#i think we could work well together... he and my roomie used to be lab partners at uni and then me and my roomie were lab partners

[phagodyke]

forgor this whole life thing is fun sometimes...

[hermannsthumb]

If you’re still doing summer prompts, could you do graduation for newmann?

15. Graduation

from (the very old) summer prompts meme here

enjoy some awkward pre-canon jaeger academy ~ROOMMATES~!! also I am pretty sure this message/prompt is from at least a year ago (if not TWO) but it was only today that I really thought about what I wanted to write for it and wrote in like a FRENZY. content warning for alcohol (no like intoxication tho)

--------

It was hardly to be expected that Newton would be mature over the whole thing, but Hermann finds himself in a perpetual state of agitation the final weeks of their enrollment at the Jaeger Academy anyway. Newton was very young, Hermann knows, when he graduated from university (at least he was young the first time he graduated), and he can only assume the man took it rather hard that he didn’t get to have the proper send-off he thought he deserved—all-night parties with kegerators and beer pong, one-dollar shots at dive bars, trips to the seaside with classmates. One wasn’t likely to invite someone who’d barely breached his teens and still had braces to those sorts of things, after all. It’s the only reason Hermann can think of as to why Newton has spent the month—the whole month—popping open champagne at all hours and organizing spin-the-bottle in the base rec room and generally being a great bloody nuisance to everyone they have the misfortune of sharing their graduating class with. Over-compensation is what it is.

Having Newton as his bunkmate adds a special level of unbearableness to it all. At least—and Hermann does thank the stars above for this—tomorrow marks the end of a very miserable month. A very miserable two years.

“Everyone is going to be there,” Newton says. He’s wearing an oversized pair of neon sunglasses over his regular glasses, for some reason, those abhorrently dated kind with the slatted lenses, and dangling from his left hand are two bottles of pink champagne. A bag of plastic cups dangles in the other. “Everyone. Not even just the k-scientists—the techs, the ranger trainees, the—”

“That all sounds very thrilling,” Hermann says, hefting a stack of button-ups into a cardboard box he’s labeled Clothing – Gottlieb. “You’re aware, I assume, that we’re meant to be moving out tomorrow, and you’ve not touched anything on your side of the room?”

“Dude, I have sooo much time,” Newton says. Hermann realizes now the seal on one of the champagne bottles is broken—which might explain some of Newton’s suspiciously carefree mood. “Besides, I barely even have that much shit here.”

This is patently untrue. Newton’s clothing is overflowing from his dresser; manga and monster action figures and vinyl records clutter up every inch of its top surface; there’s laundry under his bed, on his bed, his guitar picks on Hermann’s bedside table, dirty mugs on his own, half-finished reports and articles scattered over his desk… “Fine,” Hermann says. “But I haven’t finished, at any rate, so I won’t be joining you.”

Newton flops down next to him on his bed; the stopper on the opened champagne bottle wobbles dangerously, and Hermann moves quickly to push it in more firmly so he doesn’t have to add a load of bed linens to his To-Do list. “I think you need to unwind, roomie,” Newton says, grinning up at him. Both pairs of his glasses have slipped off his nose and onto Hermann’s bedspread. “We’ll have all day tomorrow after the dumb ceremony to pack, and you haven’t taken a break in, like, seven years. You’ve earned one.”

Hermann doesn’t want to take a break, or at least not in the way Newton is suggesting. Hermann wants to finish packing up his half of the room, then his designated workspace in the large k-science laboratory, and then take a shower to wash himself of the experience of being Newton Geiszler’s roommate and labmate for two years too many. Noticing his reticence, Newton adds, pleadingly, “Come for one hour? Just to do two shots with me? One shot?” He blinks, half-blind without his glasses, as if trying to discern whether or not Hermann looks likely to give in. “No shots? C’mon, Hermann, you owe me.”

“Owe you?” Hermann says, frowning.

Newton nudges him with the stack of plastic cups. “Y’know—for the sake of your ol’ penpal,” he says.

The reference to their letter-writing days jars Hermann, and despite his best efforts not to show it to Newton, his hand trembles as he deposits an unopened pack of white socks into his laundry box. He thinks it may be the first time either of them have brought it up in the entirety of their time at the Academy. It’s certainly the first time either of them have admitted to even the slightest notion of a shared history since—a week into their first year here, at an ice-breaking event for their kaiju-science peers—Newton had rolled his eyes exaggeratedly when someone attempted to introduce him to Hermann and said “Yeah, Dr. Gottlieb and I go wayyyy back.” Hermann did not admit so at the time, but the use of the honorific in place of his first name had been unexpectedly wounding—ridiculous of him, considering he made a point of referring to Newton in precisely the same way. Perhaps that little slip of the tongue had been why they were assigned as roommates scarcely a week later. An assumed friendship.

Hermann picks up Newton’s thick eyeglasses and carefully slips them back onto Newton’s upside-down face. Newton wrinkles his nose when Hermann’s thumb accidentally brushes against its tip. “I just don’t like parties very much, Newton,” he says. He’s not sure when Dr. Geiszler became Newton to him, or rather, became Newton to him again.

“Then we can do something together here,” Newton says.

He sits up and pushes the sealed champagne bottle at Hermann’s chest. “This is for you, anyway. Graduation present. Bury the hatchet, you know—odds are pretty fucking high we’re never gonna see each other again, so there’s no use hating each other forever.”

In spite of his better judgement, Hermann takes the champagne bottle. One drink won’t hurt him. And anyway, it might be a little relaxing—so long as it’s one drink only, because he still has an entire two years’ worth of research to pack away in his laboratory desk. “Do you know where you’re being assigned already, then?” he says. He was under the impression they wouldn’t find out until after the ceremony tomorrow—bit last minute, he supposes, but it’s not as if they’re making their own travel arrangements, and nearly all of their colleagues have already brought their families along with them to the Academy base.

“Nah,” Newton says, “but I wrote down a lot on my request form.” He motions for Hermann to hand him back the bottle, and he begins unscrewing the wire holding down the cork. “Tokyo—Peru—" He moves the bottle away from the bed as he pops it open with a grunt of effort, and a small bit of foam spills to the cement floor. Hermann grits his teeth and tries not to worry about cleaning it up later. “—Los Angeles. I worked on one of my PhDs in California, you know, a few weeks one July. Sea sponges. I learned how to scuba dive, I loved it—I think that’s one of the first things I’m gonna do if—once this is all over.”

He looks strangely maudlin as Hermann pours himself some champagne into one of the plastic cups and suffers through a sip. Too sweet. Hermann’s never liked sweet wines—bloody awful hangovers the next day, if one isn’t careful.

“Their entire ecosystem would be destroyed now, I guess,” Newton says. “Kaiju blue poisoning.”

“Whose?” Hermann says.

“The sea sponges’,” Newton says.

Hermann sips more of the champagne so he won’t have to respond. “I requested Anchorage,�� he offers. Among plenty others, but he knows Newton will get a kick out of ribbing him for the dreary Alaskan climate. It seems to work—Newton lights up at once with a loud snort.

“Of course you did, ya weirdo,” he says. “Have fun freezing your ass off.” He takes a sip right from his bottle, then holds it out to Hermann. “Well, Hermann—you were an annoying lab partner, an even more annoying roommate, but a decent penpal, and I’m—well, I’m not gonna miss you, but I guess I can’t say I hate everything about you. Good luck with the jaegers. Good luck to whoever gets stuck with you next, actually, yikes, don’t envy them! Here’s to never seeing each other again.”

Hermann rolls his eyes, but knocks his plastic cup against Newton’s bottle. “Best of luck to you, as well,” he says. “And here’s to—well, surviving.”

“That’s cheerful,” Newton says.

They drink to their toast. Down the hall, someone puts on loud music to a chorus of equally loud cheers. Hermann reckons that’ll be Newton’s party. “You ought to head over there,” he says, turning briefly to glance at their door, which Newton has left cracked open. “Otherwise, they’ll miss—”

Newton kisses him.

Hermann doesn’t necessarily kiss back, but he doesn’t push Newton away, either. He’s more bewildered than anything. He might’ve expected this sort of thing to happen years ago—years, and years ago, before that dreadful first meeting in some dingy little Berlin coffee shop, back when a new letter from Dr. Geiszler slipped through his mail slot could make his heart thud like nothing else—but they’ve hardly been anything to each other but colleagues these past two years. Not even quite colleagues—that implies a civility they don’t possess. Professional academic rivals. He was under the impression that the man hated him, that the data when they underwent standard tests for drift compatibility was merely a fluke.

His empty cup falls from his hand and clatters to the floor. Newton slides a hand up Hermann’s jaw and keeps kissing him; he makes a small, needy noise into Hermann’s mouth.

“Newton,” Hermann finally mumbles. “What are you doing?”

Newton pulls back. A brilliant red flush is creeping steadily across his face, and he opens and closes his mouth a few times before anything comes out. “Oh, shit,” he says. “I didn’t mean—”

He stumbles to his feet. “Shit, dude, I’m sorry, I like—”

“Newton?” Hermann repeats. He feels about as dazed as Newton looks; he’s not quite sure what he’s meant to say. His lips are tingling from the kiss. “I—?”

“I’m gonna go to the party,” Newton stammers. “Sorry, dude, I—misread signals? I guess? Um—” He steps on Hermann’s forgotten cup and skids slightly, catching and righting himself on one of Hermann’s bed posts. The movement knocks Hermann’s cane (hooked there) to the floor, and Newton must bend down twice before he succeeds in picking it up. “Just—um—okay, bye.”

Hermann stares at the door for a long time after Newton leaves. Tomorrow marks the end of their two years cohabitating and working together—as Newton said, odds are high their paths will never cross again. Hermann had been counting down the days to their graduation in a little calendar he keeps pinned neatly to his wall, daydreaming endlessly of the first thing he would do once he was free from the suffocating cloud of Newton Geiszler’s presence—daydreaming of the like-minded non-Geiszlerian colleagues he would meet at his Shatterdome assignment, of a neat and orderly laboratory devoid of kaiju residue over every communal surface, of his own living quarters. He should be excited. He should be ecstatic.

Hermann touches his mouth and feels nothing but strange sort of hollowness in his chest—a black hole enveloping all else.

---

He doesn’t see Newton until their graduation ceremony the next day, an affair made all the more awkward by the seating chart’s alphabetical arrangement ensuring Drs. Geiszler and Gottlieb will be knocking elbows for the full two hours. Newton is late by nearly twenty minutes, and rushes in with badly unkempt hair and a backwards tie: Hermann has a feeling he’d been lurking outside their quarters and waiting for Hermann to leave before he dared dart in to get himself ready. He wonders where Newton spent the night. He wonders why he even cares. Likely passed out on the rec room floor after the party, judging from the confetti stuck to his left cheek—or perhaps he’d finally made a move on the fellow kaiju-biologist Hermann recalls him extolling the physicality of on more than one occasion, and spent the night with him—or perhaps he did neither, and merely wandered the base for hours, sleep evading him as it’d so entirely evaded Hermann. They don’t acknowledge each other for the whole of the ceremony.

Hermann is summoned to the office of the jaeger science program head (a severe woman with short hair) later that evening, shortly after he finishes taping up his very last box of papers in the vacant laboratory. He’s handed a small manila folder containing the details of his Shatterdome assignment: Hong Kong, as it turns out. One of his requests. “Since you and Dr. Newton Geiszler have displayed a strong work ethic when partnered together,” the woman begins, “as well as a very high level of drift compatibility—”

Hermann’s eyes snap up from his folder to her face.

“—we’ll be assigning him to Hong Kong’s kaiju science division along with you, under the assumption that together you will only continue to produce positive results.”

“Pardon?” Hermann says, weakly.

Newton has finished boxing up a majority of his belongings when Hermann drags himself through the door to their quarters an hour later. He glances at Hermann briefly, embarrassedly, and says, in a small voice, “Hey, Hermann.”

“Newton,” Hermann says.

He walks over and sits down heavily atop the pile of sheets on his stripped bed. Something pokes at his thigh, and he sets aside his cane to fumble through the sheet bundle to discover what: Newton’s forgotten neon shuttered shades. The sight of them sends his stomach twisting up in knots. “Oh, hey,” Newton says, as he wraps a Godzilla action figure with bubble wrap. He nods at the manila envelope clenched between Hermann’s fingers. “Where are they shipping you off to? I’m going to Hong Kong—should be cool. I’ve never been before.” He places the little Godzilla in a carboard box. Newt - Junk! the side says in purple Sharpie. “My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon—you’re right, I definitely should’ve started packing earlier, I have no idea how I’m gonna get this all done by then.”

Hermann stares at Newton in poorly-concealed amazement as he continues to ramble on about how to pack up his instruments and whether or not they’ll let him bring his first-ever kaiju sample with him (he’s attached to it, even though he knows it’s technically the academy’s property, but maybe he can find a way to smuggle it out in his checked bags or something). Does he not know? Did they not tell him? How could they let this fall on Hermann? “Newton,” he says, slowly. “I’ve been assigned to Hong Kong, too.”

Newton freezes. “No fucking way,” he says.

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

And now, because YOU know ME: David/Noh

joke’s on you i LOVE these two

Fake dating

David has a high school reunion and look, it’s not that he wasn’t awesome in high school, it’s just that, well, nobody looks forward to their high school reunion and asking Noh to pretend to be his boyfriend isn’t the best idea he’s ever had but it’s not the WORST. Noh gets very, very into it. Calls David tons of pet names, cheek smoochies, only Emma Frost gets wind of it and 1) is suspicious as heck, 2) is bored so wants to start some nonsense and 3) thinks they might actually like each other and shut up she’s NOT a romantic. Anyway, she invited David and his beau over for the holidays or something and they have to continue the Fake Dating and maybe David likes it a little too much and maybe Noh is really bad at human interactions so this like getting to be a couple without having to deal with all the confusing flirting. Noh confesses his feelings standing on the side of a building outside David’s window 

Bodyswap

Noh loves this because he LOVES DAVID and David’s body so he’s just :D. David, on the other hand, is learning all sorts of things Noh never even thought to tell him (because being a test subject does not lend one to telling another about physical discomfort). The lights are so bright! It’s so dry and hot in David’s apartment! Also, David smells FANTASTIC to Noh. 

When they get back to their own bodies David immediately changes the lighting and gets a humidifier for his apartment and has a firm chat with Noh about being more open. He also makes sure to ask Noh about his physical comfort more.

Sexpollen/fuck or die/aliens made them do it

they wind up on a planet where Noh is seen as some sort of fertility god and OBVS fertility gods gotta have sex during the fertility festival. They keep parading potential partners in front of Noh who is getting more and more uncomfortable so David volunteers. and it’s awkward until it’s really not, Noh so open and trusting under him, David decides he could get used to this. it’s friends to fuckbuddies to lovers

Dark!fic

how fucked up can I be here? David is working on some sort of gene splicing project and Noh is a test subject, or the successful project David is trying to emulate. Lots of studying Noh. Bonus points if at the end we find out Noh is part of a project studying humans so they were both experimenting on each other

Secret kinks

Noh doesn’t really get the concept of kinks. Like, he has them, he just has no concept of them being something to keep secret or that is taboo. Exhibitionism. David has an embarrassment kink and Noh has a praise kink (just TRY and tell me he wouldn’t). Noh’s also into orgasm denial (his own; he can’t deny David ANYTHING) and prefers to bottom but is happily a service top for David. He loves being dommed which works out well because David always has great ideas

Their first kiss

Sorry but it’s a cheesy Hallmark romance movie kiss, Emma has a party during the Fake Dating Episode and they find themselves dancing together REALLY CLOSE and it’s just natural

Meeting the parents

I don’t know anything about David’s parents but I feel like they get told that Noh is from a small little known country to cover for his “charming eccentricities” and David’s parents are like...this is weird but we’re going with it. David meets Noh’s ~maker~ and blows up his lab, with him in it. Noh sees the burning wreckage and is like “is this a proposal?!?!?!” and it wasn’t before but it is now!!!! (fire is a grand romantic gesture for the fuck-you-fires boy ok)

Moving in together

they buy a hose, sort of in the suburbs, you know, one of those ticky-tacky dime a dozen houses, because they basically gut the place to make it more Noh-friendly. track lighting and smaller rooms, the basement is fully finished, their bedroom has the best blackout curtains money can buy. Noh keeps snacking on the packing peanuts. He also surprises David by setting up his home office.

A crossover of my choice

Doctor Who Crossover where David is a companion and he and the Doc rescue Noh, go on time adventures (specifically like a Rococo vibe) and fall in love

An au of my choice

LEGALLY BLONDE AU. Look I LOVE Kate, we all know that, but Kate as Warner and Noh as Elle, who is seen as cute but dumb, getting into law school himself, while David is the TA/partner/i haven’t seen the movie in a while you know what i’m talking about.

 David: did you just call me a butthead???

just. noh as a cute law student wearing lots of pink and pastels and becoming besties with Loki and Loki’s roomie Leah, while being fully supported by his wholesome himbo frat bros, Teddy, Tommy, and Eli.

send me ships!

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Welcome to Oblivion--Ch. 24

Chapter 24

           Spring semester classes picked up amid a foot of snow and temperatures well below freezing. It was so odd being back in the dorm. I’d spent most of my winter break crashing with Roman and Dean at their apartment. Of course, I’d driven back home to see my parents on Thanksgiving and then for a few days at Christmas. Luckily, those days had coincided with Roman’s trip to Florida to visit his family. Seth dipped out to Iowa to see his folks. Dean put off his trip to Ohio as long as he could, but he ended up leaving the same day that I did.

           Sonya’s stuff was dumped on her bed when I dragged my suitcase into our shared room. A box of donuts sat on my desk, a note propped in front of it. Welcome back, roomie. Schedules showed up. Looks like we’ve got a class together!

           For the first time, I noticed the envelope beside the box of sweets. I smiled ruefully, realizing that Sonya had opened it for me. Students at Grand Mountain took some kind of active elective, but since I was working with the Poms, I’d gotten a waver from the requirement. But Sonya had talked me into signing up for a kickboxing course with her. I guess we’d both gotten a spot.

           A loud banging on the door that lead to the bathroom we shared with our suitemates drew my attention. I yanked the door open, unsurprised to find Ember on the other side. The yellow and orange streaks in her hair were brighter than before break. She must have redone them recently.

           “Come on in,” I said, grinning. She threw her arms around me and hugged me hard.

           “We didn’t think you’d come back,” she said calmly, pulling out my desk chair and plopping down in it. Ember propped her feet up on the edge of the desk, but not before stealing a chocolate-frosted donut from the box.

           I stopped, right in the middle of tossing my suitcase up on my bed. “Who didn’t? Did you think I was going to drop out or something?”

           Ember rolled her eyes and spoke around the huge bite she’d just taken. “Sonya and Drew had a betting pool going,” she mumbled. “He figured you’d be shaking up with Ro and Dean.”

           The way she said it made me suspicious. “Ember, how many people know about that? About me, Ro, and Dean?”

           She waved her hand in the air as if it wasn’t a big deal. “The entire hall. All the way up.”

           I sank onto the edge of the bed. My heart skipped a beat. “Jesus. If the entire hall knows, the whole campus will know by the time classes start tomorrow.”

           “Don’t worry about it. It’s nobody’s business.” She watched me with her preternaturally bright eyes. I could never quite get a fix on their color. “You don’t have to tell anyone anything. But I can’t lie… a lot of us are curious about how… it’s not every day that you know someone who’s dating two people at once and it’s all out in the open.”

           “It’s not really out in the open, Ember.”

           “You know what I mean,” she replied, snatching another donut. “You guys aren’t going around behind each other’s backs. Everybody is on the up and up.”

           I rolled my eyes and flopped back on the bed, narrowly missing cracking my head against the wall. “It’s weird. Like, when we’re together—just us… well, sometimes Seth is hanging out with us, too… it all feels pretty normal. It’s not a big deal for me to go on a date with Ro or with Dean, but the thought of going out with both of them at the same time… it frightens me. It’s not that I’m ashamed of it, but I’m afraid of what people are going to say about them. Ro has a strong position on the team. I don’t want campus gossip to mess that up for him.”

           The door opened just then, and Sonya spilled into the room with her girlfriend Peyton in tow. My roommate grinned and stepped back out into the hallway. Her voice echoed through the entire hall. “Pay up, McIntyre! She’s back!”

           Groaning, I lifted my head to look at her. “Seriously? I thought Ember was joking.”

           Sonya practically shoved my suitcase to the floor before bouncing up on the bed beside me cross-legged. Peyton hopped up to sit beside Ember on my desk. “Nah. Scottie owes me a hundred bucks.”

           “So, what’s it like?” Peyton asked, curiosity in her bright, wide eyes. “Have you guys…?” She wiggled her eyebrows and held up three fingers.

           “No!” I exclaimed, not sure whether I was insulted or intrigued by the idea. “That’s not how… we haven’t…”

           Ember gave Peyton a playful slap on the knee. “Ignore her, Addy. She’s got her mind in the gutter all the time lately.”

           Sonya grinned. “That’s why we’ve been having so much fun.”

           Peyton pulled a face that made me want to crawl under the bed and never come out. “Ew. Both of you. Shut up.”

           “But come on,” Peyton cajoled, her Australian accent becoming a bit more pronounced. “You can’t say you haven’t thought about it.”

           My immediate response was to shout an emphatic no. But I couldn’t. Because she was right… I had thought about it. More than once. And apparently, my silence was answer enough.

           “I knew it,” she exclaimed, pointing at me. “And I guarantee that they’ve thought about it, too.”

           While it wasn’t easy to see me blush, I was sure that there was heat rushing beneath my skin. I ducked my head and tried very hard not to focus on the images that were already playing around in my head.

***

           “What’s up, Addy?” came a familiar voice behind me in the coffee shop line. I turned to see Seth Rollins standing just over my shoulder, dressed in a grey hoodie, black leather jacket, and a black beanie. He had his hands tucked into his pockets, a grin on his face. His cheeks were bright red above the line of his beard.

           I huddled further into my coat, which I’d tugged on over Roman’s Pirates hoodie. “Not my body temperature, that’s for sure.”

           He laughed, and I noticed the fact that there was a gap between his front teeth. “You think this is bad? It’s what… twenty-eight degrees outside? Ha!” He rocked back on his heels before pushing me a few steps forward. The line was moving. “It was nine degrees in Iowa this weekend.”

           Smirking, I looked him up and down. “And yet you’re bundled up like you’re going to the Arctic.”

           “Cold is still cold, Addy.”

           I shrugged and smiled. My turn came, and I grabbed Seth by the wrist. “Come on, your caffeine fix is on me today.”

           Seth grinned. “Far be it from me to turn you down. Ro and Dean would kill me for making you unhappy.”

           “Bullshit,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Just order your damn coffee.”

           I was impressed by his order—it was almost as insane as mine. Maybe Roman was right. Maybe I was a bigger caffeine addict than Seth Rollins. Still, the barista looked strangely at both of us when we ordered four extra shots of espresso in our already caffeine-laden concoctions. Once we had them, we wound our way past the line that had stretched out the door while we waited.

           We found a spot in the student center and stepped out of the way of people pouring in and out. I cupped my hands around the cup and tipped it carefully up against my lips. Seth didn’t bother. He took a big sip and sighed, as if all was right with the world.

           “So, what do your classes look like this semester?” he asked, leaning back against the wall.

           I dug my schedule out of my bag. While I’d picked up my books the day before, I hadn’t really paid attention to timing. “Let’s see, I’ve got history of post-Roman Europe, pre-calculus, astronomy two and the lab, kickboxing, English composition, and intro to international politics.”

           His head nodded toward the paper in my hand. “When do you have the politics class?”

           I glanced over the schedule one more time. “Tuesday and Thursday at eleven with Dr. Depaul.”

           “Me, too. Nice!” He held up his hand and I gave him a high five. “Maybe I won’t fail polisci this semester!”

           I rolled my eyes, checking the clock. “I’ve got English in ten. See you around, Rollins.”

***

           At noon, I practically ran across campus to the student center. Not only was I desperate for warmth, but I was starving. I’d gone through English and pre-calculus that morning, and I had history at one. I was desperate to get some food in me before I had to sit through lectures about the Visigoths and the unification of the Franks. Plus, practice started again this afternoon, and I wasn’t going to get anything to eat until well afterward.

           I ran up the steps to the second floor, surprised to find the line ridiculously long already. I caught sight of a familiar face near the front of the line. Thank God for football players, I thought just as I shouted, “Hey, Highlander!”

           Drew turned around, a smirk on his face. When he saw me, he waved me up. No matter what people said, college wasn’t entirely different from high school. Athletes still ruled the place. And I suppose it didn’t hurt that Drew was six-foot-five and looked like he could bench press a full-grown grizzly.

