#last case was a little uh yeah (/neg)

[saltsig]

finally finished the first aai!!

[kyra-cooneyx]

antisocial — a.putellas x reader

summary: your social battery runs out during a team bonding night

we back baby

after a long media day, you wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day cuddled up in alexia’s arms once you got home. but just as you prepared yourself to face plant the sofa, the spaniard caught you effortlessly and the whine you let out was pitiful.

“lo siento amor but we have team bonding.” alexia whispered, laughing quietly when your body grew limp.

“do we really?”

“si,” alexia said, running her hand through your hair as you groaned. “it is not the end of the world you know?”

“sure feels like it.” you mumbled, forcing yourself out of her arms and into your bedroom to change into something comfier that just so happened to belong to your girlfriend.

you didn’t look any happier when you returned and alexia found the slight jut of your lip adorable. “a few hours cariño then we will leave.”

you relaxed a little at her words. you could survive a few hours. the drive to mapi and ingrid’s place seemed to take forever and you had a feeling that that was going to be the precedent for how the rest of the night was going to go. the moment ingrid swung open the front door, you winced at the noise. alexia gently tugged you in upon sensing your hesitation.

your feet dragged behind you and it was clear to alexia that your body was reacting to each little stimuli with the way it tensed and relaxed interchangeably.

when alexia made her way over to where mapi and frido sat with marta and caro, you forced yourself to head over to esmee, bruna, and jana.

you weren’t sure how they’d managed to convince ingrid to let them open up a mini nail salon in her living room but the question fell dry on your lips when esmee gently took your hands in hers.

“i think you should have this one.” jana said, handing esmee a powder blue coloured nail varnish and your face flushed when you realised that the dutch girl had asked you a question.

“uh yeah, that’s pretty, thanks jana.” you nodded slightly, offering both girls a smile.

alexia watched with a smile of her own as your shoulders sagged and you laughed softly at something jana had said. her shoulders relaxed too when you eased your way into whatever debate keira and lucy were having, something about the last england camp and whether keira had spent a little too much time with leah and not enough with georgia.

it was clear to your girlfriend that whatever negative feelings you had earlier had fizzled out and thankfully, you were starting to enjoy yourself. and your face lit up when mapi turned on the xbox, ona handing you a controller.

after a few games of fifa, you were forced to hand it over to frido and grumbled under your breath as you sank back into the sofa.

more of the girls joined in and with every one, you could feel yourself slipping into a more irritable state and you forced yourself to smile and laugh when you felt like you needed to.

alexia eventually found her seat next to you and was taken back at how quickly you moved onto her lap, curling into her.

your hands played with the strings on her hoodie, nose lightly nudging at the column of her throat. and since alexia was expecting this, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small fidget toy, one of the many you left scattered around your house.

you hummed in appreciation, taking it from her. she pressed a kiss to your head, also having both of your phones at hand in case you changed your mind about the toy.

at some point, the repetitive motion and the social exhaustion had you dozing off and when you woke up, ingrid was saying goodbye to the last of the girls. and as you lifted your head, you caught mapi’s eye and she smiled at you. you huffed in response, quickly hiding your face in alexia’s neck.

“gruñona.” mapi teased, digging her fingers into your side.

you squirmed, whining as you pushed her hand away, peeking out to glare at her.

“go wait with ingrid,” alexia whispered and your grip on her hoodie tightened. “i will be two minutes, i promise.”

your body felt heavy as you slowly lifted yourself off your girlfriend and it took everything in you to not fall straight back onto her.

with a soft sigh, you headed towards the front of the apartment where you knew the norwegian was, giving her the smallest of smiles.

“tired?” she asked and you nodded. “i can tell, you look it.”

if anyone else had said it, you would’ve lost your mind. but it was ingrid and you knew she meant no harm. that still didn’t stop you from going back to alexia and throwing your arms around her neck from behind.

“casa ara,” you whispered, whining when you got no response. “ale, please.”

“vale, vale.” alexia rolled her eyes fondly, quickly saying goodbye to mapi and ingrid before practically carrying you to the car.

the ride home seemed a lot quicker than before and the relaxation that flowed through your body once you’d gotten through the front door was magical.

you went straight to the bedroom, falling onto the bed without a care in the world and cuddling into the sheets.

it didn’t take long for alexia to join you but you were long gone by then, murmuring softly in your sleep as the blonde gently moved your body into a more comfortable position. your eyes fluttered open momentarily, a dreamy smile on your lips.

“te quiero mucho.”

[johannesviii]

Parallels, foreshadowing and narrative echoes in Infinity Train Book 3 episode 1 "The Musical Car" [2/2]

Continuation of the first post. Had to split it in two cause I hit the new image limit. Let's jump right back into it

When I look at you, I see me

Yeah you're right, Grace, that red cape was a bit too much. Someone else thought it looked cool, though

Negative reinforcement (in this case, excluding someone from the group) being turned on its head and used against her by the same kid later on

"I need a big light to emulate the dawn before the battle"

Simon's cringe fantasy novel

So she wrote the foreword of the story, uh?

"Down with the false conductor" seems to be the part of their weird little cult's tenets that Simon likes the most

Yeah that's right Grace let's bully turtles there's no way it's going to feel weird later

that one is more nebulous than the rest but "you're sure you can carry us both ?" "Wanna find out ?" ":)" well they sure found out if she could metaphorically carry both of them uh

The threads of Grace's remaining Apex gear snap while trying to avoid a turtle

No comment needed

"I owe you one" (that one makes me particularly insane)

Actually she saves his life three times in this first episode. Guess how many times he tries to kill her in the last one

"It will be like old times! just me and you!" "yeah! old times" cool cool what if I cried my heart out

Obviously I haven't listed literally everything but that's already a lot. Feel free to be insane with me in the comments

As a friend unironically said:

[lewkwoodnco]

I got options, babe - Lockwood x Reader

“It’s a snow globe.”

In a miraculous moment of clarity, she realised what George was violently trying to communicate to her from behind Lockwood: play dumb.

”What’s a snow globe?”

George was positively beside himself.

a/n: the people have spoken so here is part 2 to buy me presents! am so sad i fell a little sick during the hols, threw a terrible wrench in my 12 days of fics plans for last year but i'm alr planning ahead for this year :))) yes its xmas themed but the vibes are close enough to valentines so shush. if i was in the l&co universe i would pay good money to see someone tell george to live laugh love, and i would tip extra if it was lockwood hehe. also I tagged a few extra ppl who seemed interested in a sequel!

warnings/tropes: lockwood x glassmith!reader, mostly fluffy, only a smidge of angst towards the end, clueless lockwood my beloved <3

word count: 2.6k!

buy me presents (pt 1)

TAGLIST | MASTERLIST

When Lockwood had shaken George awake plenty of hours before, it had taken a while for George's brain to catch up to what was happening. By the time it did, he was worriedly watching Lockwood animatedly talking to one of the shop assistants from a nearby telephone booth.

"No idea what it is, or why..." he was telling Lucy. Lockwood was looking around for him. George nervously shifted behind one of the bars of the booth. 

"Maybe he's just blowing off some steam?"

Lockwood was now wearing an aggressively tinseled Santa hat while wielding an identical one. George had a pretty good idea who that was for.

"Er, maybe. But perhaps you should come home too. Just in case."

Lockwood had finally spotted George and was frantically waving him over. George did not like the way the Christmas lights were reflecting in Lockwood's eyes.

"For the love of God, Luce, please come home. You can't leave with me...this."

With a bone-deep sigh, George regretfully hung up and emerged from the telephone booth, smiling weakly at Lockwood.

He was more than grateful for his presence of mind earlier, once they had reached Portland Row. Lucy walked in just minutes after Lockwood's unpleasant realisation about Nicholas and guffawed at the sight of the tiny tsunami of gifts.

"Brilliant," George said. "Your turn." He handed Lucy one of the last presents he had been holding and disappeared into the kitchen. She turned towards Lockwood incredulously, who was indignantly standing in front of the sea of presents with his hands on his hips. She raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, okay, I see how it is. I buy a few gi-"

"In what WORLD is this few-"

"- few gifts, and suddenly I'm the bad guy. It's Christmas, but I'm feeling a lot of negativity pent up here."

"Now you're just deflecting." Lucy rolled her eyes as Lockwood started fishing out some receipts from his pockets.

"Can't a guy spend...uh...three-oh. Oh. That's a lot of zeroes."

"Lockwood. How much did you spend?"

"...suddenly, I don't think I know any numbers past ten."

"Lockwood!"

"I couldn't figure out the installment plans! That's Y/N's job!"

George returned to the front door corridor and started picking up some boxes at random and shaking them experimentally.

"Yeah, a fine job you've left her to sort out your debts! No more shopping till Easter. And George, if you don't steal his wallet, I will."

He held up the present he was holding to Lockwood. "Listen, I don't think Y/N's going to want all of these, so how about I -"

"Absolutely not."

George made a rather rude gesture and disappeared back into the kitchen. Lockwood bent over to start clearing a path through the presents to the stairs.

"How was I supposed to know she was only kidding?"

"You know what her sense of humour's like. George and I would have picked up on it in a second."

A very unhappy Lockwood straightened out from under the avalanche of presents. 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

A little before lunch, Lockwood knocked on the attic door. It was ajar, and she was reading in a contorted position, all twisted up with a blanket on her rug in the one patch of sunlight in the room, leaning against her bed. She nearly tipped over when Lockwood poked his head in, but caught herself in time.

"Hey."

"Hey."

They stared at each other for a moment. It was the first time they had been alone since the morning's happenings, and it didn't feel as easy to laugh about it all when it was just them. Because the truth was, she didn't find it all that funny. Confusing, yes. Stressful, perhaps. But it wasn't that funny when all the emotions felt excruciatingly true. She closed her book, and Lockwood took another step in, leaning against the bannister.

"I'm sorry about the whole Nicholas thing. I was having a laugh, that's all. I never wanted to make you seem...foolish."

"I don't even remember Nicholas. I mean, that guy."

"Lockwood."

"Who's Loc- I mean, Nicholas? I'm Lockwood."

"Yes, I know."

"And I don't feel foolish. Do you think I'm foolish?"

She smiled at him with rheumy eyes, and his face twisted strangely like he was suppressing his own smile. His eyes drifted to the book in her lap, and the blanket swaddling her face.

"Er, reading?"

"Trying to. The sun's making me feel so sleepy."

"Then move out of the sun. Or take a nap."

She glared at him, scoffing incomprehensibly. "T-take a nap? What am I, 5? And we barely get any sun as it is, I'm trying to thaw my insides."

"Can you even breathe in that?"

She took a wheezing breath. "...yes."

Still, Lockwood sat down next to her, and after a bit of scuffling, she was tipped slightly to her side, leaning against him slightly. She was starting to regret using such a thick blanket through which she barely felt his shoulder. He picked up the book and opened it to the pages her finger was stuck between, and started reading. She closed her eyes and listened. It was some dream to be sitting next to him, without the usual inches between, to hear his honeyed voice ebb and flow, to watch his fingers smooth the pages and fiddle with the edges.

It was mildly disconcerting to hear the shape of his voice take on such a poetic form as if they were in some parallel universe. As if they were in some parallel universe where falling in love was easier than falling asleep.

A few hours later, she woke up on her bed with a jolt, writhing uncomfortably in her blanket. Once she had managed to peel herself out of it, the embarrassment of having fallen asleep on him sunk in. She needed something to take her mind off it and eventually decided to tinker in her workshop. Down in the basement, she had a small makeshift workshop set up for the occasional tinkering or fiddling with some spare parts. It helped her mind relax when her hands had something to do.

She spent a very peaceful hour regluing some tiny diamonds that had fallen off an old watch. That was, until a door banged open from somewhere else in the house, followed by frantic voices. She looked up in alarm as the footsteps drew closer, blinking owlishly behind her magnifying eyeglasses. Her door swung open and Lockwood walked in, closely followed by a barely suppressed silent, but very agitated, George.

“Y/N, look what I found in George’s suitcase.”

Between the panicked sirens blaring in her head and George’s epileptic hand gestures, it was a miracle she was able to process all those words in the right order.

“…oh?”

A frozen smile sat on her face as her eyes nervously darted between the boys’ faces.

“It’s a snow globe.”

In a miraculous moment of clarity, she realised what George was violently trying to communicate to her: play dumb.

”What’s a snow globe?”

George was positively beside himself.

Lockwood, on the other hand, looked alarmed and touchingly concerned.

“You...you don’t know what a snow globe is? Do they not have snow globes where you’re from?”

“Did you just ask me if they have snow globes…in Hackney?”

