#imagining him hard tapping this dumb piece of paper at breakfast

[short666bread]

nighttime routine in an au where the marauder’s map has pinch zoom

[passivenovember]

You Look Stupid When You’re Sad.

Steve Harrington smelled of sour patch kids and unbaked cookie dough.

Billy didn't think it was a bad smell, exactly, just weird; intense, heady, and stuck to the walls of his brain. Doughy when the sunlight couldn't dry the track marks of Steve's sweat before nap time, heady when it got into Billy's system and stuck with him like the thrum of his heartbeat.

Wherever Billy went Steve Harrington was there. Like a shadow. A noisy, scrawny, wire-frame glasses wearing shadow that elbowed its way into the chair across from Billy's during lunch and followed him around at recess; three feet behind and always pretending to spot interesting shapes in the clouds when he thought Billy wasn't looking, but.

Billy was always looking.

It was so weird.

Steve was so weird. The way he made bright, happy noises when he was paired with Billy for station time, how he always drug his mat over from the other side of the room to sleep next to Billy when it was time to zonk out after second recess despite knowing that the spot was saved for Barbara, Billy's actual best friend.

She got nightmares and Billy liked to be there to hold her hand while she dreamed but every afternoon, without fail, Steve came wondering over with his lip stuck out in a question.

It was confusing.

Steve was so confusing. The way he hugged his mat to his chest, chin quivering with a little, "Okay. Sorry, Bills." Every time Billy slapped his hand on the carpet and growled that the spot was taken. Occupation, not reserved for pasty-kneed dorks with wire frame glasses, and.

Billy didn't want to make the kid cry, or anything, but he always managed to do just that. Paint himself as a bad guy.

Billy rubbed his forehead as Barb settled in on his left hand side one afternoon after such an altercation, smiling so big her lips disappeared behind the plastic frames of her glasses.

"What's wrong, Stevie?" She asked, and.

Billy tried not to be jealous.

Steve hiccupped, cheeks growing redder by the second. "I wanna nap with you guys but Billy won't let me."

"Hey, that's not--"

"You can sleep with us if you want to. Billy has a really big blanket, maybe he can share with both of us." Barbara looked at him expectantly, like. "Right Billy?"

And it was dumb.

It was so dumb, that they were staring at him with hopeful eyes and Steve's chin was still quivering and Billy didn't want to be the bad guy; he wasn't Mesogog and he didn't want to hurt the kid's feelings, but.

Steve Harrington got under his skin. With his soft hair and big brown eyes, always following Billy around and begging for the space to be made. Billy got clumsy and nervous when Bambi was nearby, and.

The idea of sharing space. Sleeping next to Steve with his chirpy little noises and warm soft hands, it.

Made Billy feel like he was breaking out in itchy red bumps.

No.

He would stick to his guns; the blanket just wasn't big enough for three people. But then, Billy's grumpy brain supplied, Steve could steal Barbara and keep her as his own best friend if Billy didn't let him stay, so. It was time to cut his losses.

"God, you look stupid when you're sad." Billy muttered.

Steve started crying again.

Billy really wished he'd stop that.

"I'm sorry, Billy. I know I'm dumb but I don't mean to be." Steve whimpered. He tucked his mat under his arm and made to get up.

And leave.

As if Billy would let Steve make him look bad in front of everyone, especially Barbara.

"Lay down, dork." Billy grumbled, tugging the blanket up around his shoulders and peeling it back for Steve reluctantly.

Harrington's smile was so bright it could've melted crayons when he settled in close, chirping happily as Billy pulled the blanket around them and tucked in on impulse. The room went dark, Mr. Talamantez reminding them to count butterflies if sleep wouldn't come.

It didn't.

Steve smelled too much like cream and sugar for Billy to get any rest at all.

--

"Whatcha making, Billy?" Steve asked, pink tongue poking out in concentration as he peered over Billy's arm at his art project.

A stack of pink and red construction paper was Billy's favorite thing in the world because it meant endless possibilities. Pink was soft and sweet, red was passionate and cool. Like hot wheels and firetrucks and hearts full of warm oven mitts, so.

He pulled the leaflets from his backpack during circle time and got busy, carefully folding the delicate paper hamburger style and then tracing swirly, dramatic lines for each heart on the page.

Valentines was Billy's most favorite day of the year.

Even more than Christmas, even more than his birthday, and only a little bit more than Halloween because on Valentines? The whole universe was covered in flowers and little tin wrapped chocolates and love hearts were the best thing for a kid to make with scissors.

Billy ignored Steve's tongue, turning his shoulders to the room. "I'm making love hearts."

"For who?"

"None of your beeswax."

"Okay," Steve said happily, grabbing a handful of markers and re-situating himself much closer than Billy would've liked. Steve's Nike's tapped the itsy-bitsy-spider on the rug as he declared, "I'm drawing batman on a surfboard!"

And Billy tossed aside his first ruined Valentine. "Oh cool, I don't remember asking."

"That's okay," Steve giggled. "Sometimes I get motor mouth. My Daddy says it's 'cause I'm a fruit."

"My daddy called me that sometimes before he got sick." Billy turned to glare at him. "That's not a good thing."

"It is to me!" Steve giggled again. He was always doing that. "I like Kiwis. My mommy packed some for lunch and I had them for breakfast. They're yummy in geek yogurt. They make me smile because they have beards!"

Steve cackled like kiwi's having beards was the funniest thing on earth and Billy wondered what there was to be so happy about.

He tried not to smile at Steve's dumb face. "I think you mean Greek yogurt."

"Yeah, probably. If I'm like a kiwi, that's alright, I think." Steve's tongue poked out again. "Surfboards make me think of you." He declared, and.

Steve smelled like toasted chocolate on s'mores, his hands somehow kicking up more of his sugary sweet odor each time he reached for a new piece of paper. Billy didn't know how he was supposed to get anything done when his circle buddy smelled like a chocolate birthday cake.

It was kinda gross.

Billy pulled out a sliver marker and traced Stinky Butt Max on one of the smaller Valentines, remembering to fold down the corners so the sensitive skin on her palms wouldn't get hurt when she inevitably started smacking him it.

The pink Valentine looked more like a chewed up Starburst gummy this way, but. Max wouldn't know the difference.

Steve peered over his shoulder again, cooing softly. Like a baby dove. "That ones pretty, Bills! Is Max your Valentine?"

"Ew," Billy wrinkled his nose like he sometimes did when Max needed a diaper change. "She's my baby sister, don't be an Ick Monster."

"What's an Ick Monster?"

"Somebody who makes weird jokes and says weird things, so." Billy shrugged, scrawling his mothers name on a second love heart. He poked Steve's tummy with his marker. "That's you, I think."

Steve giggled before slapping Billy's hand away, and. Watching him work.

After a while Steve inched closer. "So you don't have a Valentine?" He wondered, and.

Billy didn't understand the question. "Mr. Talamantez said we're all each other's Valentines so nobody feels sad."

"Yeah, but. Everybody has someone they want to smooch on Valentines." Steve started playing with his hair, fingers twisting waves in a sea of brown, like they sometimes did when he was nervous. "Someone they like best-best. Better than all the other kids."

Now it was Billy's turn to giggle. "That's icky."

"Smooching?" Steve's eyes sparkled. "It's fun sometimes."

"Like you've ever kissed anyone."

Steve looked offended. "Have too."

"Have not."

"Have too," Steve pouted, crossing his arms.

Billy began work on a third Valentine. "Who did you kiss?"

"Nancy Wheeler."

Billy snorted, not sure if he wanted to imagine Steve kissing Nancy Wheeler, or. Kissing at all.

Steve's chin started quivering. "You don't believe me?"

"No." Billy said lightly, capping the marker with a sniff.

Kissing was not fun. It was wet and violent and looked like it maybe hurt a little bit, the way he'd seen his mom and Susan kiss when he got up to go potty at night. Billy regarded Steve through easy, narrowed eyes; Steve wasn't the kind of boy who kissed like that.

"How come you're so weird?" Billy wondered.

"I like being weird." Steve said, reaching for a green marker to color in his surfboard. Steve nodded at the small pile of Valentine's strewn on the carpet between them. "You should put the love hearts on foam when you're done."

"I was already gonna do that, genius."

Billy wasn't already going to do that, but he'd eat a centipede before he let Harrington know he came up with a good idea.

"They could be superhero colors!" Steve hollered suddenly. He was so loud all the time. "That way your mommy and sissy can know that you love them because they're cool. Like Aqua-man."

Billy frowned, watching Steve fold his Batman drawing over and over again until it all but disappeared from sight. He leaned back against the wall with an eye roll, shocked out how much Harrington lacked any concept of taste, or.

Shame.

"Aqua-man isn't cool," Billy said. Because Aqua-man wasn't, he was like. The lamest of them all. "His only power is making the bad guys drown, at least the other heroes can punch really hard."

"Punching isn't always the best, though." Steve tucked Batman into the front pocket of his shirt, leaning into Billy's space. "Sometimes punching just makes the bad guys stronger. Like Wilson Fisk."

Billy frowned. "Punching works for Spiderman."

Steve considered this fact, pink tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth again. He thought really hard for a long time, as if Steve didn't have Spiderman socks on everyday at recess when he removed his Nike's to fill them with rocks.

Such a weird guy.

Finally, Steve smiled. "I like water, though. Your eyes are like water. From the fountain in the hallway, and like the lake at camp." Steve pushed his way into Billy's space, frowning with his head cocked to the side like there was more thinking to cross of the list. "You're very pretty, Billy. Like a cloud."

And.

Billy didn't have the words to articulate the way Steve's smell went a little crazy after that, like a bag of powdered sugar had caught fire from a signal light once he realized what he'd said. Billy waited for Steve to take it back, because.

Boys calling other boys pretty wasn't allowed in Mr. Talamantez' classroom, or. Anywhere else.

Steve didn't take it back.

"You wouldn't like Aqua-Man's water, 'cause you'd drown." Billy said, getting back to work on his Valentines if only for a distraction from the way Steve was watching him. "He doesn't control his power very well and sometimes the mean guys get hurt real bad."

Steve kept right on talking. "I wouldn't be a mean guy though," He reasoned, sliding impossibly closer on the alphabet rug. "I'd help him fight crimes. Like Captain Underpants!"

And.

Billy had nothing to say to that, sucked in and drowning by the way Steve's eyes were glittering.

"You're a weird guy, you know?" Billy breathed.

