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witchywriterlythings · 1 month ago

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All Apart of Something's Game

Chapter One: My Best Friend Gets A Shopping Trip and I Get Dodge-ball

The new school year started off with a big surprise. First off, the classes at my new school weren’t actually too bad since Meriweather had this whole “alternative” view on academia which meant we didn’t have desks or tests or grades, and our teachers chilled with us on bean bags while wearing jeans and rock t-shirts.

They also were much more accommodating with my ADHD and dyslexia, recording classes so I could review lessons and making the learning active so I was able to focus easier. On the first day, my music teacher had us all come up with a beat that everyone had to try and copy. Then for the rest of class, if someone started tapping or making noise, everyone had to copy and the last person to do so was ‘it’ next.

The biggest thing, though, was about a week into the school year when they held an assembly in the gym. The mats were spread out all over the floor mixed in with bean bags so some kids were napping while we waited for teachers.

“What’s up Meriweather!” Our headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, said cheerfully as he looked over all of us, not phased in the slightest by the literal snoring coming from by the locker rooms. “As part of our efforts to give you all the best chance we can, we’ve decided to invite a new student to school this year. He’s had it rough growing up, but I’m sure all of you will give him a warm welcome.” He waved someone forward from the gym doors. “This is Tyson.”

Now I had been working on hiding some of my more…animalistic features. My mom wasn’t exactly happy with how much I had let it slip without her there and my senses were starting to get overwhelming. I mean, school locker rooms? In middle school? Yeah. But even with my slightly dampened powers, I clocked my half-brother the second he stepped out of the shadows.

Tyson, as they called him, stood out immediately. He had six inches over even the tallest of the classes, even standing over some of the teachers, and was built like the Abominable Snowman. The ground cushioned his feet when he walked, causing the wood to creak. And under the stench of New York alley-way, he smelled like salt and metal and the air before a storm. His shaggy hair covered his face as he shuffled over to the headmaster, led by two teachers.

“Thank you for joining us!” Mr. Bonsai was still smiling, even if he looked like he would gag any second. “Say hello to your new classmates.”

“Heh-low,” Tyson’s voice boomed despite sounding like a toddler trying out words for the first time.

To cut a long story short, I took him home with me.

My mom was gone for one of her writing workshops, so we had time to kill when we got back to the apartment.

“What do you want to eat, big guy?” I was willing to make anything, since I’d shared my lunch with him already and both of us were probably starving. Why Meriweather thought a homeless kid would be able to bring his own lunch was beyond me. “There’s some leftovers from dinner last night if you want some.”

Tyson shrugged and dragged his socks across the rug from the hallway. His toes peeked through the holes. “Peanut butter?”

“Yeah, we got peanut butter.” Since he wasn’t very talkative, I figured it would be safe to toast some bread and give him a sandwich instead of trying to figure out something else. And since he didn’t want any, I heated up the fish for myself. I got us both glasses of water and set everything down at the table. “We gotta wash our hands first.”

Tyson watched me do it before trying himself, though he looked at the bottle of soap like he’d never seen it before. Maybe he hadn’t. “Slimy.”

Eventually, once his skin was free of any visible dirt and the water ran clear, we sat down to eat. I didn’t bother with table manners, since I didn’t want Tyson to feel bad if he didn’t have any. And my mom wasn’t there to make me act nice. We both scarfed down our food in a few minutes and I had to get Tyson some milk to get the peanut butter to stop sticking in his mouth.

“Percy?” My mom called as she unlocked the front door.

“Give me a second, big guy,” I told Tyson before running over to see my mom. Finally, an adult! “Your idiot ex-boyfriend has another kid and he’s here and I don’t know how to explain all this to him because what if Uncle gets mad about it?”

My mom raised her eyebrows. Of course when I referred to my dad, I called him such, but it was much more fun to call the God of the Seas her ex-boyfriend if we were talking about him. Especially since my mom got exasperated with me every time. “He did what now?”

“He’s in the kitchen.”

My mom peeked around the corner, startling when she caught sight of Tyson who sort of waved at her before going back to looking at his plate quietly. “Percy. Percy, your new friend isn’t like you.”

“What do you mean? He smells like dad though.”

“Baby, I need you to really look at him. I need you to look him in the eye.”

Oh.

Tyson didn’t really need the whole “the greek gods are alive and you’re their kid speech” but it took him a few minutes for it to sink in that we were brothers. He immediately started crying and reached out for a hug, which I couldn’t have said no to. It was like being looked up at by a puppy who wanted cuddles. Who says no to that?

While I got my ribs slightly crushed, he was much gentler with my mom. She didn’t seem fully on board with the idea of me adopting a circle-eyed half-brother until I asked if we could walk him home when he had to leave and she saw his refrigerator box.

“Nope,” was all she said before she grabbed both our hands and started dragging us back towards the apartment. Everyone seems to think I get it from my dad, but really I’m more like my mom if you think about it. She once told me the story of how he caught her attention, how other he seemed, standing there on the beach. She really had a soft spot for us monsters.

Tyson didn’t stay with us every night, he refused to. Apparently if he didn’t spend most of his nights there, he might lose his spot. I asked him once why he would need the alley when he had us and he just shrugged. “For when you gone.”

I tried to stick with him as much as possible in school. Once the other kids discovered he was a big softie, despite his massive strength and his scary looks, they made themselves feel good by trying to pick on him. I had to bare my teeth at more than one kid who looked at him wrong, and my reputation plummeted each time.

Let alone when the school bully decided to try slamming Tyson into the lockers, my reaction afterwards probably wasn’t the smartest. Matt Sloan wasn’t big or strong, but he acted like he was. He had shaggy black hair, and he always dressed in expensive but sloppy clothes, like he wanted everybody to see how little he cared about his family’s money but refused to actually lower himself enough to shop at a thrift store. And his nose was now permanently like that.

He left us alone for the most part throughout the rest of the year. Even if Tyson wouldn’t make him regret it, I would. Things were going great.

And then the nightmares started. At first it was just feelings of wildness, a buzz that would leave me in a haze instead of letting me sleep. That evolved into walking through barren wastelands, the feeling of despair crawling up my legs and pinning me to the floor. And the night before the last day of school, it came to a pitch.

I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town in Miami. It was the middle of the night, with a storm blowing in as wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up.

I don’t know why I knew we were in Miami, I had never been. Of course it being Florida was pretty obvious, it looked like Florida in every TV show ever.

Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life. I hadn’t seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest—a quest no satyr had ever returned from.

I could smell his fear seeping from his pores, but also his determination. Whatever he was running from, he had found something. He must’ve just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He’d escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from…something.

And that something was down the street, lumbering towards him and swatting aside streetlamps as he went. I couldn’t catch his scent for some reason, was it the dream?

Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, “Have to get away. Have to warn them!” He turned a corner only to find himself cornered. I hissed as I watched him try to figure out where to go, hating how I could feel his prey drive ramp up as it started to affect me too. He backed up into a store only for the door to swing open. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.

Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses, trembling behind them as the monster's shadow drew closer. I couldn’t smell him. All I smelled was Grover, wet barnyard and wild winds.

The monster passed by the shop, pausing only for a second before moving on.

Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.

Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: “MIIIIINE!”

I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed. There was no storm here but I could still feel the edges of it to the south, my connection to it slipping away every time I blinked the sleep out of my eyes. There was no monster here either.

I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass—a humanlike shape. But then there was a knock on my bedroom door—my mom called: “Percy, you’re going to be late”—and the shadow at the window disappeared.

It must’ve been my imagination. If anything was out there, I would have been able to tell. Besides, it was far too small to be the monster from my dreams anyway.

“Come on, Percy,” my mom called again, “I’m putting the waffles on the table!”

“Coming,” I answered. “Don’t let Tyson start without me!” I got dressed as quickly as I could, letting my more easy fear of Tyson eating all the waffles take over the lingering unease of my nightmare. Before I left my room, though, I made a three-fingered claw over my heart and pushed it outward—an ancient gesture Grover had once taught me for warding off evil.

Whatever the dream had been, I couldn’t do anything about it without help from camp. Chiron would know what to do. And to get to camp, I had to get through my last day of school. For the first time in my life, I’d almost made it an entire year without getting expelled. No weird accidents. No fights (in the classrooms). No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill me with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework.

Tyson was a surprise, but a good one. Afterall, he was waiting patiently at the table for me so we could dig into breakfast.

My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs, a leftover of my old stepfather who told us blue food wasn’t a thing. I think it’s her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.

As soon as I sat down at the kitchen table, me and Tyson started digging into our plates while my mom washed dishes in the sink. She was dressed in her work uniform—a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn’t digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. “Percy, are you all right?”

“Yeah … fine.”

“Liar,” Tyson huffed into his food and I kicked his shin under the table. “Heard your nightmare.”

Apparently, circle-eyes had really good hearing. Great when I wanted to know if anyone was in the locker room before we got there, but it sucked as Tyson knew things I’d really rather he didn’t. Especially because he decided my mom should know everything.

Then again, she could always tell when something was bothering me anyway. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. “School, or …”

She didn’t need to finish. I knew what she was asking.

“I think Grover’s in trouble,” I said, and I told them about my dream.

“I wouldn’t be too worried, dear,” she said. “Grover is a big satyr now. If there were a problem, I’m sure we would’ve heard from … from camp… .” Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “I’ll tell you what. This afternoon we’ll celebrate the end of school. I’ll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center—to that skateboard shop you like.”

Tyson perked up but he was still eyeing my mom with a weird expression.

I frowned at her but kept my mouth shut. We were supposed to be packing up for camp tonight, but neither of us liked talking about it in front of Tyson because he tended to cry about me leaving. I was tempted to ask anyway, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.

My mom looked almost relieved. “Seven-thirty, dear. You two should go, can’t be late for your train.”

“But—”

“Percy, we’ll talk this afternoon. Go on to school.”

Tyson and I grabbed our backpacks, both giving my mom a hug before we left. Tyson was much happier to accept her fixing his collar than I was, which made me shift uncomfortably.

“Bye, Sally.” The way Tyson said it, it was like he thought he would never see her again.

I had to keep myself from hissing in frustration because I was sure Tyson would take it the wrong way.

As we stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight—a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.

Then it rippled and vanished.

The back of my head itched like someone was watching me, but I couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. Tyson seemed to sense something was up too because he kept looking around until we got to school and stuck pretty close to me. He would have stuck close anyway though, so I’m not sure it meant anything.

I tried to shove aside the feeling and let the anticipation keep me going. I only had four more exams to get through, since we had done half of them the day before, and then there was nothing anyone could do to expel me.

Though this last day was going to be the hardest to get through by far. Take my first class today: English. The whole middle school had read (or listened to in my case) this book called Lord of the Flies, where all these kids get marooned on an island and go psycho. So for our final exam, our teachers sent us into the break yard to spend an hour with no adult supervision to see what would happen.

I know. The teachers at Meriweather liked to think the best of us which was great for my learning, but ended up with situations like the wedgie contest Sloan was doing with his friends and the full tackle basketball the eighth graders were playing.

If I didn’t have to watch Tyson, I might have joined them because it honestly looked really fun since the ref was Naomi Quinn. If someone turned my mother back into an eighth grader, I’m pretty sure they’d be the exact same. Though Naomi might be a little more feral.

She apparently thought I was cute, like a puppy or something, and would ruffle my hair whenever she heard me growl at someone, which I really wasn’t sure what to do with. Not to mention Sloan was terrified of her since she had kicked him between the legs so hard he passed out once. I didn’t see what started it and she’d simply shrugged when I asked. “Probably best not to tell you, little shark,” she’d said. “You might eat him.” Though she seemed to find the idea amusing.

Naomi had one of her friends in a headlock, which was impressive considering he was the tallest of the older kids and she was only 5 feet, when she saw me watching. She raised her free hand to wave, grinning.

I felt my cheeks heat up and turned away to find Tyson. My mind blanked as I saw Sloan heading for Tyson, some new kids hanging back behind him and snickering. I rushed forward to get between them, but I was too late.

Sloan snuck up behind him and tried to give him a wedgie, and Tyson panicked. He swatted Sloan away a little too hard. Sloan flew fifteen feet and got tangled in the little kids’ tire swing.

Shit, I thought and skidded to a halt next to my half brother.

“You freak!” Sloan yelled. “Why don’t you go back to your cardboard box!”

Tyson started sobbing and plopped down on the ground hard enough to shake the playground.

I growled lowly and tried to launch myself towards the bully, ready to tear his throat out with my teeth. I could take a lot of shit from people, but messing with Tyson was off limits and he had been warned. Just because he got a few new friends didn’t mean I wouldn’t bathe in his blood.

“No,” Tyson said through his sobs and grabbed my arm gently. Despite trying my best to keep up with an exercise routine this year, I would have had to be Superman to break even the lightest grip Tyson could do. “Not worth it.”

“Yeah Jackson,” Sloan sneered as the other boys helped pull him out of tire swing. “You’re not worth it.” He and his big ugly friends started laughing. “Just wait till PE, Jackson,” he called when he caught his breath. “You are so dead.”

I tried lunging for him again but Tyson forced me to sit next to him. “I … I am a freak?” he asked me.

“No,” I promised, gritting my teeth. “Matt Sloan is the freak.”

Tyson sniffled. “You are a good brother. Will miss you when you leave.”

“Don’t worry, big guy,” I managed. “Everything’s going to be fine.” He looked like he was going to start crying again so I blurted out the first thing I thought of. “I think mom packed you an extra peanut butter sandwich for lunch to celebrate the last day!”

He sniffled but at least he didn’t start crying again.

Naomi came over once the game was wrapping up and gave Tyson a quick hug. “Sloan thinks he’s important because this is as good as his life is going to get. Just ignore him.” She reached out to ruffle my hair like usual but I hissed at her. I really wasn’t in the mood. She pulled her hand back but didn’t seem offended. “Good luck boys,” she said as she wandered back to her friends.

Tyson looked over at them. “She’s nice.”

“She’s weird,” I agreed and Tyson sighed.

When first period ended, our English teacher, Mr. de Milo, came outside to inspect the carnage. He pronounced that we’d understood Lord of the Flies perfectly. We all passed his course, and we should never, never grow up to be violent people. He might have had a point. We were all already violent.

Our next exam was science. Mrs. Tesla usually had us mixing things like oobleck and doing experiments on what properties it had, so I was sort of excited to see what she was going to let us play with. Instead of the normal set up we had with our ingredients measured and laid out for us, we had a selection of the chemicals and other things we’d been allowed to use throughout the school year displayed at each of our tables.

“Good morning class!” Mrs. Tesla, for once, had her giant mane of hair thrown up into a large bun and the scarf she usually wore, which was from some old british scifi show, was nowhere to be seen. Even her octagonal glasses were replaced by a pair of safety goggles. “Since throughout the year we’ve been talking about making new materials and their properties, I decided I wanted to see how much you actually remembered about each chemical and ingredient we worked with.”

Everyone in the class seemed to shift at once, thinking maybe we were going to get our first written exam of the school year.

“Today, you will need to wear all of the safety gear we’ve been using. Everyone come get a face mask, a pair of goggles, a pair of gloves, and a lab coat. Make sure you are wearing everything because I will be coming around to check!” Her eyes swept over the other students as we all did as told, confused about the change in our teacher. We shouldn’t have worried though because once she was sure we were all safe, she clapped her own gloved hands together and giggled. “Now to have fun!”

Apparently we had to mix chemicals until we succeeded in making something explode, though hopefully like a science fair volcano instead of anything dangerous. That was our exam.

Tyson was my lab partner. His hands were way too big for the tiny vials we were supposed to use. He accidentally knocked a tray of chemicals off the counter and made an orange mushroom cloud in the trash can.

After Mrs. Tesla evacuated the lab and called the hazardous waste removal squad, she praised Tyson and me for being natural chemists. We were the first ones who’d ever aced her exam in under thirty seconds.

“You two are dismissed and can hang out in the cafeteria with anyone else whose out of class. The rest of you will come with me to the other lab!” She bounced on her toes as she went, clearly excited by it all.

Tyson and I ended up at a table by ourselves playing Mythomagic, a card game my cousin Nico had gotten me into during the few visits we were allowed. Apparently their stepmother really enjoyed my mom’s company and felt like she was a safe person for them to be with, though she usually stuck around to ward off monsters.

I wasn’t really all that invested though since I couldn’t get rid of the itchy feeling on my head and my thoughts kept shifting to Grover and how my mom was hiding something. Did something happen at camp? Why wasn’t I packing to leave when I got home?

Eventually it was time for social studies where we were drawing latitude/longitude maps. It was one of the easiest exercises we’d ever done, at least for me. I ended up turning my sheet in early and asking if I could draw something else which my teachet said was fine.

Instead, I ended up I opening my notebook and just stared at the photo inside—my friend Annabeth on vacation in Washington, D.C. She was wearing jeans and a denim jacket over her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a bandanna. She was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial with her arms crossed, looking extremely pleased with herself, like she’d personally designed the place.

I missed her. She would be able to help me figure out my dreams about Grover.

I was about to close my notebook when I saw a hand reaching for the picture out of the corner of my eye. I slammed my pencil down towards it, missing the fingers by centimeters and I growled at the culprit. Sloan. I really wished I had better aim. “Fuck off, dude.”

“What’s got your panties in a twist? Got something in there you don’t want anyone else to see?” He snickered and turned back to his buddy. “Don’t know where this guy would get a Playboy though, he can’t even read enough to know what the title says!”

His friends must have been new kids visiting, because they were all wearing those stupid HI! MY NAME IS: tags from the admissions office. They must’ve had a weird sense of humor, too, because they’d all filled in strange names like: MARROW SUCKER, SKULL EATER, and JOE BOB.

I narrowed my eyes at them but I couldn’t pick out their scent in all the teenagers that were spread throughout the room. If they were monsters, they couldn’t be that strong.

“These guys are moving here next year,” Sloan bragged, like that was supposed to scare me. “Good thing I’m gonna put you out of your misery next period.”

The bell rang and I shrugged my bag over my shoulder. “Whatever, Sloan.” His threats weren’t that scary, the worst he could do was try to hit me and at that point it’s self defense. Chiron had tried to tell me I wasn’t allowed to hurt mortals under any circumstances, but my mom disagreed.

“You can’t start fights, baby,” she’d said and her grin was as sharp as mine. “But you can finish them.”

It was time for PE. Our coach had promised us a free-for-all dodgeball game, and Matt Sloan had promised to kill me. This was going to be fun.

The gym uniform at Meriwether is sky blue shorts and tie-dyed T-shirts. I changed as quickly as I could in the locker room because I wanted to get out there, but then Tyson caught my eye and I sighed. He hated changing out in the open. He’d been attacked when he was younger by a Spynx and the scars on his back were mad messy.

Most days I stood guard outside the weight room for him so he could get changed. I’d learned the hard way that if people teased Tyson while he was dressing out, he’d get upset and start ripping the doors off lockers. Not that I minded the damage, but the teachers thought I was a good influence on him and having teachers actually like me wasn’t something I was going to give up.

When we got inside the gym, Coach Nunley was sitting at his little desk reading Sports Illustrated. He reminded me of the Oracle at Camp Half-Blood—which was a shriveled-up mummy—except Coach Nunley moved a lot less and he never billowed green smoke. He gave me the creeps.

Matt Sloan immediately asked if we could be team captains together which got a yes out of the coach without him even looking up from his magazine. Sloan grinned and took charge of the picking. He made me the other team’s captain, but it wasn’t like it mattered when all the jocks and the popular kids moved over to Sloan’s side.

So did the big group of visitors.

Matt Sloan spilled a cage full of balls in the middle of the gym, before looking for the whistle to start the game.