He looked slightly miffed, but she couldn’t stay annoyed for long with his foolishly good-natured intentions.

“Look, Lockwood, I’m a little busy here. Is there something I can help you with?”

“I just…wanted to see if you knew anything about this.” He turns it over in his hand, and even with the shelter of anonymity, she finds herself desperately seeking the approval in his eyes that she had been hoping for. “It’s...it's beautiful. When I first saw it, I thought…” He looks up from the snow globe at her, where she’s holding her breath, and she’s distantly aware of how suspiciously invested she must seem in his answer.

“I thought it had to be you.”

She has his answer, but she still hasn’t let go of that breath, as if keeping at bay all the emotions and hope that will come rushing in with her exhale. He watches her face, and she’s too scared to even twitch. Too scared to come right out and say everything the snow globe meant.

“You thought wrong."

George’s seizure-like convulsions returned with a new vigour. Lockwood continues standing there for another minute, and it makes her think he hasn’t heard her until he regretfully bows his head.

“I suppose. Well, I hope your work won’t keep you long. We'll be having tea soon. Let’s- good God, George, are you having a fit?!”

After their Christmas Eve tea, they exchanged presents, and to call it an awkward affair would have been an understatement. She passed Lockwood the pair of snowman socks. George grudgingly passed him the snow globe. The absurdity of the gifts and their donors made the four of them pause for a moment. 

Finally, Lucy broke the quiet by handing out her gifts: mugs with pictures of Inspector Barnes accompanied with cheesy quotes. George's was 'live, laugh, love.' Lockwood's was 'keep calm and carry on.' But everyone was still looking far too solemn, so she nearly had an aneurysm holding back her laughter.

After they all retired to their rooms, she retreated into her chilly workshop. But instead of continuing with her work, she just sat at her desk, brooding a little. A few minutes later, there was a knock on her door as a rather breathless and pink-faced Lockwood poked his head in.

"Still working?"

She shook her head. "What are you doing?"

"Returning the presents." He turned to step out but hesitated. "Are you sure you don't want to keep any?"

"I'm sure that I would hate it if we went bankrupt. Do you need any help?"

"Oh, no, I'll be - yes. Yes, actually. These are a lot of presents. If you could spare the time...I'd really appreciate it."

So after she bundled up in her woollens and wrestled a scarf onto Lockwood, they somehow hurriedly carted the many slightly scuffed shopping bags into the cab, where they only had a brief break to catch their breath, given how close they lived to the shops. 

After that, it was a race to hit all the stores before they closed for Christmas Eve. After a couple of rounds, they had developed the fairly efficient system of Lockwood lugging the gifts around while she spoke with the shop assistants. The one drawback to their fine plan, at least for him, was her glancing at the receipts and the too-long numbers at the bottom of them ("Jesus Christ, Lockwood, how did you not have to take out a loan for these? Honestly! Do you think we're made of money?").

Finally, their luck ran out at their very last store, which looked as though it had been closed for hours. She knocked and peered inside feverishly, clutching the very last gift stubbornly.

"No, no, we were so close! Now what do we do?"

"We can come back after the holidays. Or," he gently pried the box out of her fingers, smoothly lifting the top, "you could keep it."

It was a silver charm bracelet, with rapier and lavender charms dangling from the central chain, much like the ones they laid out on jobs. It was beautiful. But she couldn't take it.

"You already gave me a present."

"Have another. A little special something for a special someone."

His cavalier attitude, his foolish smile - in that moment, it was all too much. Her terrible temper flared and she shoved the present into him, forcefully enough to make him stumble a little. She turned and started walking home briskly, fuming silently until he and his long legs finally caught up to her.

"Wha - was it something I said? Y/N? Y/N."

"I don't know, Lockwood." She was sick of his carelessness, sick enough to be a little careless herself, let her tongue run loose. "What have you said? Or haven't said?"

"Y/N, you know I'm terrible at riddles."

"Well, maybe Belinda can help you."

That stuns him enough to make him stop in his tracks. She slows down and, after steeling her fraught nerves, turns around.

"...what does Belinda have to do with anything?"

His hopelessly clueless expression, which typically soothed her anger in their worst fights, only served to infuriate her further here. She walked towards him angrily.

“I didn't want to give you the goddamn snow globe because Belinda exists. All right? Because there are a thousand different girls out there who you’ll like better than me.” There’s a sudden tightness in her chest. With some difficulty, she turns away from him, lightly pressing her sternum. “I can’t compete with them, Lockwood. I won’t let you make me.”

She hears the crunch of the snow under his shoe as he takes a step towards her.

"Belinda is...amazing. She might even be perfect. But even she's just a friend, because...because you exist. And-and I could find...the most perfect girls out there, but the image of you would still be breathing in some corner of my mind. It wouldn't be the same with anyone else. It never is."

She sniffed gently. "This might be the right time to tell you that the snow globe...was from me."

She can't decide if she hates or loves how she can hear the smile in his voice. "No. Really?"

She turns back around, smiling sarcastically at him. "Ha-ha. But don't get too excited about it. I made little figurines to represent the four of us at Portland Row, but you can't even see them from the outside. It's ridiculous."

"It's okay. I'll know they're there."

At that moment, she felt a rush of gratitude towards Lockwood. He made everything a little easier, a little sweeter. They were standing so close that she could see a tiny snowflake on one of his eyelashes. She didn't dare breathe.

"There really never was any competition."

"I know."

"Then why does it sound like you don't believe me?"

She frowned. "I do believe you."

"I don't think you do."

"...do you want me to not believe you?"

"Y/N."

"What?"

"There's something you should know."

"Lockwood, I am going to throttle you."

"You're standing under mistletoe."

She glanced upwards, and it was as though all the air had been stolen from her lungs. Against the pitch-black sky and the gentle dusting of snow, a soft white sprig of mistletoe was curling out of the edge of a branch. She lowered her eyes back to Lockwood's, and her eyes fluttered shut as he leaned over.

As impossibly close as they were before, they were even closer now, and it still felt like they would spend their whole lives trying to get close enough to each other. She kissed him the way she loved him - desperately, with her whole being. When they broke apart, the tip of his nose and cheeks were tinged pink, and there was a light dusting of snow on his hair. In that moment, all she remembered thinking was that none of his presents made a better gift than he did.

As they walked home with fingers tangled together, she realised that they didn't need some parallel universe. In every universe, they would somehow, somewhere, find each other, and dare to love. 

TAGLIST: @novelizt @thegreathuxton @avdiobliss @dangelnleif @elenianag080 @snoopyluver20 @ell0ra-br3kk3r @mitskiswift99 @ahead-fullofdreams @neewtmas @mischivana @houseoftwistedspirits

[multifandomlover01]

It Was Always You

Spencer Reid x Female!Reader (not explicitly AFAB…I don’t think…)

Established Relationship

Warnings: mentions of Lila Archer (Amber Heard by extension), but it’s in a negative light basically, also kinda anti-JJ? For plot convenience? Just a bit? But does it makes any sense? Maybe not Oops. Derek is mentioned possibly being his typical jerky teasing self. Also mentions of S1 Spencer being a bit of a creep technically (ooc? Maybe I dunno) but S5 Spencer is remorseful about it at least

WC: 506

Summary: Spencer is concerned being back in LA with the same detective as a case from years ago might bring up some memories for her…but some memories end up coming back for him instead (that’s…not what it sounds like lol I swear. Spencer feels nothing for Lila this is fluff not angst)

Eps: 1x18, 5x7

GIF credit: onscreenkisses

GIF credit: criminalmindscaps

🤷🏻‍♀️ it’s from the ep, it’s good enough

(Also neither gif was made by me I just found them)

“Does it uh…bother you? Being here? With…with the same detective as…that time?” Spencer asked you as you sat next to each other at the table in the area of the precinct that was set up for the BAU.

You glanced up at him.

“No. Why would it?”

“Well you…um…got quite upset last time…”

“I had no right to be upset.”

“Yes you did.” Spencer shot back.

“No. I didn’t. It’s not like you were cheating on me. We didn’t get together until after.” You shot right back at him.

“But if you hadn’t gotten upset and I hadn’t gotten concerned…we might not have gotten together.”

“That’s one way to think about it, I suppose.”

“Did it bother you that JJ brought it up?”

“Why would it?”

“She didn’t need to bring up that the detective was the same as the stalker case.”

“She was merely saying there was some familiarity.” You shrugged.

“No. She wasn’t.” There was a bit of a bite to his words.

“She wasn’t? What was she doing then?”

“Being antagonistic.”

“No. She wasn’t.” You shook your head.

“Yes she was. She knew what she was doing. You were in the bathroom and she asked me if I’d ever called Lila. It was completely inappropriate when she’d known we were together since a week after the case wrapped up. I mean why the hell would I call her when I’m in a relationship with you? And it’s not like she called me when she was in DC. She never really cared about me. I was just some…novelty toy to her.” He grimaced. “But you know I uh I never really cared if she called me or saw me again or not. I only cared about you…when she kissed me…I wished it was you. I know I told you that at the time but…it’s still true. And I told you this at the time too but I feel the need to reiterate it: I do not prefer her over you. You are the only girl that I have ever wanted to be with.”

“I know that, hon.” You reassured him as you placed a hand on his arm.

“And if Morgan says anything, I swear I’m gonna…” he trails off.

“What?” You ask, curious.

“Be very cross with him. Especially if he mentions bikinis.”

“She was in a tv show that took place on a beach, if I remember correctly…was it not appropriate for her to wear a bikini?” You questioned, slightly confused.

“I saw her in one and Morgan made fun of my blush but…I wasn’t exactly looking at her…I was imagining what you’d look like in a bikini.”

You chuckle. “What? Really?”

“Yeah. The more I talk about this, the more pathetic I sound…” Spencer turns away from you slightly, trying to hide his shame.

“No, no…well…maybe a little but it’s ok.”

“No it’s not ok. God I feel like such a creep.”

“Ok so yeah imagining another woman while you look at and kiss a woman is…kinda…two layers of…questionable…”

He groaned.

[cwritesforfun]

(Top Gun Maverick) Bob Floyd x Fem!Reader: I Like You

Inspired by the scene in which Bob is introduced lol ;) ***I do not own the lines from the scene - they're in italics and bold. I also do not own the Top Gun Maverick characters*** Y/N = Your Name & Your Call Sign is Lightstrike

Masterlist

Bob's POV

I've been eating my peanuts sitting here watching everyone talk. They talked to me and Hangman called me a stealth pilot. He did say it was a joke though. I don't get it. I saw this really pretty girl in uniform walk in and she went to the bar earlier. I wonder who she is.

I hear, "Hey, is anyone sitting here?" I turn to see the pretty girl standing there holding a beer in one hand and a basket of fries in the other. I shake my head and she sits down before asking, "What do they call you?" I answer, "Bob." She asks, "No, your call sign?" I answer, "Uh...Bob." She asks, "Bob Floyd? You're my new backseater? From Lemoore?" She is who I'm going to be working with. Oh boy, I'm not going to last long at all. I reply, "Looks like it. Yeah." She replies, "Very nice to meet you, Bob. My name is Y/N and my call sign is Lightstrike." I ask, "How did you get that call sign?" She answers, "My first Captain said it was because I fly super fast and can strike at any distance. Some of the boys say it's because I'm super light and I can hit any target. So either way, I can strike." I reply, "Well, it's super cool. It's way better than mine." She replies, "Then you should turn the negative connotation of baby on board into a positive one. For example, babies like to explore, so maybe so do you. I don't know. I'm just going to stick to my drink." I laugh and say, "It's okay. I've accepted it... do you know any of the others?" She answers, "I do, yeah. Phoenix is one of the only females I get along with. I grew up with Rooster. Hangman calls me his little sister. The others are cool too." He replies, "Oh cool. You grew up with Rooster?" She answers, "He's my twin. Can't you tell?" I cough on my peanuts and I hear, "Bob? Are you treating my sister right?" I see Rooster standing there in front of me. I do see the family resemblance now.

Y/N's POV

You look between Rooster and Bob. You think Bob had no idea that you were related to Rooster/Bradley. It's funny. You thought everyone knew. To be fair, you were the quieter one. People forgot about you until you outshined them... then they remembered... THE NORTH REMEMBERS!!! Haha Game of Thrones reference anyone?