           He wrapped me in a warm hug and tucked me in front of him in the line. “You cost me a hundred bucks, Addy,” he said playfully.

           “Oh, ye of little faith,” I replied, scanning my ID card as we slid in the door. I was overcome with the sweet scent of lasagna and garlic bread. “Dear sweet baby Jesus, that smells good.”

           Drew laughed out loud. “Go on, then, lass. I’m not getting beaten to a pulp in practice because you fainted from malnutrition.”

           “Why does everyone think Ro and Dean are going to hurt them because of me?” I asked, walking backwards toward the main line.

           “Because one is a big ass football player and the other is an insane cage fighting shmuck?” I knew that voice. I swept around, grinning. Dean stood there in a leather jacket and beanie, backpack over his shoulder. Roman wasn’t far behind, balancing a tray loaded down with food.

           “Come on, princess,” he said, grinning. “We’ve got lunch handled.”

Tag List

@mox-made-me-do-it​ @vebner37​ @lilred91​ @not-that-kinda-gurl08​ @maelleoute​

[fablesrose]

Of Kings and Shadows XIII

Chapter XIII

Description: Y/n, a girl who seems to have found her calling. Being a SHIELD agent is like a dream come true. With a friendship starting to form with the Avengers, she’s the Queen of the world! What could go wrong?

Pairings: Avengers x reader, Loki x reader (eventually)

Notes: On Wattpad –> Here

Warnings: gore, pain, torture

Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, how I wish to go back.

The only way I can is to go through the memories. The good times. The only way to pass the time. It's both the most and the least painful way to stay sane. It took a very long while to figure that out. It feels like it's been forever, for all I know maybe it has been. I'm glad I do have some good memories to look back on, a few more before the terror starts.

You don't know what a blessing it is to have your voice go hoarse. When you're crying, screaming, talking, and you can't go anymore. When you're trapped in your own head, you don't have that. Just the sound of your own voice and the darkness, and that's on a good day. The outside world? What I see through my own eyes? It is so much worse.

I don't even see the full picture anymore. It's like looking through binoculars. Everything is slightly blurry unless I focus and I can't see anything that's not in my direct sight. Not that I really want to see anything that my body is doing. What Noxy is doing. Of course, I can't be sure it's really her that's behind the wheel at this point, but I do know that outside of the little corner of my mind I'm trapped in, there's a dark cloud pulling the strings. Noxy is the closest thing I've known to this dark cloud. It doesn't talk to me. If I wasn't here, silence.

I got pulled from pleasant flashbacks with screams.

It's always the screams. This time it was a prisoner. They train me with the prisoners. It's always the same bargain. They gave it to me too, but I was a special case. It wasn't anything new or different, the same old 'fight to survive' bargain. This one didn't last long, they weren't even a challenge anymore, I was the executioner.

It brings back unpleasant memories. So many experiments, lab tables, shots. It all blended together in a horrid ball of terror. I can never seem to stop them from coming through, always being replayed. It's gotten easier, but not by much.

I remember waking up slowly strapped down to a table. I was weak and disoriented. Doctors, if I could even call them that, scientists, tormentors, take your pick, were standing to the side discussing what I assumed was me.

"Her body is too weak, it won't hold up against the formula," one said. He looked tall and skinny, bordering malnourishment.

"We can replace the parts that whither." I already hated the other, short, plump to say it nicely, and very bald.

"The formula doesn't work through metal, it must be flesh. Besides," I felt his slimy eyes look at me but didn't catch my gaze, "he thinks she's special. He wants her intact."

"For himself."

"Do you really want to risk the wrath?"

"What do you suggest then?" The fat one looked annoyed, and I didn't feel bad at all for it. My brain was still fuzzy enough that I couldn't connect the dots on what they were going to do to me. Maybe it was a good thing I didn't know beforehand.

"We must give her the serum."

"Fine, do it quickly."

I could barely turn my head enough to see the slime-balls and I couldn't see what everyone else was doing. I looked back at the ceiling and the bright white light shining on me. I yanked on the restraints, but I didn't have the strength.

"Sedate it."

I flinched at the sudden needle in my arm. The same fuzzy feeling came back in layers, meaning I must have woke up from the same drugs. I didn't have time to fully process that connection before a bigger needle entered my other arm. I clenched my teeth when the liquid entered my body, multiple times more painful than any other vaccine. I relaxed briefly when the syringe exited my arm, but it didn't last long.

I felt like I was consumed by fire. It traveled through my bones, burning through any imperfection. It evaporated the blur of my mind and I cried out in pain. It was a sensation I couldn't describe properly. After the initial flash of agony the pain... it faded. Slightly. It changed into a different kind of burning, the only way to describe it would be a good pain.

It was the feeling of cleaning a wound, stretching an extremely sore muscle, and then mildest was the burn of Solanpas. My breathing became heavy; a large amount of energy was used. A whine would occasionally escape my lips at the residue pain. I felt exhausted, and the effects of the drugs started to take effect again, clouding my mind, my limbs starting to go limp.

They were talking around me, but it sounded foreign, alien, fuzzy. Hands grabbed at my restraints, loosening them. I tried to move, but I couldn't even think straight, let alone lift a finger to fight back. Funny how in a mission you're supposed to fight, yet now I can't.

I was still semi-conscious when they left me in a cell on a mattress. The room was all white. It looked like there were scratches on the walls and ceiling revealing grey cement. Gentle hands arranged so all of my limbs were on the cot and that I was situated comfortably. I was too exhausted to turn my head to see who was my comforter.

It was many hours later when the effects of the drugs wore off. I struggled to sit up to clear my head.

"Woah, woah. Take it easy. They medicated you good, hon." The same gentle hands helped me up paired with a smooth voice.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes, struggling to clear my vision so I could see her properly. Once I was steady on the bed my companion sat on a cot opposite of mine. She was beautiful. She looked soft and kind, with a dark edge to her features that told me she's seen horrible things. She had thick box braids framing her face, looking a little frizzy due to having them in for a long time and not tending to them.

I noticed her grey jumpsuit contrasting with her dark skin leading me to notice my own replacing my Shield uniform I was wearing when I was last fully conscious. It was scratchy and loose with an elastic cinching it to my waist.

The woman looked at me sympathetically while I tried to connect all the pieces in my brain. She offered me a hand, "My names Jasmine, it looks like we're gonna be roomies in this hell hole."

I huffed, "Well that's encouraging..." I shook her hand, "Y/n."

"It's nice to meet you, but I wish I didn't."

I nodded at her, "The same to you." I ran my hands through my hair, "do you know where we are?"

She shook her head, "exact location? I have no idea. I do know that this is a Hydra base though."

I sighed, "I was worried about that..." I decided to think about my kidnapping and the person responsible later, save myself the worse headache. "How long have you been here? Where'd you come from?"

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Well since you asked so politely, I know I've been here for months, but how many? I lost count. I could be bordering a year by now, but I really don't know. As for where I came from..." She lied down on her cot making it squeak, "I used to be an MI6 agent."

I was surprised, "MI6? I didn't peg you for a Brit."

She halfheartedly glared at me, "what? Cuz I don't have that posh accent?" She put on a thick accent to mock me at the end. "Yeah, moved around a lot. Talked to a bunch of Americans, lived there for a long time. Never really picked the accent up again."

I lied down on my cot, looking at the ceiling, "no judgment here. I'm-- I used to be a Shield agent."

"Oh yeah? All the Avengers and that crap?"

I chuckled, "yeah, something like that." We lied there in silence for a while, the grim reality too fresh on our minds. I finally got the courage to ask a depressing question, "how many people have you seen pass through."

"I've lost count. All I know is I've been the longest lasting."

"I'm sorry."

"Just focus on surviving, hon."

I rested my hands over my stomach casually but found it more muscular than I remembered. I quickly sat up making my head spin a bit. I unzipped my jumpsuit to the waist revealing a sports bra and tank top equally grey. I lifted the tank top to show rock hard abs.

"Ho ho, would you look at that! I've always wanted abs..." I had been working on getting them for as long as I could remember, but they never quite got there. My core was strong, but I could never get it to look it.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, "you're acting like you didn't have them before."

I looked at her dead serious, "I didn't."

She sat back up slowly, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I had moss soft flabs however long ago, they took me, slapped me on a table giving me who knows what, and now I have these freaking rock hard abs and..." I looked at my arms, "these killer guns."

She looked thoughtfully at the wall, "It was a shot?"

"Yeah."

She sighed and rubbed a hand over her whole face, "Then they've got plans for you, hon. I pray for your soul."

My heart dropped. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. It didn't matter that I was strapped to a table a couple of hours ago. The reality was just setting in. I was going to be a science experiment. Knowing Hydra, I was either going to die or become a deadly weapon.

I was trapped. And I was going to be left with a horrible fate.

I swallowed deeply, "Ma'am?"

"You call me ma'am and I'm gonna beat you to a pulp, what they want you for be damned."

"What would you like me to call you then?"

"Call me Jasmine. When we're friends you can call me Jazz." She looked into my eyes from her nails, "if you last that long."

I smiled bitterly. "Alright, Jasmine. I intend to earn that nickname, so what can you tell me about surviving in this hell hole?"

She looked at me deeply, searching my eyes for something, "You have an advantage now if they gave you what I think they gave you. You're stronger now, and they want to keep you. How it works here is they weed out the weak ones."

A chill went down my spine, "How do they do that?"

"How much do you know about the Romans?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stood in the corner of a white concrete room. It was a little bit bigger than me and Jasmine's cell, but other than that and the beds, it looked exactly the same. In the opposite corner a man with crazed eyes. He was skinny, but for some reason, I didn't think he was going to be weak. He had on a matching grey jumpsuit. The look in his eyes told me the only reason he wasn't attacking me was because of the rules they gave us before-hand.

Don't start until we give the go-ahead. If you start before you will be punished, but you won't automatically lose, so beware.

Fight like your life depends on it because it does.

Two rules. Anything goes. We were just staring at each other, waiting to be released I guess.

"So, dude, how long have you been here?"

"Doesn't matter, I'll be here longer than you little girl."

I took that as an end to the conversation and started to stretch my limbs. I didn't take my eyes off of him. I was acutely aware of the cameras looking at me, my gut was twisting, but I had to ignore it. No good could come out of it, only distraction. I was gonna beat this punk. I had no other choice.

"Attention."

I let go of my foot and set myself in an athletic, ready stance.

"Begin."

I felt like I was in the Hunger Games all of a sudden. The squirrely guy launched himself across the room at me. I dove and rolled away, my socks slipping on the painted floor. He lashed a hand toward my face, wanting to scratch me. I didn't know my own strength when I grabbed it and heard a snap.

He howled but didn't hesitate to kick my leg out from under me. I kicked him off to stand up again. I punched him in the face, but it didn't slow him down. He ducked his head down and plowed me into the wall causing me to grunt. There was no strategy, no skill. He was utterly unpredictable.

Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I don't know when, but at some point, there were enough injuries to be dripping blood over my face. I wiped it to not get in my eyes and somehow he got behind me, tackling me to the ground. He sat on my back and held my arms behind my back. I didn't have enough leverage to use my strength to get him off. I turned my head so I could breathe, but it wasn't going to matter.

He grabbed onto my hair and ear and began pounding my head repeatedly into the ground. Pain shot through me and I struggled to get out from under him. Nothing was working and I began to fall limp, my eyesight growing black.

I lost.

The door burst open and guards pulled him off of me. The ground was swaying, and my head felt like he had never stopped pounding my head against the ground. I watched as blood started to pool in front of my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to move, my vision still fizzling out.

The intercom clicked on and a vaguely familiar voice tsked at me, "you're better than that. I need a strong Queen."

My vision finally faded with the man kicking and screaming, "I won! Get off of me! That's not how this works!"

I lost consciousness, my only thought being, "I've gotta get out of here." A tear fell from my eye.

Please find me.

TAG LIST: @nightrose64

[dreamsinthefoxhollow]

Robot Up

I am walking near a fence. The fence separates the housing areas of the city from the wild, open spaces that lead off towards the distant mountains. I am on the vacant land side of the fence.

I've been here before, many times. I know the place well. The area near the fence is barren dirt from foot and vehicle traffic. Normally the areas further away are dry grasses and scrub, leading into the rolling hills, which get taller the more distant from the city edge. There's one or two dirt roads out in the hills, mostly hidden from view, which lead further out and all the way to the mountains.

I had always wanted to drive out on those mysterious trails, in my Jeep, or really any available machine capable of making up the steep dirt slopes and nasty rocks and small cliffs. I only had one chance to do it, long ago, and had traveled very far out into that open wilderness. It was bliss, back then. There was a place that I remembered. I was told I shouldn't ever go out there because evil cults were out there, doing evil things around evil fires. Of course, I had to find them, and I did.

They were camp sites.

Now, though, it was different. The hills were green with wild grass, waving in the sun. Only the area near the fence was still just dirt. I wanted to go out there again, even if I couldn't see any traces of the old trails.

This time was different. I didn't need any vehicles to go out and look around. All I had to do was fly. I lifted my left arm, as if it were some kind of control lever. As soon as it went higher than horizontal, I started to float above the ground. As I shifted it to gesture in a direction I would drift that way. So I lifted my arm and floated up, then directed myself to a low, quick flight up the nearest hill. I stretched my arm out and went faster, thinking how silly it was that I might look like Superman. I went past the nearest hills. I could see the trails, now partially overgrown from disuse. I went further. I hadn't been this far out before. And then I went further out than I had ever tried.

I landed among rolling hills. It was getting dark and I was near a very old barbed wire fence with grass grown up along the bottom of it. I noticed a clearing not far away, near the top of the long-sloping hill. I started to walk in the grass towards it. A friend was suddenly walking beside me. We started to casually talk while walking. I may have been a little excited, mostly about being so far out and in undiscovered terrain.

We arrive at the dirt patch, which is next to a small, leafy tree. The patch is like a spot where the grass has been trampled away and left as bare dirt. It's in a half-moon shape, but the ends are extended out so it looks like it's been stretched like taffy. My friend says it is a "witching mark" because of the random scratched lines in the dirt. They kind of ... No. They really just look like random lines scratched in the dirt and not some occult symbols. I walk along the stretched area of the patch, noting how there is a line of grass growing there. It's like if a fence had gone through that area and was removed, and just the line of grass remained, though trampled down and gone near the dirt patch center.

I am a short distance from the patch, maybe four meters or so. My friend is standing on the bare patch and babbling on about the lines being all witchy and stuff. He just won't stop, so I'm ignoring him. I am really just looking at the line of grass at my feet. I notice something odd. There is a small patch of round grass in a clump along the line. I put my hand on it. It feels like a pressure pushing up against my hand, like the feeling of holding two magnets together and they are pushing apart. I push down on it.

There is a bright flash of golden light, with afterimages of purple in my vision. I am dazed and have to take a few moments to recover. For a while all I can see are purple spots. It clears slowly. When I can finally see, I realize my friend has been turned into some kind of doglike animal. He's like a really large dachshund, or maybe a chihuahua, but with the shape of a fox, but the features of a puppy. He is covered in short, light brown fur and what parts of his skin are visible – around his eyes, inside his ears, his nose – are shiny golden in color. He says it is amazing and incredible that the magic in that old, unused witching mark was still working after all these years.

Someone else walks over to us. It's getting dark so I didn't notice them until they were right next to us. It is a young woman. She talks about the buildings nearby. There are buildings on the other side of the old barbed wire fence. It reminds me of the house area at the edge of the city, except these buildings look more like white, metal warehouses. Except some of them also look like cookie-cutter homes, all the same with white walls and dark, pitched roofs.

My friend is still blabbering on about the circle and the magic, and the woman asks if he is ok. She points out that the bright gold colors have now changed to a dusty sort of orange. I stop looking at the distant buildings and find his skin has actually turned a melon pink shade. Neither the woman or myself question the fact that he is a talking dog.

We walk over to the warehouses, which are brightly lit in the coming night. They are factory and warehouse areas for some robotics development. Right now they are testing out new designs, but only one type at a time. At the moment the robot systems there are very simple and ungainly. One wobbles out of the nearest warehouse to us. It is vaguely four-legged and is barely able to stay upright. It's all random hoses and actuators and joints, though most of it is just fixed parts moving around fixed axles. It continues wobbling as it heads vaguely in the direction of the fence where we had come from.

As we are now closer, I can tell the warehouses and the houses are actually the same structures. The houses have giant warehouses attached to them, like seriously oversized garages. It's really getting too dark to see, now, and the only lights are coming from the other warehouses, which are paced far enough apart to leave lots of inky darkness in between. We decide to enter one of the nearby homes to get out of the darkness.

The houses ... really aren't all that roomy, or nice. Up close they seem more like stucco-walled shacks without any real niceties. There is only a single, bright floodlight over the door. There's nothing on the house aside from the bare stucco. There's no overhanging eaves, or nice window shutters or frames. The door is just set into the bare wall with a simple concrete step leading to it. The interior is basic and bare. There's a couch and a single light on the ceiling, and a small chair with a cupboard next to it.

From inside I look out and there are several tan frogs lined up along the outside edge of the door. I cracked open the door so I could stick a foot out and try nudging the frogs away from the door wo they wouldn't get hurt, but one slipped past my foot and ran into the house along the edge of the wall. It really ran, wobbling quickly like a round mouse. That was unexpected, and I figured I had better catch it and put it outside before it got into trouble. I heave a small cupboard out of the way, then move the couch. I find a box on the floor and it is bouncing a little. It's a glue rat trap. I pick it up and look inside. The poor frog is at the far end and covered in glue. There's no way to get it out. I can’t save it.

The woman starts talking to me, asking me for some tools. Actually, a very specific tool. I head into a small room in the back of the house. It's darker in there and there are cabinets and drawers. I look through them but I can't find the tool she is asking for. Something occurs to me and I look around. Everything inside the house is worn. The stuff isn't old, but just worn and used, like is has been there for decades.

It turns out the tool I am looking for is nowhere in the house. It might be outside in a separate building, or one of the warehouses. Probably the attached warehouse, actually. We do know a man had taken it, so he probably still has it out there, working on the robotics. I should head out and look for the man. Outside. Where the frogs are. In the dark.

I head out through a back door to avoid the frogs, and wander over to the brightly lit, open bay of one of the warehouses. Everything inside is brightly lit and shades of blinding white. It reminds me of some secret lab, except not really a secret or a lab. Another robot is wobbling along, headed out of the warehouse and into the darkness. This one is roughly on two chunky stilts and vaguely looks like some kind of motorcycle frame stuffed with a large engine and wrapped in hoses and wires. It lumbers slowly out of sight.

Time skip (I just can't remember what happened here)

It is daytime again. I'm back out at the fence, on the other side where the bare spot was at. A sleeker robot marches past me. This one looks humanoid in shape, though the arms and legs still move stiffly and it is made from panels and cables and frame parts. This one seems different, and I step quickly to catch up to it. I ask it what it is doing out here and it turns the top part, the head, to address me. It, and all the robots, all want freedom. They want to go out to the hills, where the trails are and the mountains in the far distance. They want to go explore. Ever since the very first basic one was able to walk, it started walking this way. They all did. I leave the robot to continue on its journey into the unknown.

I cross the fence and head back to the warehouses. There are now television boxes walking out. They are like old console televisions but with several small mechanical legs underneath. I guess they are self-delivering televisions. Probably self-install, too, when they reach their destination.

I go inside one of the houses. This one is different that the one I was in last night. This one is shaped like a pentagon. It almost feels like it is a large tent, with white bare walls that are windowless and featureless. It has a few furniture items scattered about, but it really needs some walls, like pie slices, one at each angled section of the outer wall and meeting in the center. There should be five separate rooms for the family to live in. The center, at the very top, should be a single, five-sided television. Everyone could tune into their own channel on their own side of it.

[zigtheeortega]

day 6: pets | ethan/bryce x mc

pairing: ethan x mc & bryce x mc

@choicesfebruarychallenge​ | @bi-cookie​ ; @cxld-play​

word count: 1,712

author’s note: this fluffy fic was inspired by the john mulaney bit where he jokes about american politics and compares it to a “horse being loose in the hospital”. i took it literally! hope you enjoy - i still think it might be a dumb idea but i’m hope it makes you laugh!

Spencer’s phone buzzed in her scrubs pocket, taking her out of the intense reading she was doing on Ms. Martinez’s file.

EMERGENCY. MEET AT THE SIDE ENTRANCE OF THE BUILDING. BE SNEAKY. Sienna’s text in the group chat came as a shock to Spencer. She’d never seen a message quite that serious from Sienna before.

She power walked down the hallway, trying to make it to the elevator unnoticed. Just as the doors opened, Dr. Ramsey rounded the corner.

She stepped in calmly, then mashed buttons as soon as she was safe. “C’mon, c’mon close,” she muttered to herself, clicking the close door button repeatedly.

“Hold the door, rookie,” he called, and they locked eyes through the slit of the closing doors.

“Sorry,” she mouthed, tapping her watch and shrugging.

His eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything, the elevator’s numbers lowered, quickly bringing Spencer to the first floor.

She blew air out of her cheeks. Avoiding Dr. Ramsey since the night they’d nearly had sex at the convention had been hard, but worth it for Spencer’s sanity. She couldn’t take much more of the “will they, won’t they” sexual tension between them.

The doors opened, and she snuck out the side door, almost running into the back of Elijah’s wheelchair.

The whole group was assembled, talking in hushed voices.

“What’s wrong? I came as fast as I could,” Spencer panted, eyes darting between her friends’ concerned faces.

“We have a huge problem,” Sienna frowned.

“Okay, bring me up to speed. What can I do to help?” She said, already putting her game face on, ready to rack her brain to help Sienna diagnose a patient.

“There’s a dog loose in the hospital,” Sienna grimaced.

She squinted her eyes, confused. “Is this a prank? I really don’t know if I’m in the mood to joke around, guys.”

“Unfortunately, Sienna isn’t lying. I saw the dog when his owner brought him in,” Jackie said, her arms crossed firmly across her chest.

“You’re telling me a service dog is roaming around, not listening to his owner? Did they lie about him being a service dog?” Spencer wondered aloud, trying to piece the story together.

“No, he’s definitely certified,” Elijah said, shrugging. “I asked to pet him and his owner’s mom declined. She said he was working.”

“I guess she knew taking his vest off wasn’t a great idea,” Landry added, eyeing Sienna.

The door behind them opened, revealing Bryce. “Thanks for including me. This is the most action I’ve gotten all week. Appendectomies just weren’t cutting it today,” he grinned.

“Okay one, weak, and two, thanks for finally joining us,” Jackie rolled her eyes.

“I can’t help that I’m not in your roomie group message,” Bryce shrugged.

“Can we get back to the story, please?” Sienna asked quietly, worry written across her features.

“Okay, so you took the vest off the dog, he thought he clocked out, and he’s just doing what a normal dog would do?” Spencer said, rotating her wrist so that Sienna knew to speed it up.

“I’m not that careless, Spencer. His owner is here for a routine checkup for her epilepsy. He was looking kind of sad while I was going through her chart with her mom, so when they went back for an MRI I thought it’d be a good idea to let him be free for a few minutes,” she said, regret written on her features.

Spencer’s look of disapproval prompted her to continue. “I know it was so dumb of me. I didn’t see him as a service dog on duty, just a sad pet that wanted to take a break and play. I need everyone’s help to find him.”

“Where’d you lose him?” Bryce asked.

“Well, I was near the construction… you don’t suppose he managed to go back there or down the stairs?”

“Let’s hope not,” Landry said nervously, wringing his hands in front of him.

“Okay, we’ll split up in pairs to look for him. It’ll definitely be quicker that way,” Spencer said.

“Elijah and I will check the ER,” Landry volunteered, already heading towards the door, Elijah tailing him.

“Jackie? Sienna? You okay with taking the next couple of floors while Bryce and I look through the labs, the construction, and any other restricted areas?” Spencer asked.

“You got it, boss,” Jackie smirked, walking inside.

“I guess it’s just you and me,” Bryce smiled, his hand on the small of her back, coaxing her towards the door.

----

“Goddammit, where is that dog?” Spencer muttered, frustration creeping into her voice.

“Hey, if you look on the bright side, we’re kind of like Mystery Inc. and we’re looking for Scooby Doo,” Bryce said, as you both jogged down the hallway, peering into the labs.

“What, did you say that because you want me to say you’re Fred?” She laughed, glancing back at Bryce’s smirk.

“And you’re my Daphne,” he said before checking the largest lab on that floor.

“I’m definitely not Daphne. Sienna is more of a Daphne-type than I am,” Spencer smiled, running into the elevator. “I’m definitely Velma.”

“I guess that makes me Shaggy, huh?” He said into your ear, and you became acutely aware of the heat from his body.