“Scared,” Tyson mumbled. “Smell funny.”

I looked at him, confused. “What smells funny?” All I was getting was teenager sweat and a few other choice things around the school I really didn’t want to pay attention to.

“Them.” Tyson pointed at Sloan’s new friends. “Smell funny.”

Monsters, I thought. The visitors were cracking their knuckles, eyeing us like it was slaughter time. I grinned sharply at them and enjoyed the flicker of confusion on their faces. Riptide was in the locker room since I didn’t have pockets, but I had Tyson and my claws.

Mom wouldn’t like it, she was always nervous about me shifting away from dad’s domain. But in self defense? Oh, I could let loose.

Sloan blew the coach’s whistle and the game began. Sloan’s team ran for the center line, but I was the first one there. I didn’t look at what my team was doing, simply threw the ball as hard as I could at Matt in the middle of the monster pack and watched as he hit the floor with a satisfying thud.

“You wanna fight?” I asked as I tried not to bounce on the balls of my feet, my energy ramping up as I saw the realization in their eyes.

“Desperately, Perseus Jackson,” one of them said and then they were all growing in size. They were no longer kids. They were eight-foot-tall giants with wild eyes, pointy teeth, and hairy arms tattooed with snakes and hula women and Valentine hearts.

I let my form flicker for a second, just a second, to reveal what was underneath all my control and I laughed as a few of them actually went to take a step back. “Good.” It had been so long since I was allowed to let loose.

Tyson immediately started herding our teammates away from me and towards the doors. As Mom got more used to the idea of him being a Cirle-eyed One, we realized he was actually only five and she’d told him under no circumstances was he allowed to get into fights with me.

Matt Sloan groaned on the floor. When he lifted his head, he froze. “Whoa! You’re not from Detroit! Who …”

It finally seemed to click for the other kids on his team who started screaming and backing toward the exit, but the giant named Marrow Sucker threw a ball with deadly accuracy. Tyson smacked it away and held the door open.

“Stop them!” the one called Joe Bob growled at his friends. He had a tattoo on his biceps that said: JB luvs Babycakes. “We will not lose our tasty morsels. We Laistrygonians aren’t just playing for your death, Son of the Sea God. We want lunch!”

One of them broke off towards Tyson, but I had to hope he could handle himself. It’s not exactly like bringing all of their attention on my escaping classmates was a good idea.

Joe Bob waved his hand and a new batch of dodgeballs appeared on the center line—but these balls weren’t made of red rubber. They were bronze, the size of cannon balls, perforated like wiffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes.

The giant named Skull Eater threw his ball. I dove aside as the fiery bronze comet sailed past my shoulder.

“Are we done talking then? This fight was really starting to get boring,” I said and enjoyed how it made them roar. Lone hunters didn’t go after large prey by themselves. They waited for one of them to wander away from the pod, so by the time the others noticed it was too late for them to reach.

“No one leaves unless you’re out!” Joe Bob roared and I chanced a glance at the exit. Most of the kids were through, but the door seemed to be locked. Tyson was busy grappling with the giant that had tried to stop him. “And you’re not out until we eat you!”

Another fireball came streaking toward me. I dove out of the way but the explosion still blew me head over heels. I found myself sprawled on the gym floor, dazed from smoke, my tie-dyed T-shirt peppered with sizzling holes. Just across the center line, two hungry giants were glaring down at me.

“Flesh!” they bellowed. “Hero flesh for lunch!” They both took aim.

“Percy needs help!” Tyson yelled, and he jumped in front of me just as they threw their balls.

I don’t know where the other giant went.

Somehow Tyson, who was only five years old and had the coordination of a puppy with adult sized paws, had caught two fiery metal balls speeding toward him at a zillion miles an hour. He sent them hurtling back toward their surprised owners, who screamed, “BAAAAAD!” as the bronze spheres exploded against their chests.

The giants disintegrated in twin columns of flame.

“My brothers!” Joe Bob the Cannibal wailed. He flexed his muscles and his Babycakes tattoo rippled. “You will pay for their destruction!”

It was two on—I checked by the doors and grinned at the pile of ash over there, being kicked around by the kids trying to escape—three now. Much better odds.

“Tyson!” I warned.

Another comet hurtled toward us. Tyson just had time to swat it aside. It flew straight over Coach Nunley’s head and landed in the bleachers with a huge KA-BOOM!

“Victory will be ours!” roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. “We will feast on your bones!”

“You’re taking dodgeball way too seriously, man,” I said cheekily and he roared again. I think Tyson would have face palmed if he safely could.

Joe Bob and his remaining friends all picked up dodgeballs. I had to duck and roll again as one flew straight past me and into the locker room. The built-up gas in most boys’ locker rooms must have been enough to cause an explosion, because the flaming dodgeball ignited a huge WHOOOOOOOM!

The wall blew apart. Locker doors, socks, athletic supporters, and other various nasty personal belongings rained all over the gym.

I turned just in time to see Tyson punch Skull Eater in the face. The giant crumpled next to a matching pile of ash. But the last giant, Joe Bob, had wisely held on to his own ball, waiting for an opportunity. He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.

“No!” I yelled.

The ball caught Tyson square in the chest. He slid the length of the court and slammed into the back wall, which cracked and partially crumbled on top of him, making a hole right onto Church Street. The bronze ball was smoking at his feet. Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.

“Well!” Joe Bob gloated. “I’m the last one standing! I’ll have enough meat to bring Babycakes a doggie bag!”

He picked up another ball and aimed it at Tyson.

My vision blurred.

Here’s the thing about siblings that I was slowly starting to learn. Half the time you want to kill them, the other half of the time you wish you never had a sibling. But the second anyone else threatens them, you would kill to protect them.

I don’t know if I held back the changes or if I went full monster, but all I know is I was slicing through the giants calf, dodging the ball he threw my way despite the burn I could feel forming on my shoulder.

Joe Bob laughed even as he dripped ash and fire all over the floor. “You are funny, little demigod. You will go down nicely.”

Suddenly the giant’s body went rigid. His expression changed from gloating to surprise.

Right where his belly button should’ve been, his T-shirt ripped open and he grew something like a horn—no, not a horn—the glowing tip of a blade.

The ball dropped out of his hand. The monster stared down at the knife that had just run him through from behind.

He muttered, “Ow,” and burst into a cloud of green flame, which I figured was going to make Babycakes pretty upset.

Standing in the smoke was Annabeth. Her face was grimy and scratched. She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, a bronze knife in her hand, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes, like she’d just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts. She smelled like alleyway and sewer, golden dust crusted in parts of her hair.

Matt Sloan, who’d been sitting there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses. He blinked at Annabeth, as if he dimly recognized her from my notebook picture. He stood up, pointing at her. “That’s the girl … That’s the girl—”

Annabeth punched him in the nose and knocked him flat. “And you,” she told him, “lay off my friend.”

I beamed at her when I realized Matt was out cold. So fucking satisfying. “Hey, you made it to the party!”

“I’ve been here all day, Seaweed brain,” she argued with a roll of her eyes but her smile was genuine. “I’ve been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone.”

I paused my search around the chaos of the gym to snap my head around to look at her. “What do you mean all day? I didn’t sense you, you couldn’t have been…” My eyes snapped to her yankee’s cap. “The shadow I saw this morning—that was—” My face felt hot. “Oh my gods, you were looking in my bedroom window?”

“There’s no time to explain!” she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself and her scent turned sour with embarrassment and something else I couldn’t identify. “I just didn’t want to—”

The doors to the gym slammed open finally as the headmaster, a collection of teachers, and some police officers started pouring in.

Annabeth looked like she was going to bolt but I grabbed her hand. “Let go of me. I need to get out of here, you two.” She paused and pointed to Tyson, who was still sitting dazed against the wall. Annabeth gave him a look of distaste that I didn’t quite understand. Did she know what he was? “You’d better bring him.”

“What do I do?”

“Improvise!” she hissed as she slammed her yankee’s cap on her head and vanished. I stopped being able to even feel her.

That left me alone in the middle of a flamming gym looking like a bunch of kids had thrown moltov cocktails (wouldn’t have been the first time) and…wait.

“Percy Jackson?” Mr. Bonsai said when he reached me. “What … how …”

Over by the broken wall, Tyson groaned and stood up from the pile of cinder blocks. “Head hurts.”

Matt Sloan was starting to come around, but I wasn’t going to let him blame this on me. Even if he didn’t know, he’d let those giants into our school and he’d led them straight to Tyson and me.

I summoned tears like an expert and immediately started trying to wipe them away like I didn’t want the headmaster to see. “The…the new kids…they…”

Mr. Bonsai bent a knee to get more at my eye level and I hated how much like a kid it made me feel but it meant the adults were looking less like they wanted me arrested so… “What happened?”

“They trashed the place! Sloan said they were his friends but then when we tried playing dodgeball they got really mean and started throwing the balls at everyone really hard and then they grabbed their bags and they had moltov cocktails! I think they were part of a gang!”

Sloan started shaking his head, turning red in the face. “That’s not true!”

Tyson started crying at the perfect moment.

“We’ll talk about this more later,” Mr. Bonsai promised. “If you can find your clothes, we’ll get you to one of the ambulances.”

I didn’t even realize they could see the burn on my shoulder but I just nodded obediently and snagged my jeans off the floor, happy to have Riptide back.

Sloan lunged at me. “You liar!”

I dodged quickly, letting fear seep into my expression. I reached for Tyson, grabbing his arm before bolting for the gaping hole in the side of the building.

#percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #unhinged series #feral percy jackson #feral demigods #feral percy #all apart of something's game

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loliiir2 · 5 days ago

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Can somebody make like a scene of Art and penny with the line " Art: I like shaggy he's my friend (shows pennywise) I like his mom cause she's nice to me Penny: Thank you jay I like you too! Art: Oh well its okay we're family." Sorry if I'm weird.

I just have a specific invision

ART THE CLOWN / RAINBOWS & STUFF

edit created: November 10, 2022

#pennywise #pennywise au #pennywise the clown #18+ mdni #artists on tumblr #pennywise the dancing clown #fanart #oc artwork #pennywise 1990 #graphic art

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kodzukyan · 3 years ago

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better with you (until it kills me)

notes: it's always missing baji hours here </3 fluff, angst; alternative ending: always, always you

summary: four times you think you are in love with baji keisuke, and the one time you tell him.

wc: 3.7k

You're reasonably sure the only reason he chooses you to pair up with for the Japanese literature project is that you sit next to him, but it surprises you all the same. You don't think you have much of a presence in class, but you don't think you can say the same about your new partner, Baji Keisuke.

His slicked-back ponytail and thick frames make his presence seem like a poindexter, but there's something about his bruised knuckles and his fierce aura that makes him feel ferocious. You've noticed him hang out with the school delinquent on multiple occasions. You also think you've seen him laugh wildly as he beats up some of the local thugs who crowded around the said delinquent he's friends with.

He isn't who you expect him to be at first glance, and that intrigues you more than you like to admit. You're too nervous to openly ask, so you settle for stealing glances at him from the corner of your eyes.

So, when he really decides on you and submits the partner form, you don't know what to think.

In the time that you two are partners, you've discovered a couple of things about him. First, his handwriting and kanji absolutely suck. Despite that, he writes a letter addressed to someone named Kazutora every week without fail. As if that isn't endearing enough, it gets even more so when he pouts at the complex characters that he often gets wrong and the inevitable smile that breaks out whenever you show him how to write them correctly.

("Oh, thanks! I would probably fail my kanji tests without you and Chifuyu. Kazutora probably can't even understand what I'm saying," he laughs rambunctiously.)

Second, he's genuinely an unexpectedly good partner in terms of being punctual about meeting up. However, despite being on time, there is little progress on the project. Your work times often end up in discussions about random life topics rather than the project itself.

(“Do you like cats?” he asks out of the blue one day, head on the table and books already forgotten.

“Uh, yeah, I guess so,” you humor him because you’re also tired of researching Japanese literature.

“Wanna see my cats? They’re all strays,” he sits up suddenly, eyes lit and smile bright.

You nod, and he proceeds to take out his phone to show you pictures of his cats. You note his lock-screen is a picture of all his cats, and his camera roll is just full of his friends and mom, motorcycles, and the said cats. With shining eyes full of excitement, he tells you their names and their personalities in detail.

"Do you think cats recognize their names but choose to ignore us whenever we call them?" he resumes the conversation after he finishes showing you his gallery. He leans back as he balances his pencil on top of his pursed lips.

"Maybe. Depends on the cat? Maybe they just hate you?" you mimic his pose. You suppose thirty minutes of work is enough progress for the day.

"Ouch," he grimaces as if it shatters him directly in the heart.)

Third, sometimes he comes with his hair down and without his glances, with stains on his clothes that he claims are ketchup, despite it not smelling like that at all.

("Uh, hey, sorry I'm late today," he offers sheepishly as he runs a hand through his unbound hair.

"Oh, it's okay," you finally say after you take in his shaggy appearance. You try not to think about how handsome he is despite the bruises forming on his face. "Are you… okay?"

"All good! The ketchup bottle just randomly exploded," he laughs nervously and awkwardly. "Anyways!! The project!!"

You stare at him dubiously but nod anyway. "Okay, if you say so…")

Fourth, he has an extremely charming smile, especially when his fangs are in full display. To some, it may look fierce and menacing; to you, it looks cute, especially when his eyes are always brimming with life and his laugh is full of vitality.

More often than not you catch yourself staring at him because he's just so intriguing.

You try to ignore your racing heart when your stolen glances become shared ones, and he flashes you a grin softer than the smiles you've seen.

-----

“Uh, hi.” You say shyly as you enter through Baji’s window. It’s not frequently you seek out Baji at his own home, especially through the window he keeps open almost exclusively for stray cats to seek shelter.

“What the fuck?” Baji drops the stray cat he's cuddling as you give a slight wave, causing the cat to meow loudly at the sudden change in demeanor.

“Sorry to drop by unannounced. I, uh, just wanted some company.”

You feel vanishingly small as you awkwardly laugh and piece together some words that make sense. Home is supposed to be full of warmth, but your home is more of a house with people than a home with love. It’s a truth you’ve long accepted, but some days, it feels a little extra cold.

Therefore, you run, and somehow you end up here, in the comforts of Baji’s room.

Maybe you are currently a stray cat, feeling a little more lost than found. Maybe you find that he’s the sort of comfort that warms you a little when your heart feels heavy. Maybe you are just a little bit in like with him, and he is the first person you want to see whenever you’re feeling down.

The room is silent aside from the soft paps of cats moving around and the periodic meow. Then, he pats the spot next to him, and you make your way there. As soon as you sit down, he hands you a cat.

“Here, hold her. She’s nice,” he comments as he places the calico cat he dropped earlier in your lap, petting her as she adjusts to her new position on you.

She narrows her eyes and softly purrs in your lap as Baji pets her, and this makes you feel more in the moment than in your head like you’ve been. Your initial baffle turns into a smile as she purrs louder when you pet her, and just like that, you feel a little more found than lost.

You lean on his shoulder as you continue petting the calico cat in your lap. You keep your eyes on her as she climbs onto his lap and nuzzles him in an attempt to hide your burning cheeks and your drumming heart from your proximity.

“Thanks for giving me a home when I don’t want to be in my own,” you tell him softly, airly, almost as if you’re letting him in on a secret.

He stops playing with the cats for a moment and pauses. Feeling his intense stare, you peek through your lashes up at him. His broad grin and sharp canines are in full display, and his smile looks a little more boyish than wild. He tousles your hair as he laughs aloud boisterously before he props his head on top of yours.

“You’ll always have a home here.”

-----

It all started when a group of thugs looked at you inappropriately and made some comments that made you uncomfortable. You grip the ends of his sleeve just a little harder and press yourself behind him, trying to make yourself impossibly small. Baji, seeing your small form and downcast eyes, removes your hand from his sleeve and places it in his hand. Knowing Baji and him knowing you and your every mood, he does not stand for it. He simply flashes you a reassuring grin before he squeezes your hand and runs straight at them.

He throws the first punch, and you could just stand there in shock as he pummels through them and beats them up. He has cuts and bruises everywhere, and you’re certain he’s taken on a few nasty hits on his ribs. Though you’re equally confident that these thugs are absolutely 100% in worse shape than he is.

“Oh my god,” you sob frantically as Baji wobbles back to you, ferocious smile on his face softens as he sees you. He pats your head when he notes your teary eyes. You’re not even sure when you start crying, but the tears just don’t seem to stop. “Are you okay? Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Are you -”

He clutches your tear-stained face in his hands, “Look at me.”

Your eyes meet his, but you can barely see him over your tears as you continue your incoherent rambling.

“Hey,” he tries once more, voice more frantic as he struggles to find words. He finally just squishes your cheeks and yells, “Do you think I care about anything else but you right now?”

Your eyes widen, and the tears forming fall freely onto his hands. Oh, oh, oh, you think to yourself as your beating heart rapidly thumps at an exponential speed, maybe he’s also falling. When you meet his steady gray eyes, the shocking realization that maybe you’re not the only one dumb and possibly in love stops your tears.

He sighs in relief when your tears gradually stop, and as if all the tiredness accumulated in his body hit him all at once, he falls down onto the ground.

You try to catch him as best as you can, and with the combined effort of mostly himself and partially you, he breaks his fall. He lays sprawled out on the ground. After you check for wounds and find none too serious, you sit with your knees tucked under you by where he lays and moves his head onto your lap.

All around you are the battered bodies of the thugs you’ve encountered, but all you can see at the moment is him and his gray eyes that disappear into crescent moons as he flashes you a grin. He’s too tired to move, but he raises a fist up into the air in victory anyway.

“I got you.”

-----

"Wanna go on a ride?" he texts you.

It’s almost midnight when he texts you, and it’s probably way past when you should stay up. But your heart flutters at the thought of adventure, at the thought of him, so you quickly respond, “Okay, but be quiet! Don't wake my parents up again, stinky!!!”

You can already imagine his sheepish smile when he sends you a "that was once!!! my bad" back.

After sending him a quick ":p", you silently put on some clothes more fitting to go out than your pajamas. The sound of his motorcycle announces his greater-than-life presence long before his text does. Grabbing two scrunchies, you sneak out your window.

He only greets you with a goofy smile and a wave, hair free-flowing in the wind. Under the moonlight, his gray eyes twinkle with vigor and youth. It knocks the air out of your lungs as you glance at him because he's beautiful, ethereal, and alive. He smiles smugly when he catches your stare, but he holds his hand out for you to take.

"Hi," you whisper under the twinkling stars as you put your hand in his.

"Hey," he whispers back as he curls his fingers around your hand before adjusting to interlace your fingers together.

The quietness and intimacy of this moment drown out the world - the sound of cars driving by, of cicadas flying, of the world standing still. The only thing keeping you from floating is his hand and the sound of your heartbeat.

"I got you a hair tie." You offer softly with an equally soft smile, eyes pointing to the scrunchies on your wrist.

"I got you a hoodie," he responds as he nods to his motorcycle. "Because I knew your dumb ass would, once again, forget to dress for the winds."

"I'm dressed decently enough. You, though… please tie your hair… It hurts like hell when it whips in my face," you laugh lightly.

He rolls his eyes. "That's also what you said last time before you ended up stealing my hoodie, and I ended up being cold!" he complains, but there's a certain fondness in his voice.

You only stick your tongue out childishly at him. You would rather bite your tongue than admit that you are always slightly underdressed for the occasion so he would keep giving you his hoodies.

He tugs your interlaced hand and pulls you closer, and as you stand so close to him, you think close isn't quite close enough. The two of you linger in that position for longer than what should be appropriate for friends, but you think you have been tiptoeing around that line for a while now. Your heart races, and you're sure your erratic heart is beating fast enough to generate heat to keep you warm against the cold winds.

