#i guess? it's a really old game though so i figure anybody who cares already knows

[duthea]

separated, but united in their feelings (of wanting that old man to pay for what he's done)

[purple-vixen]

Love is a Locked Door - Dick Grayson/Reader

Summary: Damian asks you and Dick to check if there are any monsters in his closet. Somehow the two of you end up locked in there.

_

You have been friends with Dick for quite some time now. He was definitely one of your favorite people in the world. Dick was funny, kind, smart and selfless, and also strong and very, very handsome. Though the latter ones you never dared to say out loud.

You were in love with Dick Grayson, and you kept this secret under lock and key. Making a move never really crossed your mind. You and he were friends for so long that you were convinced he would never see you in the same light you saw him, besides, you were afraid of ruining your friendship. No one understood you like him, there was no way you were going to risk it.

Being his friend meant you were a regular Wayne Manor visitor, consequently being able to witness Dick's crazy siblings. They all adored you, though Damian was the one who became most fond of you. In the beginning he tried to hide it, but eventually stopped doing so. It was very surprising for the batfamily to see Damian getting attached to someone so quickly.

Damian would show you his action figure collection, play violin for you, ask your opinion on his paintings and he introduced you to every single one of his pets. Not to mention the times Damian would show up in your apartment's balcony seeking advice or just someone to talk to and you two would chat and drink tea all night. You always scolded him for not using the door like any other normal person, but after seeing it was not going to work you decided to let it slide.

You saw Damian like the little brother you never had. He was a cute little cinnamon roll. A deadly cinnamon roll that knew how to kill a person with just two fingers, but a cinnamon roll nonetheless. Which is why you were not able to say "No" to Damian when he asked for you and Dick to check if there were monsters inside his bedroom’s closet.

You and your best friend were now inside there, each one holding a flashlight in your hand, pointing the beams to every shelf, hanger, pile of clothes and corners possible. You had to admit, you had the impression something was a bit off, considering that Damian and Jason were also in the room and they still haven't tried to kill each other yet.

Although the closet was spacious, you and Dick accidentally bumped into each other. He grabbed your shoulders to stop you from falling and you could feel your heart beating so fast it felt like it would jump off your chest at any second.

— Be careful. — He whispered softly. You were glad it was too dark for him to see you blushing as he wrapped his strong arms around you.

— Uhm… Found any monsters yet? — Damian anxiously paced back and forth as he watched his oldest brother and you turning his wardrobe upside down.

— Not yet. —

— And if we do, we're gonna kick its ass. — Dick added.

— Hey, (Y/n). —

— Yes, Damian? —

— Thank you for helping me. —

— Anytime, Dami. I'll always be there. — You walked up to Damian just to ruffle his hair, the youngest Wayne shyly grinned in response.

Dick let out a soft chuckle. Little did you know, to Dick Grayson, you weren't just his friend anymore, you became the one he fell in love with. Seeing you and Damian interacting always made his heart melt like crazy. He thought it was so adorable, you were so adorable. It made him want to kiss you even more than he already longed for.

— What is it? — You raised your eyebrows in confusion at your friend.

— Nothing, nothing. I just... remembered a joke. — Dick scratched the back of his neck, cheeks tinting a light tone of pink as the image of being close to your lips secretly ran through his imagination. — D-Don't stand too far from the door, Damian, you have to watch it for us.  — He changed the topic.

— I already am watching. Just keep looking, Grayson. — Damian answered.

— Aren't you too old for the "There are monsters in my closet phase? — Jason was plopped head over heels on the bed, playing Subway Surfers on Dick's phone since his had run out of battery a long time ago. His green eyes glued to the screen, tongue sticking out as he tried to beat his brother's record.

— Jason, take it easy, he's just a kid. — Dick sighed. Being the older one, it always fell to him to cease his siblings' bickering.

— Aren't you too old to be alive? — Damian snapped back to Jason.

— Damian! — Dick rebuked.

— Oh, I spy with my little eye a very ugly monster, he's 4 foot 8 and wearing a turtleneck. — Jason teased.

— And I can see a deadweight spreading germs on my bed.  —

 — Enough, you two! — Dick ordered with authority. — Jason, give me my phone. Since you and Damian will keep on arguing I want it back. —

On his way to his older brother, Jason winked at Damian, who nodded back. As soon as he handed the phone to Dick, Jason smirked at him and then quietly sat back on the bed like nothing happened, hands on his lap with a rather comical angelic face.

— Sorry about that, (Y/n). — Dick changed to a soft tone as he stared at you with puppy eyes.

— It was taking too long, I guess that's a Guinness record. — You joked, trying to lighten up the mood. — Don't worry, I signed up for this when I became your friend. —

— Yeah… Friend. — He mumbled to himself.

You two went back to searching Damian's closet. A couple minutes had passed when the young boy cleared his throat, trying to get yours and his eldest brother's attention.

— Father is requesting me for an emergency. I must go. — He announced.

— Well, I better get going too. Old man's request is an order. And who am I to say no to beating up criminals? — Jason instantly jumped out of the bed and put on his leather jacket.

Words weren't exchanged, yet with just one look you knew what Dick had to say when he turned to you: "I have to leave."

The moment Dick got up and started to walk away, Damian rushed out of his bedroom, leaving the closet door unattended.

— Damian, wait! The...— Before you were able to finish your sentence, a loud slamming sound reverberated. —...door. —

You pointed your flashlight to the doorknob and tried to open it.

— It's broken. Last time Alfred went here to put away Damian's clothes he ended up locked till someone opened on the outside. — Dick commented.

— I know, but it was worth a try. — You shrugged your shoulders. — Talking about Alfred, We could try calling him. I bet he's the only person in the Manor right now. You know, beside us. —

— Great idea! — He took his phone out of his pocket. Dick unlocked his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Alfred's name, he barely had time to hit the "dial" button before his phone ran out of battery and turned off. — Jason. — Dick growled, recalling the fact Jason borrowed his phone to play games.

— No prob. I can get my phone, it's in my purse… My god, I'm so stupid. I left my purse! — Dick burst laughing and you elbowed him, only causing him to erupt an even louder chuckle. 

— Well, that's better. — He shrugged his shoulders.

— How can it be better? We're locked in a closet! —

— There was that one time I got stuck inside a garbage truck with the Riddler. —

This time you were the one laughing. That's one of the many reasons you loved him, he always knew how to make you smile no matter what the situation was.

— I bet you loved hearing his riddles all night. —

— Believe it or not, that wasn't even the worse part. I had to soak my suit for an entire week. —

— But seriously, how are we gonna get out? — You asked as soon as the laughter died down.

— To be honest, I have no idea. —

You both tried yelling at the door to see if anybody would show up. Then Dick tried doing the credit card trick he often used to open doors, it didn't work. 

You started avidly searching for something you could pry the door open with. Eventually you encountered Damian's arsenal. The fact Damian kept a stash of deadly weapons inside his closet didn't surprise any of you.

Dick tried picking the lock with a sai and you tried slashing the doorknob with a sword. Dick would have found quite hot the way you wielded the katana and made a perfect dash attack, would have, that was if you didn't almost slice him with the sword on accident. As the last shot, Dick tried to force the doors open by throwing himself at them, the doors were blocked by something neither of you could tell and Dick lightly hurt his shoulder.

— Don't worry. I've been through worse. — Dick reassured.

— Dick, that does NOT leave me less worried about you. You could have a paper cut or a gunshot wound and I'd worry the same. —

— So you're worried about me, huh? — You could see his remarkable smirk dimly lit by the flashlight.

— I'm always worried about you, you idiot! — Dick's smirk grew wider at your reply. — Gosh, sometimes I wish I could wipe that smirk off your face. — You grumbled as you crossed your arms.

— Then why don't you try it? — Dick snapped in a flirty tone.

You inclined yourself towards him and your lips touched his. It was just a peck, it lasted for a couple seconds but for the two of you it felt like the time froze.

— Did that work? — You lifted an eyebrow. But then rolled your eyes when you realized that his wide smirk had become a full grin.

— I think you should try it again. — Dick pulled you closer to him.

Once again your lips met. This time the kiss was hungrier, needier. If only you knew that kissing him would feel that great, you wouldn't have held back for so long. Now that you were there, so close to him, you were free. And so was he.

Dick always pictured how it would feel like to slide his tongue in your mouth as you tugged his hair. And it was so, damn, good. Better than he ever wondered it could be. Dick felt in cloud nine, sensing goosebumps as your fingertips roamed around his abs. He grabbed your hips and pulled you closer to him, your chest was pulled flush against his, yet it still wasn't close enough.

You both pulled away breathless. The room was dimly lit, but as Dick tried to regain his breath, you could see his sapphire blue eyes with the pupils blown out.

— I guess that worked. — You joked.

— I should try being cocky more often. — He replied with that same flirty tone. — So… How long did you…? —

— For a while. —

— Yeah, me too. What took you so long? —

— Well... I was afraid things would get awkward between us. I wasn't sure if you liked me back. —

— Are you kidding me? I've been dropping hints for months! — He chuckled. — After all of this is over do you want to go on a date with me? —

— I'd love to. — You grinned.

You two were about to continue your makeout session when suddenly the creek of the door was heard, the bright light from the bedroom almost blinding your eyes since you got used to the dark from being locked in there. Both you and Dick jumped out of each other, in an attempt to not get caught.

— Okay kids, seven minutes in heaven is over! — Jason mocked after opening the door to your way out. Damian right behind him.

— Seven minutes? We've been locked here for two hours! — Dick protested.

— You say it like you weren't enjoying it. C'mon, just thank us. — He smirked.

— What do you mean by "thank" the two of you? Wait… You planned this? — You questioned.

— It was actually Damian's evil master plan, but I helped him execute it. Ya know, making Dick's phone run out of battery, hiding your purse, pushing the desk in front of the door so that you couldn't bust the door down. That kind of stuff. — Jason shrugged his shoulders.

— And apparently it all went well. — Damian nodded. — TT. Maybe too well. —

— Dami! — You rebuked. — Why did you do that? —

— I figured that if you started dating Grayson, you would have an excuse to visit us more often. — He crossed his arms as his cheeks blushed.

— You're aware that if that happens she will come here to visit just Dick, right? — Jason asked.

— Lay a finger on her and you're a dead man, Grayson! — Damian snarled and grabbed your hand, dragging you along with him as he started running. You couldn't help but chuckle at the fact the 11-year-old was so protective of you.

— Hey! I want my date back! — Dick whined and started running after you.

You rolled your eyes at the two boys as you ran, you knew tonight would be a long night since you first arrived at the Manor.

[alphadaddyderek]

Not all math puns are awful, just sum (sterek fic, high school au)

ao3 link: click if you dare

summary: ’what is the probability that anyone will pass this fucking class? I’m thinking 1 in 100’

Stiles shakes his head because that was such a bad math joke that it was actually kinda funny. And, based on the expressions on people’s faces during class, also very true.

'i think there is statistical data to back up your theory’

AU where Stiles and Derek have to share a textbook and they write terrible math puns back and forth to each other.

Stiles sincerely, genuinely, regrets taking AP classes.

Well, kinda.

They would look great on his resume. Colleges wouldn’t even second guess accepting him and he would receive so many scholarships which would help his dad big time.

AP classes will also raise his GPA crazy high which, again, looks great to colleges.

Sometimes they just suck.

His AP Statistics class is definitely #1 on the ‘classes that suck straight ass list’.

It’s boring and it can be kinda hard. Plus it’s math so it’s automatically gross.

Stiles is good at math, but it’s not his forte, that’s more Lydia Martin’s thing.

Anyway, Beacon Hills High had to have some budget cuts this year, like, serious budget cuts. The sports teams are lucky that people care about people throwing balls all over the place, otherwise they would’ve gotten cut too.

Since the school has had budget cuts, the students don’t get individual textbooks anymore. Meaning, that they can only use it during class and then they have to leave it in the classroom for the next class to use.

So, yeah.

It’s the third week of junior year, AP Stat is as boring as always. He has Lydia to talk to sometimes but she has other friends in the same class, so he's not always entertained.

The teacher didn’t really care about whether or not students did the work, he just played chess on his computer the whole class anyway. He gave the page number that we were supposed to work on and that was that.

Stiles prefers that to lectures, but still. When he’s done the work there’s nothing left for him to do. He could go on his phone, but even that gets boring eventually.

What he’s trying to say is that he’s bored, okay?

Turning to the page that the teacher assigned, Stiles is shocked and wildly amused, to already see writing on the margins of the page. He figured it would take at least half the school year before people started vandalizing the textbooks. Although, it’s written in pencil so it’s easily erasable.

When Stiles actually reads what was written he snorts. Luckily, it’s loud in the class so the most attention he gets is when Lydia shoots him a weird look which he ignores.

'what is the probability that anyone will pass this fucking class? I’m thinking 1 in 100'

Stiles shakes his head because that was such a bad math joke that it was actually kinda funny. And, based on the expressions on people’s faces during class, also very true.

Should he write something back? Stiles doesn’t know if the person who wrote this is hoping for a response, or if they wrote in the book because they’re just as bored as Stiles is.

Eh, fuck it. Why not?

'i think there is statistical data to back up your theory’

Stiles snickers at his equally bad math joke before finally deciding to focus on the actual work. He didn’t want to be one of the ones who didn’t pass the class, because that would suck. So he does the work and for the remainder of the class he lets out a giggle or two every once in a while because even though he’s 16 years old, he apparently still has the sense of humor of a child.

π π π

It’s the next class and honestly, Stiles kind of forgot about the writing in the textbook. After he left that class he went to AP Geography where there was immediately a test, which he nailed by the way. Plus, with all his other classes, he just didn’t think it was important to remember a bad, but still funny, math joke in a textbook.

The teacher assigns them another page number full of questions to work on. And, just like last time, there’s writing in the margins.

‘i’m sorry, that was pretty mean of me to say’

That one has Stiles laughing out loud. Not too loud though, because he doesn’t have that much of a death wish. He just laughs loud enough to make Lydia send him another weird look, except this time Lydia questions him about it.

“What is so funny?” she asks, twirling her hair with her pencil.

Stiles shakes his head. “Nothing really. Just somebody writing lame math jokes on the book pages.”

“Well, you’re laughing at them. So doesn’t that make you lame as well?”

Stiles dramatically gasps.

“Wow, Lydia, that was pretty mean of you to say,” Stiles replies before bursting into more laughter.

At this point, Lydia is looking at him like he has brain damage but he really can’t bring himself to care. It’s hilarious and if she doesn’t think so then oh well. Her loss.

Well, she doesn’t know that that was the joke inside the textbook, but still, whatever.

It’s funny.

π π π

By this point, it’s kind of like Stiles and this unknown jokester are pen pals.

It’s been a week filled with terrible math jokes and Lydia probably losing more and more respect for him as the days pass.

He’s told Scott about his little pen pal and of course, Scott doesn’t really get it, but he’s supportive nonetheless.

It’s a Friday night and Scott is at Stiles’ house. They’re playing video games and eating so much pizza that Stiles will be bloated for an entire week.

Thankfully, his dad is on the night shift, otherwise, he would be heavily judgmental of Stiles’ life choices.

After several rounds of Mario Kart, they take a break to eat said pizza and talk a bit.

“So,” Scott takes a huge bite of his slice. “how are you and your math buddy doing?”

Stiles takes a bite of his own slice. “Why are you asking? Jealous?”

Scott laughs. “Oh yeah, I’m so jealous. Please, Stiles, make terrible math jokes with me.”

Stiles flips Scott off. “You only mock because you really are jealous.”

Scott rolls his eyes and then the topic is dropped.

At least for the next hour or so. Then after that, it gets brought back up.

“Do you think it’s weird to have a crush on someone you’ve never met?” Stiles asks, playing with a loose thread on his jeans.

Scott looks at Stiles, and Stiles does not want to see the weird look Scott has on his face so he continues looking down.

“You have a crush on this person?”

Stiles shrugs. “I don’t know. They’re funny, and obviously, they’re smart if they’re in AP Stat. I would like to meet this person though, maybe. I don’t know.”

Stiles feels his cheeks heating up.

Scott nudges Stiles with his elbow. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s not weird at all. It’s kinda like online dating, but like medieval style.”

Stiles can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of his throat. “What?”

It’s like medieval style! ‘Cause, it’s in a book. Instead of online.”

Scott is always able to make Stiles feel better, no matter the situation. His goofiness especially lightens his mood.

“Okay, Scott. Are we going to go jousting next?”

“I don’t know. What you guys do on your first date is none of my business,” Scott says with a sly smile.

Stiles snorts and grabs a pillow off the couch behind them and smacks Scott in the face with it, resulting in a pillow fight ensuing.

And if anybody asks, Scott did not win. He didn’t!

π π π

2 weeks after he and Scott had that talk, Stiles continues talking with his pen pal. Although, maybe Stiles is looking too deep into this, but it kind of seems like flirting now?

Hear him out.

In the margins, the person started adding smiley faces and winky faces after every message.

Ooh and they actually put their initials! D.H.

Stiles doesn’t think he knows anyone in school with those initials. Granted, Stiles isn’t exactly a social butterfly so he’s not doubting their existence at all.

AP Stat only has 5 minutes left in the class. Stiles has already embarrassed himself in front of Lydia more times than he can count, so he decides to ask Lydia if she knows someone with those initials.

She purses her lips. “Why do you ask?”

Stiles sighs inwardly before answering. “Uh, well. I was just...wondering. Ya know. Trying to expand my friend circle.”

Lydia raises an eyebrow. And Stiles sighs outwardly this time.

“Fine. You know the jokes that were in the book?”

“You mean from like a month ago?”

“Well...we’ve kinda been continuing to exchange jokes and notes and stuff. And then recently they put their initials. Or, at least I think it’s their initials. I don’t know what else it would be. So, yeah.”

Lydia looks at him for a moment before her lips curl up into a smile. “You mean you’ve finally found someone who has a worse sense of humor than you?”

Stiles returns the smile. “I’ll have you know, my sense of humor is advanced. Way too advanced even for you.”

“Uh-huh. Anyway, the only name that comes to mind is Derek Hale.”

Stiles chokes on his own spit. “Derek Hale? You mean the star of the basketball team? The guy with eyes that are like fifty different colors and bunny teeth that would look ridiculous on anyone else but he somehow looks gorgeous with them? That Derek Hale?”

“Yes. Other than that, I don’t know anyone else with those initials.”

“Does he take AP Stat?”

Lydia shrugs. Stiles takes that as a no.

There’s no way that Derek Hale is the one writing these notes. No way in hell. Stiles isn’t that lucky.

Plus, even if Derek is the one writing these, hypothetically speaking, Derek wouldn’t be interested in him. Don’t get Stiles wrong, he knows he’s a pretty attractive guy. But nobody in this school is as attractive as Derek Hale. Let's be real here.

Okay, maybe Danny. Danny is kinda gorgeous.

But besides Danny, nobody is even on the same level as Derek.

Well, Lydia is too.

Okay, dammit. People are on the same level as Derek Hale. The point is that Stiles isn’t.

Stiles sighs for what seems like the eighth time in. “Okay. Thanks.”

Lydia gives him a scrutinizing look before nodding and getting on her phone.

Stiles sits there and ponders why his life is like this before deciding that he must've done something to piss off fate in a past life. Pleased with his conclusion, Stiles shoves his notebook and pencils into his backpack just in time for the bell to ring.

π π π

Okay, so, Stiles must be going crazy.

When he saw that his pen pal had written his initials he figured, ‘hey, I might as well do the same. It’s only decent right?’ so he had, and ever since then Derek Hale has been shooting him looks in the hallway.

Maybe he’s hallucinating, because Derek Hale is, well, Derek Hale. Out of everyone in the hallway, why would he be looking at Stiles?

Also, Stiles can’t be the only person in the school with the initials S.S. although, he probably is the only S.S. that’s taking AP Stat so there’s that.

Stiles doesn’t know what to do, should he wave? Shoot him a smile?

Actually no, he should do neither of those things because if he does, and Derek actually wasn’t looking at him, that would be so unbelievably embarrassing. So embarrassing that Stiles would have to transfer schools immediately.

Stiles shakes his head and opens up his locker to gather his things for his next class. When he closes the locker Derek is standing right there like they’re in a horror movie and Stiles jumps so hard that he drops his notebook.

“Shit. Sorry,” Derek says and bends down to swipe Stiles’ notebook off the floor.

“No, it’s okay. You’re awfully quiet for an athlete.”

Stiles holds his hand out for his notebook but Derek doesn’t seem all that interested in returning it to him just yet. Derek looks at the front of his notebook.

“Hmm. AP Stat. Interesting.”

Stiles bites his lip and nods. “Yep,” he says popping the ‘p’. “it is interesting. Well, actually it’s not. AP Stat is yuck sometimes and it can get boring but it’ll look great on my resume so.”

Derek nods. He looks at Stiles for a few more seconds before he opens his mouth, and the second he does, Stiles’ stomach fills with butterflies.

“What is the probability that anyone will pass that fucking class? I’m thinking 1 in 100.”

Stiles bites his lip to stifle his smile. He doesn’t want to cheese like an idiot in front of Derek Hale but he thinks that ship has already sailed cause Derek’s lips stretch into a big smile.

Stiles clears his throat. “I think there is statistical data to back up your theory.”

“Oh, is there?” Derek asks, smile turning into a smirk.

Stiles nods then looks at his notebook that is still in Derek’s hand. “Can I have my notebook now? I’m not sure what exactly you’re plotting but I don’t like it.”

Derek scrunches his face up. “Wow, that was bad.”

Stiles’ mouth gapes. “Like yours were any better.”

Derek shrugs, smile returning to his face. “I thought my mean joke was pretty hilarious.”

“Yeah, hilariously bad. I didn’t laugh at all, not one bit.”

Derek looks like he doesn’t believe a word Stiles just said, which is fair, he shouldn’t.

“So,” Derek begins, eyes boring into Stiles’— seriously, what is up with Derek’s eyes? — “what is the probability that you will give me your number?”

Stiles pretends to think about it for a second. “I'm thinking 100 in 100.”

[queenofimagines]

It’s Happened Before

Request: “heyy can you do one where y/n normally plays hard to get around guys but when she’s really drunk one guy won’t leave her alone and jj saves her. When he takes her home he’s super sweet and y/n is all over him, he likes it because he has a huge crush on her but then he feels bad bc he doesn’t want to take advantage. At some point y/n thinks that he will take advantage of her in her drunk mind and she says it’s happened before. ((Also love ur writing sm))💜” by @maybebanks

Warnings: Mentions of sexual assault

Notes: I’ve never written a fic with sexual assault before so I apologize if it’s inaccurate or insensitive in any way, I promise that is not my intention. If any of you find any discrepancies in my writing of it or find anything offending please let me know so I can fix it and so I can pay attention to it in the future. Thank you!

Also, this ended up being really long... sorry not sorry :)

You loved playing hard to get, and JJ loved that you never made it easy for him. He fell for your spit-fire attitude right away and since then had never stopped trying to make you his. If you were being honest, though, you liked this little game of cat and mouse that you and JJ had started when you met. You liked how he followed you around like a lost puppy, but you also took pride in the fact that you got the JJ Maybank, notorious for only ever having one night stands, to want you and only you.

Everyone knew of your little game, many already thinking of you as JJ’s girl and referring to you as such because of how inevitable it was that you two would end up together. You hoped they were right, and that you and JJ would end up in an actual relationship. You were young, you knew that you still needed to figure out exactly what you wanted out of life and where you wanted it to go, but to you, one thing was for certain: no matter what happened or where you went, you wanted JJ Maybank to be there. But you were scared, scared that he’d get bored of you, scared that he only liked you for the chase. You were by no means a thrill-seeker, often opting to go with the safer options when John B presented you guys with whatever adventurous scheme he had come up with. JJ, on the other hand, liked to run headfirst into danger without even so much as a plan, something that made you uneasy. You were sure that when the chase was over you’d have a few weeks of bliss before the realization that you weren’t actually what JJ wanted would hit him like a sucker punch and that he’d leave you like so many others had. What you didn’t know, though, was that JJ was by no means in it for the thrill of the chase.

JJ saw right through you. He knew that your quick wit was a way for you to cover up your fear and your pain. He knew that fear and pain caused you to lead him on this chase in the first place. And sure, he liked it when you played hard to get, but that wasn’t what drew him in. JJ fell in love with the way you cared about him and the other Pogues. He fell for the way you always seemed to have just enough time in your busy schedule to help Kiara clean up the litter that so many had carelessly left behind at keggers, how you always seemed to have just enough time to cook for John B when he wasn’t taking care of himself like he should have, how you always seemed to know exactly what to say to calm down Pope when he got anxious, how you always kept him out late enough so that he would just have to spend the night with you instead of going home, and how, when it was necessary for him to go home, you always seemed to “accidentally” leave your blankets in his room during winter when you knew it would be freezing. JJ fell in love with you because you cared about him in a way no one else had before, the chase you led him on was just part of the fun, but even without it JJ still would have stared at you as if you had hung the moon just for him.

It was the beginning of summer, and high time for you and the Pogues to throw yet another kegger to kick it off. You, for one, were more than happy to get uninhibitedly drunk to drown out the insecurities you had when it came to your maybe-relationship with JJ. You were on your fourth cup of beer by now, the party only having started less than an hour ago, and to say you were plastered was an understatement. You didn’t have a particularly high tolerance, you and the rest of the Pogues were very aware of that, but you didn’t care, you just wanted to get wasted and have fun. JJ knew something was up with you when you chugged your first beer right away as you weren’t the chugging type. All of the Pogues noticed your strange behavior too. They knew that you were the kind of person to sip your beer until you were buzzed and keep yourself in that state but never surpass it. JJ knew something was wrong and assured Kiara, John B, and Pope that he would keep an eye on you when they brought up that one of them should stay sober enough to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid. He reasoned with them, stating that since he was the only one of the four who hadn’t had at least three beers by this point that he would be the best bet to stay sober. The Pogues were confused, knowing JJ to be the first of them to get completely hammered, but they didn’t question him, instead agreeing and turning back to the party. What he neglected to tell them was that he had already made up his mind to stay sober and watch over you at the beginning of the party and that his decision to have only one beer, although it was more like half a beer since he was trying to be as completely sober as possible without it looking too suspicious, was purposely made before anyone else had even noticed how off you were acting.

You were unaware of the lingering eyes on you, you were also unaware that the eyes staring at your figure weren’t just JJ’s. A boy around your age, a Touron you guessed based on his sweatshirt which sported some college that you just knew wasn’t from anywhere near the Outer Banks, had seen you dancing with some old acquaintances of yours and decided it was time to approach you. You didn’t notice him coming up behind you, but JJ did, he didn’t dare make a move though, knowing you hated that macho bullshit and were perfectly capable of handling yourself, but he was still on edge when the boy placed his hands on your hips.

You thought the boy was JJ, really you did. But the second you pressed your back into him you knew you were sorely mistaken. You quickly turned around, eyeing the boy who had put his hands on you not mere seconds before, telling him to go away. You didn’t want him, you wanted JJ, and even your drunk self knew that you would never want to be dancing with anybody else.

“Come on, baby, let’s just have some fun,” the boy said, grabbing your hips again. But you resisted, pushing him away and beginning to walk away in the hopes that you could find said blondie.

“Hey! Don’t walk away from me,” the boy said, tightly grabbing onto your bicep. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you that it’s rude to ignore someone who’s talking to you?”

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you that you shouldn’t be grabbing girls like that?” JJ responded, having seen the interaction from where he stood near the keg and immediately making his way over to you.

“Listen, buddy, I wasn’t talking to you.” The boy stepped closer to JJ, pushing you out of the way and causing you to trip and fall onto the sand. That did it for JJ, who began throwing punches at the Touron who dared lay a hand on you. The Touron didn’t stand a chance against JJ and you quickly realized that you would have to stop him from killing the boy.

“JJ,” you said meekly, hoping that your voice was loud enough to hear. You didn’t want to talk much louder, your head already pounding from the sudden shift of your body when you fell. But he couldn’t hear you, not over the sound of the crowd egging on the fight.

“JJ!” You yelled, already regretting the decision when you felt the throbbing in your head get worse. JJ stopped, looking over at you with furrowed eyebrows. “Can we just go, please?”

JJ slowly nodded, letting go of the Touron and carefully picking you up to take you back to the Chateau. He sat you down on the couch, beginning to move away to turn the lights on, but your grip on his hand was vice-like.

“Y/N, let me turn on the lights, alright sweetheart?”