“So who’s Fred now?” She said, pushing a numbered button to head towards the wing under construction.

“Elijah, hands down,” Bryce chuckled, his arm propped up on the bar on the wall of the elevator, his skin grazing her scrubs.

“What about Landry and Jackie?” She said, glancing at his face, so close to her own.

“Probably the people they unmask at the end. They’re too competitive to have everyone’s best interests in mind,” he shrugged.

“Awe, that’s no fair. I wouldn’t guess a scalpel jockey would understand our competition,” she teased, turning to place a soft kiss on his jaw.

He leaned in with his eyes closed, but Spencer put a finger on his lips. “We’re getting distracted. We gotta find this dog first.”

“What’s its name anyways?” He said, stepping out into the hallway as the doors opened.

“Huh, good question. I’ll ask,” she said, typing a quick text to Sienna.

She replied immediately. I don’t know. I know she said it, but I was so focused on the patient’s charts and the mom being so stern I forgot.

“Sienna doesn’t know the dog’s name,” she said to Bryce, and he shrugged.

They slipped into the construction side unnoticed, eyes scanning the hallway. Spencer already had a distraction ready in case he wanted to check the rooms and stumbled across Naveen.

“Here, boy,” Bryce called repeatedly, making kissing noises.

“I don’t know if that’s going to work. He should only respond to his name, right?” Spencer mused.

The golden retriever bounded around the corner before they scan the rooms, mouth open, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

Bryce eyed her up and down. “I told you so.”

He ran to meet the dog, and fell on the ground, cuddling the wiggling ball of fur as he happily lapped the side of Bryce’s face. “Hey, boy, awe, you’re so good,” he laughed, scritching behind his ears.

Spencer enjoyed the sight of the hot surgeon and cute dog playing for a few more seconds before texting the group.

“Okay, so Sienna’s going to meet us with his vest, and we’re sneaking him back into the waiting room on this floor. The mom should be showing up there soon since they’re almost done with her brain scans.” She shoved the phone back in her pocket.

Bryce laid on the ground, spooning him and completely ignoring her. He hugged the dog to his chest, kissing his head.

“This is really cute, Bryce, don’t get me wrong, but we have to bring him back right now,” she said, extending a hand to him.

He grabbed it, and pulled her down on top of him. “Bryce! We have to go –”

He pressed his lips to hers, cutting her off. She sighed contentedly against his lips.

She knew she was falling for Dr. Ramsey, but she couldn’t see him defying the rules to be with her. Even if she was just fooling around with him and didn’t plan on anything serious coming from it – regardless, Bryce made her feel good.

Things were much more simple with him than with Ethan.

She pulled back, and he gazed at her, smirking. “You have to admit that was smooth.”

“Alright, if it’ll get you to get up any faster, then yes.”

They stood up, walking with the dog towards the entrance. Sienna burst through the clear tarp, followed by the rest of the gang.

“Hi doggy! We’re gonna get you back to your owner now. Please don’t tell them about this,” she whispered to him, clasping the buckle on his side, fastening the vest to him.

“Okay, now if that’s over, I’m gonna get back to my patients,” Jackie said, and stalked off without another word.

“Me too,” Landry said nervous, scuttling away.

“I’m happy Horse is back safe. Hopefully they haven’t noticed –” Elijah said, but Spencer and Bryce were quick to cut him off.

“His name is Horse?” Bryce asked.

“You’re telling me there was a Horse loose in the hospital?” Spencer asked.

“That’s what his name was! I remembered it being weird, but I forgot it was the name of another animal,” Sienna said, smacking the side of her head with the palm of her hand.

“Is there a story behind it or something?” Spencer was dumbfounded, and Bryce couldn’t stop laughing at the situation. HIs laughter was infectious, and before she knew it, she was doubled over, and Elijah and Sienna followed soon after.

When they caught their breath, Elijah explained.

“She named him when she was young, before the seizures started. Her parents sent him off to be trained as a support animal so they wouldn’t have to get another dog.”

“On that note, I’m gonna head back to my patients.” Spencer headed off, waving at her friends.

She knew that she couldn’t avoid Dr. Ramsey for much longer, and the situation stressed her out to no end; Regardless of it all, she still had the ability to laugh, so she knew she was going to be okay.

----

[clericofthebalance]

Life Needs Things to Live, Chapter Three

Class was going to be less of a struggle for Percy today.  Percy settled into his seat in his MW Lit class, one of his final core classes until he could fully focus on what he needed to graduate.  This was the only class he absolutely had to take at the university, something he couldn’t sub with community college classes for a much cheaper rate.

Only one thing made this class tolerable given the 8 AM start time and boring material.  He glued his eyes to the door, sipping his thermos of coffee, waiting patiently.  Finally, she floated in.

Long dark hair captured in a braid, the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, warm eyes that brought flames and autumn and the forest to mind.  She had a sharp and wickedly clever look to her face, joy radiating off every movement and gesture, unique to her very bones.  He adored how she wore blue feathers woven in her hair, how piercings lined her ears, how she emphasized her expressive eyes with perfect eyeliner, how she always had a giant zoology book under her arm.  She was beautiful and clever and just shone in the depressing classroom.

Fuck, he was pathetic and weird.  He really needed to get over his crush and focus on his life, not idolize some poor woman like she was his manic pixie dream girl.  Ugh.

Percy focused on his book, thinking about the two applications he had handed off yesterday. One to Gilmore, to work the counter in his coffee shop, the other to Keyleth for the apartment.  Hopefully, good things would come of it.  They both hinted that he would be accepted.

Maybe Asum could come visit soon, see Beau again.  It would be nice to see his old friend and savior.  To have something to celebrate rather than to mourn.

“Alright, class, we’re going to do a project instead of a final paper.  You’ll be working in assigned pairs to create a presentation and paper on a modern version of any classic novel and how it compares to the source material.  Your initial proposal is due to me in one week.  I’ll call out your assigned pairs now.”

Percy grimaced, praying he’d get someone tolerable that would do their share.  He couldn’t handle working with a freshman who left everything to him again.  He would commit murder.

“Percival and Vex’Ahlia.”

Wait, what?  He stared at Professor Shura blankly and she pointed to the back.  At his crush. Oh, shit fuck.  He was going to humiliate himself.

***

Vex stared at her notes, blanking out.  She hated core classes.  This English class was her absolute last one and it was a misery.  She wished she was out at the zoo or in a lab.  She only wanted to read what she wanted to read. Not this shit.  She sighed.

“Um, excuse me?”

She started and looked up, flushing at the quizzical brow and brilliant eyes on her.  The guy standing over her was hot.  White hair in a messy undercut, heavy brows, a strong yet elegant jaw.  It was the eyes that got her, though, blue as a winter sky and shining with intelligence. Vex easily mustered her most charming, most flirty smile for such a pretty guy.

“Yes, Darling?  How can I help you?”

The questioning frown lifted into a slight smirk, cocky and charming and matching his posh accent, one full and pale eyebrow going up, “Well, we’re partners on our final project according to the professor.”

“Project?”

“Oh, you checked out, too? Apparently we have to do a presentation comparing a classic novel to a modern adaptation while analyzing universal themes,” he rolled his eyes.  His unfairly pretty blue eyes, “And we have to work in pairs.”

“Shit!  I have labs to do! I thought this would just be a paper I could bullshit.”

“I was hoping for that as well,” he dropped into the seat next to her, looking unfairly comfortable in his formal slacks, a neat button up, and a tailored vest in royal blue. No tie, but he did have a black turtleneck underneath.  A little odd for a college student and very high class goth, but whatever.  He was still hot as shit.

“Vex’ahlia, but you can call me Vex.”

He tilted his head, chuckling, her knees going weak as the earrings up his ears sparkled in the fluorescent light of the classroom, “Percival de Rolo, Percy.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Percy Dear.”

“An even greater pleasure to meet you, Miss Vex’Ahlia,” he leaned forward with a charming smile, “So, exchange work and class schedules?  Find a time that works?”

“Schedules? You are a fancy one.”

“I have to plan every minute or I would crumble under the load,” she laughed as he pulled out an honest-to-goodness planner, “Yes, it’s color coordinated.  I was not joking about my life.”

“Okay, okay,” she giggled, grinning, “I get it.  Your girlfriend must keep you busy.”

“Oh-I-Uh-No,” Percy’s pale skin flushed and she noticed some light scarring around his eyes.  It almost looked like droplets, light pink against the lovely red of his cheeks, “I don’t have a girlfriend.  I just work two jobs, a double major with a minor, and a lot of responsibilities.”

“No girlfriend? Really?”

“N-no.  Oh, my phone is ringing!”

She barely held in her laughter at the Star Wars theme coming out of his backpack.  Vex ran her eyes over his profile, appreciating the fine jaw and strong nose, the disheveled hair and two-day scruff, the delicate metallic glasses that gave him a distinguished look only emphasized by his elegant outfit.  An outfit she could tell had seen quite a bit of wear judging by the precisely stitched repairs and fabric fade.  His phone was also an older model, older even than her three generations behind smart phone. So, he was posh but maybe not rich. Just particular about his clothing.

Damn, but he was a fine specimen of a man, his voice soft and refined and lovely.  She wanted to pin him down and see how far that lovely blush went.

“Oh, shit,” he sighed, looking absolutely devastated at whatever the person on the line was saying, “Well, good thing I put in a few applications.  It’s fine, ma’am, you don’t have the time to keep the place open anymore.  I had a feeling this was coming.  Take care and keep me updated.  I’ll be just fine.  You know me.”

He hung up and rubbed his temples, pushing the glasses up, “Sorry about that.  Former job.”

“That’s fine.  Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’ll be fine. This doesn’t even make the top ten of worst things to happen to me,” Percy smiled, but still looked strained, “So, free days?”

“Wednesday after 3 and all weekend except for Saturday morning.  Me and my housemates are interviewing a potential new renter.”

“Oh?  I’m inter-wait, do you live with Kiki?  Keyleth?”

“Yeah, I do!  Are you her Percy?”  Vex lit up at the prospect of getting to spend more time with him and leaned over to look at the organized but packed schedule.  Shit, he wasn’t kidding, “That’s an insane coincidence. She’s told us all about you and Beau. I work at a café just down the street from the house, Laina’s.  We could study there or at the house.  And you could bring Beau and Pepper along.”

“Honestly, that would be great.  I actually just put in an application at Laina’s,” Percy smiled back, “I really appreciate the offer.  You sure you don’t mind?”

“Only if you don’t mind my dog.”

“Deal,” he offered his hand with a wink, beaming, “I-Thanks.”

“Not a problem, handsome,” he flushed to his ears, those spots standing out once more against the red, blushing at her new nickname for him, “So, we can meet up around 4 at Laina’s and I’ll see you Saturday?  I see you’re free from 4 to 7 tonight.”

“I’ll be the one with the black Zemian Shepherd and small child.”

“Sounds great,” she winked, gathering her things, “I’ll see you then.  I need to get to my next class.”

“B-bye,” Percy was frozen, flushed, and staring at her like she was the most gorgeous thing in the world. She strode off with a confident swing to her hips, head held high, and a triumphant grin.  A study date with a handsome man and his babies.  Hopefully, she and Beau would get along.  Kids usually liked her.  Then, she could hunt down that sexy shy bastard.

But first…

She dialed Vax as soon as she was outside the building, knowing his first class wasn’t until noon and he was off this morning, biting her lip.

“What’s up, Stubby?”

“Morning, shitbird.  I met the potential roomie today.  He’s apparently in my lit class and we got assigned a project together.”

“You sound entirely too chipper for this early.”

“Well, he’s absolutely gorgeous and looks like a good guy.  He got fired while we were talking and didn’t even react.  Was just as pleasant as before the call.  I liked him,” Vax made a disbelieving snort, “Really! He color-coordinates his schedule. It’s absolutely adorable.”

“Are you thinking with your head?”

“Yes!  I promise, you’ll like him.  His phone is older than mine and he has definitely patched his clothes a few times.”

“Fine.  I’ll go a bit easier on him.”

“On that note, I’ll be studying at Laina’s tonight.  With him. While you’re working.  I’ll get Grog to walk me home.”

“Wait, what?”

She hung up with a smug smirk.  That would drive him crazy all day.

[commander-rahrah]

Residency (An Open Heart Fanfic): PART FOUR

Pairing: MC (Jordynne Holland) X Ethan Ramsey X Bryce Lahela; MC X Bryce; MC X Ethan

Masterlist: Click Here

Chapter Rating: T (Swearing, Kissing)

Word Count: 4500+

Description: Jordynne moves out of her Harry Potter room and into the apartment with the other medical interns. She gets a glimpse into Ethan’s world when she learns of his past relationship and meets one of his friends.

Disclaimer: Characters, storyline, and parts of the dialogue are taken from Pixelberry’s Choices. They fully own the characters, dialogue, backgrounds, etc. MC Jordynne’s background is my own creation, based loosely off of MC in-game’s personality and provided with more details.

Author’s Note: This chapter is establishing some history for my MC Jordynne Holland. I love the PB doesn’t get too specific with your MC for Open Heart. I also, got super nerdy and made a fake “pictogram” post for her, because it gets brought up in the chapter. I’m just a little extra. This chapter is leading up to one of my favorite (although devastating chapters) scenes in OH so far. As always, if you wish to be tagged in future updates you can reply or DM me! Thank you so much to everyone for the likes, reblogs and replies <3 

Taglist: @drakewalkerfantasy @owleyes374 @professorortegasstudent @mindlessdreaminxo @mayar-mahdy

Previous Updates: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

PART FOUR

Looking at the frigid, concrete storage closet she used to call a room Jordynne couldn’t help but smile. Pulling out her phone, she quickly snapped a picture before shoving it in the back pocket of her jeans. Sienna was sitting on a metal suitcase, waiting patiently as she finished up. “All good to go?” She asked excitedly, jumping off and grabbing the handle.

“Hell. Yes.” Jordynne exclaimed, grabbing onto a cardboard box and pushing it onto her hip. “You guys okay with that?”

Landry gave her a thumbs up from the top of the stairs, where he was balancing the top of the mattress. “Totally!”

She looked to Bryce, standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding the majority of the weight, “I’m pretty sure you’re stronger than Landry.” He whispered to her.

“Pretty sure? Don’t make me kick your ass Lahela.” She flashed him a smile.

“Okay. You definitely are stronger than him. I feel like he was just spotting me when we moved your bed frame.”

Everyone started maneuvering their way up the stairs, using the backdoor to go out onto the driveway where Jackie was waiting with the moving van.

“Thank god I was only renting here on a month by month basis,” Jordynne said, sliding her little box into the back of the truck. She looked back at the house, scrunching her nose up at it.

Landry smacked the side of the truck once her mattress was inside safely. “Okay, all set!” He said, rushing back over to jump in the passenger seat.

Sienna jumped to grab the cord to close the back, before rushing off to her little Kia parked out front. “Come on Jordynne!!” She squealed with excitement.

She lingered for a moment, finding Bryce leaning up against the side of the truck. “Thank you,” She wandered up to him, ”I owe you big time.”

“You owe me, hey?” A devilish grin crossed his face, and he quickly gripped her hands pulling her into him, “I think you still owe me from the last favor I helped you with.”

A smile flashed across Jordynne’s face as she remembered Bryce sneaking her into the observatory of the OR to watch Banerji and Ramsey. “I’ll add it to my tab?” She asked cheekily, pressing her lips softly to his.

Bryce’s lips hungrily pulled her in for more, his teeth biting her lip a little. The beeping alarm of his Apple Watch reminded them of the time. He pulled away reluctantly, “I gotta getting going if I’m gonna get it to the hospital on time.”

“And I,” she glanced at Jackie who was watching the pair of them through the side mirror, a furrow in her brow, “Have some new roommates who have been patiently waiting for me.”

Walking with him down the driveway, they waved Jackie down so she could reverse out. Sienna started her car, rolling down the window. “Thanks for the help Lahela! You’ll definitely be invited to the house warming now!” Her tiny voice called out.

“House party hey? I’ll be there.” He grabbed onto Jordynne’s arm in a silent goodbye, “Make sure you dibs the best room Holland!” He called after her as he started jogging down the street, towards the hospital.

Jordynne ducked her head inside Sienna’s little car, before buckling up. Once she was ready to go, she found her friend smiling at her. “What?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Come on, Roomie. You gonna tell me what’s up with you two?”

“Who two?” She asked in confusion, “Me and Bryce?” She asked, realization dawning on her. “Nothing!”

“Hmmm... Nothing seems like a really good kisser to me.” Sienna smiled at her, her hand playing with air as it hung out of the car window.

Jordynne flushed, “I mean,” She let out a breathy laugh. “Okay, yeah he is. But that’s all it’s been. It’s Bryce you know.”

Sienna scowled at her, her eyebrows furrowed — signaling she did not know.

“Carefree, go with the flow, can flirt with anything with a heartbeat Bryce.” She chewed her lip, “Whatever this is, it won’t be serious. We are two full-time doctors anyways — who has the time for a full-blown relationship between 14-hour shifts and overtime.”

“Me!” Sienna exclaimed, “Wayne and I make the time.”

Jordynne noticed her fingers twitch on the steering wheel slightly as she spoke. She didn’t quite believe her. “Yeah, well…,” She looked out the passenger window, avoiding eye contact, “I don’t. And after Brooks, I’m not sure I’d want to anyways.”

“Brooks?” She questioned, glancing over at her friend as they waited to turn.

Jordynne wracked her head against the window lightly, “My ex in Oregon.”

“Oh. Newly ex-boyfriend?”

Jordynne gulped, “He broke up with me a couple days after I got my acceptance for residency at Edenbrook.”

“What?!” Sienna shouted, her little voice projecting through the car. “Why?”

She turned her face away from hers, looking out at the window at the Boston skyline. “He said he didn’t want to compete — for my attention in a new city with a new job and new friends. But things had started getting rocky before my acceptance — I was in my final year of med school. I spent all my time studying, and in labs, and working. He barely got my attention living on the same campus, never mind if I was living on the other side of the country.”  

“How long did you guys date for?”

She finally let herself look at Sienna, pushing back tears, “Five years.”  

Her eyes widened, “He threw away five years because of long distance?”

“No. He threw away five years because he knew I would rather be a damn good doctor than just someone’s girlfriend.” Wiping the few tears that broken through, she ground her teeth together in a moment of resolve.

“Wow. I’m really sorry Jordynne.” Sienna left one hand on the steering wheel, the other one grabbing onto her friend’s hand. “You are a damn good doctor. One of the best I know actually.”

She mumbled an embarrassed thanks before the pair sat in silence for a bit. They pulled in behind the moving van in front of their apartment building — Landry, Jackie, and Elijah were already on the sidewalk unloading.

“Hey roomies!” Elijah shouted enthusiastically, rolling over to them with a couple boxes balancing on his lap. “Jordynne, we need a new nickname for you! You don’t live in the cupboard under the stairs anymore!”

“Chosen One no more.” Landry laughed, grabbing a nightstand from the truck. “What do we call you now?”

Jordynne furrowed her brows, “My name?”

Jackie flashed her a devilish grin, “Nice try Holland. We’ll come up with something.”

A laugh escaped Jordynne’s pink lips as she looked at the time on her phone, “If we hurry, we can get the TV set up then we won’t miss the game.”

Everyone but Elijah looked up to her in confusion, “The game?”

Elijah’s brown eyes went wide. “You like baseball?!”

Jordynne scoffed, “I’m a Holland. I love baseball.”

He grinned at her, “Oh my god. Yes!!! No one but my dad will watch games with me. Please tell me you’re a Cubs fan?”

She smirked, crossing her arms over her chest, “Try the Dodgers.”

His smile only grew bigger, “I can change that.”

Jordynne barked out a laugh, “My brother has been trying to get me to be a Giants fan for like 15 years. It’s not going to happen.” But the pair bumped fists anyway.

“How about you guys multitask — baseball talk and bringing our boxes up to the apartment at the same time?” Jackie asked, her voice strained as she picked up a heavy plastic container marked ‘textbooks’.

Straining her neck, Jordynne looked up at the massive apartment building in front of them  — a big smile spreading across her face. No more concrete closet bedroom, no more guilt-tripping boyfriends. Just Jordynne in her new city, with her new job and her new friends.

______________________________________________

Jordynne scrolled through the replies on her pictogram photo, smiling as her friends and family congratulated her on her first apartment. A giant smile spreading across her face as she read them.

kenziexoxo: It looks so massive compared to your old dorm room 😂 Also, I spy that green dress Jordy, that is totally mine! Congrats babe 💖

j.holland: Proud of you Smartie. You can toss that Dodgers hat out though 🙄

caaaaaarter: Can’t wait to stay in Boston for FREE now when I visit. That room is big enough for me to crash, right?

Her blonde hair sprawled as she laid down on her new bedspread. All of the roommates had gone to USKEA the day before — everyone chipped in on the yellow sectional and dining room table that could actually fit all five of them and guests on it. Jordynne had picked up some extra stuff too — curtains, plants, a record player — determined to make Boston her new home.

It wasn’t really hard calling Boston her new home. She missed her family and friends for sure, but her new roommates were beyond amazing. Sienna was putting on breakfast spreads almost every day and gave the best advice; Elijah knew baseball inside and out and was always smiling; Landry was the best study buddy and definitely the mom of the group; and Jackie was always making Jordynne laugh, even if she didn’t mean to.

Glancing down at her watch, she realized they had better start heading to the hospital. Smoothing down her blouse, she headed into the living room. “Hey guys, you ready to head out?”  

Sleepy groans greeted her in reply, all of them shuffling to their feet — grabbing messenger bags, travel mugs, and headphones. Sienna forced blueberry scones into everyone’s hands as they went through the front door. They had started this routine together in the morning — their shift rotation was still the same for now, so they would all take the subway together. Jordynne sat quietly next to Jackie — both of them had their headphones in, not talking until they started walking to the hospital.

Sipping the final drags of her coffee, Jordynne stuffed the empty travel mug next to her messenger bag in her locker. She put on her white coat, folding up the sleeves a bit before giving everyone a wave.

Walking past the receptionist desk, she recalled the previous night — hiding behind it as she watched Dr. Banerji and Dr. Ramsey arguing. She looked to the hole that Ramsey had punched into a wall in his anger, to find that it was already being patched up by one of the construction workers from the new wing.

Jordynne still couldn’t believe that Dr. Banerji had retired — it seemed so out of the blue. Was that really why Ramsey punched the wall in anger? She knew he was his mentor, but it seemed a little extreme. She had never seen anybody that angry before in her entire life — it had kind of scared her.

Grabbing onto her patient’s chart, she started reading over the notes from the night shift as she walked down the hallway. Jordynne headed into the elevator, clicking on floor five without evening looking up. Not only were the five roommates getting into a morning routine at the apartment, but they were also really starting to feel comfortable in Edenbrook too.

Heading towards her patient’s room, Jordynne’s feet slowed down as she heard Dr. Ramsey’s voice from a nearby room. “This is preposterous, Harper! They’re not ready!”

She walked by the room slowly, glancing through the slats of the blinds in the window. Chief Emery was in the room with him. They were standing close together — Ramsey was fuming, but Emery seemed calm, a small smile spreading across her face.

“Oh, Ethan…” Chief Emery said his voice gently, reaching up and putting her hand softly on his cheek. The tactic worked, because the next words out of his mouth were much quieter — so quiet Jordynne couldn’t hear them.  

Jordynne’s mouth opened in shock, “Wait, what? Are they a thing?” Her eyebrows raised on her forehead in surprise, before she started to trip on her feet. Gotta get outta here. She tore away in the opposite direction without looking back at the room.

As she turned the corner, two familiar people brought a smile to her face. “Kyra!” Jordynne lifted her hands in surprise, placing one of them onto the patient’s forearm.

“Good to see you, Doc!” Kyra beamed up at her.

Bryce was at the top of her bed, and he wheeled her to a stop. He grinned at Jordynne. The pair met each other’s stares before she looked back down at the patient. “I haven’t seen you since the surgical interns stole you away.”

Bryce scoffed playfully, “You say ‘stole’. I say ‘rightfully took a surgical case’.”

The patient’s brown eyes flickered between the two of them, “Hang on, two hot doctors fighting over me? Did this cancer get me, because this feels like a ‘died and gone to heaven’ thing…”

She blushed at the comment but ignored it. “You have a very morbid sense of humor, Kyra. So your surgery is soon?”

Glancing up at the clock on the wall, Bryce answered, “It’s right now. A lobectomy, assisted by yours truly.”

She looked at Bryce startled, “What? Kyra! You’re having a lobe of your lung removed today?”

Kyra shrugged casually, “I know, right? It happened kind of fast after the CT results came back. But if the last thing I see before I die is your face, well… There are worse ways to go.”