He pulls away first, moving to grab his hoodie before he roughly puts it on you. He laughs when you complain about your ruffled hair, but as his hoodie and scent engulf you, you could only shyly smile. He takes a scrunchie despite complaining about how poofy it is. As he settles in his bike and you settle in behind him, arms tight around his waist, you think this is probably what holding the universe in your arms feels like.

He rives his bike loudly despite your warning, but you find that you could care less right now as he takes off. You are young and dumb, but the wind is running through your hair as the two of you are chasing the moon, and it makes you feel so alive. Neon lights and starlit skies blur together as he speeds through familiar roads, and the brisk winds drown out your loud laughter. It feels like you're feeling everything at once, but your head is so clear.

You think you can understand why he loves riding so much because the only thing that you can hear is your loud heartbeat, and the only thing that matters is you're living.

He finally stops at a local 24-hour diner. The moonlight shines through the window by your table. You are still feeling the wild wind in your hair, cold air on your face, and the warmth of Baji’s back on your arms. It's way past midnight now, and the yellow lights of the diner feel a little more homey than dingy. He’s munching on some fries, occasionally waving one in your face whenever he’s trying to make a point about something. As you watch the various expressions on his face, a smile makes its way to your face.

“Hey Keisuke,” you grab a fry and jab it at him in the middle of his sentence. He stops his mid-word as he stares at you, head tilting slightly and mouth still gaping. There is a particular word that you keep thinking of whenever you think of Baji, a feeling that lingers and fills your heart up. You know what it is. You think you know at least, and in moments like these when you’re just watching his goofy self munching on fries while boisterously laughing at something dumb, all you can think of is those four letters.

“You’re my best friend,” you whisper before you eat your fry. Best friend, you think, encompasses a lot of things and feelings as you stare at his childlike grin, heart fluttering and mind blanking because all you see is him. You hope he knows, hope he gets that best friend is a loose term because he is so much more.

When he meets your eyes and his gray eyes crinkle in mirth and laughter rolls off his lips, you think he does.

“I know,” he smugly nods before he drops another fry into his mouth. “I guess you’re pretty cool too.”

You stick your tongue out at him and feel a warmth in your heart that matches the pinks of his cheeks. Maybe it’s adrenaline still in your blood, maybe it’s the moment, but it makes you devious, brave even, as you lean over and chomp down on the fry he's holding.

He stares at you with his mouth wide open, looking absolutely flabbergasted and offended. “Hello? That was my last fry!”

“Sorry,” you giggle, not feeling all that sorry at all. You know he’s not truly that offended because he has that stupid grin on his face, because he’s always soft with you. A part of you does feel a little sorry when you see the small pout that arises on his face. “I’ll treat you to yakisoba later?”

He turns away from you, face still slightly sulky as he huffs silently.

“No? You don’t want yakisoba?” you ask. You still find it amusing that Baji Keisuke, the first division captain of the Toman Gang who would punch someone on the streets for no reason other than just because he feels like it, is pouting because you stole his last fry. If anyone from any rival gangs sees Baji Keisuke now, they probably wouldn’t believe this is the same person.

“Fine,” he huffs softly, “But don’t think one yakisoba is enough.”

“Then,” you begin, your heart pounding loudly in your chest as you work up the courage, “What about this?”

He turns to you in confusion, and before your courage runs out on you, you crash your lips onto his before you pull away.

“Repayment,” you mutter meekly, eyes avoiding his because you’re sure he can feel the heat radiating off your cheeks from where he’s sitting.

“Hey,” he tugs on your hand under the table. When you finally look at him, he continues, “Just one isn’t enough.”

He kisses you again.

-----

Home is supposed to be the place you come from, but you think it's more like a place you find, pieced together from scattered bits of feelings, emotions, people along the way. Somewhere along the lines, home becomes less of a place and more of a person. Your home becomes the boy with the sharp canines and long hair that gets tangled by the stray cats he keeps, the "I love you" declared loudly with kisses and the longing looks in between, the comfortable warmth of his body next to yours as you chase sunsets and live in your own infinity. Your home is Baji Keisuke and the constant image of him in your mind and the infinite pieces of him in your heart.

Infinity, though, is awfully short, you think, as you see him lay surrounded by bouquets, eyes closed in eternal slumber. He's always looked good in white, but when his tan complexion is nearly as pale as the white roses surrounding him, you think white is an awful color on him. His eyes always shine with possibilities and promises, and while you've always joked that his sleeping face is cute because he always looks so innocent, adorable even, all you want now is to see him awake.

His heroism and love for his friends are always something that you love about him, but in turn, it feels so incredibly cruel to you now. For as short as he has been in your life, he becomes pieces embedded so deeply in it that it makes you whole. You cannot imagine a world where there is no Baij, where he isn’t there to punch a hooligan on the streets or feed stray cats at night or hold you when your world is crashing. You cannot imagine a life where he isn’t here to shine a bright light in your life without his laughter and goofy personality. Suddenly the world blurs around you, and you can't breathe as droplets of water hit your clenched hands on your lap.

You hold his hands. Cold, cold, cold, when they used to be warm enough to light a fire in you. There are so many things you want to tell him, say to him, but the speech you prepare in your head drowns in silence as your voice gives out on you. All the words in your head just come out as broken sobs. You feel the sympathetic and equally broken glance of his mom as she embraces you, but all you can think about is that he won’t open his eyes.

Baji Keisuke has always been bigger than life, you think, because he becomes a part of everything in your life. There are traces of him everywhere - him with his cats on your lock-screen, the random memes he sends you at night, the little notes he leaves you written in his ugly penmanship with love. When you think of these things, you feel like your heart is breaking all over again.

People tell you to be strong, and while you want to retort because how can you when he’s gone?, you find that you cannot say a word without crying. You’re tired of crying too because your eyes are already so, so raw, but it seems like all you can do is cry. When you think you've finally run out of tears and your tears finally stop, a new batch takes over even at the slightest things that remind you of him. You feel so pathetic because you can't do anything without water leaking from your eyes, and you hate yourself for being so weak.

You tune out the somber tone of his friends and the broken tone of his mom because you don't want to accept a reality where he isn't here. But luck is never on your side because he never opens his eyes again, and you never get to tell him how much you love him. All you get are flashbacks and memories of him and emptiness in your heart and soul. You tell yourself you have to be strong and smile and live for the both of you, but you can't. Not when he isn't here, not when he isn't with you anymore. Every time you think about that fact, your heart breaks again.

"Hey, stupid," your broken sobs ring loudly in the deafening silence, "I love you."

The words you’ve wanted to tell him for so long are finally in the open, but there is no answer.

#baji keisuke x reader #keisuke baji x reader #baji x reader #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers x y/n #tokrev x reader #baji fluff #baji angst #tokyo revengers imagines #tokyo revengers fluff #tokyo revengers angst #i... i just really miss baji :(#come home you stinky head </3 #i'm sorry if he's ooc :(( in my head he's just really dorky and soft w his s/o HAHA #rissa told me to make it angst so i made it angst 👍#sometimes i write things

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lonely-lost-soul · 3 years ago

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Since I've Been Gone

Request: what if...Platonic fluff things with reader and bench trio?... Like they're all in a flower field chilling then Tommy is like, "You guys wanna make flower crowns?" And reader, ranboo, and tubbo just look at him like 👁👁 what, Turns out Tommy picked up flower crown making from his big brothers techno and Wilbur so now he does it when he's either bored or stressed. Anyways hope this inspires you <3 -🐱 Anon

(Platonic!Bench Trio x Gn!Reader)

The server had been through a lot, Tommy was just recently revived and was coming off of finding out his two best friends were married. The young boy had a white streak in his blonde hair and was still trying to adjust to the life he missed. Especially when it came to his longtime friend and roommate (y/n). Tommy had recently found out they were off living with Karl and Sapnap in the Kinoko Kingdom...the bitch. After Tommy had disappeared after he...died Karl had found them hiding out in his old library. You had scared the time-traveler half to death when he found you camping out in a corner of the room. However, after seeing as you had nothing, no weapons or armor he concluded you weren’t much of a threat, especially after you told him your sob story. You told him you lived with Tommy and you couldn’t go back there now that he was dead, Ranboo and Tubbo were off doing married things and you had felt so alone. Karl decided at that moment he would take you in, no matter what the cost. Sapnap had a bit more trouble adjusting to your presence, but as soon as he saw you had some fire within your belly he began to warm up to you. It only took a few days for Karl to practically adopt you and since he was engaged to Sapnap the fire demon was stuck with you for a child.

Not that he minded, you weren’t a loud kid, very pleasant to be around hell even his dad took a liking to you. Sapnap was baffled when Karl told him you had previously lived with Tommy, the most obnoxious child on the server. The two of you couldn’t be more different, and when Tommy was revived, he and Karl weren’t enthused. Karl was worried he’d lose you to the trouble maker and it was well known Tommy and Sapnap didn’t have the greatest history. Their worries were quelled the moment you introduced them as your dads to Tommy, Karl burst into tears and Sapnap put you in a headlock much to your protest. Tommy stood by awkwardly, he had missed a lot, he hated the fact that he felt like his friends were happier without him in their lives.

He was brought back to the present by the idle chatter of Tubbo and Ranboo by his side Tubbo was on Ranboo’s back declaring walking was way too much work for him. You snickered nudging Ranboo in the ribs, he let out a yelp and glared down at you halfheartedly. Tommy watched you turn towards him a smile on his features,

“What do you think Tommy?” He blinked a few times at you, not wanting to admit he wasn’t listening to the conversation next to him.

“I don’t fucking know,” He scoffed “This conversation is bullshit anyway who cares.” You had a smirk on your lips that he was all too familiar with, he narrowed his eyes at you.

“You weren’t listening were you?”

“Of course I was listening bitch!”

“Oh really? What did she ask then big man?” Tubbo mused resting his chin on his husband’s shoulder. Hair covering his vibrant, green eyes, horns peeking from beneath his shaggy hair. Tommy glared at his long time friend flipping him off eloquently,

“Probably something stupid and useless.”

“She asked if you knew where we were going,” Ranboo piped up with a casual hum, bouncing in his step. “Cause we’ve been walking for a while, I know Tubbo’s tired.”

“Yeah Tommy, I’m tired.”

“You’re not even walking!” You argued as Tubbo stuck his tongue out at you, lifting his hair from his eyes to wink at you. His one eye glowing with a yellow nuclear symbol, “Put that symbol away! You’re not cool.”

“Says the person who doesn’t own nukes,” He mused letting his hair fall back into place while grabbing onto Ranboo’s horns. “Or who doesn’t have any cool powers,”

“Ow! Low blow! Just cause Tommy and I are the only two humans in the group doesn’t mean you can pick on us! Right, Tommy!”

“Yeah! Exactly! Fuck you guys!” Tommy agreed linking your arms together, “Plus, I know exactly where we’re going. We’re almost there, Wilbur used to take me here all the time when I was little.” Tommy said almost in an afterthought, the kids around him grew quiet, each one knew Wilbur was a touchy subject for Tommy especially after his time in the afterlife. Yet, people seemed to forget that Wilbur wasn’t always crazy, wasn’t always a manipulator, once he was an older brother. Once he cared for Tommy and wanted to protect him from some of Phil’s neglect, protect him from Technoblade’s voices. Tommy wanted to remember that Wilbur, not the one stuck in purgatory who blew up the country they all fought so hard to retain. He felt your hand squeeze his arm,

“I’m excited to see where Wilbur decided to take you, hopefully, it’s not a fish pond.”

“Oh gross.” Ranboo groaned pinching the bridge of his nose as Tubbo laughed loudly from above him. Tommy made a disgusted face,

“Stop talking about all the fish who fucked my brother!”

“I didn’t you did.” You hummed skipping ahead of the group feet crunching on the leaves on the ground.

“YOU BASTARD!” Tommy shrieked running after you,

“Onward steed!” Tubbo pointed at his two friends who ran off, Ranboo grumbled but trotted after the duo.

It only took a few more arguments and a few more minutes of walking before the quartet came to the destination Tommy was eager to show them. You stopped on your heels jaw-dropping in awe,

“Holy shit…” You murmured, in front of all of you was a gorgeous field of flowers a giant dark oak tree sat in the middle. It was giant spanning up far into the sky but it created a nice shade to keep all of you cooled off. Tommy had a rare peaceful smile on his lips as he let the sun touch his face, he slid off his boots and ran into the field of flowers.

“Take your shoes off so you don’t crush them or I’ll crush you!” Tommy snickered falling back, letting the flowers tickle his cheeks. He opened his eyes just a crack to see you sliding off your boots and joining him in the field, you didn’t lay beside him instead he watched your form head to the tree. Meanwhile, Tubbo kicked off his boots, Ranboo wasn’t far behind his husband. Tubbo laughed running over and flopping next to Tommy, holding his arm close much to the blonde’s displeasure.

“Ranboo! Help me reach the taller branches!” You called to the tallest member of your friend group. He nodded walking over to you, grabbing your waist gently he lifted you into the air. You grabbed onto the nearest branch and hoisted yourself into the air, Ranboo was always shocked at your upper body strength, but then again you trained on your own for years. Ranboo hovered at the base of the tree nervously, both of his tails flicking side to side.

“Don’t climb too high!” He called watching you slip and cling onto the trunk to steady yourself. “(Y/n) CAREFUL!”

“I’m fine, mom!” You stuck your tongue out at him from above, “I’ve fallen out of taller trees!”

“If you get hurt Sapnap would literally burn me alive! So PLEASE try not to fall!”

“Boo calm down a little!” Tubbo snickered, “if they fall I’ll film it.”

“Tubbo has the right idea,” you agreed as Tommy laughed from beside Tubbo. Ranboo frowned ears twitching in distress, you only continued to climb higher to his dismay. Eventually, you came down falling elegantly into the arms of Ranboo who caught you easily. He was breathing heavily, recovering from the shock of your sudden drop. His long nails dug into your skin as he clutched onto you like a lifeline, “Ranboo let go!” You huffed trying to wiggle out of his tight grip.

“Absolutely not! Are you a lunatic!” His voice broke, “I could’ve missed! You could’ve broken an ankle!”

“But I didn’t,” You poked his nose with a teasing hum. Ranboo groaned louder placing his head in the crook of your neck, you snickered as he finally let you onto the ground. You walked over to Tommy and Tubbo and sat down next to them, you leaned against Tommy’s back who grunted in distaste. “Deal with it gremlin, be my backrest,”

“Fuck you bitch!” He snarled but didn’t move or push them off, you smiled teasingly winking in the direction of Tubbo. He snickered into his palm as Ranboo pulled Tubbo into his lap, and the young goat hybrid got comfortable. The four of you sat in peaceful silence, letting the sun beat down around you all. A nice breeze blew through the area causing the leaves of the nearby trees to shake, a few animals rustled around in the bushes.

“We should make flower crowns,” Tommy spoke up suddenly his nails digging into the dirt. You titled your head in confusion and Raboo looked equally as baffled, the only person who didn’t seem surprised was Tubbo.

“Sure man but you gotta collect the flowers,” Tubbo said tiredly Tommy clicked his tongue stubbornly.

“We’re surrounded by flowers you’re just lazy.”

“Yeah obviously.”

You gave Tubbo a look and sat up on your knees, “What do you need to get started?”

“Can you grab me some of those daisy’s, tulips, and some bluebells?” You nodded standing up and popping your knees before heading off in that direction. Meanwhile, Tommy grabbed some lilacs and began stringing those together, his tongue poked out from his bottom lip as he gave his full concentration to the task in front of him. Ranboo watched curiously ears flicking every time Tommy let out a mumble, you came back and dumped the flowers beside him. He grunted out thanks making the final knot in the crown, “Done!” He declared looking over at Ranboo, he flushed a little under Tommy’s gaze.

“Didn’t mean to stare.” Tommy huffed holding out the crown to the halfling, he pointed at himself and Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Take it. If you don’t want it I’ll just give it to (Y/n)-”

“I want it!” Ranboo reached out to snatch the crown from Tommy, he placed it gently on his head mindful of the horns. Tommy’s eyes widened and he flushed red, he quickly turned back to the pile of flowers. “Teach us how to make them,” Ranboo offered to try to ease the awkward tension. Tommy huffed but nodded, a smile spread across your lips,

“Teach us your ways oh wise one.” You teased picking up the daisy’s spinning the stem between your fingers.

“Yeah! I am wise! Call me master innit!”

“I’d rather choke,”

“Fuck you!”

You snicked as Tommy punched you hard in the shoulder, you doubled over falling into the flowers. Tommy growled pulling you up by the shirt, “Pay attention bitch! I’m only telling you this once!” Sitting back up you nodded and followed his instructions carefully, he ended up taking the daisies and you the tulips. Ranboo grabbed the bluebells reaching over Tubbo to follow Tommy’s instructions as well, by the end Tommy’s was pristine. The one you made was decent but Ranboo’s looked worse for wear considering he was trying to put it together with claws. He put the crown on top of a snoozing Tubbo, he was proud of his work nonetheless, his husband smiled tiredly nuzzling against his chest. You on the other hand placed the tulip crown you made atop of Tommy’s blonde hair, he flushed and rolled his eyes. He brushed his fingers over the daisies and placed them on top of your head, you looked up at the crown and smiled warmly.

“Thank’s Big T,” you hummed falling back into the flowers and Tommy joined you in laying down. Both your fingers interlocked and Ranboo shuffled to the ground as well, although he didn’t reach out to take Tommy’s hand, Tommy reached out to take Tubbo’s. The four of you stayed in that field until your walkie-talkie screeched cutting through the quiet atmosphere, it was the gruff voice of Sapnap’s. One of your fathers

“Earth to (Y/n), come in (y/n). Your dad wants you here for dinner, George is joining us tonight. I grilled!”

“Ugh. Buzzkill,” Tommy sneered kicking the dirt with his barefoot. You shushed him and pressed the button in to speak,

“Yeah papa, I’ll make my way back soon. Give papa a big kiss for me and if you see Quackirty tell him hello!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Karl come here honey~” You snickered as Tommy gagged, you heard your dad meow before your walkie cut off then and you sat up. You stretched your arms above your head and popped your arms into place, you kissed your teeth hopping to your feet.

“I gotta head back unless I want dad to beat my ass. Thank you for today boys and Tommy thank you for sharing your place with us. I’m glad we were trusted with this special secret.” You winked wiggling your toes in the long grass, “we should do this again yeah?”

“Yeah!” Ranboo agreed as Tubbo gave a sleepy thumbs up, your smile only widened. Tommy nodded giving a thumbs-up as well, he watched you head off to collect your boots and head back home. Head to a family, a family who cares about your wellbeing, or if you’re staying out too late. Hell, even who cared about who you were hanging out with, Tommy couldn’t help but wonder what that was like, he didn’t think he’d be very good at listening to any parental figures. He didn’t have that, he would never have that, he looked at your retreating figure, then back over at Tubbo and Ranboo. They both were half asleep and he couldn’t help but glance at the golden rings on each one of their fingers.

He missed so much since he’s been gone.

But maybe all wasn’t bad, he touched the tulips on his head, thinking for a moment.

Maybe he didn’t need a normal family with a mom and a dad, or two dads or moms, he had a family right here. He brought his hand to the scarf on his neck and squeezed it in his fist, who needed that shit when he had everyone he loved in this field with him today.

For once in his life, Tommy was happy.

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askfacultystaff · 2 years ago

Text

Picrew Pictures.

Protagonist A.K.A. Rama's special friend.

Ramayana Raid as highschool student

Rama Raid enjoying summertime vibes

Evil! Rama Raid in his night attire

Lucy's last day of elementary school.