“No, stay.” JJ couldn’t fight you when you looked so sleepy and utterly adorable. He made his way next to you on the couch where you proceeded to practically fall into his lap. JJ moved so that you were lying comfortably against him, sure that you would probably just fall right asleep. But instead of hearing your soft snores, he felt your hand reach up into his hair and your lips gently trail across his neck. His heart rate sped up, loving the soft attention he was receiving and pulling you closer, running his hands along your sides, only stopping when he heard your breath hitch and felt your body tense.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“N-nothing,” you responded.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” He said quickly, afraid that you thought he only wanted to have sex with you and feeling like he was taking advantage of your state of mind by not stopping you from delivering the physical affection he craved. You quickly sat up, staring at him with watery eyes full of disbelief.

“You-you’re not going to...?” You trailed off, not wanting to say it.

“Sweetheart, I’d never take advantage of you like that. Even if you wanted to I wouldn’t let you, you’re not in your right mind right now and I need you to be fully aware if we do this.” He said, thinking that the tears in your eyes and the look on your face were caused by disappointment. Before he knew it you had launched yourself at him, tightly hugging him to you while you sobbed into his shoulder. JJ was beyond confused at this point but he knew that he just needed to be here for you right now. He slowly wrapped his hands around you so as not to startle you.

“Thank you,” you whispered.

“For what?”

“For not taking advantage of me.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that, sweetheart, I’d never do that to you.” You sniffled, mumbling a response. He dearly hoped you didn’t say what he thought you said, but the waver in your voice at the words you spoke was unmistakable.

“It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.” JJ’s heart broke. Someone had taken advantage of you? He quickly pulled you away from him in order to look at you.

“Who?” He questioned. He was beyond angry, ready to fight the person who had made you feel like you needed to thank him for being a decent fucking human being. You shook your head.

“Some Touron a couple of months ago.” A couple of months ago? How did he not know? How could he have let that happen to you?

“We snuck away from the party, I thought he just wanted to talk but I was just being stupid. He was older and made me feel special so I followed along when he suggested we go somewhere else. H-he started touching me, I didn’t want him to. I told him to stop but he didn’t. He started kissing me and then we heard a gunshot. He bolted as soon as he heard it and I tried to come and find you guys.” You were sobbing at this point, not wanting to remember the moment having not fully processed the situation. JJ began crying too, angry that he didn’t protect you and angry that you had been struggling with this alone.

“No, no, no, that’s not your fault. You weren’t being stupid, okay? I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say, what could he have said? What happened to you wasn’t okay and he wasn’t sure how to handle it either, so he pulled you close to him, letting you cry into his chest despite the pain it caused him to hear your broken sobs. Soon you fell asleep, the rest of the Pogues having come back to the Chateau not too long after, quietly asking JJ if you were alright. JJ shook his head, silently telling them that they’d have that conversation tomorrow. They all nodded, John B heading to his room and Pope and Kie heading to the spare room to give you guys some space.

As JJ lay in the dark, calmed by your steady breathing, he stroked his hand through your hair and promised you that he would protect you, no matter what.

[asterekmess]

(I was gonna save this for tomorrow, but FUCK IT) Eyyy, still being salty over here. Pls block the tag ‘rant’ if you don’t wanna see anymore of these. Or maybe ‘anti-scott mccall’ though, tbh, I’m not sure how much fun it would be to follow me if you aren’t anti-scott mccall. I’m pretty vocal abt disliking him.

ANYWAY.

I wanna talk about the concept of Derek being a ‘creeper’ because of all his wandering around the lacrosse field, at lydia’s party, etc. And by talk about, I mean ramble about incoherently. By which I mean, please know that I’m not trying to insult or fight anybody who makes this joke or uses this concept in fic or whatever. I’m just ranting bc I love this boy and his trauma makes me sad.

ANYWAY. (This is insanely long, so I’m adding a “Read More”)

I just have a lot of feelings about people seeing Derek as a stalker/creeper because he keeps showing up at lacrosse practice and in Scott & Stiles’ rooms, etc. It gets mentioned in loads of fics (I see a lot of “Creeperwolf” which I think is supposed to be an endearment?) (And there’s lots of fics that talk about how ‘you used to be/are really creepy, following us around’ Again, not judging) (Dude it’s even a whole tag on AO3 ‘Creeper Derek Hale’) and it’s joked about a lot in fandom (the vine with the ‘every step you take’ song and the swans on the building comes to mind). I see it a lot, and dude, it hurts me.

Let’s look at Derek’s current mental state and what he’s been dealing with, going all the way back to Paige. (Or, tbh, his birth) Derek is a werewolf. He was born a werewolf, to a family of werewolves. He grew up within the supernatural world, in a whole different culture to humans (honestly, my fury at the lack of werewolf culture/history/worldbuilding is worthy of its own post. Let me know if by some ungodly chance, you actually wanna hear my thoughts on it.) and presumably the number one rule in all of werewolfdom is “Keep the Secret.” Now, Derek’s fuckin’ 14/15 (I put his birthday on Christmas, like most of fandom, and if his house burned down when he was 16, in the spring, and he was dating Kate for a while before, he would’ve dated her when he was 15, and we don’t know how long there was between paige and kate, but let’s give him a summer of mourning. So. 14ish with paige) and he starts dating this human. He’s kinda shit at keeping the secret, implying that either he’s only dated werewolves before, or she’s his first girlfriend ever (also implying that maybe some of the people on his basketball team are werewolves, bc they don’t seem to notice his weird way of talking [pack members maybe? fuck, my heart]) and he’s maybe not as careful as he should be. (More implications arise, and we begin to build our own history. If Derek was never taught not to say dumb shit like ‘i caught a scent’ then was he even in public school before freshman year? Were the Hales all homeschooled before high school to help keep the secret? How soon do wolfy abilites arise? Do they hit with puberty? Fuck, I digress.) He says some dumb shit, and Paige gets suspicious. Of course, he doesn’t know that, and he has some kind of meltdown about her eventually finding out his secret. We hear from Peter (who’s villainized, so we’re not supposed to necessarily believe what he says, but what we see in the flashback doesn’t make a huge amount of sense either so *shrug*) that he enlists Ennis to bite Paige, believing that if she is bitten she won’t spill the secret and she’ll be more inclined to accept that Derek is a werewolf. Now, she fucking dies. Paige dies in Derek’s arms because of this, and he finds out at the last second that she already knew the secret. He feels guilty enough abt getting her killed but now he’s got a whole new batch of guilt from finding out that apparently he’s so bad at keeping the secret of his ENTIRE SPECIES that she found out he was a werewolf. She could’ve exposed them all at any time. He had to be terrified. Next, he’s 15/16 and he meets a gorgeous older woman who presumably showers him in affection, and all the horrors that go with that whole situation (I don’t wanna go into detail, because obviously). But again, whether Derek tells her himself or she just knew or she finds out, whatever it is, Kate knows Derek and his family are werewolves. AND SHE KILLS THEM ALL. Derek has no clue what the fuck is going on. All he knows is he is the only link between Kate and his family, which must mean that it’s his fault she knows about them. Once again, he’s revealed the Big Secret and people Died. He and Laura bolt to NY for six years, where presumably they live in hiding thinking the Argents are coming after them to finish off the Hales. Then Laura gets sent a funky letter and goes back to Beacon Hills. Now, we have a lil more confusion (i’ve got a whole buttload of issues with the timeline, but let’s not get into that now) because he says he came looking for Laura, but later he mentions that he knew she was in Beacon Hills and was searching for...whoever burnt down their house...that whole plotline confuses the shit out of me (derek knew kate did it. he blamed All the argents, but he knew kate was involved. So why was Laura looking for the pendant. and if he didn’t tell her then why was he looking for the pendant?? And what did the pendant have to do with the deer and the spiral?? Halp.) but whatever. He shows up and finds his sister dead, the hunters arrive in town the next day, and suddenly there’s an angry alpha Attacking Humans.

We’re finally in the present. Derek has lost what little family he had left, except for a catatonic uncle. He already has two instances in his past where the worry of keeping werewolves a secret has caused deaths. And now there’s this teenager. No, actually, two teenagers. One who was bitten, and one who shouts out “You’re a werewolf!” in the middle of the preserve, instantly figuring out a centuries-old supernatural secret. Derek is fucking terrified, and things are only getting worse. This kid who got bitten? Derek follows him to see if he’s really a wolf, to find out if he knows what’s happening to him, if he believes the other teen. He finds the kid JUMPING OVER PEOPLE’S HEADS in broad daylight in front of everyone. Derek might’ve had a couple verbal giveaways but this is just ridiculous. Then, even better, the kid goes on a date on the FULL MOON with THE YOUNGEST ARGENT. There’s about a billion reasons to follow Scott to the party. It’s a FULL MOON, for one. HE’S WITH AN ARGENT for another. And of course he can’t just walk into the party. He’s fucking 22 for fuck’s sake. This is a high school party. He’d get arrested. And of course he doesn’t introduce himself to Scott beforehand. He has no way of knowing if this kid is on the Alpha’s side. He’s the Alpha’s Beta, it would make perfect sense for him to be obeying the Alpha. OR since he’s with the Argent, maybe he’s working with them. Maybe he’s a plant of some kind. a hunter pet. Laura was used as bait to catch Derek, why not Scott too? But he sees quickly that Allison has no clue what’s going on, at least with Scott, and he takes her home and steals her jacket to lure Scott into the Preserve where he can’t hurt anyone. Then, when he sees Scott get chased by the hunters, with no Alpha coming running to protect him, he decides “Alright, guess this kid’s my ally. Gotta protect him.” Yeah. He says some weird shit. But the evidence points to Derek not knowing much about bitten wolves. He tells Scott that he doesn’t know how to train a bitten wolf, but he does know how to help Scott recover memories (the memory loss appears to only happen in the early days of shifting, which lends more credibility to the possibility that born wolves don’t start shifting properly until later in life [puberty being the most likely milestone] and he therefore has experience with that, but not with the kind of control Scott needs, that he’s known his whole life). Born a werewolf, he’s never considered the bite anything other than a gift. He also just lost his entire family, so sue him for trying to find some kind of connection between them. (It honestly makes total sense for him to use the term ‘brothers’ bc he KNOWs Scott won’t understand the concept of ‘pack’ yet) So, now that’s decided to help Scott, to protect him, he goes back to the school. SURELY now that Scott knows what he is and how dangerous he is when stressed, he’ll reign himself in during lacrosse, or even just back out of it altogether. There are lives at stake here, be them human, or if Scott exposes the secret, werewolves. SURELY this kid wouldn’t put everyone in danger over a fucking game. But no. Not only does he keep flaunting his abilities, but he SHIFTS ON THE FIELD. If Stiles hadn’t Dragged Scott out of there, the entire supernatural world would be EXPOSED by this ONE KID. Derek passed Terrified about a hundred miles back. He’s gotta be fucking out of his mind with fear. I don’t blame him even a little for threatening Scott. If Scott’s not gonna do the right thing on his own, then threatening him is worth it if people don’t DIE. Then, bc Scott’s a pissy baby and goes to shout at him and be a fuckwad, and Stiles is nosey and neither of them have boundaries (I love Stiles, but fucking seriously, digging up a grave?) Derek gets ARRESTED. He pleads with this lanky teen who is brave enough to climb into the cruiser with a WEREWOLF. Who’s FRiends with a Werewolf. Who figured it out so quickly. He pleads with him to understand how dangerous this is, to stop his friend. And Stiles looks like he’s gonna, but Scott bolts bc of the wolfsbane (Which...listen if I’m being really salty, a deep bitter part of me genuinely wonders if he was that freaked out, or if he overheard Derek beg Stiles not to let Scott play, and Scott ran away from Stiles so he wouldn’t get told no, bc he wanted to play.) and by the time Stiles finds him he’s already dressed for the game. And DEREK WAS RIGHT. Scott DID lose control. He DID shift on the field. At LEAST one human saw him shift, and the coach for the other team knew something was up too. He DID expose them, and he did it further bc Jackson is suspicious now. Now, I’ve reblogged a gifset of it before, the moment when Derek shows up at the lacrosse field and finds Jackson standing in it after Scott’s run off, staring at a glove with a claw hole in it. He is watching his worst nightmare come true. Scott has exposed them and Jackson is going to figure out werewolves, just like Stiles did. He knows right that instant that people are going to die. I’ll reiterate what I said in the tags on that gifset. It’s extremely likely that Derek bit Jackson out of self-preservation. Jackson had been threatening to tell the hunters and the entire world if he didn’t get what he wanted. The safest thing to do was give Jackson the bite so that at least he would be putting himself in danger too if he exposed werewolves. He forced Jackson to have to keep the secret for himself because he knew Jackson wouldn’t do it for anyone else. (And he knew Jackson had some self-preservation, compared to Scott, and wouldn’t want to expose himself.)

Listen, I just. I just get so sad watching Derek sneaking into people’s rooms and standing on the edge of the field and showing up in the locker rooms. He’s trying to help. He’s trying to protect. He wants to be there in case Scott does something stupid (which he does, again and Again) to protect him, even after Scott REFUSED to help him stop a SERIAL KILLER because there wasn’t anything in it for him. Even after Scott fucking blackmails him by leaving him hanging on a grate with wires plugged into his side and his abuser on their way back to hurt him, he still helps him protect Allison (who watched him be tortured and did nothing. [He still has the capacity to acknowledge that it’s not her fault. That she couldn’t save him. He doesn’t blame her for it and he certainly doesn’t want her to die.]) He wants to keep his Betas safe. He stands in the parking lot waiting for them to test Lydia because he doesn’t want them to have to go through with killing her alone (and he only tries to kill her because she DOESN’T pass the test [although I admit it’s a dumb test] and because the kanima is KILLING people. More people have died and I don’t know how the fuck Derek manages to keep standing, let alone having such capacity for empathy and optimism and sarcasm after everything he’s dealt with. He’s constantly being hunted by hunters or humans, or fuck even Scott himself, since every time Scott gets upset he blames Derek for everything (I’m still fucking disgusted that he turned up at Derek’s place and accused him of murdering his own sister.) And STILL he shows up. No matter how many times he’s shoved away and ignored and yelled at. He shows up and he stands on the fringes and he waits for the chance to help.

And what’s creepy about that?

[futurewriter2000]

If we are not this, than what are we? - pt. 2

A/N: Hehe. Hehehehe. 

xx

James hasn't been in the castle that whole night. He was sitting at the edge of the lake, just as you were before, and watched his reflection.

' "The first one gets hit! It' s out!" you shouted running in the circle.

"Duuh, (y/n)" James stuck out his tongue, laughing. "We've been playing this game since forever." he threw the ball at you but you dodged.

"Somebody has to say it!" you laughed, light on your feet and watching another friend aim at you. You dodged.

James caught the ball, smiling mischievously. "I always say that!" he aimed at right at your left arm.

The two of you switched position, both with a smirk on your lips as you passed by. You bounced the ball on the ground a few times and looked up. "Attention seeker." you smiled and aimed at another friend.

"Too difficult?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Too easy." you nodded, throwing the ball at your friend.

"I don't think you-" the ball hit his face and he lost his balance, tripping over the branch and falling on the ground.

You gasped as you watched him roll on the ground but as you ran up to him, he was smiling up and laughing.

"You okay?" you tried to act casually, offering him an arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he grabbed your hand and you pulled him up. "It's not like I have a whole seven years of Hogwarts to plot my revenge."

"If we're in the same house..." you felt a tightness in your stomach and you couldn't figure out if it was because of the butterflies or the nervousness of your future.

"Of course. GRYFFINDOR!" he wrapped his arm around you and threw his fist in the air. "And even if we won't, it's not like we'll stop being friends..." '

James stopped smiling at his reflection, repeating the last sentence in his head. He did stop being friends with you, all because you were sorted in the Slytherin house.

Sirius hated them as much as he did. It was easy hating on all of them, even if it meant hating on you too but now as he thinks back, you had changed. You weren't the little girl who played Fliers with him. The girl he convinced to cut her bangs just because he wanted to. The girl who he pulled into the mud. The girl with whom he used to prank other neighbors, especially old McCarthy. The girl with whom he had sleepovers and used to cause so much trouble with.

And all the credit for never being caught goes to her- to you because you were witty and smart to get out of any situation he pulled you into. You were a Slytherin back then..."-but in a good way." he heard himself mumble. --- He wrote you a note a few days later in Sinatra's class. It was short and clear. 'I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone. - J. '

You turned around to lift an eyebrow at him. His expression was soft and sincere. You hated your gut telling you that he was being honest with you but it was your brain that caused so much distrust in this person. You simpered and nodded lightly.

"I'll believe it when I'll see it." you spoke under your breath. --- He did leave you alone. He hasn't done anything to you since that night and for some odd reason, other bullies left you alone as well. More people approached you and you started opening up.

You just parted with one of your classmates, who you have grown quite close with. She told you she will meet you later in the library as you went to your next class. She was a Hufflepuff, open, and fun to be around.

You turned around the corner and bumped into someone. Your bag fell off your shoulder and pencils flew out of it. You looked up at the person who you bumped into, feeling your heart squeeze. "James." your eyes were wide- wide and afraid. Here it comes. It was too good to be true. He even has his posse with him.

He kept looking at you, Sirius beside him watching in anticipation. He was waiting for James to start but all James did was bent down to pick up your bag and the two pencils and hand it to you.

"Here." he said, not knowing whether to smile or not.

You kept looking at him in surprise, taking the bag from his hand and slinging it over your shoulder. "Thank you."

"Of course." he said and moved out of the way for you to pass.

As you left, he started walking forward again. "Bloody hell, mate?" Sirius punched his shoulder. "Nothing."

"Yeah, so Pads? " he looked at Sirius.

"I thought you hate her? I thought we hate her?"

"I'm not really in the mood to- to..." he got stuck in his own words. "To make fun of her." he cleared his throat.

"Yeah, I've noticed. Why not? She's a snake."

"I don't care. We have an exam in an hour, I'd rather focus on that."

--- It was changing. Everything was changing so quickly and you haven’t really thought how James influenced everything wrong in your life. The fact was... he didn’t. 

You sat at the edge of the lake, nightfall, and you sobbed in your hands. You sobbed and cried, not really knowing what to wish for- to pray for. You were so furious at everything that you just cried. 

You heard a branch snap behind you and you quickly turned around to see a figure approaching. It stopped and stared at you for a while. “Sorry. I didn’t know anybody was here- I’ll just... I’ll just leave.” he scratched the back of his head and turned to leave. 

“James?” you asked and it painted a smile on his face to hear you say his name. Lately, all you’ve been doing was being surprised to see him. The tone of your voice whenever you questioned his presence around. Usually, it would be so much anger and fury when you called his name but now it sounded innocent and surprised. 

“I’m not here to hurt you, I swear- I just came to-”

“I know.” you wiped the tears away and sat on the rocky surface. 

He took a good look at you. You were crying.

But how? He hasn’t done anything. He was avoiding you. He was leaving you alone.

“Are you crying?” he asked perplexed.

“I was, yeah.” you wiped the tears away and forced a smile. “You distracted me.” “Did I do something?” he asked immediately. and you laughed.

“No. Not this time.” you paused and looked up at him as he stood there, frozen. “Though not everything is about you.” 

He smiled as well. You joked. You joked with him, at him- he was missing that. He was missing you and it let his heart grow wings, knowing he missed you and accepting that. “Can I come- uhm- forward?” he asked awkwardly, swinging his long legs across. 

“Yes, you can.” you answered and watched him sit beside you, keeping the distance safe. “You know you don’t have to pretend that I am this fragile girl, who is afraid of everything.”

“I know you’re not. I remember you in Fliers.” he smiled and you laughed. “You remember that?!” you asked in surprise.

“Of course, I do. It was the only game you beat me.”

“It was a good game.” 

“It was, yeah.” he smiled, watching you with his eyes and watching your hair. “Did you cut your hair?” he asked bluntly. 

You furrowed your eyebrows at him and watched for a while. He noticed? “You noticed?” 

James realized what he had said and felt his cheeks burn fire. “Uhm- yeah- I mean I know... I... you see I know you used to have long hair and all because... uhm... I mean you used to keep it in a braid most of the time and it’s just weird seeing it- yeah I’m just gonna..” he turned his head away and into the stars, trying to avoid the silence that followed his attempt of explanation. 

You watched the usual pride and ego deflate into shyness and awkwardness, so like a reflex you have never gotten over, you pushed his shoulder with your fist and laughed. 

He looked at you with wide eyes, glancing from his shoulder to the laughing girl in front of him. 

He remembers this feeling. He remembers it like there was not a six-year gap since he last felt it. 

He missed it. 

“You’re such a dork.” you laughed and just like him feeling, after such a long time, for the first time, that nothing has ever happened between the two of you in the last six years. 

But as it got erased, such fast it came back. It hit back like a storm after a sunny day. 

He bullied you. 

He realized the change in your expression and he felt guilt rise above. “I’m sorry.” he said almost immediately and without a thought. 

You nodded, not even bothering to look at him. 

It still hurt. It still felt fresh. 

“I know what I did, (y/n). I know I hurt you more than I ever intended to. I know that what I have done has left permanent scars. I know, I know, I know and every time I try to find an excuse, I come here instead.” he kept his eyes on the miniature rocks beneath him. “And I don’t know why I come here to be exact but every time I do, I think of you.” he looked at you and you were already looking back at him. “And what you said about me hating you because of my family. That was never true.”

“Then why did you leave? Why did you stop being my friend?” 

“Because you got sorted into Slytherin,” he answered, honestly, gritting his teeth as he did. “And I know it sounds so childish and illogical but I was an 11-year-old kid who was promised everything and always got everything. I thought you and me will be in Gryffindor together and we would be causing trouble together and I also-” he stopped, looking away and smiling. “No. Nevermind.”

“You also thought what?” 

“I thought we would be together and we would piss our parents- I don’t know.” he kept avoiding your eye-contact. “Back then when I got into a fight with my mum because of you, I was so furious that the same night I thought of this plan of how in Hogwarts we would both be sorted into Gryffindor and then we would start dating- just to piss off my mum but then secretly fall in love- I guess. It’s dumb. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.” he started running his hand through his hair and fell on his back. 

You were speechless. 

He thought the two of you would be together. He liked you since you were eleven but then why?

“And I destroyed that plan by being sorted in Slytherin?” you asked, laying on your back as well and turning your head to him. 

He looked at you as well, watching your eyes, watching your nose, your hair, your whole face that has changed so much since the two of you were kids. You grew up beautifully.

“No.” he said, smiling at you. “You haven’t destroyed my plan. I destroyed it.” he rolled on the side and lifted himself on the elbow. “At first I thought you destroyed everything by being sorted into Slytherin. I was so mad at you back then. So mad that I grew petty. From all the houses, you just had to be in Slytherin.” 

“So the first part of the plan crumbles.” you smiled and he laughed. 

He kept looking at you. 

It was something inside of him. He couldn’t describe it but the way your eyes shone and the way your energy spoke to him, made him feel so happy. It was the past that was bringing him down. It was the guilt, the shame. 

You were still you. You were still kind and real. You were so real. You were always real and he was so fake. He put this mask on and he hated it but you? You didn’t put any masks on. You were honest with yourself and it drove him mad to see you have something he didn’t. You still had yourself. 

“I know I probably don’t deserve this but can I ask you for a favor?” he asked nervously.

“A favor?” you looked at him, completely confused. Why would he want a favor from you?

“Can I kiss you?” he asked and you immediately sat up. 

He- he wants to what? You can’t believe you fell for it. 

“You want to kiss me?” you started to get furious. “The hell, James?!” you stood up on your feet.

“What? What did I do?”

“I thought you were over with your childish pranks. I thought you grew up!”

“I DID!” he stood up as well, shouting.

“Yeah, clearly. Come on! Where’s Sirius hiding?”

“What?! Sirius isn’t here!”

“Come on, Black!” you shouted through the forest. 

“What’s your deal? I asked if I could kiss you.”

“Yeah, like you think I am that dense to not see a prank and an asshole in front of my face!”

“THIS ISN’T A PRANK! I SWEAR!”

“I don’t know what you expected to happen!”

“You’re not listening to me!”

“You thinking I’m going to fall for you- you leaving me alone, just to crawl back in my life, trying to what exactly? Fuck me and embarrass me!”

“I’D NEVER DO THAT!” he shouted on top of his lungs. “You’re being crazy right now!!”

“oH, I’m being crazy?!”

“YES!”

“Well, maybe I do deserve to be crazy, dealing with your arse for six years.” you pushed his chest. “I almost believed you.” 

“BELIEVE ME STILL!” he kept trying to convince you but you couldn’t trust him.  

“HOW?! WHY NOW JAMES?! WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE YOU ARE GOOD?!” you shouted, letting your arms lift and fall against your body. “So you can feel good? So you don’t feel guilty anymore? So if I forgive you that you haven’t done anything wrong?!”

“I DON’T KNOW, (Y/N)! MAYBE! MAYBE I WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND FEEL WHAT’S IT LIKE AND IF IT MEANS WASHING AWAY MY GUILT THAN BE IT!”

“I bloody knew it, you fucking coward!”

“WHAT?! WHY ARE YOU SO CONFUSING!”

“Well, let me clear it out then. You leave. You don’t talk to me. You don’t speak to me. You don’t even breather around me. You leave me alone!”

“FINE! MY PLEASURE!”

“FINE!”

“FINE!” 

“FINE!” you finished, walking away from him.

“FINE!” he shouted behind you. “SUPER FINE!”

“FINE!”

[halothenthehorns]

FLIGHT OF THE FAT LADY

Lily took the book with very mixed emotions. Harry was only one week into this school year and already she felt as wrung out and emotionally drained as his other two years. She would also keep a lid on her emotions and not blow up at Snape like she knew they were all expecting. Hoping it just couldn't get any worse, she hesitantly began to read.

After that, Defense became hands down the best class for the majority of students.

Remus couldn't help but beam with pleasure, while James and Sirius were unsurprised and smirking.

Only Malfoy and his select Slytherins found anything to bad mouth Lupin about.

Lily's lips formed a sneer of annoyance; she found it horrid anyone would say something about someone else because of the way they dressed, especially when he couldn't help it.

She saw the boys clench as they fought their disgust, only Remus rolled his eyes, not looking very concerned. He doubted this kid could say anything he hadn't already heard before.

He laughed loudly in the corridors even as said teacher passed, mocking him for dressing like their old house elf.

"I like to think I'm a little better off than an old pillow case," Remus said lightly.

"Wonder what happened to Dobby anyways," James said with interest, still rather wound up at anybody insulting one of his friends, but recognizing it couldn't really be handled right now.

"I'm rather sure I find out," Harry said with as much confidence as he ever could when talking about his future, but he did seem rather sure on this matter, so the others let it go for now.

This didn't concern any of the other students though,

"The good people never do care about such trivial things," Sirius nodded in agreement, always wishing he could help his friend out more if he'd allow it, but grateful that the students had looked past his physical appearance to see the real friend and good person beneath.

as they eagerly anticipated and were promptly delivered the next set of interesting lessons, ranging from all manner of magical beasts over the next several weeks.

However much they all forced themselves to continue ignoring the issue, they all felt just that little bit worse when they realized time was still dragging on and Remus very clearly wasn't going to have that talk with Harry. Why though, what possible reason could he have for ignoring him like this? If it really was Dumbledore stopping him, then what motive could the Headmaster have? Harry deserved an adult wizard in his life, one that would make sure to look after him like Dumbledore himself clearly hadn't. No one could bring themselves to say anything aloud about this topic though, having no more answers now than when this had first come up.

Instead, Harry at least tried to push past that awkward part and asked, "why were you focusing on the dark creatures though? Were we that far behind?"

Remus gave himself a hard little shake, uneasily meeting Harry's eyes as he explained, "well, yes and no. I do specialize in dark creatures, as Dumbledore well knows I enjoy studying them in my spare time. Mostly though that's just what the third year curriculum focuses on, scattered in with the spells used to combat them."

Harry nodded in understanding, while James and Sirius tried not to share an uneasy look. On top of Remus' odd behaviour so far in this, they were also well aware that this was the year when most students focused on how to spot werewolves. That wouldn't be an easy lesson for Remus to teach, and it wasn't any more pleasant to wonder how Harry was going to react to that. He seemed fine with it now, but could they stand it if he had an initial bad reaction to their friend? Of course they were just assuming Harry figured it out like they had, but what if Remus sat Harry down and explained that before hand, it could even be the reason why he was so unsurprised to relearn the news here with them.

