#i'm in the city an ambulance will be very fast if i need it. but if i'm mad fucked up at like 11pm or midnight i'll suck it up

[crimeronan]

multi-day migraine kitkat laying sadly in bed avoiding going to the ER until the last possible second bc it's too bright there while their partners monitor them for signs of stroke. what crimes will they commit

[glow-in-the-dark-death]

The Daycare

Danny moves to Gotham after Lady Gotham themselves asks for his help.

Gotham's natural ecto has been deteriorating, and considering ecto was what held everything in existence together safely this was a major problem for Lady Gotham.

If Gotham got too bad it would spread to the rest of the world, and could cause it to cease to exist entirely.

So Danny came, as the Ghost King he had the power to filter in great amounts of the corrupt ecto just by being in the city.

But part of his obsession was protection & helping, Gotham already had a lot of help (Batfam). So he decided to focus on helping not with the problem at the top (villains), but with the problems at the bottom.

The problems at the bottom that would be the root cause in breeding more problems.

After all, many didn't start evil, but need and desperation pushed them towards that path.

So Danny moved to the worst part of Gotham, The Bowery.

What did he do there?

Why open a Daycare of course!

Many parents could not get a good or stable job simply because they needed to look after their kids and could not afford to pay the daycare fee.

Danny wasn't worried about money after all the coffers that he inherited as king would take forever to even make a dent in it, and that's only if he was living a very lavish lifestyle everyday for several human generations.

With this in mind his Daycare fee was pretty much nothing.

He would take care of the children of a very wide age group, while the adults could focus on getting a decent job or even returning to school for a higher education for better opportunities.

How does he care for so many children?

He duplicates himself of course!

At least in the very beginning, after a while he begins expanding his Daycare offering classes and tutoring to the children as well as free food at all times.

Who's helping him ?

His ex-rouges and other ghosts who volunteered.

Lunch Lady absolutely adores having so many people and kids to make food for, and Box Lunch can socialize and play with the other kids while she works.

Ember even volunteers to be the music teacher!

Danny has the help of many ghosts who once they heard his plans were very excited to help, many having the obsession with teaching children or in general. Other ghosts helped with building, expanding, and just generally helping maintain the building in great shape. Even building a very diverse and fun playground.

Of course all this catches the attention of Red Hood. Danny just appears one day on his territory with many others and practically having a building appear out of nowhere with how fast it was built, asking literal pennies to take care of the children, and free food for anyone who asks.

All that gains a lot of attention and is rather suspicious.

But the crime rate has been going down since he opened, which is a good thing.

But many people don't want good things and decide messing with Danny and his Daycare.

Unfortunately for them cuz Danny is absolutely down for violence if he's protecting what's his.

~

Villain: "What a lovely place you have here would be a shame if something were to happen"

Danny who has the audacity to fight Gods and win: "Someone call an ambulance! But not for me!

Also Danny: "These hands are rated E for everyone"

~

Other people:"Should we call someone for help?"

The ghosts:" Nah, let him have his fun he needs his enrichment"

~

Red Hood: "He's very suspicious"

Danny is absolutely covered in paint and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with the young kids: "Ah yes I'm totally doing normal Gothamite behavior"

~

Lady Gotham is having some self care spa time she's having a grand time: "Should I warn the young king of the other halfa (Jason)? Hmm best not, it'll be more entertaining if it happens naturally"

~

Just an Idea

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

I worry about you (Clingy!Yandere x Delinquent!Reader)

CW: body trauma, unhealthy relationships, yandere behavior

"I don't understand, why are you saying these things?!" Everett shouted, tugging on (Reader's) jacket like a man fearful of drowning. The two stood at the top of a set of wooden outdoor stairs built into a steep hill in the city's little hiking trail/park, a meeting spot where they often hung out after school.

His brown eyes glowed under the sun like molten gold, churning with heartache as he held onto his only friend.

(Reader) kept their face rigid like stone, fighting the desire to retract what they had said, their decision was final. It was for Everett's own good. "Dude, stop acting crazy. You're acting like we were dating. I'm just saying that I need space. Go make other friends, go on dates, I don't care. Jesus, just stop hanging onto me all the time."

Lies, all lies. I don't mind how clingy you are. I love that you stay by my side. I know I have a shit personality, I know I'm trash, so I really appreciate that you're the only one to stay my friend. You've been my friend since we were ten years old, so please, PLEASE, fucking take the hint. I've seen that the teachers have started to treat you differently just because you're my friend. And how many times do I have to rescue you from wannabe thugs who only fuck with you because they hate me? You deserve better than that.

You deserve better than me.

(Reader) roughly shook their only friend off their arm. It was painful now, for both of them, but (Reader) knew it was for the best.

"But why? What did I do wrong?" Everett sniffled, rubbing his eyes as the waterworks persisted. (Reader) turned to leave, unable to watch Everett any longer without their resolve crumbling. "WAIT!" Everett panicked, reaching out to latch onto (Reader's) arm again. (Reader) felt his fingers brush against their arm, and threw back their elbow to push Everett away.

They didn't know, however, that Everett had stepped forward. (Reader) misjudged how hard to push, not knowing that Everett was closer than he was just a second ago. Their wrist smashed into Everett's chest, causing him to stumble backwards, and tumble down the stairs.

Eyes widening in fear, (Reader) immediately began sprinting down the steps, skipping two at a time on the way down as their friend bounced against the weathered wood, hitting the dirt at the bottom hard. Their heart was beating so fast it felt like they would have a heart attack as they jumped the last couple stairs, crouching over their best friend crying in the fetal position.

"Everett, oh my God, are you okay?!" They gingerly scooped his upper half into their lap, examining his head for injuries.

"My- my arm..." Everett cradled his arm, crushing (Reader) further with guilt.

Placing his head down carefully, (Reader) took off running, calling out for help in hopes that someone nearby had a phone to call an ambulance. They disappeared out of Everett's sight, hearing them hollering as they ran away.

As soon as (Reader) vanished from view, Everett stopped crying, sitting up miserably. How did this happen?

Everything had been going so perfectly. Everett had set himself up as a weak, innocent best friend for (Reader), tailoring his personality for the past eight years to ensure that (Reader) would never leave him. When his family uprooted his life at the age of ten, he already knew there was no chance of happiness in his future. It was hard enough convincing anyone at his old school to like a freak like him, but being a new kid on top of having a personality that for some reason pushed everyone away? Everett knew it was hopeless.

But it seemed fate had other plans for him. The very first day in the new home Everett attempted to climb the large tree in his fenceless backyard and slipped, falling out of one of the lower branches. It hadn't hurt all that much, really just stinging a bit, but he didn't have time to even sit up before his new neighbor was rushing over to help him, having witnessed the fall from their back window. (Reader) was an angel, the summer sunlight illuminating their form like a halo. They didn't waste a second, pulling Everett's body onto their back, struggling under his weight but forcing their tiny muscles to carry Everett to his parents. It didn't even hurt, and Everett was more than capable of walking on his own, but having someone his own age care about him for the first time in his entire ten years of life.. he played into it, relishing in the attention he was receiving, forcing large crocodile tears out in hopes (Reader) would stay by his side longer. And it worked.

It worked for eight years, so why were they pushing him away now?

He constantly allowed himself to trip in front of (Reader), embarrassing himself over and over to keep them paying attention to him. Even now, throwing himself backwards down a flight of stairs while making it look like an accident, just to prevent (Reader) from leaving him.

Unfortunately, nothing was actually broken on him. He glanced around, finding a rock almost too large to grasp in one hand. Unlike when they were children, Everett didn't believe crying would be enough to keep (Reader) by his side. He rolled up the sleeve on the arm he pretended was broken, biting down onto the front of his hoodie. It didn't matter if (Reader) was only with him out of guilt, it only mattered that they were with him.

Everett smiled through gritted teeth, thinking about (Reader) sitting next to him in the hospital, refusing to leave his side for even a second, then brought the heavy rock down onto his arm with an audible crack.

Please continue worrying about me.

[reallyromealone]

So i saw the one with Sanzu, where he has an omega mate and kids and i was thinking if you could do that but the male reader is in his 9 month and close to due date and maybe called his alpha because his water broke

(With Ran and Rindou there my favorite also can be together or not you decide)

Sorry if my grammar is bad because it is.

If it wasn't for auto correct my spelling would be tragic, I type reaaally fast so it's nonsensical half the time

And what do you mean by the haitanis being together?

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

(Name)s due date was close.

Like scarily close.

And Sanzu was across the city at a shitty dinner party with people whom he personally wanted to beat the shit out of...all they spoke about was nothing, just ass kissing to get in Bontens favor.

The Alpha was antsy as his phone was on full sound and everything as Ran and Rindō looked at him with curiosity "why so stressed pinky?" Rindō asked as he ate from the vegetable platters on a large table nearby and Sanzu was just teetering at the end of his rope "I'm fine, let's just get this shit over with." His voice clipped and stressed as both haitanis gave him a raised eyebrow but decided to not press on it as frankly they didn't care enough.

The night continued as some Omega tried to woo the Bonten second who just stared at her with a cold blank expression as the Haitanis tried to get with two millionaire Omegan heirs who were very into it when Sanzu felt his phone vibrate.

Two missed calls from (name)

"Shit--" Sanzu stepped out and away from the crowd and called his mate who was frantic to say the least "alpha?!" "Baby what's wrong!" Sanzu said worried as the sound of (name) groaning in pain rang through the speaker "baby is coming, I-I called my parents to watch the pups but I need to get to the hospital, I-I called an ambulance please get here--fuck!"

Sanzu was frantic as (name) hung up to presumably call an ambulance and the Alpha marched into the building and towards the elder Haitani "I need your keys" the three ride shared as they were all at Bonten headquarters before this, an oversight now that Sanzu thought about it "oh? Why? How are we supposed to get home?"

"Don't care, (name)s in labor and I need to get to him"

"Oh? Your angel is in labor? Come now rinny! Lets go get this daddy to his mate!" Ran was being a complete dick as the slightly drunk man walked to the entrance, the two following "I'm not letting your drunk ass drive us" Rindō said as they stepped out and took the keys from the valet before Ran could and the three got into the expensive car "university of Tokyo hospital. Go."

The three drove there in record time, the three being led to the vip area where (name)s cries could be heard as Sanzu ran into the room where (name) lay, not quite ready to give birth but he was getting there "H-haru!" (Name) cried out as Sanzu went to his mates side "I'm never letting you fuck me agaaah!" Another contraction rolled through, poor (name) crushing his mates hand in pain "the contractions are getting closer, Mr. Haruchiyo I believe it's time to start pushing" the doctor said as he and the nurses began preparing for a birth.

Six hours.

Six hours and a healthy baby girl came into the world, resting on her dams chest as Sanzu spoke so softly to his mate "you did so good baby, I'm so proud of you... Look at how beautiful she is"

"You two have visitors, are you willing to see them at this moment?" A nurse asked gently and (name) nodded as Sanzu gently took his pup and bursting in was their sons, (name)s parents and surprisingly the haitanis "what the fuck are you two doing here" "language Haru..." (Name) mumbled as Rindō stuck his tongue out to Sanzu "and miss our god kids birth? Absolutely not" ran said confidently and Sanzu looked disgusted at the thought "you're not his god dad, either of you"

"Then uncles"

"Absolutely not"

"Uncle ran and uncle Rindō sound nice" (name) murmured teasingly as his two pups crawled up into the bed to cuddle (name) "don't entertain them..." Sanzu said turning to look at his family "you two, this is your baby sister take care of her yeah?" Sanzu said with a weird amount of softness to his sons who looked at the sleeping pup who was eventually passed to (name)s parents and somehow the haitanis.

When everyone eventually left and it was just the two and their newborn Sanzu watched him feed their baby before Sanzu took the pup back "now sleep Omega, I will be here with pup" Sanzu said gently and watched the love of his life fall asleep.

Life was good for sanzu, better than he deserved.

But he wouldn't exchange it for anything.

[lndsarchive]

World Underneath - 02 Snowy Stairs

01.Die In Spring | 02. Yesterday Once More | 03. Undying Tree | 04. Gone | 05. Snow Depth

01. Die In Spring

"It doesn't matter if the annual salary is in the millions or if the research lab is top-notch. Without me, Carter, could Xander Sciences have come this far? What truly drives the development of science is not experiments, but ideas! I'm such a person, and so is Zayne. That's why you need him, right?"

Laughter echoes in the conference room.