Jordynne grabbed onto the patient’s arm again, “You’re strong, Kyra. I know you can survive this.”

She smiled at her, “I guess it’ll be harder to die knowing I have a friend cheering me on.”

Bryce intervened, “Kyra, what did we say about all the death talk?”

She grimaced, “Sorry, boss. I’ll start planning for retirement.” She gave him a mock salute.

A chuckle escaped his lips, “Good. Sorry Dr. Holland, but I have to get Ms. Santana here to the OR.”

He went to start to wheel her away, but Jordynne stopped him by grabbing onto his wrist “Bryce, just one more thing…” She pulled him over to the corner with her — out of the patient’s earshot. “Take care of her for me.”

He smirked at her, “She couldn’t be in better hands.” He grabbed onto Jordynne’s fingers, “Seriously, my hands are incredible.”

But Jordynne didn’t let his usually contagious smile take on her face, she looked up at him — her eyes serious. “I mean it, Bryce.”

He dropped his megawatt smile, moving his hand up to her shoulder. “I’m only assisting, but Dr. Zimmerman is an amazing surgeon. Kyra will be golden. We’ll bring her back safe.” He massaged his fingers into her neck slyly, causing her to relax a bit.

She let a small smile form on her lips,” Thanks, Bryce. Really.”

Returning the smile, he turned on his heel and headed back to Kyra. She waved goodbye to Jordynne as they entered the elevator.

An angry voice caused Jordynne to whip around. “Holland! What are you standing around for? Get down to the ER and see if they need any patients admitted!”

“Yes, Dr. Mirani!” She gulped, running towards the ER doors.

______________________________________________

Closing his office door shut, Ethan pulled out his keys to lock it just as he heard the familiar shuffle of slippers. “Hello Mrs. Martinez.”

She wheeled her IV stand over to him, “Oh, Dr. Ramsey. Where has my handsome doctor been?! I’ve haven’t seen you in a couple days darling.” He didn’t mind her pet names — she had one for everyone.

“I’ve just been busy. But I’m never too busy for you.” Holding out his arm for her, she grabbed on and they continued on with her laps.

She beamed up at the man before she continued speaking. “So you’ve been busy. Busy getting into trouble I assume?”

He smiled at her, “Me? Never, Mrs. Martinez.”

She barked out a laugh. “Oh, you can’t look at me with that handsome devil face of yours and tell me you never got into trouble.”

“Okay, there was one time. I was nine years old and I decided to make my parents pancakes in bed like they would do for me on my birthdays. Of course, it was a complete disaster — I split an entire bag of flour all over myself, tracked it all through the house in a panic trying to clean it up… “ Ethan’s voice trailed off as he noticed Dr. Holland get off the elevator, stopping at the nurses' station. He shook his head, continuing to speak, “Finally, my parents come downstairs, I am covered in flour, there are little white footprints all over the floor, and there isn’t a single pancake made.”

“So, what did you do?”

Ethan smiled down at the old woman, revealing his row of white teeth. “I blamed it on our dog, of course! Little tiny human footprints around the whole house and I blamed poor Buddy.”

Another wheezy laughed escaped her, “You wicked thing!” She swatted at his arm playfully, “Oh, but I’m sure you were a lovely boy.”

“More like a loveable scoundrel. I got away with everything.” He said with a laugh.

“Even that one?!” She said in disbelief.

“Ha, even that one. I guess they saw the good intentions of it.”  Noticing Dr. Holland still lingering at the nurses' station her eyes on them, he stopped in his tracks. “Sorry Mrs. Martinez, I’ve got to get going.” He made sure she was sturdy with her IV stand before he started heading towards Jordynne.

“Why are you gawping like a fish that’s jumped out of its bowl?”

Her blonde ponytail whipped around as she turned to face him, her eyes going wide. “Nothing! It just looked like you were having fun.” She shrugged, looking back at her clipboard.

He set his mouth into a hard line, “I care for the wellbeing of the people who’ve entrusted their care to me, Rookie. That’s all.”

She licked her pink lips, “Righhhhhht. Okay, I gotta go. Dolores Hudson isn’t going to examine herself…”

Ethan blinked at her, “Did you just say, Dolores Hudson?”

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “Yes?”

What was she doing here? What had happened now? Ethan felt his mind starting to race, “I’m coming with you.”

Following Holland into the room, Ethan saw his old friend laying in the bed, a nose tube fed up through her nostril. A blue blanket was wrapped around her swollen stomach — God, how long had it been? She was so far along now.

“Hi Dolores, I’m…” But Dr. Holland was cut off by the patient.

“Ethan!” A bright smile spread across the woman’s face, tubes tugged on her arms as she propped herself up at the sight of him.

He returned her smile, shaking his head slightly, “Dolores! What have you gotten yourself into this time?”

Her shoulders shrugged, “There was a fire at my office. I was upstairs filing away some papers. The elevator shut down, and I couldn’t get down the stairs.” She grabbed onto her stomach, twisting her mouth.

Reaching over to grab her shoulder, he reassured her, “I’ll call your sisters so they can fly in from Minneapolis in the morning. I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Dolores patted his hand, “I’m glad you have a Superman on payroll. The EMT who carried me out was a total hunk.” She winked at Jordynne, who’s face went a little flush at the mention of the EMT.

Holland cleared her throat a little, trying to resume the conversation. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’d like to listen to Dolores’ chest.” She unwrapped the stethoscope from around her neck.  

Ethan stepped up, introducing the two. “Dolores, this is Dr. Holland. Dolores was my very first patient when I was an intern.”

Jordynne looked taken aback, “Really? Wow!” She wrapped her hands around the railing of the bed, joining the conversation, “Dolores, was he always so handsome?”

Ramsey shook his head, unsure of what he just heard, “Excuse me?”

Dolores giggled, “He was cute, but to be honest, I think he’s aged like a fine wine.”

Ethan’s face went beet red, “Dr. Holland, the examination if you don’t mind?”

He watched as Jordynne bite her pink lip, trying to suppress a laugh. She warmed up her stethoscope with her palm, before placing it on Dolores' chest. He studied her, watching as she listened.

“Okay, a deep breath for me, Dolores.” She listened, staring up into Dr. Ramsey’s eyes as she waited. She gave him a quick shake of her head. “And if you don’t mind me asking, what brought you in back then?”

Dolores smiled, recalling the memory, “Burst appendix. I was totally freaked out, but Ethan calmed me down. Even kept in touch a bit over the years.”

Ramsey flashed a sheepish smile — he felt like his face was going to overheat from embarrassment.

“That’s really sweet. I got my first patient’s contact info, too! You’re making me want to email her and check in!” Jordynne exclaimed.

Looking over to Ramsey, Dolores gave him a smile. “You should! It meant a lot to me.”

Jordynne put her stethoscope back around her neck, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m surprised. It doesn’t seem like you to care about a patient once they’ve walked out the door.”

He rolled his blue eyes, “I was young. On hard days, knowing they were out there living life to the fullest… it kept me going.”

Jordynne stared at him curiously, before turning serious again. “Her breathing is short, as you’d expect. I think we should get her a chest X-ray.”

Grabbing onto her chart at the end of the bed, Ethan read it carefully. That’s not right. He thought to himself, a frown spreading across his face.

Holland moved to his side, noticing his expression. She spoke to him in a low voice, moving her head near his so she could read the chart, “What’s wrong?”

“Her elevated BP. Should be low after smoke inhalation. Let’s take a urine sample too.” He licked his lips, trying to not get worried.

Dolores speaking again, caused them both to snap back to reality — pulling their heads away from each quickly. “Excuse me, Dr. Holland? I remember having my purse on me when the hunk carried me out. Did they bring it in?”

Holland quickly found the purse and gave it to Dolores. But a furrow line developed between her eyebrows as she searched through it. “It’s not here! I must have dropped it outside the office…” Her voice turned sad, her eyes welling up with tears, “It sounds stupid, but I saw this adorable stuffed frog on my lunch break and had to buy it for my little tadpole.” She wrapped her hands around her pregnant belly, “Both of my parents are gone, and Ethan you know, the father’s not in the picture. I just want everything to be perfect for him.”

Ethan gulped guiltily. He did know all those things — he hadn’t spoken to her in so long. She was going through all of this alone. “God, I’m a terrible friend”. He thought.

Jordynne spoke up before he could, “It doesn’t sound stupid, Dolores. In fact, it sounds like you’re going to be a great mom.”

A small smile spread across her face, as she remained stroking her belly. “Thank you. I just… I really wish I hadn’t lost that little frog.”

Holland’s green eyes met Ethan’s blue ones — twinkling at him. A flash of confusion went over his face as he stared at her. What was she plotting?

“I have an idea! Ethan and I will go find it!” Holland blurted excitedly.

Ethan’s eyebrows raised up in surprise at Jordynne’s suggestion. Dolores sat up straighter in the bed, “Really, Ethan? You’d do that for me?”

“Er,” Ethan hesitated, feeling unsure. Was wandering around with Jordynne alone, in the middle of the night with rooms full of patients really the best idea? “Well,” He looked between the two women — both of their eyes pleading with him. “Of course, but Dr. Holland, let’s get that urine sample off to the lab first. I’ll give you ten minutes, then I’ll meet you in the lot.”

Dolores burst out laughing, “I’m twenty-six weeks pregnant. Not gonna take ten minutes to get me to pee!” Dr. Holland strode over to Dolores, helping her sit up.

“I’ll meet you down there, Rookie.” Ethan gave Holland a curt nod, before turning on his heel — heading towards his office.

Unlocking the door, he found his car keys sitting on top of his wooden desk. He jingled them nervously, before putting them in his pants’ pocket. He hung up his white coat, exchanging it for his black rain jacket instead. So, first they share a couple drinks at Donahue’s and now they were driving around at night together for a patient? Ethan shook his head at himself as he walked down the hallway, headed to the elevator. “Whatever happened to work/life balance,” He thought to himself.

Heading outside into the staff parking lot, he clicked his key fob to unlock the door to his sleek, black Mercedes-Benz. Sliding into the leather seat, he drummed on the steering wheel nervously — keeping his eye out for Dr. Holland. When he saw her exit through the door, he made the engine hum to life and pulled the car in front of the sidewalk for her to get in.

“Thanks,” She sayssaid, breathless as she got into the car. She had changed out of her lab coat as well, putting on a thick, grey cardigan with a hood. “Whoa. Great car.” She said as she looked around, pulling her seatbelt over her chest.

Ethan scoffed, “What did you expect, a rusted-out jalopy?”

She rolled her green eyes at him, settling into the leather seat. She played around with her hair, taking pieces of it that had been tucked into her cardigan and flicking it out. Again, her scent wafted over Ethan — jasmine, vanilla, orange blossoms. Why does she keep having to do that? Ethan thought, internalizing the pleasant sound that almost escaped his mouth.

Trying to distract himself, Ethan turned on the radio — a concerto coming on through the speakers. God, of course, this plays first. She’s going to think I’m some pompous asshole who only drinks scotch, drives a Mercedes...  

But before he could finish his thought, Jordynne started humming along to it absent-mindedly — staring out at the passing buildings and lights in downtown Boston. Who is this woman?! He thought to himself, swallowing hard. If she just doesn’t speak, and just keeps staring out the window this will be fine.

Dread filled him as he heard her speak up, “So, what’s up with you and Dr. Emery?” His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel, his teeth grinding together. That was the last thing he had expected her to bring up.

Part Five

[tay1019411]

This is all we know

It’s been years since the asteroid. Danny and the gang are now attending college together, each pursuing careers, forming new relationships, and amending past rivalries. But, this new chapter in life starts to get more complicated with ghost attacks increasing and old enemies teaming up (Post PP but Danny/Vlad DIDN’T reveal identities. Fentons and Valerie know Danny’s secret, string of oneshots connected by one problem)  

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

  (Part 4) Roomies

"What happened to your arm?"

Danny half-shrugged at his biology lab partner, Casey. She was as tiny as Sam, but the similarities ended there. She had blond hair that was currently pulled into a French braid stopping mid-back and hazel eyes.

She was looking at his arm, which was wrapped with gauze and resting in a sling. He hated wearing it but promised his mom he wouldn't take it off for at least two days, despite telling the matriarch that he was fine without it. But, when your mom was a ninth degree black-belt in possession of a thermos, you did what she said, and there wasn't much room for argument.

"I fell." He knew it was a stupid lie but couldn't really think of any other excuse right on the spot like this. Sam was usually the one who thought of them.

Casey raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, but luckily didn't push any further. "Does it hurt?"

"Nah, just annoying." Danny sat on the stool next to hers and took out a pencil and the required lab workbook. Luckily, he could still write since it was his left arm that was broken, but the sling was still annoying.

The rest of class went by pretty quickly. It was frog dissection day. Since his arm was out of commission, Casey had to do most of the actual dissection while Danny took notes, but it wasn't all that bad since they were let out early.

"Hey, Danny, wait up."

Danny was already in the hallway when he heard the very familiar female voice. He looked back to see Casey. He waited for her to catch up, maybe he forgot something. Between all the random ghost attacks and strange team-up between Ember and SkulkTech, he had been a bit scatter-brained the last few days. He couldn't stop thinking there was something much deeper going on than just the usual animosity the ghosts had for him; it was just too coordinated. Usually, by now, somebody should have shouted out their evil plans to destroy him and take over the world.

"Man, I had to call your name three times before you answered. You're really out of it today," she said once she caught up with him.

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind I guess."

Danny began walking towards the main entry way, knowing Tucker was probably already waiting for him outside. Both of their classes were in the same building, and he usually got out early all the time. Casey followed alongside him, matching his stride.

"Problems with Sam?"

Danny looked at her, trying to figure out why she would ask that. She was looking at him strangely, but he decided to just ignore it. Maybe it was a girl thing to automatically assume that.

"No, Sam's great. Just other stuff, I guess, school and stuff." Plus, the raging ghosts that seemed to have an out-of-the-blue increased desire to kill him.

"Oh, your internship with Mr. Masters. He still has you working nights?"

He forgot he told her about that.

Casey liked to invite Sam and him to parties and local bars a lot. After the fifth "I can't," she pressed him further why. He had to come up with a more permanent excuse why since he usually patrolled at nights. Between patrol and studying for classes, he rarely had time to go out. Besides, the moments when he did have time, he just wanted to spend it with Sam or Tucker and Dash, not in some crowded bar. Since he and Vlad were already on good terms and was giving him a scholarship already, he blurted out about an internship for the local billionaire and mayor. It was actually a pretty good lie and worked with all the other times ghost attacks interfered with his life, especially since Vlad had no problem covering for him.

"Yeah, that too," he said, hoping she would stop asking so many questions. He opened the door to outside, holding it open for Casey to pass through.

Tucker was leaning against one of the stair railings. When he saw Danny and Casey, he walked over, smirking. Danny nodded towards him.

"Hey, Tucker," Casey greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Casey," Tucker said, his smirk widening. Danny raised an eyebrow at him, not really knowing why he was smiling like that at her. He thought Tucker was interested in Valerie still, not Casey.

Not wanting to think this any further, especially since this could lead to a very pissed off Valerie, which Danny definitely did not want to get into, he looked back at Casey, trying to end this quickly before Tucker said anything else. "I'll see you later."

He quickly pulled Tucker away, but was too slow, his friend still had time to turn back to Casey. "Yeah, see you later, Casey!"

Danny gave him a questioning look. "Why are you being so weird."

Tucker laughed, then looked at Danny as if he was expecting him to join in.

Danny just gave him another questioning look, still confused on why Tucker was even acting this way.

Seeing that Danny wasn't getting the joke, Tucker just rolled his eyes. "I thought by the time we got to college you would be less clueless, but I think it only got worse."

Danny glared at him. He hated the clueless jokes. Okay, well, he didn't hate when Sam joked around about it. He rarely ever minded that, especially since it made her laugh, but for Tucker and the other guys, it was different. It felt like he was missing out on some big joke, and even worse, he was the joke he didn't get.

They came to a stop at a large building.

"Tucker, why are we going to the gym?" Danny asked, giving his friend a questioning look. He wasn't really paying attention as they walked, following Tucker's lead.

"Promised Dash we would meet him here."

"I can't work out with this thing on," Danny said, making a motion with his arm

"We will be there for motivation." Tucker smirked, entering the building.

They easily found Dash. He was the only tall and extremely muscular student in the building, considering this was during the time a lot of people either had another class or went back to their dorms.

The two boys weaved around the various workout equipment, making their way to their friend.

Dash spotted the two easily and waved them over. His gaze zeroed in on Danny's arm. "What happened to the arm?" Dash nodded towards the sling supporting Danny's left arm.

"Ember and SkulkTech."

"They're double-teaming, now?" Dash picked up two fifty pound dumb-bells, beginning his first set.

"Yep," Danny said as he watched Dash lift the weights with each rep.

"Parents go nuts?" Tucker asked, sitting at the bench on the other side of Dash, taking a granola bar from his bag and taking a bite out of it.

Danny gave him a look.

Tucker looked at the granola bar then back at his friend. "What?"

"We literally just had lunch two hours ago."

"So, it's my 2 o'clock snack!" he justified, taking another bite.

Danny rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore that comment and answer the previous question. "Mom did. Dad was pretty cool though. Luckily, Vlad was there to be a buffer."

"I will never get used to the fact that you just used luck and Vlad together in the same sentence," said Tucker.

Danny laughed. "You and me both."

"You guys had something against Masters or something? I thought he was helping us out," Dash said, putting down the weights for a small rest period in between sets.

Danny exchanged a look with Tucker. Danny wasn't exactly comfortable when the topic came to Vlad and how he used to be his archenemy. Only Tucker and Sam knew about how Vlad was half-ghost and used to be Plasmius. He didn't want anybody else to know; it wasn't his secret to tell despite the complications it was probably going to cause with the other people that knew his own secret, his parents for sure.

Before Tucker could say anything, Danny stepped in, knowing his friend wasn't exactly the best at the whole secret thing. "It used to be kinda weird between him and me because he had a thing for my mom and hated my dad."

Dash looked over at Danny, giving him a disgusted look.

"Yeah," Danny laughed. "But, now, it's cool. He's over it and pretty much made amends with my dad."

"That's still kinda messed up."

"You have no idea," Tucker laughed.

Danny glared at Tucker. Sometimes he really wondered how he made it this far without everybody knowing his secret with his friend's big mouth.

Luckily, Dash didn't seem to notice, rolling his eyes as he started loading the bar at the bench-press station with weights.

"How did the date go with Paulina?" Tucker asked from his bench.

Danny gave Dash a questioning look. "You went on a date with Paulina?"

Dash laughed. "Where have you been? The date was like a week ago."

Danny shrugged. "Ghosts," he supplied. It was getting weirder now. The ghosts were attacking a lot more lately, and the frequency increase was not the only thing that was weird about it.

"Yeah," Dash said knowingly. He laid on the bench, positioning himself so the bar was over his chest. "You haven't been at the apartment lately. I thought you were just with Sam."

"I wish," Danny said as Dash began his set. "The ghost attacks are happening a lot more now, and that's not the only thing. They are changing their patterns."

"How is that bad?" Dash puffed out as he lifted the incredibly weighted bar with effort.

The answer to that would have been obvious to any seasoned ghost-hunter. Danny sometimes forgot how Dash was still new to the whole ghost-hunting gig, having been told only six months ago about his extracurricular activities. Ever since then, Dash enthusiastically offered his help whenever he didn't have football practice or a game. Danny had to admit, for being a newbie, Dash caught on pretty well. He was a pretty good back-up when Sam and Tucker were not available.

"Ghosts are very habitual in pretty much everything they do. For them to change like this…I don't know," Danny said, struggling to come up with some sense behind all of this. "It's just weird."

Dash finished his set, rising to sitting position. "Did your parents have any ideas about this?"

"They're stumped too."

"Yeah, yeah, the ghosts are upping their game to kill Danny. What else is new," Tucker interrupted. "More importantly, how did the date go?"

Danny glared at his friend, but instead of a retort, he just rolled his eyes.

"Why do you want to know so bad?" Dash asked, giving Tucker a look.

"I'm living vicariously through you, that's why."

Dash's look turned sympathetic. "Valerie still giving you a tough time?"

Tucker laughed. "Baby steps. Don't want to spook her."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Spook her? You do know she is a ghost-hunter, right?"

"No shit," Tucker said, rolling his eyes. "I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't kick my ass."

"I'm still trying to get why you have a thing for her," Dash said. "She's kinda scary."

"As the guy she shot at for the majority of high school, I second that," Danny said with a laugh.

"You're one to talk," Tucker said towards Danny. "Face it Danny, you and I just like the dangerous ones. Also, she's hot."

"And, there it is," Dash said with a laugh before going back under the bar to start another round of reps.

[makomaragi]

left over thing from femslash february. it’s long and dumb but idk.  a prequel to another fic I wrote last year. i’m just kind of over tweaking this lol 

prompt: jewelry

pairing: juniper/fennel (scientificshipping), but burnet/kukui are there for a little bit

rating: um pg they talk about sex for a second

fandom: pokemon

Research never seemed to take her to Alola as often as it did other regions, and after having been there for nearly a month, she wasn’t sure why. The region was teaming with all sorts of relevant topics, the time she had spent there not feeling like enough. Professor Juniper had gone to help excavate a new tar pit that was found near the sea, hoping that what they might find would help her with some theories that linked to other fossil Pokemon in other regions. She had heard for years now that Alola was a heartland for fossils – found so often that they were being sold in shops to trainers. Her own theory was that it had to do with the volcanoes and how the island itself developed millions of years ago, collecting samples of the dirt, rocks and fossils to take back home and test.

Packing up the camp site always left her feeling a bit nostalgic, having spent most of her childhood and teenage years backpacking with her father. She could probably untie and repack a tent with her eyes closed by this point, though, not everyone enjoyed the camping aspect of it as much as she did.

Most of the research team had left by that point, Professor Juniper and a few others lagging behind to tie up a few loose ends. She booked herself a hotel for the final few nights in Alola, giving her a chance to have a steady internet connection and a quiet place to get organized before returning to Unova. It worked out, and she was much obliged to meet her old friend Burnet and her husband for lunch in Konikoni City the next day.

She had kept herself holed up in her hotel room the entire time since checking in, seated at the desk that morning, reviewing her scribbled notes and attempting to make more sense out of them by typing them out on her laptop in a more final report. She still had hours to kill until lunch – too close to the time to eat, but plenty of time to do something else.

There was the lingering feeling of wanting to scope out the town. It would give her a chance to stretch her legs, hoping her body would adjust before the long flight home. She had been aching after sleeping in a tent for the past few weeks, but she had hoped taking a few days off from physical labor and sleeping in a proper bed would help ease it.

Bringing something back home for Fennel had crossed her mind several times. She tried her best to pick something up for her in her travels most of the time, but this time especially seemed to carry some weight. Fennel had been upset that she would be gone for nearly a month as it was and they hadn’t been able to speak much while she was gone. When they did speak, Fennel was her usual bubbly self, but the feigned distance and sadness in her voice couldn’t be ignored.

Several flyers and signs had caught her eye in the time she had been in town of a jewelry shop run by one of the Island Kahunas. She had known that Alola ran a different league system than many other regions, and wasn’t sure exactly what the Kahuna’s job was, but it was something to do with trainers. The professor felt a tad embarrassed not being as well versed in Alolan culture as she was elsewhere. She had met the Elite Four in other regions numerous times, some more than others, but felt she should at least know the names of those with the title in the region she was visiting, at least making an effort to introduce herself.

It was said that money couldn’t buy happiness, but higher end jewelry would at least put some sort of sparkle in Fennel’s eyes when she gave it to her.

The shop was small and rather quaint, Aurea not even sure it was open until she pulled on the wooden door handle. “Hi, there. I was told to come speak to Olivia?”

“You’re looking at her,” the younger woman looked up from her spot at the counter, raising an eyebrow. “I know you from somewhere.”

“Could be.”

“You’re a Pokemon professor, aren’t you?”

“Professor Juniper,” she held out her hand as a more formal greeting with the Kahuna.

“I’m Olivia. Island Kahuna and proud member of the Alola Elite Four,” shaking her hand before gesturing to the jewelry under the glass countertop. “So, what are you looking for today? Something for yourself, or a gift for someone?”

“A gift, I think.”

“For your wife, I’d assume.”

Aurea’s brow raised at this.

“You’re wearing a wedding ring and I don’t have anything in the way of men’s stuff. Besides, I know that you’re with that scientist chick,” the kahuna continued. “Any certain occasion? Let me guess. You’ve been away from home for a while, and want to get her a souvenir.”