Bob says, "I just found out you two were related." Rooster laughs and says, "Surprise! We're twins!" Bob laughs and his smile is so cute. Oh, it is over if I think someone I work with is cute... oh boy... You hear, "How are my favorite twins?" You sarcastically reply, "Funny I thought your favorite twins were Ellie and Ella from last summer? I remember you vividly telling us about your experience with twins and how it was the best you've ever had." Hangman gasps and says, "I'm shocked and proud you remember. How dare you bring up an ex of mine?" Rooster replies, "Technically exes in this case." Hangman replies, "Not you too, Rooster. Damn it, I hate you two. I'm going to get another round." You reply, "Ok, but let's not repeat last year on August 1?" Hangman flips you off before he leaves. Rooster says, "God I hate that he is on this assignment too. If I lose my temper, it's because of him. I'm calling it now." Bob replies, "He doesn't seem that bad." Rooster replies, "Just wait... I think I need another drink now that I'm thinking about this." He walks off and you say, "Rooster is just very negative sometimes. Hangman is overly confident in his abilities, but he is good at what he does. It angers Rooster and they're fierce rivals." Bob replies, "I understand."

Phoenix slings her arms around your shoulder and says, "Hi, please join my team for pool. I know we'll win if you're on my team. Please please please." You laugh and say, "Sure, Phoenix. I'll join. Bob, can you watch my drink and my food?" He nods and smiles.

You walk up to see you're up against Fanboy and Hangman. Hangman exclaims, "Lightstrike and Phoenix... you'll be tough to beat, but I think we can. Right, Fanboy?" Fanboy replies, "I think we can too." You exclaim, "Phoenix, we're going to crush the boys. Right?" Phoenix replies, "H**l yeah!" Phoenix and Fanboy do rock paper scissors to see who will start... unfortunately Fanboy starts... this could be bad. Hangman is good and given the chance to start, he can usually put at least 16 points on the board. Oh boy:( Sure enough, he does. Phoenix goes and ties up the game. Whew:/ ... You and Phoenix end up winning by 4 points. The boys ask for a rematch, but you accept only if they buy you both a round of drinks. They agree and they win round two. Bob chimes in occasionally with funny remarks and you're glad he doesn't seem as quiet as before. He's cute when he's happy.

SKIP TO TRAINING...

You're doing 100 push-ups, see a shadow, see Hangman, and sigh. You ask, "What's up, Hangman? I'm guessing you don't have to do 100 push-ups." He answers, "No I don't, sucker. But anyway, I wanted to talk to you." You reply, "Well, I'm kind of stuck here, so go ahead. Talk away." He laughs and says, "You have no idea how good that sounds. Well you see there's this girl that I really like and I'm trying my best to be on good behavior around her, but she thinks I'm a douche still. I want her to know that I want to go on a date with her and I was wondering how I should ask her out. I was hoping you have ideas on what girls like." You ask, "What are some things she's mentioned before that she likes?" He answers, "She always is drinking Corona and she wears these little charm bracelets every week to the bar. It's really cute how she has things she likes and she's loyal to them." You reply, "God, you're such a sucker for her. Listen, buy her a pack of Corona and a charm bracelet. There's a cute boutique on Main Street called Auntie May's Boutique and they have all kinds of bracelets. Just look around and pick one. When you give them to her, be upfront with her about your feelings for her and she'll be more willing to say yes." You hit 100, stand, and ask, "Why did you come to me for advice? You know my love life is pretty barren." He answers, "I trust you not to make fun of me, and come on girl, we both know Bob likes you. Do you like him?" You answer, "Even if I did like him, why would I date a coworker? It could ruin the mission." He replies, "But you don't know until you try. I don't think Bob is the type for a quickie or a fling. He has seemed all in for you since day one. When we were at the bar, you first arrived and I caught him watching you. He was blushing when I asked him about it. I'm not saying he's the one, but I'm saying, you should go for it." You nod and reply, "I might. Thanks for listening. Bradley will give me h**l if I tell him that I like Bob or if I tell him anything dating-related." He replies, "Yeah well he's your brother who needs to know that you can make your own decisions and live your own life. Screw him not literally but you get what I'm saying." You laugh.

Meanwhile ... Bob's POV

I find Rooster sitting on a bench and ask, "Hey man, mind if I sit?" Rooster answers, "Of course dude. I don't care." I sit down and stare out at the planes in front of me. Wow, I never sit here. I didn't realize how the planes looked from over here. I hear, "Dude? Bob? Hello." I turn to see Rooster looking at me and he asks, "Penny for your thoughts?" I answer, "I uh ... I really like a girl and I'm scared to ask her out." He asks, "Is the girl my sister? You can be honest if it is. I don't mind." I nod and answer, "Yeah, she's just perfect." He laughs and replies, "I wouldn't say that, but she's pretty cool. Look dude, I know you're into her. I see it all over your face whenever she's around. If you like her, I would just be honest and say it. The worst that could happen is she rejects you and you move on or you never ask her out and never know what could've happened with her. Wait for us to be at the Hard Deck this weekend and buy her a drink then tell her. I think she likes you too, but she doesn't talk to me about boys." I laugh.

The Hard Deck ... Y/N's POV

You just arrived at the Hard Deck because Rooster was supposed to drive you and he bailed. He's probably inside, but he didn't drive you, which is weird.

You see Bob waiting outside on his phone, so you walk up and ask, "Hey, is everything okay?" He asks, "Why wouldn't it be?" You answer, "You are outside and on your phone. I just assumed you were dealing with something serious out here." He replies, "No uh ... nothing serious. I was playing a word game as I waited for you. I wanted to see you and ask if I could buy you a drink." You reply, "Sure Bob, I would love that. Let's head in."

You both head inside and to the bar. Bob gets you both a beer then he leads you to a table away from your friends. You start sipping your drink and you notice him start fidgeting. You reach over, put your hands on his, and say, "Hey Bob, what's up?" He exclaims, "I uh... I bought you a drink because I like you. I think you're perfect despite what your brother says and I want to take you out on a date." You reply, "Despite what my brother says? I'm going to bring that up to him later... But wait you like me? I like you too. I was planning on telling you soon, but I didn't know how. Hangman told me to just go for his style, and I did not like that sound." He laughs and replies, "I don't like the sound of that either. So uh we like each other, that's good. Are you sure?" You answer, "Yeah I am. I've liked you since I met you. You're a really great guy, why wouldn't I be sure I like you?" He replies, "There's just other guys here that you could pick." You squeeze his hands in yours, kiss the back of his, and say, "I choose you, Bob. I really like you. I don't like the other guys the way that I like you. You're the only one I want to kiss and date." He smiles and says, "That's good... Um... Sorry if I seemed quiet when we first met, I was intimidated by how pretty you are." You reply, "That's okay, babe. I thought it was cute. You open up a lot more when we fly together, which was fun to discover." He replies, "That's because we're flying and I can't avoid or risk anything in the air." You reply, "Noted. Ask you important things in the air." He laughs and says, "No, don't. I don't want to mess us up." You laugh. 1 month later...

You've been on dates with Bob whenever you're both free. It's been great. You both have lots of fun together and he's been opening up to you more. You've been opening up with him too. He is really cute all the time and you try not to get flustered by it. Your time together flying has gotten more synchronized now that you both understand each other more. It's cool to see how the more you understand each other, the easier it is to interpret how each other will fly that day. The guys are constantly bugging the two of you for beating them at drills, which are not competitions ... they are literally just drills. The boys love to pester you both about your dating life too... they always try to ask questions that make you both blush so much. Rooster is supportive of you two but changes the topic every time someone tries to talk about your sex life. He always yells, "That's my sister!"

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S02E19 - In a Family Way

We finally reached the last episode of this Odyssey season. You know what? 16 episodes is a very acceptable number.

This is not an episode I'd choose for a season finale. Especially not when a few of the best of the season were literally before this one.

Oh yeah. The episode that they changed from murder at the golf course to murder at a ski resort because the golf course got covered by a huge amount of snow. Only in Canada. Again, we'd have postponed the filming here. For days and days. Otherwise people would have died.

The boys are skiing/snowboarding! Why do I always forget that?

"I was cool once". Yeah, yeah, Charlie.

I actually really like snowboard. I hate ski. At least when we're talking about trying them out, not watching them on tv.

Jesse, be normal for one frame so I can take a screenshot.

More ATV time.

"Where is my work wife?"

We shan't be deprived of flirting.

"Did that guy just... snowboard away from me?"

Because he might come up with a terrible line like this one?

"Cute? I'm a ferocious beast!"

This is a good look. Although I must say that the neatly combed hairstyle has left me unimpressed and I don't think that it really fits the character either.

"Just our luck. The dad's a lawyer". Well, it doesn't happen that often.

Impossible. We're in the middle of the episode.

Impossible. We're in the middle of the episode.

And now we have to bullshit him so that we can definitively prove that the confession is false. So much extra work just because he's covering for his son, who's covering for his father, and neither did it!

I hate that crime shows have to explain things again for those who didn't pay attention. Just pay attention!

Yeah, she is.

This episode had a decent plot twist.

I'm not going to mention how many crime shows I've watched, not because I think it's embarrassing but because at this point I've lost count. But this is the first time where someone uses a real life pregnancy as a fake pregnancy for undercover work in the show. And it's actually genius? I mean, you get to have one more episode with your pregnant actress. I don't know why no one else has thought about it.

Yet again, Sarah is The Only Woman in the Force, by the way.

Don't laugh, idiot. Don't you have any sense of self-preservation?

This is funny because you can see that Charlie is imagining it but Sarah actually wants to murder both of them.

"Charlie, what did you do? Am I going to be a big brother?" (I'm kidding. I know dogs can sniff out a pregnancy before even the humans.)

Sarah: "Do we have a name yet? For our... child?" Charlie: "Uh, yeah. You like Ella, and I like... Bella." You just lost any future child naming writes, buddy.

Her little smile is cute. Also, stop having people interrupt their moments!

This is why Sarah wanted you two to get your story straight, Charlie.

Dude! What are you telling her?

Sarah called Charlie "honey". I forgot that???

lol Diesel never managed to open the cabinet with that handle, did he?

"Rex was the first to figure it out". He usually is.

"I have an IQ of 160". And an EQ of negative infinity.

It's possible (unfortunately) that this case was based on an actual real case sometime back but I remember that a few months after it had aired, a new case broke in the news, I think that one was in the US, though.

I like the song at the end. Well, the next to last one, actually.

One for the Charlesse shippers.

And a wallpaper for me lol

Again, wallpaper for me.

And one more for the Charlesse shippers.

I might have forgotten to mention, but my screenshots are covered under the "who gives a fuck" and "no strings attached" license. Just use them. It will be good for you :P

[toxicanonymity]

Heyyyyy! You can totally ignore this 🙏🏻 but as someone who’s now read most of what you wrote for Joel and enjoyed (!) it, I was wondering if you ever had to justify to yourself the topics you are writing about. I know it’s a fantasy that doesn’t reflect supporting those narratives irl. But do the topics affect you in any way while writing or do you not let it have any hold of you? I’m sorry this is so serious but you are the first fic writer dealing with this stuff that I actively read (after roughly 15 years of reading/writing fanfic) so I’m asking in good spirits and mean no harm or negativity. All the best and I wish you many more successful stories 🙏🏻🌻 ty for the great reads!!

Okay, I’m nervous to answer this one.  I hope the answer doesn't upset you because that's not at all my intent.  I'm only gonna answer a Q like this once, so fuck it we ball . Only read this if you're comfortable with all of my work.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my personal trainer about this, and it just so happens that his husband is a sex therapist. Kink friendly, and I know they swing, so that put me at ease and I got in touch with him. Also drug friendly which is good because I had to get high before my first appointment bc I was nervous lol.   Random, but when I got there, I found out he also shares a waiting room with a massage parlor, so that's kinda cool too.  

First Appointment: Idk how many waivers I had to sign but I didn't read a word of them.  Let’s call him Dr. Rock  for short - When Dr. Rock came out to get me, I shouldn't have been surprised given his husband is a PT, but this guy was super imposing, like muscles making his arms stick out from his body.  At the first appointment, he wanted to know some of my specific characters and stories, which I didn't expect.  I was a little shy about that at first, but he kinda coaxed it out of me and listened really attentively.  He even took a few notes which made me nervous at first, but he didn't ask any judgmental questions.  I felt good when I left, but the next week I was still a little nervous to come back just in case he was waiting until the second session to spring any "concern" on me. 

Second Appointment: When I showed up for the second session, he didn't come get me from the waiting room. I was the last appointment of the day and he was running behind, catching up on paperwork, and the receptionist said I could go on back. I walked into his office and it reeked of weed. And he had already taken off his shirt and was wearing a tight undershirt. Okay, Dr. Rock is cool.  He invited me to sit at his desk that time instead of the sofa, and I worried it was a bad sign, but it turned out that’s just where the ashtray was.  Dr. Rock  lit up an actual joint, took a puff, then tried to hand it to me.  I declined, I guess I was just flustered.  Kinda smoothed my skirt then sat back down.  He put the joint down in the ashtray, I thought that’s that. 

