when I’ve been such a shithead.”

“Eh, were you really a,” he sounded out the word, “‘shit head’, or were you just a teenager?”

She sat upright again, her elbows resting on her knees, nose twisted into a grimace. “Both.”

“Come now, pupsik, she was going to find out sooner or later. If you’re really that worried about it, then just tell her yourself.”

“No!” The word was like a punch, and Viktor even flinched. “No, I can’t tell her, I can’t tell her what I did, I…” The shadows in the room seemed to deepen.

“Then you have to accept that one of them will.”

Doubts clawed their way along her brain. “But what if they leave things out? What if they don’t remember or… fuck, I don’t even know if I remember everything. Or what if they do remember things and they’re so much worse than I thought they were-” Fishbones was grumbling in her mind now, echoing every word. “What if Vi’s still angry and she lies about something? Or what if she does tell the truth but there’s something I didn’t even know-”

A strange sensation slowed her descent. Jinx stared down at Viktor’s hand, tapping her knee rapidly. “What-what are you doing?”

“Comforting you,” Viktor said, uncertain.

“You’re… slapping me.”

“I’m not!” His pace slowed, though the intensity didn’t let up. “I’m patting you. Don’t you feel better?”

“No,” she said, choking on a laugh. “No, I don’t.”

Viktor changed tactics, now rubbing her knee the way one would rub two sticks together to light a fire. “How about this? Is this working?”

“Stop, you’re gonna scrape my skin off!” She jerked away, unable to hold back the grin on her face. He was just so absurd.

“Ah ha!” he said, triumphant. “You’re smiling, it did work.”

“It didn’t,” she lied. As her chuckles dissipated, so did the fear. The day’s events weighed on her, and she realized how exhausted she was. Jinx sighed, shoulders drooping as she swirled the last bit of vodka in her glass.

“... For the record,” Viktor began, his tone more gentle now. “And I don’t know how reassuring you’ll find this, but… I never heard your side. I only ever heard it from Caitlyn and Ekko. I felt like their summation was… fair, but of course there will always be bias. Taking that into consideration, and considering everything I know about your past… Well, I- I still like you.”

His sincerity startled her, but when he saw her expression, he quickly raised his hands. “Not in a weird way, though. I‘m ten years your senior and violently homosexual.”

A giggle escaped her throat.

Viktor’s mouth twitched into a half grin. “I can’t speak for Lux. How she reacts is up to her. But regardless of how she takes it, I just want you to know that I’ll… still be here.” Tears flooded Jinx’s eyes, and Viktor panicked. “What-what did I do now? Did I say something wrong? Was that the wrong thing to say?”

“No,” she snuffled, wiping her nose on her fingerless glove. “No, you’re um… Thanks, Vik.” She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she knew he wasn’t as comfortable with physical affection. So instead, she settled for grasping his forearm. He returned the gesture, much more at ease.

They locked arms for a long moment, before she pulled away and mumbled, “Fuck, I’m tired.”

“You want me to walk you back to your room?”

“... What are you doing the rest of the day?”

He shrugged, surveying his papers. “Eh, probably just research. I’ve been really into electroencephalography.”

She didn’t even stutter. “Oh, like recording brain activity?”

His nonchalance melted into adoration. He beamed at her as if she had reminded him of a fond memory. But he kept his voice even. “Exactly. Why do you ask?”

Jinx took in a sharp breath, uncertain if she was crossing a line. “Is it cool if I just like… sleep? While you’re working? I just… I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“... of course.” He took her empty glass while she snuggled under the covers. “Do you need anything? Any water?”

“I’m good.”

“Alright. Well, Sladkih snov, pupsik.”

She repeated the phrase in a hushed murmur, even though he wouldn’t be dreaming with her. “Sladkih snov, Vik…”

Within minutes, he was already lost in his research again. And Jinx slept, better than she had in days.

                                                       ☆ ☆ ☆                                                        

Progress Day already planned on taking the next day off, regardless of whether it would be in celebration or disappointment.

Usually on their days off, the Kiramman mansion residents would at least have a cup of coffee together, if not an entire breakfast. But today, Mrs. Kiramman had borrowed Caitlyn’s time with an offer she couldn’t refuse: the range. Caitlyn hesitated before she left, checking in with Vi, trying to get a gauge on her feelings about the day before. But Vi didn’t want her to worry, so she faked a smile and told her to have fun.

With Caitlyn gone, Vi spent her morning in the home gym. Her fists flew against the sandbag, numbing the thoughts in her mind. Sleep had reset her emotions, but the more she remembered from yesterday, the more frustrated she became. The poor sandbag stood no chance as she pummeled it, unleashing her confusion and anger. So intense was her workout that even Tobias decided to keep his distance today.

The workout helped, though, gave her an outlet to channel her feelings. After her shower, she only had enough energy to wander the mansion, a ghost in the echoing hallways. She kept the hood of her Hextech hoodie up, like she was on the street. Vi had explored the mansion a few times, Caitlyn giving her the tour, Tobias giving her several. She was quietly disgusted at first, how shiny and clean everything was, but she was even more disgusted at how used to it she’d become after living here for a few weeks.

She heard the distant strains of a guitar, and found herself following the sound, like a ship to a lighthouse. The sound led her to the Kiramman music room, which was mostly unused since they had the studio now. Lux was there, though, legs folded on the floor, tuning the acoustic guitar in her lap. She acknowledged Vi with a tiny nod before returning her focus to the strings.

Vi leaned against the doorframe. She hadn’t meant to avoid Lux, it just kind of… happened. She was just so confused, but hadn’t come up with a way to address it with her. But she deserved an explanation: they both did. “You know it’s our day off, right?” she asked.

“I don’t want to lose again.” Realizing her bluntness, Lux softened it with, “... I’m sorry about Ezreal. I really didn’t know he was going to do that.”

“Oh. Yeah, um, it’s- it’s okay.” In truth, the social media post was far on the back burner of her thoughts. She was still annoyed with Ez, sure, but her priorities were somewhere else. “Lux, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“... Why was Jinx in our dressing room?”

Lux’s fingers hovered over the fret. Her expression was one of guilt, though Vi didn’t know why she would feel guilty. Yet. “Well… I… Remember how I said I crossed paths with her at that party?”

“Yeah,” Vi said.

“That wasn’t exactly… the whole story. We’re like, friends. I guess.”

