#i need that monocular so bad

[usertransducks]

My mom got me a Donald bag for Christmas that’s big enough for my smaller sketchbooks without getting in the way so I added my only duck pins I have so far

[blindbeta]

You can ignore this if need be but, do you have any resources in regards to writing a character with uneven vision? As in one eye sees prefectly fine, while the other still has some sight, but anything he sees out of it is so blurred that it's functionally useless for him. I'm unsure if this would function in the same way as monocular vision or would function in a different way, and most of the things I look up assume total blindness in the bad eye.

He would have a lot of the same experiences as those with monocular vision. I can’t say for sure what falls under the definition myself, or if his blurred vision could be corrected by glasses, but I’ll do my best to give suggestions for your actual question. He would still struggle with depth perception, aim, and reaching for objects. For example, people with monocular vision (whether their other eye is blind with residual vision or perfectly sighted) may have difficulty pouring into containers or using stairs.

He may also experience disorientation or fear of something hitting that side. Depending on how adjusted he is to his vision, crowds may not be entirely comfortable for him.

I think looking up information on monocular vision would be beneficial in this case.

Also, he might still enjoy looking at colors with his blurred vision.

I also wondered if that eye might get tired more easily, as using blurred vision involves more effort. This is common for blind people with residual vision, so it might apply here. While he isn’t blind, he may identify as visually impaired.

Hopefully someone will share their experiences in the notes!

[ckret2]

So did bill’s body come with any allergies, or did the Axolotl make him a perfect form?

I've mentioned this before, way back—more than once, but that was the easiest post for me to find—but the Axolotl made Bill's body as healthy and normally-abled as possible because he KNEW Bill would be so, so bad at running a human body and he didn't need any extra disadvantages.

Like Bill detests having to sleep, stays awake as long as possible, and makes himself constantly miserably sleep-deprived because of it; the fact that he has hair at all makes him nauseous and the only thing worse is not having hair; his trillion-year-old mind is SO hardwired for monocular vision that spending too long using binocular vision gives him a raging migraine so he can only do it a few hours before having to put on an eyepatch; he's so unused to being constrained by gravity that he keeps stumbling into furniture and tripping down the stairs...

He's not meant to be in a human body! EVERYTHING about this is a miserable experience for him! The mere simple tiny involuntary acts of breathing and blinking feel wrong and unnatural and remind him he's trapped in an alien body, his soul smothered and suffocating beneath a blanket of meat.

If he discovered he had something like a goddamn peanut allergy he'd go "that isn't even a mandatory part of the human experience, that was totally optional, you could have not done that to me but you chose to anyway." He's depressed enough already, do you think he has enough energy left in him to stand discovering that his savior/jailer loaded down his body with surprise secret disadvantages just because—I don't know—for funsies?

The only thing letting him trudge onward is knowing that he's only so miserable because there's no possible way he could have not been miserable within a human body. This isn't malice. He still has hope of improving his situation. Finding out that any part of his body was deliberately designed to make things harder for him would break him. Why bother anymore—his suffering was chosen for him, and if that's the case, then there's no hope for him to get out of this, is there? He's just a spectacle for someone else's schadenfreude. He'd completely give up. He'd eat half a jar of peanut butter while flipping off the axolotl in the living room fish tank.

So no, no allergies. Couldn't risk it.

[casspurrjoybell-21]

Pirate Chains - Volume 2 - Against Tides

*Warning Adult Content*

Chapter 9 - Frenzy

"Where the fuck is it?"

I twisted my hands in Lou's shirt and yanked him closer, my eyes glaring daggers at him. "I have no damn idea. He was asleep, in your tent, since like two or three hours and he never left." "You were in charge. I left you in charge and it was your responsibility to prevent this from happening." Lou stared me with fear and confusion. I knew the fucking bastard for years now and he has never lied to me. I pushed him back releasing his shirt. He almost falls but catches his balance. I look around, scanning the camp, the eyes of my crew members, anything that could show a hint of a mistake or treason. My mind couldn't think anymore, all I could hear was something inside me panicking and repeating 'no no no this can't be happening' like some fucking idiot in denial. I had to stop that annoying fucking voice in my head that was blocking my thoughts and driving me insane. So, I did that first thing that cleared in my head. I punched the closest bastard around me that I could reach. I didn't even register who the fuck it was, just a pathetic unconscious ass-hole with a bloody busted nose. I came back from town moments ago. I was so fucking excited, I had sold all the weapons easier than I had expected and actually had some time to buy several things. When I went to my tent, it was empty. I actually never though of it at first but when I walked around the camp and then inside every other tent, blood drained from my face as I realized that Nyx was actually missing. I hadn't even suspected this might happen. Not after everything that happened yesterday but now that it's a reality, I couldn't help the bad feeling that invaded me It was as if he was in danger. I need to figure this out immediately. This is a fucking Shadow Island. If he could face all kinds of trouble at every corner. He's young, handsome and doesn't give off a dangerous vibe if he crosses a rogue or a black market merchant, they'll fucking have him for lunch. "You," I pointed at Yeager. "You go and get that whore Izel. I need her kneeling before me in less than thirty fucking minutes." "Aye Captain." Then I turn to Armpits. "Go and check for him on the ship and get back here, fast. "He couldn't have reached the ship." "You'll fucking hold your rogue or I swear to God I'll rip it out of your fucking throat."Lou took a step back and went completely silent. I had never threatened him before this day but until now he had never screwed up either. "And you had better pray that we find him or you'll be the first I'll be coming after." He stiffened even more and took a fucking vow of silence. The rest of the crew avoided being too close to me. Seeing how I treated Lou was an omen for them. They kept their distance while remaining cautious with their words and attentive to my orders. Maren didn't utter a single word. He searched the entire camp several times already. He usually escaped me whenever I was angry but now he was standing next to me. He was holding his monocular and kept watching the Martina. As soon as Armpits arrived, Maren handed me the eye-piece. A few minuted later Armpits climbed off the ship and Jay waved his arms in big moves, motioning a negative answer.

[decimakitty]

Seeing in the dark is also much harder, because people rely on their depth perception for it, and without that stuff gets real hard

man this really helps explain why I suddenly critfailed walking at night after my stroke

(though stroke vision limits are Weird and probably different from straightforwardly having a bad eye, since eye still works and is still connected properly but brain struggles with the idea that anything to the right of my nose exists, and gets wonky about processing the visual data, which is worse the farther right a thing is)

Also wanna add (idk how much this helps non-stroke monocular vision, but):

20. Walking with a cane held on my bad side/ timed with my left leg (not how you're usually supposed to use a cane) helps a lot with "where is the wall?? where is the FLOOR??? is my foot about to hit the floor or not?" b/c it basically helps me ~triangulate relative positions of everything. Also tbh reduces the chance I'll fall when I inevitably trip over something, which also helps with confidence walking. And when stepping forward with my left I can swing it in front of my right in a way that's likely to catch noticeable tripping hazards. (People know about canes for the totally blind but that I use one to compensate for one-sided limits takes a looot of people by surprise.)

21. Just making myself walk more confidently even if I theoretically know I'm on a flat surface reeeaaally doesn't work, unless I'm super familiar with that surface. Like, imagine you're in a hallway when all the lights go out, and you know there's items on the floor or stairs around here somewhere but you can't remember precisely where, and the fact that it's been totally flat so far isn't really evidence against stairs or random objects on the floor. So you have very little good information about how far your foot is from the surface you're about to step on! And someone who can see in the dark telling you it's fine, you don't need to check the floor with a stick, just walk more confidently, they didn't trip, really isn't as helpful as that person thinks. (And it's difficult to mentally track objects you saw earlier but can't currently see, esp if your depth perception is bad and you're moving.)

22. Driving for me is possible + legal (after like 4 solid months of OT focused on that), but involves scanning a LOT. I also hug the right lane, and try to only turn at lights if I can at all help it - doubly so if I'm turning to the left, so I don't have to worry as much about oncoming traffic from my bad side. I either only drive well-known routes or put a lot of pre-planning into driving routes.

Stuff about having monocular vision that people don’t know (in my experience)

1. You only ever sit on one side of a room. (Especially if you’re in class) If you’re blind in your left eye like me, you sit to the left of the room so your right eye has the greatest scope, and there’s not much to your left to look at.

2. Harder time seeing past obstacles. People with two eye vision have the perception of both their eyes blend together for one image. Without this, you only have one eye, so you’re don’t get to see past obstacles the same way. For example if something is blocked for your right eye and not for your left, you can still see it through your left. For people with monocular vision this isn’t possible.

3. People don’t walk on the side of your blind eye. It may just be me, but because I’m blind in my left eye I tend to accidentally bump into people if they’re on my left. So when people walk beside me I naturally go so they’re to my right, or they do, without it being discussed.

4. 3D movies are headaches. Even though we’ve progressed past the red-blue type glasses, 3D just doesn’t work well for monocular vision. (And you know those fun optical illusions? A lot of them don’t work at all- nothing happens!)

5. Things like grabbing a pencil without looking at it are extremely difficult. (Due to lack of depth perception, you have a hard time discerning where things are in 3D space). This also stretches to having bad posture and balance. Meanwhile, things that are flat are relatively easy.

6. You turn your head when you’re looking at something, so your good eye is focused on it. This includes tilting your head at worksheets, TVs, and computer screens- and also people.

7. Seeing in the dark is also much harder, because people rely on their depth perception for it, and without that stuff gets real hard

8. The headaches. Most people with blindness don’t experience total blindness, but instead low vision, where their vision is not able to be used in a way that’s helpful. Your brain tries to merge the images, or use your bad eye to see something in the peripheral. This just makes your head hurt. Much like people who need time to adjust to having glasses due to the headache, getting headaches is common because your vision is always at odds.

9. More susceptible to eye damage. Since you’re not overly aware of your bad eye, you may not notice if the sun is shining directly at it. I tend to squint with my bad eye whenever I’m outside, without thinking about it. Additionally, you’re more wary of anything that could damage your good eye. It’s the only one, so you gotta be careful with it.

10. Also, it makes things really, really weird if there’s a bright light from one side but not from another. There are often after images that float in my vision.

11. Looking at things that are moving can be hard. I can focus on an object, but if a camera is panning in some direction without being focused on one thing in particular, I just stop being able to make sense of what I’m seeing. It becomes very jarring.

12. Sometimes it’s not that your eye necessarily has anything wrong with it, but that your optic nerve isn’t fully connected. So the eye may be healthy, but your brain shut it off, and the connection between the light coming in your eye, and the way the brain interprets it, never fully formed. Funnily enough, I’ve heard that this can cause the connection between your good eye and your brain to be stronger, as it is with mine. For some people it’s the opposite, and it makes both of their eyes worse. Peoples experiences can really differ.

[c-haku]

Starscream + Hook

(TFEW Fun Novel 1/2)

‡!‡ PAINS OF HONOR ‡!‡

-1-

There are flickering banners of evil in the smoke plume.

Even that day, the Decepticon defense base was filled with loud driving noises. Many soldiers, both healthy and sick, are driven by constant mobilization.

In the midst of all this, something came roaring out of the command room with a resounding roar.

Some of the soldiers looked on in complete ignorance, but some of the breathless soldiers turned to the direction of the strange event. It was in the direction of the command room. In another section that has been hit by stray bullets like a shiden, you can hear yelling, "Again."

There is only about one person who dares to touch the wrath of the petulant tyrant of the Decepticon seated in the command room.

The red and blue aircraft, which failed to make a full transformation in an attempt to escape quickly, licks the earth and makes a fawning sound in front of the superior white iron fuselage. The identity of the escaping aircraft is Starscream. It was filled by Megatron, which had the advantage of the field.

"The command center I had so desperately repaired …… It looks like a porous lunar surface because of you, Master Megatron." "Starscream, you're so lucky fellow. Is that all there is to the will?" "Hehe, What a shame. He says he has no intention of dying before you." Starscream stands up flickering like a vanishing mirage, but his back crouches unexpectedly due to a black-smoking balancer malfunction.

"―Well, I understand. It is better to DIE GRACEFULLY." In a few moments, Starscream, spitting on a fate that would turn him into dust in the air, stares at the fusion cannon that has grazed his nose. "I can't believe the days when you left the gun barrel to me now."

Starscream tried to shake the tyrant's heart, if only slightly― Megatron, pointed at the muzzle, approaches from close range without moving his crimson eyes. "You are the king of decepticons, Sir Megatron. Why don't you take a long vacation for a change? You don't have to go back as it is, if you like." At the end of his transformation, Starscream had an ulterior motive. However, he never stopped giving up and giving up. Megatron, about to make a mute decision, relentlessly opens his mouth. "Bah. There are talking scraps that are no match for even a transform. There is no need for concern. If it weren't for you, this Decepticon would be a little more peaceful."

Shockwave nodded coolly as he watched the brief episode.

"I had 30 cycles against Megatron, he said. Finally, I will honor his last moments. …… But, we've lost 30 cycles of finite time. "

The ruthless monocular doesn't become anything but sentimental, and it hurtles back to the communications room.

The Soundwave, observing the war situation, then adds "20 of those cycles were mostly just flying around. In short, the uncouth battle is hard to watch. " Soundwave that uses both public and private tones. The cassettron condor that perched on his shoulder also seemed to be chirping mockingly.

"Don't tell everyone, the cold-blooded junk staff will come out in disguise, so remember now!! Soundwaves, condors, especially the――"

Thus. Without waiting for the lines that make the world of Starscream fleeting, a barrel mercilessly smirking is shot. The speed of light brought the vanity clown's play to an end. Starscream's consciousness diffuses and is forced to shut down. until he fell into a golden sleep and resurfaced in another dizzying universe.

-2- No dawn for the bad guys

*Wake up golden sleep*

Bad-taste goes off in the brain. Suddenly I saw an old-fashioned line of Cybertron in the back of Starscream's dormant drive.

*WAKE UP*

It's been a long time since I left the Autobot army myself, but even in a deep sleep, the "Call of Mother" deep in the chain of command carved into its memory seems to be one that won't shut up.Starscream gently wakes up, feeling the pulse of the self-conscious spark again as the red curtain rises.

The loss of airplanes like the one above was not enough once or twice. Therefore, his meager fortune is at best a near-death experience.

Nothing had been left to the dual personality-like boombox or the monocular, which would not seem to be running the same oil.

To mention the fact that Starscream, who was on the run at the time, had run out of calculations, he took advantage of the fact that Megatron's fused canon cannons were used only a limited number of times and could not always be stopped at maximum power.

Perhaps not long after that, the plane had not decayed and it was not a dark morgue surrounded by wreckage. It is, for example, a projection room of memories. The spark that is the body remembers the event, even though the plane is nothing more than a terminal. Even as the consciousness filled with the shock of death closed, the memory circuit continued to accumulate the cyber-images it unconsciously captured.

Particularly impressive Memory :

It was that Megatron, whom he abhorred, did not swear or even give an eye to the accidental death during Starscream―suspended animation. Just sitting on a throne of alloy iron, with his heavy legs crossed, he stared down at the flamboyant soldiers. Soldiers on the sidelines began repairing the command room in a vacuum of murderous intent.

Short time later, the condor is pecking away at the shattered pieces as if to add to the bombarded Starscream junk.

Further down the log, I could still see Hook occasionally muttering, "As tenacious as an underground channel intron, "as he picked the scattered parts of the damaged Starscream at his fingertips, agonizing as a puzzle piece.Leaving aside the recollections that disappear like unrealized dreams, where would this place be if it weren't for junk?

As Starscream sat up with the creaking sensation of his finally coalesced body, he thought wishfully. But there was something about the rebooted thoughts that surged in as if they had been impeded by jamming. Like the terrible dizziness and vomiting of my first interstellar flight when I was a private―for a time I felt a hunger for life-sustaining energon.

"…… Hmm, Hook. talk straight to the point. Where is Megatron's guy? "

Hook looked back as he carved through what appeared to be a red wreckage of his adversary, an Autobot, in a modest, minimally powered treatment room.

"You woke up three megacycles too late. If you're Megatron, you're off to a strategy meeting."The set of medical tools is neatly arranged. Rather than catch sight of it, the smell sensor was tickled by a strange smell emanating from the remains of the Autobot, a mixture of burned energon, waste oil and decaying alloy.

"Hook――GIVE ME ENERGON. It's not that kind of dirt, it's a brand new guy. And ventilate while you're at it." "There lot of orders. Was it that delicate, Starscream?" "You want that dominant hand broken right now?" "This the one who reassembled the ruined General Staff body parts that had been reduced to scrap." "Then I'll convert that hand into something more usable. It's like high-grade plating that can withstand real space for a long time―" "Decline."

Hook, who is both a medic and an engineer, interrupts a watered demolition job, I took off my gloves, wet with Energon's blood. Starscream places the Energon recovery pack on the awake examining table. In the meantime, Starscream magnifies the sharp visual sensors characteristic of aviation. Most of the parts here and there in the body of the red Autobot have been stripped away, so it's impossible to read correctly from form to gender. It's not clear if it was due to death before or after his death, but the autobot was leaking.Not as much as the shock waves and soundwaves of my eccentric colleagues,

Looking into the body, Starscream thinks it would be a shame if the wreck was an Autobot woman.

"According to Megatron's satellite feed, we were notified that the defeated Autobot soldiers would be executed soon. What a sight to see. If you stay healthy and original, you get good material." Hook, who said so matter-of-factly, tried to pass by Starscream, but the exit was blocked by his suddenly lifted, tough legs. "That would be convenient." "Get out of the way." Hook tried to push away. "Ask him, stubborn man. That is, there is no one at Decepticon Base. Great new leader as a truism, even I. That's more kind advice than me. Megatron is destroyed without a trace, except for the strong enemy he admits. There's no entertainment in ex-gladiator." Starscream, his face rolled up with exaggerated translation, arrogantly puts his hand to his waist and lowers his legs, which had blocked his way. "Then why did you survive, Starscream? You should think about this."

Needless to say. Because his remaining original self was no match for Megatron -- something Starscream, who kept quiet out of self-respect, interpreted favorably as an opportunity to make a comeback. Then I change the subject.

"More important duty than execution, Glenn. Who allowed this half-hearted repair that is not like you?" With that rebuke, he sat down on a steel table before Hook, the hygienist, refused.

At first glance, Starscream appeared to be acting nimbly, but deep lacerations can be seen in his flight pits and wings as he was exposed to pale indirect lighting. "Then rest. I'll gladly treat you, even if it's a non-combat injury." Starscream said to Hook, who seemed taken aback. "This is an honorable injury. I'm afraid I'm not good at being quiet."

