#it will be fine im sure . i can probably just explain it to the clerk at the post office and get things sorted

[riotshotguns]

lays on the floor . why does fucking everything go wrong for me always

[sword-of-the-writer]

Oh Lumi I love "You take the bed, you need it more than me" 🥺 Can I request that one with felix pls? Im so sorry if you get too many felix requests, but you write him so well!!

This is 1.4k words I don’t even know how I did that but like 😳 (thats why it took me ages because adhd brain inhibits me from just knocking it out in one sitting)

I hope y’all like it 🥺

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Silent Travels || Felix Fraldarius

The clouds grew dark and weighed heavy above, tentative drops threatening to fall more with each passing moment.

Felix Fraldarius was called for by his father to return home for undisclosed reasons. In an even more surprising move, the young lord had asked you to accompany him when the professor insisted he not go alone.

Why had he asked you and not, say, Sylvain? No one could say, really. Well, perhaps some could, but they didn’t, which perplexed you even more when you had asked.

But now it had been well into your travels, threats of rain looming overhead, and an unbearable silence had fallen between you. It was a 2 day trip on the fastest route, so you silently hoped that it wouldn’t be this painfully quiet the whole time.

“Felix? Why’d you ask me to come?” You finally pipe up “why not... like... Sylvain?”

The man sighed, though he didn't look in your direction. “Really? He’s more of a nuisance than anything. Especially since he’d just flirt with my house maids again.”

That’s a fair point. You probably should have considered that.

“I didn’t ask you because you were an obvious choice, you’re just far less annoying than anyone else.”

The icy tone of his voice warned you not to dig further. You knew he wasn’t interested in small talk right now.

“So, where will we be—“

“There’ll be an inn on this road eventually.” He interrupted.

“Okay.”

Another long hour of quiet befell the two of you before arriving at the aforementioned inn. It hadn’t become significantly darker considering the gray clouds overhead, but it still had grown much colder.

In truth, Felix had been averse to banter not because he found you annoying, but because he was annoyed he fell victim to the professor’s meddling. They hadn’t just told Felix not to go alone, but specifically told him to bring you.

The thing was, he didn’t want to outright tell you this... it would raise more questions than answers. The ravenette treated you with significantly less poison in his words and with significantly more gentle gestures. Significant for him wasn’t much, really, but the ones who knew him well caught on fast. Dimitri, Sylvain, and Ingrid knew it, and now supposedly the professor too.

You waited outside with your two horses as Felix went inside to pay for a room. The rain that threatened to fall all day was beginning to leak from the clouds in heavy drops. Good timing.

Felix emerged with a huff and brows furrowed together angrily.

“My father neglected to send along travel expenses, and the professor didn’t give me much either. It seems we can only afford one room if we want to eat in the morning.”

“Oh.. hm.” You reply, though not fully processing the logistics of the situation “what about the horses?”

“Did you not see the stable?” He all but snapped at you.

“I meant the cost, Felix.”

“Oh, er, boarding them is free. It’s feeding them that’ll cost us. Luckily that’s something the professor thought of.”

“So she packed food for the horses but none for us? Funny that.” You snicker, effectively lightening the mood.

“Funny.” Felix parroted. “Now let me take the horses to a stall before the rain starts falling steadily.”

“I can do it.” You insist, but Felix quickly takes the reins from you and doesn’t acknowledge your statement.

Without another word, the ravenette walked away with the two horses. He didn’t give you the room key in return, but you hadn’t noticed until you stepped inside.

The inn seemed lively, despite the gloomy weather. Drinks were passed to and fro and many were engaged in lively conversations. A complete 180 to the past few hours of travel you experienced.

You took a seat at an empty table whilst waiting for your travel companion. It wasn’t in the center, but it wasn’t exactly too far from all the action either. The time spent idle you couldn’t help but think that Felix was likely having a hard time untacking the less cooperative of the two horses. That was precisely the reason you offered to do it, but you weren’t going to mention it now.

Suddenly, and less than gracefully, a clearly inebriated man had sauntered his way up to your table.