Frustration frothed in Vi’s stomach, but she pushed it aside. Lux didn’t know how unfair it was, how could she? Obviously, Jinx hadn’t told her anything, and so far Vi had been keeping secrets too.

Lux asked, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Who’s Powder?”

Vi sighed, her shoulders deflating as she did so. “Long story.”

“We have time,” Lux prompted, gently.

Honestly, Vi had expected Caitlyn to say something to Lux first, since they were so close, maybe even explain the situation to her the night before. But apparently not. Caitlyn knew better than anyone that this was Vi’s story to tell, her family’s history. And Vi appreciated that of her.

But Vi had never told the story before. The grief seemed so insurmountable, so impossible to express. And to be honest, part of her was ashamed. Ashamed that she never saw the signs, that she was too lovestruck to protect her sister.

Lux didn’t push her, though, just let her process for a moment. Whether Vi liked it or not, Lux was involved now. The secret wouldn’t stay buried forever, and it would be better for Vi to tell her rather than find out from some exploitative exposé. That, and she sensed that somehow, Lux deserved to know.

So Vi took a seat on the piano bench, and told Powder’s story. She explained how their parents died and how Vander took them in, how they grew up as outcasts and were bullied by their peers. She didn’t go into detail about the car accident: in fact, she kept Mylo and Claggor’s names out. That would be a different story, for a different time.

When she brought up the pub performance, Vi’s voice wavered. But Lux was patient, her silence encouraging her to continue. And Vi managed to make it through. She told her about the nights Powder and Ekko spent partying with Silco. And the night Powder did Shimmer for the first time. And their fight in the living room. Powder’s disappearance. Vander’s court summons. And the final seal of her fate, the name written there: Jinx.

Lux’s jaw dropped at the amount of information, but she kept herself from speaking, let Vi finish. And when she did, Lux joined her on the piano bench, hugging her tightly.

Only then did Vi feel the prick of tears, as a reaction to Lux’s sympathy. Though, she was surprised at how much the grief had dulled: of course, it was still there, it always would be. But it was no longer a bleeding wound, now just an ache in her heart.

The pain was fresh for Lux, though, even being so far removed from everything. “I’m so sorry, Vi.” Lux’s words were intercut with sniffles, the choke of tears thick in her throat. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. To both of you.”

“It’s cool.” It wasn’t. “It is what it is.” 'It' being a shit situation.

Lux had a few more gentle questions that she murmured into Vi’s shoulder, but her tone was free of judgment. She only sought to understand, not to form opinions. When she pulled away, her face was resolute. “I’ll talk to her. Maybe it’s just been a misunderstanding. She might listen to me, it might not be too late.”

“That’s the thing, Lux,” Vi’s voice was low. “I think it is.”

The early afternoon light streamed in through the tall windows. The room was so clean compared to their studio, which had become cluttered with effort. In this room, Lux’s guitar was the only instrument that had been held recently, the others leaning in their display stands.

“Look,” Vi said, wiping her hoodie sleeve against her wet eyes. “Whoever you hang out with is your business. But as someone who knows her… well, who knew her, at least, just… be careful.”

Lux answered in a small voice, “... Okay.”

                                                       ☆ ☆ ☆                                                        

Jinx’s phone rang again. And again she didn’t answer.

She wanted to, she really did. Days had passed since she saw Lux, and she really did want to hear her voice. But fear paralyzed her. Her anxious mind had calculated every possible situation, every path the conversation could follow. She had to be prepared, just in case.

Jinx was alone on her bed, knees drawn to her chest. Fishbones had been growling all day, voice blending into an eerie combination of Silco and Lux. Every time she felt like she was ready, another doubt would flare up. Until a voice, clear and unfiltered, said in a Russian accent, You’re never going to be truly prepared, pupsik. Just call her.

Lux answered instantly, breathless, “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“... Sorry it’s been a few days,” Lux said. “We've been practicing a lot harder.”

“Makes sense.”

“So um…” Lux picked her words carefully. “I have some news. The good news is, you have a sister.” Then, weakly, “Wooo, it’s a girl. But uh… the bad news is that you two are estranged, apparently. And she’s in the rival band. And she’s my roommate.”

Jinx’s heart pounded in her chest, mind racing as she tried to predict what Lux would say next. When Lux didn’t continue, Jinx muttered, “She told you, huh?”

“Yeah.”

The fear returned. Echoes of Lux’s voice played in her mind, shouting at her, criticizing her, judging her. All these scenarios led to the same place: “Let me guess,” Jinx said sourly. She had to protect herself. She had to attack first. “You’ve realized what a shitty person I am.”

Lux did a good job of pretending she was surprised. “Wh-what?”

“You called me to tell me that you hate me-”

“What? No, Jinx-”

But Jinx was on a roll, the storm overtaking her. “And you don’t want to be friends anymore.”

“Jinx, stop.” Lux didn’t yell, just kept her tone even and firm. “Please don’t put words in my mouth.”

Damn if she wasn’t convincing. “You’re just mad because I’m right, aren’t you? That’s what you were going to say anyway.”

“No, I wasn’t, I was going to say-”

“What? That you think I’m a-”

Now Lux raised her voice, but just barely. “Please let me speak!”

Jinx forced her mouth shut, narrowing her focus, ignoring the overlapping echoes.

Lux said softly, “I don’t… I don’t think anything, Jinx. Based on what Vi told me, it seems like there’s… a lot more to unpack. The only reason I brought it up is because I want to be transparent with you. To be honest, I’m kind of hurt that you lied to me. I understand why you did, but it still hurts. I don’t want to lie to you, I don’t want to pretend like I don’t know this stuff even though I do. I just… want you to know. That I know. That’s all.”

Her confusion cut a line through the fear. It was the last thing Jinx had expected, and she didn’t have time to prepare herself. There’s no way this was real. This had to be a trick. “You’re not mad? I mean, you have to admit it was a shitty thing to do.”

“Frankly, it’s none of my business.” Lux’s voice was near to a whisper now. “And besides, I haven’t even heard your side of the story yet. I’m in no position to judge you.”

Jinx’s words were trapped in her throat, scrambled, wanting to lash out but unsure how.

“The only impression I got,” Lux murmured. “Is that you seem like you may be in a lot of pain. And I just wanted to ask, if you feel comfortable, do you want to talk about it?”

“I can’t,” Jinx said quickly. “I won't.”

“Okay, okay.” She was so gentle. Why was she being gentle? “If you change your mind, just know I’m here.”