Carter stands up, leans on the table, and tosses the contract back to the executives. "If the medical genius Zayne valued these things, why would he accept Akso Hospital's invitation? Can a hospital offer more than our research institute?"

"What do you suggest, Dr. Carter?"

"I didn't get my doctorate degree." With a smile on his lips that can send chills down someone's spine, Carter glances at the institute director asking the question. "Give me the file of Cabin 607's patient. Let me try."

--

After a round of New Year's fireworks, 2048 officially begins.

During the year Dr. Carter decided to quit school, this area of Empyreal Ring Park was just a newly abandoned construction site. The property owner declared bankruptcy, and it turned out they had invested in the emerging industry of Protocore technology in Skyhaven. The homeowners formed a group to defend their rights on the construction site. Carter and Zayne happened to pass by and saved an elderly man who had a heart attack.

After the ambulance took the man away, they sat down in a restaurant for a late-night snack, discussing the trending topic of the time: the ethics of applying Protocore technology to revive dead cells.

At dawn, the door of the restaurant opened again. Zayne headed in the opposite direction in the morning fog, and they never saw each other again.

Now, vibrant plants have replaced the construction rubble, and Empyreal Ring District has been revitalized with the resurgence of Linkon City. However, Carter believes that no matter how the world changes, Zayne will remain the same. He knows this is the path his stubborn junior will take every day for his morning jog.

As he strolls through the park, a familiar voice is heard from behind a bush.

"But you're a doctor. Please save Pilot!"

"…He already passed away."

Following the voice, Carter finds Zayne squatting next to a crying child by a bench. The boy pulls at Zayne's arm. A stray dog lies motionless in front of them. It's not breathing.

"Pilot always played with me. I even bought it cookies."

"Pilot knows. He's very happy," Zayne murmurs. He gently pats the child's head.

"But I don't want Pilot to die…"

Carter laughs to himself and walks over to them, Protocore in hand. "Hey, kid. Pilot can live again with this."

He casually joins in on the conversation. Zayne looks up, his softened gaze turning cold at the sight of the Protocore. He stands up and stares at Carter's smiling face.

"Death is part of life. We can't change that."

_________________________________________________________

02. Yesterday Once More

"You're still cold-hearted, Zayne. The dog also counts as a life, and the poor kid is heartbroken."

Carter follows Zayne to the restaurant they visited all those years ago, which is now a fast-food restaurant.

He squints and looks around as if admiring its rebirth. "If someone wants a life to continue, how would you know if you can't bring it back? Shouldn't you try first?"

Carter remembers the frightened look in the child's eyes when he brought the Protocore close to the stray dog. "Then again, you're right. Most people don't even want to try. Tell me, is the natural law an unshakeable moral boundary? Or is it just a comforting phrase people use?" His voice drips with sarcasm.

"I thought I made that clear," Zayne says. He places his phone on the table after ordering breakfast. "I see you haven't changed at all, Carter."

"No, no, that's where you're wrong. Xander Sciences has given me a lot of opportunities." Without allowing things to be dismissed, Carter takes out an elegant-looking business card from his bag and slides it across the table toward Zayne.

"If you had kept going, maybe you would've already broken free from the shackles of the natural law," Carter says. "Zayne, your talents are wasted at Akso Hospital. Xander Sciences doesn't want to see a genius like you be forgotten. The Evol technology you're insisting on is so last year. No one wants an artificial lump that needs to be charged in their heart now. Protocore tech is the golden brick that will pave the way to the future."

Carter is confident. The Xander Sciences Research Institute's logo and the research he's in charge of will easily catch the eye of top experts worldwide.

Zayne doesn't take the card. Instead, he shifts his gaze to the window. "Hold on to that brick then. If you drop it, your foot won't be the only thing that's hurting."

Carter shrugs. He knows moving this iceberg wouldn't be easy. The business card is an opportunity for Zayne to reject him. He brings out his trump card.

"Take a look at this. It's a case from our project, a very rare condition."

Carter sends the meticulously prepared medical record of Cabin 607's patient to Zayne's phone. Zayne doesn't move, so Carter reaches out and accepts it for him.

"The patient's heart surgery is scheduled for next week. His other organs are in such a terrible state that he may not survive the side effects of the treatment. We're at a loss. Why don't you take a look?"

Knowing Zayne can glean insights from abnormal data in the medical record, he doesn't provide any more details. As expected, Zayne looks away, furrowing his brow in barely disguised displeasure. "Are you unsure of what to do? If that's the case, Xander Sciences wouldn't have kept him until now."

Smiling, Carter nods. "That's why we need you. My skills are nothing compared to yours and Dr. Noah's. I can't be as meticulous and efficient as you."

The restaurant owner brings out a bowl of sweet tofu pudding and places it in front of Zayne.

Carter laughs again. "Dr. Noah thinks highly of you, you know. He would mention you to me and Will all the time back then. It made us really curious about you before we met." Eating a spoonful of his hot and spicy soup, he continues, "You may not like Xander Sciences, but the patient is innocent. Just like that dead dog. He also has families waiting for them. Take a look, Dr. Zayne. It won't violate your medical ethics."

_________________________________________________________

03. Undying Tree

The person Carter has been waiting for still hasn't stepped through the doors of Xander Sciences even after Cabin 607's patient is brought into the operating room. Five hours later, the less-than-successful surgery forced him to confront the gap between him and a genius once more.

They worked on the theoretical model of this research back in school. He even outperformed Zayne on this front. Yet when it comes to applying it, things never go smoothly.

Where does he fall short compared to Zayne? He desperately wants to know what Zayne discovered and why he stopped researching it.

"Dr. Carter, Dr. Zayne is here."

Carter stiffens at the news. He quickly raises his head, masking his frustration. By the time he swivels around in his office chair and stands up, his usual, confident demeanor is back.

--

Xander Sciences's life pods look like enormous capsules with countless, intertwined tubes connecting them to the surrounding equipment. Red tubes sucked away death while the blue ones injected new life. The daily cost of one device could burn through a month's worth of resources in a regular hospital's ICU. Xander Sciences has fifteen of these.

Outside of Cabin 607's glass window, Zayne stares at the patient who's soaking in the liquid, shriveled like a skeleton.

"Familiar, isn't it?" Carter walks up to the cabin's exterior, crossing his arms and admiring the ward that looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. "You're late. His heart regeneration failed, so we had to put a new one in to keep him going."

"How did you perform the surgery?"

"You'll know everything if you join us, though. Actually, you won't struggle with this conundrum. You might be the one most familiar with it."

Zayne being here means there's hope. Feeling he has the upper hand, Carter teases him. "Remember the project we worked on for several years at school? The same one you stopped. I brought it to Xander Sciences. Now it has a name: X-Heart."

Zayne frowns. "Have you conducted animal experiments with it?"

"Of course we've completed all the standard procedures. Otherwise, I wouldn't have invited you. When he was admitted, he only had less than six months. It's been two years now. This is what I offered him, and he's happy to be a pioneer. But I get it. You're the genius here. I only implemented a genius' great ideas."

After a moment of silence, Zayne speaks again. "Have you seen William since then? He died at Mt. Eternal. You were closest to him in the team."

Carter doesn't understand why Zayne has to bring him up. After some thought, he guesses Zayne wants to bring attention to his death. "Mt. Eternal, huh… The view's good, but there was an anomaly with the Wanderers a few years ago—"

Before he can finish, Zayne gets up and leaves. Carter quickly follows him. "Wait, aren't you here to join us?"

Zayne keeps walking, pulling out his phone. "I'm here to warn you. Hiding a Trojan horse in the medical record you sent can easily get you arrested."

Carter watches as Zayne walks further and further away, unmoving as always. His painstaking efforts are apparently worthless in Zayne's eyes. In the empty corridor, Carter clenches his fists, unable to hold back his words.

"Zayne, I'm giving you an opportunity. You better consider it! Our job is to save people. If we can control life and death, why shouldn't we?!"

"Don't you remember what we thought every time a surgery failed? Give me another chance. I could save him if I had another chance! This is the 'chance' we've always wanted!"

"There is no we," Zayne replies.

"Do you remember how happy everyone was when the experiment worked? It was like a message left by God, and now we can finally respond! Zayne, do you believe in God?"

At the end of the corridor, Zayne finally stops and looks back at him, his hands in his coat pockets.

"You're crazy."

_________________________________________________________

04. Gone

After leaving Cabin 607, Zayne walks to the elevator. The sound of rolling wheels comes from an unassuming door next to him. Through the small window, he can see a hallway. A metal cart used for waste disposal passes by. There's a lifeless hand poking out from under the white cloth.

"Make way."

A simple-looking couple blocks the cart.

The masked researcher sounds exhausted and tries to push the cart forward. "Isn't this what you agreed to when you accepted the institute's donation? Once they select him, we have full usage and disposal rights. He's gone now, so there's no need to play the part of a dutiful parent."

The woman tightly clutches the cart's iron rails. She's almost kneeling. "But he's our son… Please let us see him one last time. We promise we won't tell anyone…!"

"Just so you know, he came straight from the operating table. He doesn't have a heart anymore. Do you still want to see him?"

"...!"

"Excuse me," Zayne says as he opens the door. "Could you leave him with me for a moment?"

Over the past few months, Zayne has become well-known at Xander Sciences, so the researcher recognizes him. All Zayne wants is a clean room and a set of surgical tools. The researcher hesitates. It's a favor that can be easily granted.

"…All right, but no more than half an hour."

After a while, the young man who had lost his heart finally appears before his parents in a clean, intact state. The father presses his forehead against the wall, his hand tightly clutching his chest as he bites his lips. The mother bends over the bed, her head buried deep in the white sheets.

Moments pass, and then Zayne hears her muffled sobbing.

"Son, we've come to say goodbye…"

In the surveillance room, Carter watches the whole thing through the screen. A smirk plays on his lips as he opens the comms.

"Zayne, do you remember what we discussed before? We talked about it for a long time. In this era of technological advancement, why must we face death?"

On the screen, Zayne slowly turns to the camera. Unfortunately, he's just too far away for Carter to see his expression.

"My perspective hasn't changed. We will face death eventually, one way or another." Then, Zayne glances at the couple. "Just not like this."

_________________________________________________________

05. Snow Depth

A few days later, Zayne officially joins Akso's Evol-Cardiac Medical Research Lab as its principal investigator.

The night before, Carter sent him a congratulatory message and told him about the death of the patient in Cabin 607.

"His name was Felix, only 45 years old. He helped a lot of poor students during his lifetime, giving them a comfortable and affluent life. He also allowed them to participate in our great experiment near the end of their lives. What a shame. Despite Xander Sciences sparing no expense to keep him alive, he still passed away after two years. But don't you think this is just the beginning?"

Zayne doesn't reply.

Unsatisfied, Carter sends another picture.

It's a failed attempt at resuscitating a patient in Cabin 607. He lies on the floor outside the life pod, a cluster of black crystals blooming on the left side of her chest like a magnificent dahlia.

"Zayne, if the person lying on the operating table was your lover, would you let her die?"

After that message, a thought hits Carter like the first drop of rain falling outside the window.

He suddenly understands.

Why go to such great lengths to persuade Zayne? What he really needs is not a like- minded colleague, but a pair of hands. Ones that can carry out God's mission and allow for God's descent.

Zayne's hands.

Carter remembers that Zayne became a doctor because of a girl. A person like him wouldn't join Akso Hospital for no reason. He has to be taking over Dr. Noah's work. If he can see which cases are being transferred from Dr. Noah to Zayne, he can find that girl. That's his trump card… And he thought so highly of Zayne. As long as he has that mysterious girl, he knows he'll always have those hands.

In an instant, countless thoughts surge into Carter's brain like bubbles in a soda can.

Maybe that girl is even more interesting than Cabin 607's patients, considering how Dr. Noah and Zayne seem to be unable to help her.

Maybe her value to X-Heart would far exceed that of Zayne's.

"Zayne, you should know you're rejecting a path to life's truth. My answer hasn't changed either. I've always believed that death is just a small obstacle. It can be overcome in due time."

Happy, Carter tosses his phone onto the carpet and spins in place

His horizons have expanded now that he's changed gears. He pours himself half a glass of red wine in celebration and raises it to the highest point of the city lights as it's soaked in heavy rain.

A toast to humanity's greatest dream.

In a dimly lit study, Zayne reviews the patient records Dr. Noah transferred to him. He sees a name he knows all too well.

He recalls the conversation he had with Carter back in med school. They sat across from each other at the restaurant. Zayne had stared at his senior as he was about to eat.

"Even if we can avoid death, we still need it," he had said.