Lucy: Okay, mom... I'll be ready to go to last day of elementary school, love you... Sigh...

🔶 Baby Funky Funko 🔶

For @neko-sufis-world.

Kevin Justino (New Oc)

Kevin Justino: If you bring it to someone, then let me know… My assistants will play with him or her.

Kevin Justino is owner of this building where billionaire guys/girls working to (play) with any boy or girl after they brought him/her. Although he's boss, because he watching some of them passed out through cameras after they did... *Sighs* You understand.

Because they earning billions of dollars, Kevin never felt bad for some innocent people, especially rest of billionaire guys/girls who are also never felt bad for. Whatever you do, run away from this place before he knows -_-'

Principal's traumatizing memory

Before Principal swapped his vision, he has traumatizing memory, same as her... How did he get his traumatizing memory you may ask? Well, here's truth about it. Principal is sometimes stressed out because he almost got touched by flirty girls. He stayed at bathroom until he's about to go to rest at bathtub, but Neko and Usagi's mother stopped him by giving advice. The next day, he's having bags under his eyes, three words: he have nightmares. Because he got a nightmare about being kidnapped by flirty girls.

While everyone went to store, Principal staying with Neko as she went to take something to drink without knowledge. Principal hearing knocking sounds, he opened and... There's nothing..... Except he got a letter from billionaire guys/girls. He reads entirely until he getting confused "Who are these billionaires???" Without his knowledge, a billionaire girl smacked his head with bat, causing him to fall on ground and pass out. He got kidnapped by billionaires for real.

Neko was next who got kidnapped as well. Few hours later, Principal regaining his consciousness, his bang covering one of his eyes, were shaggy. And in short outfit, his legs chained, including his hands, but chained on wall. He's in “Play with me” room, separated away from Neko-Sufi who's also in “Play with me” room. Suddenly, someone opened door, it was a billionaire girl, unlike others, she's nice. Principal is always afraid of her and thinking she's going to harrass him in embarrassing way.

Billionaire girl asks "It’s okay, I won’t do anything to you… 😟", Principal staying silent, feeling traumatized, trembling. Billionaire girl was trying to comfort him, questioning his name or anything, Principal looking away from her, felt painful, because chains hurting his hands and legs, tearing up. He has chance to realize it's dead end, or his deadly fate. Will he save himself from billionaire girl?

Rama: Look.... I beaten up so much when I tried to protect my bestie.... From these brats (cousins).... They are worse than Mr. and Mrs. Weaksons (Andersons)....

If you want to know, Rama was tried to protect to Neko-Sufi from her cousins, but ended up torturing him so badly.... Everyone are very shocked when they saw him passed out, they turned to them angrily. At the end, Neko's cousins sended into house arrest for rest of days.

Everyone will take care of Rama like bringing foods and drinks, watching some TV, reading books, or ect. until he heals.

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eideticmemory · 4 years ago

Text

FINE LINE | SPENCER REID

Two decades and two children later, you and your ex-husband learn to navigate the world of co-parenting.

Word Count: 2,604.

Warning: Daddy issues, mommy issues, angst, drama, romance. Love to see it.

You could feel it. The light illuminating your face, touching it with a gentle heat that made your eyes flutter open. Your head felt heavy, as if your neck was attempting to support the weight of a canon ball. You rested your skull on the back of the chair you sat in, eyelids dropping just above your irises. Just in the distance, you could make out a cinema screen. Large, blurry, projecting a bright white screen.

Her image appeared in the center of the square, perfect, in place, still. But you could make out the grin on her face. Watching her dark red lips release the words, “Hello, sleepyhead.”

You could just barely muster up the strength to part your lips, pushing out a small gust of air. It was hot and made your mouth feel like it was on fire.

“H—“

“Oh,” she interrupted you, gently, quietly. You jumped at the feeling of her touching your arm, her palm tight around your forearm. She was cold, freezing, but you could still feel warmth radiating off of her. “I’m afraid you can’t stay too long this time. It’s time to wake up.”

“Hm?” You whined. “Mm?”

“Wake up,” she repeated. “C’mon, wake up. Wake up, wake up, wake u—“

“Up!”

You jolted, violently, harshly, your eyes springing open to reveal the usual sight of your bedsheets.

“Mom, wake up,” an exasperated voice sounded from beside you, the words catching your attention instantly. Tightly.

“Huh?” You mumbled, flickering your eyes up to the figure at your side, sitting on your bed, looking at you with a concerned stare. “Hm?”

“Are you alright?” Eden asked. Sunlight shone on her face, giving her the appearance of an angel. Sent to wake you, pull you back into reality. “What were you dreaming about?”

You let out a long sigh, as if you could even begin to explain your subconscious mind to your 15-year-old daughter. “Oh, y’know,” you whispered, sitting yourself upright and resting back against the headboard. “Just...lions, and tigers, and bears.”

“Oh my,” Eden responded, her big brown eyes concentrated on your face.

You chuckled underneath your breath, and let out a quick huff. “Oh, shoot, is your brother up?”

“He’s up, he’s dressed, he’s fed, and reading the Illiad.”

“Oh?” You stepped out of bed, pulling the duvet over your legs to reveal your pajama pants. “What happened to War and Peace?”

“He finished that yesterday.”

“He gets quicker every hour,” you shook your head.

“It’s a genius thing,” Eden shrugged. She fiddled with the ends of her hair, watching the strands brush over her fingers as she chewed her lip. “Hey, mom?”

“Yeah, kid?” You replied, standing in the bathroom mirror as you began to get ready for the day.

“You—you know dad, right?”

You stopped in your tracks, any and all movements coming to a halt. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and you spun on your heels, slowly, until you came face to face with Eden. “Uh . . . your dad?”

“Yes.”

“Tall? Long, brown hair? Hazel eyes? Has a birthmark on his right thigh?” You listed, toothbrush hanging from your mouth.

“Ew,” Eden cringed. “Yes.”

“Never met him in my life,” you shrugged.

“Mom.”

“Kid,” you tilted your head, face softening as you realized how nervous she was. “What’s up?”

She sighed, ducking her head down to avoid eye contact. “I invited him to my sweet 16.”

“Oh.” It came out like reflex. You said the word before you could fully process the information.

“Are you mad?”

“No—huh? E,” you rushed to sit beside her. “You don’t have to hide inviting your father from me—you—you don’t have to invite your father at all. He’s always welcome to visit on your birthday. And of course he should be at your sweet sixteen.”

“Really?” Eden questioned, eyebrows raised. “So, it will be a nice day? A nice party? Everyone will be nice to everyone?”

“Yes, yes, girl scouts honor.”

“Good,” she nodded, a satisfied smile on her face. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.”

“Oh, babe,” you murmured, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It—“

“Mom!” A shrill voice struck both of you with fear, coming out of nowhere.

“Yes, my love?” You directed at Emerson, watching him fidget with his hands in the doorway. His shaggy brown hair covered his face slightly and his button up was tucked into his khaki shorts.

“My chess tournament starts soon, are you coming?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world, kiddo. You and your sister go downstairs while I get dressed.”

They’re obedient, your kids. Kind, driven, smart — with an average IQ of 187.5. The could take over the world if they really, really wanted to. But they don’t. They just want to go out for pizza, and get their twenty dollar allowance every week, hang out with their friends, focus on school, and . . . to see their father. You solemnly set your toothbrush down in the bathroom, looking at yourself in the mirror — tired, worn out, nauseous from another . . . dream? Nightmare? You’re not sure, and frankly, you don’t want to think about it.

So, you pushed on. You got dressed, fixed your hair, used light makeup to cover your exhaustion. Stepping out into the bedroom, your eyes quickly fell on your cellphone — the device laying on your bedside dresser. Hands on your hips, you shook your head, telling yourself not to do it. It’s not necessary, it’s overbearing to even think about.

Then, you remembered who you were dealing with here. And you rushed over to picked up the phone.

“[y/n] Reid,” he beamed. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I heard you talked to E,” you whispered, pacing back and forth in your bedroom.

“I did,” Spencer confirmed. “She called me the other day.”

“To invite you to her birthday party.”

“Yes.”

“And are you planning on coming?” You asked.

“Of course I’m planning on coming. It’s my daughter’s sixteenth birthday.”

“Right, right, it’s not like you missed her fifteenth, or thirteenth, or her twelfth, or her actual birth, or anything.”

“[y/n]—”

“Listen, I didn’t call to argue, or even talk,” you sighed. “I just called to tell you that this party isn’t an option. You will be here Saturday at 10 o’clock sharp, you will help decorate, you will spend time with your children, and you will make this the best damn day Eden Reid has ever had. Understood?”

“I have to help decorate?”

“Spencer—“

“I will be there. 10 o’clock. I will help decorate, I will spend time with my children, I will make this the best damn day Eden Reid has ever had. I understand.”

You released a quiet huff, like your lungs couldn’t stand to hold the breath any longer. “Thank you.”

Spencer let out a soft, sad laugh, “Haven’t done that in a while.”

Chess gives you anxiety. You understand it. You can conceptualize it, and even play it. Well. But the bubbling in your stomach every time you witnessed a game — particually one where your eight year old son is playing — comes back to haunt you again and again. You don’t worry about Emerson, he can take care of himself. He’s like his father in that way, the game is in his blood. But the tension, the speed, the risk. It made your breath lodge in your chest, and every so often, you had to sigh to regain control.

The only thing that could pull you from that stress is Em. Emerson Derek Reid, the little half smile on his face when he wins a match. It makes the three hour tournaments worth it. Watching your boy play against college level students who have been playing all their lives. Yeah, so has he.

He jumps off stage in an excited state, rushing towards you with open arms. “You’re a tiger, kid!” You exclaim. “You killed it.”

“Thank you, thank you,” he shrugged. “It’s really my opponents’ fault, they wouldn’t know a queen from a rook if it was looking them in the face.”

“Ooh, cat fight.” E remarked, causing Em and you to laugh.

“Hey,” you said. “Since you’re both already out of school today . . . wanna play hookie?”

“Mom? I am shocked!” E gasped, trying hard to contain a laugh.

“Oh, c’mon, we never get to hang out anymore since you guys started these college classes and my business went up. I’m off work, you’re already out of class, let’s just do it. Let’s go shop and eat and hang out and I will write you guys an excuse for tomorrow, okay?” You rambled, putting your hands to their shoulders.

Em and E looked at each other, and after a minute, they looked up at you and nodded.

Your very, very favorite people on the whole planet.

You took them to the mall. Bought Em some new clothes, but he wasn’t really interested. You and E did most of the picking. He sat in the corner of the store reading and only participated to try on outfits you guys had picked out. You both squealed and told him how cute he looked, and he scrunched up his nose. Just like . . .

And then you bought E some shoes, some vans. There was a huge sell, and she fell in love with everything she tried on. And you fell in love with seeing her happy so you ran up a bill.

“Okay, which one of us is dying?” E said as you sat at lunch. Em bursted out laughing.

“Wha—neither of you! I just wanted to spoil you guys. You kill yourselves all week with school, even though it’s summer. And I never see you, that’s all.”

“Mhm,” Em hummed, an unconvinced look in his face as he eyed his sister. “I bet someone died.”

“Em!” You exclaimed, E’s laughter blending in. “God, you guys are morbid.”

“Our parents both worked in the FBI, we’re basically trained,” E giggled.

Just then, you got a call. Work. Fuck. You stood from the table and stepped outside, excusing yourself first.

“[y/n].”

“Can we close the Pickett case tonight?”

“Raven . . .”

“I don’t want that boy in that house for one more second. [y/n], I will send you more of my notes, but . . . read them, read them. You will understand. Please.”

You sighed, “I’ll be there at ten. If you are not there at ten . . . I’ll wait for you. Let’s do it.”

“Thank you! Thank you, thanks! Bye. Sorry. Bye.”

You took in a deep breath and shook your head.

Nothing was going to spoil your lunch. Not today.

The car ride home, the three of you vibed to music. Your kids knew every word to Fleetwood Mac’s discography and it was your greatest accomplishment. They even developed their own dance routine to Dreams when they were younger.

Your very, very favorite people on the whole planet.

You pulled up to your house, and as you approached the driveway, you saw a familiar car parked out front. Your stomach flipped, caved in, skipped, hopped, and jumped.

Words can’t even described what it did when you saw him.

Sitting on the porch swing.

“Dad?” Em exclaimed loudly in excitement. You parked in the driveway, eyeing Spencer the whole time.

“Dad?” E said quietly, confusion in her voice. “Did you—“ She directed at you, interrupted by her brother hopping out of the car.

Em ran up to Spencer, and his father scooped him up in a quick motion, spinning him around and kissing his head.

You let out a quick huff, turned to E and smiled, “C’mon, go say hi.”

You followed E out of the car, and watched as she tip toed towards Spencer. She suddenly skipped and jumped into Spencer’s arms.

“Hey, dad,” she said.

“Hey, kid!” He replied, before putting her on her feet. “Your hair is getting so long!”

“Yeah,” she twirled her hair and laughed. “What are you doing here!”

“I wanted to see you guys . . .” He turned to you. “And your mom, who’s quiet as a mouse.”

“Hello,” you shrugged, giving him a kind smile.

“Are you staying for today, dad?” Em asked, tucked under Spencer’s arm.

“I was actually hoping to stay until Sunday, if that’s okay with your mom, of course.”

Your very, very least favorite person on the whole planet.

“Please, mom? He can be here for my birthday!” E pipped.

Em. E. Em. E. Those big, pouty eyes of theirs staring you down. “You can stay in the guest room,” you told Spencer.

“Is that close to your bedroom?” Spencer smirked.

“Heh,” you huffed. “Don’t push it. You can stay upstairs.”

“Yes! C’mon, dad! I made a new model that I wanna show you!”

Later that night, you made the kids pasta. It was one of your finer cuisines, taught to you by an old friend, and they asked for it all the night, especially when they needed to study.

Spencer wandered into the kitchen after getting settled upstairs. “Woah! I thought we could go out for dinner, huh? My treat?”

“We would, dad,” Eden said. “But we both have tests tomorrow. Calculus and Physics. Maybe tomorrow.”

You set their plates down and looked up at Spencer. You walked over to him, eyeing him knowingly as you led him out of the kitchen.

“They’re nerds,�� Spencer laughed.

“They’ve also both got an eidetic memory. It’s gonna take them all of three minutes to study, then they’ll be all over you again,” you told him, walking out onto the back patio.

Following you, Spencer closed the door behind him, isolating you two on the porch.

You sat down, plopped down, and looked up at him, “Why are you here?”

“Subtle.”

“Spencer.”

“I mean it, you should be a federal agent.”

“Spencer.”

He sighed heavily, “I have some things I want to . . . handle.”

“Here?” You asked.

“Yes,” he hesitated. “I haven’t been enough a part of the kids’ lives—“

You rolled yours eyes. Yeah, you knew that.

“I want to fix that, to have a real relationship with them.” He continued.

“You’ve always been able to,” you shrugged. “You get distracted.”

“Work,” he muttered.

“Always is.”

“And . . .” he whispered, his eyes flickering back and forth between you and the ground.

You furrowed your eyebrows, “And?”

“I — I want to fix my relationship with you.”

Huh.

“I want us to go to therapy.”

Huh.

“Wha—“ You stuttered, rising from your seat. “Spencer, what?”

“Not couples therapy. Nothing . . . romantic,” his voice cracked. “But we can’t keep acting so . . . poorly around the kids. They’re smart, they notice things. They always have.”

“Spencer, how are we gonna go to therapy? You’d need to dig up Freud himself and have him work on us full time.”

“I just think we need to talk,” he murmured. He stepped closer to you, breathing deeply as he towered over you. “Will you please just think about it?”

You stared him in the eye, let out a heavy exhale.

Spencer.

#spencer reid imagine #spencer reidxreader #spencer reid/reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #mine #fl

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maxineswritingcenter · 3 years ago

Text

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 23

--------

2000

We were ten years old, Derek and I. Playing a game of hide and seek with his sister Laura. It felt like it was more a game of “let the kids run around and not bother me”. We were deep in the woods outside of their home, laughing and squealing delight as we ran and ran. That is until lightning flashed through the sky and thunder boomed immediately after. Spooked, we ran further from the thunder and lightning, finding a small improvised shelter that we had made a few years before when we would play cops and robbers. Derek’s uncle Peter had helped us build it, occasionally playing the sheriff when he deemed us “less annoying than usual”.

Once inside the little hut, we sat and decided to wait out the storm or at least until someone came to get us. It was mostly dry with only or two leaks in the roof. We waited a while in silence, only the rain and wind howling filled the air. It was almost peaceful. I had been sitting there, literally twiddling my thumbs when I noticed the anxious movements Derek was making. He was tapping his foot against the soft earth and he was repeatedly cracking his knuckles.

“What is it?” I asked. He seemed to snap out of his trance and looked at him, then looking away with a slight blush on his cheeks.

“I was just thinking about what my mom said last year... About us being arranged in a marriage.”

“What about it?” I turned my body so that I could face him.

Derek rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact, “I dunno... I guess that I wouldn’t want to be forced into a marriage with you. It doesn’t seem fair.”

“You’re right.” I glanced out towards the woods, smiling fondly, “I want to fall in love. I want someone like Dimitri in Anastasia.” I sighed dreamily.

“Wasn’t he a con-artist?” Derek raised an eyebrow. I shoved him playfully.

“No...Well, yes. But he doesn’t take the money the Duchess offered him as a reward because he wants Anastasia to be happy.”

“He’s a cartoon.”

“And you’re a dork.” I shook my head, “What about you? Who would you wanna marry someday?”

Derek thought for a moment, “I guess... I would want someone like Anastasia. She’s super badass and defeats the villain all by herself. She also went through a lot and did a lot even when she didn’t remember who she was, she fought for her future.”

As sweet as that was...

“She’s a cartoon.” I mocked his voice. He grinned and shoved me, starting a wrestling match that ended with Talia and Peter finding us. They brought us home and made us hot chocolate.

After landing, Michael and I had taken a ferry to the Shetland islands to Sumburgh, the village on the island where the Lunar Circle was settled. We actually were brought to a castle, which was already insane enough. The next insane thing was a statue just inside the massive doors into the main room of the castle. It was a humanoid with the head of a wolf, wearing a kilt and armor. The creature also carried a sword.

“What is that?” I whispered to Michael.

“The Wulver. A werewolf that had come to peace with his wolf and human sides. He was friendly to locals and they seemed fine with him. That’s when hunters came and tried to kill him. He was the reason for founding the Lunar Circle - coexistence.

“Can I do that?” I whispered under my breath.

“Unfortunately, no.” Our attention was brought to a man with a thick Scottish accent walking into the room, “Our world has lost touch with the old magic. But maybe someday we can bring it back.” He was average height, with salt and pepper hair that was on the longer side and a bit shaggy. His eyes were a kind blue color. He held out his hand to me.

“Praetor Lachlan McLeod.” The stranger introduced himself, “It’s so good to finally meet you, (Y/N).” So this was the man who wrote the letter, it was nice to have a face to a name. I shook his hand and smiled politely.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Praetor.” From my googling, Praetor was a Roman term for an official, which was an interesting concept since Rome had completely invaded all of England, Ireland, and Scotland and almost wiped out their culture. But whatever.

“Please, call me Lachlan.”

I nodded, “Okay, Lachlan.” He held both of my hands in his smiling sympathetically.

“I want to extend my condolences, again, for your loss. Your mother and father did so much for the Lunar Circle.”

Slowly, I slipped my hands from his, “Thank you... I just have a lot of questions about them.”

“All in due time, my dear. You’ve had a long flight and I’m sure that you’re exhausted.”