Steve's giggle went right to Billy's tummy, teaching it to do backflips, somehow.

"That's okay." Steve said, reaching back for a fresh piece of paper. "You'll remember me better and maybe you'll ask me to be your Valentine."

Steve's hair fell across his eyes, head bopping along to whatever song he was singing to himself today. His lips glittered like a frosted donut. Like he'd been eating a strawberry ice cream cone instead of confusing all the boys around him.

Maybe you'll ask me to be your Valentine.

Huh.

Billy started work on a new love heart and pretended not to notice.

--

On Tuesday morning Billy woke to the smell of pancakes and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Maxine was already up.

Her long red hair was piled on top of her head in two Princess Leia buns. Susan had put in little heart clips and the pink dress Billy's mommy had made special was already covered in mashed banana and something that looked like magic marker.

She was all ready for Valentines day.

Billy didn't understand why they bothered trying to make her look dainty when Max was more interested in destroying Billy's favorite toys and starting fires.

She sat on the floor of the room they shared together, sucking her thumb and playing with Billy's favorite race car. Her wet, chubby fingers made the blue Camaro shine brightly with spit and Billy felt like his face was burning up.

"Hey," He said, rubbing at his eyes. "Hey, you're getting spit all over my--"

"Race car!"

Max held it out to him triumphantly. Billy frowned, moving to grab it from her chubby little fist. "I know that's my race--"

"It's a blue car," Max said thoughtfully. She looked at him, like, "Blue cars are my favorite."

"It's my favorite too--"

"Can we share?" Max wondered, putting the little wheels on Billy's knee and letting the car zoom back and forth. He imagined that Evel Knievel was in the drivers seat wondering why his car wasn't first in the race.

She looked happy, like always, to be playing with Billy's toys.

He sighed. "Yeah, I guess we can share. It's Valentine's Day."

Max seemed to enjoy that. "I like today!"

"You do?"

"Yup," She said happily, little chubby fingers tangling in Billy's hair because he hadn't brushed it yet. "Candy and sour gummy worms and kisses from cute boys!"

Billy glared. "You're kissing cute boys?"

"Uh-huh!" Max hollered. "Lucas gave me a dandelion."

Billy thought long and hard.

About Valentines Day and all the things that came with it. The pink shirt that hung pressed in his closet, fresh cupcakes with plastic rings, a bag of Scooby-doo Valentines Susan had picked up at the market for all his classmates, homemade love hearts at the bottom of his backpack. Three with red foam, one with a delicate lace doily, and.

Kisses.

Max was getting flowers and kisses from a boy.

From someone special.

Billy took the race car from Max's hand and drove it around, thinking about boys with brown eyes and soft hands.

Maybe you'll ask me to be your Valentine.

"Wanna eat some breakfast, Max?"

"I had 'nanas." She said with a smirk.

Billy hummed, standing to get dressed. "Mama probably made chocolate chip pancakes, you don't wanna eat something special?"

Max's little red eyebrows pinched together. "I can have yours?"

And.

Billy didn't know what was so necessary to her about taking everything that was his. Playing with his toys, sleeping in his pj's, eating his breakfast, it was like Max didn't know how take something and make it her own.

Billy pulled the pink shirt over his head, feeling every bit like a turtle when Max did the same with the collar of her dress.

"You can have my pancakes." Billy concluded, puffing out his chest. "If you'll be my Valentine."

"You don't have a boy to kiss?"

"I might," Billy picked the race car off the ground with a smile. "This is practice for when I see him at school. So, will you be my Valentine?"

She thought about it.

Long and hard, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth, before nodding with her entire body. "I think he will."

Billy sighed. "Really?"

"If you give him sour gummy worms and smooch his forehead he will," Max said.

And.

Maybe things would turn out okay. Billy nodded, grabbing the race car and driving it across Max's forehead, careful that the little plastic wheels didn't get stuck in her hair.

--

From the stucco ceiling of the classroom beautiful strands of silver and gold hearts painted a mirage of stars.

All the desks had a rose and a cardboard mailbox intended for the delivery of Valentines and at the center of the room a table filled with cupcakes and strawberry Capri-sun packets. Preparation for the party this afternoon, and.

Mr. Talamantez had turned their space into a glittering, perfect fairytale.

Billy hugged his basket of Valentines close to his chest and tried not to search for Steve before dropping his backpack at the cubby station.

He was right in the middle of tugging his special sweater down over his head when Barbara scooted in next to him, pretty in a little pink jumpsuit.

She handed him a tiny, delicate giftbag full of chocolate hearts and dinosaur erasers, smiling from ear to ear as Billy hugged her nice and tight before handing off something he had made special. A tiny paper crane his mommy helped him fold, and a bunch of rainbow goldfish sat nestled in a basket of paper Mache.

They were her favorite snack in the whole world and Barbara was Billy's favorite person, so it seemed fitting.

She hugged him and Billy smiled, peering around the room for a head of wavy brown hair. "We could share our presents with Steve," He muttered, like. It wasn't a big deal or anything. Billy tugged on the sleeves of his red sweater and tried to stay cool. "Where is he?"

Barbara pointed to the book shelves.

Steve was sat under a string of twinkly lights, shoulders tucked against the pillows Mr. Talamantez set aside for circle time. His face was buried in the crook of his elbow, and.

He was crying.

Of course he was crying.

Billy felt the Valentine in his pocket grow heavy.

Barbara said, "Steve broke his glasses, maybe you could make him smile?"

And.

Billy wanted to do that. Longed to make Steve giggle and chirp with happiness like the annoying little Meadowlark he seemed be. It would be so easy to. Walk over there, tap Steve's shoulder, and say the words.

Pose the question.

Will you be my Valentine?

Steve was making huffy, nervous little noises when Billy came to a stop beside him.

"Hey Harrington, playing with all your friends?" Billy sneered, confident that Steve would giggle like he was did, but.

When he finally turned around his face was red and puffy. As if he'd been crying all morning and all night, too.

"What do you want, Billy?" Steve whispered.

He sounded sleepy. Spread thin, like the last spoonful of jam on burned toast.

"What's wrong?" Billy asked carefully. "What happened?"

Steve sat and rubbed at his eyes, chin wobbling as more tears spilled over. "My daddy broke my glasses." He whispered.

And Billy hated it.

He always hated when Steve cried but today. Right now, he.

Felt like he had to do something about it.

Billy took the love heart from his pocket and sat down next to Steve, cuddling back into the pillows until their shoulders were touching. It took all of five seconds for Steve to settle in next to him. Roll his head back against the wall until he was looking at Billy with a question in his eyes.

Steve looked at Billy's shoulder and back up at his face, like.

"Can I--"

"Come here, stupid." Billy grumbled, Pulling Steve in until they were cuddling on the pillows.

Steve chirped. It wasn't his usual sound, light and airy, it was.

Thick.

And heavy.

Like a blanket sopped with rain water. Steve buried his face in Billy's neck. "I don't have any Valentines to give this year."

"That's okay."

"I made something special for you," Steve whispered, pulling back to study Billy's face. "I know Mr. Talamantez said we weren't supposed to, but--"

"Will you be my Valentine?" Billy's stupid mouth said.

Steve blinked at him, and.

Billy wanted to hide in the bathroom for thousand years.

Steve pulled away to sit crisscross-applesauce. Facing Billy, like this was something important. "Huh?"

Billy mirrored him, tucking his hands away so they wouldn't shake when he held out the love heart.

It was pink. Big and bright and outlined with a white doily that Susan helped him glue around the edges. Billy had dug through Max's box of stickers for the one with Winne the Pooh, the one he'd been saving for someone special. Winnie was covered in tiny valentines, eating right out of a jar of honey with a butterfly sitting on his nose, and.

Billy had thought it was perfect.

He worked for hours on the font. The saying that made his mommy laugh when he read it to her; you're bear-y sweet. Be my Valentine.

Steve took the love heart in his hands, and.

Didn't say anything.

Billy frowned. "I just. Remember you asked me to be your Valentine, or. For you to be mine. And--" His hands were shaking again. "It's stupid. God, this is--"

Steve leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

It was gentle. Like the brush of butterfly wings, barely there and then gone before Billy had a chance to really register the movement, or. Think about what it could mean.

Steve wasn't crying anymore when he said, "I'll be your Valentine."

Billy's brain took a minute to catch up. "Huh?"

"I'll be your Valentine, Billy." Steve giggled, staring down at the love heart once more. "This is so cute. I loved Winnie the Pooh when I was a baby. My mom always put me in footie pajamas that had Eeyore on them. And tinker bell too, sometimes. You could've put the Red power ranger on there instead. He's my favorite--"

Billy sat back against the pillows.

He was learning that Steve Harrington was weird.

Like a puzzle with one piece missing, or. An empty tube of bubble mix. Steve was colorful and loud and all over the place with opinions. He shined bright and loved hard, and.

Sometimes it was best to sit back and listen.

--

Happy Valentines Day!!

I really just sat down and wrote this. Wow. Anyway--thank you for reading and supporting my work. Your comments and endless kindness keep me going when I don't always feel like trucking on, and I wanted to do something to remind you that if this was an elementary school classroom I would give you so many lollipops.

[thelostandforgottenangel]

Nightmare AU: Part 5 - Trip To Town

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The drive to get off the property took a bit given the road wasn’t really defined other then a path through the trees from years of pulling up and down it loving how beautiful it was out there

There was nobody for miles which they liked; just trees, wild animals, and nature to see as far as her eyes could

She knew she had heard it somewhere from either in a movie or a song but – there was no place she would have rather been no matter how hard the worked to survive here she loved every second of it

Finally getting down the incline that led up to the house and feeling her tires hit the flat meant the first bridge was coming up, getting ready to grab the controller she jumped slightly when her phone went off from Donnie reminding her to be careful and that they loved her giggling to herself knowing he was in his room watching his camera screens

Even if she felt safe on their property it always left a warm secure feeling to know he was watching her

A smile pulled at her lips upon getting to one trail cam facing towards her blowing a kiss in that direction hoping he was looking right then; she knew he watched those screens even if she tended to play dumb from time to time knowing he was there made it easier to go

After ten minutes she was hitting the first button on Donnie’s remote before she even got to the creek not wanting to stop for long but still drove slowly over the metal grate hearing it lowering once she was over; the satisfying crunch of gravel shortly later meant she had reached the private road checking the way she was going even if nobody had ever used this road before it was just a habit

Pulling off she had to wait until she was a bit closer to the next receiver pressing the second button just before reaching the main bridge having to stop to let it lower and make sure it didn’t get stuck after Donnie had just fixed it a week ago holding her thumb up to the camera that was blinking letting him know it was working properly before waving a final time

The last button was tapped as soon as she was on the main two lane road seeing the barrier camouflage the way she had just came as she pulled off now looking like a dead end of trees and shrubs at the slight curve; heading off a bit faster the girl breathed in the fresh air that whipped through the cabs open window

There was never anyone out this far thankfully; the road just hers for nearly thirty minutes before ever seeing any houses to her right some far and in-between given the size of the properties outside town

A while later she was smiling once she was turning onto the elderly woman’s property seeing her on the porch in her rocking chair looking up in surprise as she heard somebody driving up; a wave from the excited woman was all the young woman needed to know she was happy to see her like always as she pulled the truck in the yard parking in her normal spot “Hey Granny!”