Now, Zayne rubs his temples. He stares at the name for a long time.

Then he takes off his glasses, leaning back slowly in his chair.

As if time and space intertwined, Carter's indignant voice rings in his ears and questions him once more.

"Wouldn't you use everything in your power to prevent your loved ones from dying?"

Of course he would.

Zayne answered this question countless times in his heart. And no matter how many years have passed, his answer still hasn't changed. He would do everything he could to prevent her death and save her. But the night is long. The fog is dense… If the end of the road is truly what's left… Zayne closes his eyes.

At least, he still has another option. His last one.

And before the storm arrives, he only hopes he can walk a little further on this rugged path.

He could also hold her hand and resist the avalanche-like onslaught of selfish wishes together.

[polarisbibliotheque]

Survivor's Blood (Leon x Reader) - Chapter 5

Survivor's Blood

Pairing: Leon x Reader

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 (you are here!)

Summary: After Raccoon City, Leon became the only Government agent with that kind of expertise. With relentless training, he was now a Special Agent - again, on his first day in the job. He just didn’t expect to live Raccoon City all over again… Maybe Leon was fated to always have the worst first-days-at-work ever.

Age Restriction: 18+. It’s horror, so expect a lot of graphic violence and blood dripping from this. I mean, VERY GRAPHICAL VIOLENCE. Nothing we haven’t seen on RE, but still. Yee been warned

TRIGGER WARNING: Bloody hospital. Really. Bloody, horror movie hospital :|

Author’s notes: Took some time, but hey, we're here!! Funfact: I have this extention on my browser that changes some words of what I'm reading to a target language I'm wanting to learn, and now Magical Donuts appear in my browser as Magical Beignets. I absolutely adored it and I might re-read everything just to laugh at the random French words being thrown here.

I hope you like how it's turning out!! A lot more to come!! And thank you so much for reading and being around ^^

Chapter 5

Hospital Arklay Hill, April 29th, 2001 – 22h03

The way to the hospital was a lot quieter than any of you could have anticipated. The rule was to save ammo and move without drawing attention, always trying to get to the hospital as fast as possible. Even though you were in Leon’s schedule, you still considered yourselves late.

You followed with Leon leading the way, as agreed. He dreaded the possibility of you getting caught by surprise if you were ahead of him – even if you said you knew your way around guns, Leon had a certain trauma of losing people in situations like the one you found yourselves in.

“Y/n. Can you talk to Valerie?” As soon as you found shelter behind an ambulance tumbled in the street, he finally talked to you. “We’re almost there.”

“Yeah, I can.” You started fumbling with the radio, its only purpose to communicate with the hospital survivors. You spoke with no answer for a while until you heard a hiss in response, fixing the frequency so you could hear it better. “Valerie? Can you hear me well?”

“Hi, y/n? Yes! Yes, I can!” The woman was clearly smiling, being washed by the happiness of knowing you didn’t abandon them. “How are you? Did you meet Leon?”

“Yeah, he’s here with me.”

“Hey, we’re almost there, Valerie.” Leon sat by your side, close enough so you touched shoulders. You kept the radio near your faces, making you both lean into it a little so you didn’t have to speak too loud.

“We need to know where you are in the hospital.” You added, glancing quickly at Leon. “And if you can go to a place where the extraction will be easier.”

“I don’t know if we can… I don’t even know where an easier place would be in here.” Valerie sighed, speaking in a lower voice tone while the other survivors argued about something else. “Almost all the patients got affected by this… I don’t know… Epidemics? I don’t even know how to call it.” She shook her head, sitting in the corner of the room so she could guarantee a little peace. “We managed to lock ourselves in one of the exam rooms; it’s not that hard to get here… After the reception, you need to turn right and then left in a long corridor. In this corridor, there’ll be a lot of doors: the third one to the right, you’ll get into a restricted area, the corridor to the exam rooms. We are in the…” And Valerie took a few seconds, mentally counting. “Fifth? Sixth door to the left? Sorry, I can’t remember for sure… But when you get here, we’ll hear you.”

“Hmmm, just a sec…” You had a good memory and Leon was trained to keep a good amount of information, especially in moments like those. But he had no idea of the hospital’s architecture and with that, you could help. “Leon, you wouldn’t happen to have a pen in one of those many magic pockets, would you…?”

Leon furrowed his brows, giving you a funny look as if asking what the hell you were thinking at the same time he scolded your comment about him taking so many things to the field. After Raccoon City, he became stupidly proficient in inventory management in the field and he had a good idea what was useful or not. A map and a pen proved to be crucial when he got stuck in the police department and roaming around the underground laboratory, trying to find everything he needed to leave those places.

So yes, even though he didn’t want to admit, he had a pen that he took off one of his many pockets almost against his will. That only made you smile.

“Thank you, Mary Poppins. You wouldn’t happen to have a piece of paper too, right…?”

Leon rolled his eyes as he took the map he folded enough to fit one of the pockets. Of every nickname he could have had in his lifetime, ‘Mary Poppins’ would be the last he would’ve imagined to be graced with.

“Ok, here we go…” You held the pen cap between your teeth while laying the map on your thighs. Leon could only hold the radio and accept his fate. “Can you repeat it, Valerie? Please?”

As the woman spoke, you drew a little map of the hospital on the back of the city’s map, trying to remember the sizes of the rooms so Leon would have a better idea of the place you were going in – as well as help you remember all the details without having to call Valerie all the time.

“It isn’t that far away from the hospital entrance.” You showed the place in the improvised map. You pointed the path with the pen. “If we clear the way from the entrance to the exam room, we won’t have to go in deeper and, with a little luck, we’ll be able to leave with no further problems.”

“Hmmm…” Leon analyzed the drawing. You were right, but… “There are other rooms along the way, right?” You just nodded in response. “There’s no way for us to know how many zombies are inside each room and if they are open or not. We can clean the way there, but it’s always possible for something to appear along the way.”

“That’s why one of us should lead the way and the other should be on the back, as we’re doing right now.”

“Ok. I’ll go ahead when we get there and, when we’re leaving, I’ll be on the back and you’ll lead.” Leon checked how many bullets he had left on his handgun – up until that moment, he didn’t see a use for the shotgun but that was about to change. He could feel it. “I think it’s worse if something we don’t know follow us from the inside of the hospital than another zombie crossing our already cleared path.”

“Fair enough.” You agreed more so you wouldn’t argue than anything else: you had lots of arguments to state you were more than capable of dealing with whatever creature that appeared from the insides of the hospital, but you could delay that argument.

“I need to warn you…” Again, Valerie lowered her voice. She was quiet for a while, considering if she would continue the warning. “I’m not sure what I saw. But I think… I think I saw… Something… Different from the people who were infected. Horrible. It looked like it was out of a horror movie…

“What was it, Valerie?” Up until that moment, Leon had reasons to believe what happened in that city was the result of a virus outbreak, but other creatures? Raccoon City was used as a laboratory, but New Setosa? Was it a field test? Whose? Umbrella’s? A lot of questions crossed his head at the same time; and none had an answer. “Can you describe it to me?”

“No. I can’t.” The woman’s answer was adamant. “I closed my eyes and remained quiet. But it looked like… An animal. That thing couldn’t be human. It wasn’t human.

“How many are there?”

“I don’t know either. I just saw one and when I realized it was far, I ran the fastest I could and didn’t leave this room anymore.” She remained in silence while you both waited patiently. “Out of everything that’s out there, that’s what I’m afraid the most.”

“We’ll find a way. If we find one of these things along the way, we’ll manage.” You had certainty in your voice, making Leon discreetly look at you. It was incredible how you remained brave, even if apparently – even when you had all the reasons to be scared.

As the conversation came to an end, you went back to your walk towards the hospital – now you could see the big, white building with green windows in the distance; the luminous sign with the letters spelling “Hospital Arklay Hill” was clearly stained with blood and some of them had a hard time shining, twinkling among the darkness of that night.

“Do you know what she was talking about, Leon?” Your question was quiet, following him as fast as you could without attracting a horde of zombies.

“I’m not sure…” He glanced quickly over his shoulders. “I saw a lot of things that couldn’t be considered human in Raccoon, that’s why I asked her to describe it to me. It’d be easier if we went in knowing what we’ll find, but the virus affects people in different ways: some become undead, others mutate into things that could easily come out of a horror movie.”

That made you think in silence – it wasn’t just Leon who had his doubts about what was going on in New Setosa. Initially, everyone thought it was a sudden epidemics of a virus attacking the nervous system: some people were quarantined in the hospital, until it started to spread – you had never seen a disease that spread so quickly. You also had never seen a pandemics, but that’s how you imagined an epicenter to be: non-stop contagion, loss of control and deaths. So many deaths.

You were scared. You didn’t want to admit it, but you were. Your feet didn’t really want to follow your will to move forward – but, if you didn’t go with Leon, he would have to go in alone.

And if you were in his shoes, you wouldn’t want to be alone – as well as if you were one of those people in the hospital, you would want someone to save you. You couldn’t turn back now.

“Are you ok?” Leon checked while taking the map from one of his pockets to make sure you were in the right path and what the objective was. Leon remembered quite well, but he wanted to have a better idea – and maybe, seeing the hospital in the distance, he could understand the proportions of the rooms better. “You’re too quiet all of a sudden.”

“We barely know each other and there you are, already saying I talk too much.” You raised one eyebrow as he just took a deep breath to tell you how wrong you were. “Relax. I know. I just needed to release some tension. We need to go to the second hall and turn in the first corridor.”

“The second hall is through that door, right?” He pointed to a passage closed by a milky glass door, blocking your view of the next room. You nodded in agreement. “Let’s go then. Time to hope we won’t find the thing that worries Valerie.”

With a gesture from his hands, you prepared your gun and, now walking by his side, you quickly followed to the door you hoped would still work. As soon as you approached, the doors glided open enough for just one of you to squeeze through, jamming midway open with a strength that made it tremble. You exchanged looks and Leon crossed to the other side before you, immediately checking the right side of the room as you followed him and checked the left side.

It smelled like death. The hall was big enough to harbor a considerable amount of undead, but you found only three. One of them didn’t seem to understand how to move around the reception desk and let itself free from wherever it was stuck, another was stationary, staring at you both. And the third was banging mercilessly at the vending machine, as if it had swallowed its coin and it didn’t spew out whatever it had bought. The rest, was the classic: dead people torn apart on the floor and chairs, the walls stained in blood.

“We’re running through them?” Your question was valid: you had noticed Leon had a tendency to save each and whatever resource you found or had along the way, so you thought it was better to check before doing anything.

“Hmmm…” Leon thought for a while. Going through was a good option, but it would be a problem if you found anything worse in the corridor. If that was the case, you would be stuck, with problems in the front and in the back. “We don’t know what’s in the corridor, we might get sandwiched between this problem and something worse.”

“I didn’t think of that.” Even if your answer was serious, you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing internally at his choice of words. After all, it wasn’t everyday you heard ‘sandwiched’ in such a serious conversation. “Let’s go then.”

With those words, you pointed your gun to the stationary zombie as Leon followed to the reception. With two certain shots, you both wiped out those zombies, drawing the attention of the third one, who slowly turned around and finally reached out to you, dragging itself as you met Leon in the middle of the room once more. With coordinated shots, the vending machine zombie was exterminated.

“If I knew you’d shoot as well, I’d have saved the bullet.” Leon gave you a small smile, making you mirror his expression. “You shoot better than a lot of people I met.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” You answered in a quick laugh, walking by his side towards the long corridor you now needed to cross.

Leon would have asked what you meant with those words, but as soon as you reached the big white doors that blocked the corridor, you fell silent. You were lucky the survivors at least tried to leave and ended up close to the entrance: the place was huge and if they were in the most distant wings, you would have serious problems.

With your backs to the door, each of you on each side, you waited until he nodded in a sign for you to enter. You both pushed the heavy door quickly, pointing the guns as soon as you entered the corridor, ready to shoot the first thing that appeared in front of your eyes.

But there was nothing.

The corridor stretched into a pitch black darkness with broken light bulbs that twinkled in whatever rhythm, humming with the energy that crossed the useless filaments. A couple of bodies were thrown on the floor – at least as far as your eyes could see – chewed by something… Different. The walls had blood stains in shapes of hands, on the floor, feet that tried to flee in despair. Beds, syringes, gloves, hospital paraphernalia… It was all tossed along the way, as if the place was hit by a hurricane – and now, it laid in a heavy silence in the foul air.