Michael sighed, “Oh, we sure are-”

“I’m not tired. I want answers.” I said sternly. Michael looked incredibly nervous which made me wonder how high up this Lachlan guy was, “I appreciate your concern, sir, but I am coming from a place where I am just now remembering my parents were a part of a secret werewolf society that gave them the tools to take all of my memories away and said society wouldn’t allow me to be accompanied by my partner. It took a lot for him to let me come by myself, especially since he had never trusted the Lunar Circle in the first place.”

“Ah, yes, Derek Hale.” He said, almost amused, “I remember his mother’s rejection letter. It was somehow very personal. I think she referred to me as ‘a spineless coward who would rather fraternize with the enemy than fight them.”

I clicked my tongue, “Sounds like Talia.” Michael nudged my side, signally for me to chill.

“And another thing-”

“Oh no.” Michael hid his face in his hands.

“This guy.” I pointed to Michael, “He killed my parents, isn’t there some kind of punishment for that?”

Michael ripped his hands from his face, “Hey, that wasn’t my fault.”

“Mr. Keaton’s unfortunate affliction caused by Peter Hale has been reviewed.” Lachlan put his arms behind his back, “I assure you. It was all the Hale’s doing.”

I jerked forward, Michael had to grab my arms to hold me back, “Derek is not his uncle.” My eyes flashing red.

Lachlan raised his eyebrows and smiled, leaning down and flashing his alpha red eyes at me in return, “I’m sure he’s not.” The red left his eyes and he stood up straight, “Take her to the infirmary and then straight to bed.” He said to Michael, his eyes never leaving mine. I kept my eyes on him, even as he started to walk away, this kilt swaying with each step.

“The infirmary? Why?” Michael asked.

“I believe Miss (Y/L/N) is carrying something.” He grinned, “Something that may calm her temper.”

After a blood test in the infirmary, we were escorted to two rooms in the castle. Of course, this left me alone with my thoughts that I really didn’t want to think about. Knowing that Derek and everyone else was back home fighting against the alpha pack while I was in this ancient castle where I haven’t gotten the answers I wanted. Why was I even here? To take up my parents’ mantle? Whatever it was, I didn’t want it. I just wanted to go back home and help. I looked out the window of the castle, seeing the moon high in the sky.

I mean, what could they tell that I didn’t already know? My parents took my memories to keep me safe and look where it got them? Burned to ashes. And what else? I was only stalked by a psychopath and had to watch my friend struggle to not hurt anyone. I mean, hell, I was still struggling with the change. Uncle Noah was still processing what I was. Yes, he’s supportive but to what end? And Stiles? I wasn’t there to protect him when he was kidnapped and beaten by the Argents and now I was millions of miles away and if he was in trouble there was nothing that I could do. And if anything happened to Derek and I wasn’t there to save him? What was the point of even being alive? I would be without them, helpless and guilty, all because of some stupid secret society.

My chest got tighter and tighter as my emotions ran high. My thoughts and feelings were moving so quickly that it felt like I didn’t have control of my own mind. My hands clenched tight, I could feel all of my features shift. Coarse hair growing down the sides of my face, the bridge of my nose tightening. I screamed loudly, the high pitch lowering into a loud roar.

“This is your fault!” She shouted, standing up, “Take me home!” She lunged forward. Michael lunged forward, using the shield to knock her back across the room and into the window. Surprisingly, it didn’t break. She fell to the ground, looking up quickly.

MICHAEL

From the loud roar that just came from the next to his, Michael had a feeling that the Sheriff had been right. She was a time bomb and she just exploded. Michael quickly grabbed a shield from one of the suits of armor that for some reason always decorated castles and made his way into (Y/N)’s room. (Y/N) was on the bed, tearing at pillows. There were feathers and fluff flying all over the room. She was in full shift, her eyes fiery red, her canines sharp. Her eyes took him in, snarling loudly. She jumped off the bed, landing in front of him on all fours. Michael jumped back, shield held tight in his hand.

“Come on, (Y/N)!” He tried to put on a brave face, “You just need to calm down and get some rest.”

“SCREW YOU!” She shouted, lunging again. This time, Michael moved on the way, letting her slam into the door, which also didn’t break.

“That’s a good door.” He said to himself. Michael looked from the door and back to the angry werewolf. She was seething with rage and one step closer to killing him.

“Think about this. You don’t want to kill me!”

“Yes, I do! I hate you!”

“Hate is such a strong word...” He said nervously. (Y/N) lunged again and was met by a door to the face. Lachlan had opened the door and they both looked down at (Y/N) on the floor. She was on her behind, rubbing her forehead. Lachlan sighed, reaching down to help (Y/N) up.

“I seem to have underestimated your anger. Please, walk with me.”

(Y/N)

Lachlan led me out of the castle and down to the grounds. In the back of the stone walls, there was a large garden. The Praetor hadn’t said anything since we had been out here, but I think that’s what he wanted. The moon and the atmosphere around us was calming, must be the magic here.

“I apologize for dismissing your concerns earlier.” Lachlan said finally, leading us to the cliff side where we could see the waves crashing against the rocks, “You have been through a lot lately. More than any new werewolf is expected to handle as well as you have.” When I looked at him, I could tell he was being genuine.

“I just...” I sighed, leaning against a nearby oak, “I didn’t want to come here. I didn’t want to leave my partner behind. And... I didn’t want to meet the people who told my parents to take my life from me.”

Lachlan looked up at the moon, the wind flowing through his hair, “Your concerns are near and dear to my heart. My own parents used the Wolf Eclipse spell on me after I mated with a she-wolf from a rival clan. The look in her eyes when I told her I didn’t know who she was... I see it every time I close my eyes. And then I lost her.” His voice shook a bit, “I never forgave them after that.” He looked back at me, “When your parents told us that they had done the spell after the Hale fire, we told them it was a bad idea. You needed to be stronger than ever, maybe even leave Beacon Hills, but they became too attached to the community, to the sheriff and his son.” They stayed for them... I have no idea what my life would have been like without Stiles in it. It was so different. That was a life I didn’t want to think about because it was a life without my best friend and his insane antics. It was a life without Uncle Noah who loved me no matter what. It would be a life without Derek, or at least a life where I wouldn’t be there to meet him again.

“I remember now that my father thought we were safe.” I wrapped my arms around myself, “Chris Argent is loyal to his word and the code his family is supposed to follow. Unfortunately, he is the only one who follows that code. Even his own daughter was corrupted by his father and his sister and she was dating a werewolf.”

“Unfortunately, not every hunter can be Chris Argent. From our understanding, he is the only one fighting with his head while the others see us as inhuman.” He chuckled, “You might even say that we are more human than they are.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek.

“Lachlan?”

“Hmm?”

“What am I doing here? Why bring me all this way?”

Lachlan looked back up at the moon and smiled, “Well, it was originally to restore your memories. Thankfully, that resolved itself. Now, since you are the only member left of your clan - an alpha was two sparks - we were hoping that you could spend some time with us to relearn the basics. And I also want you to relax, experience your culture, your legacy.”

“That sounds great and all. But I don’t have time to do that. I need to get back to Derek.”

“(Y/N), you know that it is too dangerous for the both of you to be there. I don’t want you to experience what it’s like to lose a mate. It’s... It’s soul crushing. Losing who you love most - that is the worst pain anyone can feel.” Lachlan turned to go back to the castle, “Think about it. You aren’t a prisoner here. You may leave whenever you like. But I think you could do great things with just a little help.” With that, his footsteps faded into the darkness; leaving me with only my thoughts, the moonlight, and the ocean below. I had to make a decision, one that would ultimately decide my future as an alpha. I just wish someone I knew was here to help me make this decision. If only Uncle Noah were here. He was so level headed and wanted the best for me, but the werewolf drama was probably too much for him already. And Derek would want me to hone in on my skills, even if that meant going into battles alone and possibly losing them.

I just wish it wasn’t this hard.

After pressing Derek’s contact, I pressed the phone to my ear and listened to it ring. I had no idea what time it was back home, I just needed to at least pretend I was talking to him.

“Hey Der.” I smiled, “I know it’s late or early. Honestly, I’m not sure. But I wanted to call you and tell you how today went. The flight was long, the food was okay. Uh they made me get a blood test for whatever reason. Oh, and there’s this thing called the Wulver and he was a werewolf that came to peace with his human and animal side. Lachlan’s really nice and doesn’t want to take me from you so the coast is clear on that one. And uh I remembered something today. When we were kids, we got lost in the woods in a storm and we talked about crushes. Funny how you had a crush on a girl who lost her memories.” I laughed, “Anyway... I miss you. And I love you. And I’ll be back as soon-”

I was cut off by a beep and a message telling me that the allotted time of this message was over. Sighing, I set my phone down and flopped back on the extravagant bed that seemed to form to my body in just the right way. All the fluff and feathers had been cleaned by the time I came back so I should probably thank whoever the cleaning staff were. All I can do is sleep and hope that tomorrow will give me better answers.

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

Read part 24 here!

I watched Inside today so I am no feeling good.

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#derek hale fic #derek hale x reader #teen wolf fic #teen wolf x reader

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freakvampiresex-2 · 3 years ago

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i like shaggy hes my friend i like his mom cause shes NICE. TO. ME

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wann-der-lusst · 3 years ago

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Survived in the darkness of the tunnel

by Chabelita Alvarado

I woke up in the morning with the alarm clock. I quickly made a way in the hall to the bathroom. I did my usual routine in the morning and got ready to go to school.

I walked downstairs to eat a quick breakfast with mom and dad. Smiling to myself and munching on the last piece of bacon. I made a way down the sidewalk, the cold air stinging my cheeks, and towards the subway.

I was halfway through my walk to the subway station when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled out my phone, I saw a chat on messenger that came from my annoying best friend.

My best friend, Jane, just told me through chat that Wade Rivas was single. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. That's what she had to tell me?! As if I care.

Well, if there was one thing Jane would wake up this early for, it would be Wade Rivas. Tunasan High School's very own stereotypical badass who just happened to have every female in the school drooling at his feet, and unfortunately that included my best friend. I pity for Jane, poor thing.

I just chatted that "let's see each other at school and spill me the tea".

I slipped my phone back into my pocket smiling at my idiotic excuse for a best friend and looked up to see that I was at the subway station.

Sighing I found myself a seat towards the back as far away from everyone else as possible. I hated when I went out in public and the public was actually there.

It was only after I had sat down and was about to pull out my pair of headphones ready to expertly ignore everyone, that I realized who was sitting right across from me looking like someone had definitely had a bad day.

Sitting there, arms crossed, and dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, was none other than Wade Rivas.

I didn't realize I was staring at him that long until a pair of green eyes met mine, followed by the harshest glare I've received.

Embarrassed, I quickly averted my eyes and turned back to my phone and headphones. My embarrassment turned into curiosity though. Why was he riding the subway? The last time I checked he had a car.

I put my headphones in and played a song of All About You by Taeyeon. I tried to feed my wandering thoughts, and prepare for the thirty-minute ride.

I once glanced over at Wade. He was still staring at me. Although this time that confused expression was no longer on his face. Instead, it was replaced by an amused one.

I didn't buy to talk to him. We've been going to the same school for just about four years, and in all that Wade and I had never crossed paths.

To kill and waste some time, I approached him. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Weren't you just staring at me?" he said. Hmm. His voice, it made sense that many girls admire him.

"I'm not staring, I'm… just… not blinking." I protested.

He shook his head and fixed those eyes on me again.

"Then why were you 'not blinking' at me?

"Why do you care? You used to be girls staring at you." I said. Okay, I admitted that I am quite attractive to him.

"Of course I'm used to girls staring at me. I'm asking why you're staring at me. You don't even throw me a glance at school." Wade said.

That caught me off guard. I was an average girl in the school. So, he knew who I was? I had to remind myself that I didn't care whether he noticed me or not.

"I was just curious." I said bringing myself from my thoughts.

"About?" he prompted.

"Why are you here? Riding the subway I mean. Don't you have a car?"

"That's none of your business." He snapped as he turned to look in the other direction. Woah, a sudden change of his mood. I can't bear him, god.

Aha! He wasn't in a good mood because of his ex. Now I know. I decided to take pity on him. "I'm sorry, I just heard about your, uhm, break up?" I said with sympathy.

"What are you doing Chayo? Why are you trying to be nice?" he said.

Now that really shocked me. I wasn't pretending! It wasn't like I was a mean person. I was nice all the time. Or at least I thought I was. Second thing, I'm shocked he knew my name. We were not uttering a single word to each other through high school and this our first time to casually talk.

"What do you mean, why am I trying to be nice?" I asked, a little offended.

"I mean we haven't said so much as one word to each other throughout high school. Why are you talking to me now? Let alone trying to be nice to me? If I'm not wrong, I was under the impression that you couldn't stand me. If it's just cause you feel for me, don't." he said while completely facing me.

My mouth actually dropped open. What kind of reputation was going around about me?

"It's not that I can't stand you. It's just that I wasn't about to drool at your feet just so I could get a chance to talk to you". I said.

Wade was silent for a moment as he seemed to think this over.

"I don't know why I'm even telling you this, but as crazy as it sounds Amber was the first girl I was really serious about. I mean there was a girl before that but that had about a snowball's chance in hell of happening."

"What? There was a girl that The Wade Rivas didn't have a chance with? I need to meet her and shake her hand." I said, teasing him about that.

First time, we talked like a friend. We'd finally talked and on a subway of all places, kinda strange. However, we were comfortable with each other.

Our conversation interrupted when the subway train suddenly came to stop. The awkward and embarrassing filling caused my body sway to the left and body bumped into Wade's and seeing as my hands were currently shoved into my pockets, I couldn't brace myself for it. So, instead Wade ended up with his hands placed on my arms to keep me from toppling over face first into his lap.

My face heated up. It looked like a tomato.

My moment of embarrassment was changed in fear. Our light mood ended abruptly when the subway doors suddenly slid open and instead of passengers boarding, five masked and hooded figures made their way inside.

They were all wearing dark jeans and hoodies that concealed their faces. Each one carried a black duffle bag. Flirt out of the five figures silently made their way into the other cars leaving just one behind. The lone figure stood in the middle of the subway car and dropped the duffle bag with a loud thud, gaining the attention of all the other passengers.

Silently, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black handgun.

Screams erupted all around me as everyone laid their eyes on the weapon. I sighed in fear, I couldn't believe that this was happening.

I felt the train begin to move again and I let my eyes wander to the left, trying to see through the window into the next car.

I observed all the passengers, they were all afraid. Screams were still ringing out around me and I had to suppress the urge to yell for everybody to shut up.

A gunshot rang throughout the small space causing me to almost jump out of my seat. My ears were ringing and when I looked up to the figure holding the gun in the air with their index finger wrapped around the trigger.

Everyone was silent now.

"Now that I have your attention I'd like to properly introduce myself." The figure pulled off the hood that had been covering their head and face, revealing a creepy flesh colored mask with holes cut out for the eyes and mouth and a shaggy mess of short greasy black hair on top of his head. When he spoke his voice was muffled by the mask but nonetheless I could still hear that it was deep and rough, like a smoker's voice.

"You can call me Rad." He continued.

I frowned at that. What kind of a criminal introduces themselves to their victims? I mean I doubted that if I made it out of this alive and went to the police that they'd have someone named Rad in the system, but still.

"Now first thing first, we need to get a few things straight. Any of you scream again, you die. Simple as that, understand?" He warned.

When no one answered, he shot the gun into the air again causing everyone to jump but no one screamed.

"I guess you all understand. This ride will go by a lot more smoothly if you all just cooperate." He added.

No one dared move suspicious. Wade and I kept our mouth to not say anything for our safety. Rad walked back and forth in the small confined space of the train car, switching the gun from his right hand, to his left, and then back again.

I wondered what he was doing exactly. If he was here to blow people's heads off then why wasn't he? I hated the fact that we were waiting here not knowing what would happen next. As if he could sense my impatience with him, Rad spun around and glared at me through his mask. Or at least I thought he was glaring at me, but I couldn't really tell with the mask on.

"You." Rad said pointing the gun at me.

I froze and clenched my hands into tight fists as I stared wide eyed, not at Rad, but at the barrel of the gun.

"What's your name?" Rad asked.

"Chayo." I said quietly.

"Chayo...Why don't you go ahead and stand up Chayo." Rad said kindly. I hated it when he say my name. I gave an involuntary shudder.

I was about to force myself to stand, even if it was against my better judgement, when I felt Wade grip my left hand, keeping me in my seat.

I glanced at Wade and gave him a questioning look.

"Why do you want her to stand?" Wade asked while narrowing his eyes.

I wanted to slap my hand over Wade's big mouth.

"I thought we already went through this. You don't speak… Unless. You're. Spoken. To." Rad ground out the last words slowly, and I doubted he would remind Wade.

"Wade please…" I begged quietly. I stood up even though I highly doubted it. "Obviously your girlfriend has more sense than you." Rad said while tilting his head to the side.

I almost opened my mouth to tell him that Wade was not my boyfriend, but I kept it shut. I wanted to live.

I slowly walked up to Rad and stood there, waiting.

Then I waited for more than two minutes. He said nothing, did nothing, just stood there staring at me. I couldn't keep my mouth shut anymore. He was making me anxious and when I became anxious I also got a really bad case of word vomit.

"Are we just going to stand here and stare at each other?"

After I regretted what I just said, my eyes instantly darted down to Rad's clenched fits and before I could look back at his masked face, I felt his hand connect with my jaw, hard.

The force of his punch made me bite down on my tongue as I stumbled back from the impact, my hand covering my jaw. The train car seemed like it was suddenly bathed in bright white lights, and I reached my free hand out to try and find something to steady myself. I could taste something metallic and salty which I knew had to be my own hold.

Wade approached me and gave an angered face to Rad.

"Well, aren't you two sweet? Trying to protect each other like that." Rad gave a dark chuckle before he jerked his head to the door leading into the next car.

"Move it, both of you, Now!" He ordered.

Still clutching the left side of my face I stumbled my way toward the door with Wade right behind me, one hand on my lower back and other on my arm, whether it was to keep me from falling flat on my face or just there to comfort me, I didn't know. All I was focused on was the pain which seemed to be everywhere in my face.

As Rad pushed us forward I wondered exactly what we'd gotten ourselves into. We'd continue to walk through the next two train cars.

Wade and I got shocked from what we witnessed in the next train car. The image of the knife swiping across the old man's neck and the gushing blood, was imprinted in my brain.

"Grandpa!" the little girl wailed and a chorus of horrified screams followed. She hopped out of her seat and ran to her grandpa before she sank to her knees next to him, his blood seeping into her white tights.

I stared, unable to move or breathe. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth hard and bit down, trying to keep myself from throwing up.

I heard Rad chuckle darkly behind me before he began shoving at our backs again. When we had reached the front of the train where it was operated. Rad opened the door and I had to bite back a scream.

There on the floor was the conductor with a bullet bole i. the center of his head. I couldn't take much more of this.

Rad lifted the man up like he was nothing more than a rag doll and threw him out of the compartment where he landed with a loud thud, pointing the gun back at me and Wade.

"Get in." Rad ordered.

I walked inside slowly and my nose instantly wrinkled at the smell of blood. I looked ahead, out the front window of the train, as we sped past flickering light bulbs in the tunnel. I wondered where we were headed now.

Wade walked in behind me and I saw his face scrunch up as the smell of blood invaded his nose too.

"I'll be back to deal with you two later."

That was all Rad said before he closed us in and made his way back towards the back of the train.

As soon as the door closed, I pressed my back against the wall before I slid to the ground and pulled my knees to my chest.

This couldn't be happening.

Wade knelt down in front of me with his arms on his knees, and he stared at me intently.

