#last resort is hosing him off outside

[rubiesintherough]

it hurts my heart to think about what a mess Wraith actually is, but damn he's doing his best. Getting dropped into this time, out of place, and he's making the best of it. Because it's a far sight better than the time he came from.

Here, he's got a cheap apartment. Sure, it's got rats, but rats are food in a pinch. He ate them plenty back in the wastelands, and at least ones don't taste like whatever toxins were floating in the air, killing him slowly where he came from. And they're only a last resort here... most of what he eats comes from a can. Soups, beans, cranberry sauce, cheap canned ravioli, just cracked open and eaten cold with one of only 3 spoons he owns.

Sleeps on a mattress on the floor. It needs to be replaced, but he hasn't gotten around to it, yet. And why should that be a priority? He spent nights underneath corpses, hiding in a pile of them until the coast was clear enough for him to escape back into the unforgiving landscape. Any form of bed is better than that, so he's grateful for what he has. Doesn't need more.

Everything, he compares to what he came from. And that makes it easier on the nights he goes hungry. When the rain comes pouring down, and seeps through his ceiling, and wakes him up when it hits his face. When his shower breaks and he has to discretely hose blood off outside in the freezing temps instead.

Because it's better than what he had. Anything is better than what he had.

[the-firebird69]

Feeling very sick of these people it's a heinous heinous group they're out and about and there's nothing open and still walking around and I guess the bar might be opened they were sick of them I don't understand why the hell they keep on doing this stuff to our son but they're really not getting a damn thing and they can't figure it out after getting hit a lot and last night they got hit a lot and it's not just because of the max it's because they're assholes and they're stupid.

-they're not really fighters they're mooches and parasites and then you have to burn them off and it's going on now we are going to take care of business. They went and proceeded to try and get up to the ships they're encountering Max in the tunnel and they're starting their assaults on their bases that are near mountains and leading bugs there they continuing South hitting the empire bases and rejoicing saying they're going to take all the ships and it's not really how it will go as they're hitting and taking down the bunkers and they're doing a bunch of them probably 90% or where they were so far and I guess we'll clean it up they are losing tons of troops. Tons of troops. It's a huge huge number that are being deleted while they're doing it they don't have enough to take over ships but they think so. If they can get to him. There's a lot of stuff going on it's very huge the largest is the attempts on the ships in the North and it's a huge number of them and it is a huge number of troops huge huge armies are heading up there they're gigantic and they say they won't be stopped and it's ridiculous this gigantic and it's going on now it's just a massive massive effort and it is not going to stop and they're not going to get anywhere they're fighting the Max and the tunnels and the max are sending tons up there and groups to stop them and ships to stop the idiots and the clones will end up engaging the empire and it's going to be a war and it's much needed and they just sat there and everyone's smoldering all over the damn place and the max have ships too and they're going to be set pretty soon and by the idiots they're getting information now and boy it's like they forget it's really bizarre they're a bunch of cream puffs what's going on now and we have a full business day today literally we're working on Thanksgiving and giving thanks that we are because the hose bag really needs a lesson and we're taking him to task and he is going to five businesses all of them to the corporate offices and they're very large firms one of them is

*acceler Mattal it's the world's largest steel company and he still has about 10 subsidiaries which accounts for about 20% of the refineries and Fab shops and erection companies distribution and all over the world and outside of the middle areas and we're going to acquiry today and he has agreed to sell them and he's a fool but that's his deal

*there's another company that we're going to also purchase and it is very large and it's Turner construction and he bought it back in the late 90s after the JV with O'Connor for Reebok and he thought he would try and hire a son and he didn't because he was a schmuck and you're putting a hit on Dave for what he's doing and he's not going to be around later

We also I wondering why he is still around bothering our son at least next door and he's a loser they were going to start taking his companies too now he's part owner he's got to show up to the meetings and he doesn't have that much stock he's going to be sitting there with us getting the living crap beaten out of him he says he's going to try and take over which is good we need to get rid of him he's a huge huge a****** is a liability and it needs to be taking care of