In Leon’s experience, that kind of situation was worse than the chaos: when there were screams of despair, you usually knew what was attacking and where the survivors were. When there was only silence, all you could do was to pay attention to whatever noises and hope you wouldn’t be taken by surprise.

“Stay alert.” Leon murmured as low as he could, leading the way. Your steps were calmer and a lot more careful now that you didn’t know what you could find. With his eyes now getting used to the lack of light, Leon found the door Valerie told you about – a little farther than he had expected.

Your steps were quiet behind Leon: even if you knew how to shoot and you wanted to be there, you couldn’t deny he was the best person to lead the way – after all, he was trained to that kind of situation.

You carefully dodged the pools of blood on the floor. You didn’t want to run the risk of slipping and falling over all that mess – you were already sufficiently dirty and all you wanted was a good shower to feel as good as new. As you crossed a good part of the corridor, you approached the first passage to the right that connected that corridor to another hospital wing – through another equally dark corridor.

You would’ve had normally walked by it if you hadn’t heard a strange noise coming from that corridor.

It was like an animal’s hiss. You allowed Leon to keep walking as you turned around to make sure there was nothing else needing rescue.

And it was the first time you saw that.

A creature that looked like it had no skin, with long claws, roaming the corridor with its four paws on the floor; sharp teeth framing a long, menacing tongue. You froze in place, terror filling your eyes. It was the most horrible thing you had ever seen in your life and you didn’t know what to do. Had that thing seen you? Should you shoot?

Before you could make any kind of noise, though, one of Leon’s hands quickly covered your mouth, pulling you towards him. You didn’t resist: with eyes wide open, you turned to him and found Leon with one of his fingers on his own lips so you would remain silent. You nodded frantically and, as he let you go, Leon held one of your hands and started walking as silently as he could so you could reach the door Valerie told you about.

It wasn’t that far away, but it seemed enough for a marathon. You heard that thing sniffing around, paws heavily hitting the floor, chasing you: slowly, calculated, searching for something it knew it was escaping. The claws scratched the hospital floor, the animal hiss louder and louder. You held Leon’s hand with a little more strength.

If you had to choose how to die, it would be by zombie. Never by something like that thing that chased you.

You risked a look above your shoulders, finding that thing finally reaching the spot in the corridor where you were before. There was so little left for you to reach the door. Leon pulled you closer, walking a few last steps to get to the next passage.

You almost said something when you saw that thing jerking its ugly head towards you. Stopping in front of the door, Leon finally looked at it: they were about to be noticed. You were so close. It knew.

Leon looked at you and tried, as best as possible, to tell you through hand signs to run as soon as he opened the door. You nodded in affirmation and, as soon as Leon pushed one of the metal bars to open it, the thing raised its head like a dog, screeching like chalk on a board, viciously running towards you.

“Go!” Leon did his best so you entered the corridor before him, quickly following. To your terror, the thing that chased you was too fast.

Leon wouldn’t be able to get in: having crossed the door, you saw the claws of that thing already prepared to tear his back open – and that would be a huge problem.

As he tried to escape, you didn’t think twice: aiming your gun, you almost emptied it in that thing’s head. You didn’t know how many bullets you needed, nor how many of them were there, and you didn’t even care if you needed to go on in complete silence – you wouldn’t allow that thing to kill Leon in such a stupid manner.

The creature fell heavily on the floor while Leon stumbled into the corridor you found yourself in. That thing’s tongue stretched until almost hitting your feet, as if even in death it wanted to tear you apart.

“What the fuck is this?!” That was the only thing you managed to ask, still staring at that thing with widened eyes, your hands trembling on your gun. You didn’t even have to state the adrenaline shock had been strong.

“Dunno. The guys at the station called it Licker.” Leon took a few deep breaths, a little discombobulated by how you had emptied your gun on the Licker instead of running in despair or screaming for help – saving his life in the process. “The good news, they are as blind as a bat. The bad news, those things smell and hear very well, so we need to be very careful and not make any noises when we see one of them.”

“Hmmm… I remember that name, Claire mentioned it a few times…” You also took a deep breath, giving that thing a last look. “I didn’t think it would be that ugly. And scary.”

“Oh, c’mon. They could win a beauty pageant.” Albeit the seriousness, you could hear a hint of a laugh in the back of his voice as you got back on track.

At least you were lucky enough for that place to be empty.

“I’ve never seen such a funny person in an apocalypse.” You aimed your gun above Leon’s shoulders in case something appeared in front of him. You didn’t hear any menacing noises, but that was only worse, considering the situation.

“Well, not my first apocalypse.” He shrugged, thinking about his own words. Who would’ve known one day he would find himself saying something like that. He imagined where he would be in four or five years, how he would handle that kind of situation. He hoped he would be an agent who feared nothing and could deal with things objectively, and even with a certain level of humor. “Which door? Fourth or fifth?”

“Actually, fifth or sixth. She didn’t really know.” You corrected him, pointing to the nearest door. “Let’s go?”

“Yeah. You go ahead.” He pointed the door with his head, giving you cover.

“Valerie?” You lightly knocked on the door to avoid too many noises, even if you had just done a whole rock show with all those shots in the Licker’s head a while ago. You didn’t notice, but a hiss echoed from the end of the corridor, making Leon aim his gun and his flashlight into the darkness, finding anything in return. “It’s us! Y/n and Leon!”

You heard a commotion inside the room and it confirmed you were at the right door. While the click of it opening and the handle moved to greet you, the hiss repeated itself, louder – but, as soon as the door opened, the sound of claws hitting the floor added to the soundtrack.

You, Leon and Valerie looked in the direction of the origin of the sounds – with the claws taking a vicious speed – making you hold Leon by his bulletproof vest and run inside the room as fast as you could, not allowing him nor Valerie to think of something else. The nurse, though, was quick enough to lock the door as soon as you stumbled inside, making the creature lose your track – without ever leaving the corridor.

“You’re here! Alive!” Valerie immediately locked her arms around your neck, holding you as if there was no tomorrow. You widened your eyes, glancing at Leon. He just giggled: it wasn’t everyday he saw someone so uncomfortable with hugs as you seemed to be at that moment. “Thank you so much…!”

“Thank you for what, Valerie?” A grumpy man interrupted the moment, stuffing his clammy hands in the dirty lab coat pocket. “They can very well end up locked up in here with us! They haven’t done anything to save us yet!”

“But we will, sir.” Leon tried to be diplomatic, noticing not so friendly looks shot at the man from you and Valerie. Someone had to be the voice of reason in there, or the very survivors would end up killing each other. “The goal is to leave here right now so we’ll get to the school at 22h20.”

“And then we’re gonna do what? Open the books and start studyin’?” The man wiped some of the sweat that dripped from his greasy hair, his little eyes filled with anger amidst that stuffy room. “Or you’re gonna find a magic way to get us out of this damned city?”

If Leon was younger, he would’ve answered with calm and patience.

But he wasn’t that rookie cop from Raccoon City anymore. He didn’t need to have that much patience. Not after all he had been through.

“As Special Agent from the Government working under direct orders from the President, I have a special task team with the best soldiers from the army, ready for an extraction operation of the survivors in New Setosa.” Leon was probably being too harsh, but, honestly, someone would have to put that guy in his place, be it by being gentle or by brute force. And, right now, Leon wasn’t that inclined to being gentle. “I think it’s enough magic to deal with this situation.”

And that talk was over.

“Under direct orders from the President…?” You had your arms crossed, slowly approaching Leon while he organized what was left of the ammo and loaded the shotgun. He raised his eyes to you, finding you with a small smile coloring your lips. That made Leon mirror your reaction, a little embarrassed by the way he spoke before.

But that guy really pissed him off.

After his answer, the survivors gathered to listen to the instructions on how they would cross the city to the school – having that little intermission to prepare ammo, items they wanted to take with them, care for any wounds and get ready for the journey to safety. And, while Leon got ready in his own lone corner of the room, you approached to talk to him.

“Yeah… That’s what happens when you survive a disaster like Raccoon.” He sighed slightly. “I ended up as a Special Agent just because of that, I’m the only one with this expertise.”

“I doubt all Special Agents have direct orders from the President of the United States.” You leaned on the bed Leon used to keep the guns and ammo as he counted and organized them. “C’mon, Leon. You didn’t get here ‘just’ because your star twinkled in Raccoon. To have this kind of job, you need to not only be a good agent, but an intelligent one as well.”

“Oh, well…” Leon shrugged, feeling his cheeks slightly burning and trying to do his best for you not to notice it. At least he was lucky: the lights from the room were broken. “You’re gonna have to ask that to the President.”

You narrowed your eyes, smiling right after. You didn’t know if it was just something he was saying to escape that conversation and dodge a compliment or if he was trying to tease you.

And, when you noticed the ghost of a smile in the corner of his lips, you knew it was a bit of both.

“So cocky.” You muttered back, making him raise his eyebrows and stare you in shock – but clearly holding back a laugh. “After that, I’ll only leave you with the shotgun ‘cause you’re the one dealing with that monstrosity outside, Mr. super-government-agent friends with the President.”

“Ok, I’m not complainin’.” And he loaded said gun, already leaving it ready with the strap across his shoulders. “Here. More ammo for your gun. After you shot that Licker like a cowboy, you’re gonna need it.”

“And I would’ve shot it more if I could.” You answered while reloading your handgun. Two magazines were probably more than Leon could give you at the moment – but you had already learned he had a big heart. “I’ll lead the way? As we agreed before?”

“I’m the one with the shotgun, ain’t I?” He raised one eyebrow, making you flash a little smile at the answer. “At that pace, you’ll end up workin’ for the President as well.”

“Yeah, right…” You shook your head, deflecting the compliment. Even so, you winked back at him. “If you’re my partner, I’ll think about it.”

“I can make that happen, alright?” Leon pointed at you, making you giggle. “You ready? It’s time to go.”

“Yeah. I think you should ask them that.”

Indeed, the survivors didn’t look too excited – but as Leon knew quite well, you didn’t need excitement to save your own life: you just had to run and never look back.

**

To be continued...

[bluestone-dragon]

What I have learned today is that firefighters are really, really cool. A list of more specific things I also learned:

The fire department picks up 911 calls after the police

Each 911 answerer had five screens in front of them. They mostly use just two, but they sometimes need the other three.

They send out fire trucks and fire engines (which are NOT the same thing) as well as ambulances

Fire trucks have ladders, fire engines do not. The way it was explained is that fire engines are the ones putting out the fire, and fire trucks are the ones cutting holes in the roof so the smoke can get out and the firefighters can see where the fire is.

Four people ride on a fire engine: the captain, the engineer (driver), and two firefighters

The vast majority of assistance they provide is actually medical, not fire-related

The most common kind of 911 call they get is from alarm companies, and the vast majority of those calls are false alarms (dust in the smoke detector will make it go off, so clean your smoke detectors!)

They're working on ways to minimize the above because resources were being sent to the false alarms, and people who actually needed help (the example of cardiac arrest was given) weren't getting it

One person mixed up city and county services. The firefighters were very quick to correct them. City and county fire engines/trucks have different colored striped to distinguish them.

City and county have different firefighting strategies! County gets there as fast as they can and let the next engine bring water, while city makes sure the first engine on the scene has water. They literally had to draw up a whole new playbook for the areas where city and county firefighters overlap.

Firefighters live at the station, and (at least in my city) the city does not pay for food or amenities. Every firefighter, every morning, drops ~$20 in the fund, with $13 going towards food and the rest going towards things like soap and shampoo.

They rotate being the cook, because they all hate it. The cook needs to make lunch and dinner (breakfast wasn't mentioned) for fifty people, and just getting the ingredients is a pain. They need to load it up (fifty people = two carts full), take it all out for the conveyor belt, load it back into the carts, load it into the car, then once they get to the station carry it all into the kitchen. They're tired and they haven't even started cooking yet.

During Covid, people weren't allowed to cook, so the city paid for catering

A relatively new installation in the garage was diesel exhaust hoses (that's not the official name). They suck up diesel exhaust because that's a carcinogen. They did not know that until several firefighters got cancer. ...Yeah.

No turnouts (the yellow jackets firefighters wear) in the kitchen. Also a carcinogen, also a fairly new thing.

This is what's going to make me watch 9-1-1, isn't it.

Anyway, my city has another first responders event next week, and I'm super excited to go because this one was really cool. I had no idea just how much firefighters did!