"He just killed him." I whispered, shaking my head. "He didn't even flinch. He just slit his throat. Right in front of his granddaughter!" My voice rose and I think I was starting to hyperventilate. I was taking in quick shallow breaths and I started rocking back and front.

"Oh God, we're going to die. We're going to die." I was seriously starting to panic now. What would my parents do once they found out that I had been chopped up into a thousand little bite sized Chayo pieces? Then there was Jane. She'd probably take it worse.

Wade snapped his fingers in front of my face and broke me from my horrid thoughts.

He placed both of his hands on my knees and spoke very slowly, "We're not going to die. Okay?"

I looked back up at Wade and nodded slowly.

"Promise me then. Promise me that we won't die down here. Not like this." I said as I felt unexpected tears fill my eyes.

I didn't want to die. Not here. Not like this.

I watched him with a frown as he reached out and wiped a strat tear from my cheek before letting his warm hand rest there.

I didn't push his hand away like I told myself to. Instead, I welcome it, enjoying the brief comfort his touch brought me. I could use it right now.

"I promise." he said quietly.

I could only hope that he kept his promise.

I'm not sure how long I sat there. My imagination was running wild the longer we sat there. I imagined it might happen but my horrible thoughts scattered when the subway lurched and rumbled against the tracks.

"We're slowing down." Wade said.

The sound of the door sliding open behind us made me tear my gaze from the window and Rad who was standing in the doorway, his flesh colored mask and gaping black eye holes staring at me. A shiver ran down my spine.

Rad ordered us to follow him.

As we made our way through the subway cars I noticed that they were now all empty. I wanted to ask where everybody was but I was afraid of the answer I might get. So, I kept my mouth shut this time and kept moving.

We were on the last train car, Rad pushed us toward the exit doors which were already open.

We stepped out onto the old platform and my earlier question was instantly answered. All the people who had occupied the subway cars were now on the platform, all on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs with zip ties, set up in a line.

The one wearing a Jason Vorhees hockey mask stepped forward and tied our hands in our back. Jason Mask pushes us forward at the end of the line of subway passengers, where we got down on our knees and joined them.

"Now that you're all here, the real fun can!" Rad began with a clap.

A whimper and a sniffle came from my right and I glanced down the line of people and my eyes landed down on the same little girl from before. The little girl whose grandpa had been murdered right in front of her.

She was crying. I made myself a promise that I'll protect her.

I watched in silence as Rad and his band of masked began untying people and ushering them down onto the tracks of the

subway.

"Now this is how this is going to go," Rad began as he paced back and forth in front of the abandoned tracks. "The tracks from here on out are abandoned and farther down they break off into a bunch of unused subway tunnels. That's where you all are headed." He added.

"We're going to be playing a little game of hide and seek if you'd like to think of it that way. There's only one exit in one of these tunnels that leads up and out of the subway station but finding it will be like finding a needle in a haystack. If by some miracle though, you do happen to find this exit then you're home free... but if you don't," I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "And we get to you first then... well I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise now would I?"

Wade and I joined the group of passengers after the mask man untied the knots.

"You get two minutes, Two minutes and then the chase begins and you better hope like hell that we don't catch you" Rad warned everybody

"Why are you doing this?' A male voice demanded and that was Wade.

"I'm doing this to prove a point." Rad stated simply.

"What point?" Skater boy demanded.

"That I'm free to do whatever I please. You all live in this world thinking that you're safe, that you're protected. Well, you're not. Do you see anybody down here that'll give you as second glance if it means risking themselves?" Rad shook his head when the skater boy didn't respond.

"So, whoever is gonna survive through this game. Deliver the message to your pathetic police When they find all your dead bodies they'll see what a complete failure this entire system is." Rad added.

Rad glanced down at a watch that sat perched on his wrist.

"You have one minute and fifty-nine seconds" Rad said

As a cue, all the passengers started to run. I tried to scan the crowd for the little girl but people bumped into me and elbowed their way past trying to sprint ahead.

We kept running.

My legs were arching, my lungs were burning, and my head was spinning, all while I was running for my life.

As we continued running, my heart hammered furiously in my chest, and it felt like I was going to puke acid really soon.

I started slowing down and eventually I just stopped. I bent over with my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath.

Wade approached me and tried to motivate me to keep going. However, we heard an ear splitting scream echo down the tunnel. I turned to our back. I'm sure the group of masked men started to sue us.

Wade gently helped to keep half-running. I ignored the pain. We've reached the end of the track, we came to the tunnels that Rad had mentioned earlier. It was seven that all led off into different directions.

Wade and I agreed to pick the seventh tunnel. When we were inside, there were no lightbulbs, we couldn't see anything other than a pitch black.

We walked faster and carefully felt our tracks. My hands touched the wall of the tunnel and continued to walk.

Leading the track, Wade checked his phone but no signal to call police. However, we could use that as a flashlight.

Unluckily, the ground seemed to change, and I found myself free falling into the darkness. Wade yelled my name. My body smacked against the concrete. I cried out as bolts of searing hot pain jolted through every inch of my body. Tears filled my eyes instantly and spilled over as the pain took over. There was a horrible throbbing pain in the back of my head and an awful burning and ripping sensation in my side.

I heard the faint shuffling of footsteps and suddenly a bright light was shining in my water filled eyes.

"Shit!" I heard Wade's horrified whisper.

I couldn't even speak cause everything was hurt. Wade knelt down next to me. He sat his phone next to him letting the light create a small pool of illumination around us.

Wade said that he was going to help me. He began to lift the hem of my shirt. He slowly moved his hand upward until it rested just below my rib cage. And I felt an extreme amount of pressure on my ribs. There was an audible pop but I could barely hear it over the ear piercing scream that

was coming from my mouth. That was a great help, it had lessened considerably the pain before. A sheen of sweat covered my forehead as I breathed in and out rapidly.

Wade called my name with a worried and concerned face.

"I'm… still.. okay" I said through pants of breath. I blacked out.

I woke up cuddling with Wade. I'm literally surprised because I thought it was one of the psycho mask man. I could still feel the pain in my side. Wade told me that I was fell in manhole. One of my rib was dislocated.

"I'm grateful that you stuck around and helped me. It means a lot that you'd do that for me… and… and I'm sorry."

I jerked back a little when Wade whipped his head back so he could look at me, his eyes shining in the dim light of his cellphone.

I swallowed nervously and stared back at him, waiting for some kind of response. I froze when he reached up and pushed a damp piece of my hair behind my ear. My heart just about exploded when he let his hand linger on my face.

Didn't he know that there were people after us? Shouldn't we be running for our lives now?

I was ready to raise to slap his face when he got close enough to kiss me, but an ear splitting scream rang through the tunnel.

That scream scared me half to death in a panic, I jumped and slammed my head against Wade's.

I groaned in pain while rubbing my forehead and said to Wade that he had a hard head. Wade said that my head was exactly soft, teasing me.

"Did you hear that scream? Somebody could be in trouble." I said.

Wade just coughed and sounded like he was struggling to contain his laughter.

"Have you lost your mind? Those masked freaks could get to whoever that was and they could be headed this way right now." Wade explained.

I ignored his statement and tried to get up from sitting into his lap but he pushed me back to his.

"Please, Wade, I want to know who it was. Because it could be that little girl. She can't make it down here by herself. Hell, we can barely make it, so just imagine how she's doing. I have to find her Wade, so please don't try to stop me" I said.

Wade stared at me for seconds and stood up and then gently helped me to my feet. He grabbed my hand, shooking his head before he said "Let's go then, Wonder Woman."

Along our way, Wade and I talked nonsense. I've just realized that it was a mistake to find this little girl or who it was that did the screaming.

We've reached the end of the tunnel, but there was a large cavernous room. It was made of the same gray stone as the rest of the tunnels down here and jagged pieces of rock and pipe jutted up from the floor and hung from the ceiling. There were a few pale yellow flickering lanterns that cast an eerie glow across the large room, which meant someone had been here recently. Looking around, the room was empty.

"There's nobody here Chayo, we should head back and try and find our way out of here while we still can." Wade's voice rang out in an echo arout the vast room.

When I was to turn back to face Wade, the same shrill scream from earlier ran out behind me.

A black boots began to step forward, revealing black jeans and then a black hoodie before finally revealing a sheep masked figure.

"You two are just too easy." Sheep Mask drawled out, his voice slightly muffled by the mask.

I couldn't believe that we were fooled by this man. The scream that we heard was just recorded. The sheep mask currently holds the device where the scream came from and he pressed the button again to play the scream sound.

The Sheep Mask reached into the waistband of his dark jeans and pulled out a black handgun. The Sheep Mask pointed the gun to Wade but to my suprise, Wade was on top of him. Both of them struggled to gain control of the gun.

When the Sheep Mask started angling the gun towards Wade's chest, I rushed forward and brought my foot down as hard as I could on Sheep Mask's face.

Wade didn't wait for any second as the gun was on his hand. The Sheep Mask tried to scare them that we were going to die soon when Rad reached them. I faintly heard a loud crack and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wade ram the butt of the gun into the side of Sheep Mask's face, then he shot the gun toward the head of the masked man.

Wade came to me and brought my head to his chest.

"We're not going to die here, Chayo. Do you understand? We're getting out of here," he promised. I hold on that promise.

I can't believe that we just killed the Sheep Mask man. I'm so mad to myself that we had to do that.

We've continued to search the exit. Wade leads the way, but his navigating skills sucks. When I led our way, it turns out that any navigating skills sucked a lot more than Wade's did. I ended up leading us right back to the spot where we started.

Apparently, Wade and I saw the same flurry of pink darts across the tunnel and into another one. I'm sure that was the little girl with the pink shirt that we tried to look for before.

We were not really sure but we decided to follow the girl from where the tunnel she ran through.

In turn of the event, someone grabbed me from the right. I saw Wade also dragged by another mask man. The piggy mask figure man that was covering my mouth by his hand, led me from somewhere. I was parted away from Wade. The last scene of him was fighting with the other mask man.

The Piggy Mask lifted his left foot and kicked open an old door that read "Employees Only".

The room looked like a place where electricians or repairmen would frequent with all the machinery inside.

The Piggy Mark man removed his mask as soon as he closed the door. It was Rad, the leader of the psycho mask group.

He grabbed my hair to go to another destination. There was a series of many lefts and rights before we finally came to his destination.

We went to another room. It was large and full of pipes in the ceiling. In the center of the room stood four, large, curved, gray pipes that jutted out from the floor and were pointed to the right wall.

There were three people handcuffed for those pipes. The strange man was handcuffed to the first one. The second one was the skater boy. The third one was the little girl that we've been looking for.

And for the fourth pipe, Rad cuffed me from the last pipe.

"W-why are you doing this?" I asked between my sobs.

"I already told you. The system already failed me once and now they're going to fail you. This is all to prove a point." Rad simply said. With that, he disappeared back down from the tunnel.

As soon as Rad was out of sight I slumped against the pipe before sliding to the ground. Anything I did was a failure to escape. I just dropped my head and think that this was how I'm going to die.

The first man in the pipe turned into red, burned, bloody and raw. The skin skin looked like it had been seared completely off and I could see the white of their bones poking out.

The skater boy started to scream, asking for help. The little girl started to cry and I had no idea what to do to comfort her.

I've heard a voice. "Chayo?!" Wade yelled out from somewhere. My head whipped up at the sound of his voice and directly look at his eyes.

He ran forward and bent down to hug her.

"How did you-,"

"You don't know how I fight that masked man but I'm relieved that I found you." Wade said.

"But I'm going to die here. The pipes. They shoot out hot steam and the man just got a face full of it." I explained.

Wade looked at the first pipe, his eyes widened and urged to fight to not throw up something.

Wade immediately pulled a trigger of his gum that pointed to her handcuffs but nothing happened.

Wade found two bobby pins into the hair of the little girl. He borrowed it from the girl and promised to help her.

I suggested to Wade to help first the skater boy and the little girl before me. Wade argued about it but he still did it. When Wade successfully unlocked the handcuffs to the skater boy, the skater boy moved forward to also help unlock the handcuffs on the little girl. Wade finished to get rid of the handcuffs to me before the steam of the pipes burned her.

We were successfully all safe, as of now.

The four of us continued to find the exit of this tunnel. Upon walking, we've talked in some conversations but stay alert. The skater boy named Dylan and the little girl named Rose.

Our conversation was long. Until Rose pointed ahead of her. She was pointing at the end of the tunnel and my blood ran cold.

Standing at the end of the tunnel, completely silent and staring at us, was the man in the Jason Mask.

Jason Mask aggressively started running towards us. As an instinct, Wade held my hands and we started to run to the tunnel on our right. Dylan and Rose followed us. There were a bunch of lefts and rights before we reached the two tunnels.

We agreed to part away in two groups. Dylan and Rose went to the left tunnel and Me and Wade ran through the right tunnel.

Me and Wade never stopped to run even though I've being clumsy for how many times I fall on my feet.

Wade stopped, he pushed me against the wall of the tunnel that didn't reach the dim light of the tunnel. I wondered what's going on in his mind but it made sense when I heard booming footsteps and a few seconds later I watched with wide eyes as Jason Mask went thundering past us and continued down the tunnel.

When I'm sure he was gone, I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

For a minute, we stayed there and had some rest. But I saw Rose had just come into view and even from here I could see red stained in her pink shirt.

Wade and I hurriedly approached Rose. I asked if she was hurt. But she said with tears that the blood stain came from Dylan.

Rose led the way where Dylan was. There was no way Rose should have been able to know the way back. She made way too many turns for her to have memorized it only going through it once. I stopped walking, Wade and I shared a look and thought the same thing.

With that, Rad suddenly came into view and Rose ran to him.

"Did I do good Daddy?" Rose asked.

"You did great sweetheart. Daddy is so proud of you." Rad said. Rose smiled proudly.

Rad pointed a gun on me. He ordered me to walk. We were now on one of the train car. Rad demanded Wade to hold out his hands. Rad handcuffed Wade's hands in one of the metal standing poles. Rad got the gun from Wade's pocket.

And by that, Rad left us after he locked the door of the train car.

I went to Rad's place.

"I'm sorry, I broke my promise to you," Wade said.

"You don't have to say sorry, maybe this is our fate." I said in my tears.

Wade asked to come closer with him. I went closer enough but he demanded to stand between his arms and the pole. I just didn't argue with that with the small place he was asking me to stand.

I stepped forward before ducking under one of his arms and I was now officially enclosed to him. I looked at him when he called my name with an intense expression.

"It was you. Even before Amber. I know this is not the right timing because we're almost likely dead anyway but I needed you to know."

I didn't know what response I should do, but I passionately kissed him. He kissed me back.

We stopped kissing when all of the sudden the doors that connected opened, I can see on the front train that the subway train was on fire. And the flames were quickly making their way towards us.

I could already smell the smoke. I ran back to the exit door and began pushing, pulling, and even banging on the door. Nothing worked.

Wade suggested kicking on the exit window. We kicked the window twice and it cracked. For the fifth time we kicked the window, it finally broke.

Wade told me that there was a left pin in his pocket. I get it used to get rid of the handcuff to his hands. It took more time and the smoke was already burning our lungs. Finally, the handcuff was unlocked. Wade took off his hoodie jacket and placed it around his left hand. He broke some left pieces of glass in the window.

He was the first one to climb out in the window before me. Wade helped me up. When I was on my feet I looked up at the burning subway train and watched as the flames of the fire completely engulfed it.

We saw Rad and his little girl at the top of the platform looking on the subway train to burn into ashes. Rad didn't see from where we were, I'm sure he thought that we were dead on that train.

So I made a plan to eliminate that freaking psycho.

I appeared from where Rad was standing.

"You bastard! You killed him!' I screamed as I slammed my body into Rad's and forced me to cry.

Rad was shocked that I was still alive. But he grabbed me roughly by my wrists and squeezed them tightly.

Okay, this was not part of my plan, I hope he didn't think to kill me now.

Turning back to my acting, I yelled to him like he really killed Wade. He just darkly chuckled about it.

As part of the plan, Rad never got to finish what he was about to say because a shard of glass was pushed straight into the center of his back.

Rad let me go. Rad was about again to speak but Wade stabbed again into his chest.

Rad had died. I hugged Wade as finally we are safe now. Wade took the kicking Rose and threw her into his shoulder. Wade and I slowly move forward to find the exit.

With the help of the light in Wade's cellphone, it was enough to see our way. As I was the one who's holding the cellphone, I saw in the darkness a set of stairs and swallowed hard before turning back to face Wade and nodded slowly.

We saw a light on the wood that was blocking our way. We kicked the light wood on how many times before we succeeded to pull off the wood.

Through the small hole, I could see the city lights that brought me into tears. The stars in the sky let me know that it was night.

We've carefully made a way through the hole. When I stood up and took a deep breath, it felt like it had been forever since I had breathed in fresh air.

There were a lot of old and abandoned buildings around that were boarded up just like the subway entrance had been.

We had planned to surrender and tell the police about Rose's case. She could still be changed with the help of DSWD.

Wade called an emergency call to 911. Wade and I shared a smile. I slowly kissed him.

We sat on the abandoned street and waited for the police to come and rescue us.

#short stories

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prettyboyjackhughes · 4 years ago

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-It’ll all be worth it in the end- |M. Marner| [Part 1]

Thanks to @workhorsefromwhitehorse24 for all her help on this! I’m super proud of this and can’t wait for you guys to read it! Thank you for all the love and support!!

Carter wasn’t dumb. He knew how much I loved to push his buttons. I mean, it was kinda my job as his little sister. He’d been ridiculously protective over me since we were little. That may have been due to the fact that I was only 16 months younger than him, or just that I was his little sister, but either way, he took his job as my one and only big brother very seriously. It had always been just the two of us, growing up. We got into more than our fair share of trouble, destroying things in the process most of the time. Our mom always called us the twin terrors, even though we weren’t actually twins. But we did everything together. Nine times out of ten, if you found one of us, you found both of us. And that was how it was supposed to be tonight, the first game of the playoffs. Carter and I had a tradition that before every game, no matter what, we did a little handshake that he had claimed as his good luck charm. So before every game, I was in the locker room with Carter.

"Well I'm definitely in the wrong place." I said, glancing around at all the Leafs equipment around the hall way. I knew my way around Wells Fargo Center, but since this was an away game and we were the away team, we were playing at Scotiabank Arena which was an arena I wasn’t familiar with. When Carter had told me to meet him outside the locker room before the game, I had figured I’d be able to find my way there. But now, standing outside of what I figured out to be the Leafs’ locker room, made me realize I had no idea how to find my brother. As I glanced around, I caught sight of a guy walking away from me. As I jogged to catch up with him, I collided with a tall, brown-haired boy.

“Ouch!” I shouted, falling to the ground.

“Oh god, sorry!” The boy said, getting his balance and looking down at me as he reached down to help me up. He glances between my face and the Flyers logo on my t-shirt, finally settling on my face.

“You okay?” He asks, his eyes coming to rest on my face. I nod, pushing my hair back out of my face.

“Uh…anything I can do to make up for the fact that I took you out?” He asks, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling nervously at me. I look him up and down, having to look up a little to see the top of his head.

“You could tell me your name.” I say, smiling at him. His face looked familiar, but then again, most of the guys Carter played against in the NHL looked familiar to me But he was cute. He had dark brown hair, a kinda goofy smile, and blue eyes that pulled me in.

“Oh yeah sure. I’m Mitch. And you are…?” He said, sticking his hand out for me to shake. I shake it, nodding as I do.

“I’m Sawyer. Let me guess, you play for the Leafs?” I say, crossing my arms and pointing at the Leafs logo and the number 16 spread across the sweatshirt he was wearing. He glanced down and looked back up at me with a smile.

“Guilty. Flyers fan?” He asked, leaning against the wall.