More questions than answers, and still none of them dared speak any of this allowed.

Harry just wished that his other classes were going as well, like Potions.

Lily grit her teeth in frustration, before reading on forcefully, already having to use a lot of self-restraint to read in a normal tone.

Snape was acting even worse than usual.

"Bitter old bat," Sirius huffed.

"I wish I struggled to imagine it," James sneered.

He'd clearly overheard the story of his boggart.

Here James and Sirius again didn't bother hiding their laughter one little bit, dearly hoping they never would have to again.

He'd also taken to giving Lupin a death look whenever they were in the same vicinity, while if ever his name was spoken in ear shot that student would receive the same treatment.

"Glad he blames me for that rather than Neville," Remus frowned, "at least I can handle him."

His treatment of Neville had doubled up in bad.

Lily wasn't the only one seething by the end of this; they all wanted to strangle this overgrown child for treating a student like that. It was Snape's own damned fault he was Neville's worst fear, and the subsequent boggart form. It was infuriating for him to still not have learned his lesson. His continuation of the treatment to Neville and the other students was doing nothing to stop future boggart incidents. Lily was going to give him a not very pleasant visit soon.

Divination wasn't going any better, as that teacher now watched Harry with dew filled eyes.

"Oh please," James scoffed with perhaps a bit more acid than normal, still distracted and peeved at Snape's actions.

Unlike Harry though, some of the other students had taken to revering Trelawney.

"Ah the easily fooled youth," Sirius said lightly, finding her rather annoying as well.

Parvati and Lavender in particular began spending their lunch breaks with her, and proceeded to then speak to their fellow students with knowledge bound smirks.

"And Hermione has to share a dorm with them?" Lily asked in disgust, "I feel bad for her now."

They'd also jumped on the bandwagon and began treating Harry like they were at his wake.

"That must get annoying, considering how loud the school can get. Could you even hear them?" Remus asked.

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes, finding those girls antics rather annoying as he said, "I hardly spoke to them anyways, and no, not really. By that point I didn't care."

Care of Magical Creatures had lost its fun as well,

"Oh no," Sirius frowned, "what happened?"

as Hagrid had lost all charisma after the debauched first class, and had spent the remainder of time teaching them how to take care of flobberworms.

"Ouch," Remus winced in sympathy.

"Poor Hagrid," Lily agreed with a frown.

"Guess I can see that happening," James admitted.

Ron found these classes the most boring thing of all, pointing out how useless the wriggling creatures were while shoving lettuce down its gullet.

"Ron's also got a point," Sirius rolled his eyes, "flobberworms are very self-managing, and they're pretty much just grub for a few creatures. Hagrid's doing the class a real injustice for lingering on these things longer than five minutes."

"I can only imagine the seventh years appreciating this, as if he carries on too long their NEWT's will be a breeze," Remus agreed with a slight wince.

October though brought something new to Harry's plate, as the Quidditch season was set to begin.

"Yes," all four boys brightened up at that, and then Sirius narrowed his eyes dangerously at Lily and said, "I swear if you get to read his Quidditch chapter, I'm going to have a fit. It's high time I've gotten my turn at that."

Lily rolled her eyes at him; personally she was hoping she didn't get it too since she had hardly enjoyed the sport even before it seemed to have gone out of its way to pulverize her son every chance it got. She'd gladly hand over the book to Sirius if he really wanted to read it.

Oliver Wood was well aware of this, using his first bit of practice to go over brand new skills and tactics he'd been thinking on. The narration began to explain that there were seven players in Quidditch,

"Oh here we go again," James rolled his eyes, "the book explaining something we've already gone over."

"Yes well, since it's about Quidditch, I'm willing to allow this," Sirius smirked.

and gave a small overview of the game.

"At least it was brief," Remus shrugged without concern.

Wood was now a seventh year in school,

"Oh that's right," James nodded, "this will be his last year there. Poor kid hasn't won the Cup once as captain has he?"

Harry shuffled a little, feeling personally to blame for this, but the others still wouldn't hear of it and spent a few more minutes telling Harry why this was ridiculous of him to think so. He did look slightly better by the end of it, and still had a personal conviction that nothing should happen this year, he and his team would win that Cup, he hoped.

Hoping to make Harry feel at least a little better Sirius also pointed out, "besides, it's not like anyone who would review him for a professional team could blame any of that on you. They'd look at his statistics of how many goals he's saved, and other such stats."

Harry did look a little better at that reminder, thinking he had won Wood every game he'd been in so far, and ignoring an odd little feeling like he should correct that statement.

and as this was his last year to win the Quidditch Cup for their team, he kept up a constant reminder of that. He began by addressing some of the reasons they hadn't won the last two games, due to unpreventable circumstances,

"See, that wasn't your fault at all, just paranoid teachers," Sirius said bracingly.

"Rightly paranoid," Lily corrected, "but I'll admit you're still right too."

but they had the best team by far of the school, stating the names of the three best Chasers, the unbeatable Beaters the Weasley twins, who kindly flattered themselves at his praise,

"Well they're not modest are they," James chuckled.

and their Seeker who'd won them every game.

"Damned straight," Sirius and James both grinned, having called this way back when Harry started playing, and still convinced until otherwise proven that Harry would never lose a match.

Wood finished with a furious pride staring down at Harry.

"Err, gee, thanks," Lily muttered, though she was smiling a bit too at how happy Harry seemed at such praise.

Then he tacked himself on at the end. Fred and George were quick to agree his own praise was well deserved.

"Glad they gave him his credit," Remus approved.

Then Wood carried on, reminding that this was his last chance to get that Cup before he left school, and he looked so desolate by saying it even the twins turned sympathetic.

"Aw," James and Sirius said with concern.

"Okay, now I'm really hoping you win this year just because of that," Remus agreed.

The team rallied, promising it would be an easy victory, and they began the team practices three times a week, with Harry now dreaming of that Cup himself.

While the boys were still giddy with excitement as well, Sirius was personally hoping this match got put off for another two chapters, feeling it was high time he got his Quidditch game.

Harry returned from one particularly wet flying practice to find Ron and Hermione eagerly looking over something, a flyer stating when their first Hogsmeade trip would be.

Harry went from pent up excitement at the prospect of winning the Cup like he so dearly hoped, to disgruntled at once. In all the excitement of finding out Sirius and Remus were alive, right now he was more than distracted by the matter, but he knew his thirteen year old self would still be beyond upset at this turn of events.

Which would be taking place on Halloween.

Then the four of them winced, having a rather bad track record of that holiday in their opinion, but still more than convinced nothing too bad could happen to Harry this year, or any more years for that matter. Remus and Sirius would get this whole mess figured out, why they hadn't already was still too touchy for anyone to bring up. The point was Harry now had two great protectors who wouldn't let anything too bad happen to him again.

Hermione caught sight of Harry's down turn of a mood, and tried to sooth him he might could go on the next one,

"Did someone magically sign his form?" Lily asked redundantly.

that Black was sure to be caught sooner rather than later.

Sirius winced, but still said in a forced light tone, "that's not why he's not allowed to go, come on Hermione should be able to keep up better than that."

"She's probably so distracted by her butt loads of homework," James reminded.

Ron brought up the old argument that Black wasn't stupid enough to try anything in such a public place like Hogsmeade,

Sirius was making goofy faces at the baby again and refusing to allow himself to react negatively to this continued topic.

telling Harry he should still ask McGonagall if he can go anyways.

"She'll say no every stinking time," James grumbled, "because he doesn't have his stupid form."

Hermione told Ron off for that, saying Harry was supposed to be staying inside.

"They really can't keep him locked up forever," Remus rolled his eyes.

Ron pointed out Harry would literally be the only person who couldn't go, and Harry agreed he'd at least try his head of house. Hermione looked about arguing,

"Argue what?" Lily demanded.

"That I shouldn't," Harry shrugged.

"Hermione's being a bit paranoid this year," Sirius noted, "really, I'm with Remus, she can't expect you to stay cooped up forever."

but was cut off by her cat jumping into her lap, a pre killed spider clamped in its mouth. Ron looked disgusted as his yellow eyes watched Ron while he ate it up.

James couldn't help but snort with laughter at that, the cat was hardly being subtle about its feelings towards Ron.

He told Hermione to keep the cat away from him, he had Scabbers stowed away in his bag. Harry wasn't paying them much attention as he began to dig out his homework, but Ron pushed his finished copy towards his friend.

"Not going to say anything Lily?" Sirius asked, still trying to get a provocation out of her, and being more amused the longer this went on. She was trying so hard not to react to anything.

"No," Lily shrugged without looking up, "I'm not perfect, and I'll willingly admit I had to sometimes get help from others on some homework. I think Harry should have tried first, but there's nothing for it now."

Harry wasn't the only one who gave her a surprised look at that, but he did look the most grateful.

Hermione may have said something about this as well, but then Crookshanks pounced on Ron's bag, claws extended.

"Dang," Remus winced, "is he still after Scabbers?"

"Apparently," James grumbled, feeling all the more annoyed at both cat and girl now.

Ron tried to wrench his bag away, and Hermione told him not to hurt her cat.

"Really?" Sirius demanded. "He's trying to eat Ron's pet, and that's her response."

"Both of them need to learn to keep their pets separated," Lily agreed.

"Kind of hard to do when they spend so much time together," Harry sighed.

Everyone in the room was watching as Ron flung his bag hard, trying to dislodge Crookshanks, but instead sent Scabbers flying away.

"Uh oh," they all muttered, knowing Scabbers was much safer in Ron's bag, not that the rat could understand that.

Ron tried to grab up the feline, but missed, and yelled at someone to catch him! George made a swipe for his tail, but missed.

"Good thing he's not a Chaser then," Sirius muttered without any real humor, feeling just as uneasy as anyone else at how this might turn out.

The rat made quick work of darting between everything and flashed under a wooden chest.

"Where the cat hopefully can't follow," Remus nodded happily.

Crookshanks tried to follow, smashing his face as low as possible and batting at the available carpet, but then the owners arrived as Hermione pulled him into her arms, and Ron had to shove his arm clear up to his elbow to pull Scabbers out by his bald tail.

"At least that went better than I feared," Lily sighed in relief.

"Yeah, but how many more times is it going to happen," James was still frowning, "Hermione should have realized it was a bad idea to buy that particular cat back when this happened before."

None of them could think of anything else to say, all having a very bad feeling this was going to get worse before it got better.

Ron was yelling at Hermione already, saying that cat was slowly killing his rat from stress! Hermione shot back that it wasn't Crookshanks fault, it was in his nature.

"True," Lily nodded, "but she should have thought of that back when she bought him, and not bought him."

"Buying a cat when one of your best friends owns a rat feels like a recipe for disaster," Remus agreed.

Ron insisted it was Hermione's cat though, how it had heard him say Scabbers was in his pack.

"Now he's just being a little ridiculous," Sirius smirked. "'Heard'? Nah, he smelt him obviously."

"Not the point," James reminded.

Hermione told him he was being ridiculous, but Ron wouldn't hear it, telling her off that Scabbers was sick and here first!

"A very good point," Lily huffed, while Remus cocked his head to the side, thinking over that sentence. Scabbers had been getting sick before Hermione bought Crookshanks, so Ron was obviously exaggerating that part as well. This also couldn't be the first time Scabbers had interacted with a cat; surely some other Gryffindor owned one. The truth probably was; Scabbers was getting old, and Ron was projecting his fear of his pet dying of old age on his hatred of the cat.

Then he stamped off towards the stairs, and refused to come down until next morning's class, Herbology, where Hermione's first question was to ask how Scabbers was doing?

"At least she asks," James said still a little stiffly.

"Hermione cares," Lily snipped at him for the tone, "perhaps she's not showing it that well, but it's not like she set that cat on Scabbers on purpose. She'd be just as upset if an accident did happen and Crookshanks ate him."

James backed off slightly, noting that at least Hermione's asking was an attempt at the start of an apology.

Ron snapped that he was cowering at the foot of his bed, while knocking over a tin of beans in his rage.

"And Ron's clearly still holding a grudge," Sirius noted.

Sprout told him off for that, as he ruined a whole plantation that sprouted to life as they watched.

Harry's startled look was enough to make the others laugh, never getting tired of his constant surprise of the magical world.

On the way to Transfiguration, Harry was stewing over how to ask McGonagall if he could go into Hogsmeade

"Know the answer to that already," Remus sighed.

"He's got a point," James nodded when Harry looked like he might try and argue his point. "Unless you outright tell McGonagall why they hadn't signed, which by your track record you won't," he finished in a rather grumpy tone.

Harry sighed, knowing full well he'd never tell a teacher something like that, so remained silent and hoped anyways.

but was distracted outside of the class by Lavender in tears.

"Oh no," Lily frowned in concern.

"She's a girl," Sirius scoffed, "I'm sure she's just exaggerating."

"And here I thought you actually had a heart," Lily snapped at him at once, ignoring his eye roll. Whether he meant it or not, he really needed to stop making jokes like that.

Parvati was clearly trying to comfort her while talking to Dean and Seamus, who looked rather serious.

"Shut it Sirius," Lily snapped at him before he could open his mouth.

Sirius pouted at her, grumbling that she was kind of proving his point about how dramatic girls were, but then James nudged him and convinced him to let it go.

When the three of them approached, Parvati explained for them that Lavender had gotten a letter from home saying that her rabbit had been eaten by a fox.

"Aw," Sirius winced, "okay, poor kid."

"Thank you," Lily acknowledged.

Sirius made sure she could see his eye roll this time, stating, "come on Lils, I'm not heartless. I own an owl; I'd be pretty upset if anything happened to him too."

Lily still didn't think he'd gotten her point, that he shouldn't have made the joke in the first place, but decided to let it go.

Lavender was wailing that she shouldn't even be surprised, today of all days! It was October sixteenth, and the thing she'd been dreading happened, she was right!

"Oh crap," Remus said, blinking in shock.

"I'd honestly forgotten about that," James admitted.

"Wow, honestly, I think that Trelawney might have some real Seer's blood," Sirius said in surprise.

"Really Sirius? One right prediction and that's what you go with?" Lily asked, not bothering to try and hide her disbelief.

Sirius shrugged, personally he found the odds that not only had she chosen the death omen that was dogging Harry this year, but now this? No, he truly was beginning to believe this woman might really have a power, even if she did still annoy him for her use of it on his pup. He said as much aloud, and while he didn't really seem to convince anyone but Harry, the others found the argument to become rather circular after a time. Sirius wasn't letting up and he wasn't convincing anyone else so Lily decided to forcefully read on past him.

The rest of the class looked shocked and downed at the news, but Hermione began hesitantly asking if Lavender had really feared her rabbit Binky being killed by a fox? Lavender stuttered that it wasn't a fox exactly, but she'd feared for him! Hermione then asked if Binky was an older rabbit.

"Really Hermione?" Remus said with a frown. "Now, really?"

"I can see what she's trying to do," Lily nodded in agreement with both the girl and Remus, "but, yeah, wrong time and place."

Lavender moaned back that he was just a baby. Hermione then asked why she was so afraid of him dying. Parvati was now giving Hermione a dirty look.

"A fair reaction honestly," James sighed.

Hermione turned away from her and began addressing everyone as she pointed out that Binky hadn't even died on this day, but Lavender had just gotten the news of it.

"Harry, now would be the time to be a good friend and drag Hermione away," Remus pointed out.

"Before she continues making an arse out of herself like this," Sirius agreed. While he still would have argued the point on the probability of this happening on this day, he more than agreed Hermione wasn't doing it the right way.

Harry just sighed, he'd only observed the scene and hadn't really put an opinion on the matter, but he had felt rather bad for his friend as the rest of the class had been giving her harsh looks.

Plus, Lavender couldn't have been too surprised, since she was so stunned by the news.

"Now that was just tactless," Lily winced.

Ron cut in, telling Lavender to ignore Hermione, since she held no regards for how other people felt about their pets.

"And that was just heartless," Remus huffed.

McGonagall arrived then, cutting off a haughty glare between the two normally friends.

"Finally I can count on her good timing again," Sirius said weakly, more than happy himself to have avoided that fight, and they weren't even his friends.

They marched into class and sat on either side of Harry without looking at each other, and remained this way until class let out. It was McGonagall herself though that brought up the Hogsmeade trip, reminding that no one was allowed entrance without a form. Neville raised his hand hesitantly, beginning to explain he lost his,

"Ouch," all five of them winced, though none of them would admit rather selfishly pleased if Neville wouldn't be permitted to go either. They could hardly get mad at Hermione and Ron for wanting to go, but it would certainly make them feel a little better if Harry wasn't left behind on this.

but McGonagall explained that Neville's grandmother had mailed it to her personally.

"Smart woman at least," Lily said aloud, ignoring the internal wince.

Then she dismissed the class, and Ron told Harry to go and talk to her. Hermione tried to say something,

"Still don't understand why she's arguing that one," Lily shook her head in disbelief. "Harry deserves to have a little fun."

but Ron cut her off by insisting Harry should try. Harry went up to McGonagall's desk, and began to explain that his relatives had forgotten to sign his permission form,

"Forgot," the four of them muttered in disgust, eying Harry in disbelief. They honestly wondered if Harry had told her what really happened if she would have done something about it, but they couldn't say they were surprised at this point either. Harry's bad habit of glossing over this clearly hadn't gotten any better now that he was older.

but stuttering out by asking if he could still go anyways?

"And stammering on top of everything," Remus sighed.

"I could already tell her answer from the look on her face before I finished," Harry sighed.

McGonagall replied as expected, telling him that no form meant no visit, it was a rule. Harry tried to protest, saying that his muggle relatives hadn't understood it,

"That's what you're going with," Lily groaned, "just tell her the truth, and let's sit back and see how quickly they continue living."

Harry gave her a rather edgy look for her tone of voice but chose not to comment on that.

but if McGonagall gave him permission- she cut him off by saying she wasn't going to. The form stated it had to be Harry's parent or guardian.

"And now I want to cry," Sirius hissed, looking far more deadly than upset in that moment at that stupid reminder they were all Harry had to claim as guardian right then.

Then she gave Harry an odd look, which sort of resembled pity.

"I'd like to think more like confusion," Remus huffed, "since she'd probably be wondering why you really hadn't gotten your form signed."

"With any luck she'll bring it up to you, and you'll investigate," Sirius murmured to him, causing a vindictive smirk to appear on both of their faces.

Then she told them to get along to their next class, and once they were gone Ron spent the time walking calling McGonagall a couple of things that annoyed Hermione.

"The worst part is, McGonagall's still in the right," Lily sighed.

Said girl had a look on her face though that made it clear this was the best outcome, only angering Ron further.

"Yeah, she's not exactly being helpful this year," James sighed.

As the weeks crept on and this was the sole topic of everyone's conversation though, Ron tried to cheer Harry up that at least they would enjoy the holiday feast.

"Not exactly the worst consolation prize," Sirius offered bracingly, and Harry tried his best to give him a smile he didn't really feel.

The rest of the Gryffindors tried to cheer up Harry as well when they found out, Dean offering to forge someone's signature as he was a pretty good artist,

"Now there's an idea," James said, going bright-eyed.

"Except that Harry just got done saying he hadn't had his form signed," Remus reminded.

"Harry could have mailed it back and had it signed," Sirius said, mind now churning with possibility as he came up with a story for this. "He shouldn't give it to her until the day before, gives some credibility to the idea, and he'd have to mail himself something that looks like that in case McGonagall notices how often he gets mail. Most likely she doesn't, but it's a safe backup."

"You are putting way too much thought into this," Lily told him.

"Nonsense," Sirius scoffed at the same time James said, "no such thing."

While Harry didn't disagree with them, he had a sinking feeling that all of Sirius' planning didn't actually come true then, and hardly looked happy about it as Lily read.

Harry turned down the idea though, reminding he'd told McGonagall he hadn't had anyone sign it.

"Well dang, clearly no one in your dorm thinks outside the box," Remus sighed.

"Wish you'd go to the twins for help," James grumbled, "they could sneak you in no problem."

Harry perked up suddenly, his dad's words finally gave him that feeling he'd been missing, and he had a very good feeling this just might be what happened at some point. Still too worried about being wrong on the matter though, he didn't say this.

Ron offered for him to use the invisibility cloak,

"Which might have worked if not for those bloody dementors," Sirius grimaced.

but then Hermione reminded they didn't work on dementors. Percy offered the least helpful advice of all.

"Oh this can't be good," James groaned.

Telling Harry that everyone made a big deal about Hogsmeade in a serious tone of voice,

"Not as Seriously as I could have," Sirius said quickly, clutching the baby to his chest to prevent either of his friends from smacking him.

"You shouldn't be allowed to do that," James grumbled, looking rather disappointed that he didn't have a chance to get at him.

"I think I should claim rights," Remus huffed, eyeing the baby, "you've been holding him long enough."

"I might share if you didn't look like you were about to slap me once I did," Sirius smirked.

listing some of things that were worth seeing, but then adding on at the end that it wasn't that much fun.

"He only listed like a fourth of the good stuff," James huffed under his breath, making sure Harry didn't hear that one so he really wouldn't feel worse.

Halloween dawned with Harry feeling the lowest he had in a long time, but he attempted to act normally, though unable to fool his friends as Hermione promised to bring him back loads of sweets, while Ron agreed. They'd clearly put the fight over their pets aside in favor of trying to make Harry feel better.

"That's when you know you have some good friends," Sirius smiled brightly, "when they put aside their differences for you."

Harry couldn't help but beam right back, trying his very best to smother how much he really missed his friends.

Harry tried to reassure them in an offhand voice that he was going to be fine,

"I get the feeling it wasn't actually an offhand tone of voice," Remus said lightly, "but good effort for trying."

and promised to see them that night. He watched them leave, with Filch checking names off of a list to make sure no one was getting out who shouldn't,

'Which was basically every third year and up, aside from Harry,' they all sighed in their head, but kept that comment to themselves.

and did his best to ignore Malfoy who laughed when he saw Harry wasn't going, asking if he couldn't stand the idea of going past the dementors.

"Of all the bloody rotten timing for him to-" Sirius began, using a bit more of a threatening growl than normal because of his depressed mood for his little pup being left behind.

Harry went back to his common room and went inside, only to find the place diminished to second years and below, and the few older students who had no want to go to Hogsmeade.

Harry grumbled something about he really couldn't picture that. Honestly the other four really couldn't either, it was never worth passing up an opportunity getting out of the castle, with permission the three trouble makers mentally added on.

He was just wondering what to do with himself now when Colin came up to Harry, a boy a year below Harry who always talked to him whenever he could.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about him," Remus said in surprise.

"Well he clearly wasn't dogging you that year, or he would have been mentioned by now," Sirius pointed out, preeing even more he got to make his own pun again and still no one could retaliate.

"No, thankfully he hadn't memorized my schedule again," Harry said in relief, but repeated, "but he still went out of his way to talk to me." He didn't exactly look pleased, but he had to admit this was still better than last year.

He asked Harry why he wasn't in Hogsmeade, then offered Harry to come sit with him and his friends.

"I don't see that as being at the top of his to do list," James smirked.

Harry told him he'd forgotten to go do some homework.

"Pretty good on the spot lie," Remus appraised.

Then he turned back around and left, with the Fat Lady calling behind him that what was the point of getting her up?

"Because you deserve it for sleeping in the middle of the day," Lily snapped right back.

Harry began wandering through the hallways, but didn't get very far before he decided homework wasn't going to help.

All four of them were wincing in pain, hating how truly upset and lonely he seemed to be right then. 

Harry at least tried to keep their spirits up by refusing to let his own mood sink that low, he had a funny feeling he got some sort of interest happening to him on this day. Maybe he and Remus finally talked? Or he learned something about Sirius? Neither option left a very good omen for him for some reason though, so he still kept it to himself. 

He didn't backtrack too much when he ran into Filch, who snapped at Harry what he was doing? Harry just said 'nothing.'

"You can't ever really be doing nothing," James said loudly, trying to get at least a small smile out of Harry again.

Sirius noticed at once and continued, "yeah, like technically right then you were walking, that's something. Or you were standing, that's something too. You can't ever really be doing nothing."

Harry recognized what they were doing and really did give them a small smile for the effort.

Filch said back that he didn't believe that one bit.

"Funny part is he actually wasn't doing anything wrong right then," Remus chuckled.

"Probably had another flashback to when he caught James like that," Lily pointed out lightly.

Then he demanded why Harry wasn't out with the rest of the miscreants buying everything possible to destroy this castle.

"He just thinks so much of all of them doesn't he?" Sirius snickered.

Harry didn't answer, and Filch told him to get back to his tower.

James rolled his eyes and pointed out, "it's not like it's curfew or anything; Harry can go wherever he wants to in that castle."

"Like that's ever stopped Filch," Remus pointed out.

Harry walked off, but had no intentions of going back there. He was now thinking of going to see Hedwig,

"At least that'll be something pleasant," Lily sighed.

when another voice called him back and Harry turned to see Professor Lupin.

"Yes!" All five of them brightened at once. Surely the fact that Remus had just called out to him meant he really couldn't ignore him this time! Why he had waited until now, months after school had started they still couldn't guess, but now would be the most perfect time to finally have that talk Harry so desperately deserved.

He asked what Harry was doing, in the opposite tone Filch had used.

"Well I should hope so," James agreed.

Then he asked where Harry's friends were, and Harry told him. Lupin watched Harry for a second,

"Remus I will give you all of the gold in my vault right now if you bloody ask him about this," Sirius said, nearly bouncing around in anticipation for what this could mean.

"And Harry actually tells him the truth," James noted.

Remus couldn't help the pessimistic little niggle that Harry had known him for far less a time then he'd even known McGonagall, so why would he tell him something like that? He looked so dejected Sirius finally gave up the baby and passed him along to Remus, which put a smile on his face at once.

then he offered Harry to come inside his office and have a look at his new grindylow.

The two boys refused to let them get their hopes down. So Remus hadn't started off like they would have preferred, but it was finally happening. He and Harry were completely alone with the best amount of time no one would walk in on a conversation that was so desperately needed. If Remus didn't get to it this time, they would know something was up.

Harry walked in to see an odd creature floating in the tank, green in skin color with spiky little horns jutting out of its forehead and trying to hide in some weeds. Lupin explained it was a water demon,

"I always get those confused with kappas," Lily said absently.

"Kappa is Japanese for cucumber," Remus said randomly.

At Lily's blank look he shrugged and said, "when I was first learning about them, I found that a random and interesting fact, so when I got to grindylows it was an interesting distinction."

"Okay then," Lily said with a shrug and a small smile, not having actually expected an answer.

telling that after they'd dealt with the other creatures, this one should be easy to handle, noting its weakness in the strong but brittle fingers. The grindylow gave them a dirty look and dug itself into the sand.

"You are the only person who would actually keep that thing in his office," Sirius snickered.

"It's not that weird," Remus defended. "Where else would I keep it?"

"In the staff's supply room, where all the other teachers keep their stuff, like live animals, they plan on using for class," James said in a duh like voice. "Did it never occur to you why McGonagall and Flitwick don't have a bunch of random animals around their offices?"

Remus rolled his eyes; he wasn't going to argue the point. Sirius only wished they had their own supply office for all the random beasts Remus kept bringing home to study, it was a wonder he didn't come home to find him cuddling in bed with a diricawl.

Then he offered Harry some tea, and Harry agreed with some lingering awkwardness.

Remus grimaced and turned his attention back to the child, hating just how awkward it clearly was for the two of them to be in the same room. He felt lucky Harry had accepted at all, considering the past two DADA teachers had attacked him.

Harry tried to catch his eye and give him a reassuring smile now, to prove he didn't still feel that way, but Remus was clearly ignoring everyone else in the room now.

He began to set up a pot, making the joke that all he had were teabags, but he'd heard that Harry would prefer that to leaves.

Sirius couldn't help but give a little surprised laugh, Remus had obviously been checking up on Harry's other classes.

He caught Harry's eye then, trying to suppress laughter as he explained that McGonagall had told about his first Divination class, and asking if he was worried about that Grim?

"I'm sure you two had a nice long conversation about him," James snickered, having quite the amusement at McGonagall telling Remus all the things Harry had been up to the past two years at school.

Harry looked mildly annoyed at this, not really appreciating the thought of teachers sitting around gossiping about him, but couldn't find it in himself to be to mad at Remus for this, knowing now that he probably just wanted to know more about him.

Harry admitted he wasn't, while considering thinking about telling him that stray dog he'd seen months ago.