With the repair tools in hand, Hook, in a lukewarm reply, looked out at the cracked cockpit and the damage to the upper wing pointed to by a nimbly tilted Starscream.

"Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be getting serious. At this level, the repair materials we have now will do." "I see. Let it be." Hook touches the wing of Starscream and a well-formed eyebrow comes in.

"Make it quick,"

Hook once approached Starscream with a renovation to improve its durability, but Starscream himself seemed uncomfortable with the act of being touched by its vaunted aircraft.Factional strife is a daily decepticon, but it's a miracle it doesn't get serious anymore.

The evil army Decepticons who crush the strong and crush the weak. While not particularly strict about the hierarchy―thanks to a change of top management at every turn―Hook would like to pay some respect to his inherent recklessness and excessive chatter before referring to one of the Decepticon's top executives, Starscream, as an aviation aide.

Still, he's only interested in Starscream as a one-patient guy because he can brush up on quick fixes and get an aviation-style technical system. More to the point, within the realm of Decepticon powers, where there are no small number of savage temperaments, Starscream was one of the few jokers' regulars' . Although Hook has seen a variety of soldiers in the interstellar wars between the Cybertrons, he is now the only one who can be called a talkative old hand in the short-lived air force. On the other hand, even Starscream, who at first cursed at the unaccustomed pain of repair, is visiting, perhaps because of his higher injury rate than before, and partly because of Hook's incomparable suture hand, which is less painful. The war-worn coating techniques of airframes, as well as the microscopic frame-distortion of the transform-driven race, would endure later.

"As one would expect from an aviation staff. Let's admit we're at least number one in injury rate. Live well every time." "Besides, your electronic medical record has accumulated a lot. You'll be bored during the treatment. Shall I look it over?"

"…… That sounds interesting," Starscream muttered, "I knew I could lend it," He snatched the electronic PAD from Hook, who looked up unexpectedly. "Hey, what the heck is this ―my drawing!?" Starscream unintentionally opens his eyes. "Come on, Hook. I know you love me on Good Night, but this is bad taste. " ―Good Night? Hook tilts his head. "Don't be too proud of yourself. That's a patient X-ray I transcribed while in sleep mode. " He said, with a look of innocence. "I don't know! Show me your plans, too. If it's a patient list, I guess they have Megatron data as well. I know the weakness and exploit it." Starscream distorts his bright red eyes at Hook's joking behavior, which makes him so hard to believe.

"No, Megatron's information is top secret. After all, he has a lot of secrets. If you insist, one of the weaknesses is you." "Ah―? I just closed my hearing circuit and couldn't hear. I was out in the air as soon as I could, and the barrel of my gun was aching. " He threatens to make it look dark, but Hook is nonchalant. "I see. Is that why you don't listen to people." With a restorative laser scalpel in hand, Hook slightly gouged out the pain nerves inside Starscream's wings.

"TUNK" "AAAAAAAH!?"

Afterward, the sound of bitter anguish reverberates.

To be continued Part 2

[neptunefairytales]

Hi! NeptuneFairytales here! I have never done a proper presentation post since I first log here years ago, so why not used the new pinned option to do it?

Read under before interacting:

I'm a 30+ years old french girl. I mostly post about my fandoms and the stuff I like.

I’m queer, but I’m not telling you which flavour, it’s more fun that way, good luck with that! Partially disable (monocular vision) and probably some sort of autism in the mix.

-Magical Girls and Anime fan: Sailor Moon (my first and ultimate anime, Sailor Neptune and Harumichi lover), Precure,Mermaid Melody, Tokyo Mew Mew,  CC Sakura, Puella MMM,, Love Live!, Pokemon, Rozen Maiden... -Love cartoons: MLP (all generation!), Winx Club, Over the garden wall, Gravity Falls, EAH, ...  -Disnerd: Love them all (favourites are The little mermaid and Alice in wonderland but I love all the princesses and the talking animals. Also Cassunzel is life). Disneyland Paris citizen ^^ -TV Shows:  Doctor Who (favs: 13. 12. 10. OTP: Thoschei and Thasmin ^^),  Good Omens, OUAT (Evil Regal and Swen forever), Broadchurch, Merlin, ... -PotterHead: Hufflepuff pride! (Fuck JKR! Yes you could still like HP while hating her! HP is now our, and we can make it as queer and respectful as we want it to be!) -Lover of animals, specially Horses and Cats (also Warrior Cats fan here!), also dinosaurs...

I collect all sort of toys: Dolls (Disney, MH, Asian compagnies...) and Figures (Anime, Disney, Schleich, Sylvanian Families, all gen of MLP...) and love taking pictures with them and making stories with them! I am not an agere blog (well I think? I don’t feel adult at all, but don’t have the need to regress?) but those who are are welcome!

I draw (sometimes, when I remember how to...), you can request little things ‘same with toys pics, you can give me ideas to do)

I love Fairy kei, lolita fashion, Steampunk, dark and light academia, princess vibes and cottagecore. I love nature (autumn enthousiast) and fantasy (mermaids, fairies and witchy stuff).

Feel free to follow me if you like any of those things! (it’s ok to like this post but do not repost it.) Thanks!

All the post tagged "my stuff" and "my art" are mine, so please, do not repost them (and do not reblog if you use it for kink!). On some occasions nsfw but only light or funny stuff (and always tagged appropriatly) Not spoilers free of any sort (but I tag everything!) Don’t be affraid to reblog and comment under my post, don’t hide in the tags! (unless you are saying ugly sh*t!)

Death to AI Art!!! If I reblog something AI by mistake please tell me! Also same if I reblog from a repost (or something uncredited taking from pinterest)! Fiction does not equal reality, people are free to like the ships and characters they want. Also please separate art from the artist!!! Your are allowed to like a book/show without supporting the creator!!!! Be free! 

I believe in your kinks are not my kinks and that’s okay, just don’t touch my personnal posts if you are a kink blog. NSFW, dd/lg, age players, maps, transphobe/terfs, racist, proana, gore and kinks blogs, Do Not Interract!!!! You’ll be blocked in the minute! I also block blogs with no posts/pfp/summary (or just blogs with bad vibes)....

Enjoy your stay!!!

[doctorguilty]

since my last two rounds as surv on the ptb were against fucking. hillbilly??? I decided to finally try out some ghostface and like. honestly contrary to popular believe from whiny people who think gf "didnt need a buff" he's arguably HARDER to play now, not in a bad way but like, I feel there's MORE skill required to manage his power

cause like firstly, they tweaked the reveal mechanic a ton so like, revealing him is not so bugged on the surv end where like you can be looking directly at him and the game wont register it. it seems to work like, very well, having me playing as him and playing a good 3 matches against him in my ptb trial yesterday. also there's "Reveal progression now regresses over time if a Survivor loses line-of-sight (used to be lost completely immediately)." which no one whining about him is talking about but my GOD this change is rough as ghostface

secondly like, I Get a lot of what's going on with the addons now, like even the ones that seemed strange (like survs on hook take 3 seconds to reveal etc ) because given the improved reveal mechanics. the object of the game is HEAVILY like, stay in night shroud as much as physically possible and that's easier said than done

I'm already forgetting the exact numbers for his pre-patch add ons but like basically 100% of the time ghostface brings 1 shroud recovery add on (usually the pen), and then sometimes they'll stack a second shroud recovery add on with it, if they're not gonna go with the drop leg or or monocular.

Well you can't do that now, you get ONE standard shroud recovery option (matchbook for 6 seconds) and/or a conditional one insta recharge which is either the wallet (breaking pallet or wall) or the tape (basic attack putting surv into dying), or the cinch straps (whiffing doesnt break shroud)

my first test run I just used brown addons and got like whiplash from how easily I was getting revealed, got a good 0 kills lmao......... second test run I tried drivers license (unchanged) and the wallet, didn't get much use out of the license I feel but the wallet proved VERY useful I like that one a lot, cause like, basically yeah anytime you're broken out of shroud (which is. significantly more than in the past), the cooldown is gonna hurt

I've yet to try more combos but the choice making is definitely harder than it seems on paper and I feel the devs kinda sculpted him into the killer he was conceptualized as--EXTREMELY reliant on his stealth and the player's utilization of the map itself which was something talked about in his development video, it's why you mark faster if you lean + stalk like he's meant to be very blended in with the environment and like a quasi jumpscare

honestly my biggest frustration is, as much as I appreciate him getting new chase music its WAY to fucking loud and I can barely hear where the surv is going, which is like OOF when I rely so much on audio cues which is like!! very in spirit of the character like hello,,,,, lower the volume pls ;;;;;; I'm not the only one with that opinion though :( hopefully the devs take some constructive criticism on that

but YEAH anyway like. those are my general first impressions, like its not a nerf, but it's also not quite the enormous buff people believe it is. its very much to me like, refining the character into the vision the devs originally had for him which just comes with some pros and cons and having to adapt to it! I dont dislike it, I'm so happy he got his addons reworked like I've wanted that for SO LONG, just defs a challenge to re-master him

...also while he did get a little buff against loops I'm thinking ......... he might struggle more with swfs than he previously did e_e not 100% certain yet but. kinda have a bad feeling about it given the reveal mechanic tweaks

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch 5: Ad Nauseam

Chapter Summary: It’s Mary’s first day at school, and it doesn’t go according to plan… Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: So from here on in we dive into the GIFTED main story line so this contains SPOILERS for the film. If you haven’t seen it please be aware of that before you read on. As a Lawyer I know how long the types of cases depicted in GIFTED can take, so for that reason I’ll be spreading the storyline over a number of Months, because I find that realistic and it also fits with how I want the story to go so…just roll with it!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 4

September 2017

“Hey! Come on.” Frank sighed, knocking on the door that led into his bedroom where Mary was getting changed “Come on let’s move”.

“No” came the sullen reply

“Let me see.” he said a little more gently.

“No.”

“Come on, I made you a special breakfast.” Frank tried.

“You can't cook.” Mary replied, a snort in her voice. With a deep sigh Frank decided enough was enough.

“Hey, Mary, open up.” his voice was sterner and a few seconds later the door opened and Mary looked up at him. She was dressed in her new red summer dress with a white collar and blue and white flowers patterned all over it. She wore a filthy scowl on her face which Frank was trying really hard not to laugh at.

“You look beautiful.” he told her.

“I look like Disney character.” She seethed as she stormed past him. Frank watched her pass as the door to the room shut, gave a sigh and then followed her to the kitchen. She sat at the table, pulling the bowl of cereal to her as Frank set about making her lunch.

“Where's the special?” Mary suddenly said.

“What?” Frank asked, reaching up for a piece of kitchen roll to wipe a knife clean.

“You said you made me special breakfast.”

Frank leaned over and with his left hand turned the box of Special K round so Mary could see it. She rolled her eyes and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. Frank ignored her until she spoke again, her voice pleading.

“Please, don't make me go. You can keep home schooling me.”

“I've taught you everything I know” Frank replied, smearing peanut butter onto the bread in front of him.

“But I don't want to go.”

“Well... I don't want to go to work, but I do.” Frank shrugged as he fixed the sandwich together and reached for a zip-press bag to place it in.

“You don't go to work. You fix boats on the dock.”

“Okay, it's poor example.” he said, pulling the top of the bag open. “But you are still going.”

“But what about Fred?” Mary asked as Frank shimmied the sandwich into the bag and sealed it

“What about him?” Frank sighed

“You won't take care of him. You don't like cats.”

Well, she had him there. He really didn’t like cats. But Frank was ok. Frank wasn’t really a cat, he was more of a dog…

“I don't like two-eyed cats” Frank shrugged in reply “Fred is as you know, monocular.”

“Who's gonna throw him his ping pong ball?” Mary tried again.

“Fred's gonna be fine, no more argument, okay?” Frank sighed, looking at her as he pulled another sandwich bag from the box for his own. “We've discussed this ad nauseam.”

“What's an nauseam?” Mary frowned.

“You don't know?” Frank turned to look at her, leaning against the kitchen unit. “Looks like someone needs school.” Mary looked at him, an utterly filthy scowl on her face and he stared back. She sighed and turned back to her breakfast, hand propping her face up as her elbow rest on the table. Frank stood watching her whilst he threw some bread in the toaster. He felt bad, he really did but this was for the best. She needed to be normal. He felt his phone buzzing in his back pocket and, wiping his hands on his dirty work jeans, he pulled it out, smiling as he read the text from Fliss.

“Good luck with the whole School thing this morning. If she kicks off tell her no riding lesson on Saturday. Give me a call or swing by if you need me xx”

“I don’t need good luck I need a miracle, and a drink. Is 8am on a Monday too early for a beer?” he replied.

“Well, it’s afternoon somewhere in the world Sailor ;-) “

Gave a chuckle as he put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Mary who was watching him, a knowing look on her face.

“What?”

“I know that was Fliss.” she said.

“How?”

“Because you’re smiling, the way you always do when she messages you.” “Well we’re friends…we like talking to one another. Something you might understand after you make some at school.” She scowled at him again and he ignored her, shoving the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth before he looked at the clock.

“Finish up, it’s nearly time to go.”

With a grumble Mary ate another mouthful before she slid off her chair. Frank packed her lunch into her rucksack before he handed it to her. With another scowl she place her arms through the straps and then together they walked out of their home.

“Just remember that today, those kids in your class, they’ve probably haven’t learnt even half as much as you.” Frank said, looking at her as they walked down the path. “So try not to show off ok?” “I can’t even use what I do know?” “No I’m not saying that, just, don’t make it so obvious ok? It will make people ask questions about why you know so many things and...” “AM I not supposed to know them?”

“Honestly, no, you’re seven.” Frank shrugged. “But you’re smart, you know this.”

She remained quiet for a second before she sighed “Ok, I promise I won’t show off.”

They reach the end of the path and then walked across the grassy area between two of the other prefabs just in time for the bus to pull to a stop.

Frank watched Mary as she stood looking at it as the doors swung open.

“This is gonna be fun.” He said, watching the back of her head “You're gonna meet kids today that you’re gonna borrow money from for the rest of your life.”

She didn’t reply

“Come on.” he urged gently, gesturing her forward with his right arm, his tone somewhat softer. He watched her climb up the staps, his hands falling to his hips as he tried to think of something encouraging to say. “You’re gonna be great.”

She paused and looked back at him, her expression soft.

“You know, just...” He gave her a thumbs up, “I don't know. Try bein' a kid.”

Mary looked down as the school bus doors shut and Frank sighed. He watched her take a seat as the bus pulled off and then turned to head back to the house. He was running through his day in his head, he had a boat he needed to have a look at but didn’t think it was a major fix, few parts that type of thing. He could swing by Sandybrook later on, maybe, see if Fliss was free for an hour for lunch…

There was a rapping on a window and he stopped dead at the end of the path looking up. His eyes locking with Roberta’s as she gazed at him from out of her window. With a sigh of frustration he turned to his left and continued back towards his home another way.

“Frank! Frank, I know you hear me.” He let out an inward groan as he rolled his eyes, ignoring her completely. He walked in the door to his kitchen, shut it and then snapped the lock across to make a point. The point being ‘piss off and leave me alone’. He knew that making the point was, however, pointless because she’d just fucking unlock the door and walk in anyway. Like she always did. He grabbed the toast that had popped up whilst he had been out and threw it on a plate.

“Frank!” There was a juggle of the door handle and he turned to look at Roberta as she pulled out a set of keys.

Ignoring her completely he grabbed a mug and poured some coffee into it.

“There's still time for you to undo this nonsense. Go get in your car and go get that child.”

“Are you technically allowed to use these keys whenever you want?” He said to her, a little sarcastically as he passed her the mug. She took it from him

“How you can stand there...acting all calm and all of that making light out of this?” she asked as he took a bit of his toast “Now, go get her back before it's too late.”

“She gotta go out in the world.” Frank said as he began to tidy up the kitchen, placing the breakfast and lunch making items away “She has no friend her age, no social skills. She doesn’t know how to be a kid.”

Roberta merely watched him as he sighed and turned to face her, leaning his hip against the counter. “Two nights ago she told me that even if Germany bails out the Euro, there could still be worldwide depression.” He shook his head “I was staring at the celling for three hours.” he finished softly

Roberta wrinkled her nose a little and looked down at the floor as she shook her head softly. “I'm so worried.” she said gently, her voice cracking and it was then that Frank noticed her eyes were filling with tears. He knew she cared for Mary, she cared for him too even if she showed that less. And he got it, he did, he got exactly what she was worried about because hell, he felt the same. If people spotted Mary’s potential and then started digging it was going to cause a whole heap of ramifications. But he had to balance out the need to keep her ‘talents’ hidden and for her to have a normal life. He saw so many parallels between Mary and Diane, and frankly it scared the shit out of him. His mother had been overbearing, insisted that they were both home schooled, but when their Father had died Frank had rebelled. He’d gone out, fallen in with a  BMX riding, trouble making crowd (well, as much trouble as eight year olds could make…toilet papering houses, throwing stones at cars, that type of thing) basically stuck the middle finger up at his mother who had in the end conceded and he’d gone to school. But Diane…well, she’d been smothered and grown up so isolated with no social skills.

No, he wasn’t, he couldn’t let that happen to Mary.

He let out a sigh “Come on, Roberta. If you start crying, I will have to pretend to start crying.”

He watched as she nodded sadly.

“Hey.”

She looked up at him as he spoke.

“You know there's something you could be overlookin’.” he smiled “This could work out.”

“Maybe.” she agreed, with a slight nod and a smile “But if anybody takes that baby away...I'll smother you in yo sleep.” she warned him, her southern accent becoming stronger as she issued the threat “Morning, Fred.” she said to the cat who was led on the table. His tail swished as she rather viciously grabbed at her keys before she left the house.

With his fucking mug.

The sun was already warm and it wasn’t even 9 when Frank reached the dock, the rays bouncing off the crystal blue surface of the water. As he walked he applied a slight smearing of sunscreen to his neck, he knew that bore the brunt of the sun when he was outside and not in the lock up. Fliss had commented it on it the other day, and he had admitted  to her that when he’d gotten out of the shower the other day he noticed he was definitely sporting some amusing tan lines, both round the collar of his T-shirts and where the arms finished. It was always the same thought. Fliss had laughed, rolled up her sleeves to show him the same and pointed out it was why she spent as much time as she could on her days off by the pool trying to even it out.

Lying by the pool on a day off… Frank mused to himself, now there was a thought.

Whilst his mind was on Fliss, he pulled his phone out and dialed her number.

“Hey Frankie boy.” she greeted him “Did you manage to get her on the bus without a gun or…” Frank chuckled “It was surprisingly less trouble than I thought but…”

“You’re doing the right thing.” she assured him, and he had to smile at the fact she knew what he was pondering.