Once out of the cab she heard a eager baying coming around the truck being greeted as always by the old hound Misty who loved following the younger woman as she worked ruffling her droopy ears cooing as she walked; meeting the woman halfway she squeaked out a laugh upon getting a big hug like every time she was there cackling as she was squeezed tight “Welcome back baby” her cheeks were smothered in kisses giggling more at the woman’s affections having learned to love them with time “O-Oh you look so pretty today justa glowing and radiant as ever and - who’s cologne is that on you child? Got you smelling so good”

She had never imagined feeling loved from anyone but her family – at least until she started working here

Mary Malone was the sweetest lady she had ever met; a bit on the heavy side her hair was jet black peppered with strands of white for her age, of course she didn’t look to be in her late seventies and given she still got around pretty well on her own and liked to do the lighter work around her place she was a lively person, she did have a mouth like a sailor and the sass of a teen, but could cut diamonds with her tone when correcting somebody

But none the less she was a sweet old lady

Mary was like a grandmother to her and when there she was treated like her granddaughter given she didn’t have much family still around

Following her up on the porch she took a seat in her normal wooded chair across from Granny taking the fresh sun brewed sweet tea offered and laughing as Sheila; Mary’s strange little tabby jumped into her lap curling up and purring at the scratches to her ears as they talked on a few things before seeing the woman waiting to hear why she was there on her day off

As much as Mary loved seeing her it was unusual to see her outside of work days unless she was checking on her in the winter months

“I woke up to start my chores after getting a bit of sleep and some breakfast only to find a wolf got Cream Puff… tore him apart, there was almost nothing left by the time I found him” she saw the woman shake her head mumbling out about her troubles with the packs in the area over the years saying it was a damn shame she had lost him before the girl slowly sat up hoping this wasn’t too forward “Granny I know it’s a lot to ask and I’ll understand if you don’t want to go for it but – I want to do any extra work you have here with no pay; work up a credit and maybe – when your girl has her litter I could have two piglets this year? Looking to have a male and female but you know I will pay for them if you need me too”

She saw the woman waving for her to stop shaking her head thinking she was about to get lectured on trying to take advantage of her but like always the old woman started in on her normal funny rant playfully reprimanding the girl while laughing “Oh now you stop that this instant! Child you work too much as it is; give you more work, no pay - it’s ridiculous! No you young lady will do the normal amount I give you take the pay and quit the worrying, you do so much around here two piglets ain’t nothin I’m worried over their yours baby, you pick them out - hell take the whole litter if you want!” a small smile lifted the corners of her mouth still planning to work harder to cover the cost before her chin was lifted seeing Mary had sat up further in her chair looking her in the eyes “You need to worry less on working and start living baby, a beautiful lady don’t need to work her life away when she’s got a fire like yours find you a man have some fun your only young once… Life passes us by if you blink; your young go be crazy. In my day we did our chores but once they were done we went out and had fun with friends, flirted with boy’s our daddy’s never approved of, and got in trouble with the law for stupid shit… do something crazy, take risk… hell sleep with a few nice muscled up hunky guys to make a mistake!”

That had her laughing falling back in her chair giggling wildly shaking her head as the old woman looked proud of herself to have the girl in happy tears never seeing her smile much it was her goal to get at least one smile out of her even a good laugh occasionally

She thought on the guys back home a loving smile on her lips as she looked over fond of the woman’s crazy antics looking out over the pasture where the mares were running the fence “I have someone Granny – and he makes me very, very happy, actually he told me this morning I work too much too” she never mentioned she had four men at home waiting on her but her words were true

They made her very happy

After a bit of time just talking over what all she had accomplished the day before she knew she needed to get going not all that surprised the old woman walked her to the truck giving her one last big hug “Start living before it’s too late – and you better bring that young man to see me sometime so I can tell you if I approve then whoop him for letting you work so hard!” another good laugh and she jumped up in her cab waving to the woman before she was gone heading towards town

That time had her reflecting on the woman’s words wondering what living was if what she was doing wasn’t it

Making a quick stop she dropped off the package Raph had done up for Mr. Prods relieved when his grandson met her outside smiling as he paid for the jerky giving her an extra tip for putting up with the man who didn’t understand how weird he could be giving him some of her sweet bread for them to try before heading to deliver the other four boxes and cookies

Luckily people didn’t seem to want to talk too much and they went much faster then she had thought

Once in town the woman sent a message soon as she pulled past the only gas station to let them know she had just got there safe, turning straight into the hardware store she made a small list on a piece of paper before going in and searching for everything Donnie needed until she was sure she had it all

Placing it on the counter she beamed as he held out his hand already knowing the woman’s routine “Uncle Jerry! Hey our favorite costumer is here get John to gather up this for the lady” she shook her head knowing they enjoyed the business handing over the paper to the teenage boy who was ringing her up as she waved at his uncle before grabbing three big rolls of duct tape waiting for her total and paying; giving him extra for the extra feeds she knew they needed

He was about to finish as she slid a small package of jerky for their troubles across the counter “Here I know it’s a lot to get on short notice so – I remembered you three loved this last time-” his uncle snatched the package making her giggle as he ran to the office

“Darling you are a god sent” she waved understanding they would get to it when they could heading off going to pick them up before she headed home so he could get it loaded in the bed once she was done “We’ll have it ready to go in an hour when you come back Miss Dee” she nodded giving them a small thumbs up as she left placing the bags in the front floorboard picking up the large box in the seat carrying it across the street groaning as she pushed the door open sighing

“Smoke I’m here!” stepping in the front door she wasn’t surprised to find a table already sat up for her stuff placing the box in the center “Smokey? Hey it’s Dee Dee you here?” a large burly man walked out of the back carrying three wooden crates of stuff moments later as she moved to help when he greeting her

Considering she couldn’t spend all day in town he had made a place in his store and sold her item hating everything where it needed to be nding off the order forms that had to of just came in as she laid everything out in front of him to let the man pick what he wanted for the stand this weekend happily filling a few new request while they worked filling the orders from the last two weeks letting her sit it up with the price tags while he made them and setting everything where it needed to be

Given her booth space wouldn’t be open until Monday when her days would start earlier then ever he usually set it up in his shop for a small fee and ran it for her giving her the money the next time she was in town, although she wasn’t looking forward to it she’d be getting up to head to Mary’s by five am until the frost set in and at the booth by one until she sold out of her stuff meaning the next few weeks were crucial given she’d be out of work until spring

“I think this is enough – although I’m sure it’ll sell out by tomorrow afternoon with the crowds we’ll have” she only nodded as he eyed one of the beautiful boxes with a intricate engraved floral pattern between vines never understanding why she didn’t just open her own business instead of working a stand

Once everything was done he left to the back leaving her to browse his inventory alone not seeing anything she needed then quickly calling her goodbyes before heading to the market stands set up in the gated off area beside the building seeing they had set up a bit early this year but appreciated it none the less since it meant she could buy the smaller things they might not have thought about

She was cautious around the people she had never seen there, sticking to the ones she knew had good quality items buying anything that would come in use like tools, some fresh honey from the local bee keeper, and fabric to start making her stuff while talking with a few of the women she usually sat up shop with around this time of the year

To her surprise she found a few new books for Donnie at one merchant knowing he hadn’t gotten any in the last three years made them a big must collecting several that seemed interesting enough for her genius, and she was more then delighted when she saw handmade candles getting some for the nights they just wanted to relax knowing Leo would love them, lastly was stopping to look at the flowers that wouldn’t be there much longer paying for a bouquet to be picked up after she was finished with her errands

The thrift store owner saw her coming and already had a bag of oversized clothes prepared for her before she placed his order on the counter grinning as he had to get a cookie right then groaning they were the best she had made yet; a compliment he gave every month even if the recipe never changed

Given he had her stuff ready she still took the time to look around finding some boots that were in her size, some jeans she could easily fix for her, a double layered jean jacket with a hoodie she couldn’t pass up, and a couple thick jackets that could be altered to fit the guys

Off to the back of the store were toys and other miscellaneous items she always found interest in; the antiques were her favorite touching several angel statues she really wanted before an old glass doll in a green Victorian style dress and white ringlets falling from the little up do caught her eye, picking it up she thought on Luna – how she wished her baby sister could be there with her to beg for toys and clothes before carrying it up to the front wanting to place it on the memorial shelf for her sister to see

Normally she wouldn’t bother with something so nice but she couldn’t pass it up

As always the man didn’t charge full price having never seen her buy anything for herself besides the essentials of clothing he wrapped it up as she looked at the small box of jewelry on the counter

He told her to be careful going home as she was leaving but something caught her eye having to stop to look at a massive leather jacket that for a small thrift store was pretty nice super thick with pockets and buckles on the side looking at it for a moment longer before doing her measurements in her head thinking there was no way it would be in that great of a condition and in a place like this “Danny – how much for this?” she looked at it again as the man stepped towards her looking at it not finding a tag meaning it had either fallen off or had just been placed up front not priced yet

“Tell you what – you got two more boxes of those cookies I’ll throw it in in the bag and we won’t tell the boss lady” he winked as she looked up her face showing her shock but without question turned running out to the truck and bringing in the two boxes he asked for as he took it and hid it in the bag

Inside she was praying it would fit Raph like she thought it would because he had always wanted one

Her treasures being placed in the seat so nobody would take them she finally made it to her last stop backing in to a spot close to the door

She stepped into the grocery store not seeing the owner for once; being small they didn’t have much but she knew from years of going there they had everything if she took her time and looked grabbing two baskets she gathered up the supplies on the paper she carried until she was walking to the front to hand over what she couldn’t get on the floor needing the man there that day to get it from the back

It wasn’t much but included ten sacks of flour, two sacks of beans, forty cans of coffee because they were going to run out if she didn’t double what Leo had wrote down, three big cases of bath tissues and paper towels each, eight cases of the mason jars to be sure they had plenty, and five cases of bottled water for emergencies

Not much if the person getting it had known that was going to be stretched over the next few months

While he was back there she picked out some candy for Mikey and the others knowing they would like it and hurried over to look at the crafts shelf finding six new colors of paints to hold Mikey over

Once she had paid for her load and got several annoyed glances from the worker she pulled the five carts out and started loading it up to be sure she could fit the feed in feeling something tugging on her leg as she shut the back tailgate

She looked down as a small fur ball slipped under her tied plaid shirt looking inside to see a set of bright blue eyes looking at her where it had cuddled up in her warmth looking around before noticing a little girl sitting near the corner of the building searching franticly for something

Stepping over she pulled the kitten from it’s place rubbing it’s back as she tried to give it back “Uh - I think your cat is trying to hitch a rid hon” she was about to hand it back when she saw the little sign beside the small cat bed ‘Kitties to good home’ looking at the orange puff in her arms she petted it for a second really looking it over before sighing wondering why it reminded her of Mikey “This the last one?”