"Now that would have been interesting," Lily said, eyeing Remus who did look mildly entertained at how that reaction would go. Most likely, if his assumption was correct, Sirius would have already told him that he'd seen Harry then; but he certainly wished Harry would tell him. It would help ease into the conversation they were all wanting to hear about Harry's past really being explained to him by someone who really knew.

He didn't though, wondering if bringing this up would only reinforce what a coward he was sure Lupin already thought he was after that boggart mess.

Which popped any form of happiness Remus was feeling, and he turned as if to quickly say something to Harry, who waved him off and said, "I know, you already said it now. I didn't know then."

Remus still didn't look very happy, but admitted there wasn't much else he could say right then.

It must have been clear enough on his face though, as Lupin asked if anything was on Harry's mind? Harry's first instinct was to say no,

Remus winced and began bouncing his leg in high agitation now, greatly amusing the baby at least though it didn't seem to be helping him now. He would never not hate just how little Harry seemed to trust him, Harry should have been able to come to him with any of his worries since he could talk, not this nonsense where he was lucky Harry was talking to him at all!

His emotions were written all over his lined face, so Sirius took pity on him and tried to put some comfort into his words as he said, "Let it go Remus. Yeah this sucks, but there's no sense in dwelling on this now that we're going to fix it." Sirius was still rather torn about Remus in the future. His actions were more annoying than anything; what could be holding Remus back, from stopping him from seeing Harry like he should have. But he'd decided to wait until that reason was revealed before he fully passed a judgment on Remus' actions.

Remus didn't exactly look comforted, but Lily decided to read on anyways.

but then he said yes before he could reconsider.

Which made them all perk up as if Christmas had suddenly been announced. It didn't matter what had changed Harry's mind about telling Remus, the fact that he was meant more to all of them then they could have put into words.

He finally asked why Lupin had stopped him from tackling the boggart, and Lupin said he thought it was obvious.

"No, sorry, not really," Harry told him, still smiling faintly.

Remus fidgeted around a bit, but shrugged all the same, still unsure what to say about his future actions.

Harry had been expecting Lupin to deny his actions altogether,

"Now that would have been just stupid, one thing Remus usually isn't," James noted.

"Usually?" Remus snapped without any heat, to which James ignored him.

but still asked why? Lupin explained he hadn't wanted a Voldemort to appear in class, boggart fake or not.

Remus rolled his eyes, he still didn't think this was a good enough reason to publicly deflect Harry the way he had, though his classmates clearly hadn't noticed, he still didn't like the way it had made Harry feel. Then Sirius leaned over and whispered in his ear, "glad to see you obviously still know him so well, even then." Which caused him to smile in spite of himself.

Lily was watching them curiously, noting the change in Remus' demeanor, but kept going when it didn't look like they were about to explain.

Harry was stunned not just because he'd partially guessed his actions right, but because he'd called Voldemort by name.

"I can see why you'd find that so surprising," James said fairly, "since, aside from Dumbledore, you've yet to see anyone else do that."

The only person Harry had ever known to do that, apart from himself, was Dumbledore.

"Whom Remus idolizes, so even if he didn't have his own brain, he'd still do whatever that man said," Sirius rolled his eyes.

Remus scowled lightly at him. Yes he was eternally grateful to the headmaster for everything he'd done for him, but Sirius had made it sound like he had blind faith in the man, which he didn't. Mostly. Okay, maybe a little, a lot, before they had read this, but after all the things the book had implied Dumbledore had done to Harry he wasn't one hundred percent sure on that anymore.

Lupin easily read Harry's face and said he must have misinterpreted it wrong, but it really would have been a bad thing if even a fake Voldemort had come to life in the school, it would cause quite the chaos.

"I can see that," Harry said fairly.

"But it still wouldn't do you any good, even if I had been right. You still should have had practice at it just like anyone else," Remus argued back.

James suddenly burst out laughing, causing Remus' annoyed look to double up on him. "What?" he snapped, his tone far sharper than Harry would have thought.

James hardly looked offended, or even surprised, as he admitted, "you do realize you are arguing against yourself right. How is that not funny?"

Remus paused with his head cocked to the side as he realized what James meant, then gave a wane smile and sat back and cuddled the baby as he gave up on the pointless argument.

Harry then admitted what he had been thinking at the time, dementors. Lupin found that intriguing, telling Harry that meant that he feared fear itself, which was very smart.

"Glad to see you agree with yourself on some things," Sirius snickered, causing Remus to stick his tongue out at the pair.

Then Lupin asked if Harry had really thought he wasn't up for the job of going at a boggart?

"Well you can't blame him for thinking that," Lily defended.

"Oh I know," Remus said at once peaceably.

Harry admitted he had, then began to ask about the dementors, but was interrupted by a knock on Lupin's door.

"Dang it," they all muttered, wondering who on earth could be interrupting them now when they were finally talking!

"What were you going to ask anyways?" James inquired.

"I was going to ask him about the effects dementors could have on people," Harry admitted. "Wanted to ask why I passed out and Ron didn't."

They looked all the more annoyed now, very much wanting Harry to be able to get that answer, so even before the person came in they were in a disgruntled mood.

Lupin called for them to enter, and Snape came in.

"Gah! Can't go one bloody chapter without wanting to hex him lately," Sirius snapped.

"What's he even doing there?" James frowned, "I sincerely doubt it's a casual visit."

Harry was just as curious as the others, thinking back and wondering why something significant might be fixing to happen, so eagerly asked his Mum to go on.

He was holding a goblet, which was smoking at the brim, but froze when his eyes landed on Harry.

"Try something in front of Remus you slimy little git," Sirius growled.

Remus couldn't help but agree this time, if he started in on Harry he'd have every reason to step in, though he somehow doubted Snape was that stupid.

Lupin greeted him pleasantly, asking him to leave the drink on his desk.

"Say what now?" James demanded, doing a double take on that.

Lily was looking down at the page, clearly just as confused as anyone else.

"What would you be accepting from him?" Sirius demanded, looking at his friend like he'd just declared he and Snape were the best of friends.

"Whatever was in that goblet I guess," Remus shrugged, looking just as perplexed as anyone else.

This was such an odd interaction, they were still pretty stunned and no one protested when Lily decided to carry on and hope for a better answer.*

Snape did as told, still watching the pair of them with narrowed eyes.

"Probably wondering if he's concocting some mad scheme with you," Lily smirked.

"He might have been having a flashback to be honest," James agreed with a laugh.

Lupin told Snape that he'd been showing off his new grindylow.

'Wish he was joking' Sirius noted sourly, wanting very much to grumble about how Snape shouldn't have shown up for hours so these two had a better chance to talk, or not at all preferably.

Snape didn't react to the news, telling Lupin to drink whatever was in that cup as soon as possible. Lupin agreed he would,

"Well I obviously know what it is," Remus observed quirking a brow in surprise.

"Wish you did now," James frowned.

then Snape added on he had more and it should be drunk as well tomorrow, which Lupin also agreed to, and thanked Snape.

"The fact that you two are being so polite to each other honestly scares me," Sirius grumbled.

"I'm just waiting for Harry to ask what's going on," Lily sighed.

Snape said it wasn't a problem, but Harry was getting a prickling feeling from the look on Snape's face.

"I don't like any look from him," James agreed, his eyes still narrowed suspiciously. Snape wouldn't do anything too bad to Remus in reaction to that Boggart mess, and Remus clearly wasn't bothered by the interaction in the future. Then again, Harry wasn't the best eyes to go on for that, as he might not have even noticed Remus' tells.

Then Snape left the room by walking backwards, still eyeing the pair of them mistrustfully.

"Be a little more scared if he was smiling," Sirius snapped.

Harry looked back at the drink and Lupin explained Harry's look saying that Snape had just made him a little pick-me-up. He picked up the goblet and gave it a dissatisfied look, telling that sugar didn't make it taste any better as he drank some and shuddered.

"But what is it?" Lily huffed, her eyes narrowed in high agitation that she didn't know the answer to that, though she couldn't help a sneaking suspicion of something it could be.

"Wish I knew," Remus answered with a shrug.

"I don't like this," James and Sirius said in sync, still frowning in concern that Snape might be trying to get some sort of payback at Remus for that boggart stunt. Then again, Remus didn't seem very concerned for this, in fact if they were hearing this right he seemed rather grateful to Snape for whatever that potion was. It was driving them all crazy none of them could figure it out.

Harry began to ask why, but Lupin cut him off by stating he'd been feeling off-color, and he was lucky Snape had done this for him when most wizards wouldn't bother.

Sirius and James exchanged wide-eyed looks at that. 'Off-color' was a kind of inside joke that Remus said when he wasn't feeling well around the full moon, and the 'many wizards aren't up to making it' bit sort of made it seem like it might be about the same thing. Had a potion actually been discovered to help with his lycanthropy? If so, then this was a miracle as much as it was mind-blowing. Neither voiced their suspicions though, wondering if it would give Remus false hope.

Lupin took another drink, and Harry had to fight down the want to throw that cup across the room.

"Can't blame you on that one," Sirius agreed, "I wouldn't trust him not to poison me any farther than I could throw him."

"He wouldn't do something like that right under Dumbledore's nose," Lily said at once, and all of the boys noted she had just so phrased that in the way she hadn't exactly said he wouldn't poison Remus. It was far from reassuring, even if it did mean she really wasn't exactly in Snape's corner anymore.

Instead Harry told him that Snape loved the Dark Arts.

"Which is not a surprise to me, I can assure you," Remus rolled his eyes.

Lupin didn't look very interested, but Harry kept going, stating that he'd heard rumors Snape would do anything to get Lupin's job.

"Glad Harry's so trusting of his potions teacher, really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy," James said with only mild amusement, still stuck on the potion itself.

Lupin downed the rest of it and made an ugly face at the taste, then he told Harry that he would see him later.

Then they all pulled a face remarkably close to how Remus had looked finishing off that potion, Harry noted, but didn't need to ask why. He knew they were just as disappointed as he was that their little talk was clearly over, and they actually walked out with more questions than answers.

Recognizing he was being excused, Harry did indeed leave, though still watching that goblet that still had smoke curling out of it.

"Ominous," James drew the word out, still giving the book a significant and haughty look.

Time skip to Ron and Hermione returning, looking like they'd had the time of their lives as they bestowed Harry with a shop's worth of sweets.

"Please, do anything but tell him what all you did," Lily sighed without any hope.

Harry thanked them for it all, then asked how it had gone, where all did they go?

"Well Harry's not helping anything," Remus grumbled.

Pretty much everywhere.

"And Ron and Hermione clearly weren't pulling any punches," Sirius winced.

They told Harry every detail of the village, all the shops you could go into, and their favorite the Three Broomsticks, where they swear they'd seen an ogre.

"That would have been a fun sight to see," James chuckled, remembering sneaking into there all the time just to watch who came and went.

Then Hermione changed subject to asking if Harry had done any homework.

"Oh yeah, he really sat around and hit the books," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly, doesn't Hermione know him at all?"

Harry instead told them his day, and Ron asked if Lupin was mad when he heard he'd drank that stuff.

"That's actually a fair question as of right now," Sirius agreed sagely.

Remus rolled his eyes at him, stating in as sane a voice as he could muster, "despite my friends, I actually like to argue that from time to time." Even his own face though was showing his misgivings at this fact currently.

They were heading down to dinner now, while Hermione put in that Snape wouldn't have tried to kill Lupin like that, not with Harry sitting there as witness.

"Don't think Harry could really have done much to stop him," James frowned, "or known to do otherwise."

"I still kind of agree with Hermione," Lily said thoughtfully, "Snape's not so stupid to do that in front of someone like Harry, even if he didn't understand what was going on."

"If you're all done deciding whether I'm going to die or not," Remus pleasantly mocked Harry, the pair exchanging amused looks.

James and Sirius frowned, not finding that funny in the least. They'd only just found out he was actually going to survive, the thought of him being killed right now made them want to lash out at anything even slightly threatening. Whether they were right in their guess or not, they still didn't trust Snape to do a damned thing for Remus for any reason.

The feast was as pleasant as always, but Harry felt distracted the whole time as he kept an eye on Lupin through the night, who was acting no different than usual.

"I'll admit, I do find that rather comforting," James nodded in agreement, suddenly putting the date with the act and remembering all over again Harry's spectacular bad luck with this particular holiday. If something bad was going to happen to Remus, he wouldn't even be surprised if it had happened on this day.

Then he switched to watching Snape, who also seemed to be watching the DADA teacher with more interest then was called for.

"Please tell me you are exaggerating," Sirius groaned, "cause otherwise, that is creepy."

The show for the night turned out to be Nick showing off the way he'd died.

"Glad to see they still think that's funny," Harry said, trying to move on to lighter topics, and ignoring the mounting feeling he'd had earlier. He was still so sure something did happen today, but it clearly didn't involve Remus and Snape, so what could he be thinking of?

As they were leaving the halls, Malfoy got one last crack in about how the dementors missed Harry.

"That joke is still not funny," all three boys on the couch snapped, thinking this kid really needed to get a grip, or at least a new book of jokes.

They made it all the way up to Gryffindor tower, but met most of the house crowded up in the hallway. Harry tried to crane over heads to see what was up with the portrait, which was still shut.

"Did McGonagall change the password without telling anyone?" Lily asked in confusion.

"She's only ever done that to us, not the whole house," James disagreed with a frown in place.

Harry was starting to get fidgety again, instinctively knowing something bad was about to happen, and trying his hardest to keep that feeling suppressed.

Percy was shoving his way through, announcing his position for them to move,

"Yes, because that will make them move out of the way so much faster," Sirius rolled his eyes, thinking that even if their unlikely guess was right; Percy would know the new password at least.

but when he reached the front, he froze up as well, before hollering for someone to go and get Dumbledore!

"What, why, what happened?" The boys demanded at once.

Lily desperately wanted to pause and bite at her lip again, fearing that anything that made Percy upset couldn't be good, but read on quickly anyways for her answer.

Said headmaster arrived soon enough, and the parting of the crowd finally revealed that the Fat Lady's painting had been torn to shreds, little bits of canvas all over the floor.

James was blinking spastically like someone had just shined a bright light in his eye, while Sirius' mouth was hanging open in shock. Remus and Harry leaned forward, not wanting anyone to pause and try to guess what had happened, but encouraging Lily to keep going and try to get an answer already.

The rest of the teachers arrived with Dumbledore, and he quickly instructed them all to spread out and find the Fat Lady, but then Peeves arrived and told that would be a chore, laughing at all of them.

James was getting jittery all over, and keeping a paternal eye on Harry as he watched him continually rub at his temple, a sure sign something important was fixing to happen. Who, or what, on earth would have attacked that painting?

Dumbledore asked what he had seen, and Peeves put on an air of respect, even he wasn't stupid enough to mess with Dumbledore.

"Found the other person, besides the Bloody Baron, who Peeves won't mess with," Sirius said, but was ignored by the others.

He began to explain that it had started as a nasty little argument, and the end results was the poor woman running through paintings crying and screaming.

"Running from what?" Remus muttered, though not loud enough Lily stopped to acknowledge it.

Dumbledore asked who had done this, and Peeves told that of course it was none other than Sirius Black.

The book slipped out of Lily's numb hands and landed on the floor with a thunk.

HPHPHP

*I would just like to note before anyone says anything, in chapter eighteen Remus says that the invention of the Wolfsbane potion is 'very recent' which makes me think that it possibly wasn't even discovered until after the events of their deaths. So no, they really don't have any idea what Remus drank.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #461

“this city looks so pretty, do you wanna burn it with me?”

Have you ever wanted a Nikon camera? Or do you have one already? My camera before the one I have now was a Nikon D3200. I use a Canon now. Who was the last person (if anyone) you said Happy Birthday to? A friend. Do you have Photoshop? If so, how often a day do you use it? I have it, but I barely use it nowadays. I use it to edit photos for character profiles or profile pictures, add a watermark for my actual photography, and I used to make Mark-oriented gifs like crazy. They mostly did really well, so... I might wanna get back into that and get That Sweet Validation. Do you watch any shows that you know your parents wouldn’t approve of? No. Have any of your exes gotten married or had kids since your breakup? None, I think. Do either of your parents have a mental illness? My mom has depression. Can you tolerate children for a long period of time? NO. Have you ever lived with someone you felt thoroughly uncomfortable around? No. Are you into dubstep? Yeah, I tend to enjoy it. Zelda or The Sims games? Can I pick neither? lol I don't feel very much at all for The Sims, and Zelda games have always looked... boring to me? Like I've watched most of the Game Grumps' playthroughs of all the games, and they make it hilarious of course, but the games themselves? Nah. Are you terrible at assigning bands their proper genre? YES YES YES YES YES YES. Even in my preferred category, that being metal, FUCK if I know the sub-genre. Have you ever made out in a closet? No, that shit sounds claustrophobic as hell. Have you ever been to a laser tag place? Yeah, on a triple-date once! It was SO fun. How do you wanna celebrate your next birthday? Have a couple friends over, pig out at The Cheesecake Factory. o3o Do you tease your parents about them being old? No, especially not Mom. She's self-conscious about getting older. Are you in love with someone? "In love" is a bit too far, buddy. But I love someone. Have you ever ridden a unicycle? No. Have you ever wanted a pet bunny? I was VERY serious about getting a lop-eared bunny for quite a while, but we just couldn't afford to adopt one (even off Craigslist) and get a cage for it, toys, etc. Are the bottom of your feet clean? I HATE seeing the bottom of my feet. Not because they're dirty, but because it's Callus City. I ain't even fuckin jokin'. Do you like really salty food? Yeah. :x When’s the last time you bled a lot? Well, I just recently finished my cycle after not menstruating for three or four MONTHS, so you can figure that one out. Have you ever watched a needle go into your own skin? Yeah. I like to know exactly when it's coming. Have you ever seen someone get a piercing/tattoo? Yes to both. When you’re done eating finger foods, do you usually lick your fingers? Usually kasdjlf;kalsdjf shut up ok I like food. What’s the most racist thing you have ever said? As a little kid, when my really good friend (a neighborhood kid, even) asked if he thought we'd be a good couple, I told him no because "blacks and whites don't date" or something like that. It was an idea I'd never been exposed to before; the idea was so foreign to little kid me. I had no idea I was being racist. It ended in a small fight and we didn't talk for a few days 'til he came to my house telling Mom that he had to "be a man" and fix this and if that ain't the cUTEST SHIT RIGHT THERE. We were friends again after that. He's still on my Facebook, and he actually semi-recently got married! :') Do you know someone that is mute, deaf or blind? No. Have you ever spent more than two weeks in a wheelchair? No. Does weed smell good? Or no? Ugh, no. Where do you see your closest friend in ten years? Successful and happy she kept pushing. Mama to so many reptiles that are blessed with the best lives possible in human care. Got at least one amazing book out there. If she's reading this, you've fucking got this. <3 Would you like to have twins? Mother of fucking god, no. Even if I WANTED kids, do fucking not give me twins. Who was the last person you got into an argument with? My mom. Want to have kids before you’re 30? Once again, I don't want kids, but IF I did, that'd be preferable before the risk of birth defects and other issues climb with age. Does anybody have a tattoo with your name on it? My older sister has my initial. Do you think somebody’s in love with you? No. Do you think you and your best friend will be friends in ten years? Yes, I genuinely do. Who were the last people to hang out at your house? Miss Tobey, our friend and landlord. Does anyone like you? Welp... I hope he still does. Guess we'll figure that out soon. What person on your Facebook do you talk to the most? VIA Facebook? Probably my friend Lyndsey. She likes to comment on stuff I share. Do you want to fall in love? I do, but I'm also utterly horrified to and risk being hurt again. Are you interested in more than one person at the moment? No. Once I realized I was so deeply into Girt, all other romantic feelings kinda just... poofed. How was your last break up? Civil and done with both of our best interests in mind. What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to say? Probably the first time I admitted I needed to go to the hospital for suicidal thoughts. I was so, so scared of what it was going to be like. What is the hardest thing you NEEDED to hear? That if Jason wasn't happy with me, he had every right to move on. She was right. Do you treat yourself well? No... but I'm trying to change that. What was the last song you sang out loud to? This "Set Fire to the Rain" cover. Do you take good pictures? I think I do? Have you ever done any internship? No. What’s a topic you’ve drastically changed your opinion on? Holy shit, so much, especially when it comes to morality and political stances. I am now a massive supporter and member of the LGBTQ+ community, I'm pro-trans rights, pro-choice... I've done like a dozen 180s in a lot of topics. Do you know anyone who has a PhD? I mean, some doctors, but no one in my truly personal life. Do you know anyone who works as a lawyer? Yes: my cousin. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? LAKSDJFKLA;JWD NEVER AND I PRAY TO THE HOLY LORD THAT I NEVER DO. Does the thought of having wrinkles when you’re older upset you? Not massively? Like literally everyone gets them and is natural and inevitable. Do you know anyone who’s struggling with addiction? I know one alcoholic, and one that's probably borderline. I also have two friends who are extremely addicted to weed. Look me in the eyes and say it's not an addictive substance and I wouldn't believe you one bit. Is there a video or computer game that you can get lost in for hours? Eh, sometimes World of Warcraft. Some days I'm really into it, and others I barely touch it. What’s your favorite Disney Channel movie? I have no clue. I don't even remember movies that were made *for* Disney exclusively. Do you ever have to do yard work? No. We have a friend from the dance studio mow the lawn. Do you have any live versions of songs in your music software? My iPod has a whole live album of Ozzy. Did you or do you listen to Britney Spears songs? Both did and do. Britney is a boss bitch. Does your favorite band have a male or female lead singer? Male. Have you seen the movie Moulin Rouge? No, but I've seen some of that P!nk music video of the song and it brings out the Gay in me. Do you have a key to anything besides your house? No. Could you ever complete a 500-piece puzzle? I've done that before. I miss doing puzzles... Have you ever been to any sort of convention? I went to a reptile expo with Sara!! I REALLY want to go to another when my legs are stronger and can handle standing and walking so much. Is your mom or dad the older parent? Mom. Have you ever tried to walk on a moving vehicle and fallen over? No????? What is your favourite kind of bread? Is there any of that in your house? Pumpernickel. No. Are/were you in the school band, and if so, what instrument did you play? I played the flute all through middle school and I wanna say half of HS. Have you ever ordered an unusual drink at a bar? Never even been to one. Have you ever been pulled aside by security at the airport? I think once for some reason I don't recall? What is your favourite seasonal candy? (only available at certain times) Gingerbread men, probs. Or chocolate bunnies!!! :') How do you feel right now? My stomach is KILLING me. I'm super excited though that Girt is coming over tomorrow. Have you ever had surgery that kept you in the hospital for over a day? No. What would you like your generation to change? How we treat nature. Is there anyone that you truly could not live without? No. I learned that is a very unhealthy mentality to have. Do you like carrots more if they’re raw, or cooked? I just hate carrots. What restaurant did you last go out to dinner at with friends? With friends? I couldn't even guess. Does your refrigerator have an ice maker or do you use ice cube trays? It has an ice maker. Do you have a favorite sibling, if any? No; I love them all. Do you have a favorite brand of clothing? I STAN CLOAK. How’s the love life? Something new might start tomorrow. I think it will. Do you watch the news? No; that shit is depressing. Who do you admire most? Mark. Do you have a favorite album? Black Rain by Ozzy Osbourne takes the cake and always will.

[abitofafatass]

11-21-14 Grif and the Director ( @churchofinvention)

If there was ever a night where drinking sounded like a decent solution.

-

Is the old man getting tired?

-

I’m going to take the next blunt object I find and beat you over the head with it.

-

I’m so fucking terrified. What’s it gonna be, your walker?

-

Ye— what? No! I don’t have a walker! Son, how the hell old do you suppose I am?

I dont know. Fucking old enough that it’d be gross to bang.

-

Like you’e any prize catch yourself. You wanna talk ‘gross to bang’? Where do I begin with you.

-

Hey, chicks dig Native Hawaiian dudes, alright? At least I’m not fucking old.

-

Attractive Native Hawaiian ‘dudes’. And maybe you aren’t, but if you have about… a week to spare, I could tell you all the other things that you are.

-

Fat? A Frankenstein abomination with all these skin grafts? Slobby? Really, you wouldnt have anything new to add to the table.

-

I was doing it a little more… personality based than that, but if that’s what you want to go with, sure.

-

Again, the other old guy kind of beat you to all that. Dont you old people trade notes?

-

I missed the last senior meeting, I had to go to the doctor’s office and you have no idea how long that takes. What the hell’s the matter with you? I don’t even know who this other old guy is. And I don’t trade notes with anybody about anything.

-

So you admit you’re an old fart. HA! Its probably better you dont meet Sarge, now that I think about it. I don’t need two old men who hate me. Especially because I basically live with one.

-

[ambiguous grunt in response]

You’ve already got two old men who hate you, you’re saying it like we don’t yet. And that’s just simply not true. At least on my end. Do you really not want me to meet this man?

-

I dont think I could take two Southern accents yelling at me at once. Sorry, but I’ll have to pass on you meeting my technically superior officer

-

Sounds like I’ve got some place to be for a change. Cute as it is that you think your disapproval is going to stop this, it’s also equal parts wrong. I think I’ll be dropping by to have a chat with your superior in the near future.

-

Fuck. Me. Thats it, I’m defecting. There’s no way that I’m putting up with constant death threats from two old assholes.

-

You’re not my type. I don’t think so. You’re going to put up with it whether you want to or not. There isn’t going to be any defecting. Deal with it.

-

Gross. Who’s going to stop me? I wasnt even a real soldier anyways. I’m a simulation trooper for some asshole’s project.

-

You’re the one who said it. Yes, I’m well aware of that fact. And I’m going to have to guess that the asshole running the project is going to stop you. That’s just a guess though. You never know.

-

Nah, I heard that guy was a dick. I cant imagine that he’d care about one fucker who decided he didnt want to play games. Though I do have to ask why there was a one man draft, and why the hell I was picked

-

In light of recent developments, I’m almost positive that he would. Trust me on that one. I haven’t the slightest idea. A lazy piece of work like you of all people. Somebody should look into that.

-

Yeah, right, like either of those things are going to happen. Christ, I want to go home. I guess an old fart like you just has a retirement home to look forward to. Sucks. All those shitty oatmeal raisin cookies to look forward to.

-

I refuse to live in a retirement home ever, even if my life depended on it. Retirement homes are awful and boring, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. Oatm— …. I despise you.

-

I suppose they might have Oatmeal Craisin if you bitch at them enough about it. Supposedly thats better.

-

Craisins are almost as bad as raisins. That’s not any better at all.

-

Well, old farts have to gum their food, and dont have tastebuds so its not like you’ll know the difference.

-

How many older people do you actually know?

-

There’s you. And Sarge. And that fucking terrifying lunchlady. …. Thats about it. Who the fuck wants to be around old people?

-

Nobody, I suppose. You’ve got me there.

-

Well… You dont have to sound so despondent about it. You always have other old people to hang out with.

-

Thank you, that actually makes me feel so much better. At least I have other old people. Thank god.

-

….. That sounded an awful lot like sarcasm. Look dude, you cant ask someone half your age if he knows a lot of ancient fucks, ok? Especially when I’ve been in the army for over a decade with other people half your age.

-

I was trying to figure out where you got your information from. I couldn’t give less of a damn how many older people you know. That’s the least of my concerns right now.

-

“Concerns”? Gramps, take a chill pill, I’m probably the farthest thing that you should be concerned about.

-

You are. Don’t you worry about that.

-

Oh good. I’m tired of people coming after me. Serously, this defecting thing is starting to sound really good… I could be home drinking a tasty beer, and doing nothing.

[furidojasutin]

Title: Buddy talk

Pairing: Grayke (Gray x Loke)

Universe: Modern AU

Rating: K+

a/n: This is my entry for the Fairy Tail Reverse Big Bang hosted by @ftguildevents​ ! I was super happy to get to work with the beautiful @rougearts who also made me see the appeal in this ship, actually! You can find her art piece over here --> https://rougearts.tumblr.com/post/628531912470937601/i-am-not-against-shoving-you-off-this-bed-loke  . Make sure to give her work lots of love and follow her on all her blogs, too!! Her writing is amazing and so is her art. 💓 This event was such an amazing idea tbh, so thanks to everyone who helped hosting it and everyone who participated <3

“Ta-da!”

