#i’m so close to gettin that fuckin eye surgery

[sistarstarly]

my fuckin EYES

[miracleonice87]

maybe you’re really warm for Seggy?

a/n: is this one kinda a self-insert bc these are the things I wanna tell him before he comes back? yup. I know y’all won’t mind 😇 set present-day. this wraps up the blurbs from the most recent prompt list I posted. thanks for helping me get some motivation back to work on my wips! 🤗

“You’re really warm.” with Tyler Seguin

Spring had sprung in Dallas, and you and Tyler were thriving being back in the mild climate — a welcome change from the bone-chilling winter you’d endured in Toronto while he went through his post-surgery rehab. You were thrilled to be home, not only because it meant that Tyler was that much closer to getting back on the ice, but also because you’d missed your familiar routine in Dallas, especially the nights spent just the two of you, most always uninterrupted, unlike in Toronto where it wasn’t unusual for a stray sister or parent or childhood friend to stop by unannounced. And while you loved them all, you both treasured your time alone together, too.

Nights like tonight, when it was just you two and the dogs around the firepit on a cloudless spring night, were sure to be fewer and further between when Tyler was back to playing shape. But for now, you were making it a point to soak up every last one while you could.

After pulling on a worn crewneck and an old pair of gym shorts, pulled from the back of your closet where your summer clothes had been tucked away since last fall, you coaxed lazy Marshall through the open sliding glass door to join you in the backyard, and Tyler laughed as he watched the old labrador follow you reluctantly out of the house.

“I feel you, Marsh,” Tyler said as the dog laid down next to his chaise lounge with a sigh. He reached down to scratch behind the dog’s ears. “It’s tough gettin’ old.”

You smiled as you approached, two beers in hand as you offered one to Tyler.

“Thanks, baby,” he said, then a smirk crossed his face. “Damn, I got you back in booty shorts and you’re servin’ me beer, too? This is the fuckin’ life,” he mused, waggling his brows.

You scoffed, smacking his chest lightly as you pushed your knee against his leg, which he took as his cue to make room for you on the chaise.

“And you wanna cuddle, too?” he asked playfully, as if you ever didn’t want to cuddle with him. He opened his legs and pulled you to sit between them. “Damn, I am one lucky man.”

“I’m only cuddling with you because you’re really warm,” you quipped as you settled against his chest with a shiver. “I thought I was ready to transition back to shorts but now I’m regretting that decision.”

Tyler chuckled and kissed the crown of your head. “Well, I’m not,” he replied, squeezing your thighs. “Show me all the skin, baby.”

You laughed loudly, the sound piercing through the muted quiet of the night. “Shut up,” you joked, hooking an elbow up and around his neck. “How was therapy today?”

Tyler folded his forearms across your shoulders, his hold heavy and comforting on your chest as your fingers reached up to smooth over the soft cotton of his hoodie sleeve.

“Good. Feel good,” he answered. “They’re still saying I’m on track to be back three or four weeks from now, so I guess I’ll take that.”

“Few more weeks and you’ll be back and better than ever,” you announced with a proud grin, your hand resting on his chest as you mindlessly played with the strings of his hoodie.

Tyler chuckled again, but it wasn’t lost on you how the sound was devoid of any humor this time.

“Maybe,” he mumbled, half-hoping you wouldn’t hear.

But you did — of course you did — and you pressed your lips together tightly, closing your eyes as you drew a deep breath. You wiggled to sit up straight in his hold before turning to face him, resting your hands on his thighs. He was busying himself with silently studying the label of his beer bottle, turning the amber glass in a slow circle against the arm of the chair. His lips pursed, he didn’t meet your eyes.

You rubbed your palms against his legs, trying again but failing again to gain his attention.

“Hey,” you spoke softly. “Look at me, T.”

Eventually, Tyler did, his eyes noticeably darker than they were when you first joined him outside — now clouded with a familiar fog, one you knew to be the haze of self-doubt and the fear of failing.

You reached out your hand to cup his jaw, stroking his beard with your thumb. He still didn’t look you in the eye for more than a second at a time. But you were going to say what you needed to say anyway.

“I’m really proud of you, you know that?” you told him. When he showed no signs of any outward reaction, you continued. You were used to this — some days it was you who needed the pep talk, the gentle reminder that you maybe didn’t give yourself enough credit, and some days it was him.

Tonight, it was him.

“You’ve worked so hard to come back, baby,” you said earnestly, your hand resting flush against his neck now, pressing at the tight knots in it as you felt him begin to relax against your touch. “I’ve seen that more than anybody else, you know? In Toronto and here in Dallas, I’ve seen how insanely hard you’ve pushed yourself to come back stronger. So no matter what happens, I’m proud of you for that. I so admire you for it.”

Tyler bit his bottom lip as he met your gaze hesitantly.

“Yeah?” he spoke quietly.

You nodded. “Yes, baby,” you replied soberly. “And trust me, I’m so excited to see you back on the ice, and I truly do believe that you’re gonna be amazing. But no matter what happens, your performance doesn’t define you. What matters is that you’re healthy, first and foremost, and that you work your ass off and compete, night in and night out. And you’re Tyler fucking Seguin, so of course you’re going to do that. It’s who you are. I have every confidence in that. In you.”

Slowly, Tyler slumped forward against you, not often softening to the point of wanting to be held. You gathered him into your arms and buried a few lengthy kisses in his soft curls.

“I love you,” he whispered against your neck, gratitude dripping from his words like honey.

You smiled. “I love you.”

[boogiewrites]

Choking On Sapphires 79

Characters: Alfie Solomons x Genevieve (OFC)

Title & Song: Baddest Man Alive

Summary:  Alfie takes revenge out on London. He opens up a bit to Tommy about how he feels about the lives they lead and what it means for the women that they’re with. Genevieve wakes. Song is Baddest Man Alive by The Black Keys.

Warnings/Tags: Fluff. Language. Canon typical violence. References to sexual assault and violence. Injury. Vengeful Alfie. Fluff. Alfie and Tommy conversations. 

Click on my icon then go to my Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. (Had to do this since Tumblr killed links, sorry.) Please like, comment and reblog if you enjoyed it! It helps out us writers A LOT!

Alfie bursts into the best hospital he knows in London with absolutely no grace or manners to his entrance. As soon as Arthur clears the way with the doors he's shouting in his rough, thick Camden accent for the best doctor and nurses in the place and fuck anyone else because this woman was the most important. If Genevieve had been conscious, she would've thought the whole rant was rather charming.

"We need to take her to treat her Mr. Solomons." a nurse says with clear agitation as he sputters his words, not realizing he'd have to let her out of his sight.

As she's taken from his arms, he doesn't want to let go, but both Tommy and Arthur help pry her away and hand her off to the doctors who get to work before shes even hit the gurney. They both stand with the forlorn and lost looking Alfie Solomons, showing that he was indeed human as he stood covered in blood in the hallway with the Shelby brothers hands on either of his shoulders.

"They'll do everything they can Mr. Solomons." a young girl with a sympathetic smile says, holding paperwork. "But right now we need to know some information." she says with a very timid delivery, none of the men even acknowledging her presence, they were all rattled with what had gone down.

"We'll handle it." a familiar voice from the doorway comes as Claire and Polly come with stern looks on their face and headstrong postures. Clearly two strong women who pushed the boys aside to move with the nurse to the back behind the swinging doors.

"Claire!" Alfie snaps out his trance, seeing Gen's body disappear down a hallway.

"I've got it Alfie. If you come back you'll only cause trouble." she answers with no anger in her voice as her hand rests on his chest. "I believe you might have some... business that needs tending to?" she says with vengeful eyes that swing up to meet his under her brow.

"Until I know she's okay I'm not fuckin' leavin'." he retorts with a fast shake of his head.

"That's fair. Wait here and the moment she's settled I will let you know. Otherwise, there is a phone down the hall. There are surely some calls you need to make." she gives him a harsh poke into his chest. "Make the best of this time before people know... what happened." she states clearly, breaking through his heavy blanket of self pity and guilt he was clearly wearing on his face. "Alfie. She needs you to be a strong man right now. And you are. You can do this."

"I know I fuckin' can Claire." he says defensively.

"There he is." she says with a more endearing nod. "Then you need to make some calls don't you? Spend this time wisely."

"Right." he says thumbing his nose.

"I'll be back soon." she says before swiftly turning and following the bewildered looking nurse down the hall towards surgery.