[the-most-lamentable]

oh baby it's askin' time. 58, 66, 73, 90, and 21 for funs :)

Good evening, got booted out of my account for a moment but I am back and presently avoiding working on my writing projects ( will be working after this because my project list is ever expanding and I Still need do get done the ch3 illustration aaaaaa)

What's the last thing a fic made you Google when you were writing it?

Uhh the last thing was the bus system in the Tampa Bay area to Plant city for the immortal blade story. He starts off as a college student before having the worst night of his life brought to you by maybe a few too many Jaegerbombs.

In other research I tried an energy drink to see how it would feel as I have a scene in that Eugenia is an incredibly passive aggressive ghost wherein Keith absolutely crashes right before a show so Mickey gives him a monster thinking what's the worst that could happen? It goes poorly.

When have you felt the most confident in your writing?

Occasionally when I'm working on a project I'll have one of those moments where I realise Hey I just set up and paid off some very nice bits of theme and motif Ohoho it's all coming together, I've connected the dots. It's usually then.

Otherwise, my best writing? This line I wrote at 4 am.

"“Well- jokes on you! Both of my parents are dead!” Kevin sputtered.

Jeremy paused for a moment. Someone nearby shouted, “Her ghost is disappointed!” The crowd murmured in agreement."

How do you visualize scenes? Do you see it like a movie in your head, or do the words just flow?

So when I first start drafting a story I will be sitting there staring at a wall and there's a tiny film projector in my head playing out key beats, very visual but also vibe driven. The Great Imposter was very one to one in the scene beats and imagery I came up with initially like the imagery of the study sequence where he's stuck watching the action unable to act, or the whirring ambulance lights in sprinkling rain for Shock Blanket.

When I actually start writing it's a bit of both, my brain is multitasking to high hell. Those central images serve as a guide which is supported by insane amounts of character research and story structure. Most of the chapter illustrations are those initial clear images translated to drawing. I figure if the iconography is so effective to me, it should hopefully work on my audience too as a supplement to the vibes.

Do you notice your own voice in your writing?

Exceedingly so, yes. While I do make an effort to write within character logic and voice, it is still my writing. I have been told my usual voice is resemblant of a late 1800s British satirist, which seems fair (irony is the death of sincerity, my deepest struggle writing) however other inspirations include: Terry Pratchett, Lemony Snickett, Clue 1985, Tj Klune, David Sedaris, etc. All this to say always very dry humor, fast rhythm, and exceedingly long metaphors that are just a bit too specific.

Pick a writer to co-write a book and tell us what you'd write about.

Uhhhh I don't know but if you ever want to write a story together here's my pitches that I am coming up with on the spot (absolutely no pressure, i just dont know how else to answer this):

An AU of Homeward, Boumd where the Beans are all human, but still just as fucked up. Like Chris mentions offhand that his brother once threw him into a hole in their basement and left him for dead and everyone is just !!!??????

Celia Bean had an affair (outside of her one with Robert of course) which after an ancestry test brings James's number of suprise siblings up to 3. I just feel like him and Chris have similar vibes. Plus the chaos of introducing these two groups, particularly Cornley being perhaps a little too snooping over this (Jonathan and Dennis trying to casually hide behind a newspaper in a café only to be immediately clocked by Chris)

I've got an urban fantasy noir sorta story where magic is real and the whole thing kicks off with a spell backfiring and James's dad disappearing. Features things such as Keith and Mickey Co running a psychic shop (Keith runs the shop, Mickey is his glorified landlord, roommate, and self nominated HR department), Kevin getting up to shenanigans as a ghost, human glowsticks being abused for said glowing, werebear the ultimate bear, group sleepover (See: James and Mickey fall asleep and nobody has the heart to wake them). I believe I've mentioned this one before.

Anyways thanks for the ask, forgive me if it's A bit incomprehensible I am extremely sleep deprived from an absolute eager with my friend last night wherein we reorganized her bedroom and then discussed theology till 4 am. Best wishes, Jon, I don't know why I'm signing off like an email but it's there now

[draggeddowntothedark]

Kevin's Swan Song

Of all the ways Kevin pictured dying, he didn’t think that a song would be stuck in his head.

Yet here he was now. Knife plunged deeply into his stomach. Mordred staring in frozen shock, like he couldn’t believe Eli actually took that step, went that far. A few of the vampires watching in hungry anticipation as crimson dripped to the floor.

And all going through Kevin’s head was ‘The World’s Smallest Violin’ by AJR.

Eli finally let go of Kevin and let him drop to the floor. It was strange, it both hurt and didn’t hurt. Instinct screamed at him to pull that knife out, but Kevin dimly remembered (in between lyrics) that you shouldn’t take out knives inside of your body. Just leave it. Until the ambulance is called.

But they weren’t going to call an ambulance, were they?

Mordred was begging. Even if any of the words weren’t sinking into Kevin’s ears, he could hear Mordred’s pleading tone, asking Eli to spare Kevin- he’d do anything. He’d come back to the coven. He’d stop causing shit. He’d do anything- at the very least, don’t leave him dead-

Something about that actually made something in Kevin’s chest turn.

A life without the sun… drinking blood to survive…

The world's smallest violin,

Really needs an audience,

So if I do not find somebody soon…

Kevin grabbed onto Eli’s leg, as if also begging for his life, but his other hand was on the knife in his gut.

You killed Obsidian vampires by cutting their heads off.

I'll blow up into smithereens,

And spew my tiny symphony,

All up and down a city street,

While tryna put my mind at ease-

Maybe Kevin couldn’t decapitate the dickhead that was Eli, but he could sure as hell try. He hissed through his teeth as he successfully hauled himself to his feet while gripping onto Eli’s shirt sleeve. Eli, finally taking note of the dying human, wrinkling his nose.

“What are you doing? Lie down and die already, brat.” He tried shaking Kevin off, but Kevin had a vice grip on him. No. If this was how he went out, he was going out with one final fuck you.

Like finishing this melody,

This feels like a necessity,

So this could be the death of me,

Or maybe just a better me-

Kevin yanked the knife out of his gut and holy fuck that hurt- he nearly stumbled over but it didn’t matter. Pain wouldn’t matter in a few minutes- maybe even a few seconds- when he was dead.

Now, come in with the timpanis

And take a shot of Hennessy-

Mordred realized a second too late what Kevin was doing.

“Kevin no-”

I know I'm not there mentally-

Kevin hoped Mordred and Natalie wouldn’t miss him too much as he took that knife and buried it in Eli’s neck. The Vampire King’s eyes popped wipe open as his dead blood spattered out from his lips.

But you could be the remedy-

Kevin exhaled for what he figured was his final time as he sliced through flesh. He didn’t take off the king’s head, but he sure as hell hurt the bastard.

So let-

This was it. One final fuck you.

Me play-

Funny enough, Kevin didn’t really want to die. That was a new feeling.

My violin-

Things were going dark. Was he going to heaven or hell? Depended if he saw a light or not, he figured.

For…

There was the light. Huh. It was hotter than Kevin figured it would be. So maybe it was hell?

You!

The last thing Kevin felt before losing consciousness was that heat. Burning away his skin but rebuilding it in the same moment. Destroying him and making him.

He screamed. And it all was consumed by fire.

~*~

Welp. That happened.

Mordred reformed from mist, his jaw already dropped.

Save for Eli, the three vampires closest to Kevin were no longer there… or rather, all that was left were some soot smudges on the cement floor. The rest of the blast radius had charred skeletons.

Eli, the bastard, had actually faired pretty well considering how close he was to the fireball. He’d taken the same strategy as Mordred, but he’d not been as fast about it. Half of Eli’s body was still good… the other half looked like cooked meat. The eye that wasn’t burnt shut was still wide, the powerful vampire king shaking and lips just barely parted… but he couldn’t even scream. Just wheeze.

The only person who was perfectly fine? Kevin.

He was curled up in the fetal position on the ground, naked, obnoxious hair dye faded back to the natural black color but… fine. Even all the injures from the torture Eli had been inflicting on him for weeks was gone.

Mordred stumbled to his feet and rushed to his friend’s side- holy fuck had this all just happened- and knelt beside Kevin.

“Kev? Buddy?”

He was breathing. Mordred swallowed before he reached for Kevin’s shoulder to try and shake him awake.

Well, he would’ve, but touching Kevin’s skin was like touching a hot stove. Mordred yelped and jerked his hand away, shaking out his fingers. A look confirmed he did legitly burn himself, his fingertips healing quickly but pink and blistered.

…. What the actual fuck.

“EL! KEV!”

Natalie burst through the door, sweat plastering her hair to her forehead, a bruise on her cheek and the magical cuffs still hanging on by a thread. “What- what was that!? I heard an explosion and… what happened?”

“Uh. Kevin blew up.”

How else could Mordred describe it? Fire so hot it literally incinerated those too close exploding out of Kevin’s body… even as mist Mordred could feel that heat. He might not have eyebrows anymore.

“But he got better.”

What the fuck. Just. HAPPENED.

[vivi-the-kat]

general cw for this entire post but, i just need somewhere to talk about this. About to get heavy folks, buckle in.

i might not have even be here to make the post I'm about to make, but here we go, i guess. about a week ago, i decided to take a bus to my closest city to just kinda clear my head, get out of the house and give myself some time to reflect. i went alone because, well honestly im a bit isolated so didnt really have any friends to look after me, and one of my favourite spots is walking along the river (water calms me down) and, i guess i was in the very wrong place at the very, very wrong time. man started following me, intially i thought he was just walking behind me but then he calls out to get my attention. i guess you all know whats about to happen. he demands my bag, and like i think anyone would, i froze. he asked again, then asked again, and he started getting aggressive - i tried to slip it off my back but, he obviously had decided i wasnt moving fast enough for him, because before I knew it, or knew what was happening, there were fists flying toward my face hard. he knocked me off my feet and i fell down, and he starts kicking, shouting slurs the entire time. i cant remember much after this except blocking my head with my hands, and then everything turning black i woke up in an ambulence. no idea where i was, what had happened, what day it was, or even who i was, really... they told me i had been mugged and assaulted. after that it was just waiting in accident and emergency, and my family coming to pick me up. i think the entire time i just dissociated, unable to comprehend what actually happened to me. ct scan, thankfully no brain damage, x ray, no fractures. but my face black and blue, my eyes like a pandas. family showed up, picked me up, and brought me home. after that, i just slept. that really was all i could do im not going to sugarcoat it here, i was nearly murdered last week. if i hadnt put my hands up to protect my head or he'd had a knife, i wouldnt be making this post right now. tell the truth i havent even used tumblr for a few years now, ive practically dropped off the face of the planet due to a very, very deep depression, but i think i need a community around me right now to help me feel safe, so i decided to sign up again because i'm utterly horrified. i cant even leave my house anymore. this world is terrifying and i just want to see humanity again, i don't want to be alone... im so sorry this is so heavy. dont really know where to go from here but, please please please be careful out there all. especially if you're isolated. we're stronger together. your life has value. its just a shame that the thing that made me realize mine does too is the fact that somebody came close to robbing it from me. please, please stay safe.

[mochii-writes]

Hello how are you? can i ask you for an imagine or headcanons please with Aizawa (and Hawks if you don't mind) where his girlfriend Y/N who is a pro hero (top 10 and with a strong quirk) got in the way during the fight with Stain and the students of UA and was found injured

Hi Darling! Thank you for the idea! I hope I was able to do you justice ♡

a/n: Headers where found here on Tumblr! ♥

also y/h/k = "your hero name"

You always knew you were stronger than most when you were younger, your quirk manifesting early in your childhood. But, here, right now, with blood dripping down your forehead and into your eyes and lips, you thought otherwise. You were grateful that you had a keen sense of understanding people and their emotions. You could see right through Iida like an open book. You had gotten a message from Endeavor of a random address. And now, here you where, face to face with Stain. You would move the very planets for your students, even kill if needed. You wondered if they still thought highly of you as you crumbled before their eyes. It all happened so fast. One moment you standing in front of Stain, making yourself a human shield for your breathless students, the next, you had a giant gash thought your torso. Your lip busted, eye swollen and arms full of cuts. How did you mess up so badly? The view of Stain was becoming blurry, your breathing getting more and more shallow. Was this how death felt? So calming, yet so painful?

𝐀𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐰𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐚:

Would instantly run to your aid as soon as he had Stain tied up and on the floor.

Which, on that note, would go absolutely berserk on Stain to the point where Endeavor had to pull him aside.

Kneels on the bloody pavement beside your body, shaky hands picking up your head.

"Y/n, can you hear me?"

Is gentle with you the entire time, even when waiting on the the ambulance for your unconscious self.