The little nod she got made her look at it again “Mommy said I can’t keep her – can you take her home with you I’ve been out here forevers and evers” she needed to say no; Leo would strangle her for bringing it home but the longer she played with the floffster it got harder

Looking down at the sweet face she was caught by the child giving her the biggest puppy eyes unable to not smile as for a moment as she pictured Luna doing the same thing to get her way finally waving the girl over to the truck after picking up the little bed and the hand sewn fish toy opening the last box of goodies she had placing a few in a paper bag handing them to her

“Here, I’ll give you these and she can go home with me but I get her bed and the fish; deal?” it was unexpected but she was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug from the excited child ruffling her blond curls before she was gone bolting down the road to a house not to far from where she had been sitting looking at the kitten with a sigh as she placed it in the bed next to her on the seat only for the kitten to immediately crawl in her shirt again “I am going to be in so much trouble… lucky your cute”

Pulling off she stopped long enough for the florist to hand her the flowers she had just finished wrapping in paper before backing up to the rear door of the feed store where she saw everything sitting out ready to be loaded walking in as the older men loaded up her order going ahead and adding on cat food laughing as the kitten stayed in her shirt but occasionally peaked out seeing the teenage boy behind the counter seemed to recognize the little creature laughing that she was a softie as it wiggled back to curl into her side making the guy laugh as he carried out the bags for her placing them on t0p then tying everything down patting the back to let her know she was ready to go

She pulled off heading through town but something in her made the woman scan the area to be sure she wasn’t being followed; even after all this time she still worried they would be found even if this place was in the middle of nowhere and several hundred miles from the city

She was about to pass the laundry mat when a woman almost ran out in front of her car having to slam on the breaks fast to not hit her before pulling over when the female didn’t stop running

Concerned even though she didn’t want to be late getting home she jumped out leaving the kitten in the car to follow the woman who had disappeared behind the building wanting to just check on her having seen blood when she passed

When she came around the corner it was clear something wasn’t right; stepping closer to the frantic sobbing woman who was huddled on the ground shaking she could tell there was something really wrong; lifting her face Deanery was shocked to see her lips was busted and her eye was swelling shut wiping the frightened woman off carefully with the corner of her shirt “You okay sugar? Who hit you?” an answer didn’t come but from behind her she heard somebody walking up fast looking back seeing a large man who looked a bit agitated

“There you are Susie- uh come on lets go back home we can talk this out… I’m sorry it won’t happen again-” as he stepped closer she felt the woman pulling away pressing closer to the wall only seeming to anger the man more who raised his voice telling her to get up and go with him only upsetting her more as she cried out pleading him to leave her alone “Get up now and lets go home, you’re such an over dramatic bitch I barely touched you”

Her eyes shifted in instantly glaring daggers over her shoulder at the man who immediately backed up off them before she took the woman’s arm gently looking at her with a small smile helping her up, she didn’t have to ask she could see it

The woman needed help

She guided her past the man still glaring at him as she passed pointing for her to head for the truck when he screamed for the woman at her side “You got somewhere to go Sugar? Want me to drive you there?” a quick frantic nod made her move holding the woman up keeping her at her side while walking to the truck as the man yelled at them but she didn’t look back opening the door to let her in before a hand was grabbing her hair tightly yanking her back roughly before slamming her into the door feeling pain lancing across her face

“She isn’t leaving me! Get back to the house now” she wasn’t one to be handled like that from a stranger and wasn’t one to take it; guess she could blame that on her upbringing or the fact that for the last fifteen years she had dealt with four crazy active rowdy males who liked to spar and wrestle over random shit and she had learned early on to fight back

Reaching behind her his wrist popped as she twisted around forcing it in a weird angle while grabbing him fast by the shirt as her weight shifted knocking him off balance shoving him up against the truck then throwing him to the ground with a small growl waving the woman in before shutting the door to keep her from further harm wiping a drop of blood from her lip where she had bit it

A smile forming as she licked over the small wound feeling a rush swimming through her veins

The commotion had drawn attention from a few people around the area looking on as he got up red in the face “So we like hitting women? Come on dare you to try hitting me” he was moving towards her almost on cue swinging blindly as she shifted enough he punched the solid metal truck hard hearing him howl in pain as no doubtedly something broke in his hand before trying again slugging him once across the jaw when he stepped too close

The men from the feed store came outside after hearing the yelling; seeing what was going on they came running to help her but didn’t make it five steps before she clocked him again

At that point she thought he would give up but when he grabbed her shirt trying to get a good grip only for his elbow to be forced in the wrong direction feeling something crack on impact of her blow, using the momentum she had built up the woman twisted the arm behind him mercilessly planting her foot in the seat of his pants putting him back on the ground

He was back up on his feet in seconds full out attacking her in a full blown rage

She didn’t know why she was smiling but he was amusing, looking like a foal that was learning its first few steps as he tried again to hit her but didn’t have the footing he thought so it just sent him sprawling to the ground, rolling her eyes thinking he was done she turned around to leave “Touch her ever again I won’t hold back on you”

Before somebody could grab him he snatched her arm going for her hair again managing to graze her cheek as he finally landed his first hit looking shocked as she cold cocked him in the nose feeling it break on contact before he went down hard holding his face crying out in agony

“Stay down you piece of shit! Somebody call the cops” her normally calm voice came out in a snarl as one of the men grabbed him keeping him from trying to take hold of the woman again who was shaking the ice that had formed over her knuckles in her anger of being touched off so nobody saw, a few bystanders laughing at the idiot who was still trying to grab her before a loud voice broke it up

She looked over to see one of the officers walking up easing back towards the truck as he tipped his hat to her but it was easy to see he was staring not liking the way he looked at her “I wanna press charges on this woman – she attacked me Bobby”

He was silenced by the wave of a hand as she stood there finding the feed manager at her side standing up for her as the woman in the cab told the officer he had hit her again meaning this wasn’t a one time thing, the voices of everyone who had witnessed it getting silenced again before he was pointing to her wanting her side of things

His brown eyes tracing over her body had her ready to retch

“Officer she ran in front of my truck as I was heading out I saw her bleeding and went to check on her worried for her wellbeing, this guy ran up coming off threatening and yelling so I offered to take her somewhere safe away from him. When she was getting in the cab he grabbed me from behind” her eyes met the man who lunged at her being held back fast but she showed no intimidation at his action “Guess by looking at him you can see where that went… he’s big and mighty when hitting women but a little bitch when one can hit him back”

He laughed what she said off acting like this was no big deal looking the man over joking that he let a woman hit him realizing now this officer knew the man personally hearing somebody mumbling it was his baby brother  

“Look – I ain’t got time for this stupid crap. All of you go back to work. Joe, you and Susie stop this lame bickering get back to the house, and you little missy need to keep your nose out of others business she’s always starting crap with him” one of the men in the crowd spoke up angrily telling him he needed to take his job seriously as she called the station deciding what he was saying needed to be heard by his boss and seeing it had been answered she kept going

“Then I want to press charges against him for assault” again she was laughed at making her brow irk as she was denied mumbling he wasn’t going to allow her to give his brother a bad rap over some stupid disagreement looking the woman over waving for the other female to get out of the truck but as he went to pull the door open she placed her hand in the way smiling at him like he was really going to ignore what happened “So – what you’re saying is a man places his hands on a woman, hurts her then attacks somebody who stops to help said beaten woman and your not going to do anything like your ‘job’ which is to serve and protect the innocent… so he just attacked two females and he was just doing ‘what a man is supposed to’ but now your trying to enter my vehicle with no reason… man guess that means I should have just pulled out my gun and fired a few rounds into him since the law means nothing here”

He was starting to look just as angry as the man still being held back meeting her eyes as he got in her face “Listen here you little bitch-” she leaned in waiting for his answer not expecting the hard hand that landed across her cheek sending her into the door hard

“Hey!” hearing the feed store manager John shoot forward pushing the officer back from her as she wiped her face feeling the warmth of blood dripping down her chin all she could do was smile to herself “She ain’t getting out that truck and you ain’t going to ignore your brother is an abusive piece of shit just like you”

Before he could say another word a bigger man stepped over pushing him back before the third man was there cuffing the one who had attacked her “You! In my office now this was your last warning! Magg’s book this trash in - put his brother in there with him while you’re at it until I get there!” the older officer turned to look at her before taking his hat off his eyes landing on both of the young women lingering on the bruised up girl who had locked the truck hiding inside, then back over as the two men were loaded in the back of the cruiser “Miss Dee I am truly sorry for him, are you hurt?” her eyes stayed on the two men until the police car pulled away before shaking her head wiping her nose on her sleeve “Sue, let her take ya over to momma’s I’ll be out there to get your statement I got all I need to charge both of them your free to leave ma’am” she nodded smiling slightly before coxing the woman to let her back in the truck taking out her last box of baked goods handing them to him

“Your wife ordered these I’m guessing I can trust most of them will get to her” the chief chuckled taking it patting the box making most of the people still there laugh as he nodded happily helping her up into the vehicle.