“Roberta doesn’t seem to think so.”

“Yeah, well, she’s worried but that doesn’t make her right.” Fliss said “Look, Mary is a kid. She needs to just, oh I dunno, live like a kid. You’ve done the right thing for both of you, Frank.”

“Thanks Fliss.” he smiled to himself “Think I just needed to hear that.” “Any time, look I gotta go, my 9 am is here.” “Ok, well, I thought if the invite was open I could swing by at lunch. I’ll grab us a sandwich on the way?”

“Sounds great.” Fliss said, “Just message me later.” “Sure, have a good morning Cowgirl.” She laughed “You too Sailor.”

He tucked the phone back in his pocketed and continued to head down the gangway, nodding to a few people before he hopped onto the white speed-boat he was working on, pulling the dust cover off the stripped down engine.

**** Two hours. It was a whole two hours before he got a phone call telling him to head into the school. He strode back to the house, quickly washed his hands and threw on a blue and red plaid button down over his grubby white t-shirt before he headed to go get the pain-in-the-ass.

After a number of apologies, Frank walked out of the Principal’s office with a groan. Mary skipped ahead of him, examining something in a cabinet but he placed his hand on her head and turned it in the direction she needed to walk. He pushed open the double doors, letting her go in front of him.

One hand between her shoulder he steered her away from the entrance to the school and was fishing in his pocket for his keys when he heard a voice behind him.

“Excuse me?”

He turned to see a slim, quite pretty brunette in a green and white dress hurrying towards him.

“Hi.” she said, raising her hand in greeting.

“Look it's my teacher.” Mary rolled her eyes as Frank slowed down.  “Probably wants to remind me what one plus one is.”

“Go to the car, okay?” he said, gently guiding her away with his hand.

“Hi” he repeated

“Hi.” Frank replied, removing his glasses and taking her extended hand in greeting.

“Sorry to yell at you and then chase you down.” she apologised.

“It's okay. Mary's teacher?” he asked, releasing her hand.

“Yes. I'm Bonnie Stevenson”

“Frank. How are you?” he said, and then before giving her chance to apologise he sighed “Sorry about today. She got little overexcited.” he gestured to the car as Mary climbed in “It's just first day jitters.”

“Sure, yeah.” Bonnie nodded, turning to look at Mary

“We are running a little bit late actually, so we gotta get going.” Frank said, late for what he had no idea, he hadn’t made that bit up yet.

“Okay, I don't even wanna talk about that.” Bonnie shook her head “I will keep you just a minute”

“Okay.”

“I think your daughter...I think Mary might be gifted.”

Shit.

“What?” Frank feigned surprise, quite well too so it seemed.

“Yeah, today in math, she answered some really, really complicated equations and…”

“Oh, no, no, no…” Frank held his hand out to stop her as she was gesticulating fastly with her own as she continued to speak. “No, that's...it's not gifted.”

“difficult questions that a seven year old would...”

“It's Trachtenberg.” Frank cut her off easily, he could deflect this.

“I’m sorry…” Bonnie laughed, folding her arms, looking at him, puzzled.

“Jakow Trachtenberg.” Frank nodded. “Spent seven years in a concentration camp. Developed a system to rapidly solve problems.” he gestured with the hand holding his keys “It's the Trachtenberg method.”

“But she’s…I mean...she's seven though.” Bonnie said, smiling slightly, her tone still surprised.

“I learned it when I was eight.” he said, smiling “Do I look gifted to you?”

Bonnie looked him up and down and dropped her head, smiling.

“It kinda went out of note since the invention of the calculator.” Frank continued, backing away from her as he spoke, “But I can still win a drink at the bar using it.” he smiled, opening his sunglasses out. “Sorry for today. Won't happen again.”

“Okay.” Bonnie nodded as Frank slid on his shades.

“Nice to meet you…Bonnie.” he said, remembering her name.

“Frank.” Bonnie nodded again.

He drove them home in silence. His only words being an instruction for her to go change into something suitable for an afternoon at the docks before he stepped into the kitchen and remembered his lunch arrangements. With a curse he pulled his phone out and gave Fliss a quick call.

**** Fliss’ morning had been fairly busy as well. She’d given two private lessons, worked one of her horses, mucked half the block out as it was a Monday, which meant that Ellis had the day off so she mucked in, and was now going through the bookings for the week. She’d been inundated this week with requests that she couldn’t accommodate, but was contemplating putting another lesson on to satisfy the demand. Bill had told her not to be stupid, she was already teaching 6 days a week and needed to let her staff shoulder some of the responsibility before she burnt out.

“Joanne?” she called. Joanna walked in and looked at Fliss.

“How do you fancy over for me completely on a Sunday?” she asked.

“Me?” Joanne frowned.

“Yeah.” Fliss nodded “You open up, close and can run a couple of Classes. You have your teaching qualifications. I can supervise the first two weeks or so and if you’re happy after that then you can take the day completely, take 20% of the earnings as an extra. What do you say?”

“Fliss, I’d, well, I don’t know what to say!” Joanne grinned “Yeah, yeah I’d love to!”

“Good.” Fliss smiled “There’s a list of clients here, you can call back after lunch and offer them a time slot to suit you on Sunday, have a think about a lesson plan for groups and then…” “Thanks Fliss. “ Joanne smiled “This means a lot.” “You’ve earned it.” Fliss smiled “You’ve been a perfect head groom these last 6 months. Keep going and…well, we’ll see where we end up!”

Joanne beamed and nodded, heading back out onto the yard.

Fliss took a deep breath. She had spent so much of her life not in control of her career or home life, doing as she was told by John, when she was told to do it or suffer the consequences of a beating, that she had gone the complete opposite way when she had taken grasp of her own life. Her business was run by her with military precision. Bill did the books for her, but other than that she arranged everything. She was a control freak, she knew that so stepping away 1 day a week might seem like a little step to other people but to her it was a huge one. Bill had reminded her the other night that the idea had been that eventually Fliss would have a manager running the place for her which meant she could turn up to provided lessons and ride when needed. She was a long way off that yet though, but this one day off was a little progress.

Her phone started ringing and she reached over to pick it up, smiling when she saw the number.

“Two calls before noon!” Fliss grinned “I’m honoured”

“Unfortunately I’m calling to cancel lunch.” Frank sighed.

Fliss was surprised she felt disappointed. “Oh, it’s no issue.” She said, pulling a face. “Is everything alright.

“No.” he replied bluntly.

“Mary?”

“How did you guess?” he gave a low chuckle.

“She’s normally your source of your trouble. What has she done?”

“Apparently she stood up in class, and shouted at the principal to, and I quote ‘get on your phone and call Frank and tell him to get me out of here.’ I mean…”

Fliss bit back a laugh. It shouldn’t be funny, but she could picture Mary’s angry face and her arms folded across her chest. Despite her best attempts an amused snort escaped her.

“It’s not funny.” Frank deadpanned

“I know, I’m sorry but…“ Fliss cleared he throat, forcing herself to become serious.

“You now I wasn’t a perfect kid but I’m pretty sure I never got thrown out before lunchtime on my first day.” Frank sighed.

“She’s not been thrown out…just told to go home early” Fliss countered

“Well I brushed it off as first day excitement but the teacher was digging into how smart she is and…”

“Look, try not to worry.” Fliss soothed, sensing the tone of panic in his voice “Just try talking to Mary You always get the best out of her when you explain things to her.”

“Yeah, look, I better go…I need to get back to the boat yard.”

“No problem. Take care, and, just…well, listen to her Frank.”

“Yeah, bye Fliss.”

Fliss placed her phone down on her desk, and bit her lip. The morning had started off reasonably well too. She knew Frank well enough now to know that his frustration with Mary was born out of simply wanting the absolute best for her, and he was completely focused on making that happen even if Mary was not happy about it.

Fliss tapped her nails absentmindedly on the desk, trying to think of ways she could help. But other than talk to Mary, as she had encouraged Frank to do, she was stumped.

Nope, Fliss didn’t envy Frank one bit.

*****

“For the record, I didn't wanna go to the stupid school in the first place.”  Mary rambled on as she perched on a cool box, blue sun hat perched on her face as Frank finally finished his work on the engine, screwing the cover back on “And the boy in the front row acts inappropriately for someone who's a child.”

“Sorry. I'm still passively aggressively ignoring you.” he said without looking up.

“Other kids answer questions, they don't get in trouble.” Mary continued to protest.

“You didn't get in trouble for answering the questions.” Frank looked at her, still turning the screw driver, his voice taking on a tone of exasperation. “You yelled at the principal.”

Mary looked at him, shrugging.

“All right, you know what? You're gonna find this interesting.” he said, stepping back slightly, tossing the screwdriver onto one of the seats as he made his way to the cockpit of the boat “So I googled" first graders who yelled at the principal". And statistically you will never believe how many kids do it.”

He started working his way through the checks as Mary answered

“How many?”

“None.” he shot back over his shoulder as he fired up the boat, revving it slightly. He heard Mary’s footsteps as she ran down the side of the boat and stopped.

“Frank, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.” she said leaning over the edge to look at him.

“Yeah, right.” he said, shaking his head before he turned to look at her “You can't show off like that in school.”

“I know.”

“You promised you wouldn't then the first day...”

“I know, I screwed up.”

Frank looked at her, he could see she was genuinely contrite. Her head was dropped slightly. He watched her for a moment before he nodded and looked back out of the water before she spoke again.

“Do you think this boat needs a test ride?”

He looked back at her as she grinned up at him, the gap where her two top teeth had fallen out serving as a reminder as to just how young she damned well was. Like he could ever forget that, mind. Frank looked down and shoved his glasses back as they slipped down his nose and with a sigh he gave in, the way he normally did when she pulled those puppy dog eyes on him.

“Go get, Fred.”

She smiled and jumped up.

“Don't run!” he called after her, watching as she slowed to a walk for a few strides, before running anyway. He shook his head, smiling to himself at her blatant disregard for his order.

She appeared a little while later and Frank got her settled in the seat of the boat with a life vest and a blanket covering her legs, it could get a little nippy on the water for Mary, not that it bothered him.

“Ready?” he asked

She gave him a thumbs up and he pulled the boat out of the spot and headed slowly out of the harbour. Once on the open water he sped up, relishing the feel of the wind in his hair. He felt at peace on the water, something about it soothed his soul. He drove them to a stretch of beach they knew and loved, a quiet one and he drove the boat into the shallow water before he shucked off his shoes and socks, rolled his jeans up and jumped down, pushing it up onto the sand.

“Alright short stack…” he smiled as Mary grinned and stood up. She shucked off her life vest and he lifted her out of the boat before passing Fred over. He hopped back in, grabbed the parasol and a fold out chair, passing her a bucket and spade, all of which he had thrown on the boat whilst she’d headed off to get Fred, before they made their way up the beach.

Mary soon set off, digging about in the sand and collecting shells, like a normal kid her age should do and Frank settled down to watch her, occasionally glancing out into the ocean, spotting every so often the ripple of the resident pod of dolphins as they broke surface lazily. Mary was splashing around in the shallow pools on the beach, Fred by her side before she looked up and came running towards him, jumping on his knee as the birds flew down to inspect what the tide had washed in.

“You ok?” he asked.

“Yeah.” she smiled, shifting around to get comfortable. “Fred loves to watch the sandpipers.”

Fred gave a meow as if to confirm what she was saying and Frank looked down at the cat as it lounged in the shade.

“He thinks he'd like to catch one, but he'd regret it.” she continued “Fred's not a killer. He's a lover.”

She gave a sigh and leaned back into him, her back resting against his chest and Frank moved his arms as she took his left hand in both of hers, gently looking at his palm and playing with his fingers.

“Would my mom want me to go to this school?” she asked.

“I can only guess.” Frank replied, honestly “But I will tell you that she would have wanted you to have friends.”

“Idiot friends?”  Mary said, almost groaning.

“She'd want you to have compassion for others.” Frank tilted his head so he was looking down at the side of her face “Like a cat can have for a sandpiper.”

Mary paused and shifted slightly, looking down a little “But what if they don't like me?” she asked softly.

And God, if that didn’t break his heart! He swallowed and took a moment, before he looked at her.

Then they're idiots.” he said simply, and in his mind it was the truth.

Mary didn’t reply, instead she leaned back, her head on his shoulder and Frank gently wrapped his arms further around her, patting her stomach gently. They both sat in silence for a bit, Mary gently tickling the back of his hands with her own. He was just thinking about telling her they really should get back, when he felt her sit up.

“Hey, is that Fliss?”                                

Frank frowned and looked at her, “Where?”

“There, look.” He followed where she was pointing and squinted slightly. There was a woman riding a chestnut horse a little further down the beach, and it certainly looked like Fliss.

“Hang on…” Frank pulled out his phone. He dialled Fliss and as he watched he saw the woman pause and reach into her boot to retriever her phone.

“Hey…” she greeted him.

“Turn to your left.”

There was a pause and then as she did so the two of the waved. Fliss laughed.

“Be right there…”

She placed the phone back in her boot and then kicked the horse into a gallop. It sped over the sand, kicking up spray as it went and Mary giggled and jumped off Frank’s knee as she approached.

“Hi!” she beamed down at them as she pulled the horse to a stop. Frank stood up and smiled at her. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Had to take the speedboat for a test drive.” Frank shrugged.

“Test sail.” Fliss countered.

“Whatever.” Frank rolled his eyes as Mary was busy stroking Heidi’s face. “What about you?”

“Oh had a spare afternoon so decide to load her majesty up and come down here.” she smiled “It’s nice and quiet. Sometimes I see the dolphins too.” Frank noticed the way her face lit up as she said that, and he smiled.

“They’re even better up close.” Mary grinned.

“Well, one day maybe I’ll get the chance” Fliss smiled.

“I still owe you a ride.” Frank smiled and she grinned.

“I’ll hold you to that.” Fliss grinned, “And speaking of rides…” she looked at Mary and gestured to the horse.

Frank took a deep breath “seriously?”

“Come on.” Fliss said “She’ll be safe, I trust this horse with my life.” Mary, suddenly realising what was being said looked to Frank, her eyes sparkling.

“Fine…” Frank sighed, shaking his head “But drop her and I’ll kill you.”

“What do you take me for?” Fliss scoffed, removing her hat and handing it to Mary. Once she was seated in front of her Fliss held her tightly, one arm around her waist, the other in the reins and told Mary to hang on. She set off slowly at first and then with a grin kicked the horse on into a slow canter, and steered towards the sea.

“Shit…” Frank muttered, his heart in his mouth as the both cantered through the waves, the spray kicking up behind them. He could hear Mary’s shouting and laughing as it echoed up the beach. They went a little distance away before Fliss slowed down to a walk, Heidi continuing along her path steadily.

“So, I hear school wasn’t great?” Fliss said as they turned and made their way back at a slower pace.

“No.” Mary shrugged “Frank got mad.”

“Did you apologise?”

“Yeah…its ok now.” Mary shrugged “I just didn’t like it. And I don’t think they liked me.” Fliss took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you a secret, when I first started riding, the other kids didn’t like me either.” “Really?” Mary turned to face her as they wandered back, gently swaying with the horses motions.

“Nope, I came from a different back ground to them. We weren’t rich, I mean my mum and dad have money now but we didn’t always.”

“So what happened?” “I kept going.” Fliss said gently “And then I met a friend, a girl called Charlotte. She was the same. Her family sold all their belongings so she could pursue her dream.”

Heidi slowed to a stop by Frank but Fliss continued to talk “And we became good friends, and we worked hard. She did dressage, I did show-jumping. And we both grew up together, and encouraged each other, and we made the teams.”

“Are you still friends now?” “Yeah, I still talk to her now, I don’t see her as much but…” Fliss took a deep breath, the thought of the past still a bit painful. “The point is Mary, if you go in thinking that everyone is against you then believe me, it will seem that way. Maybe you should think about having an open mind and giving this a go, yeah?”

Franks eyes were hidden behind his glasses and at that moment he was kind of glad, because for some reason, there was a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes as he had observed his niece and Fliss together, the woman simply talking to Mary.

Mary pondered for a moment before she sighed “I suppose…”

Fliss smiled “Good, you’ll be glad you did.”

Mary shrugged “Maybe. Hey, you know what ad nauseam means?”

Fliss frowned and looked up as Frank gave a laugh “It means indefinitely, never ending…forever, why?” she looked at Mary. “Oh, something Frank said I’d learn at school but I didn’t.” she shrugged “But now I know, thanks.” “You’re welcome.” Fliss chuckled, as Frank helped her down. She watched her run off to pick up her cat.

“Thank you.” Frank said gently, turning to look up at Fliss.

“What for?”

“Talking to her, the way you always do. I don’t know how you do it Lissy, but you make her listen.”

“Don’t worry too much about her.” Fliss smiled “I know it’s easy for me to say but, well you always said today would be a challenge. See how she goes tomorrow.”

Frank smiled and rubbed at the back of his neck before he took a deep breath, suddenly making a decision. “I err, don’t suppose you wanna come for a drink on Friday? I’m only going to Fergs but…”

“I thought Fridays were your nights, you know where you sat at a bar, alone, all broody and mysterious.” Fliss grinned down at him.

Frank shook his head, a crooked smile spreading on his face “Yeah well, maybe I fancy a bit of company this week.”

Fliss looked at him for a moment, considering what he had said before she smiled “Ok, I got lessons until 6:30 but I can meet you there later on?”

Frank smiled “Great, it’s a date.”

Fliss arched her eyebrow and Frank inwardly cursed “I mean, not a date, but, you know, a…”

“You’re cute when you get flustered.” Fliss teased, cutting him off with a laugh “Don’t worry, Sailor, I know what you mean.”

With that she turned the horse back the way she had come and winking at Frank called to Mary. “Hey, you know when you asked if Heidi could still go really fast?”

Mary nodded.

“Well watch this.”

And with that Fliss gave the horse a gentle nudge and it erupted into a ridiculously fast gallop back down the beach. Fliss’ whoops echoed in the air as she looked back waving, and Mary ran a little way after her laughing and waving back.

****

Fliss was right. The next morning they had a little fuss but nothing drastic. Mary came home with a note about Wednesday being show and tell. Mary wanted to take Fred. So they bundled him into a cardboard box. Frank waited patiently outside until Mary was escorted back out by a classroom assistant to hand the cat back over.

“Enjoy that?” he said.

Mary nodded.

“I was talking to Fred.” Frank teased. Mary narrowed her eyes and he laughed.  “I’ll see you later ok?”