"What's the plan?" Tommy says, with his characteristic cool delivery.

Alfie takes a deep breath. "Gonna call me men. We've got some feet to get on the ground." he says with a strong brow, eyes darting in through across the room. "Let's go somewhere more private, yeah? Not the place to be discussin' such things." he says with a swish of his jacket as he moves down the hall to the phone.

-------

As promised, Claire comes and finds the boys all hunched and grumbling their plans of attack in an empty conference room. She says only one at a time, but Arthur refuses to wait.

"Who's gonna fuckin' tell ME no?" he says, pushing through the doors as Claire walks with her guard up next to Alfie.

Polly sits by the bed, holding Gen's bandaged hand. Her hair was now wet and washed, brushed back and braided out of the way. The light coming through the blinded windows, bouncing off everything that was white and sterile in the single room makes her look even worse, he thinks. Or perhaps that was wishful thinking. He stands at the foot of her bed, staring and unsure of how to proceed. Polly knew Alfie and Gen had been living together, seen kissing in his club, but she'd never genuinely thought he was in love with her until she saw his eyes. Until she felt it pouring out of him as he stood there like a shell shocked soldier taking in the beaten angel before him.

"They've got her sleeping with tranquilizers for now. She needs rest, she'll be in a lot of pain and they're unsure of the damage her brain may have taken. It's all a waiting game for now. But she will be sleeping for quite some time." Polly informs him, slowly moving away as his fingers traced up her leg, as he walked to her side, sitting in the chair by the bed.

"Poor thing." Arthur says with a sigh, rubbing his chin, sniffling at the sight.

"She'll live Arthur. She doesn't need pity. What she's been through would've killed a lesser man." Polly says with a reassuring smirk.

"She's a tough little bird no doubt." he answers as he tries to sneakily wipe away a tear. "I'm.." he clears his throat. "I'm not cut out for this sort've thing no more." he shakes his head and Polly pats his arms gently. "I'll go get Tommy. We'll get to work." he mutters, wiping his nose as his breath is loud and shaky exiting the room.

"Leave us for a minute." Alfie says, slowly taking her hand into his, feeling the cold and clammy skin against the callouses and warmth of his own. He'd cleaned up what he could of himself in the bathroom, no longer caked in blood and filth. Claire puts her hand to his shoulder, making him meet her eyes and share a nod to make sure he would be alright alone before departing. "Chanah." he whispers, his shoulder slumping with his elbows on the bed, her hand to his lips as his watery eyes look over her face that looked so peaceful now around the swelling and discoloration. "I 'on't know if you can hear me, yeah. But I guess I'll tell ya for me own sake." he begins, kissing her hand. "I know this was 'cause of me, right? 'N I know you knew this could happen. But it don't make me fink you deserved it to. I know I deserve the... pain I felt with you gone. But you..." he shakes his head, his lips against her skin. "This weren't supposed to happen to you." he reaches out and touches her cheek and she takes a deeper breath. "I love you. I want you to know that I'm going to kill every fucker that had anything to do wif 'is. Im gonna watch the life fade from their eyes for ya love. Just like you do. I'm gonna salt the fuckin earth and burn down every fuckin' fing. I'm gonna do right by you. You're gonna get betta, and I'm gonna be there, and I'm gonna do what I should've already fuckin' done before that night. Should've proposed the night I met you, eh? I knew you was special even then. I've been blind love. And for that I do apologize."

"I'll have to tell her she's the first to get an apology from Alfie Solomons." Tommy's voice comes from the doorway. Alfie does not react, he keeps both his hands wrapped around her small one.

"They say she will live. But they don't know what damage was done." he repeats the diagnosis.

"Polly said the same. I don't know what weight you and yours hold to our sort of future seeing but she says she will be fine. It won't be easy...but you'll get her back. Which is more than most of us get." he states, looking at the ground.

"I know I sent you flowers for that 'n all. But I would like to say I'm sorry you lost your Grace. I know now." he nods. "I know why you did what you done after that."

Tommy clears his throat, adjusting his posture at the mention of such a thing in sincerity. "Perhaps this will keep you from acting like such a difficult animal now, eh?" he offers. "But this happened because of you and you can"t take that back now. I've been there. But without the luck you've had of gettin' to keep her. And no matter how you act I know you're a clever man. So now you can see what's really worth taking a risk for. You know now what there is to lose."

"Tommy..." he begins, sitting up straight and holding her hand after placing it on the bed. "Imagine...right? Imagine that you could not see at all. You was born blind." he speaks with confident words. "Then one day...you open up your eyes and you can see... everyfing...in the world. When before you could only touch it, or smell it. There it is." he gives a big nod of his chin. "The revelation...innit?" he tilts his head, gazing down at the woman in the bed that gave his life a new, deeper cause for fighting. "I've had one, yeah." he nods slowly, turning his head just the same to Tommy. "This woman here...she's what I've been missin' mate. She's... everyfing. Without her nothing tastes good, nothing feels good, there is no good if she is not here. She’s made me realize the kinda man I gotta be to keep somefin like her in me life. And I’m gonna fuckin be it, yeah. I mighta forgot who the fuck I was. What it is that I truly want outta this fuckin’ life. But I remember now. Havin’ somefin to live for besides yaself will change a man. Knowing the tenderness only a woman can show you will change you as well, mate. As I think you know. Same as all the fuckin carnage and violence we did when we was young. Us… fuckin men, fuckin degenerates what don’t deserve their love. But we aren’t children anymore mate. We’re men who gotta live wif our choices. And I have made questionable ones. But never about her. She’s always been the right one.”

Tommy nods, feeling the sentiment deep in his chest. "Best you keep her close, eh? Our lives...aren't meant for us to have women like them. We don't deserve them, yet we keep them anyway and this happens...or worse." he motions to her and lets out a controlled breath. He takes a moment, Alfie giving a slow blink and a nod of understanding.

“I know what we gotta do now mate.” He says before clearing his throat. “This one here...she’s vicious.” Gives her a smile. “She’d want me out there... not in here feelin’ sorry for her. She hates bein’ pitied.”

“So let’s celebrate her staying among the living by doing just that then, eh?” He suggests, putting his hat back on his head.

“I’m gonna kill every last one of em for ya love. No one's gonna dare think to mess with you again. I’m gonna give them something to remember yeah? Something worthy of a Solomons.” He promises, standing and giving her forehead a kiss. “I love you Chanah. I’ll be back with good news soon.” ------- At the bakery, a small army of men gathered in the confines of the musky space, both Jews and gypsies alike as the Shelby’s lent their hand to the plot of revenge for what had been done to Genevieve. Not only was she the god mother to Charlie and Ruby, she had been tortured for information about them and had not given up a thing. She was sold as a martyr to the men, an example of loyalty and toughness that they could only hope to imitate. Because of her, they were all safe, along with their livelihoods and families, their way of life still under protection and Tommy still in a position of power in Parliament to make sure that those who had supported Horne in his attempts at brushing elbows with any political affiliations, would feel nothing but rejection on every front they tried. Tommy had already been battling the fascists rise, and with Horne having supported their sentiments, gave Tommy another story to tell to add to his persuasive efforts to discredit the supporters of the movement.Tommy in his composed delivery tells the men that today there is no difference between the men all gathered in this room, that they were all an oppressed people and this was a clear attack on them and theirs. It could not go without retaliation. Solomons word was gold and whatever orders he gave they would follow as they acted as a single unit in this moment, putting their pasts behind them to ensure that no one had the nerve to rise against either of them again.

Both knowing that no matter what they did today, there would always be someone out to get them, they still wove the pretty story of ultimate redemption to the more simple and short sighted among them, and the tale served its purpose.

He stands on a soap box, and not as Alfie or Ari, but as Captain Solomons. His voice was powerful and confident, the men riled up by the idea of defending their own against evil, a strategy used by leaders to manipulate those beneath them since the beginning of time, and now was no different. Alfies men that knew Genevieve are ready to defend her. To them she was a small and sweet woman who made the boss more tolerable, a generous business woman who donated to charities and painted and taught some of their children. They couldn’t stand by and let a man like Horne, and thus anyone who sided with him get away with treating a woman, particularly a Jewish woman in such a way.

Alfie tells them of their plans of attack. Find your places, hide your weapons and hold your ground until the signals were dropped. Then, a mass raid of businesses, homes, offices and factories of Horne’s would be demolished and burned. Those that fought them would die and those found within the confines of the walls of the enemy were not to be seen as human, but as direct threats to them and theirs. Alfie was out for blood, and he would have it by his own hand and by the hands of those under his command. As far as he was concerned, this was war.