Then he lunged across his desk, took my head in both his hands, and brought his mouth about an inch away from mine.  I opened my mouth, totally frozen, and he exhaled into it.  Yeah, Dr. Rock shotgunned me.  Then I looked down, and what was he wearing with that tight-ass shirt?  PJ pants.  Coincidence?  Wasn’t sure, until he said “yeah, there’s my bad girl.  You couldn’t sign those waivers fast enough, could ya?” He slid across his desk, Saved by the Bell style,  I stood up to not get knocked over.  He walked over and double-locked his office door.   I must've been beet red.  Like almost too mortified to be turned on, until he got right up against me and he was hard. I walked backwards to the couch and he pinned me on it.  

I was like, “Uh, is J (husband) cool with -” 

“Don’t you worry ‘bout him..” He started gnawing at my neck.  Shoved his hand between my legs.  And yes, yes I was.  He was like “Ohh yeah, you know you want it.  Let’s see how depraved you can be.”  He took off my panties, pulled down his waistband, railed me.  At first, I was kinda distracted thinking about if he was gonna ask me questions at the end and stuff, but he was actually really good and well equipped and I forgot all about it after a minute. He was like “Yeah, you want this cock, that’s why you came here in the first place. Hell, J prolly told ya how to get it.” I was speechless.  When he was close, he said “Lemme see those filthy fingers you’re always typin’ with.”  Then he came into both my hands.   

-

Third Appointment:  Next time I came in, I was expecting to have a traditional appointment and have to talk about my feelings in the previous experience and stuff.  I was really nervous.  Once again, he didn’t come get me from the waiting room, and I was told to go back to his office.  But that time, he wasn’t at his desk or even in his office.  I sat on the couch - felt less like I was invading his Dr. space that way.  I was sitting there in his office, picking lint off my skirt, and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone his size lumber through the door.  

I did a double take - blue mechanic suit, popped collar. Triple take - Michael Myers mask, WHAT? My heart was beating out of my chest. I stood up as a reflex. He stood there wiggling his fingers at his sides almost imperceptibly. Then he pulled a knife out! He wrapped his hand around my throat, walked me into the wall, and just stood there.  He put the knife up to my throat and I kind of whimpered, and maybe he realized he went too far, because he threw the knife to the floor.  Then he just stood there holding me against the wall.  I was like, “Should I.. what do you want me to do?”  And he just tilted his head at me.  I looked down and sure enough there was a huge bulge in his jumpsuit.  So I went for it, I unzipped him.  He breathed heavily in the mask, then aggressively lifted up my dress and ripped open my stockings.  Then he railed me up against the wall. Didn't say a word the whole time.  Finished, left me there, didn't come back. 

-

Fourth Appointment:  This was gonna be a little awkward because I had an appointment at the gym with J. right after my appointment with Dr. Rock.  I didn’t know how much Dr. Rock shared with J.  Dr. Rock was running behind again and I started getting nervous about making it to the gym in time to work out with J.  I texted J. to tell him I was running late, and he didn’t respond.  After waiting for like 30 minutes, I decided to leave because I didn’t want to miss my training session. 

I got to my car, started to unlock it, then heard, "Don't you fuckin' dare."  I turned around, and Dr. Rock was pointing a rifle at me?? My heart almost stopped. I think this was an actual rifle. I live in Texas so I wouldn't be surprised.   It was slung over his back with a strap and all.  I looked down and he was wearing boots and TACTICAL fucking JEGGINGS.  He put me over his shoulder  at first and started back toward the building and I was so nervous about the rifle swaying right next to my head. 

I said, "please, I can walk." 

"Alright, sweet pea but you better move those pretty legs." 

He put me down and manhandled me inside, NOT into his office, but into the massage parlor and threw me down on a DIRTY old massage table.  Here's the kicker - there were clients in this room.  A bunch of depraved men waiting for their happy ending.  He unbuckled his belt while making me pull down my pants and choose where I wanted him. Then he pounded me from behind and pulled me up against his chest.  He lifted my shirt and bra up so all the clients could see and degraded them while he fucked me. Like, "yeah this is what y'all came for innit? Buncha sickos.  Well she's not workin'.  Not this one. You won't fuckin see her again. Better jack it now while ya have the chance." He made the whole room of clients jerk off.    Then, when Dr. Rock  was about to come, he pulled out, pumped himself,  walked over to the nearest table, and came all over the client, who started sobbing.  Then Dr. Rock came back to my table and said "you did good, sweet pea" and left.  

When I got back to my car, I had a text from J. that said, “Get a good enough workout?”

-

Sorry for answering your sincere ask this way, but thanks for the perfect opportunity to apply this concept. Hopefully an entertaining way of declining to get serious?

[iris-of-bliss]

Healing II: Decisions

Pairing(s): Kabal/F!Reader

Warning(s): Angst, Graphic Violence

A/N: Continuation of previous fic

It has already been a week since you last saw Kabal, and you’re sure as hell guessing the next will be harder. Most of your time spent has been at home. You have been isolating yourself from others. The negative emotions were getting the best of you. Thoughts kept plaguing your mind as to why Kabal chose to abandon you all of a sudden. This seemed very odd for this to happen. Was it because of the burns affecting his self esteem? Probably. He received those injuries while trying his damndest to help the city. You didn’t care whether he had scathing burns or not. You still love him at the end of the day. Sure, your fiancé has burn marks now, but it was the love for each other that never burns out. You miss him so much.

Even though you were going through hefty emotions, you still managed to take care of other things and attend work. You manage to shift your mind from Kabal and keep focus. At least that was one thing you did a good job at. You also have a few friends from work who were actually worried about you. You never told them much besides the fact that you were “dealing with personal matters.” It was nice of them to care, and you admired that. There was not a single bit of motivation to tell what actually happened though. You still wanted to remain alone in your concerned state of mind. You weren’t sure if Kabal will ever come back to you. Even if one of your friends offered to go and have a treat with them, you brush it off immediately.

Whenever you’re finished with work, your options would either be going straight home, or visiting the bar downtown for a drink or two. Your rule of thumb was always drinking on weekends unless you earned an off day the next. You are dropped off by a taxi to the bar one night to drink your sadness away. Thirty minutes pass by before asking a bartender named Terrance for a refill. He recognizes the state you are in and begins to ask, “Is everything alright? You’re not lookin’ too bright.”

Your thoughts snap after hearing his concern. You along with Kabal knew him and would keep up conversations during your time at the bar. He sometimes talked about how your love for each other reminded him of his previous lover who passed years back. The leisure time spent there had been worth it.

“Oh, uh yeah. I’m doing okay. Just stuff going on in my life right now,” you voiced with a hint of sorrow. Terrance knew something was wrong. He didn’t want to ignore your emotional state.

“Are you sure? We can always talk about it. Besides, your fiancé isn’t here with you,” he raises a brow, immediately recognizing this, “You and him always come to my bar together, and this right here doesn’t look right.”

You were not ready to talk about it. There was a need to wait a little longer until you have completely given up on the relationship. Maybe assume that Kabal left for good in the end. If this were the case, then this was something you had to deal with sooner or later. It will take some time for you to heal as well, yet a difficult task to go through.

“Really, I’m okay. I appreciate you worrying about me. I just want to clear my mind is all,” you answer with a nervous smile. You didn’t want him to pry into what was going on until reaching the conclusion.

“Anything you want, Y/N,” he goes away with a slight smile to search for the bottle of whiskey. One of your fingers rub against the edge of the glass while waiting. This was going to be your second and last serving of whiskey for tonight. You didn’t want to get completely drunk on the way home.

After the rest of the hour passed, you arrive back home by taxi once again. You managed to enter the house even though you felt a little tipsy from drinking. You rest yourself on the couch of the living room in silence. You turn to look through the patio door next to you. The night sky was beautiful with stars sprawled along the way. The cold air came in contact with your skin, causing you to jump. Luckily for you there was a blanket that remained on the couch in case you need it. You took it to wrap around yourself to keep warm. It would have been nicer if your fiancé was still here to make you comfortable. Eyes take in a box of assorted chocolates Kabal surprised you with after the proposal. You reach for the box from the coffee table to study over. Its simple yet beautiful design easily tells how expensive this was. Half of the box is filled with chocolates so far, and it was being shared with Kabal. You remember how you playfully fed each other, and shared a piece of chocolate in your mouths which ended up being a kiss. This shows how much he loved you.

With that, you begin sobbing from the beloved memory. None of this would have happened if he stayed home, but you couldn’t do anything about it. You can’t get Kabal out of your head. This is so fucking hard to deal with. Your heart pains for him as your stomach is kept in a knot.

“Damn it, Kabal. I wish you were here,” your words stumbled through your crying.

While you were emptying your sorrows, little did you know that a familiar figure watched you from the glass door of the patio. A gloved hand rests on the glass as he contemplates what you were going through. He brought in hook swords just in case something was happening. This was none other than Kabal himself. It has been a while since the encounter, so he was curious enough to check up on you without being seen. He was surprised there was no one else in the home. You haven’t moved on just yet. Watching you cry alone really hurts him so much inside and out. Between reaching out for you and keeping his distance, Kabal was unsure if you still actually love him. His mind leans more towards the former choice rather than the latter. Regardless, these decisions kept bothering him. He had to return to Black Dragon’s operations to figure this out.

“Shit, Y/N. You still love me, don’t you?”

With that, he runs off in the night. There is a big possibility Kabal would not remain with the Black Dragon for any longer. Kano would be pissed off eventually, but that didn’t matter to him. He’s got the balls to tell him about his decision since he doesn’t want to deal with being tracked down. That can put you in danger, too. Hell, he was even used to Kano acting like the selfish asshole he is. Kabal can take any hit that’s coming for him.

—

“Alright then, speedy. Since when are you gonna tell me where you’ve been, eh? Can’t keep secrets from your friend,” Kano chuckled out. Friend? He hated hearing that. Kabal ignores him while he stares down at the table, holding onto his glass of rum. He refused to drink due to the urge of keeping his mask on. Unwarranted judgement from others would be enough for him to deal with.

Black Dragon’s ring leader wasn’t having it. He nudged him with his elbow, “Oh c’mon, snap out of it. Maybe you could use some roughin’ up in the cage, huh?”

Kabal glances towards the cage whilst a match took place. It was fight night at the club. He showed no motivation to do so, unless a sign of anger catches up to him.

“I’ll pass.”

Kano was getting confused as to why he behaved like this at this point of time. He soon realized what he kept thinking about, “Ah, it’s about the lass, right? You’re much better off without her,” he downs a bottle of beer, “Besides, she would’ve thought you looked like a freak show anyway.”

“It isn’t like that, asshole,” Kabal clenched his hand into a fist while the other grips the glass tight. He was already getting pissed.

“Then how are you so sure?”

“Right? I mean, there’s no way she’d stick with you after getting burned. Maybe I’d try hooking up with her?” one of the Black Dragon thugs blurt out with a cocky attitude. He was one of the least favored individuals, especially towards the big dogs.

Kabal shut him down, “Keep running that mouth and I won’t hesitate to gut you!”

The thug raises his hands in surrender. Kabal resumes the conversation, “I’m saying that once I saw her at home, she wasn’t looking too bright. I even noticed that she was drinking, and I’m not just going to let that slide.”

Kano rolls his eye, “For fuck’s sake, Kabal. You’re softening up on me. What choice do you have-“

“You’ve never been in a relationship like I am, jackass!”

The argument caused a commotion, some people around the bar becoming nosy. The speed demon didn’t mind it though. He wanted everyone in the Black Dragon to know who to not piss off. He can beat up Kano if he wanted to. Anything for his girl.

The pain-in-the-ass butted in once again with a whistle, “Looks like someone’s getting all pissy.”

This drove Kabal over the edge before he attempts to throw his glass at him. The guy dodged its path as it hits the fence of the fighting pen. The merc rose from his seat before pulling out one of his hook swords. Regardless of the man’s pleading, Kabal swung his sword to aim towards his side, penetrating through and damaging his lung and ribcage. The goon is stunned with blood quickly pouring out of his weakened body. Kabal then pulls him forward until roughly placing his foot against his hip, pushing the guy down to his knees. The weapon drags down to his stomach with bones tearing through it. The pain finally ends as Kabal rips his hook sword away, backing off to analyze the work he’s done with glee. Blood choked and gurgled from the thug’s mouth before he immediately lays flat on the floor, succumbing to his death. The merc flings the intestines across the floor with blood still remaining. He turns to Kano before motioning towards the cage.