“Wow.” Even if Gray ignored Loke's smugly shimmering eyes, there was a lot to take in. The modern dining table was completely laid. Despite the comparably small surface of the table, there was plenty of different stuff to eat and he'd also spotted the various kinds of bottles near the kitchen counter. The kitchen counter itself? It wasn't as much of a mess as Gray had assumed it would be. After all this time of being friends with Loke, he was still unable to tell if that ginger was more of a clean person or a messy person. Perhaps it depended on the exact situation, really.

“Wow? That's your only reaction? I put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this.”

“Sounds kinda gross, if you ask me,” Gray deadpanned but couldn't help but smile a little when he saw his friend's play-acted offended face.

“Well,” Loke countered, “I've always known that you never had keen eye for things that deserve true appreciation, so I can only feel bad for you I guess.” With a slightly dramatic gesture he left Gray's side to fetch them both a glass from the cupboard.

“Sure, whatever you say, man.” He watched Loke with a shrug, the tiniest curve still not disappeared on his face. Of course he appreciated the effort, he really did. Perhaps he wasn't the best at showing his gratitude most of the time, so he was glad that Loke understood him without him having to say much.

His gaze swerved over the full display of food bowls and the... Wait.

“You prepared all of this yourself?”

Loke froze in his movement for a second and Gray almost missed the hesitation. Almost. When his friend turned around with a glass in each of his hands, he shot a lopsided grin towards Gray. “Weeeell..... Not all of it.”

Gray knew exactly where this was going. “What did you prepare yourself?”

With a roll of his shoulders Loke smoothly turned his back on him to pour them both a glass of wine. “This and that... I toasted the bread and cooked the eggs and-”

“You ordered the rest of the meal.”

“Got me there.”

Even so, starting off the evening with a meal and wine was a very good idea. It was pretty decent wine, too. Before Gray knew it he had already emptied two glasses. They hadn't planned on getting drunk but then again, they hadn't planned out anything really so this night could go anywhere.

Or, almost anywhere.

After they cleaned up they decided to move over to Loke's couch and watch some shitty night tv channel. This channel seriously never disappointed them – there was always something dumb to comment on and make fun about and Gray caught himself laughing at more of Loke's stupid jokes than he wanted to admit. It had always been this way.

The night progressed very fast and it was an absolutely good time. Everything was so easy when he was around Loke. Silly and chill. Gray felt relaxed.

And perhaps it was the bottle of wine that they had killed together (though Gray felt a very tiny buzz at most), but there was something so warm and good about Loke and him just chilling on his bed together and talking about random stuff before sleep would get to them. There was nothing weird about them sharing this bed, nothing weird about two half-naked guys right next to each other and sharing their thoughts.

Until Loke thought that it was a good idea to bring that topic into focus.

“Why again are we talking about this?” Gray averted his eyes and stared at the ceiling instead. He made an effort to sound annoyed but something told him that it wouldn't be so easy to distract Loke from his intention. Ugh... He really didn't like talking about this kinda stuff. And perhaps one of the reasons for this circumstance was right beside him...

“Because you're one of my best friends. And because I'm very curious.” Loke rolled onto his side. “I know all about Cana's love life and-”

“It's not like she has ever tried to make a secret out of it. She's a very blunt person. She loves telling us juicy new information involving her newest crush and so on,” Gray tried to counter.

Without much success.

“I want to know more about your love life, though. We've been buddies for so long and I know that you're not much of a talker, but c'mon. There's got to be somebody, right?”

Something about Loke's tone of voice had changed, but he wasn't able to pinpoint what exactly it was. Maybe there was a tad bit less amusement in it, or perhaps he just sounded more serious.

Gray frowned. He still didn't really feel like talking about this. Yea, he'd much rather change the subject. Besides, there wasn't much to tell anyway...

“Okay.” Loke tried again after a moment of silence. Did he realize that he wasn't gonna say much, even if he begged him to? “If you don't want to tell me any stories yourself, how about I ask what I'm curious about and you answer?” A short pause. “Or not-,” Loke added quickly. “If you don't want to.”

So he still wanted to hold onto this topic. And Gray really wondered why. Perhaps it was the wine that they both had consumed and the fact that they were chilling on Loke's bed, comfortable with blanket and pillows and a crappy reality tv series playing in the background still.

With a sigh, Gray decided that he would agree. For as long as he could bear it. “Alright, fine.”

How could he mentally prepare himself for the questions that might come for him? He probably couldn't.

“Okaaay...,” Loke shifted to lie on his back as well and focused on the ceiling, just like Gray. “I know that your relationship with Juvia didn't work out. But I never actually asked if it was you breaking up with her or the other way round. So what was up with that? She's a sweet woman.”

Gray frowned at that. He should have expected Juvia to be the first person to be brought up but he still felt unprepared. On the other hand, it wasn't too hard talking about her, because... “We kinda both did it? It was weird. I think we both just got carried away and didn't realize from the start that we had different feelings for each other that weren't romantic love, you know? We care for each other a lot, just not... in that kinda way. And we're fine with that.” He couldn't believe that the words were just spouting from his mouth like that and that, actually, it wasn't too difficult to talk about it either.

For so long he had always just lived with the perception that he had to hide away his true feelings from anybody. As time went by and he made his true friends, he learned to let go of this perception step by step, but romantic love was a topic that he had barely ever approached up until now. At least when he himself was involved.

“Huh, alright. Totally get that. I mean, you guys are still good friends, right? I haven't seen her in a while.”

“Yea. She's got a new job and it's pretty busy. Didn't Cana meet her last week?” Gray mused loudly.

“No idea,” Loke shrugged before a small grin appeared on his face. “Talking about Cana... Did you ever have the hots for her?”

Now, that was a question Gray had to grimace it. It wasn't because Cana wasn't an amazing woman or didn't look great, but... Their relationship had really turned out to be one between a brother and a sister. They had fun together, she was game for anything and sometimes they annoyed each other just to hang out again not long after.

Of course he knew why Loke was asking. All three of them were pretty close after all. Loke had even been Cana's boyfriend for a short while before they cut it off again, all without any hard feelings. Gray had always admired this casualty a bit.

And Cana and himself? She had been his first kiss... Ah, yea.

“No, not really, I guess...,” he ended up muttering and scratched his nose in a sense of awkwardness. “She's really been more like a sister all this time and I don't think that's gonna change.”

“And that kiss?”

Yea, yea, yea... “That was... just curiosity. We were kids, kids are curious.” Gray still couldn't say it without feeling even more awkward.

Luckily, Loke seemed content enough with this answer and when Gray dared to turn his head so he could catch a glimpse of Loke's face, he spotted the small smile. Was it amusement? Was it happiness? He was unable to figure it out. Maybe it wasn't important.

“Fact is, she's amazing. And we'd definitely miss her in our squad, right?”

Now that was something Gray could agree with without hesitating a single second. “For sure.”

“Okay, so what about Natsu?”

Loke was facing him again now and he actually had to laugh out loud at the face Gray pulled once the question had slipped past his lips. The sound of it made Gray's heart jump but the absurdity of the suggestion was in the forefront of his mind. Natsu? Never in a million years! “Do you still need an answer?” He asked, mumbling and still with a grimace. “Besides, he's with Lucy. Lucy can deal with his hot-tempered ass. Sometimes I feel really sorry for her.”

His best friend had a hard time suppressing his chuckles. “I mean, you two act like an old married couple sometimes. It would be cute as well – if it wasn't for you wanting to bash each other's head in on a regular basis.”

“Go fuck yourself!”

“Oh, kinky Fullbuster is here.”

“Shut up!”

It was over, Loke was laughing and rolled around on the bed until he almost pushed Gray off the edge. He could be worked up about Loke asking if he had a thing for Natsu, or he could let himself get infected by his friend's laughter, ignoring the soft warmth in his cheeks. He didn't hate Natsu and Natsu didn't hate him. Honestly, they'd probably help each other out of the biggest problems and be there for each other but the bond they had was still more like a... love-hate thing? It was hard to imagine a life without Natsu in it but sometimes he just wanted to throw him into the nearest trash can.

Oh well... The second option won out anyway. At this point it was impossible not to give a laughter of his own and with a quiet, playful curse on his lips he pushed Loke away again so he wouldn't end up falling off the bed after all.

“Calm down man, it wasn't that funny,” he argued and huffed, a not so secret smile on his face, though.

It took another moment for Loke to calm down but eventually he just wiped a single tear off his face and then he was ready to proceed.

Gray had hoped that he was done.

“Okay, okay, okay...” The ginger placed a finger on his lips, looking as though he was thinking hard. Gray didn't trust any of it. How was he still not done? “What about Erza?”

“She's just a good friend.” Although, and that was something he had never told anybody really, he's had a small crush on her years ago. Years ago, really.

“Fine. She's a very impressive woman, though, damn. If she wasn't part of our friendship group I'd be so intimidated.”

“Yea.”

Gray knew that they still were pretty intimidated by her sometimes, though. They just didn't like to admit it.

“Mirajane?”

“Dude, she's a lesbian.”

“The women of this world are very lucky.” Loke sighed and placed the hands behind his head, looking at the ceiling again. “Levy? No wait, she's taken, too. No surprise, she's cute and smart.”

“So don't ask me about Gajeel.” He was almost getting used to these casual suggestions now.

“Right, right. Freed?”

“He's engaged with Laxus, remember?”

“Sure, sure. Two more attractive dudes off the market.” Loke waved him off, but the grin had returned. “Maybe I'm just trying to be nosy and find out what kinda guys you like... And girls. But I'm more curious about the guys.”

And Gray hated how fast this false feeling of casualty disappeared again. It flew right out of the window. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw his friend grinning at him and he couldn't handle it right now. He just hoped that his reaction wasn't too obvious and that the warmth tingling in his body was to blame on the remains of the wine (even though they really hadn't drunken much). Harrumphing quietly, he decided to fake-stretch himself and then roll onto his side. “I don't have a type. Are you done, then? I'm kinda tired, seriously.”

Gray wanted to hit himself because of this obvious sounding lie. How more obvious could he be?! Still, the tiny, naive spark of hope that Loke would buy it and just leave it be was there and he felt tense when he awaited his friend's response. It was really late, so that was no lie at least. Late, early? It was starting to get light again outside anyway.

Wow, had they really been talking for so long?! The tv was still on, too, but he hadn't been paying attention to it anymore at all.

“No type?”

He felt Loke shifting and so he decided to fake a yawn. “No, I don't think I have one.”

“Huh, okay, I get it.” Loke was looking over Gray's shoulder, he could see it out of the corner of his eyes. Intently he averted his eyes and just stared at Loke's wardrobe, still lying on his side. For a second he thought that Loke was done, but then- “Except that I don't get it. I mean, you only have to take a look at this charming face of mine and you'll be sold.”

More heat seeped into Gray's cheeks immediately and he really, really wanted to blame it on the alcohol again. Was Loke trying to flirt? Was he just being Loke? He could never be too sure about it... There was no way that Loke was seriously having any interest in him like... that, right? Fuck.

He knew that he shouldn't turn his head and look, because that was exactly what his friend wanted him to do. He knew he would be doomed and his heart would make that kind of jump again and make him feel stupid, but...

Turning, with Loke half-hovering above him, he looked straight at him and Loke immediately intensified his stupidly charming grin.

“See? Hooked yet? Nobody can resist this beautiful face.”

There was so much Gray wanted to do, but would never dare to. There were so many thoughts in his head that he wasn't anywhere near ready to voice yet. Loke's illegally suave grin, the colored light of the sunrise beginning to stream through the window, their closeness, the flirty atmosphere...

But it was just them being bros. It had always been this way.

Or had it not?

When had his stupid heart begun to make such a ruckus about Loke? And was there the smallest chance of Loke feeling the same?

Fuck. He hated the conflict this man threw him into and yet, at the same time, he wouldn't want to miss these evenings. Not a single one of them.

And before he even took note of it, he was having a lopsided grin of his own, with the most stupid little hope somewhere in his heart. “Pfft, sure. Try again, man.”

“Oh you know I'm an enthusiastic pursuer of my goals,” Loke countered and adjusted his non-existent tie in a silly way.

“I don't mind', Gray thought to himself and when catching this thought of his he just waved his friend off again and huffed before turning his back on the ginger. With a smile sneaking its way onto his face, he muttered.

“Night, you idiot.”

“Hey, I wasn't done yet,” came the silly complaint from behind him and before Gray knew it, Loke had flopped on top of him. How could he have been so naive to think that a simple 'good night' would shut his friend up? It wasn't like he had a huge issue with Loke flopping onto him, but part of him had and... it wasn't exactly helping his case and all the thoughts he's had around it.

“You can't just turn your back on me like that. What point are you trying to prove? I'm irresistable. And if you're really going to try and escape this simple reality, you've got to try harder than that! Worshiping the beauty that is me is inevitable, Gray.”

Gray knew all too well that Loke could just go on like this forever. At least it hadn't reached the point of him becoming ridiculously poetic about himself yet, although the thought made him want to shake his head and roll his eyes in fondness. Still, he really wanted to sleep. Or perhaps calm down and shut off his brain for now.

So he just tried to shrug Loke off with a huff and grumbled. “I swear, I'll throw you off this bed if I have to.”

“You would yeet me off my own bed?!” A surprise gasp.

“Yea. Yea, I would.”

It was definitely worth it because he finally seemed to get through to his friend and, perhaps more importantly, he got more of Loke's warm laughter before he felt how said man retreated and made himself comfortable without sprawling across him.

“Fine, fine. I don't wanna get yeeted anywhere today, so sleep well, have sweet dreams and all that.”

The chuckle in Loke's voice faded away with his words and then it was quiet.

In this silence and while closing his eyes, Gray decided that Loke's laughter and the sound of his voice definitely weren't the worst things to hear last before falling asleep and that the knowledge of him beside him and the warmth radiating from his body were a kind of comfort that he would like to get used to, like to have and to keep.

[liechotomy]

Ouma x Komaeda

Not in canon: They don’t even know each other dfgsdfhgfd.

I’m picky about it or meh: I’m just having a hard time picturing it working? Maybe that’s because I RP both of them and tend not to read others’ portrayals, and I don’t generally ship between my own muses very well for some reason, LOL. As much as they’re both troublemakers and game changers in their respective games, they’re actually very different in important ways. Komaeda is extremely idealistic (though just not in conventional forms), and Ouma, on most topics, is very much not. Ouma likes to push moral/ethical boundaries and question worldviews, but (despite nobody seeing or understanding his perspective) Komaeda has built his own and devotedly remains within them. If they ever tried to connect in any deep, meaningful way, I think they would face a lot of obstacles in each other.

No: My default headcanon is that of my post-sim verse, in which the events of DRv3 occur about ten years after the Tragedy. In that situation, Komaeda would be in his late 20s, by my estimation. And though I headcanon Ouma as being 18 years old (for reasons I see as logical and possible in canon), that is just too much of an age and power difference for me. ...Not to mention, in that verse, my own Komaeda has been a bit of a jerk to the v3 cast, so Ouma kind of hates him in that particular iteration dsgdfghgf. So assuming a ship, it would not be in this verse in which Komaeda is this much older and in this position. Something like the Talent Development verse, in which they’re all around the same age going to Hope’s Peak, is perfectly alright, of course!

I don’t read fic for it or would read fic for it: I just don’t think I’ve ever read a fic containing that ship. I am extremely picky with Komaeda characterizations in particular, and I’d be even pickier reading this ship. I’m not sure anybody could satisfy me, but I might try to read if a fic summary catches my interest.

I could/want to be convinced: This is probably a challenge, but I’m always open to my mind being changed! Chemistry is the most important.

Note that not all of the “how I ship it” boxes necessarily have to go into the ship at once or at all; they can all be kind of separate potentials (or put together if desired).

More interested in the consequences than the ship itself: Like. What if Ouma saw harnessing Komaeda’s talent for beneficial gains to be a desirable challenge? What if he wanted to experiment with it to figure out the ‘rules’ and tricks, like a game? That is playing with fire. I think Komaeda, seeing Ouma as an ultimate, would allow him to try, despite losing most people he’s ever possibly cared about to the downside of his luck spells. If he’s been friends with Ouma beforehand, he might be more nervous or ambivalent about losing him, but either way, if an ultimate has the hope to use him, he generally won’t deny them, despite being quite aware of the uncontrollable nature of his luck. If Ouma hasn’t even been his friend to that point, Komaeda would simply think if his luck did the ultimate in, he surely just didn’t have strong enough hope to survive. The event would be full of despair, but an even stronger hope must eventually come along. Oh dear, now I’m writing for Komaeda, LOL.

Platonic: The only interaction I’ve seen of them in the Talent Development Plan involves Komaeda being curious about Ouma’s talent (WHAT A SURPRISE), trying to verify whether or not his organization is real and understand how said talent works. Komaeda’s curiosity and love for talent might mix interestingly with Ouma’s playfulness and desire to be pursued. I thought it was interesting that Komaeda was able to realize seemingly effortlessly that Ouma’s games messing around with setting a high, unattainable price to give him personal information meant he didn’t want to talk about himself. Ouma seems to respond favorably to those who try to get to know him-- definitely not by interrogating him but by experiencing him organically and learning. (He was pleased that Komaeda correctly guessed what he was going to do but not particularly that Komaeda was asking questions about him.) On the other hand, if Ouma suspects Komaeda’s just interested in his talent and not him as a person, he might close off? The potential is unpredictable.

Sexual: I don’t really have any sexual-relationship headcanons for them at the moment, but. If they’ve already developed a rapport...why not?

[yunaffie]

With Friends and Loved Ones

For the tenth anniversary of Ghost Trick, I bring you a special treat fic to celebrate the occasion. This was written for @fyeahghosttrick‘s Ghost Swap exchange. Prompt: “The gang celebrates an anniversary”

This is a very special day, being the 10th anniversary of Ghost Trick, a game very close to my heart, and so I’ve written this celebratory fic. To be honest, I already had the idea knocking around, even had a scene partially written, and this was the perfect opportunity to bring it back to life! And thus, I bring to you a fic full of much joy and fluff, with plenty of characters sharing in the fun. Happy tenth anniversary, and may the fandom continue to be around for many more years!

Crossposted on AO3 here.

Cabanela looked quite the sight, pumping the pedals and sailing along on his bike, red scarf flapping dangerously close to the wheels and yet somehow never managing to get snared in the spokes. Many had marveled about his reckless behaviour when it came to riding a bike and none had figured the secret of how he got away with it. Many heads were turning even now as he coasted along the road, whistling a cheerful tune to himself, keeping a careful eye on the traffic around him. 

"Uncle Cabanela!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Cabanela spotted another cyclist coming up behind him, lilac hair flapping from underneath her helmet. The ends of a yellow ribbon flapped around her shoulders. He pulled the bike over to the side of the road and stopped, waiting for her to catch up. 

Kamila brought her bike to a stop just behind him and took a moment to catch her breath. "Phew. Glad I caught you. I didn't want to come into the police station because Dad might have seen me."

"Oh, really?" Cabanela twisted around and rested an elbow on the handlebars, regarding her with a wry smile. He figured from the fact that Kamila had her backpack with her and was in her middle school uniform that she must have come straight from school. "I take it you're planning something and don't want him to fiiind out?"

"Bingo." Kamila tilted her head and lifted a hand to her hair, taking a strand and twisting it around her finger. Crease lines formed in her brow. "You're not busy right now, are you?"

"Hmm, not especially. I was just gonna head on home and come over later, but I can make time for you. So, what's the deal, baby?"

"Well, you see, I'm planning a big surprise." Kamila rested her arms on the handles of her bike, her eyes gleaming. "Mom and Dad can't know about it, you see, and I'm trying to get other people involved too. Actually, speaking of other people, would it be okay if we went to see Grandpa? I can explain everything there."

"Oh, the Professor? Suuure, why not, it's been a while since I last saw him so I guess I'm due another visit." Cabanela placed his feet back on the pedals and gripped the handlebars. "Well then, off we go."

Cabanela and Kamila took off, riding their bikes in unison all the way to the edge of town, their journey taking them into the junkyard. They rode their bikes up to the superintendent's office and dismounted. Kamila hurried in first.

"Grandpa!" Kamila called out, looking around. The office was empty. Reaching a hand out to the kettle on the stove, she felt a faint heat rising out of the spout. "Hmm, maybe he's downstairs."

Cabanela gracefully leaped into the room, doing a twirl. Stopping in place, he kicked his leg up into the air, swayed his arms in a brisk motion and finished it off with a dramatic twist of his head. Kamila watched all this with a blank look.

"You know, I've often wondered this," she said, placing a hand to her cheek, "but do you do that even when coming into an empty room?"

"Ha! But of course, baby, it's veeery important to do everything you can with flair." Cabanela hopped slightly to the side, resting a hand on his hip while his gaze scanned the room. "Suppose he must be down in the basement."

"I guess so, but, Uncle, what's the point of showing off if there's nobody else to see it?"

"It's the principle of the thing, you see. I gotta keep on moooving, no matter what. It's okay if you don't get it, nobody else really does either." Cabanela finished off his statement with a jovial smile.

"Hmm. Okay. Well, I think you're pretty cool anyway, Uncle Cabanela, so keep on dancing."

"Why, thaaank you, baby."

Kamila scampered off through the door, racing down the stairs. Entering the basement, she spied the elderly man sitting in an armchair, clutching a steaming mug of tea in his hands while he gazed at the television. "Grandpa!"

The professor gave a start, blinking and looking up. "Honestly, couldn't you knock next time? You'll give me a heart attack at this rate. Also, I ain't your grandpa, kid." He rose to his feet. The blue pigeon perched on his head shifted about, flapping her wings.

Kamila bounced over and threw her arms around him. "How are you, Grandpa?" She stepped back and reached out to stroke the pigeon's head with a finger. "Hello, Lovey-Dove." The pigeon responded with a soft coo.

"I've been fine, thank you. These old bones of mine are mighty tired as usual but otherwise I'm in perfectly good health."

"That's good. So, has Lovey-Dove been using the bird bath I made for her?"

"Oh, yes, she likes it very much. Thank you, it was very thoughtful of you." The professor looked aside at the twirling inspector who had just made his entrance. "Well, if it isn't Cabanela. Been a while since you last showed your face here."

"So sorry about that, Professor! I've been pretty busy working on a case but it's all wrapped up now. You know you're welcome to pop over to Jowd's whenever you're feelin' lonely, we're always theeere for you."

"Hmph." Pushing his glasses up his nose, the professor remarked, "Whoever said anything about being lonely? I was just afraid you might have sprained an ankle or something with all that ridiculous dancing of yours."

"Ha!" Cabanela's face brightened. "Like a sprained ankle could get in my way. Even broken bones wouldn't stop me!"

"Yeah right." Shaking his head, the professor turned his attention to Kamila. "So what brings you here?"

"Right. Well, you see, my parents' anniversary is coming up soon." Kamila clasped her hands behind her back.

"Ahh, I figured that was what it was about." Cabanela leaned against a table. "You're planning sooomething special for the big day, is that it?"

"That's right, but I'm going to need your help. I want to get all the family together for the day and throw Mom and Dad a surprise party!" Kamila spread her arms wide. "But to do that, I'm going to need to get them out of the house first and that's where you'll come in, Uncle Cabanela. They won't get suspicious if it's you."

"Hold on, what does this have to do with me?"

Kamila turned her gaze on the pigeon man, blinking in puzzlement "Whatever do you mean? You're invited of course."

"Hm? You said 'get all the family together' so..."

"Yes, and you're like my grandpa so I want you to come as well," Kamila said, beaming at him. "There's no way I would just leave you out. You will come, won't you?"

"Huh. Well." He lowered his head, causing Lovey-Dove to shift around in an effort to sustain her balance. Raising his head, he spoke again. "I think I can find the time. Not like I have much of a schedule anyway."

"Yay!" Kamila's face brightened even more and she hugged him again. "I'm so glad. It would be so sad if you couldn't make it, Grandpa."

"Honestly, how many times must I tell you, I ain't your grandpa." In spite of his protest, his voice sounded considerably softer. He gazed down at the floor, blinking rapidly.

"Give it up, Professor, she's adopted you and there's no poooint in arguing with her. So, anybody else you're inviting?"

"Lynne and Missile, of course. Hmm, I think it wouldn't hurt to invite some family friends as well so I might invite Amelie and her parents too, and how about Mr. Yomiel, do you think he might want to come too?"

"I could ask him, it wouldn't hurt. I could take care of asking the justice minister too if you want."

"Really? That would be super helpful, thanks."

"No problem, baby, I'm veeery happy to help. Sounds like it's  going to be quite the lively party. The more the merrier, as they say."

"Yeah. I want to make this a really fun party that everyone will remember." Kamila turned around to face the professor. "Well, I'll let you know when I've decided on the time. I hope you'll be able to make it."

"Don't worry, I expect I will. Junkyard superintendent is hardly a demanding job." There was a pause, before he spoke again. "You know, I really appreciate your thinking of me. It's nice to be included."

"Oh, come on, like we'd ever think of leavin' you out."

"That's right, you're like a member of our family now," Kamila added.

"Right." The professor swallowed. "Well then, I expect you'd better be getting on, then?"

"I'll come for a proper visit next time, promise. Look forward to seeing you soon," Kamila said, hugging him. "Bye, Grandpa!"

"Take care, Professor."

The professor watched them leave then reached up to rub a wet eye. He sank back down into the armchair and exhaled. "Well, Lovey-Dove. It sure is nice to have a family, isn't it?"

Lovey-Dove responded with a coo. With a smile on his face, he reached up to stroke her head.

Cabanela and Kamila had hopped onto their bikes and ridden back to the entrance, where Cabanela stopped. "So, what's your next plan of action?"

"Hmm." Kamila put her hand on her chin. "You're taking care of Mr. Yomiel and the justice minister, so that just leaves Lynne, right? But I can't go into the police station. I really would like to tell her as soon as possible though."

"Lynne's working on a case, so I expect she'll be late home tonight."

"Will she?" Kamila was silent for a moment before her face lit up. "Oh, I know! Mom's making curry tonight so maybe I can take some leftovers to Lynne, and even take Missile for a walk too, he would really love that."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, baby. This plan is goin' to go off without a hitch, I'm suuure. Anyhoot, I'll be seein' you all later, and I'll be sure to let Yomiel know before I come over, yeah?"

"Great. Thank you so much for the help, Uncle Cabanela."

"No need to thaaank me, baby. I'm always happy to do you a favour, you know, and gettin' to actually surprise Jowd is something I just caaan't resist the thought of."

"Hehe. Yeah, I want to see that too." Kamila grinned. "Well then, I'll see you later!"

The two of them set off, giving each other a wave as they went their separate ways. 

***

Yomiel's fingers were practically a blur as they tapped away on the keyboard. His keen eyes were trained on the monitor, watching the lines of code scroll by on the monitor, ready to spot any errors that popped up right away.

"Yomiel! I'm home!"

The sudden voice made him jolt. A glance at his watch told him it was already evening. How time flew when he was working. Rubbing his eyes, he pushed back the chair and slumped against it, a long sigh escaping his body. An ache was already building up in the back of his eyeballs, he realised. Definitely a good idea to take a break. Picking up a mug containing dregs of coffee that had gone cold a long time ago, he made his way to the kitchen. Sissel was there, pulling the ice bucket off the cabinet which she set down next to the bag of ice sitting on the counter.

"Hey." Yomiel walked up and slipped his arms around Sissel's waist from behind. "Good to have you home."

Sissel twisted her body round and hugged him back, giving him a kiss as she did so. "Hey, sweetie. Have you been working hard?"

"Of course. I've got a big project on at the moment."

"I hope you didn't forget to eat lunch."

"Of course not, I've even installed a program that reminds me to do so."

"Good. Keeping healthy is very important, you know." Sissel turned her attention to the bag of ice and tore it open. She then upended it and emptied the contents into the bucket before reaching for a bottle of champagne that Yomiel hadn't noticed until now.

"Champagne? What's the occasion?"

"I can't just feel like drinking champagne?" Sissel flashed a smile at him over her shoulder, a small laugh bubbling through her lips. "But seriously though, I've got some really good news." She pushed the bottle down into the ice before turning around to face Yomiel with a big grin on her face. "Guess who's got a recording contract?"

"What?" Yomiel stared at her, his mouth hanging open. "You mean, you've been picked up by a studio?"

"That's right!" Sissel did a little hop, raising her fists to her chest. "They actually want me to put out a CD. I've finally made it!"

"Oh, gods. Wow, that's fantastic." Yomiel pulled Sissel into a hug. Breaking away, he held onto her with a big smile. "I'm so happy for you, Sissel. This is amazing. You're finally achieving your dream."