Tommy only directs, retreating to his home to keep his nose clean of the fighting, having to protect his image. His role of influence was important, and Alfie understood why he couldn’t get get in the muck with them. But Arthur and John, they were rapid attack dogs ready for a fight. It’s been too long since they’d felt so alive and thirsty for violence. Each man, the two Shelby brothers and Alfie take a spot to command, the rest entrusted by faithful men. Alfie took Horne’s offices, Arthur his home and John his most successful business.

At the time their synchronized watches hit the hour as agreed upon, places all over London were raided. Alfie shoots on sight, not discerning who was on the other end of his gun. Arthur is a mad dog who beats the first man he sees to death, making his way through the men that stayed in Horne’s home as he had no family. John and his men shoot and slice, the cans of petrol brought in in twos as they soaked every floor of the factory.

The men all stood with pride, seeing the carnage left behind. They each relish the moment of striking and watching the matches burn before throwing them into the soaked innards of the buildings. All across London fires broke out. It sent a flood of gossip among the residents of bombings of riots. Alfie and the culprits long gone as the people flooded into the streets as the buildings went up in flames, everything lost in minutes. Once word got around as to what had happened with the abdication and the men behind it, The ash made it all the way across the city, carried by the wind as the pieces fell as filthy snow, a reminder to those who escaped that all of London was to fear Solomons. In case they’d forgotten he was not someone to fuck with. They’d remember now. ----- In her separate room with the big windows, Genevieve rests on the edge of waking. Claire rests bedside, lost in thought and studying the wood grain in the door to pass the time, her mind too ragged to do anything too productive. She figures she should get used to waiting, because for a long time to come that was going to be what everyone had to do to see what the lasting damage on Genevieve would be.

The squeak of movement on the bed snaps Claire’s mind out of its trance, worrying about taking over Abeille and telling the school and children’s homes of Gens upcoming long term absence.

For a moment she looks almost herself despite the injuries to her face as she wakes. The swelling having gone down slightly in her bad eye, the lashes flutter as she fights out of the forced unconsciousness. For a brief moment she tries to focus with a still relaxed face before Claire has to see her face contort into an expression she’d never seen on her friends face before, overwhelming fear.

She struggles, trying to knock away someone who wasn’t there, her escaping sounds broken and hoarse from the damage to her throat and vocal chords from injury and screaming.

“Genevieve you’re safe!” Claire says loudly, grabbing her wrists and trying to get in her line of sight. “You’re safe. You’re in the hospital. You’re safe.” She says over and over as she begins to focus on her closest confidants face with her bloodshot and blackened eyes. “Bonjour Genevieve.” She says with a kind tone as she sees recognition behind her eyes now.

She stills her arms, her eyes moving slowly around the room, squinting as she shook her head away from the sunlight coming through the windows, it hurt to look at and she didn’t need more pain. “Ah-“ it comes out as a dulled croak but she tries again, “Ah...fuh.” She tries, wincing at the pain when she tried to speak.

“Shhhh, don’t try to talk. Your throat and vocal chords took a lot of damage. Doctor says it’s best not to talk for awhile... while your body is healing anyway.”

She shakes her head fast, then groaning and the room spinning and nausea coming forth quickly as she reaches up to hold her head. “Ah-“ She begins again, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

“He’ll be here soon.” Claire answers her supportively. “We thought he’d have time to get back before you woke. But it seems you’re too stubborn to even stay asleep with medicine.” She gives her a smile she doesn’t see, reaching up and fluffing a pillow, helping her recline and sit up. “He’s fine. Everyone’s okay.” She says taking her hands as they started shaking as she squinted and stared at them, braces on three of her fingers from them being broken and a tight wrap around both her wrists. “Your hands were hurt, and your wrists.

Genevieve nods in understanding. She touches her ribs and looks to Claire.

“Broken ribs, bruises and fractures, but nothing that you can’t heal.” She says with a supportive nod.

Moving the blankets away Genevieve looks down her legs, the hospital gown having rode up in her struggle. She wiggles her toes, moving her ankles with a pained sound, then her knees which were scraped and bruised.

“Nothing broken in your legs.” Claire clarifies.

Gen takes in a deep exhale, wincing before placing her hand to her stomach, finding all the blood to be gone now much to her relief.

“Yeah there was a lot of blood.” She says quietly, not wanting to upset her further, but clearly she wanted to know what the damage was. ”There was so much they didn’t know what was yours and what was...not yours.” She tries to be gentle and not mention the man that did this to her. “Your body has taken a lot of damage, Genevieve. You’ll need to take medicine and rest for a long while. Only time will tell us what will heal and what won’t.” She explains and puts the covers back over her. “Most of all you need to take it easy because of your head.”

She nods and gets dizzy again.

“Yeah don’t move so much.” Claire says softly, gently moving her head against a pillow. “I’ve kept your records private. Alfie won’t be able to see them.” She begins. “I didn’t know if you’d want him knowing... the full extent of what’s happened.” She explains.

Genevieve gives her an appreciative smile, closing her eyes and taking Claire’s hand.

“I’m glad you agree.” Claire bods and let’s out an exhale she didn’t know she was holding in. “But you’ll be okay. There’s so many people that are going to help you get better. You’ll have the best doctors and care and you’ll feel better.” Her words were laced with sadness but the thud that’s accompanying the headache in Gens head drowns out her hearing from time to time. “I’ll let you rest again.” She says letting her hand go, a pat to it as she sees her settle into her pillow fully. ——————-

Alfie stands in front of the double doors, looking in before he enters. He was utterly exhausted. All he wanted was to go home with her and have this all be over, but he knew that couldn’t happen.

“I knew you two lived together...” Polly begins, walking up to him with crossed arms, her ever knowing eyes to the side as she stands in front of the other rectangular window in the double swinging doors. “But I did not know how much you loved her.” She finishes, seeing Gens sleeping form look almost peaceful with her head to the side. “Nor her you.”

Alfie swallows audibly, a deep rise and fall of his chest as he prepares himself to face her.

“She asked for you first you know.”

“Claire told me.” He says with a soft voice.

“After she comes out on the other side of this...and she will...you need to marry that girl.” She states as fact.

“That has been my intention for a long time.” He says wistfully, pushing through the door without turning to look at Polly. “Just thought she deserved something grand, yeah? Had been planning it for months.” She nods, watching him move slowly, half from fatigue and half from hesitancy to disrupt his love. Perhaps Alfie did have both a brain and a heart. “I wanna do it now truth be told. But I don’t want any part of this fuckin nightmare to be associated with it. I won’t have her rememberin’ this pain every time she thinks bout our marriage. I’m gonna make it perfect for her. And right now innit fuckin that.” He says with a stern face and a sigh.

"She's been through a lot, Solomons." she states with a flat delivery, side eyeing him.

"I know." he nods, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat. "But she's strong."

"That's clear now." she says with an agreeable expression. "She's one of us. I thought she was just a little rich girl but... clearly there's more there."

"Much more. I wouldn't be wif some posh little cunt now would I?" he asks, swinging his head her way.

"I don't know you that well Solomons. Just to not trust you." she smirks.

"Fair." he nods.

"You're going to need to be delicate with her." she says after a moment of silence. "Can you be delicate?"

"She'll make it, yeah? Doctors have her a good prognosis.." he offers as a cop out for answering about his potential softness.

"Solomons. I'm serious." she says with a lowering of her chin. "It'll be like she's been through the war like you were boys were. She was held captive. Treated worse than you boys were if the stories I've heard about Horne were true. And I have reason to believe they were. "

"I know." he says with a grimace.

"She won't be the same. You know that right? Because you should. None of you boys came back the same as you left."

"Right." he gruffs out, staring at her, looking so peaceful for a few moments longer.

"So you need to treat her delicately. She'll need understanding and coddling. She'll have good days and very, very bad ones. You have to support her while she heals. She needs you more now than she ever did before." she puts a hand on his arm to make him meet her eyes which he does hesitantly, and she sees the sadness in them. "So can you be delicate?" she asks again with piercing eyes.

"Yeah, mate." he says with a nod, looking back to her in the bed. "For her I'll be whateva I've gotta be."

She nods and returns her hands to in front of her, pleased with his answer. "Good." is all she says in her usual enigmatic way. "You should go wake her. You should be the first thing she see's next time she wakes. She was asking for you, don't make her ask again." she says,giving him a nod in the direction of the bed.