“Well sorta. My older brother is the starting goalie for tonight. So I’m a fan because of him.” I say, turning around to show him the 79 and Hart on my back. As I turned back around, more of his teammates started to make their way out into the hallway and my phone started to vibrate.

“Oh shoot, I probably need to go find my brother. Um, it was nice meeting you, Mitch.” I said, secretly wishing I didn’t have to go. I tugged my phone out of my pocket, seeing Grace’s name on the screen. I wave goodbye to Mitch who looks like he wants to say something as I press my phone to my ear and hurry back down the hallway.

“Hey, sorry I got lost. Tell Carter I’m on my way!” I said, glancing around to figure out where I need to be going.

“You’d better hurry up. Hartsy is starting to do his freak out older brother thing.” Grace says. I roll my eyes and end the call. Grace is Carter’s girlfriend, has been since they were 18. They’ll probably get married, if Carter has anything to do with it. Grace is also one of the trainers for the Flyers so they spend practically every waking minute together. The 3 of us share an apartment, which makes things interesting. We’ve managed to find a good balance for the 3 of us though. Most of the time, Carter and Grace spend pretty much the whole day at the rink while I have classes at UPenn. Then in the evenings, on the rare occasion we’re all home at the same time, we each take turns cooking dinner. Carter is the worst cook out of the 3 of us so usually it’s Grace or I cooking. When there’s an away game, Grace travels with the team sometimes but usually she’s home with me. It’s a lot of fun living with Grace and Carter. But it’s usually not just us at the apartment. Lately, Nolan Patrick, who has claimed boy best friend for me, and a few of Carter’s other team mates have been hanging out at the apartment.

I finally find all the signs for the Flyers locker room but run into a problem. Security. I glance down and realize I forgot the pass that Grace and I had both been given before the game. I groan and walk towards the man standing by the locker room door. He glances at me, then puts his hand out to stop me.

“Sorry young lady, you can’t go in there.” I start to plead my case then see a familiar head of shaggy hair walking towards me.

“It’s okay, she’s training staff.” Nolan says, grabbing my arm and pulling me inside the locker room with him.

“Alright, sorry about that, sir.” I muffle a laugh as the man calls Nolan sir. He rolls his eyes and drags me along with him to where Grace, Carter and a few other guys are standing. Nolan is my best friend. We got really close when I first moved here, at the beginning of last year. He’s claimed me as his “Baby Cat”, which is a weird nickname that Kevin Hayes gave him, but I’ll never admit to Nolan that I actually really love the nickname. Even though he seems all dark and kinda scary sometimes, I can tell I’m a little bit of a soft spot for him. Grace leans against the wall, watching Carter and looking very amused. A few of his team mates are watching from the doorway, also looking amused. He’s doing the whole pacing, running his hand through his hair a thousand times thing he does when he’s worried about me.

“Chillax Hartsy. I’m here and I made it mostly in one piece.” He turns around, glaring at me.

“You were supposed to be here 15 minutes ago! Where were you?” I roll my eyes and reach out my hand. He points his finger at me, glaring still but softens as I nudge his finger away with my hand.

“Do the damn handshake Hartsy!” One of his team mates yells as they start to gather in the hallway to get ready to head out onto the ice for warmups. The longer he’s been in the NHL and playing for the Flyers, the more his team mates have started to pick up on how important the handshake we do is to him. They had also started to say it’s a part of their pregame routine, claiming it’s the reason they win.

“We’ll talk about this later, you’re not home free, Sawyer Mae.” He says we do our little handshake. He claims that it helps him but I think he’s just a little superstitious. I nudge Nolan as he walks past me and heads for the door. He and the boys head out onto the ice and Grace drags me with her back to where my parents are sitting.

“You should’ve seen your brother.” She says, laughing as we walk back out to our box. Usually, Grace and I would just sit in normal seats, if she wasn’t working. But since Mom and Dad were coming to the game, Carter got box tickets for all of us.

“He always freaks out before games. And always assumes I’m gonna forget to come down and meet him. This one is even worse cause it’s the freakin playoffs baby!” I say, hopping around a little and making Grace laugh. In the 3 years that Carter and Grace have been together, Grace has become the big sister I’ve always wanted. When I was younger, I loved having Carter as my big brother but I always secretly wanted a big sister. And now, I had Grace. She and I get along so well and she’s the perfect big sister. She and I would gang up on Carter, teasing him about everything when we were at home. We would watch the Bachelor and cry over sappy romance movies together. My favorite thing to do with Grace was get a little drunk, sometimes just tipsy, and sing karaoke with her when we went out. She had been there when I first moved to Philly a little over a year, helping me get to know the city and working through all my homesickness with me. She was easily my best friend.

“Earth to Sawyer, come in Sawyer.” Grace says, nudging my shoulder. I blink, bringing myself back to reality. I look down to the ice where both teams are skating around the ice, going through warmups, when a certain number 16 catches my eye. He’s skating around, weaving in and out of his teammates. He seems to talk to everybody, laughing and joking throughout all of warmups. I can hear Grace talking to my parents and the rest of my family in the box with us. She calls my name but all I can focus on or think about is the brown haired boy who I ran into today.

“Who are you watching?” Mom asks, sliding up next to me as I stand at the railing.

“Oh no one. Just Nolan.” I say, panicking and taking my eyes off of Mitch. She smiles and nudges me.

“Have you ever considered going on a date with Nolan? He’s a nice boy.” I turn to look at my mother and it takes every ounce of will in my 21 year old body not to gag.

“No Mom. Nolan and I are just friends. He’s not my type.” Mom shakes her head and walks away, leaving me at the railing by myself. I can hear Grace’s laugh before she’s even beside me.

“Shut up Grace.” I say, rolling my eyes and coughing back a laugh.

“Oh but Sawyer, Nolan is such a nice boy.” She says, still dying. This time, I actually do gag, laughing along with Grace. I let myself drift back to my imaginary land, thinking of my next way to drive Carter insane. As I watch Mitch skate around the ice after an icing, I feel like a lightbulb goes off in my head. Carter has always taught me that hockey boys were bad news, no matter who they were or what they were. He said there were no good ones, no matter who they were. I always rolled my eyes, ignored him, and have definitely dated my share of hockey boys growing up. But the one thing I will never admit to him is that most of them were just as bad as he had warned me. But do I learn from my mistakes? Nope. As a plan starts to form in my head, Grace glances at me.

“Oh no I know that look. What are you planning?” She asks, leaning over and resting her arms on my armrest.

“Nothing...Just my next way to drive Carter crazy.” She laughs and rolls her eyes.

“You’d better be careful, Sawyer. You know how on edge he’s been lately.” I nod, my eyes still on Mitch.

“Trust me, it’ll all be worth it in the end.” I said, looking over at Grace. The second the words left my mouth, I knew what I was going to do.

#carter hart #mitch marner #hockey boys #hockey #Hockey Players #nhl #nhl hockey #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #NHL fan fiction #mitch marner imagine

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hughiecampbelle · 3 years ago

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Howdy!✨✨ Congratulations on 5k! You are literally one of the most talented writers I follow! Ilysm never change!💕

Alrighty, I was hoping for a male ship from Marvel? I'm nonbinary(they/them), I dye my hair frequently but currently it's black and short. Think like a shaggy grown out buzzcut. I have hazel eyes, a small nose and I'm 5'1. I'm a Gemini, an INTP, and a Hufflepuff. I have anxiety so I'm pretty quiet and nervous in public or around people I don't know but around my close friends I'm extremely outgoing. My friends say I'm the scariest in the friend group but I don't believe them lmao. I'm fairly confident that I'm autistic and I'm working towards getting a diagnosis. I'm not really the dating type but I suppose my type would be smart people who can make me laugh. Ive been wearing glasses since grade 7 and my eyesight keeps getting worse. I think my favorite feature would probably be my hair. If my hair looks nice I feel nice. I have this big birthmark that's right under my belly button and for as long as I can remember I've hated it but its whatever. My taste in music is honestly all over the place. Most of the music on my playlists come from wildly random artists that i don't even know the name of. But for the most part Id say Ajr, Abba, Huey Lewis, Billy Joel, anything 70's and 80's, and random Tiktok songs I take a liking to. My favorite author is Gordan Korman and I probably read 10 or so of his books in a year and a half which doesn't sound like a lot but it's an achievement in my books. Im in band and I play the clarinet. I wanted to play the saxophone because my mom played it but my 6th grade band teacher just gave me a clarinet and ive loved it ever since. (Would still love to play the sax tho) I'm in drama and id probably be an actor if I could do it without the fame. The only sports I actually enjoy are soccer and volleyball. But I don't even play them properly, I only play them in gym. Im planning on going into graphic design when I graduate. I love all things computers and technology, and I love to draw and being able to combine those two thing is amazing. My current favorite movies are Dead Poets Society, Mamma Mia, Spiderman into the Spider verse, Now You See Me, and Pride and Prejudice. I also really love nature documentarys, specifically ocean ones. I love the ocean alot, its probably one of my favorite topics. I really like deep sea creatures.

I can't really think of anything more. I hope this is enough lmao. I have a really weird perception of myself so when I have to describe myself I take a really long time. Also I really hope I'm not late with this. I know its the last day for ships. Ahhh that would be embarassing. You are literally the coolest. Thanks so much and have an awesome day/night!💕💕 lots of love!✨

What trope are you? Opposites Attract 💕

Your friends would describe you as scary. Peter's friends would say he's about as scary as a baby deer learning to walk. You love to read. Peter's more of the skimming and hoping for the best type. All the clubs you're part of, he had to quit because of Spiderman. You and Peter are part of different social circles. Sure, you know of him, much like the rest of the kids in your class, but you don't really know him. Not that well, at least. He's nice, nice to everyone, and that's good enough in your book. He doesn't cause trouble, he's not one of the mean kids or the ones who think High School is their whole lives. He doesn't make waves or cause trouble. You see him and Ned goofing off at lunch or in the hall, but other than that you don't really see him. And then you become lab partners.

Though Peter and Ned tried to have all the same classes, their labs got mixed up. You didn't realize you were the only ones without a partner until the teacher put you together. He was all smiles, offering jokes along the way. It wasn't the worst class you'd ever had. When you realized you'd be partners for the semester you were secretly grateful. You and Peter are both smart students. You know whatever group work you do, it won't be up to you to do it all. Through the school year, despite your many differences, you become friends. He always compliments your hair and teases you about the music you listen to. Aunt May has shown him similar movies and he may, or may not, know every word to every song in Mama Mia! You talk about your shared love of science and technology, too. You see more of him everywhere and you're happy about that. He's always willing to offer help when you're carrying too many books and of course tries to read things with your glasses on. When he's not in school, for reasons that always sound a little too detailed, you find yourself missing him. . . .

Peter doesn't realize it til the last weeks of the semester that your classes change, that he won't see you almost every day. He starts to panic, hating the idea of not seeing you anymore. Seeing you makes his days better and brighter. He loves to make you laugh with the worst jokes he can come up with. He adores how excited you get telling him about all the sea creatures you love to learn about. He never realized how you went from strangers to friends, and never wants to go back to that. You and Peter start hanging out more outside of school, beyond the homework and study groups. You spend hours watching movies and talking. You've both got big plans for the future. He doesn't want to ruin the friendship you have, bit he can't get you out of his head. If he doesn't tell you how he feels, he fears he'll never work up the courage again!

~ I hope you like it my love!!! Xoxoxo💜💖💜💖💜💖💜

#peter parker #jamnesbarnnes-ships #ships are closed!

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letsperaltiago · 4 years ago

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ok time to break my silence caused by the fact that i spent all day making this lol too many feels

so.. palm springs thoughts !! and there are manyyyy so buckle up and feeel free to hit me up with either matching or contradicting thoughts or whateveer!! i would LOVE to nerd out about this movie with someone:’)

here comes thoughts and pictures!!

we basically start off with a mr. samberg sex-scene okAYYYYY the mood is set. we love the view

nyles aka. mr. samberg is the most gorgeous man alive and it was a true pleasure to admire him for 90 minutes straight

CURLS!!????! THEY ARE UNREAL. i shall dedicate an entire post to them

Cristin Milioti is perfect for her role. her acting? *chef’s kiss* I love that she’s not the stereotypical female rom-com lead.

Her chemistry with Andy? Gosh.. Can’t believe Nyles x Sarah is my new main movie-ship!! They play off of each other SO. WELL. Their characters are equally stone cold and bitter, but then again not really, and they both portray it so well!!

“You don’t ned a leg up.” *moans* “Hold my leg up!” i SCREAMED

“Don’t you kiss me.” “Don’t you tell me what to do.” hoW DARE THEY!

Ok ur basically on love already stop it

The fact that they were just gonna fuck on a blanket on top OF ROCKS?!

but then again in this movie’s already insane universe it’s prob pretty normal:)

The overall dark, existential humor?? This is what I live and breathe for on a daily basis. Basiaclly both main characters are a BIG MOOD

Nyles not giving a shit vs. Sarah severely freaking out in the beginning is an iconic dynamic

“I am the antichrist” and then the rock falling? For a hot sec I literally thought the movie was gonna take a turn with Nyles being some magical/scientific creature that’d created the timeloop or something idkkk ahhha

Nyles in the suit... ridiculous(ly hot)

The torture methods Roy uses on Nyles and the fact that he’s not mentally scarred?? How??

On that note I love that Nyles and Sarah keep their memories even if the day starts over. Would’ve been a completely different concept if they had to “meet each other for the first time” every day and it wouldn’t’ve allowed their relationship arc to evolve as it did

Darla is the fucking shit

Nyles in the baseball cap, amirite?

THE BARTENDER TALKING ABOUT HITTING A GUY WITH THE CAR SHE’S CURRENTLY GIVING NYLES A HANDJOB IN IS COMEDIC GOLD

“You fucked Jerry Schlieffen?” “Well he fucked me.” Yes SIR. Andy Samberg’s characters are all bottoms and we’re here for it

Sarah’s tongue click and “nice try” when Nyles asks her about her sex life??

IDK WHY BUT SO GOD

Randy is hella annoying. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

THIS ENTIRE SCENE:

the fact that they both start waking up smiling because now at least they have each other 🥺😭🤯

uhm i love a good ship that’s like... best friends to lovers and the montage of them basically becoming besties killed me

this outfit Y E S:

sarah falling off the car and nyles laughing it off is relationship goals

the crashing plane I LOL’ED

okay so... big moment... the DANCING AND MATCHING OUTFITS? THEY ARE MY DREAM TEAM. Also how excited they are running away from the bar 🥺

IM POSITIVE THIS IS THE MOMENT NYLES KNOWS! LIKE HE DOESN’T ADMIT IT TO HIMSELF COMPLETELY BUT HE KNOWS

the bomb in the cake and french pirate-skit? so fucking random but i lovee it because it’s so them

*DRUM ROLL* PERHAPS MY FAVORITE MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE:

STORYLINE WISE AND VISUALLY A++++

the deep talks by the fire were SO well written. they were actually deep and genuine, allowing the characters to grow and opening up to us as viewers but also remained fun and witty

sarah trying to get nyles to admit he cares for her and him joking it off??? the flirtinggg

really wish we’d gotten to know more about what nyles meant with “it drifts away: just like they all do.” because it really seemed to trigger something within him. Like WHO “They”???

the dinosaurs lmao no comment but at least they got a cute cuddly moment

from the very first millisecond inside the tent you can CLEARLY tell Sarah is just dying to do something about them!!!

the disbelief on nyles’ face when sarah says “lets just get it over with” because she’d clearly stated he didn’t want to and even though he obviously did he’s respected it and not done anything further about it oh babey

we love some good making out:’)))

NYLES HALTING TO TAKE IN THE MOMENT EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO SCREAM INTO THE VOID

i will die for a post-sexy timez cuddle and how sarah is trying to staying awake to be besides him is just *explosion*

this has to be *the moment* she realises

and they’re both sooooo fucking happy when they wake up after damn love me like that pls

THE GROOM BOOO FUCK OFF CAN’T EVEN BE BOTHERED TO REMEMBER HIS NAME CHEATING SCUM

THIS FACE:

Baby is trying so hard and is so cute and nervous about it. SARAH LISTEN TO HIM HE LOVES YOU.

HE FELT GOOD WAKING UP BECAUSE OF YOUUUU, GIRL. DO NOT CALL IT “FUN”, SARAH

“Going to bed maybe just got a little better” 😭😭😭😭

The entire cop scene is just pure insanity, very Lonely Island and I’m here for it even though I just want Sarah to rEALLY LISTEN TO WHAT NYLES IS TRYING TO SAY

“Pain is real” oh babey that means SO MANY THINGS 🥺💔

“I followed you into that cave because I liked you!” like jake would say: don’t love how we got here but we’re going where i want

“pretentious sad boy” me

not shocked that they’ve hooked up before because c h e m i s t r y but don’t like how it got out :)))

why is nyles’ one sleeve shirt rolled up? im triggered

drinking pure vodka? oh babey its gonna be okay

WE LOVE A SMART BOI WHO RECOGNIZES HIS GIRL’S PERFUME

Sarah’s parents singing:)) i would cry too, nyles

"I love her.” “I see... That’s interesting” lmao savage

I actually really love Roy’s character. It turns out to be very humble actually and he has some insightful and lowkey poetic that lines i love. Besides that he’s hilarious.

SO the whole time i was wondering how they’d get out of the whole “same day forever”-thing, if they were to. and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they had such a logical way out of it: science. Not anything cheesy like “a true love’s kiss” or “you learned your lesson”. Pure logic and Sarah’s hard work to get there. Huge fan of this.

I will never get over how good Nyles looks waking up and Sarah is xtra pretty in that scene:’)

Nyles just wants to stay in a loop forever because it means for sure that he gets to stay with Sarah forever and I’m lowkey into it but also like lowkey LISTEN TO HER AND GO WITH HER PLAN, NYLES

“I wanna stay with you” *sniffles*

“I love you. How about that?” PRETTY FUCKING GOOD

I love Nyles’ character development. He started off so nonchalant and cold, closed off and by this point he’s the softest, smiliest in love fool I’ve ever seen and Andy does it so good. SAMBERG HEART EYES!!

“Nothing is real in here” YES SARAH UR LOVE IS

I’m taking Sarah’s asking Nyles to believe in her and leave with her as her first “I love you” because it’s very clear that she wants to leave with him rather than without.

just- this entire scene i ugh <3 <3 <3 <3

BREAKING. UP. WITH. MISTY ! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

glass of wine filled to the brim? sarah’s my type of gal

the speech was really beautiful and sweet without being too cheesy and kudos to cristin for really delivering it like a pro! especially her “abe, don’t fuck this up” like yes girl kill him, chop him to pieces with your eyes!!! also camila is such really pretty bride

nyles looks like a cockatoo here :

nyles taking the shot and smashing the glass into the ground got me 🤭😵😏🥵

“I’m your son” I SCREAM

GIVE THE MAN A WHITE HORSE DAMNIT

Gotta admit Sarah looks like a bomb (lol nu pun intended) ass super hero in her bridesmaid dress and C4-gettup

The sentence ending up being total grammatical gibberish but Nyles trying so. damn. hard is the sweetest thing ever and should and will go down in rom-com history. It’s super romantic but also well-balanced by humor and I just.. so good. This is the kind of characters and relationships I love and wanna write myself

“you’re my favorite person that i’ve ever met” 🥺🥺🥺

“i’d rather die with you than live in this world without you” WHY AM I SO SINGLE SOMEONE LOVEE ME LIKE THIS

okay so idk but “what if we get sick of each other?” “we’re already sick of each other. it’s the best.” is so so so soft, the way nyles says it like it doesn’t matter and is honestly another key moment for me: they’ve experienced basically everything imaginable during their time in the box/loop. they’ve liked, disliked, loved, hated each other and still: he loves her. the fact that nyles knows no matter what happens it won’t stop that because it’s them?? ouch my heart.

this chaotic mess of a pairing?MESSY BOMB BRIDESMAID AND CURLY-HAIR HAWAII SHIRT-BOI!! MY OTp

Them dissing Nyles’ mom on their way into potential death? that’s love, baby

the fUCKING KISSSSSSS MANNNNNNNNNN!!!! SO ICONIC AND THE EXPLOSION IN THE BACKGROUND AND JUST WE DESERVE THIS THEY DESERVE THIS EVERYONE DESERVES THISSSS!!!