Jinx wished she could respond. She wished she could tell Lux that she appreciated her, or even that she understood her. But the fear kept her silent. Fishbones was still chomp, chomp, chomping away at her brain, promising betrayal, wrath.

Lux asked, “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

“... Your day.”

She could hear the smile in Lux’s voice as she began orating. It didn’t take her long to get started, and she maintained the ramble, refocusing Jinx’s attention.

As Lux went on, reality began to sink in. She really wasn’t angry. She wasn’t going to yell, or sob, or accuse her. She just… accepted her. And as she continued talking, Jinx began to feel, for the first time, that faint flutter of hope. First Viktor, and now Lux: both of them knew the depth of her darkness, and both of them still stuck around. Maybe she hadn’t gone too far. Maybe she did have a choice in her future. Maybe, just maybe, things would be alright.

She knew better than to get her hopes too far up, though. For now, all she wanted was to listen to the girl that still liked her. Despite everything, Lux was still here. And that was enough.

[silver-rings-and-rabbits]

Open Heart 2 - Chapter 6

Buying Time

Bryce told the group about Keiki individually: when he could get them alone, either at home or work, he gently explained the story and they all reacted with much more sympathy than Bryce had expected, Aurora especially, but she knew better than the others how it felt to be cast in the shadow of your family. Sienna offered to teach him to cook a few more recipes, which Bryce appreciated, but the biggest surprise came from Jackie.

“If you’re gonna make fun of me, do it now,” he had said, facing opposite her by the trash cans outside Donahue’s the night he told her.

“I wasn’t gonna make fun of you, actually,” Jackie said. “It sucks that your parents were so crappy, and that you faced flak for what they did.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. There are some things you don’t make jokes about. I’m sorry you went through all that.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “It’s not the same, but…I don’t meet my parents expectations either. Not many people would be disappointed to see their daughter chasing her career goals but…mine are.”

“Let me guess, they’d rather you were married?”

“If they had their way, I’d be married with two kids by now. But we aren’t obligated to live their lives for them.” She patted Bryce’s arm. “So is your sister here to stay now?”

“I don’t know. I seriously doubt living with me will be better than living at home. I’m just…doing my best to make sure she makes it through the days in one piece.”

“Bryce…I think you need to have a bit more of a plan than that.”

Jackie had left Bryce with that food for thought and hadn’t brought it up again, and the group still hadn’t met Keiki (except Matthew). Bryce still seemed to be hoping that Keiki would decide to go back to Hawaii.

Meanwhile, Matthew was slowly warming up to Rafael again; Raf came to visit them some evenings and they all watched a movie or played games together. Nights that ended with the whole group laughing about something were better than the ones that ended with him alone in his room.

****

One August morning, a few weeks after the festival, Matthew was still lying in bed. It was his day off and he was determined to make the most of it by doing nothing at all. Sienna had knocked about ninety minutes ago and brought him some toast, which he had shamelessly eaten under the covers, otherwise he’d been left alone, snuggled under the duvet with Spooky nestled around his ankles.

And then someone briskly knocked on the door.

“Tell them to go away, Spooky…” Matthew groaned as the chinchilla stirred.

The person knocked again, and Matthew groaned. He threw back the covers and stalked to the door.

“This better be important—oh! Dr Hirata!”

June stood in the doorway, beaming at him. She looked as fresh as a daisy. Matthew jumped behind the door, trying to maintain his dignity whilst mostly nude.

“Settle down, Dr Valentine, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” she said brightly, walking into his room and looking around with interest. Spooky eyed her suspiciously.

“What are you doing here?”

“We have a new case. The board assigned the patient to us an hour ago and we’re outside in the car. How quickly can you get some clothes on?”

“I’ll be ready in two minutes!”

June stepped outside. Matthew hastily found a clean shirt and pair of trousers, tugging a nearly-new sweater over his head and tying a tie (he had finally found the balance between looking smart and being able to breathe). He quickly brushed his hair and grabbed his bag, passing Elijah on the way out (“Yes, I let her in, but I didn’t think you’d answer the door naked!”).

June was outside, waiting by Baz’s precious mini. She looked impressed.

“Not bad at all. No one would know you’ve just rolled out of bed.”

“An illusion I perfected at med school,” Matthew said, climbing into the back seat. “Morning everyone.”

The car pulled away from the sidewalk and into the city, but Matthew was surprised when they turned the opposite way from the hospital and a more wealthier part of town. It turned out the patient was rich enough to pull rank over a hospital and make them come to him. The atmosphere was frosty: this wouldn’t be happening if Matthew hadn’t reached out to Gwyneth Monroe.

“I thought you wanted to turn the team into an ATM,” Ethan said.

“I’ve apologised so many times, what else do you want me to do?” Matthew groaned. “All I wanted was to help that girl, and we helped her.”

“And we saved the team whilst we did that,” June said loudly, as Baz gave Matthew a sympathetic look. “Face it, Ethan, if Matthew hadn’t reached out, we would have been next on the chopping block. Your moral compass isn’t going to save lives if there’s no hospital to treat patients in. Get over it.”

Matthew looked out the window to hide his smile and Baz tried to pretend his laugh was a cough as they pulled up to a ridiculously grand house. It was three stories high with large bay windows looking over an immaculate lawn that held a marble fountain and immaculate flowerbeds. More marble was in the steps that led up to an imposing set of black double doors that each had a lion’s head door knocker.

“What did you say his name was?” he whispered to Baz.

“Leland Bloom. He’s an investor in tech, or something. The third richest man in America.”

June knocked, and the team was greeted by an extremely smart butler. He led them down a gaping hallway into a drawing room that would not have been out of place in a museum. Matthew guessed that the furniture cost more than his entire college education and he suddenly felt very shabby and insignificant. That is, until he heard another group of doctors enter the room; Aurora was amongst them.

“I like your new coat,” he blurted, and he did. It was shorter and more fitted than the Edenbrook lab coat, and had the orange logo of Mass Kenmore. Aurora looked pleased as she adjusted her collar.

“Well, well, well,” said a familiar voice. It belonged to Tobias Carrick, the man who had offered Aurora the new job. The third member of their team was a doctor Matthew hadn’t seen. He was eyeing them suspiciously.

“Ethan Ramsey in the flesh,” Carrick was saying. “How’s it going, buddy?”

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Ethan’s jaw had tightened, his eyes narrowed. Aurora glanced at Matthew, who shrugged.

“Looks like the brass at both our hospitals had the same idea. Piggy bank sounds a little empty these days.”