"Right." he answers curtly again, lip disappearing under his mustache as he gathers himself to face the consequences of his actions. He knew he'd never forgiven himself for this happening to her. But for her sake, he would bury it deep and move forward. He needed to focus on being delicate now, like the wisest Shelby said. He didn't want to believe they wouldn't be able to put this behind them one day, but perhaps he needed to be prepared for the worst.

With a nudge of the door with his arm, his usually dominating saunter is reserved as he approaches this new evolution in Genevieve in her hospital bed. Where there had been so much life and vivacity before there is now a weakened shell. Her usual warm light brown skin is paled with a sickly yellow tint. The clouds of bruises that decorated her entire body, some in clear form of hand prints would be staying around as a painful reminder for weeks to come.

He lowers himself into the worn metal chair, he takes a moment to prepare himself to meet her eyes. “Chanah?” He calls upon her gently, taking her hand into his. it was as if he’d never noticed how much smaller she was before. She’d always looked so strong and full.

With a small noise of pain her face winces at the sound. She felt as if she had been waiting in hibernation for his voice to awaken her like a princess in a fairy tale. Her eyes open to find him there next to her, and not in the morphine fueled dreams she’d been having. “Ah.” Escapes her mangled throat as she tries to lean forward to him, arms out and hands creaking in their attempts to grab at him.

“Shhhh, love. Don’t strain yourself. I’m here, I’ll come to you.” He says with a gentle voice, leaning over the bed, bad back be damned.

She pulls him to her flush, her eyes tearing up as her hand runs through his soft hair, holding his head close to hers. She nuzzles into his cheek, savoring every small tactile sensation of his hair and beard and skin. Even in his clearly stressed and haggard state, his skin broken out with rough red patches, she wouldn’t have taken him any other way. She tries to squeeze him and whimpers, her skeletal fingers weakly digging into his jacket as she splays them painfully across his back. She needed to feel him, to know she he was real and she hadn’t died, that this was life and not the after life where she had feared she had been headed. Either way, in her morphine haze she comes to the conclusion that as long as he was there now, if she were alive or dead held less importance for her.

“S’alright love.” He says softly, his arm bracing him up while the other touches her arm so lightly she doesn’t even notice. He was now aware of her slight frame, the lean body that now trembled under his in pain. She had always been shorter, slender shoulders to be able to do the cat like sneaking she had. But with age and now the spread of hips and chest, she just looked small and soft, like she was made of kneaded and proofed dough in some places. Other parts were pointed, elbows and knees, swollen from overuse and strain. The usual roundness to her face was gone from both lack of food and water. A sad abused kitten where his powerful jungle cat had once been. “I’m not leaving you, Chanah. No need to push yourself.” He moves gently and she lets him, his face moving to find hers. The most gentle kiss to a spot on her jaw not blemished.

“Ah.” She tries again but fails, her bottom lip out and shaking like a child’s, a warning of tears to come.

“Doctor said not to speak.” He shushes her, a hand moving up to warm her cold and clammy skin, wicking away sweat and rouge strands of hair to look her over. He was using his skill of hiding his emotions in his face to the limit of his abilities for her, to not react to the marks of violence left behind, but it was not hard to look at her with love. For what she’d been through, it was almost as if it had made him love her more in some twisted way. Some dark part of him that was a devious gangster, a soldier and a Captain. It was as if she was now absolved of her precious faults. That her resolve through all the horrors and mistreatment made her a saint. She was something mythical and legendary now. A tale to be told of bravery and resilience. She was truly a gangster, no matter what choices she made hereafter, she would always be a woman of unmatchable strength. In their Jewish community, in their criminal acquaintances, and in her business, she would always have an air of untouchable strength to her now. An unbreakable woman.

“I brought you a little pad and pen so you could write out what you needed.” He says with a thoughtful tone, motioning to the table next to her. “I thought you might have some things to say.” He adds with his brows resting in a less enthusiastic expression. “And if you don’t that’s also fine, yeah? This is about what you want. Whatever it is you want. You let me know, right?” He brushes his nose against hers, not wanting to kiss her without her initiating it first. As Polly said, she’s been through things he couldn’t fathom. And he had every intention of respecting that.

Luckily for his poor heart, her hands which were full of twitches and tremors reach up and run through his beard, her eyes trying desperately to focus on him. Her brow shifts, her eyes twitching and fluttering, showing the bloodshot veins and the red wash of them in their injury to him fully. Eventually the pupils size up together, the cuts around her swollen socket reminding him of his boxing days as they helped her be able to see.

Her body lets out a sigh, her chest falling slightly as she pulls his face toward hers and kisses him. He pretends he doesn’t taste the blood, feels the splits and chap of abuse and neglect. It makes his stomach churn at the thought. A pain deep in his chest blooms as he comes to terms with the damage that must lie beneath this now cragged surface.

Her thumb runs across his lips, taking in every feature on his face, thinking about the time in the dark spent imagining it, wondering if she’d ever see it again. It hurt to kiss him, but the extra pain at this point for such a reward seemed insignificant.

“Anything you need, love. Anything you want. I’ll get it for you, yeah? You just write it down for me until that little swan neck of yours heals, eh?” He offers with a kiss to her nose. Be delicate. He reminds himself.

Already feeling her limbs growing tired, she lowers her arms and turns her head to face the bedside table.

“Would ya like it now?” He asks and she nods, triggering a spinning do her head that makes her eyes rapidly move behind her lids as she clutches the blanket on her chest for a moment. “We’ll figure out a hand motion for yes or no.” He offers up, feeling guilty for not realizing any little movement could send the throttled noggin of hers spinning. “When ya ready I’ll sit ya up wif ya pillows, love. I can move ya. No need for ya to try yaself.” He says as she steadies, holding the pen the best she can as her holds her back up and stuffs pillows behind her. The softness is appreciated and she suddenly misses her own bed.

She holds the pen with her dominant hand, only her pinky and ring finger being broken she manages with a determined face to write. She holds it up for him to read and it takes everything in him not to cry. ‘IM SORRY’ is scrawled across the paper, her handwriting not holding the same smooth feminine touch any longer.

“ Fuckin’ sorry?” He scoffs. “What the fuck do you have to be sorry for? Not a fuckin thing love!” He insists, his voice raising in his disbelief before he catches himself. Delicate, he recalls.

‘For getting taken.’ It says.

“Chanah.” His voice is broken as he drops to his knees beside the bed. “You were drugged and abducted, pet you did nothing wrong. Absolutely fuckin nothin do you hear me?” He says gripping her hand a little too tight in his emphasis as she winces and jerks away and his heart grows heavy. “You left somefin behind to! Exactly as we discussed dinnit ya? Even drugged ya did it. You did everything right. Beyond right, love you were fuckin perfect. You never apologize for this. To me or anyone. Ever. You got that? Never. You did nothing wrong.” His words carry him away, his mind moving fast and his heart pouring out as his face shows his desperation for the guilt she holds. “Im the one that’s fuckin sorry.” He admits with a hurt huff of air, almost a laugh at the outrageous thought she could be at fault. “It’s all my fuckin fault. You were right all along. I didn’t choose my actions very wisely did I? Didn’t recognize what a mad fuckin hatter...” he stops before saying his name as he sees her brows lower, the idea of the name bringing it all back, making it real as he sees her breathing pick up. “I’m so sorry, my love. I fucked up dinnit I. And you took all the consequences meant for me. It should’ve been me. Not you. You didn’t deserve a bit of this.” His head shakes as he takes a moment to breathe, kissing the back of her hand.

“Not true. I deserved it. I’ve done things too.” She writes.

“Nothin what would warrant...all ‘is.” He says with a slow drawl, and a slower shake of his head. “And from where I’m sittin, I don’t think you deserved any of it. Not after you went and made yourself a fuckin martyr for our family and the Shelby’s, eh? You’re a better woman than anyone I’ve ever known. You’re a perfect woman, Chanah. You are everything I could ever hope for in a person. And fuckin more!” He says with a surging of his chin forward as he sees her face stay down, almost frowning.

“I don’t feel perfect.” She responds, sliding the notepad his way.

His heart aches, kissing her hand, his breath traveling out across it as he exhales and presses his forehead to her skin. “I will spend the rest of my life making you believe it, Chanah.” He looks back up to her, snaking his neck to make her meet his gaze. “You are perfect. No matter what has happened. No matter what you may feel right now, or weeks or months from now. I’ll be here reminding you. Every fuckin day. My job innit it?” He presses his lips to hand and holds it there.