Is using his binding cloth to wrap around your torso in hopes to stop the excessive bleeding

While doing this, is also trying to calm down Iida, who was apologizing so many times Aizawa had to block him out.

He knew you meant a lot to your students, especially to Iida who you became close to after hearing about his brother

"The ambulance will be here soon, love. Just hold on a bit longer for me."

He knew he should've asked you why you were in such a rush when you had ran past him, your hair leaving that warm vanilla scent behind you

But, he just brushed it off, assuming you were late for something

He only knew what was happening when he had opened up his phone to the news of a "pro-hero y/h/n on the verge of death?" headline

That was when he had rushed to your aid as fast as he could, wondering if he would make it on time before something worse could happen

When waking up in the hospital, eyes heavy and breathing still painful, you found Aizawa right by your side

His soft lips parted as he drooled lightly on the white blankets.

He was seated right by your bedside, arms folded under him to support his head.

"Oh, Aizawa," you'd whisper, a gentle hand brushing though his dark and messy hair. "I'm so sorry."

𝐊𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐢:

He had the most faith in your combat skills. He knew you deserved to be in the Top 10.

He had been flying over the city buildings to see you at U.A, to surprise you with chocolate and flowers for your birthday since you had to stay late to finish grading papers.

He didn't expect to see you bloodied up and gasping for air though

As soon as he saw the amount of blood spilling from your torso, he threw down to the pavement

He had staggered towards you after a failed landing though, tripping over his own feet

You had made the final blow to Stain while Hawks was flying up above, telling Todoroki to tie up the villain.

But, the amount of blood lost and concussion was too much for you, resulting in you falling backwards, right as Hawks feathers softened your fall.

Hawks had quickly grabbed you, pulling you into him as he wiped your from blood and sweat with his large hands.

"Y/n, wake up. Don't fall asleep."

He was impatient, so impatient that he had barely said a word to anyone before flying towards the closest hospital with you in his arms

He made sure to put as much pressure as he could on the giant wound on your torso.

"It'll be ok, baby bird. Just keep your eyes on me.

[notanotherinfjblog]

Hey hey, could you explain inferior se in the most simplistic form and with examples. I know everyone can be a klutz and not always good at practical activities, but everyone explains inferior se like that, so I am hoping that you could give a better explanation since youre an infj

Hi anon! :)

I fear, I'm not the right person to ask for simplistic explanations since I've got a track record of giving ... not very simplistic answers, but I'll try.

You are absolutely right, though, that's a thing that bothers me as well that people like to describe inferior Se as just being a klutz. I mean, intuitives in general tend to be more clumsy than sensors, particularly SPs, but that's a symptom, not the diagnosis. Inferior Se is more like a certain detachment from the physical world and your own body that makes you quite oblivious to sensory information as a whole. An example: I've walked around an unknown city with an ESTP and had a nice conversation, but when I'm having a conversation, 95% of all sensory information get blocked out for me. I don't notice anything and when I come back to my senses, it's like I might as well have teleported to the place I'm standing in cause I've got no recollection whatsoever of the way I came. That was not the case for ESTP, however. She walks down a street and without any effort, she knows every corner, every street lamp, every flower on a windowsill. And I didn't understand because I was watching her and to me, it seemed like she didn't even look at anything. If I want to look at something, I need to stop the conversation, stop my thoughts and really focus on observing my environment. But ESTP didn't need to. You know, as a child, I liked to write some funny, slightly insulting notes for my INTJ brother to find (as you do as the youngest sibling) and it would take ages for him to find them. I left them on his table, glued them on his bedroom door, but he kept walking past them. At some point, I started to glue them onto the door handle so he'd have to touch it to get into his room. And still he had to walk in and out of his room like three times until he finally noticed the note. Life with inferior Se is like you only see stuff you are directly and consciously looking at. You do have peripheral vision, of course. In theory, you do, but it's like nothing in the periphery reaches your consciousness. I was in a restaurant once, talking to the person sitting opposite me, and right behind him a man collapsed on the floor and an ambulance had to come. This whole scene happened right in the centre of my vision and I literally only noticed it when someone else pointed it out to me minutes later. This is where the clumsiness comes from. You get startled by bookshelves or tables or whatever and run into them because you simply failed to see.

This failure to engage with the physical world is more all-encompassing though. It makes you a bit stupid. It's small things like not knowing how to regulate your voice to the right volume or how fast to hold things of various weights in order to not lose your grip, but it's also bigger things. Inferior Se can make you incredibly reckless. Not because you're trying to be brave, but because you honestly don't understand how dangerous it is what you're doing. And it also gives you stupid ideas that seem completely logical to you. For instance, I've made ice cubes with sparkling water before, not realising that it would flood and freeze half the drawer in the freezer. I once wrote a name tag in mirror writing because I thought that if my left is another person's right, they would not be able to read my name tag if I wrote it normally. And this wasn't some childish foolishness, I was twenty years old. I was a nightmare for my PE teachers because I really did not understand physical realities. They couldn't yell at me because they saw that I was sincerely trying my best and meant no harm, but ... things happened. When other students kicked a football against the wall, I'd be the one walking right through the flying balls and get hit in the head. When we had to wrestle each other and throw each other off the mat, my opponent looked at me and said she was afraid to touch me cause I looked like I'd break like a twig (I did). When we did shot put, I didn't understand in which direction you have to turn to throw the ball, and then I didn't understand why the ball would fall right down to the ground at arm's length. We went on a ski trip once and for the entire week, I fell out of every T-bar ski lift every single time. Made me famous on that slope. The guys in the guardhouse learned to already come out of their huts when they saw me coming up from afar because they knew they'd have to drag me out of the snow again. That doesn't mean you can't be athletic as an INJ. I'm sure there are professional athletes with inferior Se. The likelihood of that happening is just smaller.

This ended up being anything but a simplistic explanation, so let me summarise: inferior Se means you don't understand physical realities and you have no idea how to interact with the physical world. Doesn't necessarily make you clumsy, just makes you a bit of a menace. Imagine a toddler burning their hand on a hot stove, and then they grow up and think it's a good idea to use the hot stove to warm their hands. They've learned nothing.

[arrowflier]

prompt request: witches AU with them as an established (power) couple? 🙏🏻

Ok. So. This is not done. But I can't bring myself to rush it, and I need to go to bed so I'm not useless tomorrow, so this prompt will be written in two parts with the rest coming tomorrow.

Part One

The door in front of you is glowing.

That isn’t unusual. After all, the glow illuminates two names engraved on the plaque over the little curtained window: Milkovich and Gallagher. Two of the most powerful, most celebrated mages this side of the Atlantic—and depending on who you ask, this side of the astral plane.

So it isn’t unusual that the door is glowing. Magic tends to do that. What is unusual is that it wasn’t glowing five minutes ago.

And you would know, because you’ve been standing outside staring at it for at least fifteen.

You keep staring, gaze lost in the swirls of green and blue dancing along the doorbell you dare not touch. Your hand clenches, crinkling the newspaper you hold, a brief article containing two names, an address, and a sensationalized story about they single-handedly saved the city from last winter’s freak blizzard.

Well, other people call it sensationalized. You were there, and you know it’s all true. And if they could keep the heart of Chicago safe from a deep freeze that threatened the lives of everyone outside the richest, warmest places; if they could clear snowdrifts higher than buildings and find people everyone else had given up on; if they could—

The door opens. You start. And your eyes move from shimmering colors to solid black, covering a strong body that appears in the gap of the wood. A body that leads up to a face you would recognize anywhere, a face belonging to a man who had been hailed as a hero long before you ever saw him using heat charms to melt iced roads so an ambulance could make it to your street.

“You comin’ in or not, kid?” Mickey Milkovich asks, gruff. His eyes squint in your direction, deep blue under dark brows, and his plump lips are pursed in a scowl.

“We ain’t got all day.”

You open your mouth to answer him, but it’s too dry to form words. So you close it, swallow, summoning what courage you have under his glare to make your request—

“You knew I was coming?” you ask instead, and your teeth click together with how fast you close your mouth.

Those eyebrows lift, one just higher than the other.

“You’ve been standin’ on an enchanted fucking doormat for ten minutes,” he says flatly. “Felt the wards come on.”

Oh. You wince inwardly at your mistake. Of course.

“Sorry,” you murmur, almost too quietly to hear. “I’ll just—”

“You’ll get your ass in here,” he interrupts you, “cause you’ve been out here long enough that Ian over steeped your tea.”

“Did not!” another voice calls from inside. Heavy footsteps make their way to the door, and a bright face and red hair appear over the other man’s head.

“Do come in though,” Ian Gallagher says with a wide smile. “I’ve got it perfect for you.”

-

You follow them inside. Of course you do. Even if you wanted to leave, no one says no to Milkovich and Gallagher.

So you go in, through an entryway with walls covered in a variety of charms and runes, and sit in a plush armchair across from Milkovich as Gallagher heads back to the kitchen for the drink you didn’t have to ask for.

“Sorry for the mess,” he says as he rummages around in the next room, dishes clinking as he piles them onto a tray. You can just see the edge of it from where you sit, the way he adjust the sugar bowl with a quick sketch of fingers in the air above it, not quite touching. His fingers are long, and freckled, and—

Milkovich coughs, pointedly, and your gaze snaps to him instead. He’s sitting on a well-worn sofa, leaning against the arm, one foot kicked up onto the cushions. It doesn’t look very comfortable, but it does give him an excellent view of you, Gallagher, and the front door.

“So why the fuck are you here?” he asks rudely, only to sigh when Gallagher’s head appears around the corner of the adjoining room.

“Play nice,” he scolds, coming out a moment later. He has one hand under the tea tray, but there’s an inch of space between skin and wood. Space that glimmers with quickly moving symbols as his fingers twitch, symbols that dissipate as soon as they touch something real.

“’M always nice,” Milkovich mutters, sinking further into the sofa cushions. His hand digs into a pocket, pulls out something that he bends in two with his thumb, and then a bottle of whiskey is flying through the air and narrowly missing his partner’s head.

He catches it with a smirk as Gallagher gives him a look, and uncaps it with his teeth.

“What?” he asks innocently, taking a short swig. He holds the bottle out to Gallagher, then to you when the other man shakes his head.

“You want some?” he asks, not seriously, then says, “see, nice,” like he’s won something.

Gallagher ignores him. He stops in front of you instead, offers you the tray with a nod, and watches as you accept a too-large teacup painted with gilded runes.

“Don’t mind Mickey,” he says like a secret. “I haven’t quite housebroken him yet.”

There’s a snort from the sofa, but no argument. Milkovich even moves his foot off the cushion so Gallagher can sit close, tucked into the awkward space created by the other man’s slanted legs despite the wealth of available area.

Gallagher seems smaller there, once he’s settled, like he fits. It’s so unlike the giant of a man that stood under your window and stopped the snow from burying your neighbors alive that you might wonder if they were one and the same, except for the spark at the end of his fingers as he traces a rune you don’t recognize into the skin of Milkovich’s arm.

“I do want to know the answer to his question, though,” Gallagher says once you’ve had a sip of tea that’s already been made just to your liking. “If you’re ready to answer it.”

You aren’t sure that you are. But you came all this way, and you’re inside the house, and you’re drinking tea made by a master mage while his partner eyes you warily over the rim of the cup, and you might as well get what you came for.

“I need you to fix me,” you blurt, and the room stills.