“I see we’re all getting acquainted,” said a posh, slightly throaty voice, and the doctors turned to see an old man in his seventies dressed in smart black trousers and a white shirt under a thick blue sweater. A pair of glasses hung on a gold chain around his neck. He had a shocking amount of thick, grey hair and leaned heavily on a cane. His face was drawn, with shadows under his eyes, yet he still managed to look down his nose at them. He was the top dog here, and they wouldn’t forget it.

“I am Leland Bloom and this is my wife and business partner, Caroline,” he said, grandly, indicating a distinguished-looking woman beside him. She appeared of a similar age to Leland, tall and thin, her arms folded across her chest and her hair knotted in a tight bun. She regarded them all with a nod.

“Thank you for coming, doctors.”

“Hey, I like surprises as much as the next guy but I think you’ve double-booked,” Tobias said, as Leland Bloom settled into an armchair. Ethan rolled his eyes.

“You were always a little slow on the uptake, Tobias. I think Mr Bloom wants a little competition.”

“What I want, Dr Ramsey, is excellence,” Bloom said, a touch condescendingly. “And in my experience, competition is the father of excellence, yes.” He sat back and eyed the Edenbrook team critically. “You and your team are commonly lauded as the best diagnosticians in the country. I worry that makes you cocky. Complacent.”

“We’re not.”

“Easy to say. I once allowed a young entrepreneur to know that I was very interested in working with him upfront. His subsequent pitch was…sloppy. Lazy. So instead of investing in his product, I gave him something better: a rival. His pitch improved exponentially, though not enough. His rival earned my investment and I earned a healthy return.”

Matthew hated the way he made it sound like everything had to have economic value attached.

“Mr Bloom, this isn’t business, it’s medicine.”

“All life is business, Doctor. The same rules apply. For every winner there must be a loser. A zero-sum game.”

Matthew grimaced. The butler approached, bearing a silver tray that carried two glasses of what looked like dark tea and offered one to Baz.

“Thank you, I’m parched.”

“It’s not a drink, sir.”

As the butler handed the second cup to Aurora, Baz sniffed the contents and winced.

“Ah yes. Urine sample.”

Leland was looking weary. He leaned heavily on Caroline and requested the doctors allowed him to get into bed before beginning their competition.

“So, it’s a race to diagnose you,” Tobias grinned. “That’s a new one. Count us in.”

“And we’re out,” Ethan growled. He strode from the room as Matthew exchanged panicked glances with June and Baz. Tobias smirked as Caroline and the other doctors looked shocked. Bloom looked perplexed.

“I’m so sorry, Mr Bloom, Dr Ramsey didn’t mean that,” Matthew hastened to explain.

“Yes, all part of his process!” Baz added.

“Please excuse us whilst we confer,” June said, glaring in Ethan’s direction.

The three of them hurried out of the room and into the hallway where Ethan was just leaving.

“The hell is wrong with you?” June hissed as they caught up to him.

“If he thinks I’m going to jump through hoops for his money—”

“Ethan, please. We need this. You know we need this.”

“Everyone deserves treatment,” Matthew reminded him. “Even billionaires.” Bloom was giving him the creeps, but he’d sworn an oath to treat everyone to the best of his ability and he stood by that. Unfortunately, Ethan wasn’t convinced.

“And he’ll get it from Mass Kenmore, or any other doctor in the world that he chooses to fly in!”

“And where will that leave us?”

“With at least some of our dignity left intact.”

“Dignity won’t keep the diagnostics team operational, Ethan.”

“We need this. We can’t save anyone if we shut down.”

Their comments finally got to Ethan, who sighed.

“Alright. Let’s get back to work.”

The butler led them up a sweeping staircase to an opulent bedroom where Bloom was sitting up in an enormous bed, in a silk nightshirt. Caroline perched beside him, stroking his hand.

“Look who’s decided to stoop to our level after all,” Tobias gloated. The Mass Kenmore team were just finishing up.

Ethan ignored him and apologised to Mr Bloom, reiterating that the diagnostics team could prove they were the best for the job, but no one could deny that Edenbrook’s reputation had already been tarnished in Bloom’s eyes. He referred to Aurora as Dr Carrick’s “very thorough protegee” and Matthew smiled when she tucked her hair behind her ear, looking pleased.

“Good luck Matthew,” she said on her way out.

“You too.”

“Hey, come on, no fraternising!” Tobias warned, though he himself paused when he passed June.

“Hirata.”

“Carrick.”

Matthew shook his head as he focused on his task. Mr Bloom had noticed the discolouration in his urine about a month ago, though there hadn’t been any blood in it. Caroline had noticed he was getting sick more often and had been complaining about back pain for a long time, but he had only recently started using a cane. He had always put off going to the doctor, despite what Caroline had been telling him.

“Yes, my love, I’ve learned my lesson. I should always listen to you.”

“For a man so brilliant, it sometimes takes you a while to catch on.”

They shared a sweet kiss as Matthew examined swelling around Bloom’s feet and ankles. He suspected a lot of physical activity, but Leland hadn’t played in years. He used to partake in tennis and golf.

“I got older and stopped winning. I don’t play if I can’t win.”

“We’ll need to take some blood samples,” Ethan said. June beat him to the testing kit.

“Mr Bloom, I’d love to hear more about how you apply business principles outside of the office,” she said, preparing a syringe.

“Watch out, Doctor,” Caroline laughed. “That’s a sure fire way to keep him talking for hours.”

“Well it’s not every day you get access to this kind of advice!”

June charmed Leland easily as Matthew stepped back, though he couldn’t help wondering how she and Ethan knew Tobias.

Having had nothing planned for the rest of the day, he decided he might as well stay at the hospital and get a head start on Mr Bloom’s tests. Between team brainstorms, he checked in with Esme. She was coming along nicely and didn’t always need his help, but it was good to be on standby.

****

The August evening was warm and clear so he chose to walk home rather than packing into the sweaty T. As he approached the apartment, he could see the overflowing mailbox.

“Doesn’t anyone check the mail around here?” he said aloud as he emptied it and let himself in. Aurora was on the couch, drinking a cup of tea, and startled when he came in,.

“Oh, hi!”

“Hey.”

They hesitated, their reality weighing heavily in the air.

“Looks like we’re competing against each other again,” Aurora mumbled.

“Looks like it…” Matthew sighed.

But Aurora was more important than a competition, and he sat down beside her with a smile.

“Forget all that for now. Tell me about Mass Kenmore.”