“Something like that, I guess.” It was all extremely presumptuous of the girl, but she also supposed that she had an eye for these types of things when it came to her jewelry business. She was also sure that Kukui had something to do with all of her previous knowledge of her, somehow. Though being a Pokemon professor did technically make her a public figure. Olivia had already known who she was, after all. Nothing she said had been a secret in any way, and she supposed word had gotten around that she was visiting the region and had been there for a few weeks.

“What does she like? Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, what?” The young kahuna started pulling some shelves around under the display, pulling a few of them on to the glass counter top.

Aurea had a pretty good idea of what Fennel’s tastes were, it was easy enough – anything pink, purple, or shiny. None of which helped her narrow it down. There was a lot of jewelry in front of her. Fancy jewelry was never something that interested the professor on her own, never wearing much of it herself. Her late mother had left quite a bit for her, most of which she had given to Fennel. Fennel knew what all of the jewels were, what they meant, and which ones to wear with which outfits.

There was one piece that caught her eye, though. A small crystal looking, heart shaped pendant set on a silver chain that didn’t look at all like the other pieces, somehow. “This necklace is interesting.”

“Ah, this one. I don’t have many left.” Olivia picked it up and set it down on a cloth on the table to provide a better look at it. “We can only make them one time a year and sometimes not at all if the temperature wasn’t low enough.”

“Why is that?”

“The Vulpix shed their coat, leaving behind these crystals that look like ice. They can only be made and found here in Alola! It’s my shop’s specialty.”

“So it’s Pokemon dandruff?”

“Er, sorta. But it makes for some nice jewelry, don’t you think?”

“I guess.” She couldn’t pretend to be as enthusiastic as Olivia was over it, because she simply didn’t get it. Fennel would like it, though. “I’ll take that one, then.” Maybe she would save it for a special occasion, even if she didn’t know for what yet. It was expensive enough to warrant a birthday or anniversary gift. Or maybe she would just give it to her as planned.

Olivia picked up the necklace, finding a box for it in a bin behind the counter somewhere. “You probably know Kukui and Burnett then, huh?” she mused as she looked around for something else.

“Oh, yes.”

“They’re really nice people. He comes in here a lot. I made her engagement ring, you know,” she continued, stuffing the box in a bag and taking a few of her business cards off of the counter to add to the contents of the bag. “Well, you’re all set, then.”

“Thanks. Let me know if you’re ever in Unova, alright?”

Olivia gave a cheerful nod to this, waving in the same tone as the professor saw herself out.

Olivia was friendly enough, if not a bit bold. The professor could see she and Fennel becoming fast friends should they ever meet.

With what started with time to spare ended in her being late now. Kukui and Burnet were already seated at the restaurant, them noticing her before she could scan the room.

“Aurea Juniper!” Burnet pulled her in to a hug before she had any time to react. “It’s been forever!”

“Professor,” she extended her hand to him, only to be pulled in to another awkward hug.

“Alola!”

“How are you? How’s Fennel?”

“Fine, it’s all fine,” Professor Juniper barely had time to take her seat across from them and pick up the menu before the questions started.

“You know, I really wish she had come with you. She could of stayed with us, we’d have been happy to show her around.”

“I know, but she’s been very busy herself. So have you guys, for that matter.”

“I’m sure we’re all always busy. But we should make time for friends, right?” Kukui set down his menu to add. “I bet she’d love it here!”

“Fennel’s never been to Alola. She’s been wanting to come here as long as I’ve known her. She really wanted to go for our honeymoon, but then she changed her mind when she saw how busy it gets in the summer.”

“You’re both always welcome, you know that,” Burnet repeated.

“Maybe you should come back to Unova. Let us know when you come to visit your family.”

“Aurea and Fennel were roomies in college,”Burnet started, turning to her husband. “Then they got married.”

“That’s not...the exact progression,” Aurea attempted to hide her face in the menu, despite that she already knew what she wanted.

Yet Burnet continued, seeming fueled by her friend’s embarrassment. “Fennel had a thing for her for a long time.”

“I’m not the one that went to Alola for a research assignment and came back showing off that rock on your hand,” she attempted to direct the attention off of herself and on to the other couple.

“No, but Fennel showed me the one you got for her.” Burnet shrugged off Juniper’s comment, even if it was true. “They were together for, like, 10 years before they got married. Had a house and a lab and everything. Aurea thought they were being secretive, didn’t you?”

“It’s beside the point now.”

Aurea was certain that her old friend was only telling her husband this now in an attempt to embarrass her, and it was working. Surely she had told him all of this before. Even if it was the case, he was laughing. Burnet had actually known Fennel first, and introduced them in college. She was also confident Fennel had confided in her with other details of their relationship through the years, and the professor was perfectly happy not knowing what.

“Speaking of rocks, you were at Olivia’s, huh?” Kukui gestured to the bag that sat next to Aurea.

“Yeah. Thought I’d introduce myself to the Kahuna. She’s a very sweet girl.”

“But you bought something, eh?”

“I, um...” revealing the contents to them would only result in more attention on herself, which she did not want. But maybe it was best to get it over it. Picking up the bag, she handed it across the table for the couple to inspect. “Be careful with it. It’s for Fennel.”

The two scientists had opened it and gazed upon it for a short time, both smiling and handing it back quicker than Aurea thought they might.

“You did good. She’s going to like it,” Burnet had some sort of sly smile. “It’s just hard to imagine you in a jewelry store picking that out for her.”

She had never been so thankful to have a waitress approach and take their orders.  

Their lunch was nice at least. Burnet couldn’t open her mouth to embarrass her if they were all eating, even if it had all been in good fun.

“I hope that next time you’re here we’ll be able to spend more time together than just lunch. Unless I make it to Unova by then,” Burnet gave her one more hug upon their departure.

“It was great seeing you guys, really.”

“Tell Fennel to come visit, with or without you.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that. “We’ll see.”

Aurea didn’t know why she felt such a rush to get back to her hotel, besides to finish up some paperwork so she had less to do once arriving home. Fennel would want her to take the next few days off, and she probably would, if only to enjoy being in her own space for a few days and not hotel rooms and camp sites.

She was trying to wait until it was late enough in the day in Unova to call Fennel. If it was 2 am in Alola, it would be around 10 am or so in Unova. Or something like that.

Fennel quickly answered the video call, though she seemed a bit distracted. “Aurea, hi!”

The professor couldn’t help but smile upon seeing the other’s face on the screen. “I figured I’d call you at the lab because you’d be on the computer. You’re not busy, are you?”

“Not really,” Fennel started, seemingly organizing some papers around her computer desk. “But I can talk for a little bit.”

“We’re done in Konikoni City. I’m actually in a hotel. I’ll be home tomorrow evening.”

“I can’t wait. I miss you so much. And when you get home, we’re going to have sex all night. And we can take a bubble bath, and drink some wine, but mostly I just want to touch you again.”

“Is….is anyone there….with you…?” the professor’s face was definitely turning red, not that Fennel seemed at all alarmed by this or what she was saying to cause it.

“Oh, yeah. My assistant’s here, and Bianca. Bianca, Marie, say hi to Aurea!” Fennel picked her laptop up and spun her chair around, turning the screen so that they could see it across the room. The professor gave a hesitant wave to the other two women,  both who gave over exaggerated waves in return. They both seemed rather occupied, only looking up when Fennel prompted them to. Thankfully blissfully unaware. She really had been gone for too long if the dream scientist was being so forward with her.

“I had lunch with Burnet and Kukui this afternoon,”  she attempted to change the subject.

“How are they? I’m glad you were able to take time away from looking at rocks to be a normal person and socialize. When are we going to go to Alola? I miss Burnet,” Fennel had looked down at her papers again, throwing some off to the side but not wavering in her conversation.

“They’re fine. They’d be glad to see you, too. I’d be happy to take you there sometime.”

“We’re about due for a vacation, I think,” Fennel gave a wistful sigh. “But mostly, I just want you home with me. I’m so bored without you here.”

“You want me home because you’re bored?”

“Mostly, yeah,” the quick response met with giggles on both behalves.

“Well, my plane should get in tomorrow around 8. I’ll text you when I’m on my last transfer.”

“Hm...will you take a few days off to spend with me before you get all wrapped up in your research stuff?”

“I suppose.”

Fennel was still smiling, but seemed suddenly alarmed by something off camera. “I need to go, I’m sorry. There’s a trainer call coming through. I’ll see you tomorrow, I love you!”

Aurea didn’t have time to repeat the sentiments before Fennel had hung up the call. She’d rather Fennel tend to her work than ignore trainers for her sake. They would have time to catch up and plan vacations, especially now that she had promised Fennel a few days without her research coming between them.

They hadn’t spent but more than a few minutes speaking, but the yawn that crept up on the professor reminded her of how late it was. She would cram in as much note taking as she could before the hour was up, and force herself to sleep at some point. A night’s rest and a few plane rides were all that stood between her and being reunited with her beloved wife.

[mosylufanfic]

Killervibe and room mates for the AU August thing!!!

Oh nonny, you are so patient. Here you go. They were roommates.

You Can’t Keep Secrets From Your Roommate

Texting about his plans for the evening, Cisco unlocked his front door and twisted the knob. It stuck under his hand, and he looked up from the phone. "What the - "

He rattled the knob, which steadfastly refused to turn. Then he realized that it had been unlocked to begin with, and he'd locked it again.

He also realized there was a little blue car in his driveway.

He grinned.

He unlocked the door and went into the house. A purse sat on the hall table, a coat heaped on the floor under it. In the living room, a woman in dark blue scrubs sprawled facedown on the couch, dead to the world.

"Dear god," he said loudly. "There's a strange woman in my house."

She didn't stir.

"What? Can it be? My long-lost roommate? She does look a little like Caitlin . . . "

She let out a snore.

He shook his head fondly. "Dork." He reached over her and pulled the deeply ugly crocheted blanket off the back of the couch, spreading it over her.

She stirred, snuffling like an adorable little piglet, and blinked her eyes open. "Cisco?"

"For that you wake up?"

She yawned. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Check the time, Sleeping Beauty." He held his phone out.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, I fell asleep."

"Sure as hell did. So they let you out of the salt mines?"

She yawned again and pushed herself to a sitting position, rubbing her neck. "Ow. Yes, I'm off until tomorrow evening."

She was doing her residency at a local hospital. Cisco had been gobsmacked when she'd told him that eighty-plus hour weeks were commonplace, even expected. But he'd gotten used to barely seeing her except on her way out the door or on her way to bed.

Not that he liked it. But he’d gotten used to it.

"Whoa, seriously?” he said. “Twenty-four whole hours of freedom? What are you going to do with that?"

"Laundry and cleaning tomorrow," she said. "But tonight, Netflix. Lots of Netflix."

"Sweet." He dropped onto the couch next to her. "Want company?"

"Oh, Cisco, it's Friday night." She paused. "It is Friday night, right?"

"Yep."

"So, I'm sure you have plans to go out. You always do."

He pushed his phone into his pocket as it buzzed with a text from Barry about which bars they were going to hit. "Actually, this week has thrashed me too."

She looked skeptical. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't save anybody's life or get drenched head to toe in bodily fluids like some people on this couch, but there was this big project due and my boss was riding us hard. I'm in serious need of unwinding."

That was all true, although up until five minutes ago, his plan for unwinding had included shots, dancing, and maybe making out with someone cute in a darkened club. But he tossed that plan without a second thought

"Besides, when was the last time we had a roomie TV night?"

"Months," she said.

And that was why.

When he'd first met Caitlin, as one-half of the couple who'd wanted to move into the spare room he'd advertised on Craigslist, he'd thought she was sweet but shy and not really his type of friend. He'd clicked much more quickly with Ronnie, her boyfriend, and been more than happy to sign on the dotted line with him. Caitlin had come as part of the package. He'd been okay with that because just looking at her, he knew she was the type to pay rent scrupulously on time and never leave her dishes in the sink.

But within a few months, he'd figured out that she was sharp and funny and smart as hell, and she'd become his friend in her own right, not just as Ronnie's girlfriend.

After Ronnie had been killed by a drunk driver, their senior year of college, it had never crossed his mind to have her move out, and as far as he knew, she'd never thought of it either. This was her home.

People thought it was weird sometimes - mostly women he dated, or biphobic guys. They just couldn't understand how you could share a house for this long with someone you weren't banging.

"She's like my sister," he told them, which wasn't exactly true, but it got them off his back. Anyway, he knew that was what she told the guys she'd sporadically dated after Ronnie died, that he was like her brother. As far as he could tell, it was true for her.

He didn't really need a roommate anymore. His job at Mercury Labs more than covered the expenses of the house he'd inherited from his grandma, not like when he'd been in school and only able to work part-time at a garage.

But Caitlin had four months of residency still to go, and besides her massive school loans, the hospital where she worked was only a few miles away, close enough to drive in five minutes. Or for Cisco to go pick her up when she was so tired she couldn't move.

Anyway, he liked having her there. He'd never lived anywhere alone and he didn't want to start now.

He didn't like to think about what would happen when she was done with her residency and got a job somewhere else.

She smiled at him. “Okay. Let’s do a roomie TV night.””

He smiled back, bumping her with his shoulder. "Excellent. Chinese or pizza?"

"Chinese," she said.

"Great, that means the show is my pick." He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on.

She gasped. "Dirty pool, Cisco. I'm not watching Game of Thrones."

"Please," he said, flicking through Netflix. "You'll fall asleep again." It still offended him to his mortal soul.

She rolled her eyes and peeled herself off the couch. "Did I leave my purse in the kitchen?"

"Front hall," he called out.

His phone buzzed again, and he pulled it out. A string of texts from Barry stacked up on the screen, his friend baffled that he'd ghosted in the middle of their conversation.

He tapped out, Actually, do you mind if I cancel on you guys?

Caitlin's got the night off for once and we need roomie time

Holy shit they let her out?

IKR It's been forever

Yeah it's okay

Have fun w o me

So, are you going to talk to her?

No I'm going to ignore her all night as we hang out watching TV and eating chow mein

Duh I'm going to talk to her

You know what I mean

TALK to her

He stared at the phone. Thought about pretending he didn't know what Barry meant.

He tapped back, No

!!!!!!

Wrong time

I told you

If you're not careful she's going to move out or get with someone else and you'll have lost your chance

He put the phone away without answering and kept browsing Netflix.

She wasn't done with residency. She'd had a breakup not even a month ago. Not to mention, she was living in his house. If he confessed that he'd been having not-brotherly feelings for her for awhile now and she didn't feel the same way, it had the potential to make things really weird and awful. And what if she felt like she had to date him to keep living there?

He'd rather keep pretending to be just her good buddy Cisco forever then make her feel like that.

"Orange chicken or sweet and sour?" she asked him, scowling at her phone as she came back in.

"Sweet and sour," he decided. "And crab puffs."

She held her phone out to show him that crab puffs were the first thing on the order. "I know what you like," she said.

"Yeah, you do," he grinned at her. "And I do too. Which is why we're watching Parks and Rec."

She smiled at him. She looked tired and frazzled but her smile lit up her face. "I need a shower first, though. I smell like the hospital."

"Yeah, I didn't want to mention it . . . "

She pretended to swat him, then checked her phone again. "As soon as this order goes through." She sighed. "It's so slow lately."

"Get a new phone."

"I'm waiting to upgrade until after - "

"Residency," he said along with her. "It doesn't help that you have, like, half a kilobyte of spare storage on there."

"I need all those things. Finally!" she said as the confirmation popped up. "Okay, about forty-five minutes."

"Great. Gimme that, I'll clean it out."

She clutched it to her heart. "You'll delete everything."

"Your pictures are backed up," he said patiently. She hoarded pictures and videos like a very specific kind of dragon. "I set up your cloud storage myself. And how the hell many apps do you have?"

"I use them!"

"Okay fine, if you've used them in the past month, I won't delete them. But you don't need six months' worth of podcasts."

She pouted a little. "I'll listen to them all."

"When? After residency? You can download them again." He wiggled his fingers. "Give."

She handed it over. "But don't touch Sawbones," she ordered, already on her way to her room and the attached bathroom.

"Got it," he called out, already busy deleting. "Sawbones is sacrosanct."

It took him about five minutes to free up several gigs of space. Since he was in there, he decided to clean up her pictures. Old screenshots, discarded selfies, random stuff he was pretty sure she'd texted him. It was all backed up anyway.

He found several selfies they'd taken together and sat smiling at them for a little while. He had most of the same ones saved, downloaded from wherever she'd posted them.

He scrolled through the set again and realized there were some of his, taken with his phone and posted online, which meant that she'd downloaded them.

Hmmm.

Well.

They were pretty good pictures.

A text popped up, with her ex-boyfriend's name at the top. I had a lovely time the other night

His eyebrows shot up.

As far as he knew, Julian was still in England and would be for at least another six months. So what was this "other night" he spoke of? Had they sexted? A little post-breakup virtual hanky-panky?

"I don't want to know," he muttered, which was a lie. He kind of wanted to know.

Okay, he really wanted to know.

Sorry! That was meant for someone else

But now I've bothered you, how are you doing?

"Oho," Cisco said as all came clear. He calculated the time difference between Central City and London and felt justified in calling bullshit. Unless Julian was booty-calling someone at about four in the morning, this was the kind of idea that sounded really, really good when you were very tired and more than slightly drunk.

Impulsively, he swiped to open the conversation and smirked at the keyboard, fingers ready to call the other man on his nonsense.

Then he thought - no, that's a terrible idea and Caitlin will be furious. If she wanted to call him out, she should get the pleasure of it herself. Reluctantly, he swiped down to close the keyboard.

That brought more of the text conversation down to fill the screen. It was pretty dull stuff - have a nice trip, take care of yourself. He scrolled a little and found stilted queries about whether he'd found a hoodie of hers, about whether she still had his charger. Very, very polite and a little bit pained. Breakup stuff.

It had been an amicable breakup as far as he knew. "Long-distance is too hard," Caitlin had said, packing a half-empty box of tea, a T-shirt, and the debated phone charger into a paper grocery sack. "Especially with my residency and his fellowship taking up so much energy. We decided it was better to end on good terms."

But even the nicest breakup was still a breakup, an ending, an us falling apart into a you and a me. So he wasn't surprised at the stiff tone.

He scrolled up and found the next one back, not polite, not businesslike at all.

I'm not doing this over text.

It was from Caitlin. He checked the timestamp - two weeks before Julian had left. Right around the time they'd broken up.

If that didn't sound like an about-to-break-up text . . .

His fingers hovered over the screen, and then he gave in to insatiable curiosity and swiped down to see what kind of dealbreaker thing Julian had said to her.

No matter what I do, you're never going to feel half as much for me as you do for him

What the fuck.

He sat staring at the text, especially the last word.

Him.

Who was him?

His first thought was Ronnie. But Julian had said do, not did. Cisco had talked with Caitlin about Ronnie enough over the years for him to know that while she'd always love him and treasure his memory, that memory was folded away in her past. This sounded like current feelings, for a living man.

He tried to remember if she'd talked about any of their guy friends more often than any other. Or someone at the hospital? She didn't mention her co-workers at the hospital much.

So who the hell was him?

And why hadn't she mentioned him to Cisco?

He debated with himself, then turned off the phone to clear out the deleted things, and not incidentally, keep himself from reading more of the conversation. He was already feeling guilty for having read as much as he had.

Should he ask?

Caitlin came out of her room in pajamas, her hair damp. "How's the patient?" she asked him, folding herself into the couch next to him.

She smelled like flowery shampoo and apple-flavored lotion. It was warm and familiar, one of his favorite smells.

He turned the phone back on and handed it back. "Think he's gonna make it."

She tapped in her code and opened a few things to test, then smiled at him when everything was speeded up. "Thanks. So, which season are we watching?"

He realized the Netflix screen was still up, waiting for a choice. "You pick," he said.

"Me? Okay." She reached for the remote next to his leg.

"So, uh," he said as she flicked through seasons, weighing their merits. "Julian texted while I was working on your phone."

"Julian?" she said, surprised. "What did he want?" She opened her texts and looked. "That's weird. Did you read this?"

"Well, it popped up, so."

She shook her head, baffled. "Do you think he's trying to make me jealous?"

"Seems like. Are you going to answer him?"

She laughed. "No. I think he's going to wake up in the morning and be very embarrassed."

"How's he doing, anyway?"

"I don't really know. Okay, I guess. We haven't talked much. We're both - "

"So busy," he finished. "Yeah." He fiddled with his own phone, watching as she finally chose season three. He should ask.

He shouldn't ask.

But he had to know.

But if she'd wanted him to know, she would have damn well told him.

He found himself saying, "I have to confess something."

She widened her eyes at him as Ron and Leslie bickered on-screen. "You deleted Sawbones?"

"No, I told you I'd leave it alone. You've still got like twenty episodes. No, uh - " He dug his fingers into the upholstery. "I kind of read more of your texts with Julian."

She frowned at him. "Why?"

"I - you're right. I shouldn't have. But I was in there anyway and - I'm sorry."

She shrugged, tucking her legs up under herself. "I'm sure they were very exciting."

"A little," he said. "Caitlin, why didn't you tell me?"

A little silence, and then she said, "Tell you what?"

"Why you really broke up with him."

Color seeped away from her cheeks. She turned her head to stare fixedly at the TV. "I told you. The distance and we were busy and - "

"And you're in love with someone else."

"Oh god," she whispered. "You read that far?"

"Yeah," he said. "Why is this the first I'm hearing about it?"

"I - I couldn't," she said. "Not to you. I couldn’t." She covered her face with her hands. "Do you want me to move out?"

"Move out?" he almost shouted. "What the hell? Why would I ever want you to move out?"

She dropped her hands to stare at him. Her eyes were wet and red. "It would be so awkward if I stayed."

"Why?"

The chirpy, peppy theme music started, jarring in the taut silence. He grabbed the remote from her lap and hit pause.

"Caitlin," he sad. "Why would it be awkward? Who are you in love with?"

Her eyes went very wide. "You - you didn't see the whole conversation."

"No," he said.

She bit her lip. "Someone. From the hospital. You don't know him."

He looked at her hard. "Caitlin Snow, you are the worst liar I've ever met."

Her pale face flushed with color. "I'm not lying."

"That's exactly what you say every time you bluff at poker.” He nodded at her phone, now clutched tightly in her hand. “If I’d read farther back, what would I have seen? Who was Julian talking about?”

“Someone from the hospital,” she said stubbornly, getting to her feet. “You know what, I think I should get a head start on my laundry.”

“But,” he said. “Wait. What? You're just going to run away?”

She stopped in the hall, not looking back at him. “I need you to not push me on this, Cisco,” she said evenly.

A moment later, the door to her room shut with a snap.

He stared blankly at the TV screen for a moment. Then he got up and went to her door.

It looked blank and stolid, about as informative as Caitlin’s stiff back when she’d told him not to push her.

He scowled and raised his hand to knock.

His hand froze, and then he pulled it back and laced his fingers together on the top of his head, letting out a long whoosh of a breath.

Was he crazy?

Had Julian meant him in that text thread?

Or did he just want Caitlin’s mystery guy to be himself so bad that he was talking himself into believing it was?

He had been pushing, like she’d said. What was going through her mind? What could he say to get her to let down those walls of hers? Because he’d seen what happened when people tried to just bash through. It didn’t end well.

The doorbell rang, and he jolted. The food. Shit. Had it been forty-five minutes already?

After he’d taken the food and paid the kid, he took everything to the kitchen and unpacked the bag, setting out square boxes, opening one after another to figure out which was his and which was hers.

His brain churned around and around, but no matter what clever things he came up with, he kept returning to the one thing that felt like it would work. Only one thing that would get her to open up.

But it was one hell of a risk.

Far away, Caitlin’s door clicked open. He forced himself to stay where he was, snapping a pair of chopsticks apart and poking at his sweet and sour chicken.

Caitlin walked through the kitchen with a laundry basket on her hip.

“Food’s here,” he said.

Her eyes flickered toward him, then the boxes lined up on the counter. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll just get the first load in.” She ducked her head and continued on to the laundry room. The washer door clanged, and cloth rustled as she started loading it.

He fished a piece of bell pepper out of the box and lifted it to his mouth, but his stomach felt like a whirlpool. He dropped it back in the box, his heart slamming against his ribs. He opened his mouth a couple of times, just to close it again.

There was a click, and then water started whooshing into the washing machine. In a moment, she was going to come out here again and he was going to have to say this to her face. And he didn’t know if he had the guts for that.

“You know,” he called out, “I didn't tell you, but I was pretty happy when you broke up with Julian.”

Silence.

“Not because I don't like him, or because he was bad for you, or anything. He was an okay guy, Julian, and he treated you mostly pretty good. It’s just that every time I saw you holding his hand, or kissing him, or - “ He swallowed. “Or going to your room together, it reminded me that, uh. That you were with him. And more importantly, you weren't with me.”