*another huge company is stuff in construction and they are the CM and project management company and builder of sunseeker resort and boy do they suck they didn't follow any of the health and safety or workers code conduct or anything and they didn't go by the code book or even the engineers drawings and there's a lot of buildings like that so they want to unload it thinking they're going to unload the building failures and mistakes and we're going to repair the ones that are open still and accessible and we might even tear out the ones that are not and refund it to the owners because we have plenty of Trump's money

*another company is and really there's only 20% left to something it's not true it's like 80% but he wants to sell off 50% of it and say that he's fine so we hate to tell you what we do there it is another construction firm but this one is gigantic and they have a lot of equipment and they do have a company that builds the heavy equipment and it's super heavy and it is Morrison Knutson and more diesel they want to sell off 50% and he owns about 70% of it and we have about 20% of it so the 10% are going to sit around and they're going to say their flies in the wall and what have you when they really won't have a chance at doing anything and they're going to try and do illegal things and we'll crush them we plan to immediately and it as in today and right now. They're in all 51 states they're in all 4,000 plus countries they have huge equipment we are going to grab if it's not in our areas I'm going to take it today it's a good idea to have this round and to further weaken them because they are absolutely heinous as soon as Bob O'Brien forum who knows why let's get his ass kicked I guess

And there's other things happening today one of them is Dave the neighbor is under scrutiny for the current actions against Max and the pseudo empire and there he's going to be evicted. Turns out Trump left because he had this plan and he wanted to say that people are forcing it and try and scapegoat his own son and our son for what his physically doing

*there are other things that are happening in there today it is about the last and final company but addition to that there's more occurring today besides acceler Mattel we are acquiring very large structural steel companies and besides the steel companies were requiring all of the minds there's only a couple other companies left and the account for almost 20% of the industry which is still pretty large and we're going to start acquiring those and it's an interesting phenomenon that they don't understand it Trump did it for a while and Max think they can conquer it in other people's when we simply don't accept your crap and we send you right off to the prison or other we're not going to dick around with you like your own people but that's a gross misconception is extremely pricey. This company is world renowned for all sorts of types of construction from heavy to structures to buildings to cities they built complete City and they built it like 4 months and it said a standard and it started building cities of that size and got down to three months but that's it but it started by ghwb and people copied him and they think they're greatness because they copied him which is one of the way of saying something we're acquiring this company we have about 20% of it now by the end of the day we're going to have a total of 70% of Bechtel and we are buying subsidiaries if there's it is included in the 70% and we intend on doing it later on today and Dave AKA Dan is also selling and is sitting there saying he isn't because he wants to be a big bully but we can do things to him if you like because of his attitude the meeting can go very badly and he can get arrested.

*along with these five companies we are also purchasing a huge huge huge ocean vessel building company it is a named SEA and they usually have it in all capital letters it does stand for something and we are going to purchase 50% of it we have about 20% of it in the outer area and we're going to acquire this today and we're sitting them down into a meeting today to purchase this company along with these companies we are also going to begin taking over Banks I'm also and your snickering and twirling is going to come to an end we have about 50 to 60% of the banking and today we are going to purchase and acquire 20% more making it 80% of the banking and finance it's going to be mortgages and loans and things for buildings real estate loans automobile loans is a huge number but we need it now because of their constant threats and yammering it's one thing to constantly try and do stuff which they do but they keep on jacking and screaming you'll start attacking the financial institutions and we feel that they will continue to do that because they always try to threaten society but then they'll think that we're there and they think they'll have us and they don't think too good and they're not strong they just have huge attitude problems Scott Davis brainless and he's going to get cocaine and a sun rated on his shirt so we're going to intercept we use it for devices only

There's more but we're going to publish it's exciting news and it was burned on by Zeus and Hera he got up this morning and said I'm sick of this jerk do we have all the stuff and no we don't so we're going to do it today and first I was a little bent then I said this guy is more angry about it than anyone and it was Trump then he said I'm going to sell it and use the money and he probably can't buy one gram of cocaine with it

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

*

[numbaoneflaya]

Gather a long ass list of head canons. Y’know, like the good ol’ days.