Aurora blinked, and then grinned, curling up in her corner of the couch to nurse her cup of tea.

“It’s going great,” she said. “I love Aunt Harper, but she casts a long shadow at Edenbrook. At Kenmore it feels like I can finally see the light a little.”

“I’m really glad to hear that.”

“Actually, do you know who my intern got reassigned to?”

“I think Ines took over her. Ah, you’ve got mail.”

Matthew passed Aurora a large envelope, which she took with a frown. Two tickets with gilded edges fell into her lap.

“What’s that?” Matthew had received nothing but bills and take-out flyers.

“Tickets to my five-year undergrad reunion at Tufts.”

“Oh, fun! When is it?”

“…In an hour.”

“Serious?” Matthew’s eyes bugged. “Good thing one of us checked the mail. You might have missed it.”

“I’m not going,” Aurora said, taking a mouthful of tea. “Undergrad…kinda sucked. Every year was like our intern year at Edenbrook. Everyone hated me because they thought I had ridden my name into the pre-med program, or they tried to one-up me in every class to say that they beat an Emery. Or they pretended to be my friend to meet my family.”

Her eyes narrowed as she remembered and Matthew’s stomach twisted with guilt as he remembered assuming similar things about her last year.

“I’m sorry,” he said, gently. “That sucks.”

Aurora shrugged. “It wasn’t all bad. I liked some of my professors, and the campus was beautiful. Hey, maybe…” she hesitated, looking slightly shy. “Well, if you wanna come with me, we could go. I could do with the back up.”

They had come so far since last year, and Matthew didn’t need to be asked twice.

“OK, let’s do it!” He said. “We’ll get dressed quick. It’s only about twenty minutes in a cab.”

Aurora had a smile on her face as she disappeared into her room. Matthew changed into a black silk shirt and brushed his hair – he was a little overdue for a haircut – and waited for Aurora to finish getting ready.

She emerged a little while later. Her tank top and striped leggings had been replaced with a stunning red dress that showed off her figure and complimented her dark skin. She had subtly lined her eyes and put some gloss on her lips. It was amazing how fantastic someone could look with such little effort.

“You look amazing!”

“Thanks,” Aurora giggled, smoothing the dress over her hips. “Are you ready to go?”

“Let’s do it. We’ll be just about on time.”

Their cab pulled up outside a large, stately building with rows of colourful flowers outside. Strings of fairy lights had been roped up, leading towards the entrance, even a red carpet had been laid out.

“Now you know where your tuition fees went,” Matthew joked as they approached the welcome booth.

“Aurora…Emery,” Aurora said, stuttering slightly. They heard a scoff from behind them and turned to see a pretty woman with a lot of curly blonde hair. Aurora gave a very faint groan.

“Hello Victoria.”

The blonde sneered, becoming decidedly less pretty.

“I can’t believe you actually showed up. We all said you’d think you were too good for this.”

Her unimpressed gaze turned to Matthew to look him up and down.

“And you are…?”

“Dr Valentine, of the Edenbrook diagnostic team.” He didn’t usually show off about his position like that, but it was worth it to see Victoria looking taken aback. “And you can apologise to my friend for being so rude.”

Victoria blanched. Aurora had a tiny smirk.

“Well…I…I think the Aurora Emery can deal with two seconds of discomfort before she scampers back to her pampered life.”

“Give it a rest, Victoria, it’s been five years,” Aurora said sharply, sounding a lot like she did when she spoke to Matthew for the first time last year. “Whatever problems you had in college weren’t my fault, and I’m not going to let you stand here and use me as an emotional punching bag. Come on, Matthew, let’s do something fun.”

She led Matthew away. Victoria remained on the spot, too flabbergasted to move.

“Nice work!” Matthew grinned, high-fiving her.

“My heart’s pounding,” she giggled. “But that was so satisfying.”

They approached the bar where Matthew asked for two of anything that would get them in the mood for dancing. The bartender chuckled as he passed them a cocktail menu, and soon they were sipping on colourful, fruity concoctions complete with miniature umbrellas.

As a few more people approached the bar, they swapped stories of med school until a blonde man stepped backwards and jostled Aurora slightly.

“Sorry about that—oh! Aurora! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“No, no, it’s OK,” Aurora said quickly, grabbing a napkin to mop up any spillage. “It’s Tim, right?”

“Yeah.” Tim glanced at Aurora nervously, taking a slight step toward the woman who had come with him.

“She doesn’t bite.” Matthew wondered what this guy’s problem was.

“She used to!” Tim gulped.

“Did we see you talking to Victoria earlier?” Tim’s companion had approached, a plump woman with wavy black hair.

“If you want to call it that.”

“Ugh, she was such a jerk. She was always trying to turn people against you for no reason, but I never believed what she said.”

“Thanks, I think.” Aurora gave her a friendly smile. “You’re Amanda, right?”

“You remember me!”

“Of course. We shared a Bunsen burner.”

Aurora introduced the two of them to Matthew, and as she shook his hand, Amanda said she was glad Aurora wasn’t such a loner anymore.

“She couldn’t be more of a loner if she tried. Too many of us enjoy her company.”

Aurora could tell he was teasing a tiny bit and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t disagree. In fact, she looked rather pleased that it had turned out that way.

She spent most of the evening catching up with her old classmates. She had had quite a few classes with Amanda, and had once hooked up with Tim at a party – biting his neck just a little too hard – but then people like Victoria had started spreading rumours, suggesting she was using her family’s success to get ahead. After that, things took a downward turn with people sucking up or being rude, and she started pushing people away. Even though she had liked Amanda and Tim, and a few others, she couldn’t risk it. It was sad to hear, but now she was talking and laughing as if they were her old friends. Not one hint of her previous angst shadowed her presence.

Tim was a training paediatrician in Manhattan, and Amanda was studying optometry just outside of Boston. Aurora and Matthew told them about Edenbrook, the competition for the spot on the diagnostic team, and what it was really like to work under the famous Ethan Ramsey. Of course Tim and Amanda had heard of him – it would be almost impossible for them not to – and weren’t too envious of their position. Amanda even admitted that it was Dr Ramsey who put her off applying for Edenbrook and Matthew’s stories of the times he had been chewed out were only confirming her instincts. Matthew found it hilarious. Harper wasn’t mentioned. Aurora preferred it that way.

Eventually the music slowed. Amanda drifted to the dance floor and Tim had gone to catch up with some of his old friends, but not before they had exchanged numbers and emails with Aurora. She tried not to look too happy as she saved them into her phone, but the fresh start clearly meant a lot to her.