She came home a lot happier, talking to him about how the kids had asked her questions about Fred that she had answered and Frank couldn’t help but smile as she rambled on and on. Later, when he called Fliss he couldn’t stop himself from talking either and Fliss had been led on her bed, smiling at his voice as he continued to gush about his niece. Thursday and Friday passed much the same, which was why when Friday night came Frank was in a reasonably good mood, and ready to buy Fliss all the damned beer she wanted.

Fliss, however, was in a flap. Her lesson had overrun and now she had changed her outfit 3 times, finally settling on a light blue cotton knee length, sleeveless dress and brown sandals, leaving her hair loose and her make up light.  She hadn’t been out with her friends for, well, not since moving here. Sure, she’d been out with her parents and their friends but this felt different. And she was nervous.

“You look nice.” Her dad looked up as she walked into their living room. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, you sure you don’t mind dropping me?” she looked at him, “I can get a cab?”

“Don’t be daft.” Bill said, picking up his keys.

“Have a nice time, Honey!” her mum called.

Bill could tell Fliss was nervous so he made idle chit chat on the drive down to the main strip of bars and eventually pulled up outside Fergs.

“Just have fun.” he looked at her, squeezing her hand gently “And if you need me, call.”

“Thanks dad.” she smiled, kissing his cheek before she let herself out of the range rover and headed into the bar.

She glanced around for a second, looking for Frank and spotted him at a table talking to a dark haired woman, with a pretty face. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she really wanted to interrupt and was debating running back out to catch Bill when Frank looked up and saw her. Flashing her that smile that could melt her on the spot he waved her over.

"Thought you were gonna stand me up!" he grinned at her as she took a seat. "Sorry, my last lesson over ran." She answered before she smiled politely at the dark haired woman. "Hi..." "Oh, Fliss this is Bonnie, Mary's teacher." Frank introduced them. "Nice to meet you." Fliss smiled. The woman gave her a smile back and stood up speaking to her as she did so “Well, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time Frank and don’t want to eat into your date." "Oh this isn’t a date..." Fliss protested at the same time Frank shook his head "We're not..." he gestured between himself and Fliss with his hands "Fliss is Mary's riding instructor" "She horse rides?" Bonnie said, an air of surprise in her tone. "The idea was it would hopefully teach her social skills." Frank snorted. "Clearly hasn’t worked.." "Oh don't be so hard on her." Fliss jumped to the girls defence. "She's a good kid." "I bet it’s easier when you're trying to teach them something they actually want to learn, or in Mary's case teaching her something she doesn’t know." Bonnie said and Fliss laughed. "She’s actually one of the easier kids I have." She replied and Frank smiled at her comment "mind you, none of the kids give me any hassle really, it’s the adults that are hard work."

“Oh my god tell me about it.” Bonnie groaned “I dread Teacher-Parent evenings, honestly, some of them are so obtuse.” "I can imagine." Fliss grinned

"Anyway I better..." Bonnie gestured over her shoulder. "See you later Frank, and nice to meet you Fliss" "You too." Fliss nodded to he as Frank waved his hand in goodbye.

“What you drinking cowgirl?” he asked, standing up “I’ll go get em in.”

Fliss asked for a beer and sat down as he went to place their order. A few minutes later he was back, sliding the bud over to her.

“Thanks…” she took a huge drink. “I err, didn’t interrupt anything before did I?"

"No, not really." Frank shook his head "Not really?" "She errr...found out about Diane." Frank said. "Oh." Fliss frowned. "How? I mean..." "When I picked Mary up on Monday she was asking me about her background on account of her being so smart. I tried to fob her off, saying I had taught her a system, you know for arithmetic but she didn’t buy it. Apparently she’s been giving Mary a few more advanced equations to do…”

Fliss looked down as he slid the paper on the table over to him. It contained a number of formulas and algebra problems which Fliss could see Mary had completed.

“As you can see, she aced them. And then Bonnie googled the system I mentioned, and then me and up popped Diane.”

“So did you tell her the truth?” Fliss asked looking up at him, sliding the paper back.

“What option did I have?” He shrugged, folding it and shoving it in his pocket. “She came down here to call me out so I figured honesty was the best…what?" He asked when he noticed Fliss was frowning. "She came down here on a Friday night to find you?" Fliss snorted

Frank shrugged “That’s what she said.”

"How she know you'd be here?" "I'm here most Fridays...not that hard to find." "Maybe you should think about varying your routine, Sailor" Fliss grinned “And you should definitely think about varying this shirt.”

Frank glanced down at his bright yellow palm tree print Hawaiian shirt

“What’s wrong with it?” he pouted.

“What’s right with it more like.”

“Well I’m not one for corporatism.” Frank shrugged “I like to think I’m an individual.”

“Yeah, well I’m not sure planet Earth could deal with two of you.” Fliss shot back. “I can only just about cope with one…”

Frank paused before he looked at her, shaking his head with a snort as his mouth curled up at one corner “Well that’s just fucking rude.”

“Made you smile though.” Fliss grinned at him.

Frank looked at her for a moment before he felt his face split further into a grin as he looked at her. “Yeah, yeah you do…I mean did.”

He saw her cheeks flush in that adorable way they did, and he decided to save her from further embarrassment by changing the subject. It wasn’t long before they settled into an easy conversation and the events of the previous week and all worries about Mary flew completely from Frank’s mind.

**** Chapter 6

[doctorfiction]

Hi! I have a character that is shot in the head by assassins and ends up permanently blind, but without any other brain damage. As currently is, the bullet goes through the optic nerves - but is this realistic? Is there enough room between the optic nerves and the frontal lobe for a bullet to pass through? Or would it make more sense for the bullet to go somewhere else, like the occipital lobe? Thanks!

Hi! I have a character that is shot in the head by assassins and ends up permanently blind, but without any other brain damage. As currently is, the bullet goes through the optic nerves-but is this realistic? Is there enough room between the optic nerves and the frontal lobes for a bullet to pass through? Or would it make more sense for the bullet to go somewhere else, like the occipital lobe? Thanks!

This is a fantastic question and shows a good basic grasp of neuroanatomy. While a gunshot to one of the optic nerves would result in partial blindness, it would also most probably result in death, or at the very least, a devastating loss of cognitive function. Rendering the victim totally blind would require a second assault on the other optic nerve. The sum total of these combined injuries would be death or at the least a persistent vegetative stage with no conscious brain function.  Occipital lobe injury is a more plausible scenario. Even so, it’s still a very densely populated building with some very sensitive neighbors.

We will approach this dilemma in our usual manner: a minimal number of needed terms, simplified anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology with a drawing to answer your question and a twist that you might find useful in your story.

PROBLEM:

An assassin’s bullet renders a character blind but otherwise sensate with minimal to nil collateral sequelae.

SOLUTION:

What you are looking for is cortical blindness. I am going to give you a plausible scheme for this and present a related condition called blindsight that you may find applicable to your protagonist.

TERMS:

Sight: The special sense by which the color, shape, position and form of objects is perceived when the light from those objects strike the retina.

Blind: Unable to see, lacking the sense of sight.

Cortical Blindness: Loss of vision with an undamaged eye due to injury to the Occipital Cortex.

Blindsight: The ability of individuals with blindness to detect and respond to visual stimuli despite lacking awareness of having seen anything.

Occipital Cortex: Paired region of the brain divided by a sulcus (a narrow tract separating organs). It is located in the posterior and inferior aspect of the brain and takes its name from the nearby occipital bone. It is the site of Visual 1.

ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, and PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

A brief (as humanly possible) explanation of vision as it applies to your scenario; Use this in conjunction with the Illustrations for a walkthrough of the pathways for sight and blindsight.

Retina: Located at the “back” of the eye, this structure creates 2D image and converts it into electrical impulses to be transmitted to Visual 1 in the Occipital Cortex for processing. The receptors include Rods for light-sensing and gray-scale imaging and Cones for the perception of color. This organ then compresses the data to allow transfer along the limited capacity of the Optic Nerve.

Optic Nerves: Known as Cranial Nerve II (CNII), they carry monocular (one -sided) input from the Retina of each eye to the Optic Chiasm where they are converted to binocular signals.

Superior Colliculus: Paired structures in the midbrain that receive input from the optic nerve. Loosely, they allow the cortically blind to perceive and react to movement even though they cannot “see” it in the conventional sense.

Optic Chiasm: The X-shaped area where the Optic Nerves cross and combine the images from both eyes allowing for binocular and stereoscopic vision.

Optic Tracts: These continuations of the Optic Nerves carry information from both left and right eyes from the Optic Chiasm to the LGN.

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN): One of the nine nuclei the visual inputs pass through on their way to Visual 1; this nucleus is the major relay center for impulses to Visual 1.

Optical Radiations: The sorted fibers from the LGN represent the final transmission pathway to Visual 1.

Visual 1 (V1): Located along the Calcarine Fissure, this structure is the primary processing center for visual data associated with basic sight perception.

Calcarine Fissure: Narrow openings along the medial aspects of the paired Occipital Cortices where the Optical Radiations from the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus link to Visual 1.

SIGNIFICANCE:

So, the take home is this: To result in complete cortical blindness, an injury occurring prior to Visual 1 would need to be penetrating and duplicated on the contra lateral (opposite side.) Due to the other critical structures in this area, the result of the direct contact and “shock wave” of the penetrating missile (bullet) would be gross deformity, loss of cognitive and midbrain function and at best, survival on a respirator.

The only plausible scenario for a single insult resulting in bilateral cortical blindness without gross deformity and loss of cognitive and motor function would be a midline non-penetrating or minimally penetrating injury to the posterior occiput bone.

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY:

A gunshot anywhere along the described pathway will result in a visual defect, but only one spot will cause total Cortical Blindness while preserving the appearance of the eye and giving a chance to avoid catastrophic collateral damage or death.

Both Eyes: This would indeed result in total blindness but would grossly disfigure both eyes and  almost certainly be fatal.

Optic Nerve through the Optic Radiation: To cause total Cortical Blindness would require a shot on both sides and would pass through the Frontal and or Parietal Lobes. Damage would again be catastrophic with a near one-hundred percent certainty of death.

SOLUTION:

The only real possibility would be a single shot through the center of the Posterior Occiput. If the bullet were small bore (22/25 ACP) and round nose, (take a look at my previous post on the effects of different size bullets) there is the possibility that the bullet would not penetrate the occipital bone, but rather the shock wave would shatter the occiput and drive fragments through the narrow sulcus to the Calcarine Fissures bilaterally and result in total Cortical Blindness with little collateral damage.

This is a “long-shot” (excuse the pun,) but it is the most viable scenario and there are anecdotal accounts of precisely this mechanism and outcome.

Fictional Applications:

The fact that this injury leaves all of the “upstream” transmission, integration, and coding intact  allows for some interesting story applications:

Blindsight:

The protagonist is able to “see” things that others cannot:

The protagonist cannot see what’s in front of them …

 . . . but now has the ability to “see” events that are occurring elsewhere. These could be events happening now, events that are about to happen, or “cold case” events that have gone unsolved.

This provides a ready-made opportunity for introspection and character arc:

           Egocentric — Altruistic (Dr Strange)

           Bully — Protector (Pretty Woman))

           If you need a Superhero:

           Powerless — Powerful (Spiderman)

           Or if you need a Supervillain:

           Meek — Aggressor (Megamind)

 Consider the possibilities with a smashing title such as 2020 Blindsight, or Visual 1.

doctorfiction

The Doctor is In

“When to call me: you’ve been stabbed, shot, poisoned, separated from an appendage, knocked or beaten unconscious, run over by a tractor mower, or generally about to bleed to death. Otherwise, leave me alone.”  

— Aurelius Hogue MD, Doc Hollywood, 1991

Welcome. This blog belongs to a long time MD, a short time MFA. Doctor by profession, novelist by habit.

What I do on this blog: Every week, I’ll design infections, injuries, psychoses and neuroses for your fictional characters. You tell me the effect you want and I’ll tell you how they get there. Think of it as medical care in reverse.

What I don’t do on this blog: I do not diagnose or treat your real life infections, injuries, or psychiatric conditions. I do not help you undertake real-life nefarious pursuits. This advice is meant to be taken only in the spirit it is intended: helping bad things happen to good characters, fact meeting fiction.

Ground Rules: My ask box is always open, but the Doctor is only in once a week. Please keep your novel’s specifics out of your message. No character names, keep the scenarios general — we want it to be useful for more than one writer, if we can. Please do provide age and sex and any pertinent pre-existing conditions. I don’t need to see your character’s insurance card.

What is your chief complaint?

The Doctor is in.

— The Doctor

[365days365movies]

March 2, 2021: The Last Unicorn (1982) (Part 1)

I, uh...I wanna talk about zoology.

It’s my profession of choice, although if I’m going to be specific, it’s ecology and ornithology, based on my Masters. But while my expertise is in birds, that doesn’t mean I have any particular preference. So, let’s talk mammals. Specifically, I’d like to talk about horses.

Horses are odd-toed ungulates (Order Perissodactyla) belonging to the family Equidae, with only one living genus (Equus), which includes donkeys, zebras, and a FUCK-ton of fossil progenitors. Not gonna go into horse evolution here, since it’s a vast topic on its own, but the group dates to about 54 million years ago, during the Eocene period.

There are specific features that define modern horses as horses, including a single hoofed toe for walking on, a body built for running with high stamina, and a large cecum in the intestines for breaking down fibrous and herbaceous material. It’s a group native to North America, Africa, and Asia, with the modern descended horse descended from a somewhat unknown ancestor in Central Asia.

They’re grazers rather than browsers, which many similar sized herbivores are. And, of course, they have a close relationship to humans throughout prehistory. Their main systems of defense against predators are the afore-mentioned running capabilities, a VICIOUS kick (especially horses like zebras), and a high-range of monocular vision due to the position of their HUGE eyes.

In terms of sexual selection, it’s essentially based on physical competition between the males in a population, which are usually formed into reproductive harems. That’s one male with multiple females that live within an established range. The females have their own dominance schemes, while groups of males exist in bachelor herds before establishing a harem of their own.

And those two paragraphs help explain why horses don’t grow horns.

Animals like this bighorn sheep, as well as antelopes with impala and gerenuk, perform intrasexual selection using their horns, the size of which determine the fitness of an individual male, with the fights settling any potential ties for watching females. And that’s the main reason why herbivorous mammals grow horns, and horses have come up with different social structures to compensate. But OK, couldn’t they just horns anyway? 

Remember the stomach I mentioned earlier? Here’s the thing; hindgut digestion, which is what horses do...not the most nutritionally efficient form of digestion. In order to maintain their running lifestyles, they invest all obtained energy and nutrients into building muscle and other important functions. Fact of the matter is, they just can’t devote enough energy and nutrients to the physiologically expensive act of owning a horn. They do have a close relative that does that, though. However, they’ve sacrificed their speed, intelligence, and even their eyesight for their horns, as well as beefing up their physical defense with thicker skin.

YUP! So why talk about this? I mean...you know why.

OK, so that had basically nothing to do with this movie, but a post like this has been building since I mentioned the gerenuk a little bit ago. Sorry, had to get it out. Anyway, yeah, unicorns are impossible, but they’re still a hallowed mythical creature. National animal of Scotland, one of the most prominent symbols of medieval mythology, a magic-using ethnic class in a mythical kingdom composed of a horse-based majority that also includes normal horses and pegasi...

You know, unicorns. So, I’m definitely interested in what would happen to make a unicorn, well...the last one. My bets are on something man-made, like deforestation or another for of habitat depletion. Could be poaching for the horn. After all, that’s what’s been driving rhinoceros species to near-extinction (or actual extinction in the case of the western black and northern white rhinos. RIP Sudan, you goddamn king).

But let’s find out rather than speculate! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

During medieval times, in a mystical wood called the Unicorn’s Forest, a hunter shows unease to his companion. In the forest, there are no seasons, and the beasts are protected from hunters, as long as there is one unicorn left if the forest. That last unicorn is...the Unicorn (Mia Farrow), who learns from the hunters that she must be the last of her kind.

The opening credits, which are a gorgeous animated medieval tapesty, are backed by the song “The Last Unicorn”, by America (damn, nice pull). Gives the whole thing a Renn Faire feel. Never been to a Renn Faire, but I’d love to go to one, honestly.

Anyway, the Unicorn is in doubt that there are no more of her kind in the world, as they live forever, and she would know if there are none left...right? However, they can also be killed and trapped, so...I mean, they might be dead, Unicorn. As she’s thinking on this, the most Rankin-Bass butterfly ever shows up singing a ballad of love. This is...the Butterfly (Robert Klein), a bard-erfly (see whay I did there) who won’t stop singing, despite the Unicorn’s pleas to tell her of other unicorns.

Butterflies, apparently, repeat to anything they hear around them Which involves like, a lot of non-medieval songs. There’s one about the A-train, apparently, which makes...just NO fucking sense. As the Unicorn also shows frustration at this anachronistic little bugger, he breaks his songs to tell her than the Unicorns have all been chased off by “the Red Bull.”

...I’m going to hold it off as long as I can, but the joke WILL come. It WILL come.

She wonders if she can truly leave the forest, then actually does so in order to find the other unicorns. She happens upon a farmer, who attempts to tame her, as he only sees her as a horse. Apparently, men can no longer see unicorns as they are, and usually only see them as white horses. So, there may be unicorns in the world after all!

Not sure why she doesn’t go back to her forest after realizing this, but...OK. She continues on, backed once again by a song performed by America, called “Man’s Road”. Real talk, I’m digging the music in here, which is my inner folk rock fan talking.

While she finds nothing on her journey, she’s instead found by Mother Fortuna (Angela Langsbury), a witch who runs a carnival that needs a new exhibition. With her comes Ruhk (Brother Theodore) and magician Schmendrick (Alan Arkin), the latter of whom actually can see the Unicorn as a Unicorn.

At the carnival, Schmendrick introduces hiself to the Unicorn, wanting to get her out of there. Meanwhile, an audience is fooled by Mother Fortuna’s illusory magic to see a manticore, satyr, and the Midgard Serpent, when in reality they are an elderly lion, ape with a twisted foot, and really sad snake. However, the Harpy that she has IS real, and a major threat to Fortuna were she to escape.

That night, Fortuna speaks to the Unicorn of the Red Bull, owned by a King Haggard. The Unicorn asks Fortuna to free both her and the Harpy, two signs of the same magical coin. Also...is this a kids’ movie? Kinda thought it was until I noticed that the Harpy has, well...pendulous breasts. Literally the best way I can describe them. Also, three of them, so...there’s that.

After she leaves, Schmendrick arrives to free the Unicorn with his magic...and he’s shit at it. Like, REALLY shit. But thankfully, he’s a decent pickpocket, and stole the cage keys from Ruhk. He lets the Unicorn free, and she in turn releases the other animal prisoners, Harpy included. Which is NOT great for Fortuna, who’s IMMEDIATELY killed.