“C’mon,” he demands Kano while walking away from him. He drags his hook sword across from behind to intimidate. Sparks are made within its path before the weapon swiftly leaves the floor. As he makes it in the fighting pen, Kabal puts his sword back in its place before he walks to the fence. Eyes never leave Kano while placing an arm above him, tugging at the fence.

“Are you gonna keep pussying out or what!?”

The crowd hollered for a fight between the two. Kano’s brows furrowed at him before making it to the pen. Kabal moves back to the center, greeted by his former ally’s entrance. They slowly circle around each other, waiting for their first move at any moment.

“You’re makin’ a big mistake, speedy,” Kano warns as he cracks his knuckles.

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“You’ll find out sooner or later. Allow me to teach you a lesson.”

After finishing his sentence, he quickly tries to throw some punches then and there. Kabal was able to dodge them all thanks to his speed. He quickly grabs his arm only to punch his face twice, the Black Dragon leader stumbling backwards. Kabal then utilizes his Nomad Dash, making Kano spin quick. He returns with a hit to his abdomen by the knee until grabbing with one of his hook swords, kicking him away in the process. Kano fell to the floor, but he hasn’t given up yet. He lifted himself by his forearm before turning back to his opponent. Kabal brought his other sword out to sharpen both of them. He lifts them in the air, clanging against each other as an act of intimidation.

Kabal taunted, “C’mon, fight me!”

The crowd rooted for his performance. Kano growled at him and got back up on his feet. He spat on the floor and pulls one of his butterfly knives out to examine. He glances up at Kabal with a smug grin, tossing the knife in his hand.

“I won’t let you go easy this time,” Kano’s voice went dark.

Kabal ran to swing both swords into him, but was dodged and blocked off by his knife. The one-eyed crook aimed a punch to his mask, roughly knocking him back. He swung his other knife down to the merc’s shoulder, earning a pained groan from him.

“You’re getting a bit slow, mate.”

Kano tears away the knife to head butt his enemy as this sent him stumbling back. He twirls both knives until they slash through Kabal’s chest. He aims his boot towards his upper abdomen whilst a knife penetrates through him. He then spin kicks Kabal, sending him to the floor.

“Heh, you’ll have to do better than that,” Kano taunts with cockiness. Kabal lifts himself up by one leg while looking at his enemy. Kano let out a dark chuckle as he overpowered him. The speed demon isn’t going to back down like this.

“Fuck, get it together, Kabal,” he utters to himself.

The fight continued on as the crowd cheered and placed bets against one another, guessing who the winner came to be. The constant sounds of swift movement and painful groans by each blow kept the showing running. Kabal could care less about keeping the crowd entertained. All that matters is beating the shit out of Kano and running back home to see you again. It was a huge cost, and this will end up being worth it. He’d do anything to see his fiancé again.

As minutes pass through the fight, Kabal had been gaining the upper hand. His opponent got dizzy from the fighting Kabal put up. He grips his shoulder strap to send a few final punches to the face, giving the man a nosebleed. He drags Kano to the fence and pushes him against it.

Kabal announced to the audience, “If you try to track me down and fuck with me, I’ll be sure to beat the living shit out of you just like I did to him!”

He motions towards Kano’s exhausted self. The merc finishes off his speech, “Or even worse…”

Kabal glances at the thug’s dead body he took care of earlier. He throws Kano to the ground, watching him pant for air desperately. The two men were covered in blood and sweat along with some areas of the floor. One of them was kept on his feet.

“Consider this a lesson learned,” the merc reminds his former ally. Kano gave him an angry stare and spat out blood. He soon wipes the blood off his lips.

“You’re gonna regret this some day. Besides, you’re god damn lucky that I haven’t splattered your face like a dropped pie,” Kano warns him. Kabal didn’t care about his warning.

“Cut the crap, Kano. I’m done with your fucking gig.”

The speed demon quickly walks off to push the gate open. He passes through the crowd to reach for the exit. Everyone either went silent or uttered about the conclusion of the fight. One thug out of nowhere tries to throw a bottle at Kabal, yet misses the target.

Two Black Dragon men rush in the pen to help Kano. One of them asked, “Shit, are you alright? You want us to get rid of this bastard?”

Kano shook his head, “Nah, let him live. If he wants to be a crass ass and stay with the lass, so be it.”

[helianskies]

[ 10 ] - engspa? 👀

marry me pls 🍪

Healing

“So… do you come here often?”

Arthur glances across a glossy white-cream room to meet the gaze of another patient—the only other patient currently sharing the room with him—and finds himself both amused and confused by the sudden question. Conversation, at least, might just beat the boredom produced by endless crosswords.

Thus, he duly replies, “I try to not make a habit out of ending up in the hospital, no. Why?” Arthur decides to ask in turn. “Do you?”

The other pulls a face, unsure but not negative. "I've given up trying to avoid this place," he says. "This is my third visit this year, and we're only in October."

"Best be careful around Christmas," Arthur jests, "God forbid you carve yourself instead of a turkey."

"You might have just jinxed it."

"Ah, well. My bad."

"What are you in for, then?" his nosy neighbour goes on to ask. "You haven't tried to carve a turkey recently, have you?"

With his amusement sustained, Arthur officially closes his book of crosswords, and begins to explain that, "No, I haven't. I'm only in overnight. Fun case of dehydration."

"How— How do you get dehydrated?"

"You… don't drink enough water."

"They want you in overnight to drink some water?"

"There's a bit more than water in the IV," Arthur clarifies, gesturing loosely to the thing he's been hooked up to—the thing fixing him, even if he would agree with the other, and would rather be in the comfort of his own home. "Besides," he then presses on, "what are you in for, Mr. I'm-a-regular?"

"Appendicitis, actually."

"…Oh. Damn."

"Mmh. They reckon three days in and I should be good."

"Are you… okay?"

"Yeah," the other dismisses with a wave of his hand, "I'm alive, so. Could be worse!"

Tell me about it. But, morbid as it may have been, the thought that it really could be worse, and Arthur could have been alone in that room, the other remains jovial. Arthur knows in that moment that, God, he's one of those types. The optimists. The positives. The inspirational-quoters. It makes him almost glad he isn't there for a three-day stint, too. 

In the same breath, however, he… finds himself appreciating the outlook. Perhaps for the other, having just gone through surgery of that nature, it's the right course of treatment. Healing for the soul, rather than the body.

"Are you, uh, big on crosswords?" the other comes to ask, and Arthur's eyes finally move away from him to fall instead upon the book in his lap. 

"Not really," he replies. "Just a joke from one of my brothers. He figured it'd keep me more entertained than any of the hundreds of books I own that he could've brought me instead. Not that I'm not grateful, of course."

"Of course," the other concurs. 

And it occurs to Arthur that he doesn't know the other's name. Referring to him as 'the other' feels rude, almost dehumanising. So, he gives himself a proper introduction. He learns that 'the other' is in fact called 'Antonio'. And Antonio asks if he would like someone to help with the crosswords.

"And if not the crosswords," Antonio offers, "then perhaps just the general boredom, mmh?"

Arthur agrees to both.

They work together across a room to solve puzzle after puzzle, and have a laugh in between pages as random anecdotes of life come flowing out like natural springs of water. It feels… better than nice, really. A new treatment in itself that makes Arthur, over the next few hours, feel better than the fluids do.

The night passes them by.

The next morning, Arthur is given the all-clear. Antonio watches him get ready to leave. Feeling guilty for abandoning him, Arthur gives him his crossword book and pen, with his phone number scrawled inside the front cover, "In case you get bored again and want to talk."

Yet, for Arthur, it turns out that that is not his last visit to hospital that week. Now who is Mr. I’m-a-regular?

He returns the day after to see Antonio, whose complaints about food prompt the blonde to bring him a little snack hamper. 

He returns the day afterwards, too, after Antonio says he's stuck on a crossword (and he ends up staying two hours longer than intended).

And he returns the day after that as Antonio tells him he's being held prisoner for an extra two days because, "There's something funky happening inside of me after the surgery, apparently," though nothing to worry about. 

When he leaves on that third visit, determined to come back again to assist with Antonio's recovery, a nurse catches him on the way out.

"He only smiles when you're here, you know," she tells him. "No one else has visited him. I reckon you've done cheered him up, pet."

It makes him happy and sad at the same time. There he’d been, mouthing off about a book of crossword puzzles, when already that had been a greater show of sympathy than what Antonio has so far been shown. 

Nevertheless, as he walks out into the waning sunshine, the remark cements for him what he already knew: that tomorrow, he'll be back, and he'll make sure Antonio carries on smiling. Who knows… Maybe he’ll try to make Antonio smile after tomorrow, too. Tomorrow and beyond.

(And maybe… Just maybe… This is just the start of something even greater…)

[ prompt list here, fic collection here! ] [ wordcount: 900 ]

[ibelieveinvillainsupremacy]

Could we get a oneshot of The Dark Purveyors (poly) supporting their nervous s/o at their concert?

Of course you can!

Here's the oneshot :)

As many others know, one of the things that made the Dark Purveyors so similar to eachother was representing a "dead music genre".

And that also helped when a certain human was in need of emotional support that specific day.

Because that day you had to perform in a concert, moments such as that always made you nervous.

But you totally weren't expecting what a certain zombie had in mind.

Yeah, because someone (wonder who) found a way to get way more people than the last time you had an event like a concert.

"Woah. That's a lot of people. But how did them-"

Before you could even start teorizing who out of your five not-so-human partners had that wonderful idea, the culprit appeared in a bunch of red lights.

"Fuck yeah! I knew it was gonna work!"

Just like you thought. Zed.

"Now you tell me why did you even think that was a good idea!"

Noticing you probably didn't appreciate the thing he did by your pissed off face, the punk zombie immediately tried to prove his innoncence. Hoping to not piss you off even more.

"Ow come on Y/N! I just tried to give you some fucking help! I thought you would love gaining more fans!"

"Like she didn't have more already, dumbass"

If things were already getting worse, Lewis and the others appeared out of nowhere, probably after hearing that Zed's idea worked out in the best way possible for him.

"What's the matter dear Y/N? It looks like you have some deep conflict with your emotions"

Oh, there's also Mariska deep words. Luckily they always to work out when you where overwhelmed by them.

"Oh, It's just that I've never performed for that many people out there. I'm nervous about it, that's all."

Vikke almost immediately said what the others also meant to say out loud.

"Don't worry Y/N. We'll be right here if you need us. Us and Yumil too"

Yumil roared in agreement to his owner words.

"Thanks guys. I appreciate your support"

"No worries! We'll be just right next to the stage in case you need us!"

After saying that, Josey had to make sure that was going to happen.

"Right, 'let's get our partner more money and fame'?"

Zed couldn't help but giving one of his devilish grins to that question.

"Oh, for fuck sake! What fo you think I am, an asshole?"

"But you are one already"

"Alright, mister 'I'll get my dirty fucking hands on Y/N first'-"

"Uh guys, I think that i need also an affectionate hug before i go on stage..."

Luckily Vikke, Mariska and Josey thought the same thing.

"Alright y'all let's give our little human a funking hug before they go"

"Yes, I think that would help us letting go of this negative energy"

"Ugh, fine! But that doesn't make me a pussy, okay?!"

"Yes, our spiked up friend, don't need to scream like a little stelpa, okay?"

You couldn't help but laugh at that funny affermation. Well, maybe that many people will not make you feel true happiness.

But those 5 ones definetely could.

[thelightthatruins]

Have you been getting into Good Omens while I wasn't looking? 👀

I can't help but notice a slight influx in GO content in my dash ahihih

HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WAS ME—

(I say as if I didn't just reblog something Good Omens related today)

But yeah, I have!! I was going to tell you but it appears I have forgotten AGDJDG (I thought I already did but. I don't think so–). I finally caught up with the series on January and boy it was a personal rollercoaster for me /pos

Some of my friends may or may not have uh, witnessed how slightly emotional I got after the last episode of Season 2.

(I wasn't even sad, I just felt betrayed and broke into tears /lh /notneg)

BUT !!!

Do not let this fool you for these are Tears of Joy (well. not exactly occurring because of joy but they're not negative!)

Overall, I quite enjoyed the Good Omens experience. I thought it was a very fun show with solid writing;

The storyline wasn't too hard to follow and despite the Lore it has, it's not too heavy and honestly easy to digest. Light yet juicy.

It's labelled as a comedy television series and honestly I can see it. I enjoyed the humor the series has, I giggled and smiled a lot whilst watching it.