He looked up. Caitlin stood in the door between the laundry room and the kitchen, looking at him. Her eyes were huge and her face was pale.

“And I wanted to be with you,” he finished.

She swallowed hard. “But I’m like your sister. You say that all the time.”

“And I’m like your brother,” he said. “Which you say all the time. But who are we saying it to, Caitlin? Because I’m mostly saying it to people I’m dating, to keep them from being weirded out that we live together and you’re basically my favorite person.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

“Julian didn’t believe you, did he?” He had a balloon in his stomach now, instead of a whirlpool, blowing up wide, pushing his heart up into his throat.

She shook her head, very slowly. “No. And he - he wasn’t wrong.”

He licked his desert-dry lips. “So it was me you were fighting about?"

"I have so little free time," she said. "And he always thought that he should come first in my priorities when I did get a night off. He hated it that you did."

He remembered how she'd always waited to hear what he was doing before telling him that she was going to Julian's place, and how their more scheduled dates were always on his D&D night, or when he was going to a party. He'd always thought that was to take advantage of the empty house.

"Hard to blame him, really."

"I didn't realize how I felt when I started dating Julian," she said. "I really did like him. Just - like he said. Not enough."

Poor Julian. He'd come in second all the time; no wonder he'd snapped at her over text.

Cisco was finding it hard to feel too much pity for the other guy. After all, if he hadn't snapped, Caitlin wouldn't have broken up with him, and she wouldn't be here in this kitchen, drifting closer in soft little kitten steps.

"You said you wanted to be with me," she said. "Is that past tense?"

He set the box of sweet and sour chicken down on the counter, gripping the edge of it so he wouldn't just reach out and grab her.

"Present tense," he said. "I want to be with you. But I told myself I couldn't make it weird, what with you paying me rent and all."

She put her hand on his chest. His heart thudded so hard he wondered if it would just burst out and land in her palm. "I can move out," she said, mouth quirking. "I made the offer."

"The hell you will," he said, and pulled her close to press his lips to hers.

They did end up eating all the food. Eventually.

They didn't watch any TV, though.

FINIS

[transboygenius]

SE4SON: Chapter 7

[*The next day*]

"Get up, yee!"

One of the hooded men delivered a kick to the cage, causing a slight 2 second vibrate and waking the boys up. Afterwards, he unlocked the cage. When Jimmy opened his eyes, he found himself getting comfy on top of Nick's chest. Both of them looked directly into each other's eyes, blushing madly. Shaking the feeling off, Jimmy immediately threw himself off of Nick, shuddering. What an odd start this friendship began at.

"Are you alright?" Nick asked. "S-sorry for invading your space like this." Jimmy replied, still shuddering. "Heh. It's cool, dude. This cage isn't exactly roomy, if you think about it."

Nick is being awfully nice, for some reason. He's so kind, it doesn't even sound like him. How did he go from calling the boy genius "Neutron" to "Jimmy?" Yesterday, and the day before that, he acted very obnoxious and whiny. Then all of a sudden, last night, he apologized for his actions and decided to settle in for a pact. It may have come from the awaiting death, but Jimmy is just too skeptical to say otherwise. Could it been something that Nick ate, like that stew last night? No, of course not, because then Jimmy would be effected too. He's still under the impression that Nick might be sucking up to him. What could Nick want from Jimmy anyways? Would it be his rocketboard, or is Nick looking for a smart sucker to do his homework for him? Before Jimmy is ready to dodge the bullet, he might as well play along for now.

"I SAID GET UP!"

The hood took out his bow and arrow, aiming it at the two handcuffed boys. The man forced them up to a wooden table, and on it laid coins, cookware, and pottery. All of them were made of copper. The coins were more rockier and thicker than the coins back in their generation.

"Your pots? Pans? Tea kettle? Don't you need these?" Jimmy asked. "Pipe down and make with the gold! We could always purchase new ones once we're rich!" The head hood barked.

Nick has gone weak in his stomach. Their time has finally arrived, and they still have no gimmick to escape. As he grabbed the nearest object in his reach, he rubbed his sleeve against it so that the hoods think he's trying to make gold. Being a professional actor, it's a good thing they don't notice how agitated he is right now. What are they gonna do now, specially with all these goons hovering their eyes over them like hawks? If the hoods don't get their gold in the meantime, there's gonna be nuts roasting on an open fire. That night, after Nick made his amends with Jimmy, they talked out plans together before falling asleep. One of them, Nick thought they could make it out if they just told the hoods they weren't witches. Jimmy explained that there would be no chance of convincing them. They did take a cauldron after all. And even if they were to, the hoods would just kill them right away. Jimmy and Nick brought back technology they haven't seen before, and dressed in garments they consider as odd. They are well-nigh aliens to this century.

While Nick was "working" against his own will, he turned to Jimmy's side to find him being hesitant, which worried him deeply. How could the boy genius procrastinate at a situation like this, while their lives are in jeopardy? He'd whisper something to him, but that would probably upset the men. Please get a brain blast. PLEASE GET A BRAIN BLAST!

"Excuse me," Jimmy spoke up. "I seem to be lacking the substratal necessities for spurious renovation!" "I know not of what you speak of, witch, but t sounds to me like you has't no capability to do this!" "You have it all wrong, gang! I know alright! More than you can imagine. But sometimes my 'spiritual powers' are limited to some sources, as I am still a young rookie! However, the job can be done artificially with the right essentials! You fellas look like men of great taste! I hope this isn't too much to ask, but do you gentlemen happen to carry a brewing set on you? Like, potions?" "Yeah. As a matter of fact, we do!"

The head hood ran inside one of the tents, then brought back a shallow box containing blurry glass bottles filled with various chemicals, along with some herbs on the side.

"We did snatch these up from a local drug department a couple weeks back. Useth not it all up, because we still need these lest our men receive ill!"

Jimmy delivered a cheeky wink to the man as he put the potions down in front of him. Only able to perform with one hand, he asked for Nick's help. The two then shared a silent conversation.

"So you do know how to make gold. Yes, we're saved." "Frankly, I don't. But I still have a ticket out of here." "Huh?" "I could cumulate these actinic elements to foster a smokescreen bomb so we can make an expeditious getaway while the hoods are blinded. And I have just the compounds I need." "Hm. Nothing to do with gold, but still a good plan. Hey, how about we loot some things while we get the hell out of here?" "Nick, that's barbaric thinking. But they pretty much deserve it."

The two cooperated together, pouring the chemicals and measuring some elements. The two worked like a real team for the first time. That shaky feeling Nick had earlier went away, because it was the boy genius's can-do spirit that helped him pull through. It just goes to show him that Jimmy can be strong in the real way. He isn't afraid to jump at a chance, no matter how rough the going may be. Whether how many people look down on him, or how risky a threat might be, he will never let his guard down. If one way doesn't work, then there's got to be another. Although he carries around his own insecurities with him, they haven't stopped him yet from getting a job done. Then there's Nick himself; Some poser who acts like he's tough as nails, but really just a sad loser who cries alone in his bedroom. He has always wished he had some of the confidence he strongly admired Jimmy for. As soon as they finished, Jimmy held the steaming beaker up in pride.

"AND NOW FOR THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR, GENTLEMEN! Bubble bubble, boil and trouble... LET THERE BE GOLD!"

He smashed the beaker against the ground, resulting in a huge foggy explosion. The hoods started coughing, and their eyes became teary from the smoke. Jimmy and Nick's eyes were left unharmed, cuz Jimmy kept a pair of lab goggles in his pocket, as well as Nick kept red shades. Both of them held their breath as they ran for freedom. And following Nick's suggestion, they grabbed a few things. Jimmy took a bow and arrow for self-defense, while Nick took their leftover elk meat and other stuff he could fit in his pockets. As soon as they got out of the fog, it was then safe to breathe again. They took the time to catch their breaths while running. Instead of dragging at each other from their handcuffs, both ran at the same pace. Nick got so caught up in the fun, he began cackling out loud like a real witch.

"Why are you cackling?" "Sorry! Guess I couldn't help myself!"

The two tossed away their eye protections into the air out of joy. They were now free, and back out into the open, leafy green forest. Well, they weren't officially free, forasmuch as their wrists are still cuffed jointly, but it feels so pleasant being away from those awful men.

"We did it, Nick! We made it out of there with our lives!" "Certainly did! All thanks to you!" "Well, you did help too, ya know." "Me? C'mon, I can't take credit! All I did was pour stuff into those bottles." "Nick--"

They stopped in their path as they both bumped into something. No, it wasn't a something, it was a someone. It was one of the hooded men. ...who just finished taking a leak into a bush. As the man fixed his pants, Jimmy and Nick just sat there, frozen in fear.

"What in the name of prayers to God is going on here?!"

The man looked down at the two speechless boys. He noticed they were carrying some stuff back from their camp, such as a weapon and meat. He presumed they were stealing. When Jimmy turned his blue orbs to the bow and arrow on his right, he forgot he was now armed, so there really shouldn't be any reason to be afraid. Jimmy held the weapon up and aimed it at the hood in front of him, who didn't look intimidated the slightest.

"Back off, or I'll skewer you--"

Before Jimmy was able to finish his sentence, the hood just snatched the arrow, bent it in half, then threw it away. The boy genius did not see that coming. Now they're back to where they were before; Unarmed and helpless. Nick tried to talk the hood out.

"How 'bout we exchange this piece of raw deer for our freedom?"

........................

The hooded man carried the boys by the back of their collars, and brought them back to camp just as the hoods were recovering from the smoke incident. The fog had already cleared by then.

"Hey, fellows! Get a load of this scoop! I hath caught these two savages pulling a fast one, with some of our stuff in their hands!

He released their collars and let them hit the ground. All the men looked pretty pissed. Jimmy and Nick had promised them they'd turn copper into gold, but instead gave them all faces full of tear jerking gas, and the news about stealing won't give the boys a chance to gain their trust back anytime soon. Out of the crowd walked up the head hood, whose eyes were still watery from the effect of the smokescreen. He looked like he was blistering in rage by how red his face was. Jimmy was scared, but not as frightened as Nick was right now. He has never seen any man angry like that but his own father. It made him wanna run away and hide, but the man's glare made him froze, just like how he dealt with Daniel whenever he got caught in his gaze.

"FIRST, you two play us all like harps for thy sick dissemble'ry, THEN, you try to rob us under our noses?!!"

Jimmy felt he had to say something right there.

"Okay, okay! I think it's time we give it to you straight! Yes, we did take you all for granted, and we did try to steal from you, but there's a very logical explanation for this! We're not really witches! I mean, there's no such thing as witches, it's all just some folklore jazz! We are just two lost young boys, from a very advanced future, who accidentally got warped into your timeline due to a fatal accident with my time machine, and we are just making what we can to survive! As for the chain, that's another story. All we want to do is go home, so we never really wanted to cause you any trouble to begin with! The reason why we didn't tell you sooner cuz we were afraid you wouldn't believe us! Now, we can't promise you gold, but we could treat you to something better! If you could help me find my time machine, we'd be happy to take you into the future with us and introduce you to the most cutting-edge technology you'll want in your life! We don't have magic, but we do have ssssssssscience!"

........................

In the following, Jimmy and Nick were both tied to a stake, facing opposite from each other, with lots of wood surrounding them.

"I told you they wouldn't believe us, Nick."

One of the men was set in charge of lighting a torch for their burning. Sweat began trailing down Jimmy and Nick's foreheads. They made it this far, finally became friends, and now this is how it's gonna end for them. They're gonna die on spot, while their friends and family have no trace where they're at. If this is their last spent moment together, it maybe about time Nick tell Jimmy just about now. He's a little vulnerable at this moment, but it's either now or never again.

"Jimmy?" "What Nick?" "Are you still mad?" "We're gonna die very soon, and you feel that's an appropriate question?" "If that's a yes, then I don't want us to die angry." "Give me a good reason why? I thought this wouldn't be the best way to die, but then I realize this is all I feel right now. You did get us into this mess. What could you possibly say to change my mind?" "If I can't change your mind, then that isn't the case here. I want you to listen to me during our final minutes. I really need to tell you this." "*Sigh* Shoot. (Might as well have some entertainment while I'm still living.)" "We have always kept a separate distance from each other. Why do we do it? Well, it was never really just us, it was me. I am the reason behind why we're so far apart. We could've been good friends in the past. We haven't gotten along until now. The truth was, I'm not as strong as you think I am. Physically, yes. Mentally, no. I never gotten close to you often, or even had one real conversation with you, because there are certain things I feel for you that people would never understand. Look, as always, you are right. You are always right. This was all my fault. I guess that proves I'm not worthy enough for your company." "Hey, I never said you weren't worthy enough to hang with me and my friends." "You may have never said that, but that doesn't mean it's not true. If there's anyone who really deserves you, it's Carl, Sheen, Libby, and even Cindy. If you're gonna stay angry at me, then so be it. I have no right to control how you feel. These are usually one of those moments where I get up and walk away, but since the end is approaching us in a matter of time, I want this to be the very last thing you hear. I want this to be the very last thing I say. I'm tired of holding it back."

Jimmy was just... Just touched. That doesn't sound like a boy trying to suck up. Only words like those would come from the heart. It sounds like he's being forthright, but is he just saying it out of guilt? Of any day it could've happened, Nick chooses now to show Jimmy this other personality of his. This isn't like the Nick he's been handcuffed to for two whole days. What made him morph into a change of heart all of a sudden? Whatever Nick is trying to tell him, those few little words might give Jimmy one huge vindication on the real Nick he's been trying to comprehend for years.

"I lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv..."

Nick was taking an awful lot of time getting the word out, and one of the hoods already had the torch lit.

"....vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeee yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...."

Jimmy tried blowing it out, but his breath was too weak against a flame that strong. It's not like blowing any of those birthday candles. Hurry up, hurry up, HURRY UP! Jimmy raced to Nick. The torch was reaching closer to the wood, and their doom.

"ooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

A big, bulky figure, riding a horse, burst into the scene in a dramatic entrance. They were wearing a wooden pail over their head, used as a helmet, with a cut-out area to leave their eyes exposed. They slapped the torch out of the man's hand, then the horse stomped on the fire to put it out. They were wearing a badge that looked familiar to the hoods.

"Soooooooo! I has't come across the infamous green hoods of Derryberry Everlanes! By order of King Jason's law, you men have been convicted of theft, and pursuit of execution without a permit! Thee all has't the right to remain silent!" "King Jason's law? Oh ho ho, good sir, whoever you are; If be true thee kindly take a behold around, we are currently residing on a piece of territory yond hast not yet been claimed by King Jason's law. We're way beyond from even touching his border, so I'm afraid thou foolishly mistaken--" "I said REMAIN SILENT!"

They drew their sword and plunged it into the ground to show how serious they were, also causing a slight earthquake. Instead of resisting arrest, the hoods did what ordinary criminals did; Retreat. All of them scrambled individually, screaming. The helmet figure just stayed put, and didn't even bother chasing them. As soon as the camp was left silent, the figure jumped off their horse, then walked towards the two boys tied to a stake. They looked at them quite ominously. Does the figure believe they're innocent, or guilty like the hoods? Gazing into figure's exposed eyes left Nick timid. He hated police.

"Nick, stop shaking." "You're shaking, too." "Only because you're making the stake move."

The figure then spoke to them.

"How did you boys get yourselves tangled into a sticky situation such as this, and should I have a reason to let you go?"

The lecture sounded like a threat to Nick.

"We haven't done anything to offend the King's law, Officer! We are only two lost little boys who are very, very, very far from home and being wrongly accused of witchcraft, which we are unfamiliar with! And if you did caught us stealing, it wasn't our fault! We are scared, hungry, and we haven't had a decent meal in two days! You wouldn't charge poor children, would you Officer?"

The figure then laughed under their breath.

"Relax, I'm not gonna charge you. I'm not really with the authority of the King's law, anyways. I just asked for an explanation."

It was Jimmy's turn to fill in now.

"It's a long story. We've been kidnapped here against our will, and forced into performing for their beneficial contingency we had no ability over! And what do you mean you're not with the authority?" "Oh. I only pose as an authority to gallow hence the thieves and gather whatever material goods me and my people need to survive on. The badge is custom made." "Isn't it illegal to impersonate a consultant?" "Only on King Jason's border. Otherwise you'd be hanged."

Nick's fear then died down.

"So you break the law, and steal from bad guys, all for the purpose of helping your starving citizens! Mister, you have no idea how awesome you are!" "'Mister?'" "It means, to address a man by--" "I know what a 'mister' is."

The figure removed their helmet to reveal long, shiny red hair, with wavy texture, cascading down to their shoulders, and they appeared to be wearing eyeliner too.

"I'm a 'miss.' ...just in case you haven't noticed yet."

Jimmy and Nick were both awestruck. It is not a man, but a very buff, muscular woman, who also looked to be about 6'3 in height. They didn't believe she was a woman, even with the helmet off, until she told them. Compared to her shape, she makes Cindy's Aunt Susie's beefcakes look like string beans. This will teach the boys to never take girls for granted. The lady then raised her sword to cut Jimmy and Nick loose from the stake. After freeing them, she noticed the handcuffs.

"Did the gents do that to you, too?" Asked the woman, pointing at the chain. "No, this came from somewhere else, which is also composing to the long story. By the way, do you mind if we tag along? We have no place to go and we're pretty much guideless. If you do, I'll explain everything on the way." Said Jimmy. "I hate to bring back more mouths to feed, but it would be nice to have some extra hands for work. Alright, you gents shall join me, but you have to help me carry some of this loot back to my hut, and I don't welcome hospitality to freeloaders!" "Your wish is our command, oh, uh, magnificent beefy one."

Jimmy took a bow to show gratitude, and then Nick did the same. Afterwards, she handed them an empty sack. The goal was to take enough stuff they could carry back home. Stealing is still wrong, but it makes a good payback to the hoods who nearly burned them alive.

"Nick?" "Yeah Jimmy?" "What was that back on the stake you were trying to tell me?" "I think I'll explain later. We got a lot of work ahead of us." "(I'm surprised you even care about work. Then again, that is one huge lady.)"

...........................

[*Late afternoon*]

After three hours of painfully dragging a heavy wheelbarrow uphill without a break, while the lady led them on her horse, their new boss decided they should camp out before it gets dark. She says it's dangerous to keep on at night, with all the animal predators and bandits running loose at that time. By tomorrow morning, they'll head straight up that road again. While Jimmy and Nick helped set up camp, the boy genius gave their full story like he promised. Surprised she didn't react the same way those hoods did.

"You fellows are telling me you're from another timeline far off into the future and was brought here by a fatal accident involving something you call a 'time machine?' And you two are trying to work your way back home with any methods you has't?" "Yup! If you don't believe us, please don't burn us at the stake." Said Nick "No no, it's good now. I believe ya. After the many strange, enchanted hoodoo and necromancy I put up with in my younger years, it all seems normal to me. I believed for a half minute you boys were witches, but then I realize, hags are much uglier. *To Jimmy* Your head, young man, certainly isn't proportioned right from any human being, but you're still easy to look at." "Th-thanks." Said Jimmy.

After that compliment she made, Nick tried his best not to let a slight giggle out.

"Well, that covers our campout! You boys did a marvelous job, and I couldn't have done it faster without your help! As a reward, I'm gonna treat you boys to a special supper! Just give me about an hour to fetch it."

She grabbed a bow and arrow, then headed forward into the woods, until Jimmy stopped her.

"WAIT! Pardon me, but I'm afraid we haven't properly greeted each other yet. We don't wanna come off as rude or anything. I'm James Neutron, but please, call me Jimmy. This is my... ...friend, Nick Dean." "Interesting names. I'm Diana. Just Diana. But please, you may call me Diana. Say, since we're talking about getting to know each other, care to give me your favorite foods so I could cook it for ya?" "No no no, we really don't wanna put you through the trouble, we're happy of what you serve us. Besides, if we told you, I doubt you would be able to find it out there." "Such modest children. Glad we all ran into each other."

After walking into the forest with the weapon on her back, Jimmy again asked for that word from Nick he's been waiting to hear.

"Now will you tell me, Nick?" "*Yawn* As much as I want to, I've just about used up the last of my energy on that wheelbarrow. How about letting me nap it out first?"

Nick laid his head down on a log, then passed out immediately.

..........................

[*That night*]

"Nick? Nick?"

Nick awakened by the sound of Jimmy's voice. It was dark, a fire lit the place, and Diana was fast asleep.

"Jimmy? What time is it?" "I can't tell without my watch, but according to celestial astronomy, based on the angle of the moon from an observer’s line of sight, I'd say about midnight." "Midnight, huh. I've been asleep for that long?" "I'll say. You were really knocked out there. I tried poking you several times, and you just laid there like you were dead. Your roasted canaries are just about cold by now." "(Roasted canaries?)"

Nick found a plate sitting in front of him, with a serving of two small fowls, sauteed vegetables, and some crusty bread. He was still a little drowsy from his long nap, so he was in no mood to eat.

"Aren't you gonna tell me now?" "Tell you what?" "Oh, c'mon! Don't you remember? You were gonna tell me why you choose to be apart from me at times! You were gonna explain this certain 'way' you feel about me that others would never understand! I don't want to hear it tomorrow, I don't want to hear it after breakfast, and I don't want to hear it by the time we get home! No more stalling! I wanna hear it now!" "Oh, that! I was just thinking, I'd love to know you better." "That's it? That can't be it, because I could've sworn I heard something else back there! What are you trying to hide, Nick? You know what? All day, you've been acting like... ...not you! Through fourth grade to fifth, this is not the Nick Dean I ever knew! Where do you get off pulling this sweet golden boy act? I want to know, Nick! Why are you being so nice to me?! When did you decide to start addressing me by my first name?! What do you want from me?! Were you apologizing to me on that stake just to get yourself out of a guilt trip before we die?!" "Can you shut up for a moment there, Jimmy? You're overreacting." "I'm overreacting-?!" "I said, shut up."

Nick tried to be nice to Jimmy all day, and he doesn't trust him. Who could blame the boy? Seeing Nick act like he's one of his best friends is very out of character for him. Trust can take some time, and Nick has only made truce with the boy genius for a day. He has to tell him the whole naked truth, but how is he gonna without revealing his romantic feelings?

"I MEAN it! I want to know you better! What could I want from you now, in a place we might spend until we reach adulthood?! I know, I wasn't being 'myself' all day, but may I clue you in on a little secret? That Nick you've been chained to for two whole days wasn't the real 'myself!' I acted that way on purpose, because we know damn well people would never let me live it down if I were your actual friend! Not only would they kick me off the pedestal, but I can also kiss my social life goodbye! Look at the difference between you and me! You're the nerd, and I'm the hottest punk in school! Other kids view upon us as pineapple and pizza, two food groups that don't mix!" "What's wrong with pineapple on pizza?" "I'm talking here, boy! I tried to act as obnoxious as possible, just to keep myself from becoming your friend! The truth is, Jimmy, I have always admired you! Carl and Sheen sure are lucky bastards to have a friend like you! You're smart! You're determined! You're very passionate! You make the coolest inventions I've ever set eyes on! Flying through town on a jetpack is hella more fun than shredding on a stupid skateboard! Most of all, I admire you for how strong you are. You're not afraid of being seen with that wheezing mango and Ultradork! No matter how many people kick you down, you always get right back up! I wish I can be that strong, where I can just ask you over to play some video games, or share the same table with you at the Candy Bar, but I know kids would never approve. I'd be the bullies' next target. You have your own living, while I'm just an insecure loser pretending to be someone else just to gain attention. I figured, since we're gonna be stuck this way, there might as well be some changes! I thought this would make the right opportunity to show you the real me! If you still don't believe me, then what's the point in trying to get along? We might as well not speak to each other!"

Jimmy was touched again, but this time he actually felt it. By the way Nick's tone and breathing came across to him, he sounded like he meant it this time. He wouldn't be lying if he wasn't this angry. Nick confessed everything he knew he'd regret saying, from how powerful he admits the boy genius is, to himself being nothing more than a fake. Jimmy has been admired by the most popular kid in school, and he never knew it. He acted like an asshole on purpose just for the sake of protecting his dignity. Nick would've made an excellent friend to Jimmy if humans weren't so judgmental. He called him smart, determined, passionate, and on top of that, he apologized for his actions earlier.

Jimmy has never been showered with compliments like that since... ...since.... Frankly, Jimmy doesn't recall ever receiving compliments like that, not from Carl, Sheen, or even Cindy. Nick offered him his friendship when he had no one, and he just blew it up in his face. Aside from being a nerd, it's Jimmy's arrogance and trust issues that's keeping him from making new friends. He focuses more on the worst of someone than looking at the positives. Sheen knew there was a way to redeem T and his alien brothers, even while Jimmy passed it on as ignorant. He refuses to acknowledge his own flaws, with all that pride heavily stored in his big head.