“OK, I’ll admit…I’m glad we came here,” she said to Matthew. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“No problem. It’s nice to see you having fun.”

“It’s nice to be the one having fun!” Aurora nodded towards the dance floor. “Shall we?”

They wandered onto the dance floor where they gently spun around in a slow circle. Over the top of her head, Matthew could see Victoria and a group of others casting moody glances in their direction. He had felt proud of Aurora as she came out of her shell with Tim and Amanda, but once upon a time he was almost as bad as Victoria.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make more of an effort to get to know you last year,” he said.

“You actually made more effort than others. I just kept telling you off. We got there in the end.”

“I’m glad you stopped telling me off.”

“I’m glad you didn’t give up.”

She took him by surprise by wrapping her arms around his waist in a mid-dance hug.

“I mean it,” she said. “Moving in with you and the others. Having people see me for me. It’s everything, Matthew.” Her voice was thick, and she hid her face in his chest. Matthew squeezed her.

“You don’t have to thank me for that.”

“I want to.” She looked up at him earnestly. “And I don’t want our hospitals battling over patients to screw this up.”

“I don’t want that either,” Matthew said, firmly. “So let’s not let it happen.”

“Promise?”

“I promise, Aurora.” Matthew pulled her into another hug. “No matter what happens at work, you’re stuck with me.”

****

Back at Edenbrook the next day, Matthew was comparing Bloom’s latest blood work with a urinalysis. He had a few ideas, but needed to run it past Dr Ramsey before he could test further.

On his way to the diagnostic office, he spotted Jackie glaring at something down the hall: Declan Nash signing off a check for a grinning doctor.

“As discussed, your fee for your guest lecture this weekend.”

“He’s the worst,” Jackie muttered as Matthew walked over to her.

“He’s a literal parasite,” Matthew agreed. “Imagine trying to squeeze every dime out of sick and desperate people, and then basically bribing doctors into being sales reps.”

“It pisses me off, but Panacea has the patents for tons of vital drugs. I don’t think we’re escaping them.”

Jackie looked despondent as they walked away from Nash and towards Elijah saying goodbye to Sothy via secret handshake. They were both laughing as if they’d just heard the world’s best joke.

“Hey guys,” Elijah said as he rolled towards them, still sniggering.

“What’s so funny?”

“Sothy just tried to draw his patient’s blood, but his first try had the patient’s arm spurting like something from Evil Dead. Even the patient was laughing once I had it under control.”

“Wait, seriously?” Jackie looked mildly horrified, and it wasn’t at the idea of spurting blood.

“It’s been two months and he doesn’t know how to draw blood?” Matthew said.

“He knows how, he’s just not great at the execution,” Elijah explained, but he wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Elijah, he’s a doctor in a hospital. He doesn’t have the luxury of not being great at basic procedures.”

“We could all pull off a perfect insertion on day one,” Jackie said sharply. “So could Gary and Esme. Hell, even Mitch.”

“I’m not gonna penalise him for needing a bit more time to get the hang of it!” Elijah defended.

“But how is he supposed to learn if you swoop in and do it for him every time?”

“You saying this is my fault?” Elijah turned on Matthew but Jackie stepped in between them.

“It doesn’t matter what we think, but that’s exactly how Zaid’s gonna see it when he hears there’s an intern who still can’t place an IV.”

Elijah squared his shoulders defiantly. Matthew pushed his hair back.

“Elijah, I’m glad you get on so well with Sothy,” he said, gently. “But it’s for Sothy’s sake that we’re concerned. You need to find the balance between being his friend and his mentor.”

“Have you guys found that balance with your interns?”

“My job is to teach Gary for a year and makes sure he’s competent enough to teach someone else, then we all move on in our careers. I’m not required to be his friend.”

“I get on with Esme but our priority is medicine.”

“Right. Well. I’ll teach him and he’ll catch up. Everything will be fine.” Elijah nodded at them, not casual enough to be convincing, then he rolled away.

“I sure hope he’s right,” Jackie muttered.

Matthew later found Ethan alone in the diagnostics office, going a pile of paperwork. He looked up when Matthew entered.

“Leland Bloom showed high levels of protein in his urine,” Matthew explained, handing him the test results. “It’s in addition to the presence of red blood cells and elevated potassium.”

“Which could indicate what?”

“His high blood pressure and pain could indicate endocarditis, but there was no evidence of bacteria or fungi in his blood tests. White cell count also ruled out Hodgkins Lymphoma and Lupus.”

“So what do you think?”

“The protein, plus the elevated potassium, suggests his kidney function is worsening. I’d like to do a kidney ultrasound to pinpoint the source of the bleeding.”

“Good,” Ethan nodded. He picked up the handset on the office desk and started dialling. Matthew sat at the table wondering if Mass Kenmore had had the same idea…or if they had already executed it.

Ethan spent a few minutes speaking with Caroline before he hit the ‘hold’ button and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“They’re heading to the Harbour Marina to go yachting with some business partners. Apparently, Leland refuses to miss a meeting even when his life is at stake.”

Matthew rolled his eyes as he stood up.

“Shall we take the portable ultrasound then?”

“W…what?”

“The portable ultrasounds. We just meet Leland there and run the scan after the meeting.”

Ethan considered.

“We’d stay ahead of Tobias.”

****

Matthew shouldn’t have been surprised that that would be the argument to convince Ethan to meet Leland Bloom on his private yacht that brimmed with rich men wearing cashmere sweaters knotted around their necks. Waiters passed out drinks and Ethan and Matthew sat on the deck with glasses of lemonade.

Matthew took a deep breath and closed his eyes, tipping his head back and letting the sun warm his face. Whatever odd game Leland wanted to play, they were floating down the river and Tobias couldn’t reach them. In the meantime, it wasn’t every day you got to spend a summer’s afternoon on a billionaires yacht, though he seemed to be the only one who thought so. Ethan sat stiffly beside him.

“If you don’t mind my asking, what’s the deal with you and Dr Carrick?” Matthew asked after a while. Ethan sighed.

“We were at Hopkins together for med school…”

“Let me guess, you were besties?”

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

“Would you like to rephrase that into something vaguely resembling English?”

Matthew sniggered.

“Besties as in best friends.”

“Ah. Good instinct. Yes, we met at orientation. The faculty were so adamant about us bonding with each other. Tobias and I found it so saccharine that we started mocking it and bonded after all. We were like brothers and moved in together the following year.”