Her face softens, lips relaxing and twitching in thought. She nods slowly, looking at the texture of the thread in the blanket that covers the damage of her body from him. Will he still think that once the healing begins. Once her head doesn’t swim with every movement and she can process what happened to her. Will he still love her when she’s in pieces?

“Here, pet.” He says, quickly moving to reach into his pocket. “Will ‘is make ya feel better?” He asks with wide eyes, like he was bargaining with a crying child. In a lot of ways they both felt that was an appropriate simile. He pulls out his mother’s necklace he’d given her that she left behind. In his rush to feel like he was doing anything productive he’d had it fixed. It was the main piece for what he had been ready to give her that night. “Would you like it back? Remind ya of how lovely ya are eh?” He offers with a smile,but he isn’t met with one back.

‘Don’t lie to me.’ She writes, her face back to being hurt.

“I’d never.” He says with genuine hurt in his voice. “You could be in pieces love and I’d still think every bit of you was lovely.” He lays on the sweetness heavy, trying to tell her what he thought she’d want to hear, and in this moment, she accepted it.

She purses her lips and nods carefully, pulling her hair to one side slowly and he waits patiently.

He drapes the cold metal chain around the finger shaped bruises and the rope burns, a desperate attempt to distract from the injuries.

“Thank you.” She mouths, and that he can understand.

“You’re very welcome. It got lonely without you round to keep it warm and make it look so nice. Same as me, eh?” He offers, kissing her cheek. “I missed you more than all the flowery words I’ve got in me head can express, love. I was a fuckin sight without you, I was. Just like I said I’d be.” He gives her a kind smile with sincere emotion to back it up and she holds his hands in hers, a look of sleepiness passing over her face.

‘I love you.’ She writes, a subtle smile on her lips, but he would take it.

“I love you.” He says softly, lowering his head to her hands in submission, kissing every marked knuckle. “I love you so much, Chanah. More now than ever. More than yesterday and the same will be said tomorrow. Always more.” He whispers like a prayer against her hands.

Her fingertips move to touch his face, a slow and gentle sigh emanating from her body as she relaxed and laid back fully, sinking into the pillows.

“You’re exhausted love. Rest.” He suggests, moving back up to his chair with a grunt. “I’ll be right here. I innit goin nowhere.”

Her eyes are always half lidded, feeling the very exhaustion he spoke of taking her over.

“Sleep pet.” He whispers, brushing her hair back as her eyes shut. “I’ll be right here when you wake up. Always.” He seals his promise with a kiss to her temple, hoping his extravagant words didn’t come back to bite him. But in the moment he did truly feel that he could wait on her forever.

Please leave a like, reblog or comment if you enjoyed this! It makes me want to write more of what you want if you let me know!

@jaegeeeeer @cosettewinchester @lookuptheskyisfalling-blog@brianaisasongbird @cry5t4l-w4rri0r @jess2464 @hardygal69@thegarrisonpublichouse @a-flock-of-angry-pigeons @pootle @negansdirtygirl22 @musingsby-night @shine-dont-shadow@inkinterrupted @vale0413 @emerald-bijou @elaenom @give-jack-a-lightsaber @anrm1@ultrablackwidower @tinastarkandco@arrowswithwifi @marvelgirl7 @they-are-not-just-stories   @ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes @alitheamateur 

[decisionsmbj]

Chapter 25: Till I Stop Breathing

“Nyla! Baby, please listen to me! I don’t know what the fuck she’s talking about! Baby! Please, just stop for a second and listen to me!” Kari yelled after her.

“Fuck man! If I lose my family behind this stalker messy shit, I’m killin’’ everybody!” He said to himself.

Nyla tried to close the bedroom door before Kari could follow behind her, but it was no use since she still had Amiyah in her arms.

“She just sucked you off, right? That’s the story you’re sticking to? Huh! I have you every opportunity to tell me the truth. EVERY OPPORTUNITY! How could you do this to me? To us!” Nyla snapped at him with tears in her eyes.

She didn’t want to hear anything he had to say and just needed some space. She was so confused as to what to do. From Kim showing up at the baby shower to catching him and her in his office kissing and now this. Nyla didn’t know what to do.

“I need to get outta here! I can’t even look at you right now!” She tells him as she heads to their closet.

Kari walked in after her.

“Where you think you going with my daughter? You not going anywhere with her so chill that shit out! I get that your mad but I did tell you the truth! I don’t know what the fuck that girl is talking about! Ny baby, you gotta believe me! I’ve haven’t slept with another person since we been together, I put that on Amiyah!” He pleads as he watched his fiancé throw clothes into a suitcase.

Nyla stopped what she was doing when she heard him say their daughter’s name. She turned around and looked at him as tears fell down her cheeks one after another.

“Baby, I swear to you I didn’t sleep with that girl!” He tells her as he wiped her tears away. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I’m gonna find out. Stay here, okay. I’ll go chill at Mila’s to give you a minute. I don’t want you out here with Miy. You mad and I get that..I would be too so I’ll give you some space. Just promise me that you won’t leave?” Kari asked.

“I promise I won’t leave and not tell you where I am.” She answered.

Kari just stared at her for a moment before he pulled her clothes out of the suitcase and walked over to where Nyla was sitting on the bed. She was still crying silently when he sat down next to her. He took Amiyah out of Ny’s arms and held her close to his chest.

“Why is this happening to us?” She asked.

“I dunno, baby. Just gimme a few, okay. I’m gonna get to the bottom of it. I promise you!” He said as he kissed her on the side of her head before doing the same to Amiyah.

He gave her back to Nyla and stood up so he could walk out of the room. Nyla just sat and cried. She didn’t know what to do. Should she stay or leave? Give up or fight for her family? Whatever she decided to do, she needed to have a clear head and with Kari being gone, she would have time to do just that.

——————-

Kari drove to his sister’s condo. He was still thrown off by what had happened earlier. He had a feeling he knew who was behind all of the drama but he didn’t have any solid evidence at this point, an only mere coincidence. He knew if anyone could help him get to the bottom of what was going on.

When he got to Mila’s door, he used his key to open it walked in. His sister had her stereo on so he yelled out to her that he was there since she was upstairs.

“Hey. What you doing here? You should be home with my baby!” Mila said as she walked over to hug her younger brother.

Kari gave her a look that she knew all too well.

“What happened now?” Mila asked.

Kari looked at her and shook his head as he sat down on the couch.

“Sis, I’m about to catch a case! Someone is fuckin’ with me and Ny..like they trying to break us up!” He said as he put his head in his hands. “I fucked up a while ago when I went out with the homies and ended up gettin’ head from this chic from the club..”

Mila hits Kari upside the head. “What the fuck is wrong with you! You trying to ruin your relationship? Nyla didn’t deserve that and you know it!” Mila told him.

“I know she didn’t and I confessed and told her the truth but now the same chic just popped up at the house talkin’ about she pregnant with my kid and that’s a Gotdamn lie!” He said.

“Just popped up out of the blue? That doesn’t make any sense! Where did you meet her?” Mila asked.

“At this club downtown months ago!” He answered.

Mila looked straight ahead. “You mean the chic in the pictures that were on Instagram?” Mila asked.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! That chic! I ain’t never slept with this woman in my life!” Kari tells her.

Mila grabs her phone from the coffee table and pulls up her Liked list to find the photo. “This the chic you talking about?”

Kari looks at the photo and nods his head. “Fuck yeah that’s her ass! I don’t know what the fuck she on but she ‘bout to get fucked up!”

“That’s Sinnea..I just saw her like a week ago at Max’s drunk off her ass with Kim! Her and Kim are like best friends! She damn sure as hell ain’t pregnant! You sure it was her?” Mila asked again.

“YES! That was her! She showed up at my fuckin’ house today on some bullshit!” Kari snapped.

“Lil��� bro, go home and be with Nyla and Amiyah...I’ll handle this! Kim is behind this shit and she about to see me!” Mila said.

“Nah, sis! I got this!” Kari said as he stood up to leave.

He was going to handle his ex if it was the last thing he did!

——————-

When Kari pulled into the driveway, he sat for a moment and said a small prayer that Nyla was still in the house. He didn’t see her Levante in her spot which meant she could have left or pulled it into the garage. He was a nervous wreck. As he took a deep breath, he got out of the car and headed to the front door. As soon as he got close, he smelled the familiar smell of food being cooked and he smiled. He knew his fiancé was still home and hasn’t left.