Soon as he was gone she leaned over grabbing a napkin from the dash motioning for Sue to put on her nose, she was just happy she didn’t have to drive out of the way to make her last delivery for today not too worried over what would happen to the men at this point knowing the sheriff would handle it

She took off quickly knowing she might be a little late getting back but took the woman where she was directed smiling seeing the kitten curled up in Susie’s lap napping until it was moved as she pulled up in front of a cute little white farmhouse helping her out and up to the door before an older male and female came out fast fussing over their daughter’s condition, after giving them the information they asked for it took her a bit by surprise hearing them thanking her but was more then happy to do it if it meant she didn’t have to go back to the abusive bastard, finally taking her leave once she knew the woman was safe

She got out of town before anymore could happen calling the guys just needing to hear their voices but instead leaving a message to let them know she was finally heading back when they didn’t answer guessing they were busy trying to get everything done so she wouldn’t have much to do when she did return taking the drive slower to calm down her nerves and feeling the frost developing over where she could feel the bruise surfacing from being hit until she was driving through the barrier

She almost forgot to slow down before the first bridge just wanting to be home now driving up the hill forcing a smile on her face not wanting them to see she was in a mood as she finally pulling into the yard

She had been about to honk when she saw the chickens going in every direction; feathers flying all over the place as they parted enough to see Raph on the ground with a dark form on his shell, they scattered again as Luca bolting into the tree line behind the barn able to hear the feral snarls even over the engine rolling the window up going to get out before hearing a growl she didn’t recognize

Coming through the trees with Luca on it’s tail was a large black and gray wolf with a dark liquid around it’s jaws going after the mutant that kept trying to chase him off before she heard the guys yelling from the back of the house grumbling under her breath as she jumped from the cab “Oh today just keeps getting better-”

She had the rifle off its hooks and in hand loaded seconds later “Get back in the truck! I got the bastard!” the man yelled but she didn’t listen well muttering if he had it he wouldn’t still be chasing him, pushing the kitten back as she slammed the door taking off running across the yard as he grabbed Luca’s leg dragging him towards the edge of the hill trying to take his limb off before pouncing going for his neck

“Over here mutt!” the woman yelling rung out through the yard making silence fall as a cold ice spike formed in her hand; not fully gaining it’s attention she threw the cold barb like she had learned with a knife hitting the huge animal in the side making it yelp releasing the male fast “That’s right big boy this way” she shifted once the animal was looking in her direction whistling to keep it’s attention on her as she held her ground

After all the time up here she had to accept if they were to live they had to do some things they never wanted, she loved the animals that passed across the property thought they were beautiful and this wolf was no exception; he was nothing short of beautiful and majestic and had she been in a safe area this would have been perfect to watch

But she wasn’t; she was in the middle of the yard standing in its sights as she tried to hold her ground not wanting to become prey by running even for being so small she kept her body standing tall

Clearly something wasn’t right with the animal to begin with, wolves were more frightened by people then anything sure there were meal options in their livestock but usually they didn’t come this close to the house if they did they would take off if anyone came outside

Usually only going after the deer’s rather then the animals they kept they had never been a problem for the family, the unused carcasses and inners were always dumped naturally in wolf territory to keep them from coming into their place then Luca would again mark to keep his claim

No matter how cautious she was doing everything she had learned to not become prey the woman was standing in it’s way and she couldn’t help remembering the time a slayer got in the building right before they escaped, her arms trembling panicking in the way the wolf was staring her down keeping her eyes on it but never looking him in the eye

She remembered pushing the kids behind her seeing it as if she were there again feeling the tiny hands clutching to her as it tore and yanked at the bars trying to rip them from the hinges and how she had stood there that way if it came through the door the kids might have time to run for the next enclosure going to be the only one to get hurt if that happened

Shuttering frost started creeping across the grass where she stood frozen not hearing Luca yelling her name before Raph and Leo’s voice cut through the fog snapping the woman to attention

She had barely lifted the barrel firing as he lunged for her missing him by a few inches before Luca was on it again to keep her from getting bit

The wolf tried for her ankle when she scrambled back as its jaws snapped near her thigh next taking aim as it turned on the mutant man firing at the ground to get it to back up but by then it had found soft flesh hearing her friend screaming as it ripped into his shoulder shaking him roughly

Without really considering trying to get the wolf’s attention again she moved in fast firing the shot hitting him directly in the chest smiling in relief as he fell to the ground on top of the man who went still the second the shot echoed around them “Are you-” Luca pushed the large animal off him before getting up realizing she had hit only inches from him checking himself for wounds before looking over at the woman moving closer “Are you mentally deficient you could have shot me!”

She giggled as the other’s came running but her eyes were still wide with fear

Mikey was at her side first hugging her up tight shaking from the experience they had just had laughing at the shocked look still plastered on their friends face not noticing the broken one on hers “If she was mentally deficient she’d have missed” Leo spoke up taking the gun from her trembling hands as the youngest turtle hyped him up high fiving her as she joined in halfheartedly

“Ya gotta admit pipsqueak might be a little bit I mean – she missed half the target” Raph joined in with the razzing on the mutant wolf but he was instantly holding her checking to be sure she was okay nuzzling her once he was satisfied

He was the first to notice she still had said nothing

Almost too slowly she moved forward kneeling down beside the wild dog petting it’s fur down making sure it wasn’t playing coy with them, Mikey moved closer touching her shoulder before kneeling down nuzzling her cheek knowing he was telling her it was okay but she still felt bad; she had to do what she had knowing her views on killing but inside somewhere she knew he could have killed Luca maybe wiped out their livestock had they let him go

This was survival and whether she liked it or not she had to do it “Sorry big guy-”

Leo moved over rubbing her back before helping her to her feet looking her over luckily not asking anything about the bruise probably thinking she had just got it, taking the wolf to the back of the house she didn’t catch what he said as Luca limped off to round up the chickens even though Raph told him to leave them

“Come on guys it getting dark – lets get all this inside…”

[fallen029]

Untitled

I’ve sat on this since the summer. Y’all think we should finish it? Or scrap it? 

.

He proposed to her in the most beautiful fashion.

A trip, just the two of them, out to the coast. With sunshine glinting off the water as they overlooked the ocean from the balcony of the little cottage he rented for the week. Over dinner, during their glasses of wine, with a knowing look in his typically dark eyes, but they were just as alight as her own that early evening. And of course, there was a diamond ring to top off the event, with the slayer bowing to her, the only woman, only person he ever would.

It was perfect. Everything Mirajane could have ever wanted. It took place during the middle of their trip though so it was hard, she found, to stay away from her siblings and friends awaiting the good news back home. She chastised Lisanna and Lucy both for keeping it from her, as they both had assisted Laxus in picking out the ring, but they each laughed and it was so perfect.

They’d be married in the Magnolia Cathedral, in front of all their family and friends, and it would be the event of the year, no doubt, not only for their guild, but the higher ones as well, and it would take a lot of planning, a lot of work, but Mirajane couldn’t wait.

But…

There was still something that they needed to do first.

“I want to meet your mother.”

Laxus snorted some, when Mirajane brought this up over breakfast one morning. He was glancing over the paper while sipping at his coffee, mostly trying to plot out what he was planning on doing with his next week entirely free. There were no new S-Class jobs, but the Thunder Legion were still out on their lower level one, and that meant, to him, that he was going to be able to do whatever he wanted for the next few days.

Until, of course, his woman spoke.

“Can’t,” he replied simply. “She’s dead.”

“She is not.”

“Is so.”

“Laxus-”

“What are you on about anyways?” he griped as she came to drop a plate of food in front of him. Piled high with eggs, hash browns, and greasy sausage, the sigh of the plate was enough to get the man to immediately drop his newspaper. Stealing a glance over at where his girlfriend was fixing her own plate, he kept up, “What’s up with you and my mother?”

“You mean my future mother-in-law?”

“Mira-”

“I know she’s not really dead,” she told him bluntly. “That you just tell people that.”

“How do you know? Huh? That you’re not really dragging up some deep childhood trauma for me? And aren’t being really insensitive right now?”

“Because I went to Master.”

“Why did you talk to that old geezer,” he griped, “about my life? Huh? Where do you get off?”

“Uh, I get off at my fiance sending checks to another woman every few months,” she told him bluntly as, returning to the table, she only raised an eyebrow at him. “Would you rather I have called off the engagement when I noticed you writing the letter? Or asked Master who Elise Dreyar is?”

“How are those my only two op- And hey.” He glared this time. “How did you even find the checks, huh? Or letters?”

“Laxus, come on.” She gave him a look of her own. “You know I’m going to snoop through your things. Without a doubt. Don’t play dumb.”

“You’re tricky.”

“And you’re avoiding the question?”

“What’s the question?”

“Why,” she insisted then, “have you been hiding the fact your mother is alive from me?”

And…

It wasn’t an easy thing to talk about.

At all.

People who’d been in the hall for decades probably didn’t even know the full story. Not really. It was just as well assumed that Laxus’ mother, whoever she was, had passed away at some point during his childhood and left him without the demented Ivan and the very busy Makarov to raise him. It was such an easy story to recount, such a common troupe for the numerous kids who’d been raised in the hall, that it needed no questioning.

Would would you even question?

The allusive Makarov? Or the agitated Laxus?

It was a topic that seemed to be buried and done with and very few people wished to dig further.

But Mirajane was hardly just anyone. She was the soon-to-be bride of the guild’s most cantankerous slayer and there was a lot of ceremony, she felt, to be had in being inducted into the Dreyar clan. They had a rich history in the Fairy Tail guild and while she had more than made a mark for herself under her maiden name, the idea of now being forever entwined with the guild’s first family gave her a further cementing into the hall’s lore.

If she was going to become the future Mrs. Dreyar, then she didn’t see how it was outlandish to request access to the former.

The woman had the dragon by his tail anyways and, at her request, gave in with only a tad bit of griping. She wanted to meet his mother? Was she completely sure? Absolutely sure? Because he wasn’t going to write her saying they were coming if Mira was only going to chicken out.

But she was no coward. And though she had some hesitance over the fact she was potentially leading Laxus into an unfavorable situation that he wasn’t prepared for, she also also steadfast in needing this for her own confirmation. One last piece of the puzzle of the Dreyar family before she knew, with absolute certainty, that she was meant to be one of it’s members.

She expected the worse.

Considering Ivan’s known insanity, she imagined the woman was much the same. Perhaps locked away in one of those dreadful asylums. Or, oh, what if she was a terrible recluse? Living out in the woods somewhere, all alone? Maybe a wicked old woman, living in her ivory tower on the edge of the continent, scowling and smiting anyone who got near?