[mcrcki]

he was so much warmer than she was, tatum felt her back relaxing further into him, her shoulders sagging under the pain in them. she hadn't felt as safe as she did now, with dewey holding her up. not since coming to this city, especially not since all of the ghosts of their past began lurking again. their words were fading from her ears, silence washing over her as her head dipped into his shoulder, body growing heavier. she just wanted to sleep. to do anything to get a moment of reprieve from this, from the pain that vibrated to her very core, from the fear and memories that were flashing in front of her. she wanted to let herself go, just to get a few moments of peace. but dewey's comments bring her back to the present, eyes blinking open to try and focus on them. "i didn't know who else to call." she knew he would come, memories or not, dewey had always been that kind. he would have been here, making sure she got to safety without his memories. "i didn't want anyone else to come." there was no one else tatum wanted by her side during this. knowing that he would stay, that even after he knew she was safe, he would stay until she told him to go. his hand squeezed hers, and tatum tried to return it, though it was barely a fraction of the strength he had, feeling her head dip again. she should be more scared, shouldn't she? knowing what this feeling meant, it should be shaking her to her core, and yet, with dewey here, tatum only wanted to give in to the comfort of finally knowing she was safe. she feels her hand slipping from his grasp, her eyes losing focus, and yet he was talking again. she had to hold on, he was right, she didn't want billy to win. to give him the chance to see her fall. he'd gotten the better of her tonight, but she wasn't going to let that be the end of her. she needed to fight, to fight the heaviness in her limbs. her hand tightened a little around dewey's, forcing her eyes to open. "i don't want to lose." she found her voice again, finding that strength once more. even if it was just a little. whatever she had left, she only had to hold on a little while longer. "i'm not a brat, i'm tired." she muttered, eyes open, but she still struggled to focus on dewey in front of her. to fully see him even as the lights of the ambulance filled the alley. everything was blurry and moving too fast for her to keep up. dewey's lips were moving, and yet she was losing the sound of his voice in the mess of voices now filling the alley, questions being asked of her when she could barely even tell if they were speaking english or not. "shut up." she mumbled, feeling herself wanting to slip back into that darkness just for a moment of peace. it was quieter there, it didn't hurt when she closed her eyes. but then dewey's arms weren't around her, and tatum was awake, finding her brother, holding onto their hand as tightly as she could still manage. "just don't let go." she didn't care where they took her, she trusted dewey to know all of those things better than she did. but she wasn't going to be alone again, she was so afraid if they let go, it would be the last time she had them back. they were moving her, too many people adjusting her, getting her up until she was being wheeled into the ambulance, but all she saw was dewey. he came. somehow he was always right there when she needed them most.

he hated the feeling of her relaxing against them, fighting the urge to shake her only because it would hurt her more. they could feel his sisters heart racing, and their own was pumping just as fast in his panic. he hadn't felt this level of fear in a long time, he hadn't feared losing their own life as much as he was afraid of what would happen if tatum fell asleep right now. they suddenly felt like they were twenty five years old again, young and stupid and with no idea what to do beyond try to hold back tears in an attempt keep it together while they sorted out whatever was happening. he could have a personal break down over it all once he was sure his sister would survive this time. "you had a bunch of strangers all calling the station asking for me by name, what was i supposed to do?" he asks, though the joke is weakened by the waver in his voice and the wetness lining their eyes. not that they're even sure tatum is aware enough to notice that, he just needs to keep her talking, and that feels more likely to get her agitated than telling her that of course he'd come, that he'd always come when she needed them, even if he didn't remember her. but they're sure she knows that, and he squeezes her hand tightly, shaking his head. they know that, she knows he knows that, they've both had enough experience with ghostface to know what near fatal injuries look like, and this is certainly close to that level, but he's going to continue to live in delusion that she's fine, that she's going to be fine, until she's... well, that's not a thought that he was willing to entertain right now while she's clinging to life in his arms. "i know. trust me, i know, but you're gonna be. you've just got to keep hanging on a little longer." and then he was going to make sure her and sidney's piece of shit exes ended up in a jail cell, if not the morgue where they belonged. "you don't want to let that idiot win, do you? come on, that's not my little sister." they're still blinking back tears, though he's losing that fight pretty rapidly, and he can feel them falling down his cheeks as he tightens his grip on their little sister, his shoulders finally sagging slightly in relief as paramedics actually started rushing into the alleyway. "it's not your fault, it's billy's. he did this, no one else." the lack of any control over her own movements has him worried again, but it'd be alright, she'd be fine. "don't be a brat, tate." keep it up, get mad, yell at him and call him an asshole. "just wait a bit, you've gotta stay awake until they say you can sleep." they have a brief conversation with the paramedic, a familiar face, now that they were looking, and confirm what injuries he'd seen, along with a slightly too desperate plea that she's his sister, that he needs her to be okay. the other confirms, moving to take her when her eyes fly open, and she's begging them not to go, and his heart cracks as he moves to reassure her. "shh, shh, hey, i'm not going anywhere, tate. they're just gonna get you into an ambulance, okay? i'm gonna go with you, you can keep holding my hand, but you've got to let them take you, okay?"

[tinyboxxtink]

"....So I Married A Monster" *Chapter 8*

Chapter 7

Chapter 9

OHEMGEEEEE!!! A new chapter!

I appreciate the patience this week/last week guys, It's certainly been-- challenging. And it's not over yet, but I did want to get you a chapter since you all have been so understanding and lovely.

That being said I really am here just to break your heart with some good ol' angsty angst. MWAHAHAHHAAHA.

Enjoy.

I may try and put out another chapter tonight, but we will only be getting to 10 with this one I'm 90% sure so I want them to be good chapters.

Tag List

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@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

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@mrsrafaelbarba

@word-scribbless

@storiesofsvu

@believinghurts

==========

“Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down,” An officer told him.

“No!” William screamed. “That man kidnapped my wife--”

“She’s NOT your wife!” Rafael cut him off. “You can verify that, she’s his ex-wife,”

“How ‘bout I verify my foot up your ass, dickhead?!” Lewis screamed.

“Lovely, Lewis,” Rafael rolled his eyes with a sarcastic laugh.

“You son of a--” Lewis lunged for Rafael but an officer held him back.

“BOTH OF YOU, GET OUT,” The nurse escorted the two men to the waiting room. “Family only!”

“But she’s my--”

“EX” Rafael finished. “And I’m her--”

“BOYFRIEND,” Lewis snarled. “Not HUSBAND,”

“I’m more concerned about the you're blood covered in, Mr.--” A female officer interjected.

“Barba,” Rafael finished.

“It’s my wi--” Lewis started, but saw Rafael’s eyes glaring at him. “Y/N’s blood, my ex wife,”

“And exactly why are you covered in her blood Mr. Barba?” The officer continued to question him.

“Because I--” He began to explain how he had rescued you from that monster.

“BECAUSE HE RAPED HER!!” Lewis screamed again.

“Alright, Mr.--”

“Loomis,” William stuck out his hand. “Billy Loomis,”

“That is BULLSHIT,” Rafael snapped. “His name is William Lewis, look him up,”

“Alright, you come with me, you go with Cooper,” The woman officer instructed her partner to take Lewis the opposite direction.

“Fine with me,” Rafael grumbled as the other cop dragged Lewis away.

“Alright so why don’t you start from the beginning, Mr. Barba,” She pulled out an iPad from her back holster.

“....How far do you mean, officer?” Rafael asked as they sat down in two waiting room chairs.

“Why don’t you call me Sherrie,” She softened her tone with a small smile. Ah, so she was going to play good cop with him.

“How far do you think will help me understand this?” She continued.

“Well,” Rafael rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s complicated,”

“....How so?” Sherrie raised an eyebrow. She had that look on her face; the same one Olivia got when she didn’t believe a word a perp was saying. Great.

“Well first of all, that man is not who he says he is,” He pointed towards where Lewis had been taken. “His name is William Lewis, and he is a wanted rapist and murderer in several states, including New York,”

“Ah, New York,” Sherrie nodded. “Is that where you're from?”

“Uh, yes, New York City in fact,” Rafael clarified. Why did she say it like that? She used a tone that he should be using. That disdain, that condescending tone. That just pissed Rafael off even more.

“I see,” Sherrie nodded as she jotted down things on her iPad.

“Look just because I’m from New York and you people--”

“Us people?” Sherrie gave him a glare.

“...You all,” Rafael changed his tune. “Think ‘down’ of us New Yorkers--”

“Oh I believe it’s the other way around, Mr. Barba,” Sherrie scowled. Well, she did have a point.

“....Lewis lives there too,”

“Really?” Sherie raised an eyebrow. “Because I just searched his name in our database and Mr. LOOMIS is a non-offender, born and bred New Jersian.

“That is a load of shit!” Rafael stood up. “I am telling you, he is a psychopath. He has several identities across the god damn country, and he’s--”

“Not on trial here, Mr. Barba,” Sherrie finished.

“And I am?” Rafael scoffed.

“We’ll see,” She gave him a look.

“Por el amor de Dios....” Rafael muttered, along with a few other obscenities in spanish. “Look just call the NYPD. Talk to Sergeant Benson of the SVU Unit” Rafael instructed her.

“SVU hmm?” Sherrie raised an eyebrow as she typed.

“Yes!” Rafael cried. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! I am the Assistant District Attorney of New York City! I would never, ever hurt anyone. Especially not Y/N. I love her,”

“Right,” Sherrie nodded. “Alright well I’ll call her after we’re done here, okay?”

“Sure you will,” Rafael muttered with a roll of his eyes.

“Do you really wanna start an attitude with me, Mr. Barba?”

“Rafael,” He exhaled. “My name is Rafael,” The more she used ‘Mr. Barba’ the more he felt he actually was on trial. “And I’m sorry, I just-- I’m scared,”

“For you or for her?” Sherrie questioned.

“For her!” Rafael got excited again. “Lewis raped her and tore her rectum, then went and took a shower after haphazardly bandaging her, like it was no big fucking deal!”

“And you know this, how?” She asked in a suspicious manner.

“Because she called me,” He continued. “She called me earlier and told me he had her hostage,”

“He was holding her hostage?” Sherrie continued to use a suspicious tone.

“Yes! And I can prove it!” Rafael suddenly remembered the picture Lewis had so cockily sent him.

The one of him holding a gun pressed to your back. The image would haunt him forever. He went to get his phone, but it wasn’t in his pocket. Shit, it must still be in the car. He had hastily dropped it as soon as he told you he was coming in to get you.

“Shit,” He muttered.

“Is there a problem?” Sherrie asked.

“I have a photo on my phone, but I must have left it in my car,”

“Conveniently,” She nodded.

“NO!” Rafael stomped his foot. “Look if you’ll just let me go get it--”

“Right,” Sherrie scoffed sarcastically with a laugh. “Let me just let you ‘run out to your car’,”

“You can follow me, escort me, whatever,” He huffed. “I have nothing to hide,”

“Alright then,” Sherrie followed Rafael outside the hospital doors, but his car wasn’t there.

“Shit,” He muttered. “They must have towed it because I just parked in the ambulance bay and got Y/N help,”

“Oh, mmhmm, I’m sure that must be what happened,” She rolled her eyes.

“This is insane,” Rafael half laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He felt like he was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. He was being treated like a convict while Lewis was the golden boy of Jersey. This was a nightmare.

“Can we just--” Rafael ran his hands through his hair, trying to think of something, anything that would clear his name.

“Can you just call the NYPD, please?” He begged Sherrie. “I swear to you, Olivia Benson will clear my name and tell you all about William Lewis,”

Sherrie looked at him for a long moment, debating whether to cut him some slack. On the one hand, he was covered in your blood, and had brought you in. Also, he was from New York City, so God knows how slick he was. On the other hand, he did look genuinely scared and pitiful, and if he had the balls to ask her to actually call the NYPD, maybe he was telling the truth.

“Alright Rafael, I’ll humor you,” She finally nodded, typing NYPD into Google. She got the number and began dialing it, waiting for someone to answer.

“Hi, yes this is Officer Reagan of the Jersey PD-- Is there an Olivia Benson there?” Sherrie asked as she gave Rafael a side eye. There was silence for a moment, then she began to speak.

“Hi yes, Sergeant Benson. This is-- Right. Do you know Rafael Barba?”

“Mmmhmm, well he’s here at Jersey County Hospital having brought in a woman who had clearly been assaulted, and he--” Sherrie stopped as Olivia began speaking very fast and loudly.

“Look ma’am there’s no reason to-- Yes her husband-- alright her ex husband, Billy Loomis-- Alright allegedly this ‘William Lewis’. Whoa there ma’am-- Sergeant, there’s no need to get hysterical,” Rafael chuckled to himself as he watched Sherrie get chewed out by Olivia.

“...Well yes he is here, but I really don’t feel comfortable having you take him into custody, Sergeant. This isn’t your jurisdiction, so I’m sorry but you have no claim on Billy, or William, or whoever,” Sherrie was getting fed up with Olivia’s attitude.

“Uh yes, that is so, sergeant. If you’d like to take it up with my sergeant, feel free to come down here and-- well fine! Good, we’ll be here. No I will not be letting Mr. Barba go, he’s still a-- you know what, I’m sick of this. You wanna come down here and raise a fit for your man here, go right ahead,” Sherrie hung up the phone and looked at a now smirking Rafael.

“I told you,” He smirked.

“Yeah well you’re not going anywhere until this ‘Olivia Benson’ gets here. Which I assume will be pretty soon,”

“Your assumption is spot on,” Rafael chuckled to himself. If there was one thing he could count on, Olivia would come running to his defense at the drop of a hat.