I found the characters to be very enjoyable and it was real fun to see how everyone interacted with each other. The dynamics everyone had felt natural and not forced to me.

By extension, the dialogues too! Flowed nicely imo, the actors did a great job in bringing their characters to life. Everyone was so entertaining lol (especially a certain Inspector in S2... iykyk)

ARGH SPEAKING OF CHARACTERS, AZIRAPHALE AND CROWLEY LIVES UP TO THEIR DYNAMIC DUDE... I love them as a duo and I love them as respective individuals!! They absolutely carried the show and did well as the two main leads, they are so so enjoyable and I loved every single screentime they had. Their bond is like?? so goddamn good??? so goddamn tasty?!?! Like you can simply feel the amount of care they have for each other even at times where it is not stated in front of you and how much they just. work so well with each other and I AM SO SICK OF THOSE TWO!!!! (/aff)

Also the Ineffable Husbands are such queerplatonic fruits to me and I absolutely fucking love that along with the fact that I am not alone on this train. They are literally qpr soulmates guys, it takes one to know one so listen to me listen to me—

But that is a discussion for another day ☝🏼💡

Ahem. anyways. THE INTERPRETATIONS!!! Heaven and Hell, the angel and the demons, The Four Horsemen— you name it dude. I just love how this show interpreted some of these things? I'm not going to spoil it for you just in case, but for example, The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse... I liked how the show portrayed them, Pollution was my personal favorite.

I AM YAPPING... I'M SO SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO LEAVE MY GOOD OMENS REVIEW ON YOUR ASK JSDBDJ

But simple TLDR: Good Omens is a good show!

Or at least in my opinion, to each their own! I personally found it rather charming and would definitely rewatch till I get bored of it. Would I recommend it to other people? Yes, actually! I'd tell you to give this silly little series a chance. I can't promise that you'd enjoy it 100% since, well, everyone has their own tastes. But I sure do hope it will at least entertain you positively.

[hideyseek]

oh my god ahaha so, i was reading through my writing journal from 2023. this is because today i am embarking on the semi-daunting journey of figuring out where i left off in drafting narrative!fic, and one of the specific steps i identified that i could do (to avoid overwhelming myself with "uh. just get familiar with like. 20k of draft material hidey") was to read through last year's writing journal and see what i was thinking about the last time i actually wrote for this project. i haven't yet gotten to the point in the journal where i did (i'm reading backward and i was so immersed in my secret saito fic that all of the last entries are just that), but i did find AN ABSOLUTE GEM.

from december 26, 2023:

oh and the other thing i wanna try before i even start the revision wishlist is a readthrough where i just pay attention to what ticks me into the positive / negative feelings as i am reading!!! the way george saunders recommends! i think this wil be an interesting exercise in paying attention to what keeps my attention as a reader, since it will be important to know that as i am revising because i subscribe to the school of thought that i am revising to MY experience of the story.

this!!!!! this is now an INTEGRAL part of my writing process now! i can't believe i've had this for less than two months! like i had kind of forgotten how much i thought about the beginning of devotion (my secret saito fic) as specifically a "proof of process", but i'd also forgotten that i didn't even do this prior to that fic! like, this is how i hand-hold myself through the first readthrough of my shitty down drafts! this is also what i do to get from the first semi-decent up drafts to the rest of the up drafts! like ... wow. truly the start of an era there.

it's kind of strange to think about the timing of this realization / idea (?) to do what i now abbreviate as a "p/n readthrough". what i'm referencing here when i say "the way george saunders recommends!" is -- there's a section in his book a swim in a pond in the rain where he talks about how reading for fun and reading for critique are pretty much the same, in both cases you have this like, meter in your head (dial?) where as you're reading sometimes you run into something you like, and that ticks the needle into the [P]ositive, and sometimes you run into something you don't like or that bores you, and that ticks the needle into the [N]egative. and when you're critiquing, you just write that down, and maybe dress it up to be a little more palatable to the writer you're providing feedback for. but like, i read about this idea in [checks my goodreads] JANUARY of 2023! and then didn't even do this now extremely loadbearing thing in my writing process until december!

all that to say, it's wild how these things work out sometimes! this p/n readthrough has carried me extremely well through three fic drafts (two up drafts and one down draft) in the last month and a half (for when future!me stumbles across this post and can't be bothered to cross-reference with my writing journal, that's the up draft of mini heist!au and the up/down drafts for weilan blowjob fic). and now i can't imagine my process without it! it's made my writing process much kinder to me!

i used to be soooo daunted by going from a shitty first draft to any better draft. i used to just kind of read through the down draft and go "okay here are all the things that are Bad and make me feel Bad when i run into them in the doc, let me immediately write down the things that are Wrong and also i must immediately think of a way to Fix It". like, i would really only be looking at things that felt like they weren't working, and just be like "X isn't working" in my notes. and ... yeah. of course that kind of sucked, emotionally. this is also like, not how i would ever beta anybody else's fic.

and now, in the structure of the p/n readthrough ... i'm a lot more ... inquisitive, i guess, is the best word for it. first of all i'm approaching with more of a "what parts of this fic are close to what i'm aiming for, and what parts aren't?" which, for me at least, is a much gentler approach than "what is wrong with this fic?" haha. the goal isn't "find out what is Bad in the fic and Eliminate It", but the goal of this process is to help me to a deeper and clearer understanding of the themes, characterization / character arcs, story arcs, worldbuilding, etc, of the fic i'm writing. and a lot of the time, reading through, what is revealed is that i don't know what i'm going for, which is just as useful to me as the places where i can go "oh yeah this is exactly what i want to be doing."

and the other big difference that makes this gentler to me is the way i provide myself feedback in this structure. rather than going "X is a problem, it needs to be Different In Some Way", my notes are phrased as "oh X is happening, but i kind of wish Y was happening instead because i want to see [whatever]" or "i want to explore [whatever]" or "i vaguely remember a note i can't find anymore that i wanted to do [thing] here". for me, phrasing it as things i want, or things i wish were happening that aren't happening in the fic, lets me approach the readthrough more from a reader's perspective (someone who's looking for narrative satisfaction from the fic and just so happens to have my exact taste, hehe). the changes from before are that i'm doing a lot more reflection to identify why i want more or less of what i'm seeing in the fic, which goes back to that idea of the goal of this process being "understanding the fic" rather than "identifying the problems in the fic".

and then, understanding the fic sort of leads into identifying the places where the fic is farther from where i want it to be, and where it's closer. most of the time, a p/n readthrough gets me to a new rough outline of how i want the major elements of the fic to come together, because in this framework it's a lot easier for me to jump back and forth between the details (whatever actual in-the-moment specific decisions i've made in the down draft) and the bigger-picture understanding of the story and themes of the fic. (caveat: i've only done this for fic that's like, under 5k-ish, so who knows as i venture into longer fics lol)

okay haha. this is so long. if you are still here, i salute your ability to read my five million rambling, thank u, mwah.

[detectiveichijouji]

Case 25 - A brother’s puzzle: The last shard!!

[AO3 version]

With the warnings given by the 02 Team and Koushiro, Yamato got a little way more concerned than usual. Takeru asked everyone to not tell Yamato that he was also a victim of those bad guys before, knowing very well who his brother is capable of doing.

Would someone spill the beans and tell Yamato? Not really, at least not from the younger kids or the rest of the older six. 

He knew there’s two kinds of digimon running around and brainwashing people, giving them shards of a wicked and forbidden Digimental. He knew Sora, Taichi and Joe were victims, and that almost Mimi was the next. What would happen if someone else… Someone…

“... Takeru.”

“?”

Yamato had called Takeru for a drink at a coffee shop. Patamon was with Takeru, of course. But Gabumon… Was actually at Koushiro’s server, and talking with them via Yamato’s phone.

“...” Yamato wanted to ask him about something, but he faltered. 

“What is it?”

“ ‘I want you to be careful.’ is what Yamato wants to say,” Gabumon spoke via the screen.

“Don’t worry, they can’t catch me or the others” Takeru smiled, “We don’t have strong negative feelings or desires at the moment.”

“But…!!”

“I’m with Takeru and I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to him!” Patamon said with a serious yet cutesy gaze on Yamato and Gabumon.

“I’m counting on you, Patamon” Yamato then gave the digimon a pat.

“Leave it to me~”

“Did you catch that digimon who forced Sora and Piyomon to fuse-evolve?” Then he asked Takeru and Patamon. Takeru could notice that he stopped the pats on Patamon and grabbed his latte. Took a sip, and then looked again to his brother.

“Uh, no?” Patamon replied with a frown.

“But you don’t need to worry about it,” Takeru added quickly, “We will find them and retrieve the last two shards before someone else turns into a victim.”

“... How about Arsenemon? He got 10 of those. There’s nothing saying he won’t use them on you or on others.”

“Um… Arsenemon is a weird case” Patamon explained, “He has gathered ten fragments of the Digimental, but he… Didn’t use them at all.”

“Yeah,” Takeru nodded, “He told Daisuke-kun we wouldn’t believe him if he told us his true intentions with those shards.”

“I understood,” Yamato said, thoughtful.

“... Daisuke-kun wants to ask him what he plans to do with them though,” he added, trying to keep the conversation going on, “Though he has been acting strange lately.”

“Daisuke?” Yamato raised an eyebrow; he took a sip of his latte again.

“Yeah, first he was fired up about catching Arsenemon, but since he met a new student called Noel Leblanc he’s… Not much interested in it anymore.”

“Hm??” Gabumon blinked.

“Ichijouji-kun suspects Noel-kun had created Arsenemon, but Daisuke-kun gets a little defensive when we check Noel-kun’s background…”

“A human-made digimon… Like Chimeramon, or Arukenimon and Mummymon…” Yamato took another sip.

“He said he knows Catherine, the French Chosen Child who I met six years ago… But… It sounded a little off too.”

“... Stay safe then, if you think this kid is suspicious.”

Yamato finished his latte and then got up from the table. He took his phone and put it in his pocket. Then, “I have to go now. I have classes now.”

“Oh ok, so please stay alert and don’t let those digimon come after you. And don’t do something reckless.”

“Same to you.”

“...” 

Daisuke was a little… strange indeed. He just felt like he had done something bad but why?

“I caught you now, and you will give me those shards!!”

“My, why don’t you ask yourself if it is a good idea keeping me captive right now, mon ami?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!!”

“Your friends are in danger, monsieur Motomiya. And I’m the only one able to save them right now.”

“...”

“Daisuke…” Lilymon had called him, “Aren’t you…”

“Ack, I don’t know! Lilymon please let him go. I got a bad feeling…”

“But…”

“Just… Trust me, okay?”

“Alright…” she had snapped her fingers and the vines and flowers magically had turned into dust, freeing Arsenemon.

“Oh? Are you really letting me go?”

“Save them. Like, now. I don’t care about that stupid shard, just save Wallace and Gummymon. Stop them before they hurt someone.”

“Alright, mon ami. I will grant you that wish.”

Arsenemon had left in a blink of the eye. 

“...” Now, Daisuke was full of regrets. But… Deep down, something said it was the right choice.

“You’re too quiet,” V-mon commented.

“... Sorry, I… I was thinkin’ about…”

“Is it about Arsenemon?” the digimon said, while they headed back home, “You think Ken is right about Noel?”

“... I don’t think Ken is right, he’s just accusing Noel without proof. Like, who cares if Noel is a distant relative of some famous writer??!”

“Said writer made a character called Arsene too, it’s… suspicious, don’t you think?”

“Noel wouldn’t make something like this, he’s not a guy like… The old Ken, ya know?”

“Maybe Arsenemon is not a bad guy,” he heard someone’s voice coming from the back. He and V-mon looked back, and saw… “Ah I’m sorry I heard you by accident...”

“Since when you were behind me, Noel?” Daisuke blinked.

“I just… I just came. Sorry, I wanted to talk about something with you.”

“Something huh…” V-mon blinked.

“... About Arsenemon.”

“?!”

“So, you made him, right!?” V-mon babbled, Daisuke immediately covered the digimon’s mouth.

“H-huh??”

“Don’t mind him, he ate too much sugar today!” Daisuke babbled, “T-then… What do ya want to talk about him…?”

“I think he’s not a bad guy…” Noel began, “I mean… It’s just a gut feeling.”

“Yeah, he kinda… helped us out before and before, and he said to have a reason for catching those, something he claimed we wouldn’t believe him…”

“And why would he think you guys wouldn’t understand his reasons?”

“Beats me” he uncovered V-mon’s mouth and shrugged, “I think he’s just a weirdo.”