“Ohhh! What’s a pretty little thing like you doing all alone here, hmm?” He slurred, slamming his tankard of beer down on the table as he took a seat

“Um, well I’m just waiting for—“

“Waiting? Oh, no no no!” He shook his head “No one should keep such a woman waiting!”

“Well I... he’s just—“

“Fuck off old man.” Felix had reemerged, ice in his tone and fire in his eyes.

“Ohhh, so your man makes an appearance!” The man taunted, seeming less and less sober as he chose to insult Felix.

“He’s not my—“

“And what about it? What were your intentions if I hadn’t shown up? Can’t you see how uncomfortable she is?” He spat, not letting the man get in a single word.

“Well, I was just—“

“Just nothing. Fuck off!”

You had stood at that moment, concern riddled across your features and a hand placed on Felix’s shoulder to keep him from lunging at the man. Tugging a bit at his shirt, you managed to pull him away from the fight waiting to happen.

“Let’s just go to our room and get some rest, okay?” You suggested, leading away the still furious boy away from the crowd of people.

The two of you moved in unison over creaking floorboards down the hall to find the room which the number on the door matched the engraving on the key Felix had received.

It was a small room, modestly decorated and, in your opinion, quite cold. It wasn’t necessarily what you had in mind, but it didn’t disappoint considering it was their only lodging option.

After a long moment, Felix broke the silence. “You take the bed, you need it more than me.”

Right... that was a prominant feature of the room: one bed.

Unthinking, you blurted out “Couldn’t you have gotten a room with two beds?”

Silence met your words as Felix thought this over. He hadn’t outright mentioned he was not a lone traveler, but he assumed the inn clerk had seen you outside. Clearly they had just assumed the two of you were a couple. And that man from before had too...

Felix attempted to clear his throat in a nonchalant manner, but it seemed to backfire as he almost choked. If you looked clearly, you could see the pink that dusted his cheeks.

“What’s done is done,” He tried to shrug it off. “I wasn’t thinking. Just take the bed.”

“Do you plan to sleep on the bare floor?”

Your tone was lighthearted, poking fun at his mistake. Had anyone else made such comments Felix surely would have snapped at them. Instead, he just shook his head.

“Seriously, at least take some pillows and blankets. Or we can go ask the inn worker.” You insisted.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Stop being so stubborn! I don’t want you to get bad sleep and be even crankier than usual.”

“The hell do you mean by ‘even crankier’?!”

You gestured vaguely as if to imply “you’re literally being cranky right now”. He turned away from you and crossed his arms, clearly understanding your meaning but ignoring it nonetheless.

“It’s not a small bed. We could probably both fit.” You finally say, breaking the long held silence

“I’m going to act like you didn’t just say that.” He replied dryly.

The realization that you spoke your thoughts aloud hit you like a ton of bricks. You hadn’t thought much of the implications at first, but now your face had become noticeably red.

“Whatever. I’ll be back.” Felix exited the room, presumably taking your suggestion.

Flustered, you allowed yourself to flop down onto the bed. You moved your hands to your face and felt the warmth of your cheeks.

Felix returned not long after with news of the two of you switching to a more accommodating room. He didn’t mention the disappointed look on the inn clerk’s face when he had explained the situation to them...

The rest of your travels were met with the same degree of silence as before, though now it was a much more awkward silence. Rodrigue later brought this up, but Felix denied any implication that the older man threw at him.

[poppyknitt]

Adaptability- A JSE Egos Fanfic

Recap: Marvin and Jackieboyman were trying out a spell Marvin had been studying for a few months, trying to make a few plants large enough to be stable perches for Jackie’s new sidekick, Ferris, a juvenile Peregrine Falcon. Something backfired, however, and they found themselves with two new, plant-like additions to the family- Chomp, a comically large and mutated purple lily, which looks a bit like the Piranha plants from the Mario game series, and Thorn, a slightly oversized Venus Flytrap with a personality and smarts similar, if not slightly greater than, a cat’s (which is saying something, given its size and dopey, yet cute, appearance). Chomp is clearly more mouth and stomach than intelligence and beauty, while Thorn seems to be the smarter of the two, and refuses to leave Marvin’s side... er, rather, shoulder.