Mira’s many thoughts and fears were proven all for not as, when they boarded the train, it was headed to a small town a few hours away that, from all she knew of it, was just a cozy little beach town. Unremarkable.

She didn’t know why she was so disappointed, but she truly was.

Laxus, equal parts his motion sickness and not really wanting to make the journey, spent the time white-knuckling and trying not to barf. His soon-to-be wife was very concerned with him, as she usually was in such situations, but he was still rather pissed about the whole thing and didn’t pretend for once as if her measures were doing anything to aid him.

She was the one causing him pain this time.

And he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise for her own benefit.

The man had refused to give her any true info on what they were going to be presented with, once they got to his mother’s place. He claimed that, if she wanted to go, she’d have to see it all firsthand. And while Mirajane knew he was doing this as one last fail safe, she found she liked it better that way.

Whoever Elise Dreyar was, it was only right that she got her chance to tell her side of the story, before the man raised by Ivan and Makarov got a chance to interject.  

Laxus wasn’t completely certain on the directions, when they got off at the train station. While Mira remarked on how nice it must be, his mother living in such a bustling city, he only retorted that he’d only been a few times.

“:When I was younger,” he went on as he looked over some directions he’d scrawled on a piece of a paper. “And c’mon. Left up here.”

His mother actually lived on the outskirts of town, in a tiny little yellow house. The grass was a bit overgrown and Laxus grumbled about it, just a bit, as they walked up the porch steps to the door. Knocking his knuckles against the white door, Laxus was still annoyed, it seemed, when a middle-aged woman opened up.

“I give you enough money to get your grass cut,” Laxus complained with a glare, “and you don’t use it? And look at your bushes- Someone needs to trim them. If you’re not going to do it-”

“Laxus,” Mirajane remarked with a frown and a glare up at the man. “What is your-”

“Fuck off.” The woman who opened the door stood there with a glare, her eyes the same auburn shade as the man before her. “The boy who comes around to do it’s sick, huh? Is that what you wanna hear?”

“I wanna hear,” Laxus retorted, “that you didn’t spend it all on booze.”

“Laxus!” Mirajane tapped his arm then, but he only continued to glare at his mother, the woman snorting then and turning to walk off further into the house.

“Come in then, I guess,” the woman griped and there was a bit of a roughness to her voice, raspy-ness, maybe. As Laxus did so, Mirajane hesitated for a moment, finally doing as the slayer had hoped; second guessing herself.

Still, she came forward, walking into the home expecting the worse. But she was greeted to it. Just quaint, maybe a bit dusty and cluttered home that she could imagine just about any single person living in. There was an overflowing ashtray though, a cigarette still smoldering in it, and as she went to retrieve it, Laxus only snorted at their surroundings.

“Clean for my arrival, Mom?” he questioned, but the woman only rolled her eyes, running one hand through her stringy blonde hair while the other plucked the cig right back out of her mouth.

“Gonna introduce me to your woman?” she asked instead, glancing Mirajane over now. In response, the barmaid stood to attention, giving the older woman the best smile she had. It was the one that landed her the slayer, after all (and nearly every other man she wanted), but her fiance’s mother only seemed to look right through it.

“Mom,” Laxus finally grumbled, “this is Mirajane. Mira, this is my mother.”

“Hi!” Mirajane bounced some, standing at the man’s side with her shining blue eyes at their maximum pop. “It’s so nice to-”

“That’s what I am, huh?” the woman cut her off. “Laxus? Your mother?”

“Fuck, you better be,” he complained then. “All the jewels I’ve sent you-”

“That is the second time,” she kept up, “that you’ve brought that up today. I never asked you to keep sending me money, Laxus. I asked you, once, to help me out-”

“How would you pay for your bills?” he retorted with a huff of breath through his nose. “If I didn’t? You don’t work-”

“I have,” she cut him off, “a bad hip.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

“I do.” And it was to Mirajane that she looked now. “His father pushed me down a flight of-”

“Don’t bring Ivan,” Laxus growled then, “into this. That nearly thirty years ago.”

“And I’m still hurting from it, so what does that tell you?”

“Um,” Mirajane finally spoke up, reaching a hand over to pat gently now at the arm of her seething slayer. “I think maybe we should all just take a breath. Okay? I’m really glad to meet you. Laxus… Well, he hasn’t really had a chance to tell me much about you, but-”

“That’s because of his grandfather,” the woman offered with ease and Laxus huffed, but didn’t rebuke this.

“Master?” Mirajane questioned with a bit of a frown. “You think that Master doesn’t like you?”

“Master.” And she mocked it, the woman did, as the word left her mouth. “So you’re one of them, are you? A Fairy Tail member?”

“An S-Class one,” Mira kept up. “Yes.”

“You’re speaking to the Demon Mirajane,” Laxus said then, glancing down at his fiancee before back at his mother. “I’m sure you’ve heard of her.”

“Can’t say I have,” his mother remarked, crossing an arm over her chest as she tapped her foot, as if thinking. At Laxus’ snort though, she added, with a hint of sincerity, “I don’t keep up much with wizards these days. Not really my thing.”

“W-Well, I really don’t go out on jobs that often anymore, anyways,” Mirajane assured the woman. “I actually work in the bar.”

“The bar?”

“In the hall. Master gave me a job there, serving the drinks after… After I had an accident, out on a job.” Mira looked off then, still a tangled mess, deep down, over the early days surrounding that transition. Blinking away the thoughts, she said, “It was many years ago though, now.”

“Yeah.” She paused to take a draw then, Elise did, before remarking, “Makarov really has a way of helping out young women. And girls. Doesn’t he?”

“Mom.” Laxus was the one that took steps then, towards her, and when he reached out, it was to rest his palms on her shoulders. “Let’s just take a seat, alright? You can… Mira wants to hear. From you. About whatever you want to tell her. So let’s just do that and then we can go back to normal, okay? How things have always been.”

How things had been.

She nodded at that, turning away from him before gesturing towards the couch and loveseat.

“Make yourselves comfortable, I guess,” she said then. “Don’t got a lot, but-”

“It’s very nice,” Mirajane insisted to her as she went to take a seat on the couch, the slayer having to take a deep breath before following suit. “How long have you lived here?”

“Oh, what’s it been, Laxus?” Elise perched herself in a nearby recliner where, on a side table, another ashtray sat. Stabbing out her smoke in it, she questioned, “Not twenty years, yet, has it? Since your grandfather ran me out of Magnolia?”

And he swallowed it, this time, whatever he was going to say, instead sitting back in his seat and staring straight ahead. Mirajane, after glancing at the man, leaned forwards, eyes on the woman in question.

“I’ve never had a problem with Master,” she told the woman simply. “He’s only ever taken care of me and everyone I know. And the guildhall. What-”

“Makavor’s an old man. Was then too, I guess,” she sighed, thoughtfully, before shaking her head. “But now he’s a weaker one. A remorseful one, maybe. Wouldn’t surprise me. Laxus says the same things about him. Don’t you, Laxus?”

Focused completely in a painting then, across the room, Laxus imagined himself there. In the little row boat encapsulated forever there, on a quiet pond, with a surrounding still forest. How nice it seemed, then, to the typical active man, to just be sitting somewhere quiet, somewhere scenic and implying solitude. It had been a bit, since he craved something so fully.

“Gramps took care of me,” he told her simply. “While you and Ivan couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t.” She made that same kind of snorting noise as her soon, looking away as well as she say, “Your grandfather wouldn’t let me.”

“I don’t understand,” Mirajane said with a frown. “What happened? I mean, I know that Ivan-”

“You don’t know,” the other woman assured her, “Ivan.”

“But I do. I mean, I haven’t met him, but-”

“Ivan is a terrible person,” Elise began and though this was hardly up for debate, Laxus still found himself huffing and shifting uncomfortably. “And his father spent years, literal years, defending him and protecting him from the consequences of his actions.”

Mirajane, who’d never seen the man have anything, but contempt for his only son, frowned some as she sat back. Slowly, she asked, “When were you and Ivan together? And for how long?”

“I met him when I was young. And stupid. And thought that mages were all the rave. They were.” She waved her hand. “Ivan and I were together, off and on, for five or six years before we had Laxus.” She paused then, but her tone was different now and, as it was her tone to shift, she only shook her head. “Things were always hard, because it is hard, for a wizard. On them and their family. But with Ivan… He wasn’t always so bad. But when he was bad… And then Makarov, when I finally, truly, decided to get away from him, he decided that I wasn’t fit-”

“So you’re not going to tell her?” Laxus questioned then, eyes finding his mother once more as, clearly, he wouldn’t be able to hold his tongue. “About how youw ere sleeping around? And you fucking left, Ivan, fine, but you left me too and told Makarov you weren’t coming back.”

“I did,” she told him harshly, “come back. And you have no idea what Ivan-”

[seventhstar]

spy zine promo, part 1

anyways i’ve had this fucking burn notice au lying about half-written for eighty years, so here, enjoy. this a promo fic for @yoispyzine. we are on sale now here!

update: part two here

“My name is Katsuki Yuuri. I used to be a spy, until…”

+

When you’re burned, Yuuri thinks, you have nothing. No cash, no credit, no job history. You’re stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in. You’re stuck living wherever you can find an unscrupulous landlord who’ll rent you a place without a lease or a background check.

Even if that means living directly over a swinger’s club.

Yuuri has slept in the desert during artillery fire. Yuuri has slept on a college campus during dubstep night. Yuuri has even slept through Minako snoring. But nothing could have prepared him for Viktor Nikiforov’s string of passive aggressive one night stands, all of which seem to end with him and his hapless victim rutting against Yuuri’s front door.

Once might have been an accident; twice might have been coincidence. Seven times is a pattern. A petty, awful, sexy pattern. He’s not even sure what Viktor’s endgame is--if he’s being punished because Viktor is still mad about Yuuri breaking up with him by fleeing the country, or if this is Viktor’s way of seducing him. Both of those are terrible options, because it’s not like Yuuri has gotten over Viktor, and it’s definitely not like he’s not spending his nights hard and aching and longing with the knowledge that Viktor is only ten feet away.

Either way. It has to stop. And not just because Viktor sounds like he’s enjoying himself thoroughly every evening, and Yuuri knows that if he was weak enough to open his front door and interrupt, Viktor would let Yuuri have him. Even a saint’s self control would be tested by Viktor shamelessly begging to be fucked ten feet from Yuuri’s bed.