The two leave together, and head on the Unicorn’s journey to find her own kind. She cannot grant Schmendrick his wish to become a true magician, but he still gives her information about this world, and King Haggard, who seems like bad news.

On the road, the two encounter a gang of thieves of the road, who work for Captain Cully (Keenan Wynn), a short and portly leader of bandits. His mistress is a woman named Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), who’s endlessly frustrated by Cully’s regular failures. They befriend Schmendrick, who impresses them with illusions of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Although, it’s not his illusions, but those of the Unicorn, trying to help.

Doesn’t help that much, though, as the Robin Hood-hating Captain Cully ties him up to a tree after all of his men and Molly leave. A frustrated Schmendrick mutters a spell by mistake, and brings the tree to life.

And then my girlfriend fuckin’ broke. Here she is, below:

Ravishing. Yeah, she’s watching this too, and when the tree came up, her words were, and I quote:

...a smooth-talking horse, a three-tittied harpy, and a BOOBED TREE!

Boobed tree is an expression I will find a way to use in my life. Also, this is ABSOLUTELY not a kid’s movie, and that is one busty-ass tree. This tree, called...The Tree (Nellie Bellflower) is in love with Schmendrick, and is enraged by the appearance of the Unicorn. However, the Unicorn undoes Schmendrick’s magic, and puts the t-horny tree back to sleep.

The two encounter Molly Grue, who’s astonished to see a Unicorn. She cries, as she was been waiting to see one since she was a young maiden, but now she isn’t one anymore. Interesting implications there, but moving on. Molly wishes to join them, and while Schmendrick isn’t super down for that, she wins the Unicorn’s trust when she points out that they’ve been going in the wrong direction. Whoops.

OK, with that, let’s break for Part 2! See you there!

[gremlinbehaviour]

Monocular

For @febuwhump day 18: "I can't see"

Fandom: Merlin

Wordcount: 2106

During an ambush by bandits, Arthur gets cut across the eye.

Read on ao3

They had just a moment of warning between Merlin announcing that he had a bad feeling and the bandits attacking them. Why bandits would choose to attack a fully armed group of knights was a question they didn't have time to ask as they drew their swords and were soon embroiled in the fight. Merlin took up his typical position behind a tree, keeping an eye on the others and dropping branches on bandits or making them trip when they got too close to one of his friends. The knights had training the bandits clearly didn't, so the fight was over quickly. Instinctively they all looked up at each other, checking for injuries. Elyan was the first to move, darting forward and grabbing Arthur’s arm before he collapsed.

"Oh gods," Percival murmured. Merlin was inclined to agree with him. The entire right side of the king’s face was bloody. There was so much red that he couldn't tell whether his eye had been gouged out by the blow that had slashed his face. His knees buckled and Merlin leapt forward to help Elyan keep him from face-planting into the mud. For one horrible instant he thought the man was dead before he groaned.

"I'm okay," he muttered, though that clearly couldn't have been farther from the truth. Merlin, still bracing Arthur with one hand, untied his neckerchief with the other and quickly balled it up to press to his face. He held it over his eye with an open hand while shifting his left hand to cradle the back of his head and push it down into the bandage a little harder. The king groaned.

"I know, I'm sorry, but I have to slow down the bleeding."

"Can you see how bad it is?" Elyan asked fearfully. He had good reason to be scared for his friend; head injuries were always dangerous, what with how much they bled, and Arthur wouldn't be able to remain such an active soldier as well as a king if he lost the eye.

"Not until the bleeding stops. I'll need a lot of boiled water to clean it as well, so we need to find a stream or river and start a fire."

"We passed a creek not far back," Leon reminded them.

"We'll head there. Arthur, do you think you can hold this yourself?" Merlin asked, pulling his friend's hand up to the makeshift bandage. "You need to press hard." He didn't move his own hand until he was sure the pressure applied by the king was sufficient. “Can you walk?”

“It’s my eye that’s hurt, Merlin, not my legs,” he growled. It was different from the usual snappishness with which he spoke to his servant; an undercurrent of fear was audible running through it. Therefore, Merlin didn’t let the tone drive him away, and stuck right by his boss’s side as he got to his feet. Percival took his other side, holding onto his left arm. Surprisingly, Arthur didn’t grumble about that, and even allowed the tall knight to pull the limb over his own shoulders to help support him.

"We'll need wood for a fire," Merlin said when they reached the creek, and instantly Gwaine, Elyan, and Leon disappeared to go find some. Percival helped Arthur sit down leaning against a tree and took over the job of holding the bandage when the injured man’s hand began to shake, while Merlin began to scratch out a spot for the campfire and pull various small jars and bundles of herbs out from his medicine bag. He quickly got a fire going when the others returned with the wood and set up their pot over it to heat water. It took a while to begin boiling; meanwhile he came to check on Arthur.

"Does it feel like the bleeding is slowing down at all?" he asked. Much of the blood on the king’s face had dried, and was now sticky and probably uncomfortable, but Arthur likely didn't notice because the injury itself had to hurt way worse.

"Well, it hasn't seeped through the fabric," Percival replied.

"Let's take a look then." Merlin pulled his hand away and began to carefully peel back the bandage. It was stuck there with blood though, and Arthur couldn't hold in a groan. The servant immediately stopped tugging on it. "On second thought, let's get you lying down first, and then I can soften this with some hot water and it won't hurt so much."

Arthur nodded thankfully, shifting himself downwards with some help until he lay on his back, and Percival balled up his cloak and slipped it under his head for a pillow. He also laid a hand over the king’s forehead to try to steady him, and for comfort, if he would accept it. His arm wasn’t shoved away, so it seemed like he would. Leon carried over the pot of hot water for them and one of their little tin cups to use to pour it. Merlin waited until it had cooled enough that it wouldn’t burn him, though it was still quite hot, before beginning to pour it gently over the injured man’s eye.

“Ow!” Arthur barked.

“It’s not too hot, is it?” Merlin asked nervously.

“No, it just… hurts.”

“Well, I’m sorry to say I don’t think it’s going to stop hurting anytime soon. It’ll probably actually get worse before it gets better.”

Arthur groaned, and Percival squeezed his shoulder in sympathy. The water pouring over the king’s face must've been uncomfortable with the way he squirmed against it, his visible left eye screwing shut, but it had to be done. Once the neckerchief stuck to the wound was soaked through, Merlin was able to pull it away without too much pain, revealing just more blood. He thought he could make out part of a cut on his eyebrow, but it was hard to see.

"Okay, I'm gonna start cleaning it now alright? And you gotta hold still for me, or else I might end up hurting you."

“Hurting me more, you mean,” the king grumbled.

"I've got it," Percival reassured them both, adjusting his hands to hold over his friend's temples so he couldn't thrash his head. Merlin took a corner of the shirt Gwaine brought him and dipped it in the water before beginning to wipe away the blood. He poured some water with the cup over the eye itself, since he didn't want to risk touching it until he could see whether it was damaged. Gradually the skin began to be revealed, along with the wound.

It was a long cut stretching from halfway up his forehead, down through his eyebrow, and across his right eye before ending at his cheekbone. It was deep, with a white flash of bone visible on his cheek, but it seemed like the eye socket had helped protect him, and on his eyelid, the cut was more of a scratch.

"Arthur, can you slowly open your eyes? Try not to scrunch up your face if you can, and if it hurts too much that's okay. If you can’t manage it though, I'll have to touch your eye and I’d like to avoid doing that if possible." Not only would it have hurt, but it would have increased the risk of infection. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be necessary. Arthur’s eyelashes fluttered before he hesitantly blinked up at them. His eyes instantly started watering from the pain, but it seemed like his gaze was tracking Merlin's face. There was no visible damage to the dark blue iris, his pupil, or the white of his eye. "Can you see with your right eye?" The servant asked, holding his breath as he waited for an answer.

“No,” Arthur said. “Merlin, I can’t see!”

“Easy, calm down. It might just be the swelling because of the wound, since your eye itself doesn’t appear to be damaged. There’s every reason to hope that your vision will come back with time.” That seemed to calm the king down somewhat, or else he just didn’t want to panic in front of people. He pressed his eyes closed tightly, and Merlin winced at seeing how the movement pulled at the wounds, but didn’t scold him for it. “I am going to have to stitch your forehead and cheek, and I’m sorry, but it’s probably going to scar pretty badly.”

“ How badly?” he demanded.

“Well, your face isn’t quite disfigured, but the scar will probably be pretty noticeable.” He would have liked to give Arthur a mirror, but they obviously hadn’t brought one, and it wasn’t like he could magic up a scrying glass to let him look at it. “I’ll make the stitches as small as possible, which will minimize the scarring somewhat, and there are things Gaius can do when we’re back in Camelot to further reduce how noticeable it is.”

“You better not ruin my face,” Arthur growled.

“Okay then, well you better not move while I’m stitching it. Percival, I’ll need you to hold him again. And let me get you something to bite down on.” He rolled up the clean sleeve of the shirt he’d been using to wipe away the blood, and slipped it between Arthur’s teeth before threading a needle and beginning to work on the stitches. It took an agonizingly long time, since he was trying to be so careful doing it, and the king was shaking by the time he pulled closed the stitches on the half of the cut above his eye. “Halfway there,” Merlin reassured him, patting his shoulder.

“Haghway?!” Arthur mumbled through the cloth in his mouth.

“I know, I’m sorry, but I’m doing the best I can here, alright? It’ll be over soon. Just try to think about something else.”

“I can tell some dumb jokes if you want,” Gwaine suggested, showing a remarkable amount of self awareness about his humor that he normally didn’t seem to possess.

“That’s more likely to make Merlin laugh than anything, and I think that’s what we want to avoid,” Elyan countered.

“I have some stories I could tell,” Lancelot offered.

“I think he may be able to concentrate better without sound,” Leon suggested, to which Arthur agreed with a thumbs up, and they all went quiet again, just whispering amongst themselves enough to be able to ignore the occasional whimper.

Finally, Merlin finished with all the stitches, and smeared a bit of honey over them before Percival helped Arthur to sit up so he could wrap his head in bandages. He wished he could apply a poultice, but with the location of the wounds, to do so would be more likely to cause infection than prevent it if some got into his eye.

“Arthur, do you think you can walk?” he asked gently.

“I told you before, Merlin, it’s not my legs that are hurt. I’m sure I can walk just fine,” the king insisted, immediately trying to get to his feet. The servant had to grab hold of him to keep him from toppling over. “Okay, so maybe I’m a bit dizzy,” he admitted.

“That would be the blood loss,” Merlin informed him, keeping his hand firmly closed around his arm. “Let us help you.” Arthur nodded, and Leon hurried over to take his other side as he stood up and they began the slow journey back to Camelot.

When they finally reached it, Arthur stopped outside the city gates. He was supported almost entirely by Leon and Percival at this point, so they didn’t notice he had stopped until they’d carried him forward with his feet dragging in the mud for a few strides.

“Wait,” he ordered, but it wasn’t in his kingly determined voice. He sounded almost… scared. Merlin was by his side instantly. “What if… what if Gwen doesn’t like me anymore, or think I’m handsome, because of the scar?”

“Arthur, out of all the dumb things I’ve ever heard you say, that has to be among the dumbest,” Merlin replied. “I’m sorry, have you ever met Gwen? Do you know your wife at all ? What in the world would make you think she would love you any less because of a scar?”

Realizing that his servant was right, Arthur huffed. Merlin may be a terrible, unreliable servant most of the time, but he could always be counted on to knock the king down a peg when he was about to make poor decisions. Reassured, in the most mocking way possible, that his wife wouldn’t reject him for the new scar, Arthur allowed his friends to carry him the rest of the way home.

[saturniandragon]

Part 3 of 4

Part 2

Part 1

“Ugh, I hate this rain.”

“Oh don’t back off now, you said Countess Viena is counting on you.”

“…was that pun intended?”

“Yes.”

Merri’sa and Elrain regrouped back at the Ayleid temple after the sun had set and darkness covered the skies, albeit under downpour. Both an annoyance and a blessing; none of them could stand being wet and cold for long periods of time, while the sound of rain and abysmal lighting could mask their movement and help them sneak around better.

Merri’sa couldn’t miss that Elrain was unusually packed with equipment, more than what she’s used to go with. A knapsack containing who knew, a metal pick for climbing, and several opaque bottles with cloth on the lid in place of conventional cork.

“What’s in those bottles?”

“Oh these? You’ll see. Hopefully I get to use them so I can show you.”

Elrain took one last look through the monocular before going in. Observation from a distance was now more difficult due to less light available and raindrops coating the glass.

“It’s too quiet. Only six of them out and about, what is this? Where the hell is the rest of them?”

“Probably asleep. Or shielding themselves from the rain.”

“Doesn’t matter, this ends tonight.”

“Ready when you are.”

Elrain took out a rope, tied one end to a large tree trunk on the edge of the overlook, and threw the other end downhill. Followed by Merri’sa, she began rappelling down the cliffside as quickly and safely as possible under the rain. They began their infiltration into the Ayleid temple.

Elrain used the cover of the rain, distraction and cunning to get close to the unsuspecting targets and slit their throats, Merri’sa used her night vision ability and unmatched marksmanship to take down the rest from long range. And just like that, in about 10 minutes, the temple exterior was cleared. 5 years of mutual trust in combat has enabled them to act quickly and efficiently even without verbal communication.

“Wasn’t so bad.” Merri’sa scavenged any arrows still intact enough to conserve ammunition. She still held her principle of utilizing every resource to its limit.

Before going in, Elrain inspected the bodies that they’d killed, hoping to gather any piece of information about what they’re about to face. One of the bandits bore an unusual symbol painted on the back of the hand. It consisted of a number of circles with texts written in strange letters.

“Mary, look at this.”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve seen this before?”

“No idea, but that’s… Daedric script.”

“Can you read it?”

“I wish I could. Well, at least now we know we’re dealing with a band of corpse raisers of some sort.”

The rain hadn’t stopped pouring down. If anything, it became heavier than before, and the ambient temperature got colder as a side effect. Adding the faraway cracks of lightning and it might as well classify as a storm.

“The hell are they doing here?”

“Whatever it is they’re doing, it’s not benevolent. Just keep your head down in there.”

The pair began entering the temple interior through an opening. Inside, the walls were lined with beautiful and flowing elven carvings, as well as Ayleid scripts. Unfortunately, none of them were able to translate any.

The Ayleids, like the Dwemer, all disappeared from Nirn before the Second Era started. However, their elven magic still persisted in the temples and buildings they left behind. One such magic was glowing energy stones used to light up interior, in place of conventional oil lamps or candles. Even over 3000 years later in the Fourth Era, these stones hadn’t ceased giving off light, and many discoveries on lost Ayleid ruins revealed traces of usable magic in artifacts and weapons, attracting attention from both magic researchers as well as maleficent individuals looking to harness power.

Merri’sa and Elrain continued their speculating from their last time in the tavern, while traversing the temple interior carefully and keeping eyes open for threats and traps from all angles. Until suddenly they found a corpse of a woman in white robes trapped inside some metal cage. Elrain went ahead to inspect it.

“Mary, cover me.”

Elrain slipped her arms through the metal bars and checked the body for possible information. Blood patterns, laceration wounds and burn marks. Some organs appeared to have been removed from the body. But it didn’t take long until she was struck by a terrible realization.

“Shit, Mary, it’s the missing priestess.”

“Is she dead?”

“Been dead for at least 2 days, judging from the dried blood. But looks like they… removed her heart.”

“What? Let me see.”

Elrain and Merri’sa swapped turns. Nothing much they could gather from it as the metal cage was tightly locked with no visible keyhole. Aside from the missing heart, all the blood also seemed to have been extracted out.

“Seems like they kept her alive for some period before deciding to kill her.”

“But necromancers don’t salvage body parts, do they? Unless they plan on resurrecting someone else.”

“I feared as much. We better keep moving, I don’t want to find out what atrocities they’re about to commit if we don’t do anything.”

Merri’sa and Elrain continued on forward, deeper into the temple. The further they went, the stranger the ambient air felt like, giving a clear sign that there’s heavy influence of magic in the area. While they continued finding more dead bodies of travelers, mercenaries and civilians alike, they hadn’t encountered any hostiles in the temple interior, which was unusual as they earlier expected to face fierce resistance. But they knew they were going the right way as they noticed more and more of the same symbols painted on the temple walls, the same symbol as the one found earlier on the bandit they killed.

“Mary, I don’t like this. Where the hell are they?”

“I don’t like it either, just keep your eyes open.”

All the corpses they encountered shared the same characteristics; lacerations, at least one missing organ and all the blood drained out. Even some were missing limbs. A really gruesome place to be in, but they had a job to do and they intended to complete it. Though the overall scent of the temple interior didn’t make it any easier.

One hour of carefully walking through the hallways of the Ayleid ruin, dodging traps and unknown objects, they finally found something significant. At the end of a large hall was a door with lights and muffled chanting voices propagating from it. And the same symbol with Daedric script appeared again, carved on the door.

“What the hell? Mary, you hear that?”

“I do. C’mon, help me open this.”

Merri’sa and Elrain both tried to force the door open, first by focusing their body mass on it, and when that didn’t work, they started using other methods like using a metal pick to pry it open and burning it with a fire spell. Yet, the door wouldn’t budge a hair no matter what they did.

“Ugh, it’s not opening. Something’s blocking it from the other side. Mary?”

“I’m gonna look around.”

All that’s left of that night’s journey was behind that very door, anything in there could help answer what had been happening between Skingrad and Kvatch. So close, yet still far.

Merri’sa started looking around the large hallway, while Elrain sat down on a boulder to regain some stamina and magicka. Pillars towering to the ceiling, large balcony 6 meters high, piles of rubble blocking another doorway, carved elven statues and furniture, and stone coffins. Nothing particularly useful to get the door open.

A particular relief on the wall caught her attention. She studied the carvings for a while, until she discovered a horrifying piece of history.

“By the Eight. El, come here.”

“What? What is it?”

“Look at this.”

Elrain walked towards Merri’sa, both set their eyes on the carved relief on the temple wall.

“Woah.”

“This may be our answer.”

The relief displayed a female figure of elven origins, surrounded by what appeared to be elven wizards channeling magic to her body. A possible hint of practice of resurrection or life preservation done for significant persons in ancient society to prolong their age and firm hold over power. But what ticked them off was the part that pictured a stack of corpses surrounding the wizards, as well as a ring of worshippers around the edges of the relief.

“Is this…”

“A necromantic ritual? Likely. Whoever’s behind that door is probably trying to revive this female figure, possibly the queen who once ruled this place.”