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[November 3rd, 2016, our time]

Henrik hummed quietly to himself as he walked along the street, wearing a grey hoodie because he’d been off work for the day, and didn’t need to wear the typical uniform he was seen in during videos. He was keeping his eyes peeled for any wounded animals on the streets, because, even though they weren’t all that common, he still somehow managed to find one every now and then. One of his favorite hobbies was helping injured stray or feral animals get back to full health, and return to the streets. Of course, there were obviously a few that would never be able to survive out on the loose again, so those ones were the ones he usually gave away to a center made specifically to help them, or to a person looking to adopt an animal in need. The most common cases of animals that wouldn’t be able to go back to the wild were usually birds or bats that broke or lost a wing. Their wings were fundamental to their survival, so without the ability to use both, they would probably starve, if they didn’t get eaten right away. Recently, he’d given a fox with three and a half legs to the local zoo, since he knew it wasn’t going to be able to adjust very well to being returned to the streets. It had apparently been ran over by a car, but was lucky enough to only have to have one of its legs amputated. The other front leg was broken when he got to it, but it healed back stronger than it originally was, with his and the local veterinarian’s help. Since he worked with humans, he always made sure to get regular checkups with a veterinarian for the animals he was helping, because they knew more about helping animals heal than he did.

He arrived home, having found no injured animals, unsurprisingly. He went upstairs, and into his bedroom, where he sat down at his desk and started working through paperwork of some kind.

A few hours passed, and nothing special happened. The sun had begun to set, and Henrik was taking a break from his work, knowing Seán would nag him if he saw that he hadn’t done anything but work since he got home. And then, it happened.

th-kSSSH!

The sound of something crashing into a glass window erupted throughout his room, making his hands instinctively shoot up to cover his ears. He removed them, eyes wide, as he stared at the wide trail of glass draped from the window to a small, dark lump on the floor, and his eyes widened, as he realized what it was.

A bat? Why on earth would a bat be out so early? The sun’s barely gone down! He blinked, as he studied it more carefully, looking for injuries. He immediately jolted from his chair when he saw a small pool of blood around it, scooping the little creature up, and bolting downstairs.

“Hey! Schneep! Wait! What’s going on?!” Jackie yelped when he saw the doctor running past him.

“No time! Must get this little one to the vet, soon as possible!” He responded. Jackie let out a partly audible “oh shit”, and vaulted over the chair he was in, helping Schneep get the bat safely to the car. They got there fairly quickly, and Jackie nearly had to hold Schneep back to keep him from crashing into the veterinarian’s office in almost the same way the bat had crashed into the doctor’s room.

As soon as Schneep managed to explain what happened to the clerk at the desk, which, admittedly, took a few tries, because he was speaking quickly, and he wasn’t exactly fluent in English just yet, the vet that usually came to help with whatever animal Schneep had with him, Doctor Lewis, was rushed in, and took the little bat into their emergency care room. Schneep opted to come with, but was told it would probably be best if he just stayed in the waiting room.

~~~

Henrik thanked the doctor once he paid the bill, and left, the bat gently cradled in his arms as he went back to the car, where Jackie was already waiting for him. The drive back home was much calmer, since they didn’t have to worry about a potentially dead or dying fruit bat this time. Schneep made sure to memorize the instructions he’d been given on how to help the bat heal as best it could, his heart still a little heavy, knowing that with its wing broken, it wouldn’t be able to survive out in the wild ever again.

“... So, Jackie, you mentioned a fiancé earlier, yes?” Henrik finally decided to fill the awkward silence with a conversation.

“Oh! Uh, heh... Y-Yeah. I... I proposed to my girlfriend, Ava, on the 28th of October... It was our four-year anniversary, so I-I figured it was time I, uh, sealed the deal, y’know?” He laughed nervously, his cheeks a little bit red as he spoke about it. Henrik couldn’t help but to feel happy for his brother; He would be starting a family soon, right?

“Yes, it would be a good time for that, wouldn’t it? Any plans for what will happen afterwards?” He didn’t want to push the topic of kids on his brother, knowing firsthand how annoying it was to have people constantly bothering you about such things.

“Yeah... A-Ava’s due to give birth soon... I’m really excited for it. The doc we’ve been seeing for things like ultrasounds and prenatal care thinks it’s gonna be a boy.” Jackie’s eyes lit up as he spoke, the hero obviously being excited for fatherhood.

“What? And why have I not heard of this until now, dear brother?” Schneep’s eyes also lit up at the news, and he sat up straight in his seat.

“Well... we were gonna keep it a secret... But, I-I just can’t help myself! I’m... I’m really excited for this, and, well, you know me! I-I can’t keep a secret for six months, let alone nine!”

Henrik smiled, laughing a bit as he spoke, “Ah, that, you cannot, my friend.”