"I can hardly believe it." Sissel slipped her arms around Yomiel and buried her face in his chest, a deep sigh welling up from inside of her. "It feels so unreal, you know? I never thought I'd actually be noticed, but, well, here we are. I'm going to make it big. People are going to know my name."

"This really is so wonderful." Yomiel kissed the top of Sissel's head and stroked her hair. "You've dreamed of this for so long and now you're actually going to be famous. You know, after all we've been through, it's fantastic that our lives have turned around like this."

"I know. We've been through so much. It took years before we could even get married but now here we are." Sissel raised her head, looking up at him with moist eyes. "Happily married with promising futures ahead of us." She placed her hands against Yomiel's chest. "Now then, what should we get for dinner? Since we're celebrating, it ought to be takeout. Does sushi sound good?"

"That sounds great."

After the sushi order had been made, Yomiel and Sissel relocated to the living room, plopping themselves next to each other on the couch while they waited for the champagne to chill. Sissel snuggled up to Yomiel and he held her in his warm embrace, burying his face in her hair and inhaling the scent of her perfume.

"It's like a dream," Sissel whispered. "All these years I worked so hard, doing gigs, playing the piano, and singing, it all paid off at last. There was a time when it all seemed hopeless, but I pulled through anyway because I knew the day would come when things would finally look up."

"You mean when I was in prison, right?" Yomiel stroked her hair. "I know it was hard on you, Sissel, and I really am so sorry."

"No, no, don't be silly." Sissel caressed his cheek. "You were in a terrible situation that day."

"But, still, I wish I hadn't lost control like that. I was a coward. I ran away and made a bad situation even worse."

Sissel let her hand drop onto his shoulder, gazing at him with a sad smile. "But at least we're here now, with our lives in order, so that's all that matters, isn't it? I love you so much, you know?"

"I know." Yomiel kissed her tenderly. "And I love you too."

They continued to sit there for a long while, just resting in each other's arms, until Sissel decided the champagne had to be ready and went to fetch it. Just as she was leaving the room, the phone rang. Yomiel headed into his office to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey there, Yomiel, how are things goin' with you?"

Yomiel raised an eyebrow slightly. "Hello, Inspector. It's unusual of you to call. Things are fine, well, pretty good actually. My wife has got a contract with a studio and we're about to celebrate."

"Oh? Marvellous. Tell her congratulations from me."

"Will do." Yomiel sat on the desk. "Anyway, I imagine this isn't just a social call, so what's up?"

"Are you and your wife both free Friday this week by any chaaance?"

"Friday? Hm. I certainly don't have anything scheduled, but I'll have to ask Sissel. How come you're asking?"

"It's Jowd and Alma's wedding anniversary on that day, you see."

"Ah. I see." Yomiel fiddled with the phone cord. "I guess you're doing something to celebrate?"

"Indeed. There's going to be a surprise party. We're keepin' it secret from Jowd and Alma."

"Heh." Yomiel's mouth curved in a smirk. "I feel like Jowd would sniff something like that out right away. So, you're telling me this because?"

"You're both invited, of cooourse."

"I am?" Yomiel tensed a little. Not that he minded being included in social occasions, but the thought of being invited to a party at Jowd's house, especially to celebrate something like a wedding anniversary, made him feel just a little bit uncomfortable. He wasn't looking terribly forward to being involved in festivities in that house where he once murdered a woman. While he may have had plenty of time to come to terms with that unsavoury part of his past, it could still be awkward. "Are you sure about this?"

"Well, why not, it's a party after all and the more people there are, the livelier it will be. This is a celebration, baby. Also, Kamila wants you to come. You wouldn't dreeeam of saying no to her now, would you?"

Well, Yomiel hadn't intended on refusing. The cat would be disappointed in him, Jowd too probably, they wanted nothing more than for him to put his past behind him. He was gradually becoming part of their circle, and one such result of that was becoming acquainted with Detective Jowd's daughter. Kamila was a curious young girl who had taken an interest in his hobbies. It had been strange at first to spend time with that girl whose life he had ruined in another timeline but he gradually became more comfortable with it. Now that he knew Kamila was behind this invitation, he really couldn't refuse. How could he ever disappoint her?

"Alright, I'll come then. Hopefully Sissel can make it as well."

"Greeeat. Once I know when the party is going to be, I'll let you know."

"Sure. Thanks. Well then, bye." Yomiel hung up and returned to the living room, finding Sissel back on the sofa. A bottle of champagne sat on the coffee table, next to two flute glasses. 

"Hey. What was that about?"

"That was Inspector Cabanela. He says congratulations, by the way." Yomiel sat down and reached for the bottle. "Seems it's Jowd and Alma's wedding anniversary, and their daughter's throwing a surprise party for them." There was a soft pop as he pulled the cork from the bottle. 

"A surprise party!" Sissel exclaimed. "That's so sweet. So we're invited, then?"

"Yeah. You're free on Friday, right?"

"Absolutely. Ahh, I can't even remember the last time I went to a party." Sissel slumped back on the cushions, a sigh slipping through her upturned lips. "It's so nice to be included."

Yomiel picked up a glass and tilted it. The champagne fizzled as it was poured into the glass. He handed the glass over to Sissel then filled his own.

Sissel held out her glass and Yomiel clinked his own against hers. "Cheers." She brought the glass to her lips and took a sip. The cool liquid was deliciously refreshing and fizzy. "Here's to our future."

Yomiel exchanged a smile with Sissel before sipping at his drink. It had been a long and bumpy ride but now here they were. Things really were looking up and he couldn't be happier.

***

After everyone had eaten dinner, Kamila had put some of the leftover curry and rice into a container before heading off to Lynne's apartment. Since she had a key to the place, it would be possible for her to just let herself in. While she was off doing that particular duty, Jowd, Alma and Cabanela were relaxing on the sofa, all of them feeling comfortably full and content after a delicious dinner.

"So," Cabanela said, in a casual tone, draping his arm over the back of the sofa. "Your wedding anniversary is this Friday."

"Oh?" Jowd responded with mock surprise. "Why, I had absolutely no idea." Looking at Alma, he added, "Did you?"

Alma met her husband's gaze, letting out a little laugh. "Thank you for the reminder, Cabanela. Yes, it is our anniversary soon, what of it?"

"I'm sure you would have let me know, but just to be suuure, you're definitely not plannin' on doing anything, right?"

"Not especially, no." Jowd folded his arms, his brow creasing. "It's not like it's a milestone this year, so I suppose we'll just do the same as usual, which is not much at all. Why, do you want to do something?"

Cabanela lifted a hand into the air. "Let's just say, I might have an idea. What if I took you both out somewhere after work? Nothing faaancy, maybe just go to that nice little bar, Gates of Heaven? Listen to some songs while we're there?"

"That sounds like a lovely idea." Alma rested her cheek in her hand. "What brought this on all of a sudden?"

Cabanela shrugged, smiling. "Do I neeed an excuse to treat my two favourite people? It's a very special day after all, and I want to make you feel special."

"Fair enough." Jowd shrugged. "I'm up for it. Just the three of us, having drinks and listening to songs, it doesn't seem like a bad way to spend the evening."

"Mmm. It sounds delightful. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you, Cabanela, that's so sweet of you."

"Aw, it's no big deal. Just wanted to show you my appreciation, that's all. It's your special day and you deseeerve it." Cabanela reached for his glass of wine, letting a quiet sigh of relief pass through his lips. 

***

Lynne trudged into her apartment and dropped her bag, reaching up to massage an aching shoulder. "Ahh." After a long day at work, she wanted nothing more than to get herself a glass of wine, but first she would have to take Missile, wait, where was Missile? He was usually right there at the door when she came in. Glancing at the cabinet, she caught sight of a slip of paper and picked it up.

'Lynne,' the note read, 'I heard you would be late home tonight so I brought some dinner over. It's in the fridge. Taken Missile for a walk. If you haven't come back by the time I've returned him, I'll call you later. Kamila.'

"Oh, wow. Kamila, you're amazing." Lynne felt ready to cry tears of relief. Having to take Missile out before she could relax with a drink had seemed like a daunting prospect, and she had been fully prepared to order takeout for dinner but getting homemade cooking was even better. She made her way into the kitchen and took out the container and a bottle of wine from the fridge. The delicious aroma of the curry made her mouth fill with saliva. Just a few minutes in the microwave and it was ready to eat. 

Lynne was tucking into the curry when Kamila entered with a panting Pomeranian at her side. She unclipped Missile's leash and he scampered over to Lynne's feet, turning his pleading eyes on her.

"Hi, Lynne." Kamila came over to the table. "I'm glad to see you."

"Thank you so much for this, Kamila. Seriously, you have no idea how grateful I am."

"No problem." Kamila clasped her hands behind her back. She smiled, letting out a small chuckle. "I'm always happy to help my big sis out. Uncle Cabanela told me you might be late home tonight so I figured I'd lend a hand."

"I'm sure Missile was happy to see you. I really should have let you know I was going to be busy." Lynne rubbed Missile's head. "Good thing Cabanela said something. Sorry, Missile, sometimes I just get lost in my work."

"Oh, I'm sure Missile understands. You're a detective after all. Being a hero of justice isn't an easy job." Kamila sat herself down opposite Lynne. "It's good, isn't it? The curry."

"Mmm, yes. So good."

"Mom makes great curry." Kamila rested her cheek in her hand. "I've tried making it a few times, but it's never really the same. Maybe I just need more practice."

"I think you're a good cook too, Kamila. I've always liked the meals you've made."

"Really?" Kamila's face lit up. "Thanks. I've just to keep trying. Anyway, there's something I wanted to ask you about. You think you can make some free time Friday evening?"

"I can certainly try. Why, what's up?"

"It's my mom and dad's wedding anniversary on that day and I've decided to throw them a surprise party. Uncle Cabanela's involved too. It would be great if you could be there."

"Oh, wow." Lynne's eyes lit up. "A surprise party? Alright, count me in! I'll be prepared to help in any way I can, so please don't hesitate to ask."

"You want to help?"

"Of course!" Lynne declared, her face stretching in a grin. "I'll do my best to ensure that this goes off without a hitch. You can count on me. After all, what are big sisters for? Hm." Placing a hand to her chin, she looked thoughtful. "You'll have to get party things, and-"

"We've got the whole week to figure it out, so you don't need to think about it now."

"Alright, alright, but, wow, a surprise party. Thinking about it just makes me so excited." Lynne pumped her arms. "I love parties! Especially surprise ones!"

Missile joined in with a bark.

"And of course you're invited too, Missile." Kamila reached out to pet him, laughing gently. She got to her feet. "Well then, it's getting dark, so I'd better head home now. We'll talk another time, alright?"

"Alright then. Bye, Kamila! And thanks again!"

With a wave, Kamila made her exit. Lynne gazed at the door, then looked down at Missile, who was still staring in the direction Kamila had gone. She reached down to rub his head, causing him to look up at her. Missile's tail thumped against the floor as he started licking her hand.

"Kamila is amazing, don't you think? I'm so glad to have an honorary little sister like her."

Missile barked again, wagging his tail even harder.

***

The week flew by, with Kamila, Cabanela and Lynne preparing for the party behind the scenes. At no point did Jowd or Alma come to suspect that there was anything going on. Finally, the day itself came around and the adults all went to work as usual. In the evening, Jowd and Alma arrived home and waited for Cabanela, who soon came along on his bicycle. They were just about to leave for the bar when Lynne turned up with Missile in tow. 

Once the door had closed behind the trio, Lynne turned to Kamila, who was currently indulged in receiving a torrent of affection from the exuberant Pomeranian, valiantly defending herself against an onslaught of licks.

"Okay, Missile, that's enough." Kamila patted his head, laughing. "Lynne and I have got work to do. We're throwing them a party, so we've got to get everything ready."

Missile gave a short bark and backed away, wagging his tail.

"Alright, it's finally time!" Lynne put her hands on her hips. Her face was glowing with a big smile stretching from ear to ear. "We're going to throw them a great surprise party!"

"You've got everything, right?"

"Yup, it's all here. Cabanela brought everything over and it's in the trunk of my car, so let's go get it all out."

"Okay." Kamila followed Lynne out the door. "We'd better hurry, it won't be long now before the guests start arriving."

Lynne and Kamila got to work, putting up decorations around the room and preparing food in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Missile occupied himself by playing with Sissel and occasionally racing out into the yard through the open back door. He understood well enough that the two ladies were not to be disturbed as they worked on their task. Soon enough, the room was looking festive and food was on the table, with more in the oven.

"It looks great," Kamila said as she surveyed the room. "Mom and Dad are going to be so surprised. They don't suspect a thing."

"Haha. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces." Lynne carried some cutlery and napkins out of the kitchen, which she dropped onto the table. "We did well keeping it a secret. Detective Jowd is pretty sharp so I was worried he might figure it out."

"Yeah, but we were really careful not to give it away. Whew. I'm so glad we pulled it off." Kamila glanced down at the kitten weaving around her legs and picked him up, stroking his fur. "Now we just wait." The words were barely out of her mouth when the doorbell rang. "Oh? Looks like the first guests are here." Kamila set the cat down and hurried over to answer the door. The justice minister, Emma and Amelie stood on the other side.

"Amelie!" Kamila exclaimed, throwing her arms around her friend. ""It's good to see you. I'm glad you could all make it."

"Hi, Kamila." Amelie flashed her an equally happy smile. "I've really been looking forward to this. I love parties."

"I had to twist my husband's arm to get him to come," said Emma. "He gets far too wrapped up in his work sometimes."

"This coming from the woman who stays up all night working on her novels?" The justice minister shook his head with a smile on his face. "You know fully well how busy the job of a justice minister is."

Emma responded with a light scoff. "Come on, dear, you can afford to take an evening off once in a while. As for my novel writing, deadlines are a very big deal in the world of publishing. Every minute counts."

"Oh, boy, there they go again. Mama, Papa, can't you stop talking about your jobs for five minutes?" Amelie rolled her eyes as she stepped into the house. Her parents followed her in and Kamila closed the door behind them. "It's a party, you know!" she added. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, so what does it matter if you take just one night off?"

Emma picked an empty wine glass off the table. "Ahh, to be young and unaware of the troubles of living in an adult world. Here's to my innocent and oblivious daughter!"

"Darling, you're toasting with an empty glass."

"I know that! Now where's that wine? I need a glass of red."

"Coming up!" Lynne hurried over with a bottle. "It's so nice to see you both. Thanks for coming."

"Who are you calling innocent and oblivious?" Amelie muttered with a slight scowl, blowing out a puff of air that ruffled her bangs. She looped her arm around Kamila's. "So, what's been happening? Anything interesting?" The two girls walked away as they launched into a conversation, leaving the adults to talk among themselves.

A short while later, the doorbell rang again. This time, Yomiel had turned up with Sissel.

"Mr. Yomiel! And Miss Sissel too!" Kamila greeted them. "I'm so glad you could both make it."

"We wouldn't miss this party for the world," said Yomiel, as they came inside.

"Hello, Kamila. It's so nice to see you." Sissel embraced her, pecking her cheek. "Throwing a surprise party for your parents, that's so incredibly sweet of you."

"Hehe." Kamila's smile turned bashful and she clasped her hands behind her back, fidgeting. "I just wanted to do something nice for them. I'm really glad you could come, I'm sure Mr. Yomiel is very busy with his computer stuff."

"I have the option of working from home at least so that helps," said Yomiel. "If you like, you could come over sometime soon, we could fly drones again. You had fun doing that, didn't you?"

"Uh huh." Kamila nodded. "I really did. Maybe one day I'll try making my own. But, you know, what I'd really like to do is learn how to make a game. You are going to teach me someday, aren't you?"

"When I have the time. It's alright, I haven't forgotten, it's just not something you learn in five minutes."

"Okay, but I'm supposed to be a really fast learner, you know?"

"Oh, I know. I'm sure you would pick programming up in no time at all."

"You really like to make things, don't you?" Sissel tilted her head.

"Yeah, I can make all sorts of cool toys and gadgets. I like to make things that are fun and that people will enjoy."

"Very impressive." Sissel patted Kamila's shoulder. "A bright girl like you is going to do really well in the future."

"Yeah, I don't doubt it," said Yomiel. "We'll be cheering you on. I'll be ready to help you whenever too."

"Thanks. I'm going to work really hard."

"Well, hello there, Sissel dear!" Emma came over to embrace Sissel with one arm, pecking her cheek. "It's so lovely to see you."

"And it's great to see you too." Sissel hugged her back. "How are things?"

"Fantastic. I've just started a new romance novel and it's going brilliantly. I'm sure it's going to be a real hit."

"Is that so? I look forward to reading it."

"Hello, Yomiel, Sissel. Thanks for coming." Lynne had drifted over as well. "Can I get you two a drink?"

"Hello, Lynne. Nice to see you," said Sissel. "A glass of white for me, thanks."

"I'll have a beer."

"Sure thing!" Lynne hurried away.

"Well, hello." The justice minister approached. "It's nice to see you, Sissel. Ahh, and this must be your husband, I take it?"

Yomiel swallowed, shifting his head in a small nod. "Yes. I'm Yomiel. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Minister."

"Oh? You're quite sharp." The justice minister raised his eyebrows. "You've already figured out that I'm the justice minister."

"Oh. Uh. Er." Yomiel averted his gaze, eyes meeting with the kitten's.

"Whoops." The world flared red around him and he found himself looking at Sissel's spirit form. "You slipped a little there, didn't you?"

"I can't believe I just messed up like that! I've been so careful about not saying the wrong thing, and now to go and slip up!"

"It's not that bad, Yomiel, relax. It isn't that weird you'd know who he is, your wives are friends. Detective Jowd used to keep messing up too. New timelines can be a really confusing thing. I'm impressed you've lasted this long."

"Yeah. Yeah, I suppose you're right." Yomiel drew in a deep breath. "It's not that big a deal. I just feel so awkward right now, thinking about how I manipulated this man, caused him to wallow in agony for a whole month, and even tried to have his daughter kidnapped. Gods. This isn't easy, Sissel."

"I know. You're doing very well, Yomiel. Hang in there."

"I'm glad you're here." Yomiel smiled. "It really helps. Believe me, I wish I could just put it all behind me and not think about it. I really appreciate Jowd, and even Kamila, trying to include me. I'm not sure I deserve it sometimes."

"Come on, Yomiel, don't start wallowing in self-pity now. It's a party. Enjoy yourself."

Yomiel gave him a wry look. "You make it sound so easy."

"Well, just do what you can. Anyway, you're not going to spend all evening talking to a ghost, are you?"

"Alright, alright." Turning his attention back to the justice minister, Yomiel coughed and forced a smile. "I mean, it looked as if you were here with Emma so I just assumed."

The justice minister chuckled. "It's quite alright. A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Yomiel shook the hand that was offered to him.

"Here you go." Lynne had returned with the drinks, which she handed over.

"Thank you." Yomiel took a sip and smacked his lips, exhaling. 

Sissel looked around at the cluster of adults. Kamila had already slipped away to join Amelie in fussing over Missile. "Well, we've got a lively gathering going on here now, haven't we? I can't wait to share my good news."

"Oh, good news?" Emma swirled her wine around. "Now you've got my interest."

"Sorry, but I think I'll wait for Alma and the others to turn up first."

"Ah, yes, fair enough. Then we can all celebrate together."

"There's plenty of champagne too," Lynne added. "So you don't have to worry about that."

"Great!" Sissel beamed.

"Better keep an eye on Amelie, she might try to sneak some. That girl, I swear." Emma shook her head. "She really thinks I don't notice if she goes sneaking sips here and there, but I do."

"Teenagers, huh?" Sissel smiled wryly, looking over at the two girls. "She seems quite taken with that cute little dog."

"Ugh. Dogs." Emma shuddered. "I can't stand their incessant barking. And those people who don't pick up after them! It's infuriating, let me tell you! Even though there are severe fines for dog fouling, they do it anyway." Pausing to take a sip, she added. "That dog is a little odd, you know?"

"Er, how so?" Lynne asked. 

"I've only met him a few times, but every time, I swear it seems like he's afraid of me or something! I've only ever been nice to him, so what's up with that?"

"Hm. I can't imagine why," Lynne replied, keeping her face blank.

"I take it you're never going to have a dog in your family then?" Yomiel asked in an aside to the justice minister.

"No chance," the minister replied. "Amelie's often asked for a pet, but it's difficult. Emma dislikes dogs and cats. She might consider a caged animal though."

"Why wouldn't she want a cat?"

"She likes to keep things clean and tidy, and we have a lot of expensive furniture and stuff, you see. Also, imagine if it was to jump onto her typewriter. That would be the end of the poor thing."

"Ah." Yomiel swallowed, glancing at Emma. "Yes. I see. Better not to get one, then."

The doorbell chimed once more. Kamila hurried to answer the door, finding the professor standing there. Lovey-Dove, perched on his head, flapped her wings and cooed.

"Hello, hope I'm not late."

"Grandpa!" Kamila threw her arms around him. The professor brought an arm up to pat her back. She released him and stepped back. "I'm glad you could come. Come on in."

The professor shuffled in, surveying the room. "Well, I see you've got quite the gathering already. Looks like this party is going to be a success. Jowd doesn't suspect a thing, eh?"

"Not at all." Kamila grinned. "Mom and Dad are with Uncle Cabanela right now. Actually, now that you're here, I'd better make the call." She hurried away.

"Hmm." The professor's gaze swept around the room, taking in the brightly decorated scenery. "How long has it been since I last saw a scene like this?" It was a heartening thing to see, especially knowing of another reality, one where his career change came about because of a strange corpse. In this particular timeline, it had been an urge to retire. Jowd had suggested he research a mysterious meteorite and shown him his undead, magical cat. He'd still ended up a junkyard superintendent, but at least this time he wasn't keeping a murder machine in the basement.

Something soft rubbed against his leg and he heard a mew. "Well, hello there, little black cat." Kneeling down, he held up his hand. "You want to say hello, Lovey-Dove?" The pigeon responded by hopping onto his finger. "There we go." He lowered his hand until the pigeon and kitten were face to face. Lovey-Dove let out a soft coo and Sissel responded by rubbing his head against Lovey-Dove's chest. "There's a good kitten." Of course, Sissel was the only feline the professor could ever trust around his beloved pigeon. He still remembered the day Jowd brought the kitten to his house. He had been terrified for Lovey-Dove's sake in spite of Jowd's reassurances. Now he knew well enough Sissel would never so much as lay a claw on her. 

"Now then." The professor straightened himself and Lovey-Dove returned to his head. "Let's get started with this whole socialising thing. Hope I'm not too rusty." He shuffled over to the group of adults, with the cat tailing him. "Hello. Having a fine party so far, are we?"

"Hello, professor," said Yomiel. "Good to see you." He picked up Sissel and started stroking him. "Life treating you well?"

"I'd say it's about the same as ever."

"Hi, there!" Lynne said cheerfully. "Do you want a drink?"

"Just water for me, thanks, I don't drink and drive."

"Same here, I'm staying sober while my wife gets to drink the night away." The justice minister cocked a glance at Emma, who was deep in conversation with Sissel, telling her all about the antics of her neighbours. "Not supposed to drink too much anyway, medical reasons and all that. You're a friend of Jowd's then?"

"That I am, used to be a coroner and worked with him on the force. Now I'm a junkyard superintendent who studies space rocks in my spare time."

"Ahh. That sounds like an interesting hobby," the justice minister said, smiling. He looked at Yomiel. "You're into computers, right?"

"Yes, I do programming, systems engineering, that sort of thing. One of the best in the industry actually, caused me quite a spot of bother. You've heard of that, right? How I was accused of being a spy. Ended up taking a child hostage."

"Yes." The justice minister nodded slowly. "I remember. Emma did mention something about you being a jailbird, though she didn't tell me the specifics."

"An unfortunate victim of circumstances, as it were," the professor said, sipping at the water that Lynne had brought him before returning to conversation with the other women. "I still can't believe anyone could be foolish enough to leave their gun in the room."

"Yes." Yomiel exhaled. "Well, I'm not proud of myself for the things I did. Mistakes were made, and I served my time for it."

"You have my condolences," said the minister. "I'm very sorry about what you had to go through."

Yomiel shook his head. "I have no hard feelings. I took a child hostage and got the sentence I deserved. That's all. Anyway, what's important is looking forward to the future, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right. It's no use dwelling on the past," said the professor. "Just focus on the now." Adjusting his glasses, he added, "I do wonder when the others will get here, I am quite famished."

***

Soft music swelled through the bar, accompanied by a woman's dulcet tones. When her song trailed off and the music faded, everyone began clapping, Jowd, Alma and Cabanela included. The party of three were seated together in a booth, Jowd sandwiched between the others with his arms around their shoulders.

"What a lovely song," Alma murmured. With her head nestled in the crook of Jowd's shoulder and her arm draped across his body, fingers interlocked with Cabanela's, she looked utterly content. "It really takes me back."

"Mmm." Cabanela closed his eyes, smiling. The experience was only made even better when getting to cuddle up with his loved ones. "I love this place. Comin' here to chill with your friends and listen to music, there's nothin' like it, baby. Not a baaad place to be spending your wedding anniversary, eh?"

"Not at all," replied Alma. "It reminds me of when we would get serenaded during romantic dinners."

"It does, doesn't it?" A wistful gleam shone in Jowd's eyes. "We've had such lovely times together and this was no exception."

"We should do this more often," said Alma.

"Deeefinitely."

"As nice as this evening has been, I do wonder if we shouldn't be getting home soon."

"You're hungry?" Alma looked up. "To be honest, I am too, and it's getting quite late. Kamila must be wondering where we are."

Cabanela sat up straight, a brief flicker of worry passing over his face. "Hmm, are you suuure we couldn't stay for maybe one more- hm? Hang on." Feeling a vibration in his pocket, he removed his pager and checked it.

"Is something wrong?" asked Jowd.

"Not at all, just a message from Lynne. Our baby's wondering where we are." Cabanela put away the pager, a relieved smile gracing his lips. Kamila had perfect timing. "Dinner should be ready any minute now, so off we go." With that said, he hopped to his feet.

"Honestly, I am sorry we couldn't stay longer," Jowd said, rising. "But we can always come another time, yeah?"

"It really was so nice of you to bring us here." Alma got up as well. "We've had such a lovely evening."

"No need to thank me, I just wanted to do something special for the two most important people in my life." Cabanela flashed them a smile before turning around. "Well then, time we went back home." He strutted away, Jowd and Alma walking after him. They got into the car and Jowd drove them all back home.

They were walking up the drive when Cabanela cleared his throat. "If I may just saaay something?"

"Hm?" Jowd looked back at him. "What is it?"

Cabanela slung his arms over their shoulders and exhaled. "I just wanted to say that I love you both so much. It's so wonderful, being able to celebrate your anniversaries with you, getting to see you two every day, I know how luuucky we are to have this and I just, I appreciate it so much."

"Oh, Cabanela." Alma spoke in a soft voice, placing her hand on his cheek. "We love you very much too." 

"Yes. You are so very important to us." Jowd put an arm around him, pressing his lips to Cabanela's head. "I'm so glad we have you in our lives."

"You've given us such a lovely time tonight, and we'll be having many more anniversaries." Alma rubbed her hand against Cabanela's back. "Together."

Cabanela looked from Jowd to Alma, his throat filling up. Conscious of a prickling sensation washing over the back of his eyeballs, he swallowed and lowered his arms. "Anyhoot," he said, arranging his face into a cheerful smile, "now that we've had our touching moment, I dare say we better be headin' on in. Can't wait to see what's in store for dinner tonight, can you?" "Hm, yes, I'm quite curious to see what Kamila's made for us. No doubt it's good."

Alma had already gone on ahead and opened the door. "Huh?"

"Something wrong?" Jowd came over. Alma glanced at him before venturing inside and Jowd followed, finding himself faced with a pitch black room. He slowly turned around to look at Cabanela, who strutted over and leaned against the doorway.

"Hm? The  lights aren't on?" Cabanela met Jowd's gaze with a look of pure innocence. "I wonder why."

"So, that was your game, was it?" Jowd tilted his head, smiling. "Keeping us occupied while our daughter set up a surprise for our anniversary. I'll say this much, your ploy worked. I had no idea something was going on behind the scenes."

Cabanela said nothing, smirking as he slipped inside and closed the door.

"Oh boy. What kind of contraption does our daughter have to show us this time?" Alma grasped for the switch. With a flick, light flooded the room, banishing the darkness.