“So wait, those corpses we saw earlier…”

“Someone or some people are trying to replicate history.”

“But to what end?”

“I don’t know, seek of power? An insight to the future? I’ve read stories of Ayleid fanatics doing whatever it takes to see the rise of Ayleid dominance on Tamriel again.”

“Shit. Well we need to get in there.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. Do you have leftover rope?”

“Uh, I think I do, actually,” Elrain scrambled through her knapsack, and took out a small pile of rope. “What are you doing with it?”

Merri’sa snatched the rope from her hands, and the metal pick hanging on her belt.

“Hey that’s mine!” With quick hands, she tied one end of the rope firmly to the grip of the pick. She then threw the pick over the balcony where it held a strong and stable grip, allowing the hanging end of the rope to be used for climbing. And immediately, the Khajiit got up from the ground floor to the balcony pretty easily.

“Oh,” Elrain was taken aback by her creativity and intelligence. Never in her life had she thought of utilizing both of those items in combination. “Where did you learn that?”

“A certain book.” Merri’sa inspected the balcony spaces and found a doorway leading to a narrow corridor. “Looks like there’s a way forward, come on and climb up here.” Without second thoughts, Elrain followed suit and climbed up the rope, and the pair continued their journey deeper into the temple. Their goal was now made clear; stopping terrible history from taking place again.

The chanting they heard earlier became clearer and clearer, and soon enough they found themselves on different balcony in yet another massive hall, but this time even more corpses littered an area large enough to fit a small settlement. Some were no more than bones and skulls.

But their attention was in the middle of the room. Probably 3 dozen people dressed up in blue hooded robes all in a worshipping position circling around a central altar, collectively chanting ancient elven or Daedric language, while other two individuals in black robes stood on the altar with raised hands, supposedly the master necromancers who were leading the ritual. A visible flow of magicka surrounded the room, most of it was directed towards the altar itself, where presumably the body of the Ayleid queen was laid on.

“What on Nirn…”

Merri’sa and Elrain both were stunned by the sight before their eyes. They had prime seat of observing real time attempt of an entire necromantic cult resurrecting an Ayleid queen. This was it, a jarring string of events that had taken countless of innocent lives over the past few months, that they had to stop before the worst. They took cover behind the balusters, making sure no one could see them just to be safe.

“Looks like they can’t hear us from up here, good.”

“You want to take them all out, just like old times?”

“I still need to know what’s in those bottles you carry.”

“Ah, perfect time to show you.”

Elrain took one of the bottles, plucked out the cloth from the lid and placed the lid close to Merri’sa’s nose, signaling her to take scent of the bottle content.

“You smell that?”

“Oil. But what is–”

Merri’sa immediately found out the purpose of said bottle. It’s a makeshift fire spreader, designed to set things on fire from a distance by spreading oil over an area and letting the cloth act as a wick and burn the flammable liquid.

“Yes, you see my point?”

“Clever. Where did you learn to make that?”

“A certain book.”

“Hmph.” Merri’sa let out a small but audible condescending exhale, but it’d be lie if she wasn’t impressed with what her elven companion had managed to come up with mundane, everyday objects. “So what’s the plan?”

“We don’t have enough arrows for all of them, but hear me out. First, we burn the cloth in these bottles, and then, those two in black robes,” Elrain pointed towards the two people standing on the altar. “Kill both of them at the same time, throw these bottles on top of the crowd and escape in the chaos.”

“And what about the ones who survive?”

“Hopefully confused enough to process what happens. If they’re this committed into the ritual, we should have time to leave before they realize.”

A crudely made strategy, made in a hurry. But they knew their situation, they didn’t have enough ammunition for all of them even if they counted their shots, and fighting necromancers in close range surrounded by a mountain of dead bodies would be pretty much death.

At this point there was hardly any better plan than what Elrain proposed.

“I don’t see any other way, let’s do it.”

Elrain prepared the bottles, placing them on the floor. One by one she ignited the cloth wick using a small fire spell. Merri’sa prepared her trusty recurve bow, nocked a steel arrow into place and pulled the bowstring. Elrain followed short after. They had to time their shots at the same moment.

“The cloth wick won’t last long. Let’s be quick about this.”

“Alright, you take the one on the right, I get the left one. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“On three. One, two…”

“Three.”

Two arrows were launched from the dark corner of the hall, arcing down as they traveled towards the target. A second later, two thuds were heard as the master necromancers in the center of the altar dropped dead on the floor and the magicka flow around the room quickly faded out. The pair wasted no time, grabbed the bottles and threw them as accurate as possible towards the cult worshippers. Three loud sounds of glass shatter echoed across the room, as fire spread on their feet and incinerated some of the cult worshippers.

“Great shot, El. Now let’s go, they’ll be searching for us.”

Merri’sa and Elrain didn’t take chances as they booked it towards the temple exit. They jumped down the previous balcony they climbed, but by the time they landed feet on the ground, the door that they tried to budge through was immediately busted open, and a group of angry mages were at the doorway. Without hesitation they casted various Destruction spells as the pair tried to flee.

“Behind us!”

“Forget them! Just run!”

“Intruders! Kill them!”

The pair spent no time looking over their shoulders. Their mind was focused on escaping the temple alive. Merri’sa’s agility and Elrain’s compact posture made it easier for them to navigate tight corners and doorways. At one point the mages got dangerously close to them, so Elrain lit up another oil bottle she brought as a backup.

“This should buy us time.” When they sprinted through the last corridor before the exit, Elrain shattered the last oil bottle on their tracks, creating a pool of fire behind them and stopping the mages from going after them.

“You’re a dirty little wood elf, El, you know that?” Merri’sa said sarcastically.

“Oh, sod off. Save your compliments for later.”

They finally got outside, where the rain had stopped falling down and the two moons of Masser and Secunda lit up the night sky, but their escape wasn’t done just yet. They still needed to make sure no one trailed behind them, so they went after the nearest treeline into the dense Cyrodiilic forest, and through the woods they ran towards Skingrad, the closest guarded settlement.

Inside the walls of Skingrad, Merri’sa and Elrain were filled with adrenaline, having a hard time believing what they just did at the Ayleid temple. They always found satisfaction in doing stealthy combat —Merri’sa especially—, but this one would become an unforgettable experience for both of them, for a pair of skilled markswomen doing a noble service for the people of Cyrodiil.

“Is that why you visited Imperial City? To craft those oil bottles.”

“Hell yes it is. Not bad at all, don’t you think?”

“Impressive, El. Impressive.”

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Riding High Ch 5: Ad Nauseam

Chapter Summary: It’s Mary’s first day at school, and it doesn’t go according to plan…

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: So from here on in we dive into the GIFTED main story line so this contains SPOILERS for the film. If you haven’t seen it please be aware of that before you read on. As a Lawyer I know how long the types of cases depicted in GIFTED can take, and I also know how fast they can be too. So for that reason I’ll be spreading the storyline over couple of months, because I find that realistic and it also fits with how I want the story to go so…just roll with it!

This is also HEAVILY Frank’s POV at the moment, as probably most of the next few bits will be but it is a fic about him in the main! As always I’m a ho for a REBLOG and COMMENT!

Chapter Song: The Wind by Cat Stevens

Series Masterlist Main Masterlist

September 2017

“Hey! Come on.” Frank sighed, knocking on the door that led into his bedroom where Mary was getting changed “Come on let’s move”

“No” came the sullen reply

“Let me see.” he said a little more gently.

“No.”

“Come on, I made you a special breakfast.” Frank tried again, although why he had no idea. Bribery didn’t work unless it involved a visit to Fliss or the horses.

“You can’t cook.” Mary replied, a snort in her voice. With a deep sigh Frank decided enough was enough.

“Hey, Mary, open up.” his voice was sterner and a few seconds later the door opened and Mary looked up at him. She was dressed in her new red summer dress with a white collar and blue and white flowers patterned all over it. She wore a filthy scowl on her face which Frank was trying really hard not to laugh at.

“You look beautiful.” he told her.

“I look like a Disney character.” She seethed as she stormed past him. Frank watched her pass as the door to the room shut, gave a sigh and then followed her to the kitchen. She sat at the table, pulling the bowl of cereal to her as Frank set about making her lunch.

“Where’s the special?” Mary suddenly said.

“What?” Frank asked, reaching up for a piece of kitchen roll to wipe a knife clean.

“You said you made me a special breakfast.”

Frank leaned over and with his left hand turned the box of Special K round so Mary could see it. She rolled her eyes and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. Frank ignored her until she spoke again, her voice pleading.

“Please, don’t make me go. You can keep home schooling me.”

“I’ve taught you everything I know” Frank replied, smearing peanut butter onto the bread in front of him.

“But I don’t want to go.”

“Well… I don’t want to go to work, but I do.” Frank shrugged as he fixed the sandwich together and reached for a zip-press bag to place it in.

“You don’t go to work. You fix boats on the dock.”

“Okay, it’s a poor example..” he said, pulling the top of the bag open. “But you are still going.”

“But… but what about Fred?” Mary asked as Frank shimmied the sandwich into the bag and sealed it

“What about him?” Frank sighed

“You won’t take care of him. You don’t like cats.”

Well, she had him there. He really didn’t like cats. But Frank was ok. Frank wasn’t really a cat, he was more of a dog…

“I don’t like two-eyed cats” Frank shrugged in reply “Fred is as you know, monocular.”

“Who’s gonna throw him his ping pong ball?” Mary tried again.

“Fred’s gonna be fine, no more argument, okay?” Frank sighed, looking at her as he pulled another sandwich bag from the box for his own. “We’ve discussed this ad nauseam.”

“What’s an nauseam?” Mary frowned.

“You don’t know?” Frank turned to look at her, leaning against the kitchen unit. “Looks like someone needs school.” Mary looked at him, an utterly filthy scowl on her face and he stared back. She sighed and turned back to her breakfast, hand propping her face up as her elbow rest on the table. Frank stood watching her whilst he threw some bread in the toaster. He felt bad, he really did but this was for the best. She needed to be normal. He felt his phone buzzing in his back pocket and, wiping his hands on his dirty work jeans, he pulled it out, smiling as he read the text from Fliss.

“Good luck with the whole School thing this morning. If she kicks off tell her no riding lesson on Saturday. Give me a call or swing by if you need me xx”

“I don’t need good luck I need a miracle, and a drink. Is 8am on a Monday too early for a beer?” he replied.

“Well, it’s afternoon somewhere in the world Sailor ;-) “

He gave a chuckle as he put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Mary who was watching him, a knowing look on her face.

“What?”

“I know that was Fliss.” she said.

“How?”

“Because you’re smiling, the way you always do when she messages you.” “Well we’re friends…we like talking to one another. Something you might understand after you make some at school…” She scowled at him again and he ignored her looking up at the clock.

“Finish up, it’s nearly time to go.”

With a grumble Mary ate another mouthful before she slid off her chair. Frank packed her lunch into her rucksack  before he handed it to her. With another scowl she place her arms through the straps and then together they walked out of their home.

“Just remember that today, those kids in your class, they probably haven’t learnt even half as much as you.” Frank said, looking at her as they walked down the path. “So try not to show off ok?” “I can’t even use what I do know?” “No I’m not saying that, just…don’t make it so obvious ok? It will make people ask questions about why you know so many things and…” “AM I not supposed to know them?”

“Honestly, no, you’re 7.” Frank shrugged “but you’re smart, you know this.”

She remained quiet for a second before she sighed “Ok, I promise I won’t show off.”

They reach the end of the path and then walked across the grassy area between two of the other pre-fabs just in time for the bus to pull to a stop.

Frank watched Mary as she stood looking at it as the doors swung open.

“This is gonna be fun.” He said, watching the back of her head “You’re gonna meet kids today that you’re gonna borrow money from for the rest of your life.”

She didn’t reply

“Come on.” he said, gently gesturing her forward with his right arm, his tone somewhat softer. He watched her climb up the steps, his hands falling to his hips as he tried to think of something encouraging to say. “You’re gonna be great.”

She paused and looked back at him, her expression soft.

“You know, just…” he gave her a thumbs up “I don’t know. Try bein’ a kid.”

Mary looked down as the school bus doors shut and Frank sighed. He watched her take a seat as the bus pulled off and then turned to head back to the house. He was running through his day in his head, he had a boat he needed to have a look at but didn’t think it was a major fix, few parts that type of thing. He could swing by Sandybrook later on, maybe, see if Fliss was free for an hour for lunch…

There was a rapping on a window and he stopped dead at the end of the path looking up. His eyes locking with Roberta’s as she gazed at him from out of her window. With a sigh of frustration he turned to his left and continued back towards his home another way.

“Frank! Frank, I know you hear me.” He let out an inward groan as he rolled his eyes, ignoring her completely. He walked in the door to his kitchen, shut it and then snapped the lock across to make a point. The point being ‘piss off and leave me alone’. He knew that making the point was, however, pointless because she’d just fucking unlock the door and walk in anyway. Like she always did. He grabbed the toast that had popped up whilst he had been out and threw it on a plate.

“Frank!” There was a juggle of the door handle and he turned to look at Roberta as she pulled out a set of keys.

Ignoring her completely he grabbed a mug and poured some coffee into it.

“There’s still time for you to undo this nonsense. Go get in your car and go get that child.”

“Are you technically allowed to use these keys whenever you want?” He said to her, a little sarcastically as he passed her the mug. She took it from him

“How you can stand there…acting all calm and all of that making light out of this?” she asked as he took a bite of his toast “Now, go get her back before it’s too late.”

“She gotta go out in the world.” Frank said as he began to tidy up the kitchen, placing the breakfast and lunch making items away “She has no friends her age, no social skills. She doesn’t know how to be a kid.”

Roberta merely watched him as he sighed and turned to face her, leaning his hip against the counter. “Two nights ago she told me that even if Germany bails out the Euro, there could still be worldwide recession.” He shook his head “I was staring at the celling for three hours.” he finished softly

Roberta wrinkled her nose a little and looked down at the floor as she shook her head softly. “I’m so worried.” she said gently, her voice cracking and it was then that Frank noticed her eyes were filling with tears. He knew she cared for Mary, she cared for him too even if she showed that less. And he got it, he did, he got exactly what she was worried about because hell, he felt the same. If people spotted Mary’s potential and then started digging it was going to cause a whole heap of ramifications. But he had to balance out the need to keep her ‘talents’ hidden and for her to have a normal life. He saw so many parallels between Mary and Diane, and frankly it scared the shit out of him. His mother had been overbearing, insisted that they were both home schooled, but when their Father had died Frank had rebelled. He’d gone out, fallen in with a  BMX riding, trouble making crowd (well, as much trouble as 8 year olds could make…toilet papering houses, throwing stones at cars, that type of thing)  basically stuck the middle finger up at his mother who had in the end conceded and he’d gone to school. But Diane…well, she’d been smothered and grown up so isolated with no social skills.

No, he couldn’t let that happen to Mary.

He let out a sigh “Come on, Roberta. If you start crying, I will have to pretend to start crying.”

He watched as she nodded sadly.

“Hey.”

She looked up at him as he spoke.

“You know there’s something you could be overlookin’.” he smiled “This could work out.”

“Maybe.” she agreed, with a slight nod and a smile “But if anybody takes that baby away…I’ll smother you in yo sleep.” she warned him, her southern accent becoming stronger as she issued the threat “Morning, Fred.” she said to the cat who was led on the table. His tail swished as she rather viciously grabbed at her keys before she left the house.

With his fucking mug.

The sun was already warm and it wasn’t even 9 when Frank reached the dock, the rays bouncing off the crystal blue surface of the water. As he walked he applied a slight smearing of sunscreen to his neck, he knew that bore the brunt of the sun when he was outside and not in the lock up. Fliss had commented it on it the other day, and he had admitted to her that when he’d gotten out of the shower he had noticed he was definitely sporting some amusing tan lines, both round the collar of his T-shirts and where the arms finished. It was always the same though. Fliss had laughed, rolled up her sleeves to show him the same and pointed out it was why she spent as much time as she could on her days off by the pool trying to even it out.

Lying by the pool on a day off… Frank mused to himself, now there was a thought.

Whilst his mind was on Fliss, he pulled his phone out and dialed her number.

“Hey Frankie boy.” she greeted him “Did you manage to get her on the bus without a gun or…” Frank chuckled “It was surprisingly less trouble than I thought but…”

“You’re doing the right thing Frank.” she replied, and he had to smile at the fact she knew what he was pondering.

“Roberta doesn’t seem to think so.”

“Yeah, well, she’s worried but that doesn’t make her right.” Fliss said “Look, Mary is a kid. She needs to just, oh I dunno, live like a kid. You’ve done it now anyway so, well, just see how it goes, that’s all you can do.”

“Thanks Fliss.” he smiled to himself “Think I just needed to hear that.” “Any time, look I gotta go, my 9 am is here.” “Ok, well, I thought if the invite was open I could swing by at lunch. I’ll grab us a sandwich on the way?”

“Sounds great.” Fliss said, “Just message me later.” “Sure, have a good morning Cowgirl.” She laughed “You too Sailor.”

He tucked the phone back in his pocketed and continued to head down the gangway, nodding to a few people before he hopped onto the white speed-boat he was working on, pulling the dust cover off the stripped down engine.

**** Two hours. It was a whole two hours before he got a phone call telling him to head into the school. He strode back to the house, quickly washed his hands and threw on a blue and red plaid button down over his grubby white t-shirt before he headed to go get the pain-in-the-ass.

After a number of apologies, Frank walked out of the Principal’s office with a groan. Mary skipped ahead of him, examining something in a cabinet but he placedd his hand on her head and turned it in the direction she needed to walk. He pushed oen the double doors, letting her go in front of him.

One hand between her shoulder he steered her away from the entrance to the school and was fishing in his pocket for his keys when he heard a voice behind him.

“Excuse me?”

He turned to see a slim, quite pretty, brunette in a green and white dress hurrying towards him.

“Hi.” she said, raising her hand in greeting.

“Look it’s my teacher.” Mary said with a roll of her eyes as Frank slowed down.  “Probably wants to remind me what one plus one is.”

“Go to the car, okay?” he said, gently guiding her away with his hand.

“Hi” he repeated

“Hi.” Frank replied, removing his glasses and taking her extended hand in greeting.

“Sorry to yell at you and then chase you down.” she apologised.

“It’s okay. Mary’s teacher?” he asked, releasing her hand.

“Yes. I’m Bonnie Stevenson”

“Frank. How are you?” he said, and then before giving her chance to apologise he sighed “Sorry about today. She got little overexcited.” he gestured to the car as Mary climbed in “It’s just first day jitters.”