~~~~

[January 2nd, 2017, our time]

Jackie held up a little slice of an apple to their new bat friend, hoping to get him to eat some. The little creature just shrunk back from him, obviously not wanting to eat.

“Schneeeeeppp!” Jackie whined, giving up, “Your dumb winged rat won’t- Ow!” He dropped the apple slice as his hand snapped to cradle the back of his head, after Schneep socked it pretty hard.

“Do not insult him for refusing to eat, Simon!” He snapped, his tone making Jackie shrink back in surprise. Jackie was well aware of what it meant if Henrik were to address him with his secret identity instead of his hero name, but that didn’t mean the tone was any less shocking.

“Sheesh! Calm down, will ya? I was just joking! Listen, can you just... do the thing?? I can practically hear the little guy’s stomach rumbling from all the way in the living room!” He complained, earning a glare from his brother.

He picked up the slice of apple Jackie dropped, and held it out to the little bat, “Fine. Is about time he got his third meal of the day, anyways.”

The bat squeaked quietly as the apple was held out to him, and happily grabbed onto it, using his good arm to nibble on it.

“See, brother? Is not that hard.”

“Yeah, well, you have a knack for this kind of thing. I don’t.”

~~~~

[April 14th, 2017, our time]

Chase, the newest addition to the family, stared at the little bat with intrigue, his eyes almost unblinking as he stared back.

“You know you can ask me whatever questions you have about him.” He stated flatly.

The younger ego turned and looked at him, eyes still a bit wider than normal, “What’s its name?”

Henrik blinked, having not considered naming it before, “... What?”

“Name, doc. What’s the lil’ guy’s name? He is your pet, right?”

“Well, at this point, I suppose is only fitting to call him my ‘pet’...”

“Okay, so, name, then?”

“He... does not have a name. We were not aware that he would stay very long.”

“Man, you guys are boring. If none of you are gonna name ‘im, I guess it’s up’ta me, then.” Chase had a big grin on his face now.

“Wait, what-?” Chase interrupted him before he could say any more.

Chase turned to look back at the bat in front of him, “You, my friend, will be called Nectar, from here on out.”

“Why?”

“‘Cuz he’s a fruit bat, and fruit bats like nectar.” Jackie could be heard muffling a bit of laughter.

“... Do not laugh at me, Jackie. Is surely not so funny that you have to cover your mouth.”

“Sorry.” The hero grinned, holding back more laughter, and earning another glare from his brother. Rogers, the cat that Henrik had been nursing back to health for a few days, which lost its eyesight to a fight with another cat, jumped up onto the table, purring, and affectionately pressed its head into Chase’s shoulder, making the young ego laugh, and ruffle its fluffy fur.

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WorldView AU Prologue: Part Two

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blind kitty may or may not somehow have the mind of a dog :v

@antis-loyal-puppet

@tiny-septic-puppet

@septic-dr-schneep

@chaoticcrimsonrose

[themoneybuff-blog]

Helping Mom apply for Social Security -- More complicated than it needs to be?

My mother turned seventy a couple of weeks ago. This means a couple of things: First, shes reached the age at which she can receive maximum retirement benefits from Social Security.Second, its time for her to start taking Required Minimum Distributions from her retirement accounts. If youve been reading Get Rich Slowly for a while, you know that these two routine tasks are less than routine for my family. My mother has fought a long-time battle with mental illness. After a crisis in 2011, my brothers and I realized that she could not live alone. We found a highly-regarded local assisted living facility that specializes in patients with memory issues. (Mom has some sort of cognitive disability that includes memory loss, but which the doctors have been unable to diagnose.) For the past seven years, Mom has lived at Happy Acres in a comfortable apartment with her cat (Bonnie) and her television. When I see her, I often ask if theres anything more she needs or wants. She assures me that this is all she needs to be happy.