Hello dear anon who has been waiting so kindly <3 here are some reasons why vincent is the grossest fucker alive.

Vincent definitely does not wash his hands after taking a piss most of the time :/ hes the guy going “piss is sterile why would i wash my hands..” bcs yeah he does get pee on his hands often enough and ignores it, and doesn't even consider that touching his dick is an issue here. Has never crossed his mind that someone might not want to touch penis hands. Hes got penis hands about 24/7.

Has a tolerance for nasty few could ever match. Could step on a decaying rotten rodent with his bare feet and just be like “aaaw fuck. Whatever” about it. Barely wipes it off on the carpet or someone else's rug and moves on. This guy gets turned on by people vomiting and dirty feet, he'd eat a cockroach if you dared him to. Might also force feed someone else a roach for the hell of it bcs that's just the kind of guy he is. A romantic.

Eats raw meat obviously and chews on bones vigorously. Human meat too. Who has the time to cook? And it tastes better fresh, anyway. Keeps some of the more chewable bones like legs and arms in the bunker. He can do all this plus eat guts and eyeballs with no issue at all, but if he eats too much chocolate/sweets then he gets a stomach ache. Catch him lying on the couch being a huge mean bitch baby about everything bcs his tummy hurt and he’s mad about it.

His nails and toenails grow abnormally fast due to his werewolfism or whatever. He tries to keep them a regular length but its a pain in the ass to have to keep trimming them- especially because every time he gets excited and goes either partial or full wolfy mode they turn into full claws, and then when he turns back to normal they're just back to super long sharp nails as if he'd never trimmed them at all. It's a hassle to appear normal, especially on the go, so you might catch him gnawing them off in an angry frenzy. Yeah. His toenails too if he can reach. Pretty much always has a knife and trimmers on him bcs of these reasons so he doesn't have to resort to teeth, but sometimes he's lazy.

Uses 9 in one body wash on the rare occasion he showers. Almost never washes his legs or feet bcs "the water rinses them off". yeah. Goes through like 3 toothbrushes a month bcs he brushes so aggressively he snaps them in two or just demolishes all the bristles. And if he gets caught in the rain or ends up in a river, thats his shower for the week as well.

[narcissisticmf]

"It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone."

– John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

1998 | dean winchester x fem!reader

description: it's the year 1998, y/n y/l/n is nineteen years old. she's known the winchester family her entire life. growing up a hunter was difficult enough, but when she loses her father to the yellow eyed demon, she resorts to finding the winchesters for help.

trigger warnings: blood, gore, graphic violence, trauma, mentions of depression, etc. read at your own risk.

word count: 4.5k

December 27, 1998

Lawrence, Kansas

Holding the pen between your index and thumb, you scribbled within the lines of the opened journal of which rested against the kitchen table. Your deep eyes gazed upon the words of which you wrote, nearly unable to make sense of your writing due to how sloppy it was. Your gaze transfixed upon the opened book beside your journal; an old book of Greek lore. There'd been a trail of missing persons – in a town a few hours north of Lawrence – that all fit the same background; no father, single and a virgin. You'd been on a case with your father, but he made you focus on the research rather than physically hunting.

Pehaps he didn't want you to get hurt, but you had an undeniable amount of adrenaline at times while working on these cases. All you desired was to get off your chair and fight alongside with your father. He wouldn't have it that way and you knew better than to argue with him about it.