"Surprise!"

Explosions followed the chorus of voices. A shower of colourful streamers flew into the air. Jowd and Alma recoiled.

A brief period of silence followed before Jowd spoke. "Okay, now that was actually a surprise. I was expecting another contraption."

"Come on, Dad." Kamila approached them with her hands on her hips, tilting her head as she smiled. "If I was going to try and surprise you, do you really think I would be so predictable?"

"Hmm." Jowd folded his arms, nodding. "Yes, I suppose you're right, that wouldn't have been a surprise at all."

Alma looked around the room, taking in every little detail. "Did you actually do this all by yourself?"

"Well, I did have some help from Lynne and Uncle Cabanela. It would have been a bit difficult to pull all this off myself." Kamila stepped forward and threw her arms around her father. "Happy anniversary, Dad." She then moved on to Alma. "Happy anniversary, Mom." Stepping back, Kamila continued speaking. "I really wanted to do something for your anniversary so I thought I'd throw you a surprise party."

"Wow." Alma put a hand on her chest. "This was so sweet of you, Kamila, thank you so much."

"I must say, I'm impressed," said Jowd. "We had no idea you were even planning anything."

Cabanela laughed. "But of course, we had to be extra careful and sneaky in order to hide it from the nation's best detective." He twirled past them, taking his place by the crowd of guests. "Now, let the paaarty begin!"

"Hello, Yomiel." Jowd approached him first. "It was so good of you to come." He held his arms out and Yomiel embraced him. The two patted each other on the back. "I know it couldn't have been easy for you," he murmured, before they pulled away.

"Yes, well, I could hardly pass up an invitation." Yomiel shrugged, with a smile on his face. "I would never want to disappoint your little girl. Happy anniversary."

"Well, thank you for coming. I really do appreciate it."

"Happy anniversary, Detective." Those words came from the justice minister, standing slightly to the side.

"Well, if it isn't the justice minister," said Jowd. "Good to see you could take time off for the party. I know you have a busy job."

The minister smiled in resignation. "Yes, well, my wife was very insistent that I come and I really am glad that I did. She's right, really, I do need to try and get out more often. It isn't good to be wrapped up in your work."

"Indeed." Jowd's gaze shifted to their elderly guest. "And I see that the professor is here too. It's good to see you. Nice to get out of that stuffy junkyard, isn't it?"

"Actually, I find my office quite cosy." The professor pushed up his glasses, peering through them at Jowd. "Your little girl was kind enough to invite me to this party and, well, I suppose I couldn't very well refuse. It was very thoughtful of her."

"Well, I'm glad that you were able to come. Kamila really thinks of you as part of the family now, you know?"

"Yes, she does, doesn't she? Happy anniversary, Jowd. I hope you'll have many more to share with your wife."

"Yes, me too." Jowd turned, meeting Lynne's gaze. She had a wide grin on her face. "Lynne. I hear that you helped out as well. And here I thought you were just keeping Kamila company."

"Heh heh. That's right, I helped out with getting everything set up. You really had no idea that anything was going on at all, did you?"

"I certainly didn't. An impressive feat indeed. Thank you, Lynne."

"No problem. I just love surprise parties. Getting to see the looks on yours and Alma's faces was so worth it." Lynne laughed. "Happy anniversary, Detective Jowd!" Missile, who was sitting at her feet, joined in with a bark.

The world around Jowd turned red. Sissel appeared before his eyes.

"Happy anniversary, Detective Jowd."

"Ah, Sissel." Jowd smiled. Before he could say anything else, a certain Pomeranian appeared.

"I already said it just now but why not, I'll say it again! Happy anniversary!"

"Thank you. I suppose you both knew all about this too, didn't you?"

"I knew from the very beginning, when I overheard Miss Lynne and Miss Kamila talking about it! Oh, I was so excited to hear it, I just love parties!"

"And of course, when this little doggie next came over to the house, he proceeded to tell me everything he heard. I'm sure I would have found out anyway. Hard to keep secrets from a ghost, you know."

"Indeed." Jowd chuckled. "I was expecting a quiet evening, but having a party isn't so bad either."

"It's your anniversary after all!" said Missile. "Those are kinda like birthdays, right? And birthdays should be celebrated! I love celebrations. They mean more people to say 'welcome' to, and more pats, and sometimes food scraps from the table! Although, having that scary lady here is a bit..."

"We've been over this, Missile. She's not going to do anything to you."

"But, still...!"

Jowd laughed again. "Ahh. I really am so lucky, having family and friends to celebrate with, aren't I?"

"Yes." Sissel gazed at him. "You are."

"And I'll never forget that. Well then, I'll get back to talking to the guests and enjoying this wonderful party my daughter threw for us."

Alma had gone over to talk to Emma and Sissel. Amelie was there as well, hanging by her mother's side.

"Emma, Sissel, how nice to see you."

"Hello, dear." Emma came forward to embrace Alma. "It's so lovely to see you. The look on your face when you saw us, we really did give you quite a surprise, didn't you?"

"Oh, yes." Alma laughed. "I had no idea whatsoever. I thought we'd just have a quiet evening." 

Sissel came forward for a hug as well. "Happy anniversary, Alma. You've got such a lovely daughter. Throwing a surprise party for you! Oh, it's just so sweet."

"Yes, it was quite a nice surprise."

"So, are you going to be sharing your big news with us?" asked Emma.

"Ooh, what big news?" Alma regarded Sissel with keen interest.

"Alright, guess I'll go ahead and say it. I've been picked up by a recording studio. They want me to actually record songs for them."

"Oh, my, that's marvellous, quite marvellous indeed, Congratulations, dear."

"That's wonderful!" Alma hugged Sissel again. "I know you've dreamed of this for so long. Congratulations. You really deserve this, you're such a good singer."

Sissel smiled bashfully. "Thanks."

"May I have your attention please?" A chime rang out and everyone turned toward Cabanela, who held aloft a bottle of champagne. He stood by the table where several flute glasses had been placed. "I do believe that it is tiiime for a toast. Come and get your fizz, everyone!"

While the guests queued up for a glass, Amelie gently tugged on her mother's arm, turning beseeching eyes on her. "Can I have some too, Mama? Please?"

Emma gazed at her with a pensive frown then sighed. "Alright, fine, but only one glass, and you had better not think of sneaking any more booze! I've got my eye on you!"

Alma leaned toward Emma and murmured. "It sounds like you have your work cut out for you."

Emma expelled a puff of air, giving her head a slight shake. "My darling angel has always been a handful but now that she's thirteen, she's trying too hard to be like an adult. It's exasperating."

"Please don't talk about me like I'm not standing right here." Amelie narrowed her eyes.

Alma flashed her friend a sympathetic smile. "Well, I think Kamila could have a glass too. It's a celebration after all. Kamila, would you like a glass of champagne?"

"Okay, Mom!" Kamila caught Amelie's eye and they exchanged grins.

Once those were drinking had all got their glasses, Cabanela raised his own. "I have known Jowd and Alma for a very long time. They are the most important people in my life and I love them more than you could ever possibly know. I am so thankful to have them, and every moment I spend with them is precious. I wish you many more anniversaries together in the future. To Jowd and Alma!"

A chorus of voices filled the air, followed by the clinking of glasses. Jowd and Alma embraced each other, sharing a tender kiss. 

"Speech!" Lynne called out, thrusting a fist into the air. 

"Yeah, give us a speech!" Kamila joined in.

"A speech, huh? Very well." Jowd stepped away from the crowd and turned to face everyone, clearing his throat. "I'll just warn you, I'm not terribly used to giving speeches so don't expect an eloquent masterpiece from me." He gazed at Alma, mulling over the words in his head. "Sixteen years ago, I married Alma and we've been together ever since. She is kind, smart, and caring, and she has always been there for me, supporting me in hard times. Alma is an amazing woman. Why, she even puts up with my personality quirks."

Scattered laughter rippled through the crowd.

"Thank you for staying by my side, Alma. I love you." Jowd raised his glass. "I also want to give thanks to Cabanela, our dear and precious friend, who's also put up with me for all these years. I'm so grateful for your friendship."

"Aw, shucks." Cabanela ducked his head, his cheeks turning pink.

"And thanks to the rest of you for coming." Jowd raised his glass again, before returning to the crowd amid their claps.

Alma moved to the spot where Jowd had been standing. "Hello, everyone, and thanks to our guests for coming. Also, thank you to our lovely daughter, Kamila, for throwing a surprise party, and to Cabanela and Lynne for helping out." She drew in a long breath, then released it. "I'm not sure what to say, honestly. Um. Jowd is... well, he's Jowd. He's funny, even if his sense of humour can be a bit dodgy at times. While he can be kind of blunt, he's also very loving and caring, and he really is a sweet man, and I love him so much." She let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not really any good at speeches either, am I?"

"You're doin' fiiine, baby, don't worry about it!"

"Er, okay." Alma cleared her throat. "I'm very glad that I married Jowd. I couldn't imagine life without him." Running her tongue over her lips, she continued. "Cabanela too, he has always been there for me and Jowd through the years and I am so thankful to have both of them in my life. I love you both." She stepped away from the table, receiving a bout of applause as she did so. 

"Well then, let's get stuck in, shall we?" asked Jowd. "I'm famished."

Everybody flocked to the table, picking up plates and cutlery, helping themselves to the various dishes that had been put out for them. They ate and drank, talking merrily all the while. When their plates were empty, Kamila and Lynne headed into the kitchen and returned with two different desserts, which were swiftly demolished. Now that they had eaten and their bellies were full, Cabanela declared that it was time for dancing, changing the music as he did so. Slow, romantic music filled the room.

"This is our favourite song," Alma said, looking at Jowd.

"Hm, I guess he's expecting us to dance." Jowd shrugged. "Maybe it will go better than it did at our wedding."

"I hope so," Alma replied, draping an arm over his shoulder and holding his hand. Closing their eyes, they began to waltz, soaking in each other's warmth as they moved in slow circles with careful steps.

Before they knew it, the song had ended. Jowd and Alma stopped, blinking at each other.

"Well, you didn't step on any toes this time."

"Huh, what do you know, I'm getting better at this."

Alma looked over at the others. "Come on, all of you join in already."

"It just didn't seem riiight, not letting you have the first dance." Cabanela twirled over. "It's your anniversary after all."

The next song started, its soft pulses flowing through the room.

"Ready to dance?" Yomiel asked his wife, smiling.

"Naturally," Sissel responded, taking his hand in hers. They hurried over and started moving their bodies in tandem.

"Darling wife, would you do me the honour of a dance?" The minister offered his arm.

"But of course, my darling husband." Emma put her arm in his. They walked over and began to do a slow waltz.

Lynne, Kamila and Amelie joined the dancers. The professor was left standing on the sidelines, watching on. He gave a start when he felt Missile's paws on him. Missile yapped, wagging his tail.

"Oh, no, I'm quite fine, thank you. I'm happy to watch."

Missile barked again and whimpered. He stepped back and reared up several times.

"Don't tell me you're asking to dance with me. I'm not dancing with a dog. That's just daft."

Kamila approached them. "I think he's trying to say he wants you involved too. It's too sad if you're left out, grandpa."

"These old bones of mine aren't what they used to be."

"Well, you can dance slowly then. Come on." Kamila gently tugged his arm.

"Alright, if you insist." The professor shuffled over with her. Missile twirled ahead of them into the throng of dancers, where he repeatedly reared up and let out the occasional bark.

The merriment continued for a good while with everyone dancing, talking, laughing and drinking while the hours passed by. As the night went on, they started making their leave. The professor was the first to leave, conscious of the fact he had to drive. Kamila gave him a hug, promising that she would come to see him again very soon. Next were Yomiel and Sissel. Finally, the justice minister and family departed on the minister's insistence as his wife had clearly had too much to drink.

Now that all the guests had gone, the house was feeling oddly quiet. Lynne stood still, just gazing at the scene for a while. Quietly sighing and thrusting her hands into her pockets, she ambled over to Kamila. Her lips curved in a gentle smile as she looked upon the focus of Kamila's attention. Missile and Sissel were curled up side by side in the basket. "It was a fun party."

"Yeah, it really was." 

"Well then." Lynne clapped her hands together. "I'll clear up the dishes."

"Let me help. The sooner we can go to bed, the better." Lynne would be sleeping in the spare bed in Kamila's room, an addition that had been suggested by Kamila herself.

"Thanks, Kamila." Lynne yawned. "I'm pretty beat."

While the girls were cleaning up, Jowd, Alma and Cabanela were slumped on the couch in a mesh of limbs, languishing in a sleepy haze brought on by booze, food, and the lateness of the night. 

"It's been such a looovely evening."

Jowd peered at Cabanela through half closed eyes. "I couldn't agree more." 

Alma's mouth gaped in a yawn. "Suppose we should get to bed soon."

"I'm not sure I could move even if I wanted to." Even if Jowd wasn't weighed down by fatigue, he would have found extricating himself from the embraces of his loved ones an impossibility.

"Oh well." Cabanela shifted his hold on Jowd, burrowing further into the crook of his arm. "Guess we'll just have to stay like this all niiight."

Alma chortled through closed lips. "Sure, why not." Her voice came out heavy with exhaustion. 

Jowd gazed at Alma, then Cabanela, etching their faces deep into his memory. Closing his eyes, he released a loud exhale. "You know, I really could not think of any better way to sleep."

[totally-incorrect-theatre-quotes]

Photograph (Fanfic)

I call this “Paige didn’t want to study for chemistry anymore, got home from work late, and even though she said she was going to wait until after finals she compulsively wrote a 4,000 word short story”

Or ya know, “Photography” ...the title of the fanfic

To say Lydia was excited was an understatement. Her and three students from her photography club at school were nominated as finalists in a statewide competition, the winner of that would go on to the nationals. Lydia was the youngest of the four, the only freshman with two juniors and a senior so while she didn’t think her chances of winning were all that great she was just thrilled to have simply been nominated. Of her portfolio, the nominated piece was a photograph of a chemical reaction she had been doing in her chemistry club. Her photography teacher said it was the strangest photo he had ever seen, but he claimed to be mesmerized by it. He actually wanted her to submit another picture but she didn’t think it would be fair to submit photos she took with the help of Adam, Barbara, or Charles. None of the other students could be floated to an ideal location for a picture, so she simply took these for fun. 

Going to the competition was a  whole week off of school, and four hours away from home. Not that she hadn’t been away from home before, her parents used to send her to sleep-away-camps all the time when she was little, but this would be the first time she would be away from her family since….well she didn’t want to think about it that way. She just wanted to be able to go and have a good time like a normal person would. She marked down the days on the calendar in the kitchen excitedly as the trip approached. Breaking the news to Beetlejuice was the hardest, even though he didn’t like to admit it he thought Lydia was funny and without her, it would just be adults in the house. Lydia promised to make it up to him and that they’d play a fun prank on her dad and Delia when she got back. In the end, the negotiated deal was two pranks on her dad and Delia as well as the guarantee that she would bring him back a zagnut from wherever she was going because “they taste different depending on where they’re from.” Lydia didn’t argue with him on that as the discussion had already gone on longer than she would have liked. 

It was the night before the trip and shockingly the person most anxious was Barbara. She help Lydia pack her bag, constantly asking her if twelve outfits would be enough for a seven-day trip or if she needed a new toothbrush even though the one she had was perfectly okay, and hardly a month old. She expected this kind of behavior from her helicopter parent of her father but he was actually very laid back about the whole situation, probably trying to not overwhelm her because even though Lydia denied it she was anxious about the whole thing. Not only that but she really did want to win. She worked really hard at her hobbies, and it took her begging her teacher to let her redo the reaction eight different times just so she could get the photo exactly how she wanted it. She knew her shot of winning was really slim considering that not only was she the youngest in her group from school but she was one of the youngest in the whole competition. She was right in between the two different age categories as a freshman, but she managed to be nominated. 

Lydia was sitting on her bed, the suitcase of her belongings on the floor beneath her. She glanced around the room trying to make sure there wasn’t something important she was forgetting when she smacked herself on the head for forgetting to grab at least one of her cameras. She picked up her favorite camera, though she only had two and the one was a very old polaroid camera she only used for aesthetic purposes and walked down to the kitchen to see what everybody else was up to that night. It must have been later than she expected because the only person downstairs was Barbara who was making herself her typical late-night snack of peanut-butter toast drizzled with honey. 

“Too excited for tomorrow that you can’t sleep?” Barbara asked

Lydia shrugged, “No, I was just going over my last-minute checklist. Making sure I had all my ducks in a row.”

“Oh, so you’re back to being the duck queen?”

Lydia went to playfully smack Barbara’s arm but her hand simply slide through her as Barbara went non-solid to avoid the blow. Both laughed and she gestured for Lydia to join her in the late-night feast. 

“I’m only teasing. So do you think you’re ready? Have you written your acceptance speech for when you blow the competition out of the water and win first prize.”

“Unlikely, all the other pictures I’ve seen look really impressive and I haven’t even gotten to see people from out of our district. I’m just looking forward to getting to spend time with my friends on the trip, they already talked about staying up late to tell ghost stories,” she laughed, “I guess I will be winning that game.”

“And you’re sure that you have everything all set? Did you pack your camera.”

She nodded and pointed at the camera around her neck, “It would take a lot for me to lose this thing.”

“And you have an extra outfit for every day of the trip plus the fancy dress that your dad bought for you to wear to the awards ceremony.”

Lydia simply groaned in response to that one. Her dad should understand by this point that she isn’t a bright and colorful kind of girl, but he insisted on a red and blue dress, arguing that black is too formal for the event she’s attending. The dress wasn’t ugly, it just wasn’t her style at all, but the fact that her dad went out of his depths to get it for her made her a little more willing to compromise and wear it. 

“And it’s four hours away from here, do you have all your medicines packed. I know you’re allergic to penicillin so even if you have to go to the doctor out there because you got some kind of infection don’t let them prescribe you penicillin, amoxicillin, ampicillin-”

“I think I’m old enough to know my own allergies,” she laughed, “Besides I’m not sick so I don't think I’ll be needed an antibiotic any time soon.”

“Just making sure, and if you don’t like what they have to eat I convinced your dad to give you an extra twenty dollars so you can go buy yourself something else because I know you and you’d rather just skip that meal than say you don’t like something. I know it’s part of your anxiety so I figured this would be the easiest solution for you. So no skipping meals okay?”

“I did that twice because they were serving fish at school!” Lydia retorted trying not to be a little agitated with the lack of confidence Barbara had in her about this trip. She was still a kid, but she’s been alone before, she didn’t need the whole run down that she’s already gotten from her father and Delia. 

Barbara smiled at her gently and the agitation faded, “I’m just so proud of you! This is a huge deal and when you get back with your first place trophy.”

“Ribbon and that’s if I even get first place which I’m not-”

“We’re going to have a celebratory dinner and cake!”

“I don’t get cake if I don’t get first place?” Lydia faked whined, knowing the answer

“Nope, so you’d better hope you get first place because I don’t just make a vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting for anybody.”

Lydia rolled her eyes, and without even thinking the words slipped off her tongue, “Okay mom.”

Neither of them said anything, nobody wanting to be the person who acknowledged it. Lydia felt the heat rising to her face instantly and tried to stammer out some kind of correction but she just got more and more flustered the harder she tried to fix it. 

“No, no it’s okay!” Barbara tried to put the girl at ease but before she could even get the next sentence out Lydia ran upstairs and slammed her door shut. Feeling terrible Barbara tried to go and talk to Lydia but there was no answer when she knocked on the teenagers door. She only knew for sure that she was in there when something was thrown at the door in anger when Barbara tried talking to her through the door. She had no clue what she was supposed to do next, it was an accident. She knew Lydia didn’t mean to say it and Barbara certainly didn’t want to be viewed as a replacement for Emily. She never tried to be, she was always very careful about how she referred to Lydia. Though she often laments to Adam and Beetlejuice how Lydia is like the daughter she never got to have, she would never dream to say that to Lydia’s face. Instead, she tried to seem more like a friendly aunt who just so happened to live upstairs and also be there for Lydia anytime she needed her and help her with her homework and school problems. Suddenly Barbara felt really guilty, she hadn’t even realized it until then but she really did encroach into the motherly role maybe a little too much for Lydia’s comfort. She had been pretty overbearing about this trip ever since Lydia told her about it. She should have read the signals Lydia was giving a little more closely, then maybe this whole thing wouldn’t have happened. She didn’t notice that she was sitting with her back to her door until a groggy but concerned Charles was standing in front of her.

“What happened?” Barbara asked him

“I guess I could ask you the same thing. I just about thirty texts from Lydia telling me that she doesn’t want to go on the trip anymore. That she isn’t feeling well and doesn’t want to get anybody else sick and ruin it for them. You’ve clearly been with her tonight, what are we talking because I’m pretty squeamish. I can deal with her having a cough but please don’t tell me she has the stomach flu. I’m no good at seeing other people puke.”

“She’s not sick. Look this is all my fault, I’ve really been overstepping my bounds recently with this whole trip four hours away. I’ve been on her case about making sure she has everything packed and I know she didn’t mean it...Charles, she called me mom earlier. In the kitchen.”

He sighed, placing his hand on his temples, “Not exactly the problem I thought I would have to handle tonight, but I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. Look no offense, but I think it might be for the better if I’m the one who talks to her. She’s probably confusing her anger at herself for being angry at you.”

“Yeah, I’d be careful walking in. She threw something at the door when I was trying to talk to her. It sounded like it broke, I’m not sure if it’s glass.”

Barbara desperately wanted to make sure Lydia was okay but she knew Charles was right, it was better off if she left Lydia to cool down about the whole situation. She couldn’t imagine how confused she must feel. It’s one thing to accidentally call a teacher mom, but Lydia’s situation was a world of difference. She wandered around the house aimlessly for a little while until she just went back into the attic and told Adam about what happened. 

“Well I mean it’s kinda cute that she called you mom.”

Barbara threw her book at her husband, “Adam! No, it’s not, she was really upset about it. I feel awful.”

“I know you feel bad about it but that just means that Lydia loves you so much that she sees you as someone she can trust like a mother. I know she knows you aren’t trying to become the new Emily. Nobody could compete with Emily Deetz for her. Look she’s just embarrassed about it, she’ll get over it by the morning and I’m sure she’ll be feeling fine for her trip.”

“God if she doesn’t go because of me I’ll probably never forgive myself.”

“She’s a resilient girl, I’m sure she’ll come around.”

Barbara nodded and let her husband envelop her in a much-needed hug, “She’s our girl, huh?”

When Charles knocked on his daughter’s door it was a quick response of  “Go away Barbara.”

“It’s dad.”

The door creaked open and standing in front of him was a sullen Lydia wearing a nightdress that was a size too big for her, and rubbing aggressively at her eyes to cover up the fact that she had probably been crying, “What do you want? I told you I’m not feeling good.”

“Barbara told me about what happened.”

She scoffed, “Of course she did. Because everybody has to know how much of a freaking idiot I am.” 

“Do you want to talk about it.”

“No I don’t. I just want everybody to leave me alone, but nobody ever listens to me. Nothing that you’re going to say is going to do anything. I don’t want to go anymore, it’s simple as that. It has nothing to do with what happened. I just don’t feel like it anymore. I’m not going to win anyway so what’s the point of even going?” she crossed her arms and slumped back down on her bed, “I’m not even really friends with the other kids that are going. They’re all way older than me, they probably don’t even want a dumb freshman following them around like some lost puppy.”

Charles sat on the edge of her bed, careful not to disrupt the sleeping cat nestled between the covers. He put his hands on the bottom half of her curled up leg, “I think this sudden change of heart runs a lot deeper than you being afraid of not fitting in with the other kids.”

“Gee, what gave that away dad?”

Charles tried to ignore the sarcastic tone she was taking up, trying to understand that she was very emotional right now and didn’t mean to be disrespectful, “So do you want to talk about what’s really bothering you? Because I don’t think it’s Barbara either.”

There was no response from Lydia besides her shifting position to laying face down in the bed, her face smooshed into her pillow. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Lydia mumbled something but it was muffled by the pillow.

“What?”

“I’m happy!” Lydia shot up and shouted, “Okay? I’m happy and I’m not supposed to be. No, like I know I’m allowed to be happy but it’s just...ughh I just don’t know how to explain it. It’s just so confusing.”

“You’re upset because you’re happy?”

Lydia nodded, “It’s just that everything has been going good recently and I don’t like it. It feels wrong, I feel wrong about it.”

“Honey it’s a good thing that you’re feeling happy! That’s what you’ve been working on with your therapist and with all of us here. That’s just the natural progression of your progress.”

“I feel so guilty about it. Like I’ve got so much going on in my life now. I’ve got school and babysitting, and photography club and this competition, and I’ve got Wendy and all you guys. I feel like I’m forgetting about mom. I don’t think about her as much as I used to. I used to think about her constantly and some days all I get is a quick memory, how terrible is that? I can hardly remember what her voice sounds like anymore. I promised her, I promised myself that I would never forget her and I’ve apparently already replaced her in my mind!” She was getting erratic now, the words flying out of her mouth faster than Charles could process them, “I never thought about it until...I just can’t believe I did that.”

“Sweetheart, it isn’t that big of a deal. It was an accident, everybody knows that. You know that.”

“I called her mom!” She shouted, throwing herself back into her pillow again, “I called her mom, dad!”

“It’s okay, it just slipped out. She’s someone you love and value-”

“I have a mother!” Lydia was crying now, “I have a mother, and I just called another person mom. She only died a year and a half ago, I should still be mourning but instead, I went out and found a new mom. I bet she’s really happy about that in the Netherworld, “Oh Emily Deetz, no don’t bother sending any signs to Lydia anymore. She’s completely moved on, in fact, she gone and outright replaced you!” ”

“You’re being too harsh on yourself!” Charles tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t acknowledge him, “You aren’t forgetting about your mother, you are just going through life. It happens, we all get caught up in things in our lives. You’re young, and though a lot of older people would tell you that your life isn’t hard work you’re really busy! Truthfully I would be more concerned if it had been a year and a half and you still hadn’t been able to go about your life. This isn’t a bad thing, it doesn’t mean that you’re a bad daughter because you don’t spend every waking minute thinking about her. You didn’t do that when she was here.”

She still kept her face buried in her pillow. Charles gently pushed her shoulder and rolled her over to look at him. Her eyes were glassy both from tiredness and sadness, “I feel like I’m betraying her and I know that makes me sound insane but it’s how I feel.”

“She would be so happy for you, you’re doing amazing things in your life and she would be so freaking proud of you. All of it, all the progress you’ve made. Just look at how far you’ve come, Lydia! I know how hard it must be for you to stop and wonder if you’re going through this right and honestly that’s just how life is sometimes. There’s a lot you will never know for certain but I can tell you right now that Emily would want above all else for you to be happy, to feel loved, and to love others. You’re doing all of that in spaids. So try not to feel guilty because you’re doing exactly what she would want you to do if she was here.” 

Lydia sat up and pulled her cat into her lap, a few tears that had been building up streaked down her face and she quickly wiped them away, “I shouldn’t have lashed out at Barbara. It’s not her fault that I called her mom.”

“She understands.”

“I don’t know why it’s affecting me so much, it’s just that this is the first time that I’m going to be away from all you guys, and I’m...I’m scared. Ever since mom died you’ve all at least been around somewhere, I always had somebody else there that knew what was going on and now I’m going to be going four hours away for a whole week all by myself. I haven’t gotten them as bad as I used to but what if I have a nightmare and they make fun of me? It’s bad enough that I’m the youngest one going but if I have a nightmare and start crying they’re all going to make fun of me.” Lydia began to get more worked up and she leaned her head on Charle’s shoulders in an attempt to soothe herself, “I’m always caught in between being okay and then feeling bad that I’m doing okay and then making myself worse! Then I just take it out on everyone else.”

“I get like this too Lydia, it just feels more intense for you because you’re younger. God when I first proposed to Delia I felt like I was betraying Emily too and then when I told you I was convinced that I was doing the wrong thing, but I eventually knew that she wouldn’t want me to be lonely for the rest of my life. She would know that I still loved her, and missed her.”

“I miss her too.” Lydia lamented as she gently scratched her cat behind the ears, “I wish she could be here for the competition because she would love some of the photographs. Doug Hilton took a picture of like a bunch of people wearing these super creepy rabbit masks in a cornfield. It’s a really neat picture, it scared the teacher but I loved it.”

“I’m sure she would love all of them. Especially yours, but not because she’s biased, but because it is the best.”