“Tell me you found something.”

Phichit sighs. Chris sighs even louder. They probably practiced this instead of doing any work. Yuuri counts five empty beer bottles on the kitchen counter, and notes the open Photoshop window on Phichit’s laptop. He’s been sitting outside a noodle shop for six hours, waiting for his old handler to pass by, and so far has had no luck. Eventually, Celestino will have to come by the only place in Hasetsu where decent Italian food is sold. But that still leaves Yuuri unsuccessful, tired, sweaty, out of cold beer, and trapped in a loft apartment situated over an illegal sex club.

An illegal sex club his so-called friends refuse to help him put out of business.

“You know, Yuuri, just because you aren’t getting laid doesn’t mean you have to be bitter,” Chris says. He waggles his eyebrows. “It’s really a nice club. Very comfortable.”

“No,” Yuuri says. He cannot imagine being comfortable anywhere where people are having sex, in pubic, repeatedly. The whole place is probably like a public locker room, but with more semen. It probably smells like sweaty ass. It’s probably profoundly unsexy, like used toilet paper, or puppies, or Yuuri when he’s not pretending to be someone else.

“Just fuck him already,” Phichit says.

Yuuri hates it when he does that. Is he secretly a mind-reader? Can’t he let Yuuri repress in peace?

“I told you. He’s tactical support.”

“Is ‘tactical support’ Japanese for ‘guy I wanna bang’?”

“Phichit!”

“What?”

“Are you going to help me get rid of the club?”

“Who’s getting rid of the club?” Viktor asks. Yuuri turns; he didn’t even hear Viktor come in. “And why?”

Viktor sidles up behind him; his fingers brush across the back of Yuuri’s shoulder. Yuuri doesn’t shiver, but it’s a near thing. He waits for Viktor to move away, but he doesn’t. His breath is hot against Yuuri’s ear.

“Yuuri,” he says.

“Viktor.”

“I brought you breakfast.”

“It’s two pm.”

“There are hash browns.”

Yuuri glares at the floor. Viktor knows he’s weak for fried potatoes. He accepts the bag Viktor is proffering and opens it. The hash browns smell amazing, and they’re still warm.

“I thought Carlito’s didn’t serve breakfast after eleven,” Chris says.

“Oh, Raul made an exception for me.”

“Is he the one you’re fucking?”

Viktor hums in thought. “…yes?”

“Anyways,” Yuuri says. He shoves a hash brown in his mouth — it’s fluffy inside, crispy outside, dusted with salt — and groans with pleasure. He is supposed to be on a diet. First Viktor ruined sex and now he’s ruining food, too. “There’s no way this club isn’t committing a crime.”

“…about that,” Chris says. He sounds entirely innocent.

Yuuri is suspicious as hell. “What?”

“If you really want to investigate the club, I have an in,” he says. “But you have to promise you’ll take the job.”

“Is this about your bootleg sex toys?”

“They’re not my bootlegs! And it’s a legitimate public health issue!”

“It’ll get me into the club?”

“It’ll let you find out everything you could possibly want to know.”

Yuuri squints at Chris, who grins. Phichit grins, too. Yuuri can’t see Viktor, but he’s probably smiling, too.

Yuuri is so fucked.

“Fine.”

“…you own the club downstairs.”

“That’s right. I’m Shanice.”

“And you want me to help you keep the place open.”

“Look, I’m trying to create a safe space for people to explore their desires without being shamed. I started this place after I moved here with my husband and he then ran off in the middle of the night with all the money. It’s all I have. Hideki and his crew want to turn this place into one of their brothels. Which would you rather live above?”

Yuuri stares at her. If he lived above a brothel, Viktor couldn’t get laid there. On the other hand, Hideki is a human trafficking piece of shit. If Yuuri was a better person, this would be no choice at all.

As it is, he can’t stop himself from regretting having moral standards, just for a moment.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he says. “On one condition.”

“I can’t believe you had me banned,” Viktor says. He’s sitting in Yuuri’s favorite chair, bare feet propped up on the coffee table, ankles crossed. He’s wearing jeans and a plain tshirt, and glittery highlighter. The highlighter is tacky. He looks deeply irritated.

Yuuri keeps looking at him, torn: one hand, this is hilarious, and on the other hand, Viktor has a point, Yuuri is being petty as hell. Whatever. Viktor should have expected this. He knows how much Yuuri loves sleep.

“You deserve it.”

“You realize I can get laid elsewhere?”

“I don’t care about you getting laid, I want to sleep for eight hours uninterrupted.”

“You once slept through a volcano erupting.”

“The volcano was in another state and I was drugged.” Yuuri sighs. “Never mind. The job.”

“Mm.” Viktor picks up one of the files sitting on the desk. Phichit and Chris came by earlier with the results of their recon, and now they’re off dealing with one of Phichit’s internet people’s minor blackmail problem. They’d promised to be back in the evening to get the details ironed out.

Which leaves Yuuri with Viktor to figure out the approach. Hideki and his goons generally come by once a week to do their ‘give us your club or we’ll ruin your business’ song and dance, but Hideki himself comes by even more often to enjoy the club’s services. According to Shanice, he’s driving off customers with his bad manners and the way he treats his subs.

“Some of these subs are are probably bodyguards in disguise,” Viktor muses. “He never comes with one?”

“Shanice says he always has a naked woman on a leash with him. And he rents the back room for business meetings, and he provides them with subs, and sometimes they mysteriously wash up on the beach with stab wounds in the groin.”

“A two man job, then. You need someone to play sub for you.”

“I guess.”

“Unless you want to be stabbed in the dick.”

“You in?” Yuuri asks.

Viktor snorts.

“Okay, I’ll just ask Chri—”

“Fine, I’ll do it.” Viktor leans back in his chair, ankles crossed, and taps his lip with his index finger, the way he does when he’s thinking. “Just like old times,” he murmurs, smiling to himself, and Yuuri shivers. That’s the whole problem, he thinks, but he nods.

Taking his ex-boyfriend, who used to actually let Yuuri sexually dominate him, on this mission is a terrible, terrible idea. Either Phichit or Chris would be safer options. Yuuri shouldn’t.

Viktor traces the floor plan of the club, and says, “Tonight?”

“We can plant the bug, yeah. Phichit and Chris can put together my cover.”

“And mine?”

“If anyone asks you anything, play dumb.”

“Tch.” Viktor rolls his eyes, but Yuuri ignores him. Viktor is exceptional at playing dumb. Despite being almost six feet and made mostly of muscle, he always manages to give the impression that he’s soft, harmless, and stupid. Even though he destroyed Yuuri completely within the first minute of their first meeting.

“I’ll meet you here at nine,” Yuuri says. He gets up. “Wait, are you just doing this to get unbanned from the club?”

“You’ve caught me,” Viktor says, laughing, and he’s still chuckling behind his hand as Yuuri slips out of the apartment, the door closing behind him.

Yuuri picks up his dry cleaning so he’ll have clothes for the club tonight, buys some ugly sunglasses as part of his disguise because he doesn’t want his good Armani ones associated with this shitty cover, and scouts out the workplace of a potential government contact for his burn notice for three hours. Then, before he can think better of it, he stops at a pet store and buys a plain black collar and a leash.

[demonwriterx]

Tremors Zootopia Ch 1 “Welcome to Perfection”

Chapter 1. “Welcome to Perfection”

In a town called, Perfection, one would expect it to be a paradise, at least that’s what Nick Wilde expected. When Nick and his mother first moved in, being a young pup he imagined it to be an oasis with pups the same age as him to play with. Instead, Perfection was a small, rickety town, in the middle of the Nevada desert, with the population of fourteen animals.

The town was built in 1889 for mining and was originally called “Rejection”, which Nick thought the residents should have kept. Now, as an ex-mining town, it now held old buildings, a leaky water tower and only one convenience store within thirty miles, called Grey’s Market. The store was the only place to get a cold drink, when the cooler is working. That’s where Nick comes in. Over the years, Nick accepted his fate in the small town and after his mother died, he continued to stay, working in odd jobs, as a Handy-Animal, like fixing the cooler during the long and burning summer.  

In a remote valley and in the flat-end of a rusty-blue pickup truck, laid a small tan fox. The fox was resting in his sleeping bag, outside of a farm where the dairy cows lived. Asleep, he failed to hear the small footsteps of his friend and partner, Nick Wilde, sneaking up on him. As a shifty fox, Nick was annoyed that his friend slept the whole night while he played look out for the nervous dairy cows and oxes. Nick lost in a game of rock-paper-scissors against him and now that it was morning, needed to wake up the quick-tempered fennec fox.

Nick tucked in his dirty white tee into his jeans before leaning against the edge of the truck, resting his paws on the cold metal. He looked down at his snoring companion and spoke in a smooth and quiet voice.

“Good Morning, Mister Sleepy-Head, this is your wake up call. Please move your tail.” He said, and got no response, except more snoring. He sniffed and glanced at the cows, who woke up and were enjoying their breakfast in the dry pasture. He grinned when he got an idea. Nick climbed onto the truck’s running board and began bouncing and shaking it violently, screaming as he does it.

“Stampede! Stampede! Finnick, get out of the way!” Immediately, as Nick predicted, Finnick woke up but constrained in the sleeping bag, tried to make a run for it. Instead, the small fox fell out, face-first, sleeping bag and all, with Nick laughing uproariously as Finnick widely tried to get out of the sleeping bag. Finnick managed to claw himself out and the fear in his eyes swiftly disappeared when he saw the motionless cows, eating hay in front of him. Finnick whirled and growled at Nick.

“You dumb piece of-!” Finnick stood up and dusted himself off before putting his sleeping back back at the bed of the truck. Finnick is what Nick called a drifter, going in and out of odd jobs like him. He lived in Perfection longer than Nick had by eight years, even if Finnick looked like a pup. His deep and rough voice always throws animals in a loop when they first meet him, when in fact, he is forty years old. Being older, he was the one who taught Nick everything in each odd job they bounce to. Finnick also tried to spread a little wisdom to Nick, but found out that he is a lost cause, since he refused to take his advices. Finnick snatched his boots from off the ground and slipped them on.

“I was in a stampede once.” Finnick began as he grabbed his hat from off the truck. “Over 300, and that little joke of yours was not funny, Nick!” He said sternly and put on his hat, to shield himself from the warm rays. Nick chuckled when he jumped off the truck and leaned against its frame.