“Sure, yeah.” Bonnie nodded, turning to look at Mary

“We are running a little bit late actually, so we gotta get going.” Frank said, late for what he had no idea, he hadn’t made that bit up yet.

“Okay, I don’t even wanna talk about that.” Bonnie shook her head “I will keep you just a minute”

“Okay.”

“I think your daughter…I think Mary might be gifted.”

Shit.

“What?” Frank feigned surprise, quite well too so it seemed.

“Yeah, today in math, she answered some really…really…”

“Oh, no, no, no…” he said, holding his hand out to stop her as she was gesticulating rapidly with her own as she continued to speak. “No, that’s…it’s not gifted.”

“Difficult questions that a seven year old would…”

“It’s Trachtenberg.” Frank cut her off easily, he could deflect this.

“I’m sorry…” Bonnie laughed, folding her arms, looking at him, puzzled.

“Jakow Trachtenberg.” Frank nodded. “Spent seven years in a concentration camp. Developed a system to rapidly solve problems.” he gestured with the hand holding his keys “ It’s the Trachtenberg method.”

“But she’s…I mean… She’s seven though.” Bonnie said, smiling slightly, her tone still surprised.

“I learned it when I was eight.” he said, smiling “Do I look gifted to you?”

Bonnie looked him up and down and dropped her head, smiling.

“It kinda went out of note since the invention of the calculator…” Frank continued, backing away from her as he spoke, “But… I can still win a drink at the bar using it.” he smiled, opening his sunglasses out. “Sorry for today. Won’t happen again.”

“Okay.” Bonnie nodded as Frank slid on his shades.

“Nice to meet you…Bonnie.” he said, remembering her name.

“Frank.” Bonnie nodded again.

He drove them home in silence. His only words being an instruction for her to go change into something suitable for an afternoon at the docks before he stepped into the kitchen and remembered his lunch arrangements. With a curse he pulled his phone out and gave Fliss a quick call.

**** Fliss’ morning had been fairly busy as well. She’d given 2 private lessons, worked one of her horses, mucked half the block out as it was a Monday, which meant that Ellis had the day off so she mucked in, and was now going through the bookings for the week. She’d been inundated this week with requests that she couldn’t accommodate, but was contemplating putting another lesson on to satisfy the demand. Bill had told her not to be stupid, she was already teaching 6 days a week and needed to let her staff shoulder some of the responsibility before she burnt out.

“Joanne?” she called. Joanna walked in and looked at Fliss.

“How do you fancy taking over for me completely on a Sunday?” she asked.

“Me?” Joanne frowned.

“Yeah.” Fliss nodded “You open up, close and can run a couple of Classes. You have your teaching qualifications…I can supervise the first 2 weeks or so and if you’re happy after that then…you can take the day completely, take 20% of the earnings as an extra. What do you say?”

“Fliss, I’d…well, I don’t know what to say!” Joanne grinned “Yeah, yeah I’d love to!”

“Good.” Fliss smiled “There’s a list of clients here, you can call back after lunch and offer them a time slot to suit you on Sunday, have a think about a lesson plan for groups and then…” “Thanks Fliss. “ Joanne smiled “This means a lot.” “You’ve earned it.” Fliss smiled “You’ve been a perfect head groom these last 6 months. Keep going and…well, we’ll see where we end up!”

Joanne beamed and nodded, heading back out onto the yard.

Fliss took a deep breath. She had spent so much of her life not in control of her career or home life, doing as she was told by John, when she was told to do it or suffer the consequences of a beating, that she had gone the complete opposite way when she had taken grasp of her own life. Her business was run by her with military precision. Bill did the books for her, but other than that she arranged everything. She was a control freak, she knew that so stepping away 1 day a week might seem like a little step to other people but to her it was a huge one. Bill had reminded her the other night that the idea had been that eventually Fliss would have a manager running the place for her which meant she could turn up to provided lessons and ride when needed. She was a long way off that yet though, but this one day off was a little progress.

Her phone started ringing and she reached over to pick it up, smiling when she saw the number.

“2 calls before noon!” Fliss grinned “I’m honoured”

“Unfortunately I’m calling to cancel lunch.”  Frank sighed.

Fliss was surprised she felt disappointed. “Oh, it’s no issue.” she said, pulling a face “is everything alright.

“No.” he replied bluntly.

“Mary?”

“How did you guess?” he gave a low chuckle.

“She’s normally your source of your trouble. What has she done?”

“Apparently she stood up in class, and shouted at the principal to, and I quote “get on your phone and call Frank and tell him to get me out of here.””

Fliss bit back a laugh. It shouldn’t be funny, but she could picture Mary’s angry face and her arms folded across her chest. Despite her best attempts an amused snort escaped her.

“It’s not funny” Frank deadpanned

“I know, I’m sorry but… “ Fliss cleared he throat, forcing herself to become serious.

“You now I wasn’t a perfect kid but I’m pretty sure I never got thrown out before lunchtime on my first day.” Frank sighed.

“She’s not been thrown out…just told to go home early” Fliss countered

“Well I brushed it off as first day excitement but…the teacher was digging into how smart she is and…”

“Look, try not to worry.” Fliss said, sensing the tone of panic in his voice “Just try talking to Mary You always get the best out of her when you explain things to her.”

“Yeah, look, I better go…I need to get back to the boat yard.”

“No problem. Take care, and…just…well, listen to her Frank.”

“Yeah, bye Fliss.”

Fliss placed her phone down on her desk, and bit her lip. The morning had started off reasonably well too. She knew Frank well enough now to know that his frustration with Mary was born out of simply wanting the absolute best for her, and he was completely focused on making that happen even if Mary was not happy about it.

Fliss tapped her nails absentmindedly on the desk, trying to think of ways she could help. But other than talk to Mary, as she had encouraged Frank to do, she was stumped.

Nope, Fliss didn’t envy Frank one bit.

*****

“For the record, I didn’t wanna go to the stupid school in the first place.”  Mary rambled on as she perched on a cool box, blue sun hat perched on her face as Frank finally finished his work on the engine, screwing the cover back on “And the boy in the front row acts inappropriately for someone who’s a child.”

“Sorry. I’m still passively aggressively ignoring you.” he said without looking up.

“Other kids answer questions, they don’t get in trouble.” Mary continued to protest.

“You didn’t get in trouble for answering the questions.” Frank looked at her, still turning the screw driver, his voice taking on a tone of exasperation. “You yelled at the principal.”

Mary looked at him, shrugging.

“All right, you know what? You’re gonna find this interesting.” he said, stepping back slightly, tossing the screwdriver onto one of the seats as he made his way to the cockpit of the boat “So I googled" first graders who yelled at the principal". And statistically you will never believe how many kids do it.”

He started working his way through the checks as Mary answered

“How many?”

“None.” he shot back over his shoulder as he fired up the boat, revving it slightly. He heard Mary’s footsteps as she ran down the side of the boat and stopped.

“Frank, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” she said leaning over the edge to look at him.

“Yeah, right.” he said, shaking his head before he turned to look at her “You can’t show off like that in school.”

“I know.”

“You promised you wouldn’t then the first day…”

“I know, I screwed up.”

Frank looked at her, he could see she was genuinely contrite. Her head was dropped slightly. He watched her for a moment before he nodded and looked back out of the water before she spoke again.

“Do you think this boat needs a test ride?”

He looked back at her as she grinned up at him, the gap where her two top teeth had fallen out serving as a reminder as to just how young she damned well was. Like he could ever forget that, mind. Frank looked down and shoved his glasses back as they slipped down his nose and with a sigh he gave in, the way he normally did when she pulled those puppy dog eyes on him.

“Go get, Fred.”

She smiled and jumped up.

“Don’t run!” he called after her, watching as she slowed to a walk for a few strides, before running anyway. He shook his head, smiling to himself at her blatant disregard for his order.

She appeared a little while later and Frank got her settled in the seat of the boat with a life vest and a blanket covering her legs, it could get a little nippy on the water for Mary, not that it bothered him.

“Ready?” he asked

She gave him a thumbs up and he pulled the boat out of the spot and headed slowly out of the harbour. Once on the open water he sped up, relishing the feel of the wind in his hair. He felt at peace on the water, something about it soothed his soul. He drove them to a stretch of beach they knew and loved, a quiet one and he drove the boat into the shallow water before he shucked off his shoes and socks, rolled his jeans up and jumped down, pushing it up onto the sand.

“Alright short stack…” he smiled as Mary grinned and stood up. She shucked off her life vest and he lifted her out of the boat before passing Fred over. He hopped back in, grabbed the parasol and a fold out chair, passing her a bucket and spade, all of which he had thrown on the boat whilst she’d headed off to get Fred, before they made their way up the beach.

Mary soon set off, digging about in the sand and collecting shells, like a normal kid her age should do and Frank settled down to watch her, occasionally glancing out into the ocean, spotting every so often the ripple of the resident pod of dolphins as they broke surface lazily. Mary was splashing around in the shallow pools on the beach, Fred by her side before she looked up and came running towards him, jumping on his knee as the birds flew down to inspect what the tide had washed in.

“You ok?” he asked.

“Yeah.” she smiled, shifting around to get comfortable. “Fred loves to watch the sandpipers.”

Fred gave a meow as if to confirm what she was saying and Frank looked down at the cat as it lounged in the shade.

“He thinks he’d like to catch one, but he’d regret it.” she continued “Fred’s not a killer. He’s a lover.”

She gave a sigh and leaned back into him, her back resting against his chest and Frank moved his arms as she took his left hand in both of hers, gently looking at his palm and playing with his fingers.

“Would my mom want me to go to this school?” she asked.

“I can only guess.” Frank replied, honestly “But I will tell you that, she would have wanted you to have friends.”

“Idiot friends?”  Mary said, almost groaning.

“She’d want you to have compassion for others.” Frank said, tilting his head so he was looking down at the side of her face “Like a cat can have for a sandpiper.”

Mary paused and shifted slightly, looking down a little “But what if they don’t like me?” she asked softly.

And God, if that didn’t break his heart! He swallowed and took a moment, before he looked at her.

“Then they’re idiots.” he said simply, and in his mind it was the truth.

Mary didn’t reply, instead she leaned back, her head on his shoulder and Frank gently wrapped his arms further around her, patting her stomach gently. They both sat in silence for a bit, Mary gently tickling the back of his hands with her own. He was just thinking about telling her they really should get back, when he felt her sit up.

“Hey…is that Fliss?”                              

Frank frowned and looked at her, “Where?”

“There, look…” He followed where she was pointing and squinted slightly. There was a woman riding a chestnut horse a little further down the beach, and it certainly looked like Fliss.

“Hang on…” Frank said, pulling out his phone. He dialled Fliss and as he watched he saw the woman pause and reach into her boot to retrieve her phone.

“Hey…” she greeted him.

“Turn to your left…” he said.

There was a pause and then as she did so the two of the waved. Fliss laughed.

“Hang on…”

She placed the phone back in her boot and then kicked the horse into a gallop. It sped over the sand, kicking up spray as it went and Mary giggled and jumped off Frank’s knee as she approached.

“Hi!” she beamed down at them as she pulled the horse to a stop. Frank stood up and smiled at her. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Had to take the speedboat for a test drive.” Frank shrugged.

“Test sail.” Fliss countered.

“Whatever.” Frank rolled his eyes as Mary was busy stroking Heidi’s face. “What about you?”

“Oh had a spare hour so decide to load her majesty up and come down here.” she smiled “It’s nice and quiet. Sometimes I see the dolphins too.” Frank noticed the way her face lit up as she said that, and he smiled.

“They’re even better up close.” Mary grinned.

“Well, one day maybe I’ll get the chance” Fliss smiled.

“I still owe you a ride.” Frank smiled and she grinned.

“I’ll hold you to that…” Fliss said, “And speaking of rides…”

Frank took a deep breath “seriously?”

“Come on…” Fliss said “She’ll be safe, I trust this horse with my life.”

Mary, suddenly realising what was being said looked to Frank, her eyes sparkling.

“Fine…” Frank sighed, shaking his head “But drop her and I’ll kill you.”

“What do you take me for?” Fliss scoffed, removing her hat and handing it to Mary. Once she was seated in front of her Fliss held her tightly, one arm around her waist, the other in the reins and told Mary to hang on. She set off slowly at first and then with a grin kicked the horse on into a slow canter, and steered towards the sea.

“Shit…” Frank muttered, his heart in his mouth as the both cantered through the waves, the spray kicking up behind them. He could hear Mary’s shouting and laughing as it echoed up the beach. They went a little distance away before Katie slowed down to a walk, Heidi continuing along her path steadily.

“So, I hear school wasn’t great?” Katie said as they turned and made their way back at a slower pace.

“No.” Mary shrugged “Frank got mad.”

“Did you apologise?”

“Yeah…its ok now.” Mary shrugged “I just didn’t like it. And I don’t think they liked me.” Fliss took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you a secret…when I first started riding, the other kids didn’t like me either.” “Really?” Mary turned to face her as they wandered back, gently swaying with the horses motions.

“Nope, I came from a different back ground to them. We weren’t rich, I mean my mum and dad have money now but that was only after Bill opened the business.”

“So what happened?” “I kept going.” Fliss said gently “And then I met a friend, a girl called Charlotte. She was the same. Her family sold all their belongings so she could pursue her dream.”

Heidi slowed to a stop by Frank but Fliss continued to talk “And we became good friends, and we worked hard. She did dressage, I did show-jumping. And we both grew up together, and encouraged each other, and we made the teams.”

“Are you still friends now?” “Yeah, I still talk to her, I don’t see her as much but…” Fliss took a deep breath, the thought of the past still a bit painful. “The point is Mary, if you go in thinking that everyone is against you then believe me, it will seem that way. Maybe you should think about having an open mind and giving this a go, yeah?”

Franks eyes were hidden behind his glasses and at that moment he was kind of glad, because for some reason, there was a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes as he had observed his niece and Fliss together, the woman simply talking to Mary.

Mary pondered for a moment before she sighed “I suppose…”

Fliss smiled “Good, you’ll be glad you did.”

Mary shrugged “Maybe. Hey, you know what ad nauseam means?”

Fliss frowned and looked up as Frank gave a laugh “It means indefinitely, never ending…forever, why?” she looked at Mary. “Oh, something Frank said I’d learn at school but I didn’t…” she shrugged “But now I know, thanks.” “You’re welcome…” Fliss chuckled, as Frank helped her down. She watched her run off to pick up her cat.

“Thank you.” Frank said gently, turning to look up at Fliss.

“What for?”

“Talking to her, the way you always do. I don’t know how you do it Lissy, but you make her listen.”

“Don’t worry too much about her.” Fliss smiled “I know it’s easy for me to say but, well you always said today would be a challenge. See how she goes tomorrow.”

Frank smiled and rubbed at the back of his neck before he took a deep breath, suddenly making a decision. “I err, don���t suppose you wanna come for a drink on Friday? I’m only going to Fergs but…”

“I thought Fridays were your nights, you know where you sat at a bar, alone, all broody and mysterious…” Fliss grinned down at him.

Frank shook his head, a crooked smile spreading on his face “Yeah well, maybe I fancy a bit of company this week…”

Fliss looked at him for a moment, considering what he had said before she smiled “Ok, I got lessons until 6:30 but I can meet you there later on?”

Frank smiled “Great, it’s a date.”

Fliss arched her eyebrow and Frank inwardly cursed “I mean, not a date, but…you know, a…”

“You’re cute when you get flustered.” Fliss teased, cutting him off with a laugh “Don’t worry sailor, I know what you mean.”

With that she turned the horse back the way she had come and winking at Frank called to Mary. “Hey, you know when you asked how fast Heidi could go?”

Mary nodded.

“Well watch this…”

And with that Fliss gave the horse a gentle nudge and it erupted into a ridiculously fast gallop back down the beach. Fliss’ whoops echoed in the air as she looked back waving, and Mary ran a little way after her laughing and waving back.

****

Fliss was right. The next morning they had a little fuss but nothing drastic. Mary came home with a note about Wednesday being show and tell and she wanted to take Fred. So they bundled him into a cardboard box. Frank waited patiently outside until Mary was escorted back out by a classroom assistant to hand the cat back over.

“Enjoy that?” he said.

Mary nodded.

“I was talking to Fred.” Frank teased. Mary narrowed her eyes and he laughed.  “I’ll see you later ok?”

She came home a lot happier, talking to him about how the kids had asked her questions about Fred that she had answered and Frank couldn’t help but smile as she rambled on and on. Later, when he called Fliss he couldn’t stop himself from talking either and Fliss had been led on her bed, smiling at his voice as he continued to gush about his niece. Thursday and Friday passed much the same, which was why when Friday night came Frank was in a reasonably good mood, and ready to buy Fliss all the damned beer she wanted.

Fliss, however, was in a flap. Her lesson had overrun and now she had changed her outfit 3 times, finally settling on a light blue cotton knee length, sleeveless dress and brown sandals, leaving her hair loose and her make up light.  She hadn’t been out with her friends for, well, not since moving here. Sure, she’d been out with her parents and their friends but this felt different. And she was nervous.

“You look nice.” Her dad looked up as she walked into their living room. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, you sure you don’t mind dropping me?” she looked at him, “I can get a cab?”

“Don’t be daft…” Bill said, picking up his keys.

“Have a nice time honey!” her mum called.

Bill could tell she was nervous so he made idle chit chat on the drive down to the main strip of bars and eventually pulled up outside Fergs.

“Just have fun.” he said to her gently “And if you need me, call.”

“Thanks dad.” she smiled, kissing his cheek before she let herself out of the range rover and headed into the bar.

She glanced around for a second, looking for Frank and spotted him at a table talking to a dark haired woman, with a pretty face. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she really wanted to interrupt and was debating running back out to catch Bill when Frank looked up and saw her. Flashing her that smile that could melt her on the spot he waved her over.

“Thought you were gonna stand me up!” he grinned at her as she took a seat. “Sorry, my last lesson over ran.” She answered before she smiled politely at the dark haired woman. “Hi…” “Oh, Fliss this is Bonnie, Mary’s teacher.” Frank introduced them. “Nice to meet you.” Fliss smiled. The woman gave her a smile back and stood up speaking to her as she did so “Well, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time Frank and I don’t want to eat into your date.“ “Oh this isn’t a date…” Fliss protested at the same time Frank shook his head “We’re not…” he gestured between himself and Fliss with his hands “Fliss is Mary’s riding instructor” “She horse rides?” Bonnie said, an air of surprise in her tone. “The idea was it would hopefully teach her social skills before School.” Frank snorted “clearly didn’t work..” “Oh don’t be so hard in her.” Fliss jumped to the girls defence “she’s a good kid.” “I bet its easier when you’re trying to teach them something they actually want to learn…or in Mary’s case teaching her something she doesn’t know….” Bonnie said and Fliss laughed. “She’s actually one of the easier kids I have.” She said and Frank smiled at her comment “mind you, none of the kids give me any hassle really, its the adults that are hard work.”