“You’re starting to sound like Barbara.” Lydia laughed, her guilt and anger slowly starting to fade away as she thought about how her mom would feel. 

“I’m serious though, you’ve got a real talent and I’d hate to see you miss out on this opportunity because you’re feeling afraid that enjoying yourself is somehow disappointing Emily. So what do you say? Do you still not want to go?”

Lydia thought about it for a second before shaking her head, “I want to go.”

Charles smiled at his daughter and patted her proudly on the shoulder, “I knew you would. Now it is way too late for you to still be up. You have to be on the bus for eight o’clock tomorrow morning, try to get some sleep okay?”

She nodded, laying down in her bed, pulling the covers up to her face and closing her eyes. Her cat purred as she snuggled up against Lydia’s stomach. Charles gave Lydia a soft kiss on the forehead before shutting the lights off and closing the door. 

In the end, Lydia didn’t win the competition. She was right that she was the youngest one there. First place went to a senior from a school she had never even hear of, but Lydia didn’t care. When she came back home after the week she sat at the dinner table telling everyone all the fun stories she had from her trip, laughing until her side hurt when Beetlejuice threw a piece of cake at her father’s face, but Charles’ just swiped her face with his finger and licked the frosting off in stride claiming he preferred his cake that way. Even though there was no blue first place ribbon attached to her photography it was framed and hanging on the wall alongside her invitation to the event. By the time everyone had been partied out that night it was just Lydia and Barbara still in the kitchen. Without saying a word Lydia leaped into a huge hug before trotting up happily to her room, her kitten scurrying behind her.

“That’s my girl,” Barbara whispered. 

[marshmallowprotection]

Well, hey, if youre willing to write for it im delighted to request it! If you dont already have an idea in mind, how about snapshots of each rfa member with the rfas unofficially/officially adopted child? Or what each would do if they needed to pick them up from school cause they got sick? I kind of love this whole idea so ive already thought up way too many ways to use it haha, but id be happy with literally anything related to the rfa communally raising a kid

I've written some little blurbs for you, nothing long but something just enough to get a taste of what it might be like. I couldn't decide on a specific kid to use so I'm just going to swap between a boy and a girl for whichever it feels right for. 

Yoosung 

"Sungie, do you always get to see so many animals?" 

"Mmm. Yeah, it's part of my studies. If I wanna be a great Vet someday, I have to learn about all kinds of animals and meet them." 

"Really cool! I wouldn't mind if I got to hang out with puppies all day." 

"Well… It's not always like that." 

"Oh, right, there must be kitties and bunnies too!" 

They always chatted like this. 

Yoosung spent the time that he did have free with everybody's favorite son. He was often one of the least busy members of the group but only during the afternoons while the others were working. They would waste a lot of time playing games that he enjoyed or LOLOL, which Yoosung liked. 

They got along really well. Yoosung had taken to him like a big brother, and while he wasn't entirely sure if he was doing it right, he enjoyed the time they spent together. 

He wasn't ever really that close with his big sister, so to have a little buddy to hang out with like this was so different!  

He wasn't the youngest person now, so a lot of the words directed towards him were now thrown to the wayside. It made him feel like he was pretty mature! 

That wasn't always the case, though. 

Video games were an easy way for them to interact and because of that he got a little too invested in them. Of course, just because he was older didn't mean that he always won those games. 

The kid took it ten times more seriously than he ever did and he had to actually try to win what they were on. He never really had that issue before without having many people to play against. But, it was like Seven had been tutoring him on how to destroy others. 

Today was no different. 

"I WIN!" he shrieked as he jumped off of the couch and thrust his hands in the air as Yoosung hung his head in defeat. 

"Looks like you win again," he laughed, though still a little embarrassed. 

Zen

She was a star, a bright shining star. 

All she wanted to do was be the one who made all the sad stuff go away, far, far away from here! It was a dream of hers to be as cool as her family was, and she thought the best way to do that would be to practice for the next party! 

She got the idea from Jaehee, cause she always said that Zen could shine so brightly that it made her feel better. 

So, who else to ask for tips then Zen? 

So, she put on her little show as best as she could for him. 

"You're doing great, keep it up out there, princess!" Zen cheered her on as she spun around in circles and circles on end, pretending to perform for the little crowd of plush toys and Zen.

He clapped as she finished up her little routine a few minutes later, with her arms stretched out wide and little chest heaving from all the little motions. 

Her eyes twinkle with such joy. It was a blessing to see her look so happy and all she ever wanted to hear was that she was getting better at this. 

She puffs out her cheeks when he doesn't say much more, "D'ya like it, Zenny? I can't show everybody else less you think s'good!" 

This little girl was an absolute darling to everybody that she came into contact with and it was no surprise given her parent, who had been the kindest soul ever to walk the face of the planet. She never caused any trouble and all she wanted to do was have a little fun every now and again. 

Zen wasn't all that great with kids, at least, he never felt like he was. He didn't exactly do a perfect job all the time, but he did try his best when he could. 

She had insisted that he sit down and watch her perform this time around. She wanted to show that she could be as dazzling as Zen was, and he would stand to agree that this little girl had a future in talent if she wanted to pursue it. 

Even if she was a little bit pitchy with her own rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. 

Zen let out a little laugh. He pressed his hand against the top of her head and ruffled her hair. "It was very good. You'll blow everybody away at the next party for sure, okay? I need to watch out. You're going to give me a run for my money." 

Jaehee

The little boy clutched at his locks, clearly frustrated with the paper of homework in front of himself. It just wasn't making any sense to him and he really wanted to just give up and quit it. 

He had been trying so hard to do it all on his own so nobody would get worried.  

That hadn't worked because Jaehee caught him looking so dejected in the corner of the café. 

There was no hiding anything from that woman. She just knew when something was wrong and wouldn't let the subject go when she started talking. 

She always got onto him. It wasn't rude or mean though! 

She was just looking out for him, he knew. It didn't change the fact it was a little embarrassing. 

Jaehee looked over his notes and instead of scolding him for the bad marks, she merely hummed and nodded her head. She pointed out some of the troubling areas for him and tapped the spots. 

"So you see, you'll need to do this first before you start doing this part of the question. You're getting ahead of yourself when you're working on these types of problems." 

He stared at the paper for a moment with pursed lips, "...Oh. I guess I didn't think about that." 

"Why don't we try some together and see where it's confusing, okay?" Jaehee smiled. 

He may have felt unsure of himself but he knew that he could trust her judgment at times like this. 

Jumin 

"You look lovely today… I see you and Elizabeth the 3rd are wearing matching bows." 

"Oh, you noticed? I tied them all by myself too!" 

"Did you? That's very crafty of you to do so, princess. Elizabeth seems positively pleasant about it. Why, may I ask, did you do it?" 

"Oh! Elizabeth and I are having a tea party today. We can't have one without looking cute n' stuff. You think my Mommy would like these?" 

"She would. That's her favorite color."

Jumin had never been sure how to act around children. He had never really been a normal child himself, and by the time he figured it out, he was already well grown into an adult. Now, he was really learning how to interact with children. 

This little girl had stolen not only his heart but the hearts of everybody she came into contact with over the past few months.

She was bubbly and sweet, never out of line, she had a penchant for cute toys and little accessories, and she liked to make her own things and play pretend. 

Most importantly, she was the only person in this world who could get CEO Jumin Han to sit in a small chair and pretend to drink tea. 

That's what he was doing right now. 

Elizabeth the 3rd was sitting on her own chair as the girl pretended to pour out some tea into her cup with a smile, "You want some more, Elizabeth? Really? Okay, more tea for the lady!"

Once she set it down she glanced over at Jumin with a big grin, "I'm glad you like it too, I tried really hard. I made some for everybody to wear! I made you a purple one!"

And if anybody thought he wouldn't wear a bow in his hair for this kid, they were wrong. 

Seven

“I did it! I think I put it together, it works, it really works!“

She always looked at the world with stars in her eyes. 

Every new experience was something great to watch happen and it didn’t matter what it was that she was doing or trying out. She always smiled and laughed. It was a great sound, and it had been such a long time since Seven had even heard anything like that. 

This little girl was equal parts smart and sweet. 

If Seven handed her something to work on, she would devour it and figure out what was wrong or what needed to be fixed within a couple of minutes. Seven let her tinker with some of his old robots. Granted, he didn’t give her anything really complex, but still, she learned fast. 

It didn’t always work out, but she never lost her big grin. 

He beamed. “Oh? So you did!  That’s impressive. Good job! Meowy 2.0 here is looking much more lively, huh?” 

She gripped onto the little bot and nodded her head. “Mhm! I wasn’t sure if I was gonna be able to figure it out, but thanks to your help, I got it.”

He couldn’t have been more proud. 

Seven didn’t know what it was like to have many older people in your life care for you like this in a way that was more domestic and typical. He never thought that he would ever have to chance to be around kids like this, but it was something that he always wanted to do. 

She had stolen his heart, though. He would do anything for the kid. 

“That’s right,” Seven nodded. ”You don’t have to do everything alone to figure stuff out. It’s actually better to ask for help when you don’t know what to do next time.” 

She was quiet for a moment and grinned. “...Yeah, about that. I was wondering, how hard would it be to add a flamethrower?” 

Nobody tell the others about that though. 

V

"Does it matter if I make my sky a different color then blue? Why does it always have to be blue? Is it wrong to do something like that? Can it only be blue…? I don't understand." 

"Well, the sky isn't just blue, you know. It can be almost any color you want it to be, it's your drawing to paint so it's your choice what it looks like. Why do you ask?" 

He hung his head, not wanting to look V in the eyes. "... Some kids told me I was stupid and wrong. I guess... I’m just not as good as you thought I was."

V frowned. He got to the boy’s level and pressed his hands against his shoulders, "Hey… that's not true at all. I love your sky, that's why we put it up on the fridge." 

He had really low self-esteem. It wasn’t something that was always remedied by the fact that he had a support system behind him. For some children, it was hard to connect with others in some capacity. 

This boy was always radiant and smiling when he was with the RFA. But, when he was alone or by himself, there were those times when the unease shined through. It wasn’t for a lack of love. Those feelings could affect anyone no matter their life or background. 

V hated to see that. 

“Are you sure?” he asked, quietly. “I would understand if you didn’t.” 

Because he was special, not only to him and the rest of the RFA but to himself as well.

“I’m sure. I would never lie to you. Now, let’s see what we can do about this problem of yours at school, okay?” 

Saeran 

Saeran was always wary of children. 

He always thought of his parents and how badly they had screwed him over as a kid, and his first fear was that he was going to do something as bad as what they did to him to somebody else. That was the last thing that he wanted to do to anyone. 

It wasn’t easy for him to build a bond with MC’s little girl, but he did try every now and again. For some reason, the girl really liked him and stuck to him like glue at every chance that she got. It was kind of hilarious to see somebody so bright and cheery reaching out for somebody as dark looking like him. 

There were times when she would talk somebody’s ear off, but she would never do that to anyone apart from the people in the RFA. She was often quite shy and anxious. With Saeran, though... she was quiet and didn’t often press him for talk and chats. 

She seemed to understand that he really wasn’t much of a guy for chatting, and they both could just hang out without worrying about anything. Today was a little different though. 

He had walked in the room that she was sitting in, and noticed that she was crying. His body stiffened, and he felt rather uncomfortable. He knew that he could have directed somebody else to the situation but at the same time, he didn’t think he could make himself do that. 

He had been in that position too many times as a kid and nobody was there for him. Against the dread in his gut, he sat down next to her and didn’t say anything at first. She was clearly looking over at him. 

“S-Saeran?” 

“...Mmm.” 

“I wasn’t... cryin’... just got dust in my eyes.” 

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want too,” he said, quietly. “I just figured you would feel better if you had some company.“

“...Thank you.” 

[tessatechaitea]

Cerebus #15 (1980)

If the story so far had revealed that Cerebus has a vagina, I could make a hentai joke here.

The first time I encountered hentai was at an anime convention at a Red Lion Inn in San Jose in 1994 or 1995. I went to the convention by myself because I had recently fallen in love with the cartoon Sailor Moon and wanted to get some Sailor Moon LaserDiscs unless it was actually Sailor Moon dolls I wanted. It was so long ago, how am I supposed to remember?! They had a room where they were showing movies and one of the movies I watched was Sailor Moon R: The Movie. It was subtitled which was great because then I had the story memorized for all the times I watched my non-subtitled LaserDisc. But that wasn't the pornographic anime I saw! I don't even remember what that was but I watched some tentacle fucking movie late at night in a dark room with a bunch of other sweaty nerds. I didn't know that was what was going to happen though so I didn't have my dick in my hands like the other guys probably did. I was as shocked as anybody when they first find out that cartoons where women get fucked by tentacles exist! I mean, how many penises does an alien need?! I grew up thinking the little gray aliens had zero! That Red Lion Inn was the same one where I played in a couple of Magic the Gathering tournaments. Being in a dark room with a bunch of horny anime fans was less awkward and uncomfortable than playing Magic the Gathering against Magic the Gathering fans. Most of them probably couldn't believe they were actually playing against such a cool and handsome dude. It really threw them off their game when I would say things like, "Yeah, I've touched a couple of boobs. I attack with my Serra Angel." I know what you're thinking: "Anime, comic books, and Magic the Gathering?! This awesome dude must have owned every single Stars Wars figure too!" Aw, you're too kind! I'm blushing! But obviously I never owned Yak Face. "A Note from the Publisher" is still being published so I guess Dave and Deni are still married. In his Swords of Cerebus essay, Dave Sim discusses "Why Groucho?" It seems to mostly come down to this: Dave Sim enjoyed the characters of Groucho Marx as a teenager and memorized a lot of their lines. He also mentions Kim Thompson's review of Cerebus in The Comic Journal (the first major review of the series) in which Kim praised Sim's ability to make his parody characters transcend the parody to become unique creations of their own. This review gave Sim the confidence to put Groucho in the role of Lord Julius. Which worked out so well that Sim later adds Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Margeret Thatcher, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Woody Allen, Dave Sim, and the Three Stooges into the story. I'm sure I'm missing some but I can't remember every aspect of this 6000 page story. Was The Judge also a parody of somebody? Was the Regency Elf based on Wendy Pini? I don't know! I'm sure I'm missing a lot of references in Cerebus simply because I haven't experienced all the same knowledge sources as Dave Sim. Just like I'm missing a super duper lot of references in Gravity's Rainbow because nobody in the history of ever has experienced all the same knowledge sources as Thomas Pynchon. I've been reading Gravity's Rainbow (for the first time but also the third time because I'm basically reading it three times at the same time. You'll understand when you read it) and I'm surprised by how funny it is. I don't think anybody ever described it as funny or else I'm sure I would never have stopped reading it multiple times prior to this time when I'm actually going to finish it. Although I suppose when I read Catch-22, I had done so on my own so nobody ever told me how funny that book was either. But for some reason, Catch-22 lets you know it's going to be a funny book pretty quickly. Gravity's Rainbow is all, "Here is a description of an evacuation of London which is just stage setting because, you know, the bombs have already blown up, but it makes people feel safe. And after that, how about a scene where this guy makes a bunch of banana recipes for breakfast. Is that funny enough for you?" Oh, sure, there are some funny moments like when that one guy pretends a banana is his cock and then some other guys tackle him and beat him with his own pretend cock. But there's a gravity to the scene that doesn't lend itself to the reader thinking, "Oh, this is a funny book!" But if you make it far enough, you start realizing, "Hey! I'm not understanding this!" So then you reread the section and you start realizing, "Hey! I'm laughing at this stuff! This is pretty funny!" Plus there are a lot of descriptions of sexy things that I'm assuming are really accurate because Pynchon is obsessed with details.

Anyway, I was supposed to be talking about Cerebus, wasn't I?

A Living Priest of Tarim crashes Lord Julius' bath to scold him about a party Julius is giving in a fortnight (which is the amount of time your kid has lost to a video game). I don't know why the priest has to declare he's a living priest. You can tell that by the way he's shouting and foaming at the mouth. Although this is a Swords & Sorcery book so I suppose there are many dead creatures that also shout and foam at the mouth. Sometimes I forget I'm reading a fictional book and wind up ranting and raving about stuff that I'm supposed to just assume is fine. Like when I read The Flash and nothing in it makes any sense at all because The Flash should never have any trouble stopping crime or saving people from natural disasters. The comic book should be over in two pages. Even the writers, at some point, realized how ridiculous Flash stories were and decided the only way to make them believable was to have The Flash battle other super fast people. But that just meant Flash stories basically became bar-room brawls. Two people with super speed fighting is the same as reading a story about two people without super speed fighting. Boring! Some writers even decided that maybe a telepathic monkey would make things more interesting and I suppose telepathic monkeys make everything more interesting so kudos to them. I was going to go on a long rant about telepathic monkeys but then I realized how much I love the idea of telepathic monkeys so why should I create an argument against them? More telepathic monkeys, please.

This made me laugh out loud. Not as much as the chapter in Gravity's Rainbow where the old woman forces Slothrop to eat a bunch of terrible candies. But then it isn't a competition, is it? I mean, I guess it's a competition for my time which is why I haven't written a comic book review in a week or more. Blame Thomas Pynchon for being so entertaining (and also Apex).

Baskin, the Minister for Executive Planning, has come to let Lord Julius know what the revolutionaries have revealed while being tortured. The only bit of useful information was one prisoner's last words: "Revolution...the pits." Cerebus immediately assumes "the Pits" is a location and not a summation of the prisoner's feelings about revolution which led to torture which led to his death. Cerebus, being the Kitchen Staff Supervisor, begins an investigation into The Pits. His first step: threatening the Priest of the Living Tarim. Which makes me realize I transposed the word "living" in the previous encounter with the priest and went on a digression that makes no sense to anybody who has read and somehow remembers that particular panel. I'm sure they were scoffing and snorting and exclaiming to their pet rat, "What a stupid fool loser this Grunion Guy is! Living Priest of Tarim! HA! Ridiculous! What a moronic mistake! He has made a gigantic fool of himself!" I don't know that the almost certainly imaginary people who called me on my mistake as they read this have a pet rat but I do know there almost certainly isn't another imaginary sentient being in the room with them. Cerebus learns that The Pits are Old Palnu that lies under current Palnu. It was destroyed in a massive earthquake long ago and the new city built over the top of it. It's like a Dungeons & Dragons module but with a lot less treasure.

This scene reminded me that I need to finish rereading The Boomer Bible: A Testament for Our Times (which is what it was called in the 90s but is just as accurate for today).

Cerebus and Lord Julius engage in another typical misunderstanding (it's not hard when only half of the people in the conversation care about making sense) which ends up with Lord Julius deciding that the location for the Festival of Petunias will be The Pits. This complicates Cerebus' job of not allowing Lord Julius to be assassinated because the assassins are most likely housed in The Pits (along with their giant snakes (*see cover)). Lord Julius, Baskin, and Cerebus descend into The Pits to find a suitable location for the Festival of Petunias. In doing so, they wind up in a trap and confronted by a masked revolutionary of the "Eye of the Pyramid." Which is odd because you usually have to murder at least a dozen kobolds and several goblins before you reach the room with the boss in it.

Typical unbalanced beginning level module. A giant snake as the first encounter!

Cerebus manages to defeat the giant snake by crashing it headfirst into a wall. The wall winds up being a key support structure and the roof collapses. Everybody makes it out alive but the masked revolutionary evades capture. He will be back next issue to ruin the Festival of Petunias. Aardvark Comment is still just a mostly standard comic book letters page. I'll probably stop discussing it until people start criticizing Dave. Right now it's just "This comic book is great!" and "Keep writing, Dave, and I'll never think ill of anything idea you espouse!" while Dave replies, "I owe my fans everything! I can't wait until I can stop feeling that way and start jerking off onto my art boards and selling those as pages of Cerebus!" Cerebus #15 Rating: A. Good story, good Lord Julius dialogue, good Living Priest of the Living Tarim scenes. I wholeheartedly endorse this comic book and Dave Sim. No way a guy with a sense of humor like this is going to go off the rails, right?!

[nelllraiser]

the girl who cried wolf | layla & nell

LOCATION: coffee plus. PARTIES: @nelllraiser and @laylacooke​ SUMMARY: nell finally nails down a bounty that’s plagued her for months, and learns as much as she can. layla is nothing but GOOD AND KIND.

To think that after all this time...Nell’s quarry was in White Crest of all places. She still remembered getting the request from the Cooke family. After all, it hadn’t been that long ago. Still, she’d been coming up on a year since the day they’d asked her to track down their tragically, now murderous daughter and— well— make sure she’d never commit another murder again. It’d been infuriating the way that Layla never seemed to stand still, and by the time Nell got to the cities and towns the young werewolf had been staying in she’d been gone. And then her own return to White Crest had slowed the search, what with all the things happening in her home town that seemed to turn it on its head. It had only been recently that she’d remembered Layla Cooke once more, and the contract she’d made with her parents. Imagine her surprised when the tracking spell had finally led her to her very own backyard. A new sort of fire filled Nell’s belly. Did this girl think she could come to her town and let loose her need for blood? No. That wasn’t something Nell would be accepting any time soon. So with her silver knives tucked away, she entered into Coffee Plus, the trail ending here. It was easy enough to spot Layla. After all, the pictures her parents had provided were helpful. She was young, and Nell supposed that should be sad within itself but— murder didn’t have to have an age. So she waited until the girl’s coffee was called out, and then made her move. Walking forward with purpose, she waited until the girl turned around, coffee now in hand, to collide, causing the drink to spill all over the two of them. Nell’s face instantly turned apologetic, eyes wide. “Shit! Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

Layla had, ironically, found safety in White Crest with a pack of wolves, who had come to accept her. If it hadn’t been for Ariana’s kindness, Layla had feared she would’ve been dead by now or a plaything for the creepy mimes that were taking over the town. She had still had a lot of adjusting to do, but she was finally finding stability, including being a part of the working class. One of the perks? Being able to purchase her favorite coffee drink. The one Frankie used to surprise her with all the time. Though, it tasted a little different, it was still a nice reminder of the good parts about her past. As she turned to leave, she immediately collided with someone in front of her. Luckily, iced coffee didn’t burn or there might have been a problem. However, her one highlight of the day seemed to be all over the pair and the floor, “Fine...are you okay? I totally didn’t see you! I’m sorry!” Frantically turning back around, Layla asked for some napkins to try and start cleaning up the mess, “Iced coffee is the last thing you want drying on any surface, including your clothes. With napkins in hand, she gave some to the woman in front of her, before kneeling down to try and wipe up the mess.

Nell was lucky the girl had chosen the iced coffee. Much less pain involved in the initial collision. Of course, she would have taken the hit of hot coffee if need be while going after a target, especially one that had evaded her for so frustratingly long. But none of that annoyance was shown in her demeanor now, her face looking carefully apologetic. “No, no it was my fault!” she said back to the other girl, a generally normal reaction to two supposed strangers running into each other over coffee. “I’m fine, really! Shit- sorry about your clothes.” The words were as heartfelt as the first ones she’d said, not willing to raise suspicion when it’d take her this long to find Layla in the first place. “Here, let me get you another coffee, yeah? And pay for like- dry cleaning or something. Whatever else people say when stuff like this happens.” A seemingly awkward chuckle ended her words as she accepted the napkins, also bending to help get rid of the mess she’d intentionally made.

Layla continued to try and clean up the mess on the floor, and when she was finished, she moved onto her own clothes trying to dry up some of the latte. Tossing the soiled napkins in a nearby trash can, she put her attention back on the woman in front of her, “You know, if you really are insistent on doing something the coffee’s fine. I don’t expect you to pay for drycleaning. That’s way too much. And even still I feel bad about the coffee. What if we just walk and talk. I was trying to find my way to the library around here, but I’m so lost.” Layla couldn’t smell anything different about this woman. She had encountered other wolves, hunters, and vampires, and those were distinct, but nothing about Nell seemed any different than the person sitting across the small cafe. She had to be safe to be around her right?

Letting a little sigh of relief relax her shoulders, Nell quickly rid herself of her own napkins, continuing to slip into the role she was playing with another chagrined little laugh. “To be honest I don’t even know if people dry clean anymore. I sort of just...panicked and said what every sitcom character ever has said.” Her smile was easy, welcoming even. “I can walk and talk.” A nod rocked her, as if she were gaining confidence. “If you add one more thing onto the walking and talking though, I can’t promise I’ll be able to keep up,” she joked. “The library? What were you looking for there? I can definitely help you find it, though! I know where most everything is here.” Asking the barista for another drink, the worker seemed happy to oblige. “Does that mean you’re new here?”

Layla was easily starting to like Nell, despite not knowing her true motives. The woman seemed nice enough. And with the safety she was beginning to feel in town and with her new family, she felt letting her guard down to make some friends was an okay thing. “I think offering to replace the drink is more than enough, but I would be the same way probably. I just don’t want to hurt anybody you know? Or make them sad, I mean unless they were out to talk crap about me or threaten me or something like that. But let’s face it, my bark is a lot worse than my bite.” Layla definitely talked a big game online, but in reality, she was just a pup who was still trying to find her way in the world, “Walking and talking is my forte. That’s how I mostly had to communicate with my friends in high school, because the bell would ring before we could even get across the school to our next classes. But I promise not to add anything else, like texting or skipping or something.” She laughed, “Nothing in particular, but it has been a while since I’ve read a good book.” Okay, that was a lie. Supernatural creatures. She needed to know more if she were going to survive in this town. “Is it that obvious? Do I have new girl stamped on my forehead?”

Nell nodded as if Layla were speaking to her very soul, though she wasn’t sure exactly how much of Layla’s words she believed. Her parents had certainly done a very good job of making her out to be a cold blooded killer, and it was hard to believe that she wouldn’t want to hurt anybody after being presented with all their evidence. “For sure! Of course! I mean- there’s already enough pain in this world, right?” Even if she hadn’t been acting, Nell didn’t believe the words. Sometimes the only, and best way to solve something ended in blood and violence. In the next moment she was laughing along with Layla, handing over the drink that the worker had finished making to replace the old one to the werewolf. “Why were passing periods so long, anyway? It’s almost like they didn’t want us to socialize. Can you imagine? The audacity,” she joked. Of course...Nell hadn’t done much socializing, not with her reputation in highschool, and general lack of friends. But this was just another piece of a part she could play for getting Layla to trust her, a way to find common ground. “How thoughtful of you, though,” she continued to tease, figuring they’d broken enough ice for her to slip one in. “There’s definitely plenty of books in the library, though. Even though it’s a small town, the college makes it up its game by default of being here. Wait- do you go there? Is that why you’re new here?” It’d be good to know Layla’s typical haunts. Another chuckle and Nell was speaking again, “Nah, it’s not that. I just figured from not knowing where the library is and all- you know? I’m sure you’ll have that White Crest stank on you soon enough.”

“That, is, unfortunately, so true.” Layla noticed the drink coming her way and reached out for it. Taking a sip was like a relief. Her taste-buds jumped at the Coconut Milk Cold Brew, “Whoever said coffee should be a thing, hit the nail on the head. Are you sure I can’t get you anything before we leave?” She glanced back to the barista before looking at the woman standing next to her. “And you know, I have no idea. I thought you were supposed to learn how to be your own person in high school, and part of that takes socializing. But I am just so glad to be done.” Layla moved out of the way so other people could come up to the counter to order, “As for college? No, I just needed a change, and I ended up here. I, mean, I would like to go to college, but I can’t afford it right now. So free library books it is.” She laughed softly at the comment about White Crest, “I guess that’s a good stank to have? What about you? Have you lived here long?”

Nell chuckled carefully along with Layla once again, being careful to keep her amicable nature looking alive and well. “Oh- I already have a muffin!” she quickly lied. “I wasn’t really needing any coffee today, but I was passing by and it just smelled so good. But thank you.” That part wasn’t entirely false. If Nell smelled something good, she was often hard-pressed to walk past whatever was being made without buying something. “Honestly, I don’t think highschool has any right to have denied us our right to explore our identities between classes,” she joked. Seeing as Layla had gotten her coffee, Nell began to lead the way towards the door. “A change is always nice. Sorry about uh- not being able to do college yet, though,” she added with a put on air of sheepishness. “Maybe you could get financial aid or something? But I’ve lived here all my life. Born and raised. The stank is...both good and bad,” she finished with a little laugh. Their coffee in hand, Nell continued to escort Layla to the library, intent on finding out as much as she could about the werewolf on the way there. After all, she’d need to know all she could before making her final move.