NEVER OVEER THIS EVER FOREVER NEVER

Ok so I was SURE that when it faded to black that it was done and I grew super ficking frustrated because it would leave us with this “the ending is up to whatever you chose”-kinda thing kinda a la Celeste and Jesse where it just feels unresolved and I WASN’T OKAY WITH THAT. So I’m so happy we got to know that it worked and the bebes will live happuilly ever after with Nyles’ shaggy dog:’)

Their hands on each other’s knee >>>>>

all in all 100000/10

#palm springs #palm springs spoilers #andy samberg #cristin milioti #camila mendes #sarah x nyles #emilie says things #sarah #nyles #the lonely island #nyrah

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hannahcoursey · 4 years ago

Text

Wrong Place, Wrong Time Part 1

Author: Hannahc56

Word Count: 2,099

Request: The reader who lives in a small town called Wellings in Nebraska, her best friend dies and Sam and Dean go to interview her as FBI agents and she doesn’t believe they’re FBI so she follows them one day and gets caught by the Djinn they’re hunting.

PART TWO.

-----

The day was winding to a close. Your feet ached from being on them all day at work. The life of a reporter in such a small town wasn’t always exciting, but the lack of headline news forced you to work to get the details as quick as they happened. Recently a bunch of people in the town, kids and adults, had gone missing. You’d been working to uncover dirt on the circumstances of the disappearances when it took a personal turn. A few nights ago, your best friend Liz was the newest missing victim. Her face was plastered on every telephone pole and bulletin board in the area. You had already been assigned the case by the time she turned up missing, but you insisted on staying on the project. You’d spent all day interviewing her mom and dad, as well as some of the people that you’d gone to high school with. The black and white picture of her had stained the back of your eyelids and all you could see was her smile whenever you shut your eyes. Mentally, you were drained.

You shut the front door to your apartment behind you, using all of your self-control to not slide down the back of it in a mess of tears. As you kicked off your shoes, you rubbed at your temples and headed to the living room to gather yourself before making a microwave dinner, your thoughts only focused on the sleep you were in desperate need for. Just as you pulled your hair back in a low pony, headlights flooded through the front window and remained. Your apartment was right off of a busy street, but the way your stomach dropped when the headlights remained stationary gave you the feeling that they were coming for you.

You walked through your cramped living room to the sheer curtains that hardly blocked out the halogen lights and peered out. A deep rumble filled your ears, before cutting off abruptly along with the lights. You turned and looked at the clock across the room. It’s almost midnight. Who would be coming here now? You crossed the room in a few hurried steps, carefully reaching for the pepper spray that you had hidden in your cabinet for scenarios like this. As your fingers wrapped around the small cylinder tube, the doorbell rang, effectively causing your heart to beat louder in your ears. You took a breath and walked to the door, staring out the peephole. Two men whose heads almost were out of eyesight because they were so tall stood in front of your door. The taller one had shaggy hair and a distinct nose and the other one, who was only a few inches shorter at best, had short spiked hair. Both men were dressed in cheap suits. You leaned away from the door, your mind going a thousand miles a minute. The doorbell rang again and a scream almost escaped your lips. You shook it off and slowly unlocked the door, opening it only a crack. The men, who were both looking away off into the distance, quickly redirected their attention to you, their faces plain and straight.

“Uh, Ms. Y/N?” The taller one leaned a little closer and cleared his throat. You hesitated and looked between the two of them. The shorter one reached down and fished around in his pocket, before pulling out a wallet that revealed a nice shiny badge that read FBI in royal blue letters. The taller man did the same.

“We just have a few questions for you regarding the disappearance of Elizabeth Freddings.” The shorter one with the spiked hair said, his voice drastically deeper than the other man’s. You stayed where you were and hesitated. You could shut the door on them and tell them to come back another time, and a part of you found that option tempting. But the other part of you knew you wouldn’t be sleeping much because in all honesty, you hadn’t since Liz had been gone. Despite your better judgment, you opened the door and stuck a hand out to them. The taller man gave a kind smile and returned the handshake, then the shorter one, his handshake firm and lingering. You opened the door wide and motioned for them to come in.

“I’m Agent Clapton and this is Agent Harrison,” The taller one, Clapton, said as he stood awkwardly in your small hallway. He was tall, taller than your average height type of tall. But the way he carried himself was far from intimidating and you found yourself letting out a long breath. With everyone disappearing, and your reputation of sticking your nose in everyone’s business, it wasn’t the worst feeling to have two authoritative men with their watchful eye on you for a minute. You slid the pepper spray into your pocket for safe keeping.

“Hi, I’m-” You hesitated before replying, your wheels still turning, “Did you say that you’re Agent ‘Clapton’ and he’s Agent ‘Harrison’?” You eyed them up, a smile crossing your lips, “What, are you gonna tell me your name’s Eric and his is George?” You let a small laugh, your nerves taking over the chuckle that escaped your lips. The men looked at each other nervously, swallowing hard. The smile faded off your face and color rose to your cheeks. “I-I was just kidding,” You turned and walked them to the living room, “You guys just have some ironic names for partners.” You shrugged, trying to play off the tension that was in the air. You motioned for them to sit on the only couch that was in the living room and you walked to the kitchen to grab them glasses of water. “I’m really glad you’re looking into Lizzie,” You yelled from the kitchen as you pulled the cups from the cabinet and filled them with water.

“Yeah, we asked around and heard the two of you were close,” The one with the deeper voice replied. You put in a few ice cubes and walked back to the living room with their refreshments in hand. Agent Clapton was sitting politely, while Agent Harrison slowly made his way around the room, inspecting the nook and crannies that the room had to offer. You walked up to him and handed him the glass and then the other one to Clapton. They both gave you a small nod of thanks and continued on with their questions.

“We were the closest - She’s my best friend.” You stated as you leaned on the small arched entryway between the kitchen and living room. You looked down at your hands and tried your hardest to calm your anxious mind. Harrison was looking at you when you moved your gaze back up.

“Was she acting weird before her disappearance? Or talking to anyone new, that you knew of?” Harrison asked, his eyes in this lighting now a bright green. You shrugged, thinking about the last time the two of you spoke.

“Nope. Nothing like that.” You said simply. Harrison nodded slow as if he was mentally recording it to remind himself of later. Neither of the men were writing notes or taking your direct quotes. Maybe it was different for the FBI.

“And when was the last time you saw her?” Clapton asked from his spot on the couch.

“I-I think it was 5 days ago or something like that. It was Saturday night, we’d just left this hole in the wall biker bar outside of town. It wasn’t really her thing but, of course, I dragged her along,” You sighed and played with the hem of your shirt, “Anyhow, I got into it with a guy I’d been interviewing at the bar about something on his record I’d dug up on him and she slipped out the door.” You recalled the night, remembering how she texted you her goodbye. “Last I heard from her, she texted me saying she’d gone home and caught a cab back to her house.” You finished as you wiped your clammy hands on your high-waisted work slacks and crossed your arms in front of you, the conversation making you increasingly uncomfortable. I can forget about sleeping tonight.

“And is that something she’d usually do? Just sneak off and go home by herself?” This time it was Harrison asking. You shrugged lightly.

“I mean, not really? But I also get a little in over my head when I get the ball rolling.” You admitted, “So it’s not that far off that she got tired of waiting and booked it.”

“What do you mean by getting in over your head? Why were you interviewing him?” Harrison asked, his voice suspicious.

“I-I’m a journalist,” You put your hands up in the air, “God, I should’ve led with that,” You said more to yourself than to the men in front of you, “Hence the deadbolt on the door and the jumpiness. The guy had run his bike off the road more times than I could count and I’m a naturally curious person, I just had some questions for him.” You informed them. The men looked at one another, silence filling the room. You cleared your throat. “Listen, I had my eyes on that guy the entire night, he’s clean in terms coming in contact with Lizzie. He came nowhere near her, it was just me.” You reassured them. The taller one stood up and straightened his jacket.

“And you’re sure that there wasn’t anything strange?” He inquired, his brows crunching.

“I-I’m not so sure what you mean by strange, I talk to strange people all the time and Lizzie wasn’t anything out of the ordinary as far as I noticed and I could read her like a book.” You replied, trying to satisfy his question.

“Strange as in, weird cold spots or anything that smells like sulfur,” Harrison butted in, now standing next to Clapton, “Just strange.” He stated, as if he asked something as usual as the weather. You looked between them and shook your head slow.

“U-Uh no, nothing sulfurs related.” You answered, your mind starting to turn. Clapton took a small white card out from his pocket and handed it over,

“Alright, well, thank you for your time, if you hear anything please don’t hesitate to reach out, alright?” He offered with a tight-lipped smile. You returned one hesitantly and shook each of their hands. You followed them closely as they walked through the front door and shut it slightly, just enough to see out of.

You watched as they walked right past the Ford Explorer and the Crown Victoria parked in the lot and slid into the front seat of what looked to be a beautifully kept Chevrolet. An Impala, maybe? They started it up, the engine rumbling to life and surely waking some of the neighbors, as it pulled out and drove off. You could hear the engine’s hum as it drove down the road and out of sight. You closed the door the rest of the way and locked it. No way in hell does a FBI Agent drive a classic car like that.

You turned the lights off and walked to your bedroom, stripping as you made your way to your dresser to change into something to sleep in. Once you were situated, you pulled your laptop out and checked the time. It was past midnight now. So much for sleep. You looked at the card that Clapton had given you that you’d set on the table next to your bed and inspected it. The number looked peculiar, the area code was unfamiliar to you, starting with 785. You popped the code into your browser and “Lebanon, Kansas” came up in large, bold letters. The last time you checked, there weren’t FBI offices running outside of Kansas. Could these be undercover cops? You thought about it. No, that wouldn’t make sense. They still wouldn’t issue a mint condition Impala like that for an undercover case. You grazed over every fact you could think of in your exhausted state. Their cheap suits. The Impala. The late night visit. You sat back in your bed and pushed your laptop off to the side and shut your eyes in an attempt to focus.

Then it hit you.

They weren’t FBI Agents.

---

Part 2 here.

Hope you enjoyed!

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storyofmychoices · 4 years ago

Text

An Adoption Story

[Mal Volari x Daenarya Masterlist] [Mal’s Orphanage Series]

Characters: Mal Volari, Daenarya (F!MC, human), Rayden (OC), Lydo (OC), Gareth (OC), Nia Ellarious, Mr. and Mrs. Silvius (OCs), Beary (Rayden’s stuffed bear that Daeny bought him) Book/Setting: Blades of Light & Shadow (post book at Mal’s Orphanage) Word Count: +/- 1,500 Synopsis: The hardest part of running an orphanage is the adoption part. Emotions run high when their first visitors come looking to adopt a child.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“Miss Daenarya?” Rayden whispered solemnly, his grasp on Beary tightening.

The cacophonous hum of the crowd buzzing about the busy streets of White Tower almost drowned out his quiet plea. Almost. Although they were not presently in danger, Daenarya had developed a keen sense of hearing, keeping her ears trained for causes of concern. Her hand instinctively drifted around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her safely at his tone. “Yes, Rayden?”

The young boy’s head hung low. His dark, shaggy hair covered his eyes. “Nevermind.”

Daenarya guided them away from the crowd’s movements and toward the town fountain. Taking a spot on the smooth stone surface surrounding the cool, sparkling waters, she tapped the space beside her.

Rayden shook his head, remaining in front of her.

She shifted on the edge of the ledge, moving closer to him. Her delicate fingers curled under his chin lifting his face to hers. His dark eyes shimmered like the fountain, both reflecting the sun in their waters.

Swiftly, Daenarya brushed his hair out of his face searching his body for any signs of harm. “Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? What’s wrong, sweetheart? Talk to me, Rayden?”

He sniffled, his eyes closing as the first tear slipped out.

“Whatever it is, it’s okay. You can tell me,” she promised.

“It’s not.” He whimpered before throwing his arms (and Beary) around her neck.

Daenarya’s heart grew heavier unsure of what was causing his pain. Rayden had been nothing but a ball of light in their lives since first meeting him a few months back. This was quite unlike him. She held him close; her hands gently massaged his back, attempting to soothe him. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Rayden buried his head in her neck, his warm tears wetting her skin. “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to lose you. ”

“You won’t, sweetheart. Where’s this coming from?”

“I like it here with you and Mr. Mal. I don't want to go someplace else.” He clung tighter to her.

Daenarya’s face fell in realization.

Three weeks earlier…

“This is Gareth. Gareth, these are my friends, Mal and Daenarya.” The Priestess practically glowed as she made the introductions. “They’re going to be taking care of you for a little while. Is that okay?”

The little boy, about seven-years-old, nodded. His dark eyes were sunken against his deep olive skin. His voice was soft, “Are you my new mom and dad?”

Daenarya’s eyes closed at the question. Nia had mentioned that Gareth’s parents were victims of the Shadow’s court's corruption of the Temple of Light. He had been living on the streets outside the Temple for almost a year when she found him.

Mal clapped his hand gently on the boy’s shoulder bending over in front of him to get on his level. “Sorry, kid...but, that doesn’t mean we won’t care for you any less. This is a safe place. I promise we will take very good care of you.”

Gareth nodded sadly. “Do you ever think I’ll have a mom and dad again?”

“I hope so!” Daenarya offered, moving beside them. “It’s our job to help you find a family and take care of you until then.”

“Does that sound okay?” Mal questioned with a raise of his brow. “Hang out here with us until we find you someplace better?”

“I guess that would be okay,” he agreed, a half-hearted smile gracing his lips.

One Week Earlier…

“Thank you very much for agreeing to see us,” a noblewoman offered, looking around the room. “You have a quaint little establishment here.”

Mal rolled his eyes at the low level of disdain in her tone. Daenarya nudged him discreetly, reminding him to be on his best behavior.

“It’s our pleasure to have you here. Nia spoke very highly about you and your husband, Mrs. Silvius,” Daenarya replied warmly. “You’ll have to forgive us, we’re rather new at this.”

“As are we, my dear.” The contemptuous tone he had noted earlier in her voice disappeared as a hopeful smile broke across her face. “May we meet the children?”

“Of course. They’re upstairs playing. If you will just follow me.” Daenarya led them upstairs. She had prepped the children to let them know that a potential adopter would be visiting. While they hadn’t really understood what that meant, they did understand that it could mean a new home for one of them.

At first, the children were nervous, sticking together rather than speaking with the Silviuses. After a couple of hours, the four children were happily sharing stories and showing the two newcomers all of the things they loved.

“They’re all amazing children,” Mr. Silvius noted, once the adults had retreated to discuss the visit. “I can’t imagine what they’ve gone through. You do wonderful work with them. You should be proud.”

“Thank you. We are.” Mal wrapped an arm around Daenarya’s waist. “I know first hand how hard it is to make it on your own at such a young age and the dangers you face. I couldn’t stand by and watch other children face what I had to. We don’t take this lightly.”

“We understand,” Mrs. Silvius agreed. “It is clear you care deeply for all of the children.”

“We do,” Daenarya answered. “We’ve grown to love them all, which makes this harder, but we know finding permanent homes for the children is what’s best for them and that is all we really want.”

“I’m happy to hear that. I think we’ve made our decision.” Mrs. Silvius looked to her husband who smiled in agreement. “My husband has always wanted a son. All three of your boys are amazing, but I think Rayden is our choice. His smile lights up the room.”

Daenarya’s heart dropped to her stomach. She felt Mal’s grip around her tightening. They knew it was always a possibility, but they weren’t ready for their journey with the brothers to end. She swallowed hard, fighting back the tears threatening to form. “Rayden is a wonderful choice. He and Lydo are incredible. You couldn’t have chosen better.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Silvius glanced at her husband once more who shook his head. “We would only be taking Rayden. Lydo is sweet, but taking on two children might be more than we can handle right now.”

Before Daenarya had a chance to process it, Mal stepped forward. “Then you can’t have him,” His voice was stern, but not harsh; there was a tenderness there. “I grew up on the streets, but the one thing that got me through was my sister. She was my world; I’m not sure I would have made it without her. Rayden and Lydo have been through more than you could possibly understand. They are the only family each other has left. I won’t allow them to be separated.”

Mrs. Silvius looked toward Daenarya. “I’m sure there is some arrangement that could be made. Perhaps if we make a sizable donation?”

“No, I’m sorry. As Mal said, we won’t separate them. There’s nothing more important than family.”

“I see. Will you let us think about this?” Mr. Silvius questioned.

“Of course, we know that this is a difficult decision and one that will affect the rest of your lives and the lives of the child or children you welcome into your family. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Present Time…

Her lips turned up as she hugged him closer. “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying right here with us.”

“But those people, they took Gareth away. I don’t want to go,” he repeated.

“Those nice people are going to give Gareth a home and a place to live and grow up. They’re going to be his new family. He’s going to have a mommy and daddy who love and take care of him again.” Daenarya stroked his hair softly. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”

He shook his head. “I like it with you and Mr. Mal. Beary and Lydo do too.”

“I know, Sweetheart. I like it like that too,” she admitted. “We’re just going to have to enjoy all of our time together, okay? But, I promise you that no matter what happens, Mal and I will always be here for you and Lydo. Okay? Always! No matter what!”

She held him safely in her arms until his sobs subsided.

Later that evening...

“Mal…” Her voice shook, as her nerves got the better of her. There was a nagging in the pit of her stomach and it had been growing since the first day he arrived. His confession today only made it worse. “We may have a problem.”

“Daeny, what’s wrong?” His strong hand caressed her cheek, as he pulled her in immediately noting her concern.

“I know our job is to provide these kids with a home until we find them a better one… and I know we can’t do this with every kid, but….,” she tried composing herself. “I don’t want them to be up for adoption. I don’t want to lose him—either of them.”

“What are you talking about? Who?”

“Rayden and Lydo.”

A low laugh rumbled from his lips as he exhaled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t want to lose them either,” he confessed, breathing easier. “I thought it was just me. There’s just something about those boys. Maybe it’s because I see myself in Lydo—”

“I want to adopt them,” she blurted out quickly before he could finish his thought. She clapped her hands over her mouth. She had meant to be more subtle or lead into it.

“Oh, my beautiful Kit.” Mal brushed a kiss on her forehead before pulling her snuggly in his arms. “I do, too!”

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Perma tags: @lilyoffandoms ; @raleighcarrera ; @mfackenthal ; @the-soot-sprite ; @virtuallytakenby ; @zeniamiii ; @kaavyaethanramsey; ; @xjustin-ethansgirliex ; @caseyvalentineramsey; @trappedinfanfiction; @anotherbeingsworld ; @tyrils-star ; @nikki-2406

@choicesficwriterscreations

Blades Tags: @princess-geek ; @brightpinkpeppercorn ; @missameliep ; @mvalentine; @walkerswhiskeygirl ; @nyastarlight ; @edgiestwinter

#Mal Volari #Nia Ellarious #Mal Volari x MC #bolas #blades #blades of light and shadow #fan fiction #Daenarya #mal x daenarya #the orphanage #lydo #rayden #gareth

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