“A… A weirdo…?” Noel gasped.

“What, don’t ya agree?”

“Or are you implying you know something we don’t?” V-mon squinted his eyes at the French boy.

“O-oh… No, I… I never thought of him that way…” He seemed sad???

“... If you…” Daisuke started, quite hesitant, “If you were to make a digimon, like, if you could make one… You wouldn’t make one to hurt others, or… us, right?”

Noel blinked, “Uh… No? Why would I do that…? Humans shouldn’t create digimon, they shouldn’t play a god role…”

“... Ah Alright. You’re right, this would be bad.”

“But Oikawa…” V-mon frowned, “Oikawa did that… And he wasn’t bad.”

“... You’re right… But Arukenimon and Mummymon said their only purpose was to destroy the Digital World… Though… I think it was because of Vamdemon’s influence, if they…”

“A human shouldn’t mess with the power of creating digimon life” Noel sighed.

“... I think Arukenimon and Mummymon would’ve been good digimon if they had the chance…”

“?!!” Noel gasped in silence.

“The Digimon Kaiser made a legit bad digimon without a single mind, so I don't think Chimeramon would be redeemed. However…”

“You think I made Arsenemon, right…?”

“No, I…”

“It’s okay… You don’t need to defend your thesis. Actually, I--”

Daisuke’s phone rang and he gently asked Noel to wait a moment, so he took it from his pocket and answered the call. It was Koushiro.

“I’ve detected one of those fragments. I sent the details via email, please check it.”

“Oh, right! I’ll check my inbox right now, thank you!” and then he hung up, opened his email inbox and then the most recent message on it.

Noel frowned, he didn’t want to be interrupted like this… Daisuke then smiled.

“It wasn’t activated yet!!” Daisuke cheered “It’s not that far from here…!! We can catch that Impmon before they use it on someone!”

“Um, Daisuke-san I…”

“Uh, sorry Noel. Can we talk later? This is important, we might get a fragment and stop those pranks!!”

“O-ok… See you later, I suppose…” And then he watched Daisuke and V-mon leave quickly.

“...”

Noel fixed his bangs, and he glanced in the direction Daisuke and V-mon went with his green eyes.

“... Maybe I should be going too…”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, Naito will murder me if I don’t find that fragment before those humans and their digimon--!! Where did I put it?! W-where-- HUH?!”

Impmon just found Ken with the said lost shard in hands.

“Oh, maybe I could--”

Stingmon appeared behind Impmon, and tried to catch him. Impmon screeched and left his hidden spot in panic “AAAAH W-WHAT HOW DID YOU--”

“I know you would be there,” Ken had the same Digimon Kaiser glare at the digimon.

“G-give it b-back!!”

“No, because I know you want to use it on someone else” he smiled, then he put the shard on his pocket from his coat, “Now you will show me where’s the last one, or…”

“Or what, you punk!?”

Ken snapped his fingers and Stingmon charged his spikes to execute a Spiking Finish attack.

“AAAAAAAAH!! I do-- I do tell you but please don’t hurt me!!” They replied in panic.

“Then… Where is it?”

“W-with Dracumon…!! I don’t know where he is though, don’t ask m--”

“Spiking…”

“AAAAH H-HE WENT AFTER O-ONE OF THE CH-CHOSEN CHILDREN!! PLEASE DON’T KILL MEEEE!!”

“One of us…?” Ken raised his eyebrows, this meant something was not right.

“Ken!!” Daisuke called him, meeting with the other. Just by doing this, the eyepatched Impmon managed to escape, “Huh, that Impmon--”

“Easy,” then Ken showed him the shard, “They lost the fragment and we found it first thanks to Koushiro-san’s tracker.”

“That’s Koushiro’s power for you!” V-mon grinned, “But they left…”

“Yeah, but there’s one more problem…” Stingmon said.

“What is it?”

“Dracumon has the last piece” Ken explained, “And is after one of us.”

“Man… Alright, it’s easier if we let this Dracumon spot one of us first than start looking for it.”

V-mon, Ken and Stingmon looked at Daisuke in awe.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, that’s… better than nothing,” Ken shrugged.

“H-Hey, I’m really trying to think how we can get that piece BEFORE that thief! And before someone gets hurt too.”

“He’s still upset with those meanies for using Takeru,” V-mon explained.

“Not just Takeru… I meant everyone so far!!”

“Alright, let’s gather the others, and try to track the last one.”

Arsenemon was there, hiding… And starting to not trust those kids to solve any major problem, so he used his magic to write on thin air the list of possible victims according to what he eavesdropped from the boys.

“Hmm… One of them… This means it can be either one of the young ones, or one of the older ones.”

“Would they use someone else again?”

“Hmm… They wouldn’t target the younger ones, because they’re attacking them indirectly…”

“And mademoiselle Tachikawa has returned to her current home overseas… Hmm…”

“Ah, could it be…!!”

Yamato was going home, still worried about Takeru, and also about Sora. He was well aware Taichi and Joe were also victims, and his blood was still boiling. He was almost going after that Impmon! Almost…

Suddenly, he stops in front of a hooded person. Still wary about the events, he brings Gabumon to the scene by opening his phone and accessing Koushiro’s server. Gabumon popped out from the screen and stood in front of that human.

“I’m not an enemy,” the hooded person said. Then they showed Yamato one of those forbidden shards, “I know you can use this for good. I can offer you… Protection against that Impmon.”

“Offering me one of those like them?” Yamato flipped, and this was what the little shard needed to be activated.

“That Impmon… Attacked your brother, didn’t you know?” Then, Yamato and Gabumon saw that smile under the hood. By the shock, Yamato couldn’t move, and then the hooded human put the Digimental piece in Yamato’s hands, muttering “Make them all pay for hiding this little secret from you, and get rid of that Impmon.”

“...”

But mysteriously, Noel managed to witness the scene. And he left in a hurry.

The group was all gathering at the usual karaoke booth, checking the network and the radar program Koushiro made… When suddenly… Someone knocked on the booth’s door.

Ken opened the door, but he realized no one was there… Until something almost hit him in the face. He dodged a card which was pinned on the door by one of its edges. Ken also managed to get to see someone hiding behind the wall of the corridor section -- Was it Noel? -- he thought.

The fine pretty black card with its back filled with a golden cat paw caught Ken’s attention. He took the card from the door and closed it. He showed the new Calling Card to the others.

“W-what!? Already!?” V-mon exclaimed.

“I think I saw Noel Leblanc too,” Ken explained.

“Maybe he was told to deliver it!” Daisuke quickly tried to defend Noel, enough to make the others wince, “It doesn’t matter. What does it say?”

“It says… He’s going to retrieve the fragment from… Yamato-senpai.”

“WHAT!?” They all exclaimed.

“But why Yamato?” Takeru babbled, “Oh no… It must be that Dracumon you mentioned before…!!” 

“We should not waste time,” Tailmon said with a serious glare, “Miyako, have you caught anything on the radar?”

“Ummm… I think yes, there’s something near the area of the university Yamato-senpai attends.”

Then, they left the booth, but… For some reason, Daisuke caught something suspicious and went after it. Again, V-mon was left with Ken and the others… Was Daisuke just being reckless lately?

Yamato was not found. Instead, there was this dark armored digimon -- Plutomon. The 02 Team could sense this meant Yamato and Gabumon fused into that digimon, or Yamato used the fragment in himself or in Gabumon.

“When would you tell me… That that Impmon hurt Takeru?”

They definitely heard Yamato’s voice coming from that digimon.

“Isn’t that Plutomon?” Patamon asked, “This is no good…!”

“He definitely sounds like Yamato-senpai” Miyako frowned, then looked at the group while clutching her digivice, “What should we do?”

“YAMATO!” Takeru screamed, “Please stop! I’m fine now!”

“... You lied to me.”

“... Everyone, let Hikari-chan, Miyako-san and I deal with this.”

“But why Hikari and Miya--” V-mon was about to ask, but Takeru interrupted him:

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Takeru looked at them with a smile, “I will save my brother from himself.”

“If you say so…” Armadimon shrugged.

After finishing evolving, all the digimon went to their positions -- Ankylomon and Stingmon were there to shield the kids, Silphymon and HolyAngemon were on the battlefield and ready to fight. It was when they realized… V-mon came all alone.

“EH!? Where’s Daisuke!?” V-mon looked around quite panicked, “D-did we get separated!?”

HolyAngemon knew what was Takeru’s plan, so he and Silphymon attacked Plutomon immediately. Plutomon shielded and even repelled Silphymon’s Top Gun and Dual Sonic attacks. They had to find a way to approach Yamato (?) immediately!!

“Daisuke’s not here…” Miyako frowned, “This means we can’t use Paildramon to hold Plutomon and let HolyAngemon get closer…”

“No, he can evolve without Daisuke,” Ken explained, “That’s how I evolved him before, remember?”

“That’s right…” Iori nodded, “Ichijouji-san was who evolved V-mon and Wormmon into Paildramon when we had to fight Wallace-san.”

“... Can you do that?” Takeru asked out of the blue.

“You don’t want us to use Imperialdramon, right?” V-mon spoke, “Well, we can use Paildramon instead, we won’t hurt Yamato or Gabumon!!”

“Thank you, V-mon.”

Once Paildramon was in the fight, they used their cables against Plutomon the moment the opponent was simultaneously attacked by Silphymon once again. Plutomon dodged Silphymon’s Dual Sonic again, but got trapped by Paildramon’s finger-cables.

“NOW, HOLYANGEMON!” Takeru screamed.

“HOLY DISINFECTION!!” 

HolyAngemon approached very quickly and used his holy aura coming from his hands and touched Plutomon’s head, and then, he removed the shard on the chest of the armor, undoing the fusion between Yamato and Gabumon, but falling unconscious. HolyAngemon and Silphymon catched them before they hit the ground and gently put them on the floor.

The digimon devolved back to their usual standard forms. The kids approached Yamato. Ken put his hand on Yamato’s wrist to check the man’s pulse.

“He’s fine, just passed out.” he looked at Takeru, “He and Gabumon might just need to rest for a while.”

“...” Takeru looked at Yamato sleeping.

“Ah! You got it…!!”

They heard Daisuke’s voice from the distance, and glanced at the other:

“Where were you, Daisuke?!” Miyako and V-mon snapped.

“Oh… I… I was after Arsenemon, he was inside the karaoke building.”

“He was there!?” The others exclaimed. Daisuke just nodded his head.

“But why was he there, dagya?”

“Beats me” he replied with a shrug, “The moment I almost caught him, he vanished in thin air like magic.”

“Hmm…” Ken mused.

“Oh, you got our 10th shard!” Daisuke looked at Takeru’s hands, “Now all we have to do is take the other ten back from Arsenemon and we will finally… What do we plan to do with them though?”

“We will find a way to seal them away from everyone else,” Ken explained.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“I thought that was obvious,” V-mon blinked, “Like, what else would we do with them? If they’re cursed and the Digimental itself has a price to pay for its power…”

“O-oh… Yeah, that was a stupid question.”

“Are you okay?” Hikari frowned, “You seem strange…”

“Haha, I’m fine no worries!” Daisuke laughed, “Then, we should send this right to Koushiro-san while we’re plannin’ how to snatch the other ten from that sneaky thief!”

“Yeah, we’re about to do that,” Patamon replied.

“Daisuke…” Ken looked at his best friend for a moment.

“Huh? What is it, Ken?”

“Nothing… Let’s go.”

With 10 fragments for each side… The Chosen Children now are about to witness something unexpected…

Something Ichijouji Ken cannot stop in time.

[thewatermelloncat]

Concussion

Summary: They’d planned for Rosé to come over fun, maybe watch a movie and stay up late into the night. What they hadn’t expected was for Rosé to be in and out of sleep on the couch before dinner.

Warnings: Nausea but no throwing up, I promise

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

The first weird sign was when she’d reached out to close the door and her hand had missed the handle. Then the next was how she leant against the wall a little unsteadily, shifting her position every now and again. Though Denali had just dismissed them both as her being tired since she really looked it. Except when she noticed Rosé getting confused mid-sentence she couldn’t keep brushing her observations aside. Across the table her eyes connect with her mother’s, and she knows they’re on the same page.

“…and I...um.” Rosé blinks, frowning suddenly. “Sorry, what was the question again?”

“What did you get up to today?” Chamilla repeats the question for a second time.

“I uh…I don’t know.” Rosé’s frown deepens.

“How are you feeling love?” Chamilla asks gently.

“Fine” Rosé answers on habit though even she doesn’t seem to believe it.

“You don’t look very fine, Rosie” Denali points out worriedly. Watching her face steadily draining of colour.