At this point, Mom struggles with routine personal hygiene, so theres no way she can take care of tasks like signing up for Social Security or taking withdrawals from her retirement accounts. As her sons, thats now our job. (And were happy to do it.) You might think that this process would be easy but youd be wrong. I suspect that in most cases, getting retirement benefits started is easy, but its much less so in our situation. A Little Bit of Kafka At first, my brother Jeff and I thought that setting up Social Security would be simple. He and I both have Power of Attorney. Were accustomed to this allowing us to breeze through most financial tasks as if we were Mom herself. In March, about a month before Moms birthday, I spent an afternoon at the local Social Security office. I took all of the documentation that I could gather. I arrived to find the waiting room was packed with other folks applying for benefits. It was standing-room only. Rather than get frustrated, I sighed and resigned myself to waiting. And wait, I did. I waited for two hours before my number was called. (It was all fine, though. I spent the time absorbed in a good book.) When my turn came, I sat at the desk and talked to the clerk. Im here to apply for Social Security benefits for my mother, I said. Is your mother with you? the clerk asked. No, I said. But I have Power of Attorney. I pulled out the paperwork to offer proof. The clerk waved her hand and shook her head. The Social Security Administration does not recognize Powers of Attorney, she told me. To conduct business on your mothers behalf, you must be a designated representative, a legal guardian. What does that mean? I asked. For all practical purposes, it means you probably should make an appointment to bring your mother in with you. Thats going to be the easiest thing to do. Okay, I said. But shes not really going to be able to carry on a conversation or to make an informed decision about anything. Still, lets make an appointment. Even if shes not mentally fit, she has to be the one who applies in person, the clerk said. She clicked at her keyboard, searching for appointment times. Im sorry, but we dont have any appointments available. I was puzzled. Let me get this straight. Mom has to apply in person. To apply in person, we have to make an appointment. But there are no appointments available? Well, there three other options, the clerk said. She can do what you did today and wait in the lobby. She can call each morning to see if there are any cancellations. Or she can apply online. However, she has to apply herself. You cant fill out the application for her. Ill admit that I was both baffled and a little steamed. Shes not able to fill out the application herself. Shes not capable, I said. I dont think its a good idea to have her wait here with me for two hours as a drop-in. And calling the day-of to get an appointment is problematic. It would take roughly three hours from the time I called in order to get her here. The clerk shrugged. I dont know what to tell you, she said. Those are your three options. Skirting the Law When I returned home, I called my brother to explain the situation. I feel like theres no way we can get this done, I said, unless we fudge things a little. What do you mean? he said. Well, theres no way for Mom to complete the application hereself, right? Legally, shes required to. But what if we completed it for her while shes in the room? Im okay with that, Jeff said. And thats what we did: Jeff and I sat with Mom and worked through the online Social Security benefits application. Much of the application asked for standard stuff, such as age, mailing address, and so on. It was easy for us to answer those questions. But some of the questions required sleuthing. To set up Moms online Social Security account, for instance, we had to puzzle out a battery of questions drawn from her credit history. (Solution? Just pull a free credit report, which youre allowed to do three times per year.) To actually complete the benefits application, we needed to figure out important dates regarding her marriage and her work history. Whenever we reached a question that stumped us, we asked Mom for the answer. She never had the answers, though, so we had to dig through various documents to find the info. After a couple of hours, wed finished the application. We asked Mom to type in her name for the digital signature. (Even that was tough for her.) The process was overor so we thought. About a week later, we got a letter in the mail from the Social Security Administration. Thank you for contacting us for an appointment to visit our office, the letter read. This is confirmation of the date and time of your appointment. What in the world is this? Jeff asked me. We never made an appointment for Mom. I have no idea, I said. I thought wed done everything we need to do at this point. But Ill tell you what. It sounds like we have a firm date and time for an appointment, so lets just take it. We may be duplicating our efforts, but thats okay. Im willing to sacrifice a few hours of my time just to make sure everything is correct. Return to Purgatory Jeff handled everything with the assisted living