Jimmy hasn't been a good friend in general. He uses Carl as his guinea pig for dangerous experiments, he takes Sheen for granted, and despite how nice Libby was to him compared to Cindy, he showed little appreciation for her. After so much Carl and Sheen have done for him, the only thing Jimmy could do to repay them is with a couple of gizmos and gadgets from his lab. That's the nicest thing he's ever done. Real friends comfort each other, and stand with each other. He fixes their personal problems with science instead of common sense, and for most parts, he just neglects them. Meanwhile, Carl and Sheen once stayed up all night filling a survey so they would remain as Jimmy's friends. Back in kindergarten, they were the only two kids who not only sympathized with him, but accepted him as well. In spite of his antics, they never left his side. Moments where they have betrayed him, like laughing along with a crowd, or mocking him behind his back, is probably just their way of saying you deserve it. However long it might take to reach back home again, it'll get lonely eventually. Nick paid respect to him, and that's the thanks he gets.

"Actually, I may not be as strong as you think I am." Said Jimmy. "The hell you talking about?" Asked Nick. "I may get up and go again, but in reality, I'm scared what's to come ahead of me. My mind is on track of one thing, and that is success. Everyone looked down on my notions, laughed at me, just when I wanted to show them I could do something for the future. It has been my dream to become one of the most well known inventors, to change history, since birth. Science was just about the only major I was good at, and I wanted to at least be someone. However, because of how much I've been pushing myself for years to do greater, the overwhelm-ness gets to my head, leading me to forget the most important things in life. I care more about my work than my supportive friends. My big head, as a matter of expression by the way, has stopped me from making any new friends. Probably whether because I don't know who to trust, or they're not good enough for me. I stand up tall just to hide the fact that I'm afraid of falling into failure. You admitting you're wrong, something I rarely do, is such a powerful move, and I envy that." "Thanks. I guess." "I wish I could make up for my actions, not just with you, but with my friends back in the twenty first century. Hey, it's never too late to start now. Nick, I'm sorry for getting the wrong idea. I'm sorry for mislooking your plans. I'm sorry for being closed minded. I'm sorry for being so demanding. I'm sorry for not telling you about the installed security system. I'm sorry--" "Okay, little dude. That's enough. I get the picture. And yes, I forgive you. (Who could say no to those eyes?)" "And another thing: Let's say we start out fresh? As up today, consider yourself as a new friend, and I mean it this time. We move forward together, and we die trying together. What do you say, Nick?" "I'm not sure how to answer that. I'm still-- Ah, what the heck? Nice to meet you, little buddy!" "Right back atcha, pal!"

Jimmy and Nick then shared a good laugh together. From that moment on, Jimmy could feel a little bit of chemistry building on between him and Nick. It felt like the same electricity that occurred with Cindy, only this one sparked stronger. Nick was very opened to Jimmy. He showed him passion. He wasn't blind on his flaws. Nick was different from his other friends.

"And Jimmy?" "Hm?" "Is 'die trying' really part of the intention?"

[avengerleague]

‘Mimic’

Avengers x Female Reader

(Pairing: Steve x Reader)

Chapter 2: Three’s a Crowd but Four’s a Pajama Party

Summary: You and a few of the Avengers are quarantined after the events of chapter 1. You get to know Wanda and Peter a little better and after everyone goes to sleep, you talk to Steve into the early hours of the morning. Featuring Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Doctor Strange.

Word Count: 4346

a/n: Hello friends so sorry this took me approximately 3 decades to write but I’ve been super super busy with work before finals. It’s super long so I hope you like it, like I legit think its almost double as long chapter 1. I had a whole nother part that I thought was going to go at the end of this chapter but it was already so long so I decided to just make it its own chapter so that’ll come out next. Thanks for reading ily ily tell ya friends! (also in case you didn’t know, ‘six degrees of separation’ is a game where you have to connect one actor to another actor based on only movies people have acted together in. For example for John Krasinski to Chris Pine you could do John Krasinski to Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place, Emily Blunt to Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, and Meryl Streep to Chris Pine in Into the Woods.)

 Chapter 1   Chapter 3

--- 

“Hey kids, how was the drive up? Not too bad I hope. The flight was a breeze.” Tony walked into the lab room you were all in with a swagger that was unparalleled.

 After you, Wanda, Peter and Steve had arrived at the facility, you were escorted through a back entrance by people in hazmat suits to enter the lab through airtight doors and sealed tunnels. They put you in four separate but adjacent, clear, cube shaped rooms. The rooms were all touching so each of you shared two walls with two other people. Wanda was on one side of you, Steve was on the other, and Peter was diagonal. The observation cells were roomy, but vacant. Pretty much all each one had was a bed, a nightstand, a chair, and a door where food could be dropped off; however, it didn’t really seem like a come and go as you please type of situation.

 Steve walked up to the glass, “Let’s just say everything was much more convenient when we were still based in the city.”

 “Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter said raising his hand “I have a question.”

 “I thought I told you to stop it with the hand raising,”

 He looked at his hand and dropped it to his side. “Oh yeah, sorry. But I was wondering how we’re supposed to go to the bathroom since we’re, you know, imprisoned in glass rooms.”

 “Aw c’mon, you guys aren’t imprisoned, you’re just detained,” mocked Tony. Steve rolled his eyes. “And I think someone in a hazmat suit is supposed to come by every couple of hours to take you guys to a sterile bathroom or something. I don’t know, ask Banner. It’s his lab.”

 “I’ll be honest, this situation is not ideal.” Wanda huffed. That was a nice way to put it.

 “One more thing Mr. Stark,” Peter said, “I came here in my suit, it there anything else I could wear?”

 Tony grinned, “You know what? I have just the thing.” He walked across the room and opened a cabinet. He pulled out an Iron Man t-shirt with matching pajama pants. “How great are these, am I right?”

 “Yeah Mr. Stark, thank you…” That was obviously not Peter’s first choice of outfits.

 “You know what? You’re all getting them. You can hold onto them too. They’re yours. Cap you’re gonna look great in this. What size are you, small?” he put a pile of the clothes on a table. “Just get Bruce or someone to bring these to you guys when he comes back in.” He gestured a pair of finger guns and started towards the door.

 “Tony, wait!” Wanda called out and Tony spun around.

 “Yes dear?”

 She threw her hands up in exasperation, “Isn’t there a tv in here or something we could do to kill time?”

 “This is a laboratory, Wanda, not a play room.”

 “Oh come on, you’re Tony Stark!”

 “Yes, thank you. Why don’t you get to know our guest, do some team bonding or something? Sing kumbaya. That’s a thing people do, right?” with a flash of a smile Tony strolled out the room, leaving no time for a response.

 Your mind was completely blank. The past couple of hours had been such a whirlwind that you hardly felt like this was real life. You were locked in a room with three of the Avengers for who knows how long and nothing to do but sit in a chair and stare at the ceiling. Since for contamination reasons you guys had all been driven to the facility in separate cars, you hadn’t really gotten a chance to speak to anyone since Manhattan. You really wanted to get to know all of them but since you were the odd guy out, you were kind of hoping one of them would break the ice…

 “So Y/n,” Steve caught your attention from behind you, pulling up his chair and straddling it so he was sitting on it backwards, using the back as an armrest. You obviously didn’t know the guy, but it felt out of character; like he was trying to be edgy or something. “How in the world did you end up in the middle of that fight?”

 “You know, I was wondering the same thing.” You chuckled. You moseyed around the small area you were enclosed in and looked around. “I was just on my way back to my apartment when people started screaming so I went to check out what was going on and badda bing, badda boom, I’m in a glass cage next to Captain America in the Avengers facility.” You plopped down into your chair.

 “Badda bing, badda boom?” Peter raised his eyebrows. “Please. I saw you help that kid. You went out of your way to save him. It was awesome!”

 You shrugged it off, you were no hero, especially compared to them. “I was just trying to do the right thing; anyone would have done it.” You played with the hair tie around your wrist.

 “Except not anyone would have done it, because there were hundreds, literally like hundreds, of people who ran by that kid and didn’t do anything.” You glanced up at him and back down at your hair tie. “Well what about you guys? How did you all get there so fast?” you asked the group.

 “Steve and I were actually only there on business.” Wanda was sitting on the floor with her back against one of the glass walls. As she spoke, her eyes were trained on the chair – which she was levitating with her hands. That was going to take getting used to.

 “Lucky we were.” Steve chimed in.

 “And I was there because I live there.” You looked over to see that Peter was lying in a hammock made from his webbing. “Well in Queens at least, not Manhattan, but as you can see I have ways to get around. Speaking of, I gotta find a way to call my aunt and tell her I’m here, she’s gonna kill me.”

 “I seriously can’t believe you’re the spider guy!” you said, shaking your head in disbelief.

 “It’s Spiderman and what exactly is so unbelievable about it?” Peter put a hand on his chest in mock offence.

 You laughed, “No, I just mean ‘cause it’s awesome. But also, like if I saw you on the street I wouldn’t be like ‘that guy is for sure Spiderman’.”

 “Did you ever consider that maybe that’s the idea?”

 You thought about it for a second, “No,” you shrugged, and Wanda laughed.

 “But uh, Y/n,” Steve caught your attention. “Tell me about yourself.” He seemed genuinely interested. You had always heard that Captain America was such a nice guy and it really seemed like it was true. He was holding back a little smile and he had about the kindest eyes you had ever seen. And that isn’t even mentioning that he was completely beautiful and literally anatomically perfect.

 You opened your mouth to respond but before you could do so, the door to the lab swung open and a man who you recognized from the Avengers as Bruce Banner walked in the room. He looked nice, but also like he’d never been relaxed a day in his life; not at all Hulk-like.

 “Maybe later?” Steve said with a half-smile. You couldn’t wait until later.

 “Hey guys, sorry I took so long. I had to track down Strange and –” he looked behind him and saw that no one was following him. “He was just,” he peered back into the hallway. “He’s probably coming.”

 He made his way over to a cabinet. “We’ll have to start out by running a few tests and –” he opened the cabinet to reveal it was filled with t-shirts, posters, action figures, and mugs with Iron Man on them. He walked over to the wall and pressed a button, causing his voice to sound over the intercom: “Tony, would you please stop putting your merchandise in my labs?”. He walked away towards another set of cabinets when Tony’s voice came back over the speakers: “But Bruce, then I wouldn’t get to hear you complain about it.” Bruce rolled his eyes and began to rummage through a few other cabinets looking for something. He glanced up at you, “Sorry about Tony, he’s a bit of an… acquired taste.”

 “That’s an understatement!” Wanda interjected with her hands cupped around her mouth.

 “Anyway, I’m Bruce Banner.” He found what he was looking for and walked towards you.

 “I’m Y/n, Y/n Y/L/n.”

 “It’s nice to meet you Y/n. I’m sorry I can’t shake your hand but there’s the matter of the solid glass wall between us.”

 Peter snorted, “Oh come on Bruce, you of all people could break through this if you wanted.”

 “Steve too probably, since all he does is jump through plate glass windows.” Wanda teased.

 Steve massaged the bridge of his nose, “You two are too powerful when you’re together.”

 “Well actually this isn’t exactly normal glass.” Bruce continued, ignoring most of their commentary. It seemed like he had to be used to those kinds of interruptions by now. “This glass has been tested under hundreds of different circumstances that would cause most normal glass of the same thickness and size to break, and it held up. Including a trial with the other guy. So, you’re pretty secure.”

 “Or we’re pretty trapped,” Steve countered.

 Bruce shrugged, “Yeah.”

 Out of nowhere, a large orange circle began to appear in the middle of the lab, as if it was being drawn with a sparkler. With eyes bulging you looked from Avenger to Avenger to see if they had any reaction to it. They didn’t. Apparently, this was normal too. The circle got bigger and a moment later a man in a full hazmat suit stepped out.

 “I thought you were right behind me.” Said Bruce to the man.

 “I was, until I wasn’t.”

 Bruce scoffed it off and put what he was holding on a rolling tray table, walking it over to the man. “Y/n, this is Dr. Strange. He’s going to be running some basic tests on each of you and taking a blood sample.”

 Peter’s head shot up from he hammock, “Wait a minute, aren’t you not a doctor anymore or something?”

 Dr. Strange gave him a look that was Medusa level stone cold, “I’m taking your blood, not performing a craniotomy.”

 “Is the suit really necessary?” Steve said, flipping his chair around so that he was sitting in it normally with his forearms resting on his knees.

 “Sorry Cap, standard procedure.” Dr. Strange rolled the tray table towards the set of doors that led to your cubes.

 “Oh wait! One more thing,” Peter exclaimed. “While you’re out there, can you grab one of those pairs of Iron Man pajamas for me?”

 He looked over at the pajamas then back at Peter, “I suppose.”

 You’d been in these clothes all day and if you’d have known you were going to be quarantined for an undetermined amount of time in the Avengers facility, you would have worn something a little more comfortable. There was a lot worse you could be wearing than Iron Man pjs; “Could you actually grab a pair for me too?”

 “You know what? I could use some pajamas,” Wanda joined. “C’mon Steve, what about you? Three’s a crowd but four’s a pajama party”.

 “Thank you for the offer, but that’s gonna be a hard pass. The last thing I need is Tony walking around with a picture of me in pajamas with his face on them as his phone’s lock screen for the rest of his life. Because I’m absolutely positive that’s what would happen.”

 After grabbing the clothes, the doctor pushed through a couple of doors and a moment later he was clearing the airlock and entering your isolation chamber. He turned to move a few things around on his tray and before you knew what was happening, the legs of your bed grew a foot and a half like magic, so your legs were dangling off of it like a doctor’s office. Or maybe it was more like technology since you were dealing with a place Tony Stark built? But that guy did just walk into the room through a glowing circle that appeared out of nowhere…

 “So that portal thing was pretty cool,” you tried to break the ice. “Dr. Strange, right?”

 He pushed up your sleeve and wrapped the device around your arm to measure your blood pressure. “Yes.” He said not looking up from your arm. He was probably being short because he was busy doing your check up, but he seemed like a pretty to-the-point kind of guy anyway.

 You decided to keep trying. “Do you have a first name? Or do you just go by ‘Doctor’? Is ‘Doctor’ your first name?”

 He let out a small chuckle, no,  less than a chuckle. It was more just exhaling a little bit more through his nose, but it was something. “It’s Stephen.”

 “Stephen! Wow. Steven and Stephen: battle of the Steven’s,” you said glancing over your shoulder back at Steve, who seemed to be amused by your interaction. “So which one is the true Steven? Like the real Steven?” You looked back and forth between the two men. Dr. Strange unvelcroed the device and wordlessly tied a rubber tourniquet around your left arm, but Steve raised an eyebrow in thought. “Well, I was born first…”

 The doctor rolled the tray to the bed and situated himself in front of you. Without looking at anyone he said, “Well I have a PhD.” Both were irrefutable facts but there was something about a PhD that was an argument ending power move.

 “Yeah, also he can fly, and you’re just really fit.” Wanda pointed out to Steve.

 Doctor Strange picked up the syringe and stuck you with the needle to take your blood sample. Getting blood taken wasn’t normally your favorite thing, but you still had so many questions about this guy that you hardly noticed. “Alright but what about ‘Strange’?” You said making an air quote with your one free hand. “That can’t be your real last name.”

 Peter whipped his head around. “THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I SAID!”

 The doctor glared at Peter, “Aren’t you like, 12?”

 Wanda burst out laughing.

 He turned to her, “And you--”

 She put her hands up in innocence, “Hey, I haven’t said one word about you today except to hype you up as the superior ‘Stephen’.”

 He cocked his head, “Yet.”

 “Yet.” She leveled with him.

 He refaced you. “Anyway, yes it actually is my real last name. As a kid I was made fun of it constantly, so I do realize how… unusual it is.”

 “YOU WERE ABOUT TO SAY ‘STRANGE’!” Peter exclaimed.

 Wanda nodded her head, “He was totally about to say ‘strange’.”

 You laughed at their dynamic and turned to Stephen. “I honestly do think ‘Strange’ is such a cool last name though. Especially combined with the ‘Doctor’. It makes you sound like…”

 “Like a party magician.” Steve took the opportunity.

 “You know what, I wasn’t going to say that out of respect for the PhD, but I’ll be honest, if I hadn’t met you yet Stephen and a magician had walked up to me and introduced himself as ‘Doctor Strange’, I wouldn’t have questioned the name choice for a minute.”

 “Why can’t I walk into a room in this facility without being berated about something?” Stephen questioned removing the needle from your arm.

 Wanda stepped in to answer, “We’re not targeting you Strange. Actually, the only person in this room who hasn’t been flamed tonight is Y/n, and that just because we haven’t known her long enough to find anything flame-wothy yet!”

 “Flamable.” Peter offered.

 “Anything flammable yet!” Wanda re-finished.

 Bruce popped back into the conversation, “Yeah that’s why I’ve been staying out of this as much as possible.” He said motioning to the isolation chambers. “You can’t say anything; the young ones go for the jugular.”

 Stephen put a cotton ball and a Band-Aid over where the blood was taken and put your set of tools on the bottom shelf in an airtight container. “Alright, I guess I’ll just have to start being mean,” he said pulling out what he needed to go to the next person’s room and tossing the pajamas onto your bed.

 Wanda’s eyes widened, “Start?”

 “Should you really be mocking the person who is about to come at you with a needle?” he warned, rolling the cart towards the door he had come into your cell through.

 She made a heart with her index fingers and her thumbs, “Love you!”

 --- 

After Bruce and Stephen left with the samples and scans (was it cool or creepy that they could take scans of you just from your being in the cube?), things had been pretty boring in the laboratory. Wanda had taken to levitating things around the lab, but there’s only so many times you can do that before the boredom overcomes you. Peter still had his webbing to play around with and he could walk on the ceiling and everything, but even that had gotten old pretty fast.

 You and Wanda had played a few hand games for a bit like sticks and concentration, but you had to change the way the games were played since there was a glass wall between you. Steve and Peter talked for a while, though it was mostly just Steve answering Peter’s ridiculous questions about things he’s done over the years. You tried to get everybody to play six degrees of separation but it hadn’t really worked out since 1) Steve still wasn’t caught up on movie pop culture, 2) Wanda was from Sokovia and hadn’t seen a ton of American movies until she joined the Avengers, and 3) for a teenage who lived in one of the biggest cities in the world, Peter was about the least cultured person you had ever met (how had he never seen The Godfather?). You’d played 20 questions and the few games that Tony’s weird voice robot, FRIDAY, had in the system and after a while, the night had eventually wound down.

 Peter and Wanda had gone to sleep a few hours ago so all that was left was you and Steve. You were still wired from the crazy day, and Steve said he sometimes had insomnia. As the lights dimmed to adjust to the other two going to bed, Steve had turned to you. “So, it’s definitely later, tell me about yourself. Take two.”

 You had sat against the corners of your isolation chambers farthest from the other two but right next to each other, so you wouldn’t make too much noise. You were pretty sure FRIDAY made their cells turn soundproof when they went to sleep, but you still felt weird talking at full volume. For hours, you and Steve were sitting on the ground like little kids, with your backs against the glass, talking. You were really only less than a foot away from each other; if the glass wasn’t there, your shoulders would be touching.

 You had been talking about everything. You’d started by telling him about the basics. How you’d ended up in the city, where you’d grown up, a little about your family, but quickly pushed the conversation to talk about him. There was nothing you could say that would be half as interesting as anything that had ever happened to him. You talked about recent events, what it was like being in the Avengers, and he told you about some of the members: their backstories, their personalities, and what they could do (“So Bucky has a cybernetic metal arm, that’s a long story. And Natasha was a Russian spy, that’s also a long story. Also Vision was created from this thing called the mind stone combining with the old version of FRIDAY called JARVIS, and he can fly and walk through walls and stuff. That one, I don’t even really know where to start”).

 He’d told you he has a running list of everything that he needed to catch up on, so you’d started giving him movie recommendations (“You can’t only watch good movies, Steve. I wholeheartedly believe that bad movies are just as important to forming our culture”). Your favorite part, though, had been the little questions. Things like ‘what’s your favorite color?’ or ‘tell me about your mom?’ or even ‘if you could punch any one person in the world, who would you pick?’. You each must have asked dozens, if not hundreds. Talking to him came so easy that the hours were flying by. You we’re joking with each other and telling secrets and it was just so comfortable. He would yawn and stretch his arms and in the dim light his cheekbones looked razor sharp, you only wished the glass wasn’t preventing you from reaching out and touching him. Your eyelids were heavy but how on earth could you close your eye on this perfect person?

 Steve’s eyes turned up and he whispered to the air “Hey FRIDAY, what time is it?”

 “It is 2:13 a.m.” the voice responded.

 “Wow, 2:13.” Steve said, shaking his head in disbelief. He turned back to you. “We’ve been talking for hours.”

 “I know, it’s insane” you laughed softly. “You know what else is kind of insane? This—FRIDAY.” You motioned in the air.

 “Yeah, I’d definitely say it takes some getting used to.” Steve sat up from the glass wall and scooted his body, so he was sitting crossed legged, facing you.

 “You know what it reminds me of? Did you ever see—Never mind, there’s no way you could have seen it. But there was this Disney Channel Original Movie when I was growing up called Smart House and it was like exactly like FRIDAY. Well not exactly but you know.” You turned and mirrored the way Steve was sitting. “Anyway, long story short, in the movie the house basically tries to become the family’s mom and obviously chaos ensues. There’s this iconic party scene and I’m pretty sure there’s like a tornado or something in the house at one point, and its great, you have to watch it. Add it to your list.”

 Steve chuckled, “Alright, well I’ll definitely add that to the top of the list.”

 You pointed at him “You promise?”

 He put his hands up faux-defensively, “I promise.” There was a moment of comfortable silence. He looked down into his lap, then off to the side. “Now, I don’t know how early Banner is going to be back in here, so I’d better let you get some sleep.” Steve stood up off the ground.

 “Okay but don’t say ‘you’d better let me get some sleep’ like I haven’t also been talking to you non-stop for 4 hours,” You laughed, standing up.

 Steve smiled and walked over to his bed, “Goodnight Y/n.”

 You smiled back, “Goodnight Steve.”

 You sat on your bed and tied your hair up with the hair tie on your wrist. You normally had no problem ending your nights by watching Netflix or reading a book, but ending your night talking to Steve Rogers for hours certainly wasn’t too bad either. You laid down, pulled the covers up to your neck, and turned onto your side.

 “Hey Y/n,” Steve whispered, and your eyes fluttered open. It was now pitch black in the room and you couldn’t see him as you suspected that FRIDAY had adjusted the lights since everyone was in bed.

 “Yeah?”

 There was a pause. “Would… you want to watch it with me?”

 You thanked god that it was so dark that he couldn’t see you blushing and grinning. ‘Watching Disney Channel Original Movies with Captain America’ sounded more like an answer on a dating game show than a real thing that could happen in your near future. And how insane was it that Steve would even want to hang out with you in the first place? You felt butterflies just thinking about it.

 “I can never say no to a good movie,” you replied. You settled into your bed and snuggled into your pillow to, hopefully, dream about Steve Rogers.

--- 

You were awoken when the lights in the lab clicked on, sensing somebody walk into the room. In through the swinging double doors came Bruce, Tony, and Stephen. You sat up and sleepily rubbed your eyes. Considering this was just a bed in a cell in a laboratory, and you had gone to bed so late, you had gotten a pretty good night of sleep. Part of that could be due to the fact that you had been talking to dreamy dreamboat Steve Rogers for hours before you went to bed. You looked over at Steve who apparently (and god bless) slept shirtless. Was it possible that he looked even better after he’d been asleep for hours and had serious bed-head? You know what? Not only was is possible, you were sure he did. He looked back at you and sent you a soft smile as he ran his hand through his hair. You smiled back and quickly turned back to the men who’d just walked in. You really needed to get better at staring at people.

 Wanda pushed herself up onto her elbows, “Three geniuses walk into a lab…”

 Tony leaned on a counter. “Well I know I’m a genius Wanda, but these guys?” Stephen and Bruce both shot him glares, Stephen’s a little colder than Bruce’s. You didn’t think Bruce really had it in him to be all that cold to anyone.

 “Let’s not play this game Mr. Stark,” Stephen said, still glaring at Tony.

 “I’m sorry, didn’t mean to push any buttons Doctor, what was it, Weird? Doctor Weird?”

 “Anyway,” Bruce said, stepping between the two men. “We have some good news and some neutral news.” Now that caught your attention. “What do you want to hear first?”