“So what happened?”

“We wanted too many of the same things. The highest GPA, the best residency. For a long time it was fun and pushed us to work harder. But when only one of us could win, resentment began to build. Tobias…wasn’t afraid to play dirty. Suffice to say, by the end of med school we were no longer on speaking terms.”

His eyes had narrowed and Matthew was a little afraid to press for further details. After a few minutes, Ethan turned to him again.

“Apart from that…I’ve been mulling over the situation with the hospital. Naveen started the diagnostics team with the sole purpose of helping the people who couldn’t pay for it, those with nowhere else to go. And, to be frank, I’m afraid of running it to the ground.” He downed the rest of his drink. “I was furious at you for what you did. But part of me wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“Sparing me the need to do it myself.”

Matthew was trying to work out if that was an apology for his attitude since Gwyneth Monroe when Leland Bloom came out onto the deck and strode towards them, grandly.

“My kidneys are ready for you now, doctors.”

They brought Leland to a secluded cabin, where he lay face down onto a bed and Matthew set up the ultrasound and placed it just below his ribcage. It ruled out kidney stones and bladder cancer, but Ethan wanted Leland back at the hospital for a more accurate reading. His voice was serious. For once, Leland didn’t argue.

****

Back at Edenbrook, Leland was given a general anaesthetic before Baz performed a biopsy on his kidney and soon enough Leland had an answer.

“Mr Bloom, you have aggressive Bergers disease.”

“You have high levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A,” Ethan explained. “It’s been building up in your kidneys for decades and now it’s damaging their function.”

“Decades?” Caroline asked, from where she perched on the bed beside Leland. “But he only got sick recently!”

“Bergers disease can be largely asymptomatic until later in life. It isn’t necessarily terminal, but it can lead to complete renal failure if left untreated.”

“I see,” Leland said. “And how do we get this immune-whatsit out of my system?”

“You don’t,” Ethan sighed. “Your immune system produces immunoglobulin A to protect you from disease. Some have more, others have none at all. Steroids can work well in the early stages but results are less consistent in patients further along. We could delay the onset of renal failure, but in your case it would only be a few months.”

Caroline sniffled and hastily dabbed at her eyes with a monogrammed handkerchief. Leland reached for her hand, but rather than looking upset or afraid – or even reassuring for his wife – his face had taken on a calculating look.

“You haven’t mentioned a transplant. If the problem is my kidneys, wouldn’t a transplant be the first answer?”

“A double kidney transplant is theoretically the best option in your case,” Ethan said. “But without willing donors, it’s unlikely you’d be approved as a candidate.”

“And why not?”

“Suitable organs are hard to come by,” Matthew explained. “They’re reserved for candidates both in the most need and with the highest chance of recovery. Even if you were approved, you’d be very low on a long list; you’d die waiting.”

Leland nodded as he took it all. But a calm smile relaxed his features.

“There’s always a loophole. I’ve spent my life living in loopholes.” He indicated for Caroline to pass him a bag where he took out a phone and started to dial. “Go ahead and schedule the surgery, doctors,” he said, brightly. “I’ll take care of the kidneys.”

“Wait, Mr Bloom, Bergers disease recurs in all transplant cases. You’d just be buying time.”

Leland chuckled, as if it were an obvious joke.

“That’s exactly what I had in mind. Given the disease took decades to manifest, I’ll be dead of old age long before my new pair are destroyed.”

Matthew’s jaw dropped. Ethan was simmering with fury.

“People spend years on that list praying for a chance to live,” he said, in a dangerously soft voice. “Are you honestly telling me you’ll buy your way to the front?”

“That’s life, Dr Ramsey,” Leland said, smoothly. “When someone wins, someone else has to lose. Now, if there’s a problem here I’m happy to call Dr Carrick.”

Their hands were tied. Ethan gritted his teeth and told Matthew to schedule a surgery.

****

A few days later, Matthew watched through the window of Leland’s room as Bryce prepared him for surgery. Matthew had already told him what Leland had said and, when Bryce met his eyes at the window, Matthew could tell the situation didn’t sit right with him either. First, do no harm. But what if one patient could save themselves by causing other patients further harm in delaying a potential organ transfer indefinitely? The Hippocratic oath didn’t seem to have accounted for a situation like this.

“Matthew! Hey.”

Matthew would have recognised that voice anywhere.

“Rafael? What are you doing back here? Did you get reinstated?”

“Uh, not exactly. I just had a meeting with my field supervisor.”

“How did it go?”

“My probation’s still pending review…but she said there’s no timeline for when I’ll be back.”

Matthew hadn’t realised how much he’d been hoping for Rafael to win until the news disappointed him.

“Oh, Rafael…all because you helped that kid.”

Rafael’s lips twisted into a wry smile.

“To be fair, it wasn’t just that one time. But if it’s my career for their lives? Well, I can take that trade.”

“It shouldn’t be that way though,” Matthew argued. “It’s not fair that for them to live, others have to suffer.”

Rafael seemed to surprised by the outburst and followed Matthew’s gaze into the room where Leland was receiving a good luck kiss from Caroline. Matthew bit down hard on his lip.

“What’s on your mind?” Rafael’s voice was so sweet and gentle. He carefully stepped closer and put a strong arm around Matthew’s shoulders. “Are you OK?”

Rafael’s touch sent Matthew’s heart pounding and he fought to keep still. He could see all too easily what should happen: he would lean into Rafael’s hug and share his concerns, he would comfort Raf about his suspension, then they would take their minds off it by going out into the city, either to the street markets or going to visit Raf’s family, or maybe Raf would simply walk him home where they could just cuddle in front of the TV.

But that wouldn’t happen again. Rafael was seeing someone else. Their time had passed now.

Matthew watched Caroline shake Bryce’s hand with genuine gratitude and spoke with as much conviction as he could. “I’m happy I saved another life. He’ll be cured and they’ll be able to live out the rest of their lives together. That’s what I’m meant to do for them. Everything else is secondary.”

“That’s how I feel about my suspension. That’s gotta be our North Star, Matthew. Never lose sight of it.”

Matthew nodded, keeping his eyes on the window. Rafael squeezed him once more and then dropped his arm. With the warm weight of it gone, Matthew suddenly had to suppress a shiver.

“Anyway, I’d better get over to the senior centre. I promised Edith I’d join her for bridge. I think she has a crush on me though,” he joked.