facility, arranging for Mom to have an early breakfast, and getting her approved to take a field trip. His wife showed up yesterday morning just to make sure everything went according to plan. Meanwhile, I left the house at 7:30, stopped by the family box factory to pick up supporting documentation, then headed to Happy Acres to pick up Mom. When we reached the Social Security office at 8:55, there was already a long line at the door. Theres no way were going to get inside in time for our nine oclock appointment, I thought to myself, but it turns out I neednt have worried. When the office opened, a security guard summoned folks with appointments to the front of the line. Mom and I went inside to meet the clerk who would be conducting the interview. Our clerk was both friendly and helpful. He was also meticulous and business-like. At first, he directed his questions to Mom (as he should have), but when it became clear that Mom couldnt answer for herself, he addressed me instead. Weve received your mothers application for retirement benefits, the clerk told me. But shes also eligible for survivors benefits. Thats what todays interview is about. We want to get her set up in the system so that she receives everything shes due. The clerk interviewed us for about twenty minutes. Unfortunately, we werent able to answer all of his questions because we werent prepared for them. When did Dad die? I remember that date very clearly. When were Mom and Dad married? I dont know off the top of my head and Mom can no longer remember. Do you have a copy of their marriage certificate? the clerk asked. No, we do not. Ah, youll need to get a certified copy and mail it to me in order to complete this process. How do I do that? I asked. Youll need to contact the Department of Vital Records in whichever state she was married, he said. Once you get a certified copy, mail it to me in this envelope. After we have all of the documentation we need, benefits will begin a few weeks later. To Be Continued Last month during my road trip through the southeastern United States, I stopped to visit my pal Cameron Huddleston in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Huddleston, a personal-finance columnist, has experienced something similar herself. Her mother has Alzheimers, so Huddleston has had to learn to manage her money. And, in fact, she just signed a deal to write a book about managing your parents money. Its kind of a boring topic, but its important, Huddleston told me. Its something that more and more people are wrestling with, especially as lifespans increase and personal finances become more complicated. She hopes to produce a useful guide to help people like me figure this stuff out. From what we can tell, nothing like this exists right now. Its like each person in my situation has to re-invent the wheel, to puzzle through the process on our own each time. Im eager to be the first person to buy Huddlestons book! Obviously, my family still has work to do. From what we can tell, Moms application for Social Security retirement benefits has been accepted and now its simply a matter of waiting for payments to begin. (This can take up to three months, apparently.) Meanwhile, in order for her to receive survivors benefits, we need to track down a copy of her marriage certificate, which I suspect is going to eat another couple hours of my time. Thats a task for this afternoon, I guess. Plus, I havent even started talking to Vanguard about how to take Required Minimum Distributions from Moms IRA. We have another 5-1/2 months to solve this piece of the puzzle. (RMDs must begin by the time the account holder is 70-1/2 years old.) Im going to wait until the Social Security benefits are finally flowing before I move on to the IRA. One final task? The next time I see that Mom is having a lucid day, I want to ask her what we can buy her to improve her life. She says shes content sitting in front of the television with a cat in her lap, but I feel like there must be something more we can do for her. Maybe get her a second and third cat? Maybe get her a super-deluxe television? Or how about buying a fancy chair with built-in massage? Mom has some money now. Itd be awesome to use that money to give her a better life. Important footnote: Dad died in July 1995. Mom has missed out on 23 years of Social Security survivors benefits because we werent aware that she should apply for them. Thats crazy! Do you have any literature on survivors benefits? I asked the clerk at the Social Security office yesterday. He have me a few pamphlets. Soon, Ill read all of this material and write a short blog post summarizing the most important pieces. https://www.getrichslowly.org/applying-for-social-security/