“No, I guess I’m not really feeling so great” Rosé amends, shifting her position against the wall again.

“Come sit down” Denali invites, pulling out the chair next to her. Though Rosé doesn’t move, instead she shakes her head a little as if to clear it and blinks again. “Come sit” she repeats.

This time Rosé pushes herself away from the wall but instead of moving over to the table she moves over to the kitchen sink.

Simultaneously, Denali and her mother get out of their chairs to go to her. Denali brushing her hair back from her face and twisting it at the base of her neck, while Chamilla wraps a supporting arm behind her waist.

Between them, Rosé leans one hand against the bench and swallows thickly pressing the backs of her other fingers to her lips. Taking a few steadying breaths before she holds it and then takes a few more. “Gone” she eventually breathes out, her shoulders relaxing as the last of the dizzy spell washes away from her.

“Are you sure?” Chamilla checks softly, her hand moving to rest between her shoulders.

Rosé nods minutely with a weak hum.

“Okay, let’s lie you down” Chamilla instructs, slowly guiding the way over to the couch.

“What side of your head did you hit, Rosie?” Denali asks.

“Right” Rosé answers after thinking it over for a few seconds.

“This side?” Denali checks, tapping her fingers lightly on Rosé’s right shoulder.

Rosé nods.

“Let’s set you this way” Chamilla guides her so she lies across the couch on her left side.

Once she’s settled down with a cushion beneath her head, Denali moves over to shut the curtains while her mother gets ice from the freezer.

“Nali, can you hold this for her? I’m just going to get some things” Chamilla asks, and Denali takes the icepack from her.

Then she sits down on the arm of the couch and holds the icepack carefully against Rosé’s head. “Is this okay?” she asks quietly.

Rosé nods.

“I’m not pressing too hard?” she checks.

Rosé hums a negative.

“Do you remember what happened?”

For a few seconds Rosé stays quiet, thinking it over. “I don’t think so” she huffs, a little frustrated.

“It’s okay. It might come back to you” Denali consoles, touching a gentle hand to her shoulder. “I don’t need to know, I just wondered.”

“Here we go, Rosie” Chamilla says as she appears again, setting down a bucket by the couch.

Rosé groans and shuts her eyes when she sees it, like she doesn’t want to be given the option of having to use it.

“Just in case” Chamilla chuckles softly as she spreads a blanket she also brought back with her over Rosé. “Do you want some pain relief now?”

“Wait on it.”

“Yeah?” Chamilla checks, running a hand down Rosé’s arm as she blinks slowly. “Do you just want to sleep?”

“Hmm” Rosé hums a tired confirmation.

“Okay” Chamilla accepts. “We’ll have to wake you up in a couple of hours to ask you some questions, alright?"

Rosé nods a little and huddles down further into the blanket as her eyes shut.

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

It had taken a little bit of coaxing when Denali and her mother had woken Rosé up after the first two hours. Though despite the reluctance to open her eyes, Rosé had answered their questions just fine, if not still a little slowly. Then she’d accepted the pain relief they offered her once again and after that they left her to go back to sleep.

“Rosie?” Denali calls out softly at the second two-hour mark. “Wake up, or I’ll start poking you.”

“Do it” Rosé challenges as she resurfaces but her eyes don’t open yet.

She hears Denali chuckle softly before a finger starts jabbing lightly along her arm.

“Alright, I’m up” Rosé pulls in a deeper breath and opens her eyes before Denali’s poking can reach her face. “Ask me stuff.”

“Uh, okay…” Denali trails off, settling her legs more comfortably beneath herself on the floor. “How many days are in a week?”

“Seven” Rosé answers and waits patiently for the next question.

For a while Denali doesn’t ask anything, staring off into space while she thinks. Then she huffs out a breath. “Um… what colour are the walls?”

“They’re off-white. Nali, I can see the answer to that question.”

“You know I’m no good at coming up with questions on the spot” Denali whines.

“You literally had two hours to prepare something.” Rosé smirks up at her.

“Right, well I’m pretty sure you’re okay since you’re giving me shit but I still have to ask you stuff” Denali laughs. “Okay, um… what class do you have first period on Monday?”

“Science” Rosé answers.

“And last question, do you want to play memory with me?”

“What?”

“Do you want to play memory with me?” Denali repeats, reaching over to grab a stack of cards from the table nearby.

“Yeah, sure” Rosé accepts, slowly pushing herself up from the couch and sliding off it onto the floor.

“You good?” Denali asks after hearing Rosé wince faintly.

“Just recalibrating” Rosé answers as the spike of pain in her head dims a little.

“Recalibrating” Denali echoes with a smile as she starts to lay out the cards between them. “I thought we’d help each other first.”

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

“You going okay?” Denali checks in as she gathers up the cards from their second round together.

“Yeah” Rosé assures, pushing over a few cards that Denali had missed. “I want to verse you now.”

“Getting competitive are we?” Denali teases with a smirk and Rosé smiles back. “You go first” she offers when the cards are set out.

Usually, their games would be filled with trash talking and teasing but this time they stay in comfortable silence for Rosé’s sake. Denali only letting out faint huffs when she flips over cards that she thought were something else. Which happens more often than she would like and by the end of the game Rosé has more cards than her.

“How can you beat me while you’re concussed?” she breathes out in disbelief.

“You went easy on me, didn’t you?” Rosé frowns.

“Yeah” Denali looks away, raising the pitch of her voice and making her lie obvious. “Of course I did.”

Rosé laughs softly before looking at the two groups of cards between them. “Not by much. Think I just got lucky at the end.”

“Hey,” Denali stops Rosé as she reaches out to collect the cards, “you’re a little shaky.”

“Am I?” Rosé looks down at her hands, just noticing herself.

“You should lie down again” Denali suggests and Rosé hops back up onto the couch. “Can I get you anything?”

“I’m okay” Rosé dismisses as she tugs at the blanket partially trapped underneath her.

“Just get some more sleep and you’ll feel better” Denali says, helping Rosé pull the blanket on top of her more comfortably. “Then when you wake up I’ll verse you again and I’ll win next time.”

[metalheadcowboy]

Based on this post, specifically this comment brought to us by the most brilliant @rascheln, thank you again for allowing me to take your lovely idea and turn it into brain rot soup <3

Eddie and Wayne had been living in the same confined space for so long that Eddie barely even noticed when his uncle entered the room. But he sure noticed when a familiar callused hand, less than gracefully, tossed a light blue pack of condoms nearly into his breakfast.

He choked on his cereal, spoon falling back into the bowl with a 'clink!' as he coughed, scrunching his face when he felt the burn of milk coming out of his nose.

"Christ, son," Wayne mused with a furrowed brow, half reaching over the counter like he was going to try to pat him on the back before Eddie waved his hand away, other palm banging on his chest almost comedically in a lame attempt to dislodge the liquid from his throat. The older man couldn't help but roll his eyes at his nephew's regular dramatics. He was figured if anything was going to kill that boy, the last thing would be a bowl of Honeycomb.

Eddie's lips pursed into a straight line, clearing his throat a few times before exhaling, long and strong, wiping away milk remnants with the back of his hand before wiping said hand on the thigh of his pajama pants, "Jesus," he croaked, scrubbing a hand over his face, eyes widened like he'd just been traumatized. Because he had, "Maybe a little more direct next time," he suggested sarcastically, whipping his head around to glare at Wayne, "I don't think throwing condoms at me made enough of a point!"

Wayne just shrugged and took a sip of his black coffee, styled by none other than a goofy Garfield mug, "Hey," he swallowed, making a point to throw his index finger in Eddie's direction, "Safe sex ain't no joke, kid."

At this Eddie scoffed and rolled his eyes earning him a particularly sharp stare from his uncle. He went back to eating his cereal, or rather playing with it, not all so hungry anymore, "Yeah, yeah," he droned, making a sour looking face as he muttered things under his breath that Wayne couldn't quite decipher, eyes focused on the floating honeycombs. That kid always had been something else.

"Listen, Eddie, you're gettin' older-" Wayne attempted, earning a loud him a loud groan from the metalhead, throwing his head back towards the ceiling in distain, spoon once again falling loudly back into his bowl. The aged man was really starting to think his nephew was too immature and he was far too old for this.

"Just because I'm getting older Wayne, doesn't mean any more people are gonna start throwing themselves at the town freak than before," Eddie spoke with dramatics, hands flying everywhere as he spoke, usually a sign that he was worked up, nervous, or uncomfortable. In this situation it would definitely have to be the latter, "And just in case you were wondering, that would make my total somewhere in the ballpark of, oh, I don't know," the younger man tapped a finger repeatedly on his stubbled chin as he pretended to think, "zero and negative four."

Wayne's eyebrows shot up, but only for a moment as he set his mug back on the counter, leaning a hip up against the old topaz, "Really?" He inquired, " 'Cause I been washing your sheets for years 'n-"

"No," Eddie was quick to shut whatever his uncle had to say next down, "Nope, nu-uh, remind me to lock my bedroom door from now on, Jesus H. Christ." He shook his head, resting his face into his palms supported by his elbows in embarrassment.

A small grin cracked Waynes weathered features as he huffed a laugh at his nephews mortification. He let the kid roll in it for a moment before he carried on, "Seriously, son, what about that girl, the blonde one with the-" he cut himself off, waiting for Eddie to look up at him before making pom-pom motions with his hands, the same motion Eddie made when they met in the woods for the first time.

Eddie cracked a smile of his own at his uncle's goofiness, "I mean, yeah, Chrissy Cunningham," he replied almost longingly, "She's sweet and all, but we're just friends," he shook off, "Anyways, she's dating that asshole religion nut, Jason Carver." Wayne hummed, crossing his arms, he understood the type, having known of the Carver family for years.

"Well," he continued, deciding if he was bold enough to state his next suggestion. There was a beat of silence, filled with uncertainty and nerves as Eddie looked up at Wayne, waiting for him to say whatever he had to say next, "Y'know, that red headed girl 'cross the road, she's got a brother 'round 'yer age."

The young man's eyebrows shot up suddenly, eyes brightened with a mix of surprise and acceptance. And if Wayne didn't know any better he'd have sworn he saw a slight blush rise to his nephews cheeks, "Billy?" he questioned, like he hadn't known the guys name since he moved into town.

"He's definitely..." Brief memories of a scared, trembling shell of the facade Billy put on showing up to his trailer while Wayne wasn't home flashed through his head. Bruises and cuts, just overall damage caused to him by his father that reminded Eddie all too much of his own father now it jail, "Something else."

"Dunno, you two jus' seem to got a lot in common 's all," Wayne justified, having seen the boy around, heard the music blaring from his car late at night when Eddie's own wasn't disrupting what little sleep he got. And maybe it was just wishful thinking and the want to see his nephew happy that drove those similarities, but was that such a crime?

Eddie chuckled, "Yeah, you could say that," Finally deciding breakfast was a bust, the metalhead pushed his bowl away, muttering out a quick "thanks" when Wayne moved to put it in the sink, "He's pretty much spoken for too, anyways," he quickly added, "Got it bad for Steve fucking Harrington, go figure."

Wayne was about to scold the boy for his language, but stopped when he turned the see the look of anguish on Eddie's face, "I can't blame him, really," the brunette mumbled, chewing on the skin around his thumbnail anxiously, "Guess Steve just kinda has that... effect on people," he sighed, letting his hands fall back to his flannel clad thighs in a sort of defeat.

Wayne smirked, bingo, "Now, don't count your chickens before they hatch, Eds," he pointed out, "You never know." Eddie scoffed, picking at a loose string on the hem of his sleep shirt.

"Trust me, I think I know," the young man remarked, "I think the day Steve Harrington turns queer is the day hell freezes over, Wayne. Besides, he'd never pick me over Hargrove, the guy's built like a damn brick wall!" There he went, talking with his hands again, worked up, "And me? Shit, I look like Bambi and a wet dog had a baby! There's no competition there, really."

And with that Eddie stood up from his bar stool, feeling at though he'd been vulnerable enough for one day. Wayne was quick to stop him though, grabbing the condoms from where he first tossed them only to try to hand them to his nephew again when he rounded the attached bar, "Just in case," he added with an almost soft smile, as if to let Eddie know he was rooting for him in an odd, roundabout way.

Eddie just sighed, plucking the container from his uncle with two fingers, "I'll keep you updated," he assured with a forced, over exaggerated smile.

"Don't," Wayne added as Eddie started to walk away, "For both of our sakes, son, don't!" And all Eddie could do was laugh, his manic hyena-like down right maniacal laugh and Wayne knew he was in for it.