"Something feeds off their purity," You muttered gently, tracing your bottom lip with the opposite end of the pen. Your eyes squinted gently as you examined the book. You took your fingers and traced over the slightly crumpled texture of the paper. Turning the page, your eyes gazed upon an image of a scaly looking creature. Its mouth was opened wide as firey breaths were directed towards a young person stood before it with nothing but a shield and a sword.

You dropped the pen and scrambled out of your seat, scurrying towards the phone against the wall. You took it and quickly dialed the number of the motel your father was staying at, while on the case. Placing the phone against your ear, you waited as it began to ring. Your hands shook softly at what you had just discovered. Not even the oldest hunters would have suspected such a thing.

"Yeah?" Answered a deep, gravely tone.

"Dad, it's a dragon," You released in a single breath.

"What?" He ran his palm down his face, in disbelief at your discovery.

"It's a dragon that's behind the kidnapping. They feed off purity, Dad. It says so right in the book," You allowed the phone to rest between your ear and shoulder as you reached over to grab the book. The curly wire against the wall phone made this a bit difficult.

"Enough, Y/N!" He snapped through the phone. "Every hunter knows that dragons don't exist."

"But, Dad–" You were cut off.

"No, Y/N. Find something else, it's not a dragon," His voice darkened.

You released a gentle sigh, "Yes, sir."

Removing the phone from your ear, you placed it back against the wall. Your plump lips glossed from the dim lights of your small home. You were a prisoner inside the walls of a place you should've called safe. All you did was the research. You sat in the same chair day after day doing more and more research.

You tossed the book of Greek lore back onto the table. A subtle bang flooded the first floor of the house. You frustratedly took your hands to your face, rubbing your tired eyes slowly. You needed rest, you craved it. It would be no longer than twenty minutes, you tried to reassure yourself as you trudged your way to the living room. You slowly pressed your bum against the couch and leaned your head back against the arm of it, while your legs laid out before you, taking up all the cushions.

Slowly, your eyes fluttered closed.

.

Despite the dark sight you had on the inside of your eyelids, a figure before you was shaped and engraved into your view. A darker figure of someone staring over you, as if they were watching you sleep. You stirred uncomfortably, in deep desire to sleep peacefully. It was useless, for you couldn't drift with the feeling of someone watching you.

Fluttering your eyes opened, you gazed up at the ceiling watching as a dark figure was sprawled out against the stippled material of the ceiling clung to a body. Your eyes squinted as you noticed the dark figure had a thin line of blood along its chest. The red matter slipped from the cut and fell upon your forehead. You flinched softly and sat up, taking your finger and swiping the blood off. You brought your hand back down and examined the plasma upon your finger.

As your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you looked up once more and the site of your father upon the ceiling filled your view. Your glossy lips parted as you stared up at him, stuck to the ceiling as though he were a starfish against a rock.

Before you could process anything else, your teary eyes found the body against the ceiling spread into flames. The entire living room lit up with fire and smoke. You pushed yourself off the couch and rushed to the kitchen table, grabbing the Greek lore book and your journal.

The flames surrounded you, as though it trapped you inside, not desire to let you leave. You coughed harshly and found your tears fallen from your eyes rapidly, staining your cheeks. The burning wood of the furniture was lifted by the smoke, implanting the ashes against your cheeks. You took your arm and covered your mouth and nose as best as you could.

Your body was growing weak as you clung the journal and book to your chest. You ran quickly and found a route to the front door. Taking all the strength you had left in your limbs, you rushed to the door and swung it open, jumping off the porch and to the front lawn. You tripped while getting up and ran to the curb, noticing fire trucks were down the street. You thanked your lucky stars you had caring neighbors.

Taking your arm down, you watched as the fire trucks headed in your direction. You hugged your journal and book tightly as the men rushed out of the vehicles with the hoses attached to the back of it. Your cheeks were stained with ash and hot tears. Your eyes were glazed with a glossy veneer as more tears trickled down your face.