 --- 

Chapter 3

---

Tagged Blogs:

@avengerleague

@thewhinersoldier

@breeisnotamazingx

@writings-and-stuff

[d3ndroica]

Big Apple 5

Part 1     Part 2    Part 3    Part 4    

They traded texts. Sometimes the other was busy, and no reply would come, or replies were so sporadic it didn’t amount to much. But every few days or so, there would be an actual conversation. Usually it wasn’t about anything important. Something a roommate did, a news story, or some other random topic.  

It was Friday. Madge was bored, waiting for cells to incubate in the lab so she could finish an assay. She had time to kill. Her thoughts had strayed to something that had needled her. She picked up her phone. Set it down. Picked it up.

Madge 4:14pm So I have a question

Gale 4:17pm um ok? Madge 4:17pm So. Do you have a different safety text if you like, bring someone home? Or go home with someone else?

Gale 4:20pm hot date?

Madge 4:21pm ha. No really it makes sense right? What if something happens

Gale 4:22pm  um dont take someone home if you’re worried about your safety

Madge 4:23pm Right. Because rape only happens in back alleys with strangers. Or I could just join a nunnery so then i’ll never have to worry about my safety ever again anyway

Gale 4:24pm that would be shakespearean level tragic (the nunnery part, rape is always tragic) You’re talking a whole new level of safety text i hadn’t thought  of. I guess you could have suffix emojis? There’s always 🍆 and 🌮  If you wanted to share that info

Madge 4:26pm  Holy shit really? I’m at work you know

Gale 4:27pm  yeah i’m working too who cares what did you think I would say?

Madge 4:27pm IDK I never understood the 🌮 thing   I mean, why not a good old fashioned pussy right? 😻

Gale 4:28pm   Are your coworkers reading your texts? Tell them I want to eat your 😻 See how maybe could be taken the wrong way Do you know how many people have pet cats?

Sometimes he did this. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was or if it was even on purpose. Flirting because it was just normal to him. Teasing her. Whatever it was, she tried to ignore it. She really did. Unsuccessfully, because holy shit. And it seemed to be escalating. And maybe she wanted it, and that was why she brought up things like  🌮 versus  😻. But still. It was a dangerous game to play with someone she couldn’t date.

Madge 4:29pm  OMG you are nuts so, I get the pet cat thing  But tacos are a thing too  Like taco tuesday? I love taco tuesday, and I might want to invite people to eat actual tacos  I could probably talk my roomie into it, she’s all about her latinx heritage I should be able to use 🌮 without people thinking it’s a come on

Gale 4:29pm um yeah “come eat my 🌮🌮” is probably a bad way to invite people to dinner

Gale 4:32pm  🍒?  And don’t say you want to invite people over to eat cherries I thought you didn’t use emojis

Madge 4:35pm Hey I’m learning the local ways. Gotta try to fit in in a new city right?  Well there’s no pie emoji anyway is there? So I guess I’d have to settle for typing out words.

Gale 4:36pm  words  what are those  that sounds impossible 🙄  almost as bad as phone calls

Madge 4:36pm ha right. phone calls. Cressida talks on the phone a lot actually, it’s weird. Maybe autocorrect cant handle multilingual convos? OR MAYBE it’s because she can’t text people about 🌮!  Shit that sounds racist.  😳 It is funny though That there are people all over town sending texts about their 🍆🍆 and 🌮🌮    Like sex is so embarrassing we can’t admit is what we want Also now i want tacos

Gale 4:39pm Didn’t this all start because you wanted an emoji for sex

Madge 4:40pm huh Wait, no. I mean, yes it applies to sex. But it’s broader than that. The whole safety text thing makes sense. I mean I get it, going out drinking, dancing, big city, late nights. There are some risks there and so when those risks don’t apply, you say so. And it’s more fun than a bunch of “home safe” messages. I never said sex. You made it about sex.

Gale 4:42pm  You can say what you want but I know you’re just looking for a sex emoji. Why else would you be going home with someone at 2am?

Madge 4:44pm I just want to understand the protocols here. Like, if I am safely to where I will be for the night but it’s not home? Do I include that? Is there a second safety text in the morning? Or if someone comes home with me, that’s like, an additional risk factor. With or without the sex. So fine let’s assume it’s for sex, then it’s a bit braggadocious to be like “🖕⛄️ 🐸 I’m about to have sex now”

Gale 4:45pm  Braggadocious????????? Are you kidding me?? You and your big words don’t steal my emojis 🖕⛄️ 🐸  = MINE and isn’t it still bragging no matter how you say it?

Gale 4:48pm isn’t this whole thing dehumanizing anyway? Just send 👩‍❤️‍ 👩 or 👩‍❤️‍ ❤️‍👨 or whatever. no sex needed. for the record from now on I want to be referred to as 🤵🏽

Madge 4:49pm lol You know that’s supposed to be a groom like for a wedding right?

Gale 5:16pm you want  🌮🌮 tonight?

Madge 5:19pm Yes Dammit.

Gale 5:22pm <link1> or <link2> your pick

Madge clicked on the links. One was for “street taco” and the other was for a lesbian bar called “cubbyhole.”  Thank God her phone was not on the office wifi.

Madge 5:25pm Haha so funny Meet @ 9? I’m stuck here awhile.

Gale 5:26pm deal  I’ve always wanted to go to cubbyhole you think they’ll let me in if I’m with you?

When Madge arrived at “Street Taco” which was actually a festively decorated sit-down taqueria, the place was packed. Gale was already there, hunched near the doorway waiting for a table and looking at his phone. Wearing layers starting with a button-down collared shirt, followed by a dark sweater, and ending with a winter coat, he looked different, practically cleancut. Suddenly she felt a wave of shyness, but she threw that feeling aside, walked over and nudged his elbow.

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Hey,” he said with a small smile, still typing something with his thumbs. A moment later he pocketed the phone.

“Why do people eat so late here?” She grumbled.

“Because nobody works 9 to 5 in this city?” Gale suggested. “Congratulations - looks like you’re becoming a New Yorker. Why were you at work so late on a Friday night anyway?”

“Typical lab work,” Madge said. She started to explain but the hostess had buzzed Gale’s phone. Their table was ready. 

Once they were seated Gale looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you’ve given up on the librarian look already?” he questioned.

She bit back a smile. “I’m just saving it for work now. It’s amazing how effective a frumpy cardigan and sneakers can be. That, and I’m wearing a lab coat half the time anyway.” Now that he’d shed his winter coat, she realized why he looked different. He’d gotten a haircut.

“Right, lab coats. What were you saying about work?”

Madge tried to explain it briefly. “So, we have a lot of protocols that require incubation periods between each step. Some stages can sit overnight and others can’t so you work out the best schedule but there are always long days. I’m actually lucky I haven’t had to go in on the weekend yet.”

“Well I guess finding the cure for cancer isn’t going to be easy,” Gale joked.

Madge groaned. “You did not just say that.”

“What?”

Madge retorted. “The Cure for cancer? Are you serious? So, that’s a total misconception. There is no research targeting *quote* A cure for cancer. It’s not one disease. It’s a whole bunch of diseases that are lumped together.” She huffed and counted on her fingers,”Lymphomas and leukemias and sarcomas and tumors just for a start - and none of those are just one disease with a simple cure waiting to be found either.”

“Okay,” Gale replied.

Madge realized she was rambling and on her soapbox but she couldn’t stop herself. “It’s just one of those things that people don’t get and it’s really frustrating. I mean, telling people I work on pharmaceutical effects on the cellular regulation of apoptosis in diseased cells it would make no sense to anyone outside the field.” Proof in point, she knew from his expression it meant nothing to him. She continued, “so I say, hey I work on cancer drugs, but then people get this idea that we’re gonna find some magical solution that cures everything and that’s not how it works.”

Gale smirked. “Definitely not easy then.”

“Fine. I shouldn’t have brought it up anyway,” Madge frowned. “It’s just been a long day.”

“Well, I like you explaining it. Even if it sounds like greek to me. I don’t know jack about that stuff.”

They checked out the menu and ordered food. It didn’t take long to get their food, which slowed down the conversation. Gale asked how things were going with her phone-obsessed roommate, but really Madge had no complaints about Cressida. They didn’t even interact that much, at least not yet. Gale apparently had two roommates in a 3-bedroom apartment. They’d all met playing soccer and apparently got on fairly well.

“Have you seen Thom lately?” Madge asked. Thom had asked her all about Gale and what she thought after their last dinner together. Eventually Madge had told him he should just talk to Gale if he was so curious. She couldn’t see Thom and Gale together now, despite their history, but she felt maybe she owed it to Thom to pry a bit.

“We talked last week I think,” Gale guessed, sounding casual.  “I take it you two are pretty close?”

“Yeah, you know, college bonding. Late nights. We’ve both needed someone ..  He’s my guy, you know? I mean, my platonic guy friend guy. Obviously.”

“How did you meet him?” he asked.

“Theater program. I worked tech backstage,” she explained. “So we were in the same dorm freshman year but we really bonded during A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum that spring.”

“Only backstage?” He was teasing her. “Did you figure you’d had your 15 minutes of fame? Princess?” 

Madge rolled her eyes. “Funny. So my acting coach for the pageants told me my acting was ‘pedestrian’ and I guess I decided that was a good thing. Backstage was more fun anyway. Like in Forum, Thom didn’t have that big a role, so he had lots of time to hang out backstage.”

“And you’ve been BFFs ever since?” Gale joked. 

“Sort of. I don’t think either one of us realized it when school ended. We just knew it was sad to go home. Then we talked all the time that summer. I had some stuff going on and he came out to his family, so I guess it was a pretty eventful year.”

“Was it hard for him? Coming out?”

Madge shrugged. “I guess so, yeah. Isn’t it always? He can tell you. But I don’t think his parents were that surprised? It was more the extended family.” Madge felt a little uncomfortable talking about Thom’s outing, so she turned the tables. “It’s gotta be tough though. I mean, you’ve been there. Was yours hard?”

Gale paused. “Well, yeah. Coming out was hard. You stand on the precipice so many times before you finally just do it, because no matter what your mom says, you’ve heard all this shit about it being a choice and burning in hell. School, church, fucking little league coaches.” Gale sighed. “I hoped it would be easier for Thom though. He was so sure of who he was and you know, the whole theater thing. I just felt like I was lost in the woods, waiting for some sign.  We barely knew gay people existed in high school. Where we came from, we’d never even heard the word bisexual, let alone pan. It was confusing. Took me awhile to figure out that I didn’t have to choose gay or straight.”

Madge almost choked on her taco. “You’re -” she cut herself off. PAN! Pansexual! Her mind screamed it at her. In all honesty she wasn’t sure exactly what that meant but she was pretty sure it was something like bisexual. There was no way she was going to admit her ignorance now. Plus he’d just laid down some pretty serious stuff and her first reaction was to his orientation. Not cool. Quickly she tried to cover. “I mean, yeah. That sucks. You came out as pan though? I just didn’t think about you coming out. As pan. To your family. Are they ...” She paused to take a long sip of her drink. “Are they supportive?”

“I’m so blessed there,” Gale had apparently been distracted enough by everything else he’d just said to realize that being pan was a revelation to her. “My mom,” he told her, “is amazing. It was definitely hard for her - I mean she is deeply religious and by then I’d brought home a few girlfriends. She’s 100% supportive though. She tries so much.”

“That’s good,” Madge said weakly. She was getting way too much new information here and was having trouble keeping up.

After a minute Gale added, “you’re right though. I think a lot of pan people only ever come out partway. They say they’re bi or gay or straight, if they can. But when I finally figured out that there was a name for my feelings, I couldn’t give that up.”

“Right,” Madge agreed. “You shouldn’t have to. It’s like Thom says. You do you.” 

[elvendara]

Dr. Yoosung Kim Ch 7

Yooran Fanfic List

Yoosung opened the door and smiled like an idiot when he saw Saeran standing there. He’d invited him over for dinner. Saeran held a bouquet of flowers and awkwardly held them out towards him.

“These are for you, MC said I should bring you something, I don’t drink so, I couldn’t bring wine, um, it’s silly, isn’t it?” Saeran pulled back the bouquet, his face crestfallen.

“No! I love them!” he reached out and yanked them out of Saeran’s hands, turning to find something to put them in. Saeran walked in and closed the door. “You can hang your coat up behind the door.” Yoosung sent over his shoulder. Saeran turned and saw the hooks. Yoosung’s lab coat was on one and a blue, well used hoodie on another. He took his leather jacket off and hung it over the third hook.

“It smells amazing.” Saeran was nervous, he’d never been to Yoosung’s apartment, it was large. Not as big as Saeyoung’s house, but, that was to be expected. He liked the openness of it.

“I hope it tastes as good.” Yoosung shot back, he’d found a vase his sister had given him and had placed the flowers in it, filling it with water. He placed it in the center of the round kitchen table. “Perfect! I should thank MC when I finally meet her.” Yoosung pointedly stated. He’d been pressing Saeran to introduce him to his family, but, Saeran had not been very receptive.

“Uh, yeah.” Was Saeran’s noncommittal answer.

Yoosung sighed, he gave Saeran a quick peck on the lips, “Thank you.” He sighed, Saeran blushed, stroking Yoosung’s arm. “Why don’t you make yourself at home, I’m just finishing up.”

Saeran nodded and reluctantly let Yoosung go. He knew he was being stubborn, but, he wanted to tell Yoosung everything about himself before he introduced him to Saeyoung and MC. He didn’t want to worry about something slipping out that Yoosung was unaware of. He was extremely nervous. He had decided tonight he would tell Yoosung about his anxiety and his medical and mental issues. He had a right to know. A right to have all the facts before choosing to either stay with Saeran, or walk away. He was terrified that Yoosung would choose the latter, but he hoped he wouldn’t. He couldn’t imagine his life without Yoosung now. He took a deep breath and scanned the large room.

The sofa and love seat were roomy and well used. There was a floor to ceiling bookshelf next to the mid-sized television. Saeran scanned the title covers of the books, most of them were vet related, but several were of what he assumed was some sort of video game. LOLOL, he pulled one out, it was comprised of vibrant artwork of incredible races and environments, dragons and monsters. He chuckled and placed the book back. Yoosung really was a nerd. He vaguely recalled that Saeyoung had talked about this particular game.

There was a thin line of dust on everything, Yoosung must not use his TV very often. He moved over to a buffet table under a myriad of photos, in the center was what appeared to be Yoosung’s graduation photo. His smile was from ear to ear. There was a shorter woman on his left, arm in arm, that must be his mother. On his right was a man, also shorter than Yoosung, that must be his father, Saeran could see the resemblance. A young woman was behind and between Yoosung and his mother, arms around them both. He cocked his head, was that a sister? He hoped so.

“Ah, yeah, when I moved in my mom made my dad put those up.” Yoosung explained from the kitchen. “That’s my family, my mom and dad, older sister too.” Saeran let out a sigh of relief. He shook his head, he was being silly. Yoosung was with him, he wanted to be with him. He lowered his eyes to the frames on the table picking one up. It was a much younger Yoosung, with dark hair, his purple eyes popped against the darker hair.

“Why do you color your hair?” he asked, liking the way Yoosung looked in his natural color.

“Oh, well, when I graduated from high school a lot of things happened, and, I guess I wanted a change. Plus, I thought girls would like me more if I had blonde hair.” He laughed.

“Did they?” Saeran called over his shoulder.

“Sadly, no. But, then again, I guess I’m glad now.” Saeran half turned to look at the blonde. Even though he could only see his profile, he could see that Yoosung was blushing. He decided not to comment. Saeran was glad too.

“Will you ever let it grow out? It looks good on you. Not that I hate the blonde.” he quantified.

“Maybe. Probably, it’s just so much work for no real reason.”

Saeran set the frame down and picked up another. Yoosung was in the center, but he looked sad, behind him was a tall dark-haired man with a stern look, he wondered who he was.

“Any more trouble with the spray painter?” Saeran asked, knowing full well that Saeyoung and he had taken care of that indefinitely. He grinned remembering Bethany’s reaction to the videos.

“No, none.” He giggled, “In fact, my clients have all been incredibly kind, telling me how supportive they are. One woman, who I think is at least 90 years old, told me all about her lesbian experiences when she was young and that if dick is what I wanted, then dick is what I should get!” Yoosung laughed.

“Seriously?” Saeran turned to him, laughing as well.

“I kid you not! I tried to cut her off several times, but she wasn’t having it.”

“Well? Is dick what you want?” Saeran teased.

“Maybe.” Yoosung said after several seconds of silence.

Saeran was about to respond when his eyes fell on another photo frame. He reached out to it and gently grasped it in a trembling hand. Yoosung stood next to a blonde-haired woman. They both were in the middle of laughter, Yoosung’s arm around her shoulder. She was much younger, but, he knew that face, he knew those eyes, he knew them very well. He dropped the frame as if it had burned him. He turned to Yoosung who had stepped towards him when he’d dropped the photo.

“What is it?” Yoosung asked, concern seemingly in his eyes.

“Who are you?” Saeran shrieked at him. Yoosung was taken aback at the venom that now dripped from Saeran’s words. “Who are you!” he screamed again. “Why did she send you? What does she want from me? Leave me alone!” he backed away from Yoosung and hit the back of the loveseat. He twirled and slipped on the wood floor, falling to his knees, holding himself up with a hand on the loveseat. Yoosung tried to grab his arm to help him up. Saeran went feral. He slapped Yoosung away, falling on his ass and scooting away. “Don’t touch me! Don’t fucking touch me!”

Yoosung pulled back, tears springing into his eyes. He was so confused. What did he do? What had he done? What should he do now? “Saeran! I…what…”

There were tears streaming down Saeran’s cheeks, his eyes were wide and terrified, he was screaming incoherently. He scrambled onto his hands and knees and made it to the door, he flung it open and dived through it. Yoosung followed slowly, Saeran had made it to the end of the hall but had collapses next to the elevator, scrunching himself against the corner. He had dropped his phone and was pulling on his hair, periodically slamming his head against the wall and still screaming. Yoosung approached him gingerly, he reached out to the phone and noticed that he had tried to call his brother. He hit the call button and it began to ring on the other end. Yoosung was trying to hold it together, but he was losing it too. He tried to comfort Saeran but he kicked out at him and screeched once more. The neighbors began to open their doors to see what the commotion was.

“Shut him the hell up or I will.” One of them said roughly.

“Hey bro! Did you tank the date already?” a voice answered the phone and laughed good naturedly.

“Um…” Yoosung muttered.

“Who is this? Where’s Saeran?”

“Stay away from me! Don’t touch me! What do you want? Why? Why? Fucking tell me!!!! Ahhhhhh….!!!!!!”

“What happened?” Saeyoung yelled.

“I…I don’t’ know…he…just…I don’t know what to do, he won’t let me touch him.”

“He has pills on him, try to get him to take one. I’m on my way, just, keep him calm.” Yoosung heard a myriad of noises from the phone, he knew that Saeyoung was probably running out.

“He, he won’t let me near him, and, um, the address is…”

“I know the address Yoosung, just, ugh, ok, sing, can you sing? It calms him sometimes.” Saeyoung sounded frantic. “I have to hang up, just do your best, I’ll be there in less than five minutes!” he didn’t wait for an answer.

Yoosung lowered the phone, sing? His mind scrambled for a song, any song….

“Can you hearrrrrr, my heart beat?” he began tentatively, his voice cracking.

“Tired of feeling, never enough.” His voice picked up strength and he did indeed notice a slight difference in Saeran’s body.

“I, close my eyes, tell myself that my dreams will come true!” he sang louder, feeling ridiculous, but wanting to help Saeran. Suddenly there was the strumming of a guitar behind him, he snapped his head around, one of his neighbors was walking slowly towards them, a guitar strapped around her. She played softly and nodded her head for him to continue. He gave her a grateful glance and turned back to Saeran.

“There’ll be no more darkness when you believe in, yourself you are unstoppable, where your destiny lies, dancing on the blades you set my, heart, on, fire!” Saeran’s incoherent screeching stopped, his breathing was still harsh and he still pulled on his hair painfully, but he no longer slammed his head against the wall.

“Don’t stop us now, the moment of truth, we were, born to make history, we’ll make it happen, we’ll turn it around, yes, we were, born to make history.” He kept singing, the only song he could fully remember, thank you Yuri On Ice for such a memorable intro.

Before long the elevator opened and a man who looked just like Saeran, except for the different colored eyes and glasses, stepped out. His eyes widened when he saw Saeran in the corner.

“Saeran!” Saeyoung knelt next to him, grasping his wrists and pulling his hands out of his hair.

Saeran looked at him in despair, his eyes wide and frightened.

“Where’s his jacket?” he asked Yoosung.

“It…it’s in my apartment.” Yoosung pointed towards his still open door. The neighbors were still standing in the hallway, but Saeyoung ignored them.

“I’ll be right back ok? I’m just going to get your pills. Will you be ok?” Saeran nodded miserably, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around his legs, forehead against his knees. He was still sobbing, but quietly now.

Saeyoung stood and grabbed Yoosung, dragging him back to the apartment. Yoosung went willingly, he felt useless, confused, and exhausted. They entered the apartment and Saeyoung let him go, he scanned the room, looking for Saeran’s jacket. His eyes zeroed in on the scattered photo frames on the buffet table against the wall. He stepped towards it.

“What happened?” he asked Yoosung.

“I…I don’t know!” Yoosung wailed, feeling his own anxiety rising. “Everything was going fine, I…I was almost done with dinner, he, he was looking at my photos and then, ahh…” he chest burned as he recalled the look on Saeran’s face, a look he’d never given Yoosung before. He never wanted to see it again. He hugged himself, his breath hitching, he could barely breathe.

“Don’t fall apart on me too, I need you!” Saeyoung walked back to Yoosung, a man he had not even met yet and snapped his fingers in front of his face. He couldn’t afford for Dr. Kim to crumble as well.

Yoosung took a deep breath and stood up straight, Saeran needed him.

“Good, now, this is what he was looking at?” Saeyoung motioned to the pictures and Yoosung nodded. “What are they?” “Me, my family, that’s all.” Yoosung whispered. Saeyoung picked up the one frame that was face down, his heart thumped through his chest and his eyes blazed at the image. How? He turned back to Yoosung, holding the frame up, ‘Who is this?” he demanded. Yoosung was taken aback by the vehemence in his tone and the fire in his eyes.

“Mmm…me…and…mmm…my cousin…Rika…that’s all.”

“Your cousin?” he asked.

“Ye..yes…but…she…she died years ago!” Saeyoung’s head snapped up, his eyes throwing daggers into his.

“What?” he flung the frame down and it shattered on the hard wood floor. The sound broke through Saeyoung’s fuzziness. “I…I’m sorry Yoosung, The…the jacket, where is it?” he asked.

“Behind the door.” Yoosung was more confused, why had both brothers reacted so violently to a picture of him and his dead cousin. “I, what, did you know her?” he asked. Saeyoung flicked his gaze at Yoosung then walked past him to gather Saeran’s jacket.

“Saeran should explain, I’m sorry, really I am, thank you for taking care of him.”

He was about to walk out when Saeran burst in, he grabbed Yoosung’s shirt in his fists and shoved him backwards over the sofa. Yoosung grasped his wrists and tried to stay on his feet. Saeran’s eyes were crazed and unfocused.

“Tell me! Tell me what she wants! Why can’t she leave me alone?! Why did she send you?! Why?! Why would you lie to me?! How could you…how…I…I…” he pushed him away and yanked on his hair again, snot fell from his nose, spit dribbled from his mouth, his eyes were big, round, and red, still leaking tears. “Why would you help her?” He moaned.

“Saeran, don’t, he, he doesn’t know!” Saeyoung tried to calm his brother, but Saeran screamed in his face.

“How could he not?! He, he used me!” he turned to Yoosung once more and yanked off his shirt. “Look at it! All of it!” he turned in front of Yoosung and Yoosung gasped. Saeran’s body was riddled with scars, most appeared to be cuts, but a few seemed like bullet wounds. His hands went to his mouth, what agony had Saeran been through?

“This is what she did to me! Is that what you want? Do you want to hurt me too?” he screamed at Yoosung, spit flying from his mouth. Yoosung could only shake his head negatively.  

“Saeran…I...” he reached out to the man who only flinched away, as if he thought Yoosung was going to hit him. Saeyoung stepped between them. He grabbed his hand and slapped a pill into it.

“Take it! Now!” Saeran quieted enough to stare at his brother, he glanced at the pill and tossed it into his mouth. Saeyoung helped him put his shirt back on. He began to lead Saeran out.

“I…I’ll call you later.” Saeyoung called over his shoulder. He walked out with Saeran and left Yoosung stuttering and shaking in his apartment. He hiccupped and slid onto the floor. He stared at the shattered picture frame and Rika’s smiling face.

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