“Nyla? Baby, where you at?” He called out but didn’t get an answer.

He walked through the house towards the kitchen and saw her standing outside on their deck with the grill open. “Baby, c’mere so I can talk to you.”

“I already know. I just hung up with Mila. I just want you to know, when I see her it’s in sight! The nerve of this psycho bitch to think this is cool! I should have known something was up when she popped up in the bathroom at our baby shower!” Nyla said.

Kari looked at her with a twisted face. “What you mean popped up at the baby shower? You never told me she was there! What happened?” He asked getting angry.

“I was going to tell you but when I got outside, she wasn’t there. By the time we left, my mind really was on other things. I didn’t think anything more of it until I saw her in your office. I’m still pissed about that kiss! Now with her so-called best friend trying to pull a stunt, I’m going to beat her ass!” Nyla said as she walked back into the house to check on Amiyah.

Kari grabbed her and pulled her into him. “No! I don’t need you out here getting into any shit. You just had our daughter and you’re still healing from major surgery. I got this. You just  be here and take care of Miy.” Kari told her.

“No way am I not going to be involved with checking this crazy woman!” She told him.

Kari kissed Nyla’s forehead. “Alright, fine. You can help me check her but if shit starts going left, you sitting your ass down!” he told her.

Nyla asked Kari to go check the steaks that she had just put on the grill for their dinner. She went to check on Amiyah and to grab her baby monitor to bring into the kitchen as she plated their food. She knew in her heart that Kari would never do anything to hurt her and when Mila called her, that confirmed it. She loved her man and with all of the extra drama starting to surround them because of a jealous ex, she wanted to marry him now more than ever. When Kari came back inside with the steaks on the platter, she grabbed the platter out of his hands and leaned up to kiss him.

Shocked, Kari looked down at Nyla. “You good, babe”?” He asked.

“I’m good...but I’m over the stupid drama. I want to get married now! What are we waiting for?” Nyla asked.

“Babe, you know your dad would kill me if he didn’t get to walk you down the isle. We got a planner and everything will happen like we want it to.” He said as he down at the table.

Nyla had brought over the cooked sides and started plating their food before sitting down to join her fiance’.

“What if we just went down to the courthouse? We could get married now and still have a wedding later. No one will know but us and this is what I really want. I want a wedding and all but I want to be married to you more.” Nyla said as Kari smiled.

“You really wanna be married to me?” Kari asked with a smile.

“Yes, I do! I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I don’t care who likes it!” She said.

“Okay! We will go down to the courthouse tomorrow morning and we will get our marriage license done and then go get married when we’re finished. That work for you?” Kari asked her as he dimpled.

Nyla got up from her seat and walked over to where Kari was and sat on his lap. “Yes, that works for me! I love you.” She said as she kissed his lips.

“I love you, too! We got this! I promise I will never let anything happen to you or us as long as I live.” Kari told her as looked into her eyes.

He was so in love with this woman, he couldn't see himself ever living without her. He would put his life on the line before he let anyone come between their love and he was ready for whatever was headed their way. Nyla and Amiyah’s protection and happiness were his motivation to succeed and be better than he was the day before and he was not going to let anyone or anything come in between what they had.

——-

[aptlyattorney]

"A full pan probably would be that much... well, I'm not expecting the brownies until later, but you can call in and ask the Kitakis if they could deliver sooner." Phoenix gives his younger protege a lazy smile. "if you do, just wake me up when they get here."

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

The lawyer had finally been given his objective. "... Cool. Great. Sure thing. Do I have to clock out?"

Phoenix purses his lips in thought. "You probably shouldn't do drugs on the clock, yeah. I already paid for the delivery, so make your decisions at your leisure."

" I- didn't say I was having any !" His finger is still raised in the air when declaring as he leaves, bag tucked under his arm. Apollo returns  seconds later to take his phone from his desk, avoiding any smirking eyes before the door closes again. The bakery, at least, smells no less unusual than he remembers, though there are more travelers still allured in one direction.  Apollo peeks his head in, checking and rechecking that indeed, the sign blinked 'open.'

" Hey,  Wright Anything Agency, uh, picking up an order?"

Some muffled words behind the privacy curtain at the back of the kitchen signal the singular reformed gangster striding out. He hops the counter with a grin. "Yooo, big A! how's it rolling with my main man, huh?!" he gently punches each of Apollo's shoulders before grabbing the attorney for a forearm shake whether he wants to or not.

" Ah, hey, Wocky,"  Naturally, saving one's life would make someone a longtime friend, though his weak smile is his one defense to stay quiet  and not 'say something a fuckin' pussy would.' Not entirely because the lawyer's reputation was founded on it, but it was wisest to stay on a notorious family's good side, no matter the promise of a new leaf.  Apollo is jerked into the movements, though performing his best for the gesture. “ Has business been good? It's been a while since, well, I came into this part of town-"

"Yeah, you ain't been hiding from us, right? Dunno why else a bro would be too much of a bitch to come-" "WOCKY!" Apollo flinches over the boom of the matriarch’s scolding, shoulders high, tight to his neck until the youngest Kitaki speaks again.   Wocky plants his fists on his hips and sighs. "...Why a bro wouldn't come see his G. naw, i'm fuckin' with ya! we've been doin' great, even better than before!! but without all the fun family business shit- and I been feeling top notch, in my fucking prime after my whole 'getting a bullet outta my heart' thing!" As alarmingly threatening as wocky's smiles could be sometimes, he treats Apollo to some sincere warmth.The lawyer is attentive, but  still sniffing the air at times, too fearful to see whatever The Plum might be doing . Slick smiles are not well faked, even his bracelet despises the effort of his forced expression. " I'm glad to hear it- I think  our friend Eldoon told me a while ago you were getting out of the hospital, er, sorry I couldn’t be there for the ICU visit."

Wocky considers this for a moment before smirking and briefly fisting apollo's shoulder. "yeah, you're alright, man, I can respect that. ain't nothing free in this world. sorry, only the fam and the hoes get to see me laid up in bed." the young man puffs his newly-healed chest up and flexes one arm. "how bout you, though? big A been gettin' any big cases?" He leans close with a grin and whispers, "Anyone i know?"

Apollo restrains, near perfectly a snort, helped along by the gentle strike he gets again from Wocky.  To imagine he might still have 'hoes' to entertain certainly spoke much of his over-large confidence, especially a few weeks out of major surgery.  No doubt, the scar had been the subject for weeks, his big opener for conversations. " Ah, well, we've had some... interesting run-ins here and there- a small seedy circus if that rings a bell?- that is the reason I have a cat now,  Trucy's been accused of theft... proven innocent, of course, Oh,  and I'm officially related to the Wrights, heh." Apollo wanders to the checkout counter, where buns and bagels have yet to be sold. " It seems slow for this time of day... I guess everyone's gone to the concert."

"Circus?” He scoffs. “ Naw, that shit's for clowns and we don't clown around here. Yeah, it'll pick up around noon and later this afternoon, when peeps get the munchies. Oh, damn, talkin' 'bout the kush-" wocky vaults back over the counter and into the kitchen, coming out with a disposable baking tray soon after. he drops it onto the counter and grins. "you and your old man lookin' for a little somethin' somethin' today too, huh? set of four--an' a bonus for lil' T!" it's a little pack of gummy bears.

Trucy. Still considered more innocent than himself, and he was yet to cause any legal trouble among the three of them. Until the 'good kush' is mentioned, he might have  gone headlong info the entire case, and the tightrope incident, and the tray further solidifies that this was no prank to get him to ask for drugs. "Ah- no, just him. I, need to stay alert, and he's got a case of... The Mondays,  Chronically." Bears in pocket and tray in hand, the wafted scent is .. strangely just as much like brownies as any other. Perhaps his nose had gone too blind before he'd even come inside.

"uh-huh, whatever you say, big A. all business all the time. sure." wocky's sneering amusement leaves no doubt he doesn't believe Apollo's firm clutch on sobriety and professionalism. "you're that kid who always got straight a's in his class, ain't ya, bro? ain't ya, big A?" still, he laughs and waves away any protest. "Yeah, we're even, no strings. maybe not the next time though... a man gotta share with his homies once in a while!" as if he himself could be called a grown man. " Say hi to your old man and kid sis for me, big A!“

Just like in school, getting knocked on for trying to keep his shirt clean and his eyes forward. Apollo  rolls his eyes through all the teasing, nodding as generously as needed for Kitaki, and to assume still a professional veneer. " Alright, uh, big ...Kay- well, I'm sure Trucy will enjoy being thought of," The star of the show still deserved little presents , even when she wasn't working.