“Oh my god tell me about it…” Bonnie groaned “I dread Teacher-Parent evenings, honestly, some of them are so obtuse…” “I can imagine.” Fliss grinned

“Anyway I better…” Bonnie gestured over her shoulder “see you later Frank, and nice to meet you Fliss” “You too.” Fliss nodded to he as Frank waved his hand in goodbye.

“What you drinking cowgirl?” he asked, standing up “I’ll go get em in.”

FLiss asked for a beer and sat down as he went to place their order. A frew minutes latger he was back, sliding the bud over to her.

“Thanks…” she took a huge drink. “I err, didnt interrupt anything before did I?“

“No, not really.” Frank shook his head “Not really?” “She errr…found out about Diane.” Frank said. “Oh.” Fliss frowned “how? I mean…” “When I picked Mary up on Monday she was asking me about her background om account of her being so smart. I tried to fob her off, saying I had taught her a system, you know for arithmetic but she didn’t buy it. Apparently she’s been giving Mary a few more advanced equations to do…”

Fliss looked down as he slid the paper on the table over to him. It contained a number of formulas and algebra problems which Fliss could see Mary had completed.

“As you can see, she aced them. And then Bonnie googled the system I mentioned, and then me and…up popped Diane” he shrugged .

“So did you tell her the truth?” Fliss asked looking up at him, sliding the paper back.

“What option did I have” he shrugged, folding it and shoving it in his pocket. “She came down here to call me out so I figured honesty was the best…what?“ He asked when he noticed Fliss was frowning. "She came down here on a Friday night to find you?” Fliss snorted

Frank shrugged “That’s what she said.”

“How she know you’d be here?” “I’m here most Fridays…not that hard to find.” “Maybe you should think about varying your routine Sailor” Fliss grinned “And you should definitely think about varying this shirt.”

Frank glanced down at his bright yellow palm tree print Hawaiian shirt

“What’s wrong with it?” he pouted.

“What’s right with it more like…”

“Well I’m not one for corporatism.” Frank shrugged “I like to think I’m an individual.”

“To be fair I’m not sure planet Earth could deal with two of you.” Fliss shot back. “I can only just about cope with one…”

Frank paused before he looked at her, shaking his head with a snort as his mouth curled up at one corner “Well that’s just fucking rude.”

“Made you smile though.” Fliss grinned at him.

Frank looked at her for a moment before he felt his face split further into a grin as he looked at her. “Yeah, yeah you do…I mean did.”

He saw her cheeks flush in that adorable way they did, and he decided to save her from further embarrassment by changing the subject. It wasn’t long before they settled into an easy conversation and the events of the previous week and all worries about Mary flew completely from Frank’s mind. @the-omni-princess  @momobaby227 @geekofmanythings16 @angelofhell-666 @thewackywriter @marvelfansworld  @cobalt-gear  @asgardlover75 @jennmurawski13​  @jtargaryen18 @saiyanprincessswanie​  @navispalace​ @patzammit​  @joannaliceevans-fanficblog​ @djeniiscorner​  @ayamenimthiriel​  @coldmuffinbanditshoe​  @disneylovingal​ @madzmilllz​  @sgtjaamesbaarnes​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ @southerngracela​ @goldenfightergir​ @kellymat​ @official-and-unstable-satan​ @icanfeelastormbrewing​ @pagesoflauren​

[illustration-ammuntion]

Cursed Inc.

I enjoy writing comic book scripts, but found that I don’t have the patience to illustrate them.  So I’ve decided to upload my latest one here.  You are free to do what you want with it.  Draw it, critique it, sketch characters from it, whatever.  Just tag me.  If you do critique it, it sucks isn’t a critique.  Reasons it sucks and how I can improve is a critique.   

Cursed Inc.

 Page 1

 Panel 1.

We are looking through binoculars at 4 individuals coming out of a door at the end of a dead-end neon-soaked alley, there are air conditioners, pipes, and wires everywhere.  Anything happening in the alley should be lit by the harsh neon lighting until otherwise noted.  The one in front, (looking like the security he is) is a large green orc covered in runic tattoos and wearing lots of bone jewelry with symbols and runes carved into them.  On his lower half he’s wearing fatigue’s and boots, on his upper half he just wears a plate carrier.  He carries a military looking rifle thar can be based on a real rifle or something made up.  Behind him is a being in a trench coated. His head is a flaming skull stuffed in a fishbowl helmet.  There are tubes and wires coming out of the back of the helmet running down to boxy satchel slung over his shoulder like an oversized purse.  You can’t see his hands in this shot, but when you do se them they are robotic.  Behind him are two individuals.  A chubby man (Dwane) with long hair that’s been dyed blond, the dark roots are starting to show.  He carries a very basic rifle with a wood stock and scope.  There are runes carved in the stock.  Next to him is a dumpy looking female (Halley).  She also has died blond hair.  We can see that they have elfin ears, but if they are ever shown close up, you should be able to see that the ears are bad plastic surgery that are pretty scarred. They are both wearing what looks like Adidas track suits, but instead of the three stripes running down the sides it’s one solid white with intermittent arcane symbols.

Andi (OP):  There here.  Looks like 4 of them.

 Panel 2.

We are up on a rooftop looking down at a sniper who’s looking down through her scope.  She has blond hair, a nice red jacket with tight black pants.  If we can see her ears, she’s an elf with delicate but aloof features.  

Joni:  I see them.  The heavy looks like he’s wearing some serious runic protection.

 Panel 3.

We are inside a dingy hotel room.  There is a girl, Andi, looking through the monocular holding a walkie-talkie.  She has a short pixie cut and is wear jeans, a hoody (hood up), and a black pair of Chucks.  We may or may not be able to see it, but she has a 1911 strapped to her right hip.  She is facing left looking out the window in front of her. Off to her right sits a large shadowy figure we only see in silhouette.  This is Ed.  He has a massive shaggy head.  He’s definitely not human.  

Ed:    I can take him!

 Page 2

 Panel 1.

Andi looking over at us with a serious look on her face.

Andi:  Not yet.  I need you to concentrate Ed.  Do you remember the plan?

Ed (OP):  I remember.

Andi:  Good.

 Panel 2.

Andi talking into the walkie-talkie again.

Andi:  You think you can take him out?

Joni (OP):  Possibly.

Andi:  …sigh…  You ready Matthew?

 Panel 3.

On a back-alley balcony. We see what looks like the moth man with a mohawk dressed like an 80’s punker.  His wings stick out of the back of a jean battle vest covered with patches and pins.  He wear’s no pants or shoes.  Definitely a guy who’s down to talk about how The Man is keeping him down.  He’s holding a mechanical device about the size of a bowling ball that has a satchel sling that he wears over his shoulder while he talks into his walkie-talkie.

Matthew:  You take out the heavy and I am.

 Panel 4.

Close up of Andi talking into her walkie-talkie.

Andi:  10-4.  Joni, take the shot.  Ed, get ready just in case.

 Page 3

 Panel 1.

Side shot of Joni looking through her rifle. She is very put together.  Flashy earrings and her nails are manicured.

 Panel 2

We are looking at the orc through Joni’s scope.  The cross hairs are on the orc’s forehead.

Joni:  Damn…

 Panel 3.

Glory shot of the orc.

Joni (OP):  …you are a big boy.

 Page 4

 Panel 1.

Close up on Joni’s finger pulling the trigger.  

Sfx:  tkk

 Panel 2.

SFX:  BOOM  

The sound effect is attached to the previous panels tkk sound effect to show they are happening almost simultaneously.  

 Panel 3.

The orcs head being slammed back from the impact of the bullet.   Mouth open spittle flying.  No blood.

 Panel 4.

Close on Joni squinting through her scope.

Joni:  He’s down.

 Page 5

 Panel 1.

Close up on Andi looking through her binoculars out the window.

Andi:  But is he out?

 Panel 2.

The orc angrily siting up.

Andi (OP):  Nope!  Not out.

 Panel 3.

The orc is getting up pointing back at the skull guy.

Orc:  Get him out of here!

 Panel 4.

Andi yelling at the dark shape that is Ed while she gestures at the window.

Andi:  You got you’re wish.  Go!

 Page 6

 Panel 1.

We finally see Ed.  He is leaping through the window to attack the orc below.  He is surrounded by shards of glass that glitter and reflect the surrounding neon.  He has a large muscular man body with head of a maned lion. He is wearing jeans and boots.  Around his neck is a large green crystal on a heavy gold chain.  

 Page 7

 Panel 1.

The blonds are grabbing skull head escorting/dragging him back towards the door.

Guy 1:  Come on boss, let’s go!

Skull:  I am not running from his goons!  Dwane, take care that sniper! Halley, give Orson some focus!

 Panel 2

Ed landing in front of the orc

 Panel 3

Skull head has his robotic hand on the female (Halley) blond in the track suit’s shoulder as she shoots blue bolts of energy at Orson the orc.  The Dwane is aiming up and off panel firing his AR looking rifle.

Panel 4

Joni is taking fire from street level.  She is grabbing her rifle backing away from the bullets pinging around her.  

 Page 8

 Panel 1

Ed flying towards the Orson the orc who looks like he’s more muscular than before as he’s being energized in blue lighting from off panel.

 Page 9

 Panel 1.

Caption:  The day before.

We see Andi sitting in a very nice office.  Behind the desk in front of her is a goblin (Heezer) in a suit.

Andi:  Absolutely not. The job is worth twice that if not more.

 Panel 2.

Close up on a smug mockingly apologetic Heezer:

Heezer:  I’m sorry Andi.  Maybe last year when you had a reputation.  Now… well, you’re welcome to go find employment somewhere else.  Maybe someone else is willing to take a risk on you without Ed.

Panel 3.

Close up on an angry looking Andi.

Andi:  Damn you Heezer!  Ed is still part of the crew.  

Panel 4.

Smug looking Heezer.

Heezer:  Tell you what, bring Edward in here and I’ll double the price.

Panel 5.

Close up on a furious Andi.

Andi:  Damn you Heezer!

Panel 6.

Close up on a sneering Heezer.

Heezer:  Rebuild your reputation.  Bring me the artifact.  

 Page 10  

 Panel 1.

We see Andi running down some stairs.  The walls are covered in graffiti.  She is screaming into her walkie-talkie.  

Andi:  Matthew, get down there and shut the artifact down!

Panel 2.

Matthew fiddling with his doohickey as he talks on the walkie-talkie.  

Matthew:  I’m not going down there you have Ed clear the way.

Panel 3.

We se the Orc who is in full on hulk mode giving Ed an uppercut that is knocking him straight up into the air.

Panel 4.

Andi bursting through a graffiti covered door into the alley.  

Andi:  Damn it Matthew, we need that him down now!

Panel 5.

Andi running towards the battle between Ed and Orson.  

Andi:  Nobody get’s paid unless we turn in the artifact!  Do your damn jobs!

 Page 11

 Panel 1.

We see Matthew talking into his walkie-talkie looking off panel.

Matthew:  It’s way to hairy down there for me.  At least have Joni take out the sniper.

Panel 2.

Joni crouching behind a larger roof mounted air conditioner that is taking in coming fire.

Joni: Incoming fire always has the right of way!

Panel 3.

Orson is on top of Ed just beating the hell out of him.

Panel 4.

Full body shot of Andy pulling off her hood. She looks pissed.  We see tentacles starting to manifest through her clothing.

Andi:  Do I have to do everything myself?

 Page 12

 Panel 1.

Close up on Andi’s hands she is flexing it into a claw as a tentacle starts to appear from her wrist.  This can be one or two panels showing each hand and tentacle set. Depends how artists feel the overall page should flow

Panel 2.

Andi now has tentacles coming out from each wrist one from each thigh lifting her off the ground. The tentacles ignore clothes and where the state from the body they are semi-transparent.  She is reaching out with her tentacles grabbing at Orson. Pulling him off of Ed by the throat.

 Page 13

 Panel 1.

The flaming skull points off panel ordering Halley to attack Andi.

Skull:  Stop her!

Panel 2.

Halley is firing Red bolts of lightning from her hands now. Skully still has his hands on her shoulder.

Panel 3.

Andi who is holding Orson in the air is being engulfed in red lightning from off panel. It doesn’t feel good to either her or Orson.

 Page 14

 Panel 1.

Close up on Andi’s face as she wears a grimace of pain from electrocution.

Andi:  Damn it Matthew!

Panel 2.

A bloody looking Ed looking of panel with furry in his eyes.

Ed:  Grrr!

Panel 3.  

Ed rushing towards Skully and Halley.

Skully:  Dwane!

Panel 4.

Dwane now firing at Ed.

Ed getting hit by rifle fire.  The bullets ripping into Ed aren’t going to kill him, but they aren’t making him happy.

 Page 15

 Panel 1.

Joni popping up from behind the shredded air conditioner starting to aim off panel.

Joni:  Finally!

Panel 2.

Andi has released Orson and has brought all four tentacles in front of her to use as a shield to block the red electricity from Dwane.  

Panel 3.

Orson who no longer looks like he’s in Hulk mode without the blue electricity, has recovered from being strangled by Joni is rushing back to grabbing a shot up and bleeding Ed.

 Page 16

 Panel 1.

Close up on Joni looking at us through her rifle scope.

Joni:  Se ya poser.  

Panel 2.

Dwane getting blasted back by a shot to the chest.  It’s lifting him off his feet a bit.

Joni (OP): Gotcha!  You’re up Matthew!

Panel 3.

Matthew finally getting up off his railing, palming the doohickey like a basketball.

Matthew:  Fine.

Panel 4.

Matthew flying down towards Skully.

 Page 17

 Panel 1.

We see Orson and Ed locked in battle. Orson is definitely on the losing end of things.  In the background is Skully and Halley throwing electricity.

 Page 18

Panel 1

Matthew landing at Skully’s feet who still has his hand on Halley who is firing electricity of panel. She doesn’t notice Matthew, but Skully is looking down at Matthew.  

Panel 2.

Matthew looking up at us pressing a button on the doohickey.

SFX:  click

Matthew:  Hi.

Panel 3

Mathew leaping off panel leaving the doohickey at Skully’s feet. Skully is watching him leave.

Panel 4.

Skully looking down at the doohickey.

Skully:  What the-

Panel 5.

SFX (big

bold lettering): CLICK!

 Page 19

 Panel 1.

All neon light is out in the alley.  It’s not completely dark, but there isn’t much light anymore.  Skully is collapsing next to a surprised looking Halley.

Skully:  Damn it!

Panel 2.

Andi is pulling out her .45 as she runs past Ed who is literally tearing out Orson’s throat with his teeth.

Andi: Damn it Edward! You don’t eat people!  We’ve talked about this!

Panel 3.

We are looking up at a blood-soaked Ed who looks sorry.  

Ed:  Sorry Andi...

Panel 4.

Andi standing in front of Haley aiming her gun at her. Halley stands there her hands out like she might shoot more electricity of them, but she looks very unsure.  Skully lays in a crumpled heap at her feet.  

Andi: Stand down.  If you get your boyfriend to a hospital now, they might be able to save him.

 Page 20

 Panel 1.

We are behind Halley looking down at Dwane who is clutching his chest laying in a pool of his own blood.

Halley:  He’s… my husband.

Andi (OP):  Well you’re gonna’ be his widow if you don’t get a move on.

Panel 2.

Andi looking down at Skully talking on her walkie-talkie.  Behind her is Halley who is trying to deal with her husband.

Andi:  Everyone, re-group on me.

Panel 3.

Andi is reaching down on us as if we were Skully.

Andi:  For what it ‘s worth, you were worth a lot more than 500 credits.

Panel 4.

Andi is now holding the fishbowl helmet that holds the helmet.  Ed is approaching off panel.

Skully:  500 credits!?  Heezer is a cheap bastard, but that’s ridiculous!

Panel 5.

Andi handing Skully and the satchel he’s connected to, to Ed.

Andi:  Take him to the truck, I’ll be there in a second.

 Page 21.

 Panel 1.

Joni and Matthew walking up to Andi.  In the background we see Halley trying to drag her husband off by the armpits.  

Andi:  Ed and are taking the artifact in for payment.  Meet us back at the shop for payment.  I want an itemized list of expenses from both of you.

Panel 2.

Andi pointing at Joni.

Andi:  I heard two shots, don’t bill me for anything more.

Joni: Whatever Andi. I’ll bill you for the shots I took. Just like always.

Andi: Yeah.

Panel 3.

No Andi is pointing at Matthew.

Andi: We are a team.  I expect a little quicker response time out of you.

Panel 4.

Close up on Matthew.

Matthew:  Pay me what I’m worth and maybe you’ll get a team player.

Andi: I pay you according to what I get payed.  Step it up, and maybe we’ll get payed more.

Panel 5.

Both Matthew and Joni walking away in separate directions leaving Joni to stand there.

Matthew: Whatever.  Don’t blame us for your problems. I’m not taking a bullet for this outfit.  

 Page 22

 Panel 1

Ed is carrying Skully as he approaches a very banged up A-Haul moving truck.

Skully:  Huh, haven’t seen that in a long time.

Panel 2.

Ed lifting the door to the back of the truck. Skully is looking at the crystal that hangs from his neck.

Skully:  The amulet of Oondar.

Panel 3.

Ed sitting down sulking in the back of the truck.

Ed:  It’s the Crystal of Skoor.

Skully: Skoor must have stolen it from Oondar.  I should know, I made it for Oondar.

Panel 4.

Close up on a sulky looking Ed.

Ed:  Shut up.  You don’t know jack.

Panel 5.

Close up on the grinning skull.

Skully:  If you say so my good Guardian.

 Page 23

 Panel 1.

A confused looking Ed.

Ed:  What did you call me?

Panel 2.

Andi his getting into the drivers set of the truck now.

Andi:  Edward!  Quit chatting with the artifact.  Are we good to go to Heezer straight away, or do I need to stop off at the infirmary first?

Ed:  What?

Panel 3.

Close up on an annoyed looking Andi.

Andi:  Payment or infirmary Edward!  Which is it?

Ed:  Oh… Uh payment is fine.  I’m healing ok, I guess.

Panel 4.

We are looking through the windshield of the truck.  Andi looks like she is in a really bad mood.

Andi:  Well that’s something at least.  

Panel 5.

The truck driving off.

Andi (OP):  Maybe we’ll even break even on this one.