“Who wouldn’t?” Matthew said, very softly. He gave Rafael a smile. “Goodnight Raf.”

Rafael waved as he walked down the corridor and disappeared through the doors. Matthew watched the spot for a few minutes before turning…and smacking straight into Jackie.

“Forget how to walk, Matthew?” she laughed as Matthew picked up the chart she’d dropped.

“Sorry,” he grinned, sheepishly, but as he handed back her chart and caught sight of what was written on it, his smile faded.

Her chart was full of Panacea medication.

Tags: @sazanes @rafasgirl23415 @ceruleansnake0

[justanechoflower-ddlc]

Sayori:I’d.. have to agree with that. Though, at least I can say it turned into an adventure!

Monika:…Yeah, I think we’ll leave the cooking in the club to Natsuki. To be fair, Sayori has made eggs and toast correctly, but… that “adventure” was the house she and the player character were in almost burning down. …And that was before the game started.

Sayori:See? Ivan has his own-

Monika:Anyway, while there were definitely worse out there, since in your game, I believe Undyne actually burned the house down as opposed to only nearly doing it… We do already have Natsuki.

Sayori:Also, cooking’s gonna be meaningless soon anyway! At least for me and Monika! And Ivan won’t be coming until after you leave, Natsuki can already cook, and Yuri… I think she’s probably content making the drinks and letting Natsuki do the food. 

Monika:…

Sayori:And see? Flowey agrees with me! It’s doable! But yeah, I think he’s right. We’ll talk about him coming back after he leaves. Or maybe after he “left” and is in the void for the final time and about to head to his world! Though the process would probably take long enough that he’ll be in his world before Ivan’s back.

Monika:I doubt Natsuki or anyone will ask you directly to stay at your place, that isn’t exactly a.. normal thing, that usually takes a while of building a friendship first, it’s not as quick as it is in your world. …That’s part of why I didn’t consider the ingredients being at my place. It… wouldn’t make much sense for me to have you over this fast. Though when we’re at my house, it’s not like anybody can see us through the wall, so that thankfully won’t be a problem here…

Monika:But it is a good idea that you’ve preparing for that possibility anyway. The club itself is definitely more closely-knit than any of the other clubs around here. And there’s always what happens if they want to work on something with you. But yeah, I’d say we’ve got our cover story down now. …Just.. maybe don’t talk about which house is yours to anyone except us literature club members. You know, me, Sayori, Yuri, Natsuki, just them. You can tell the others you’re visiting, but maybe don’t show them the exact house you’re staying at. After all, if someone who won’t be aware of the game stuff when the player character comes back works out the place you were staying and where the player character lives is the exact same house, well… Also, it isn’t normal around here to go around giving your address to strangers…

Monika:…It’s true that violence does exist, and it’s sadly common. But… you do realize we’re students at a school, right? You might not realize this, but… staff generally aren’t keen on that? Although, I suppose I could understand.. somewhat? And I guess there is the handy fact that.. I don’t even see it! I guess the inventory mechanics from your world still works for you here. …That helps a lot. As long as it’s not equipped to your weapon slot, it shouldn’t even be visible. Our own inventory system works differently than yours, I don’t think they’re even compatible.. As ours is based on what we can physically carry, as opposed to item slots, which means that the entities controlled by the game itself, that is, everyone that isn’t us literature club members, likely wouldn’t be able to even recognize that you have those items as long as you aren’t physically having it out.

Monika:As for the original game… I don’t blame you. Besides the fact you’re soulless, you’re also… not nearly the same age as us. There’s a reason why none of us showed any of that kind of interest… Also, I wouldn’t really want more people playing copies of the game anyway. I… don’t want to put another Monika through what I’ve gone through, nor do I want a chance of that Monika doing what I did, and the other club members going through all they went through either. …I’d say it might be for the best your world doesn’t have a copy of my game… There’s a reason why when someone else asked about me, I told them to watch a play-through instead of telling them to play the game.. The other copies of the club are just as real as this one, after all..

Monika:…And it seems those anons have stopped showing up. I guess they’re out of questions, which means… 

Monika:I suppose it’s time for us to visit my place, for the time being! I’ll just have to take it back..

>resident_house[12]=“monika”

Monika:And… done! Now the game’s entities that would be in charge of mailing and the like knows that house belongs to me again. …Since the game didn’t naturally restart when I came back, I’m having to establish all the things I supposedly “did” before I came back.

Monika:..Just, try not to get seen too much there? And when we’re done doing… what we’re doing, I can send you to the place you’re supposedly actually staying. I’ll be showing you around there too, so that you can be familiar with the house you’re staying at. It’d be off if you couldn’t navigate your own house, after all!

—————————

(Presuming we did cook this day, would they even still be fresh the next day? That was the reason why the initial plan was for cooking to be the morning after, but still before club. Though you probably know more about baking than I do, how long would a batch of cookies stay fresh for?)

(And yep, Monika letting Flowey stay over right now definitely doesn’t help get rid of this inaccurate idea of how things work around here. This is really a special occasion, since they’d working on this all together, and there really isn’t much other places to discuss these matters at without being overheard. Though really this isn’t Flowey and Monika’s first day, if we count the time Monika spent in Flowey’s world. All that adds up to why Monika didn’t go something like “We don’t even know each other that well, why would I let you in my house?” That still doesn’t make this any help in clearing up misconceptions.)

(Monika’s code didn’t teleport them to the house yet. That‘s probably next post. And I’ll be aiming to work out what her house would be like, since we never actually see it in-game. If I knew the way DDLC’s backgrounds were made, I probably would have tried to replicate it and submit images or a link to images with my take on what the rooms would look like so that you could use them as the backgrounds. But… I’m not aware of what techniques were used to create that distinct style. So we’re stuck with descriptions for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I leave for school pretty early in the morning, and I don't know how it is in this world, but just based off my experiences I thought he wouldn't have much time to do everything in the morning before school. But uh. I forgot Flowey doesn't actually go to school here. What is he going to do the whole time before the literature club starts? I don't know how I didn't realize that. So he can actually just bake the cookies during that time.

(About Monika's house: I tried to search on the internet for stuff, but I could only find an image of Monika's bedroom. It is from the official ddlc Reddit account, so while it is not in the game, it is real. I'll attach it in a seperate post so you can see, and though I don't think were going to use it, I thought it was cool. I don't have anything else, so I'm thinking we could just reuse other background and pretend it's in Monika's house. Like Natsuki's kitchen.