[mechanicalriddle]

rundown of last nights fucking insanity

so long story short, we’re on the hunt for these artifacts, the most powerful man in the world is on the hunt for us, and everything is really touch and go! but we figured we still had time for a party. so we all went and bought nice outfits n shit and attended a grant award gala for a university. im sure nothing at all will go wrong at this party because parties in stories are always nice and fun and never get crashed right

everything is going great, @doctormoreau is still workin on gettin wit Ayrs whose a scientist (they’re both old elf scientist gays & its really cute) and also he’s our bro who hosted us overnight.

Anyway so that happens, the scientist who the gala is being held for (her name is Mabel) mistakes them for a married couple, which was pretty awkward & objectively great. amira is dancing with her tragically soon-to-be-outie scar-crossed-lover drow, isobel is being a goof while the character SHES tryna get wit is just kind of staring her down. 

siobhan is... in the corner moping, because everyone here is very old. eventually she finds a student to dance with, and they have a short scene which is about where shit started to get wack. so we’re dancing and this kids fuckin... sleeper cell programming kicks in. things get awkward before my dance partner fUCKING JUST. CHANGES FORM, PULLS OUT A GUN AND SHOOTS ME DIRECTLY IN THE FKIN FACE (turns out her true form is also a tiefling, hence why i had a premonition earlier of me shooting myself in the face)

thanks to ~*magical destiny bullshit*~ (i think specifically amira’s) the bullet stops right before it hits me and falls to the ground. cue two teenage girls trying to murder each other. klaus DM rules that i can use hellish rebuke so i set her on fire, then try to strangle her, and she grabs me by the arm and t h r o w s m e t h r o u g h a t a b l e (ouch)

then ANOTHER fucking agent (who we all failed perception checks to notice) runs up out of the crowd and goes for amira’s relic necklace, but he can’t yank it off because its essentially superglued on her by magic. so what does amira do? uhh shoots the motherfucker in the stomach. he goes staggering backwards off the stage, falls on his ass, and starts scooting away, probably leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

me + Argyris (WIZARD SQUAD) take down the tiefling, who just kind of falls limply on the ground like a ragdoll but cedryc uses Spare the Dying (and closes her eyes, cuz it’s super fucking creepy why are they still open) then we all kinda converge on this other guy. Amira steps on his coattails and siobhan, who is somehow the best intimidator in the group, fires up burning hands + thaumaturgy and with advantage scares the absolute piss out of this guy (”WHOOOOO SENT YOU”) she kneels down and grabs the guy by the shirt-collar to try and intimidate again, but the guy pops a cynaide pill and dies in her arms.

then the sprinklers go off (THANKS miss i-need-to-shoot-fire-outta-my-hands at every given opportunity) siobhan finally drops him and starts bawling, because triggering your own PTSD is never fun

shortly afterwards we grab the other tief and book it back to Ayrs’s research lab, then strap her down to a table and wake her up. 

When we do wake her up, her sleeper-cell training has clearly turned off, and she’s basically scared to death and strapped down to a table with 4 now quite capable fighters interrogating her. but it doesn’t take too long to notice that something is clearly very, very wrong. a few questions later, we learn her name (Illucid) and successfully determine that this character has been, for lack of a better word, bucky-barnes’d. shes also STILL like my (siobhan’s) age, and has clearly been manipulated for years, because @tillaneesia loves deliberately ripping out my heartstrings. asshole.

Siobhan, who was standing in the doorway, decides now is the time to dash into the room, grab onto illucid as best she can (considering shes strapped down to a table) and the two have a moment, and i drop some dank backstory hints that siobhan and illucid might have a little bit more in common than she is willing to admit

Mabel is also there because Ayrs dragged her along. she has an inkling, and feels around on the back of Illucid’s head where she locates a device that has been essentially installed into the back of her skull. She then states that she thinks she can successfully remove it, and asks Ayrs to bust out all of his marine biology equipment so we can do some quick-and-dirty surgery on this poor kid.

at this point i’m crying, amira is crying, basically everyone is crying. after we all hug it out we leave Mabel alone to... well, work her magic.

we all retreat to our rooms, knowing that our archenemy is  onto us and we will all need to leave tonight. 

BACK TO ISOBEL, and Tachian, who is the DM (@tillaneesia‘s) character. tachian has essentially worn a full body covering for the entire game, and panics every time some article of clothing comes close to falling off. Tachian essentially ran out after Illucid started erratically shape-changing due to incredible emotional distress (i guess the thing in the back of her head let her do that) so after everything’s kind of died down, isobel tries to track her down. the room is completely dark, and isobel (who has fucked up in this aspect before) decides to just. hang out by the door and not look inside. but for once, Tachian actually lets her in. Cue big reveal.

Tachian pulls down her hood. she takes off her gloves, and her eyepatch. turns out she’s like, 8 levels of fucked up. isobel grabs the rest of the group bc i guess we all broke down tachian’s walls enough to get to know her tragic backstory.

turns out, she was born in a laboratory and is, in fact, a failed supersoldier. of course. this geneticist was essentially i guess trying to hand-program a doppleganger who could be controlled and used for military/espionage purposes; unfortunately tachian was one of his earlier iterations, and the first one to actually survive and be a person. she didn’t work right, couldn’t shift, instead wound up being a horrifying patchwork of different races and because of her terribly conflicting biology was essentially in constant, agonizing pain.

i think this was approximately around the time i went and did this:

she was essentially locked in a basement for the first twenty years of her life while her creator would drop by every couple of months, try to fix her, fail, then leave again. unfortunately we found out this guy already drank himself to death, though had i the money i would shell out 25k for a true rez so i can kill the motherfucker a second time. eventually someone found the lab & this poor, incredibly damaged 20 year old with no social or survival skills and brought her to a monastery, and that was like 15 years ago. she spent her isolation reading her “father’s” research materials, became obsessed with finding these artifacts, and eventually set off on her own to meet us, the people who are destined to possess and use the artifacts to unlock their true potential.

also important to note that tachian essentially confirmed that illucid was, quote unquote, “The me that worked,” meaning someone stole her father’s research and is now using it against us. cool cool cOOL COOL COOL COOL

after all this deep ass shit, we all finally decided it was time to leave. All of our new friends. this meant cockblocking the fuck out of poor Argyris and leaving illucid, who was just starting to recover from having a thing, yknow. yanked out of her brain. and we did this with the knowlege that we genuinely may never see these people ever again.

but i know better. what i know, that my character doesn’t know, is that this is a d&d campaign.

@tillaneesia

#BRINKBACKILLUCID2K17

[mclennunf]

In My Life - Part Four

Dr. Lennon I woke up at 4:30AM, a whopping 3 and 1/2 hours of sleep after making sure Paul got home. He lived in a small flat close to mine, and I could tell he was a bit embarrassed that I dropped him off. He had opened up and joked with me at the pub, but when we got to his place he was shy and closed off again. Usually I wouldn't go out of my way to make a friend at the hospital, but there was something different about Paul McCartney. 