“So how many cows make a stampede, Finny? Three, four, is there a minimum of a stampede?” He asked with a grin, not even trying to hide his sarcasm. Finnick snorted.

“I hope a stampede runs over your tail.” Finnick retorted as he dug his paws into his brown, worn out coat, taking out a pack of cigarettes. Immediately, Nick pulled out his silver lighter holding it up to him as if it was a grand prize. Finnick rolled his eyes. Each of the two had half of what the other wanted, Finnick had the cigarettes and Nick had the lighter. When Finnick traded him one of his cigarettes, Nick thanked him by lighting up Finnick’s before lighting up his own. With a sigh, he jumped back on the truck, taking in the nicotine and blowing it out in a puff a smoke. Nick adjusted his white cowboy hat and slipped on his jean-vest before taking a few puffs of his cigarette.

Finnick glanced around their small campsite and noticed that something was missing when he picked up the empty metal coffee mug.

“You didn’t make breakfast?” He asked with the cigarette in between his fingers.

“I did it yesterday.” Nick replied in a matter-of-factly tone. “It was cricket and beans.” Finnick placed the cigarette back in between his lips as he stared off into the horizon, trying to recall the past twenty-four hours.

“No…” He began and turned back to Nick. “It was eggs, I made the eggs.”

Nick scoffed. “Like hell you did, it was cricket and beans. Are you trying to hustle me? It’s your turn.”

Finnick smirked and raised a fist up to Nick. “Nope.” he replied. “But let’s make a bet, loser makes breakfast.” He said. Nick scowled and let out a huff before putting up his own fist. They shook their fists up and down three times before moving their fingers to signal their final answer. Nick pulled out paper and Finnick pulled out scissors. Nick’s paw fell in defeat and took a deep breath of his cigarette as Finnick snuffed out his.

“Well, I guess when I was your age, I forgot too.” He smirked and placed the coffee mug into Nick’s arms. Nick gave him a scowl before walking off to make their breakfast as Finnick fell back to enjoy another few minutes of sleep. Now that they finished their job with the dairy cows, after watching them over because they felt uneasy, were paid and the two foxes moved on to their next job. Fixing fences, barb wired and all.

“Ow! Gosh-!” Nick turned when he heard Finnick let out an array or profanity from having stabbed his sensitive paws against the needle like barbed wires. Finnick cast aside the gloves to tend to his wounds as he hissed in pain. “This isn’t a job for an intelligent animal.”

Nick sniffed when he finished wrapping the loose wire around the wooden post. “Why don’t you find me one and I’ll ask him.”

“Ha.Ha.” Finnick said. He wiped the sweat off his brow and kicked the dirt in frustration. “If we were really serious with our money, we would quit being hired foxes!” He exclaimed while he helped Nick hammer in the wire into the wood post.

“Handy Foxes, Finny. We are “handy” foxes.” Nick corrected, tapping the head of the hammer against the nail as he said it.

“Yeah, yeah...one of these days, we’re going to find some real employment.”

“And give up all this personal freedom?” Nick replied, motioning to the hot and desolated valley.

“I’m serious, maybe...maybe we should open a popsicle shop, a traveling one.”

Nick snorted at the idea. “Sure, or maybe an amusement park.” He slammed the hammer down on the nail head and once the wires were in place, they packed their tools in their non-air conditioned truck to their next assignment.

Nick held tightly onto the steering wheel as he drove over the rocky terrain before driving up to the smooth dirt road. Clouds of dust covered the windshield, and their lungs, making the two foxes cough slightly, before the dust settled and disappeared into the hot air. Nick glanced at Finnick, who was sitting on a pile of phone books, to reach Nick’s eye level and to see over the dashboard. Finnick was reviewing a sheet of paper that held their list of jobs they have to complete.

“What’s the agenda today?” Nick asked in a dull tone. His life was starting to feel repetitive. Doing all of the same jobs over and over again, was making him become stale. Being paid less of how hard they work didn’t help soften his boredom. He did not enjoy that, which made his desire to leave fester inside him.

“Garbage Day.” Finnick replied, he turned with a brow raise when Nick let out a groan.

“Garbage Day?-I hate that day, how much are we getting paid?”

“Fifty bucks. That’s forty six dollars more than what we got last time.”

Nick bit his cheek and strummed his fingers on the wheel. “What if we move that to aluminum day? They’re in the same junkyard.”

Finnick slammed the paper down over his lap and whirled at him. Nick held back rolling his eyes for the rant he was about to receive.

“Damn it, Nick!” Finnick began harshly. “We don’t pick the days, Lionheart won’t be here tomorrow, and I don’t need to remind you that he is the one that is paying us. If we don’t do it today, we don’t get paid!” The truck rocked making them bounce slightly in their seats as Nick drove down the lonely road towards the town. He squinted his eyes as the sun’s glare was beginning to affect his sight but his hearing was working perfectly from Finnick barking into his ear.

“You need to be smart, the more money, the faster we can get out of this place.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nick replied, breathing out a sigh. His eyes suddenly shifted to an object in the vass desert. From driving for year, he knows when something is out of place, and what he saw was a red truck. His gaze slowly fell of a form walking out of the truck.

“Hey...is that whats-his name?” Nick asked. There was a male college student who was out collecting plant species as his final project for months but Nick thought he left since he wasn’t around for weeks. Finnick didn’t bother looking up as he tried to come up with a schedule for their mountain of work.

“Uh...no, he left. This one is the new one they sent over.”

Nick’s ears immediately went up. “Wait...it suppose to be a girl.” He turned the wheel making a hard left, leaving the smooth road and onto the rocky terrain. FInnick lurched back in his seat, clutching onto the armrest from the sudden jolt of the vehicle. The truck shook them but that didn’t bother Nick as he held a large grin and started putting out a list.

“I bet she has green eyes, beautiful red fur! A tail of temptation, long legs, and a great face!”

Finnick tightened his seat belt. “You and your stupid mating hormones!”

The truck stalled into a stop, right behind the red truck and next to what appeared to be the campsite. There was a yellow tent built for one, a smothering fire, and only one chair. Nick scanned the area and found her on the ground, tending to a small pit that held her equipment. He watched her stand up, with her ears raised up to the sky. His face fell when he noticed how long they were. Finnick couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw a young female bunny, wearing male khakis, a red flannel shirt and a glob of white sunscreen over her nose.

The young bunny, who was in her mid twenties, walked up to them with a friendly smile.

“Hi!” She perked, putting out her paw towards Finnick, who shook her hand. “I’m Judy Hopps, I’m up here for the semester.”

“Yeah, Geography right?” Finnick said.

“Geology.” Nick corrected.

Judy opened her mouth. “Actually its Seismology, I’m studying earthquakes!”

Nick grinned. “That makes sense, since you're a bunny, is that why you're digging here?”

“Well sure, but just because we bunnies live in burrows doesan’t mean anything. I just find Seismology interesting.” She said, her face lighting up. “You must be Finnick and Nick, right? I heard all about you two.”

“We deny everything.” Finnick chuckled making her laugh at his small joke. Nick silently scoffed and shook his head.

“I actually got a question for you two, do you know that there anyone doing any drilling, or setting off explosives?”

“Around here?” Nick chuckle at her words. “No way, Carrots.” Perfection didn’t have anything important about it or in it. Tourists wouldn’t even stay for a day, usually they drive right on through to the next town that had more to offer, like a working air conditioner. There was nothing in the land either, unless an animal wanted to live in isolation. There is no oil underneath the earth which makes it useless to the government.

Judy frowned.

“Well, I am monitoring these seismographs.” She said. Finnick and Nick gave her a blank look which made her slowly explain. “They measure vibrations?”

Nick gently tapped Finnick in the shoulder. “Vibrations in the ground.” He explained which made Judy smile at his understanding.

“Yes, and I have been getting these strange readings and I was wondering if you two had heard anything?”

Finnick tipped his hat at her. “We haven’t but, we’ll ask around to see if anyone else in town had heard something.”

“I would appreciate that, I just hope it’s not broken.” She nervously said, looking towards her equipment. The school had the machines out in the desert for three years. Being out in the elements could have caused the machine to malfunction. Judy hopped that it was not the case. Finnick glanced at Nick, motioning his head at Judy while his eyes did the talking.

‘Don’t you want to say anything?’ Nick gave him a look of disbelief, motioning back with his brows.

‘No!’

They both turned back at Judy who at the same time meet their eyes, having not notice their silent conversation.

“Anyone, sorry to bother you two.” She smiled, giving their car a tap before stepping back. Finnick smiled widely at her. Something about her made him instantly like her.

“No problem.” He replied. Nick turned the truck back on and driving off. Finnick leaned his head out and waved his paw. “Nice meeting ya, see you around!” He called before sitting back against his seat. Judy waved back and watched them get back on the main road. She unconsciously touched her nose and gasped when she saw the white sunscreen on her fingers. The whole time she had been talking to them with sunscreen still on her face. It made her cheeks turn warm.

Finnick leaned his head back, feeling the wind of the open window brush against his fur.

“You know, if you want, we can ask about those seismographs thing?” Finnick said, turning his head lazily to Nick, who muzzle contorted, as if he smelled something awful.

“What do we know about that stuff?” He said bitterly, still disappointed that Judy wasn’t a vixen. She was easy to look at, he could admit that. He noticed she had amethyst colored eyes, something that was quite rare to have. Most bunnies had green, brown, and gray.

Finnick shrugged. “Nothing, but it would be a nice way to get to know her better.”

“Why would I waste my time doing that?”

“Damn it, Nick, you won’t go for any girl unless she fits that list of yours!” Finnick put up his paw and counted down with his fingers, mockingly imitating him. “Vixen, red fur, long legs, great face-!”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Let’s not forget dumber than my tail, like that vixen, Bobby Lynn Grounds.”

Nick fumed and pulled down the truck’s sunvisor, where he had a collection of photos of identical vixens that fit the description on his list and pointed to one in the middle.

“Tammy Lynn Grounds.”

Finnick waved him away. “It doesn’t matter, they were all dead weight. “Oh my nail, I broke it!”, “Oh I can’t work in these shoes!” “ He said in a high pitched mocking tone of Nick’s last mate.

Nick frowned. “I’m a victim of circumstance.”

“Really? Because I thought you were being picky. Look, don't make the same mistake I made, kept looking for the perfect girl for years and you know where it got me?....to you.”

This time Nick rolled his eyes. “Give me a break.”

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Chapter 1 completed!  I hope you guys like it! 

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