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

Meanwhile

“Look I’m telling you, that man abducted my ex wife in the middle of the night and raped her,” Lewis was scrambling.

“And how do you know this, Mr. Loomis?” Officer Cooper asked.

“Because I was there,” He explained.

“And why were you at your ex-wife’s house?” Cooper asked skeptically.

“We--” William was thinking on the fly.

He was still fuming from the balls on Barba trying to rescue you, and agitated that he got the male cop who wasn’t so easily manipulated as a woman would’ve been.

“We were reconciling,” He lied.

“Reconciling?” The officer raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“I told her earlier today that I had made a mistake leaving her and my family, and that I wanted to come back home,” He explained. “And then I offered to pick up our girls from school and meet her at home, while she broke it off with that bastard,”

“Broke it off?” The officer questioned him. “So they are in a relationship?”

“...Yeah,” He muttered.

“So how exactly did her boyfriend kidnap her, if she went to him willingly?”

“....He got pissed when she tried to break it off,” Lewis was spinning a thread of lies now. “He called me and told me that if he couldn’t have her, nobody could,”

“I see,” Cooper nodded, typing on his iPad

“So when she came home to me and the girls, he followed her. We didn’t know until he broke in and kidnapped Y/N,” Lewis now focused on keeping his ‘concerned husband’ act. He was pretty sure he had a good story going.

“Mmm hmm,” The officer nodded as he continued typing. He wasn’t even acknowledging him; that was making Lewis’s blood boil. He liked being in control; he hated being ignored.

“Look can I check on my wife, please?” He tried going for the sympathy card again, knowing he wasn’t getting anywhere with this guy.

“Legally she’s not your wife anymore, Mr. Loomis,” The officer finally looked up to Lewis once more. “So technically you have no legal right to see her right now, as you’re not her current family,”

“I AM HER FAMILY GOD DAMMIT!!!” Lewis screamed, losing his cool. He quickly panicked and dialed it back. “I mean, she’s always going to be my family. Her and my precious girls,”

“....Right,” The officer nodded, not amused by his little temper tantrum. He had seen guys like this before; controlling, hot tempered husbands. He had grown up with a man just like that; it was one of the reasons he became a cop.

“And where exactly are your ‘precious girls’, Mr. Loomis?” He added. Guys like these, they lost their heads when they felt cornered. Lewis probably hadn’t even remembered they existed.

“...They’re at home, asleep,” He said softly.

“Alone?” Cooper raised an eyebrow.

“We live like two blocks from here officer,” Lewis lied again, having indeed forgotten about the girls. “I didn’t want to scare them, they’re asleep in their comfy beds, totally oblivious to this nightmare,”

“And exactly how old are they?” Cooper gave him a look.

“...Old enough to be alone for a bit,” Lewis shrugged, hoping he’d take that as an answer.

“Well, at the risk of ‘worrying’ them, I think I’d better send an officer over there to check on them, don’t you think?” The officer asked in a accusatory tone.

Lewis really did want that, he was actually starting to worry about them. He actually had told Maggie that you felt sick and were in your room, and he was going out to get you medicine. But this guy was already clearly skeptical. If he told this officer where you actually lived, he was going to accuse him of child endangerment.

“...Mr. Loomis?” The officer called to him, but he was busy plotting an escape route.

Lewis glanced around the room, gauging how many people were in the vicinity. It was a bunch of pathetic patients with random injuries and illness’s waiting on a doctor, some ER nurses, a receptionist, the two cops, and him and Barba. Then he glanced at the gun in the officer’s holster, a plan formulating in his head. He wanted you all to himself, that was for sure. But you and your fucking white knight might have just outsmarted him for that to happen. Unless... the line you had said earlier about the girls being leverage. He hated the idea of exploiting the girls like that, but he was not going back to prison, and he was not losing those girls.

“Mr. Loomis!” The officer repeated in a louder, angrier tone. Lewis finally looked at him with a very sinister smile, eerily calm.

“...Ah officer, maybe you should take care of that first,” Lewis pointed to something behind him. As soon as the officer turned to see what he was talking about, Lewis yanked the gun from his holster and fired two shots into his head.

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

Across the room, Rafael and Officer Sherrie immediately flinched and ducked at the sound of the loud bang from the gun. People began screaming and running around in panic, most of them heading out the front doors of the hospital. Rafael’s eyes widened in horror as he realized Lewis had gotten a gun and had just murdered an officer. He turned to Officer Reagan who looked at him in shock, and a bit in remorse. She knew she had gotten the situation wrong, and now her partner had paid the ultimate price for it.

“Lewis, look just calm down--” Rafael tried to reason with Lewis, but the manic look in his eyes showed him he wasn’t going to get anywhere.

“Why don’t YOU calm down, counselor?” Lewis smirked as he raised the gun to Rafael. If there was one sure fire way to ultimately punish you for trying to run off with the do gooder, it would be getting rid of him altogether.

“No, Lewis don’t--” Rafael barely got out a plea for his life before Lewis had shot a bullet into his chest. More people screamed, and Officer Reagan rushed to help him.

Lewis took this opportune moment to run out of the hospital. He sprinted into the parking lot and picked the first car he saw to break into and hotwire, speeding out of the parking lot back to your place. He had to get the girls before cops found out where you lived. He’d figure out where to go from there.

From inside an examination room, you had started to come to as the IV bags of blood began to fill your system back up. You had barely had a chance to sit up before you heard the first shot go off. You immediately knew it was Billy, he had found you. You saw the doctor and nurses that were in the room with you slam the door shut to keep you all safe from Billy. You could see through a window into the lobby just enough to see Rafael with his hands up, before Billy put a bullet in him. You watched in horror as Rafael slumped to the ground, and a woman officer rushing to help him.

“NO!!!!!!” You screamed, trying desperately to get off the table.

The doctor and nurses held you down and slapped hands over your mouth to keep you quiet, terrified Lewis would come in there next. But to their relief he dashed out the door, and the hands were removed from your mouth. However they kept you pinned down so that you wouldn’t pull your IV’s out, inadvertently letting blood gush out all over the patient room.

You watched helplessly as nurses swarmed Rafael and rushed him off to another part of the hospital altogether.

What kind of nightmare had you woken up to?

[hardestgrove]

i know you are one of few who ship billy/chrissy and i was wondering if you have any hc's of billy helping chrissy through her eating disorder? part of me also believes that billy has issues with his body and possibly has an eating disorder himself to some degree.

meant to reply to this last night but i went insane and detoured sorry my bad

it's my sacred duty to champion the cunningrove agenda so happy to get into this shit! I’ll also preface this with saying I don’t really have personal experience with these topics, I’m working off of knowledge from osmosis and research so if anything feels incorrect, off or bullshity that would be why and I apologize for that rip.

first off I think Billy is skirting what would be considered a more clinical issue. He engages in problematic eating habits but ones that are more "acceptable" like strict dieting (as much as he can with Neil dictating the menu and pantry), fasting for weight loss, ignoring certain foods in favor of others because they're better for bulking up regardless of his nutritional needs etc. I think you're right that Billy has body issues. I think there's room on how you want to interpret them though and I pick whichever I think makes the most sense for what I'm working on at the moment. I think the two main options are:

Billy has been put down so much, including comments about his appearance growing up, that he struggles to see himself as attractive as he is and works on himself as a means of gaining control somewhere in his life and making himself feel better.

Billy knows he looks good and is confident in his looks. He is obsessive about his appearance and maintaining it because it's something he can control and it's something that cannot be easily taken from him that he can take pride in. It's a way to both express himself and make himself feel better. His body is the only thing he really has that’s undeniably his.

I think it's also very important to note that with the escalation of the AIDS crisis there were shifts in the queer and straight communities about what was the most attractive look for a man (the shift was more notable in the queer community tho). In the 70s men like Bowie who were thinner and androgynous had much more sway on the mass concept of sex appeal but with AIDS being a wasting disease there was reignited interest in the whole virile macho man look. I see Billy very much as bisexual which would make him sadly one of the most vulnerable groups to hate on all sides. Billy’s father already has a very stunted, toxic and traditional view on masculinity which already emphasizes a malformed version of the virile masculine man. Not to mention the desire to bulk up and get strong so no one else can make him feel weak or helpless ever again.

So it’s all just this big cocktail of shit on his end, a lot of it just simmering there likely never to be directly confronted due to the differences in how these issues are treated between men and women.

I think walking into Hawkins Billy has more aware of eating disorders than most guys his age (or maybe even people in town idk) because he’s from a bigger city and knew more girls. I wrote elsewhere in one cunningrove that one girl at his school got taken away in an ambulance because she’d passed out from starvation at school. Billy used to be more keyed into girl world than the other guys back in San Diego (for dating/sex reasons let’s not give him TOO much credit lol) so it’s something he has this kind of vague passing understanding of eating disorders as it is.

Her eating disorder is frankly one of the reasons he probably started seriously paying attention to her/spending time with her. At first he paid attention to her because she was hot and he was planning out his socio-political moves to cement his place as the new king around town. But then he noticed how she’d bail mysteriously after she had a big/decent sized lunch but didn’t after tiny/nonexistent ones and how when not in her cheer uniform all her clothes are on the baggy and covering end-- as much as she can get away with at least.

Billy has no faith in others. He firmly believes that no one will ever come and help you, that you have to do it yourself if you want it done. So he knows that even if someone other than him has noticed she’s probably got a problem here they’re not gonna do shit to help. It doesn’t sit well with him, she’s probably one of the nicest people in town it shouldn’t take her needing to be hospitalized for people to realize she needs help. So he takes it on himself. Because fuck that shit. Billy doesn’t know how to be just friends with girls though, this is literally isn’t a skill or mentality he allowed to develop growing up so he dates her. He woos and seduces her and officially gets her under his wing of protection and into the space he’s socially allowed to like... Feel Anything In.

One of the first things he does (with out her knowledge ofc) is go at look up books on eating disorders. Billy’s smart and knows he’s out of his depth and not interested in talking out his ass and making it worse. There’s likely not a lot on how to like, help your loved ones in those books though, just the technical jargon. So he tries to put himself in her shoes and figure out what he/Chrissy would want-- which ofc seeing has he does in fact have a certain amount of body issues himself is uh, easier than anticipated lol.

One of the things he does is just tell her often how pretty she is, in different ways and phrasings so if one doesn’t land the next will. He picks out all her flaws with the seasoned eye of a man with a mean streak and then comments on them positively-- how it’s cute that her teeth aren’t perfect etc. He also makes her to comment positively on her other traits like kindness and intelligence and her skills. He works his ASS off to be a safe space for her, to keep his temper at bay and be as gentle as he can physically manage. To you know, not be Billy the Asshole with her at least. It gets easier with time as it becomes more natural for him to allow himself to be open and gentle.

Eventually she feels safe to really open up to him and he shares his own home issues with her so she doesn’t feel alone, so she knows that he gets it. He’s very gentle about urging her to eat just a little more (he kisses her hair and murmurs “just one more carrot for me baby”) but doesn’t get on her case if she can’t manage it. He distracts her from the need to purge or works her through talking about it or helps her find healthy things to do when it hits her. Whatever he can. He lets her know he’s here for her, that he’s not judging, that he gets it and that if she needs him he’s here.

He becomes her backbone until she can finally let herself use her own. Contradicting her mother every time she makes a comment about Chrissy’s looks/weight (because you know she can’t keep her mouth shut even in public/in front of a “guest”). And he does it with the “no nonsense I’m a hardass” tone he has. That’s his fucking girlfriend you’re talking about bitch, no one talks bad about his fucking girlfriend (Billy’s possessive to the point he puts himself higher on the list than his partner’s mother? it’s more likely than you think!). He includes Chrissy in his calculations on what he’s gonna need when he moves out because the second she’s 18 he’s getting her the fuck out of there and he doesn’t take no for an answer on it. Momentarily taking advantage of her doormat nature and his own naturally intimidating vibes? Sure. But even Chrissy admits later she needed the kick in the ass. Her mother was abusive but a known element, leaving home is new and scary and unknown and Chrissy had so little faith in herself she didn’t think she could survive leaving until she was forced to. Then she realized how much better life was.

That’s likely when she really starts to make the most progress because she’s so much freer to make choices and already feels much braver having made such a big step. Plus she has Billy at her back as a safety net, she can take risks and be brave because she knows he’s there to catch her and her increasing confidence helps her believe that she really is good enough as is. If at all possible she’d ideally get professional help as well and he’d help her with that too but that’s all very determined by like, finances and shit.

I could probably go on more but this is already Very Long soooo