I woke up at 4:30AM to the sound of my pager going off the hook. Three different interns, including Paul's mate Harrison, had paged me at least six times each. "Bloody hell," I mumbled to myself as I swung my legs off the side of my bed. I stretched and slowly made my way to the shower, turning it on so hot the bathroom almost instantly filled with steam. As I stepped in the shower, I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, enjoying the hot water. Before I knew it, I heard my pager go off again. "Fuckin' interns." I shut off the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. I quickly grabbed some clothes and changed. I started up my car and waited a few moments for it to warm up. "This better not be another IV misplaced..." I yawned as I shifted the car into gear, speeding off toward the hospital. My phone buzzed when I parked. Paul: 7 missed pages. I can only imagine what you got this morning. John: Times that by three interns. Paul: I just got in.. you should hurry. Room 292, 296 and 299. Don't ask how long it took me to find it. John: On my way inside. The fact that Paul had told me to hurry up caused my stomach to flip a little bit. What was I walking into... I remembered the patients in those rooms. Each one of them was in need of a transplant of some sort, but I couldn't remember exactly what. Sadie stood in the nurses station, taking off her jacket. "Just gettin here?" I asked as I poured a cup of coffee beside her. "I left three hours ago." Sadie half smiled. Paul came around the corner, worry in his large doe eyes and three interns following closely behind him. "Mornin', what the hell is this all about then?" I asked, directing the question at the tired looking resident. "Those three transplant patients? Mr. Mackenzie with the liver, Mr. Robert with the kidney and Mrs. Rigby with the heart... They're all circling the drain. The interns have been fightin' with death all night, John." Paul said, bringing me up to speed on the situation. I noticed Harrison's face change when he heard his mate call me by my first name. I didn't like that. "Dr. McCartney," I said sternly, "You need to make sure they're being bumped to the top of the transplant lists. Send these interns home, they're of no use to us this tired. Harrison, you stay." I said, not taking my eyes away from my coffee. "Yes, sir." Paul said awkwardly as he turned to the interns, waiving them toward the doctors lounge. "It's not looking good, John." Sadie said behind me. "I bloody know that, don't I Sadie?" I snapped a little too quickly. I finished my coffee quickly, leaving a burning sensation in my throat. I walked over to Mr. Mackenzie's room, who looked yellow and sickly. Barely a man, fading away from a failing organ. "We're trying to get you bumped up on the list, sir." I told him as I examined his chart. Vitals were scarily low. I noticed Paul leaving the doctors lounge and excused myself from Mr. Mackenzie's room. "Paul," I said, to get his attention. "Yes, Dr. Lennon?" Paul answered, spinning around with an annoyed look on his face. "Lose the attitude. I'm glad you're here." I said quietly. "Are you going to talk to me like an intern in front of the rest of 'em? Only mates when the white coats are off?" Paul growled. I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "We need to be professional, Paul. We have three patients circling the drain and we need organs. They won't make it to this afternoon if we don't get them." I told him as I leaned on the counter of the nurses station. "I understand, John. I know you have relationships with these patients, so if it's too hard..." Paul tried to say before I cut him off. "I'm a bloody professional, Paul. I'm not going to let my personal feelings get in the way. Keep that in mind." I said, calmly hinting at our new-found friendship. Paul just nodded. Before we knew it, Sadie and another nurse were wheeling in a stretcher with a petite blonde girl on it. "John! We've got a 27 year old female, collapsed in her office." Sadie yelled as she and the nurse lifted the young girl into a bed. I went over to the girl and began examining her chart as filled out by the paramedics. "Looks like an overdose. Let's stabilize her and get some tests done. Look for cocaine." I instructed to Paul, who nodded and got to work. I admired him as he worked. He had no fear, and no hesitations behind his orders to the nurses. Starkey, Paul's fellow resident, flew in and helped his colleague. They worked well together, like a machine. I couldn't help but stare at Paul, though. His white coat seemed as though it was too big, and I was just realizing now how skinny he was for a lad his age and height. The stress and pressure of medical school and internship took a toll on all doctors, but I assumed he dealt with more stress than the rest of the residents I'd seen. He had mentioned not having much money growing up and surviving school on scholarships - I could only imagine the grades he would've needed. "She's stable. Take this down to the lab and run the tests, put it at the top of the list, please." Paul instructed to the younger nurse. I saw him give Sadie the once over, followed by a sympathetic look as though he knew she needed rest. "Sade, we can handle this. You go home." I told her, noticing Harrison observing behind me. "What are we starin' at?" I directed to Harrison. "Just watchin', takin' notes." He responded, not taking his eyes off of Sadie. "Stop gawkin'. Don't ye have patients to take care of?" I shot him a look. "C'mon George, lets go get some coffee from the cafeteria." Sadie pulled him by the arm and shot me her death stare. I chuckled and walked over to the nurses station. I had to take a breath, there was a lot going on and Paul was right unfortunately, I did have relationships with these patients and I wanted to make sure they got their organs and lived, even if it was the last thing I did. "You're a good doctor, John. I know we can figure this out, together." Paul told me as he approached beside me. I heard him say the word together and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the thought. I looked up at him to find those big eyes accompanied by a smile. I noticed him pull out his phone, reading a message from a girl named Jane. "Jane yer girlfriend?" I asked, feeling a weird pang of jealousy. I liked the attention he was giving me. "No, she's a mate from me old hospital. No girlfriend for me." Paul said as he shifted his weight uncomfortably, shoving his phone back in his white coat pocket. I raised an eyebrow at him, expecting some kind of explanation but I didn't get one. "Being a doctor takes up most of your time. I haven't had a date since me first year here." I admitted, hoping to empathize with him. "She's crashing!" We heard Starkey's voice. "You've got this." I nodded at Paul. We both ran over to the young blonde and I observed and waited for Paul's instruction. Starkey and I obeyed all of Paul's orders. I ripped open her shirt, preparing Paul. He grabbed the two paddles. "Clear!" We moved. "Clear!" He yelled again. I proceeded with CPR in between Paul's instruction. "Clear!" I moved. The flatline went dead. I stopped and looked up at Paul. "Clear!" He tried again. "Paul," I said calmly. "Clear!!" He said again. "Paul, she's gone. You have to call it." I told him. He backed up and put the paddles down, checking his watch. "Time of death 5:56AM." Paul said before leaving the room, heading toward the doctors lounge. "I'll take care of this." Starkey told me, looking at the young girls mother in the hall. She had her hands over her mouth. I nodded and followed Paul. He was sitting on the bench with his head in his hands. "She was so young." He said quietly. I was about to sit down next to him, I wanted to touch his back and tell him everything was okay but we were interrupted by Starkey. His eyes were wide, and he had a small smile. "We have our organs." He told us. Paul straightened up. "Let's prep them for surgery, tell the O.R. we're on our way." I said, making the call as Paul stood up and smiled at me. "It always works out." I tried to smile back at him. Before we knew it, all of the transplants had taken place and the effects on our three struggling patients was substantial. "All three are stable." Starkey proudly announced. I walked into Mr. Robert's room, who looked like a brand new man. "How are we feelin', sir?" I asked. "Much better, much better. Thank you so much doctor. Although, my feet feel a little numb." Mr. Robert told me. I raised an eyebrow and nodded, walking out of the room with his chart. There was no reason for his feet to feel numb, I wondered what could've gone wrong in surgery. "Mrs. Rigby's stable, but her arm is numb." Paul told me, looking just as concerned as I felt. I grabbed Mrs. Rigby's chart from him and examined it. "There's no bloody reason for it. Mr. Mackenzie's feet are numb." I told him. "Fuckin' hell." He said, sounding even more concerned now. Sadie came barreling onto the floor with a folder. The results from the young girls test. Sadie's face was white, and scared. She handed it to me, Paul looked as though he braced himself. "John.." Sadie said quietly. I opened it up. It couldn't be true. It couldn't. "She had rabies?" I asked, my voice sounding airy and scared. "Jesus Christ." Paul leaned back on the counter as if to hold himself up. "We have to act fast. Come on people now we know what we're dealing with, tell every doctor, intern, resident and nurse on this bloody floor and let's fix it! We can do this!" I yelled as I threw the folder down. Every employee on that floor was flying around doing everything we could to help our patients who I had literally infected with rabies. I hadn't seen any faces, everybody was a blur. "Mr. Mackenzie is crashing!" Sadie yelled as three other nurses ran into his room. "Time of death 10:35AM." I called the first death. "John! Mrs. Rigby!" I heard Paul's voice. He backed out of my way and allowed me to do what I could. "Time of death 11:07AM." I called the second death. Paul, Starkey, Sadie and I took a few minutes to stand at the nurses station. It wasn't even a few minutes before Harrison ran out of Mr. Robert's room. "He's crashing!" He yelped. "Fucking hell." I threw my stethoscope down on the counter, causing Paul and Starkey to jump. It came as no surprise to Sadie, however. We ran into Mr. Robert's room, and Paul began CPR. "Clear!" I ordered, he moved instantly. "We have a rhythm still, c'mon, clear!" I ordered again. "Clear!!" I yelled. "John, he's gone." I heard Paul's voice. "FUCK!" I threw the paddles down and shoved the machine to the ground. Starkey backed up to the wall to move out of my way. "FUCK!" I screamed again as I slammed the door shut. Three people. Three. All three. Dead. I walked toward the exit before I heard Paul call my name. I turned around, hiding the tears brimming in my eyes. "Your shift isn't over." Paul told me. I nodded and let out a small chuckle. "Trust me son, it's over."