"I'm sorry, Dad.." You released a soft whisper, feeling your legs weaken as you sat against the curb, hugging your books as they gave you some form of comfort.

Blue lights flashed out of the corners of your eyes, to your left. You slowly picked your head up and watched as police cars were headed for your, once put-together, home. The flames had died down as the firefighters continued to spray the house with the hose.

You watched as policemen exited their vehicles to step forth to the scene. Releasing a gentle sigh, you flickered your eyes up and watched two men walk towards you.

.

"What's your name, miss?" Questioned one of the officers as you stood before them, still hugging your books to your chest.

Your bloodshot teary eyes looked up at them, "Y/N.. Y/L/N."

"Miss. Y/L/N, how old are you?" He followed up.

"Nineteen," You whispered.

"Who else lived in this house with you?"

"My dad."

The questioning seemed as though it took forever, you couldn't help but revisit the last thing you and your father spoke about before he was found against your ceiling, up in flames. You chewed against your plump bottom lip as more hot tears slipped from your eyes and fell down along your cheeks.

"Miss?" The officer placed a hand against your shoulder, pulling you from your thoughts.

"Yes?" You parted your glossy lips.

"Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?"

You took a moment and found your deep colored eyes transfixed upon your feet. You were in nothing but a sweatshirt, leggings and some busted up sneakers. You thought over about where you could possibly go. After debating about it within your head, you glanced up at the officer and nodded slowly.

.

Four Hours Later

Lincoln, Nebraska

Before exiting the taxi, you slipped the driver a crumpled hundred dollar bill. He took it and gave you a soft nod with a thin smile. You slipped out of the car and slung your bag over your shoulder. A few pairs of clothes that didn't get ruined were shoved into it along with a new toothbrush and some deodorant, your journal and Greek lore book as well.

The tires of the taxi squeaked as the driver sped off, leaving you in the parking lot of a motel. You looked around, in an attempt to figure out which motel they'd be in. A clean looking 1967 Chevy Impala was parked outside room ninety-three. You took your weakened legs and walked towards the room. As you stood before the door, you knocked gently. Your knuckles shook as you prayed that it was the right room.

A subtle creak was heard as the door slowly opened. You stared at a brunette boy with soft round cheeks. He was eye-level with you, maybe an inch or two taller. "Hey, Sammy," Your lips curved into a soft smile as more tears slipped from your eyes.

"Y/N? What are you doing here? Are you okay?" He questioned slowly, noticing your troubled state.

As you were about to speak, your deep colored eyes shifted up to glance behind Sam. Met with the familiar evergreen eyes, you almost lost your balance, but gripped onto the doorframe before you'd be able to trip.

Your vision faded into pitch black as your fingers slipped from their grip upon the doorframe.

.

A cold compress was felt against your forehead, causing you to softly shift against the mattress of which your body was implanted upon. You slowly peeled your eyes opened and gazed up to find the same evergreen eyes you saw before.

"Hey, sweetheart.." His voice was soft as he gently pressed a cold cloth to your forehead. Your eyes bounced around the room and soon found their way back to him.

"Dean," You breathed out and slowly sat up.

"Whoa, Y/N, take it easy, yeah? You bumped your head pretty hard," He whispered and slowly laid you back down against the pillows. You nodded gently and eased your body against the soft bed.

"So, what happened, Y/N? How'd you know we were here?" Sam's voice was heard as you turned your head, seeing that he sat against the edge of the second bed.

"Dad's dead," You whispered, your throat ran dry at the realization. "It was the same kind of thing as your mom.." You spoke softly, knowing that the subject was still sensitive to talk about with the Winchester family. "The whole house went up in flames.. I nearly couldn't get out," You breathed out.

Sam and Dean exchanged worried and saddened expressions. Both of them glanced back at you as if to reassure you that everything would be okay with just their eyes.

"Hey.. where is John anyway?" You asked softly, while Dean continued to pat the cold, damo cloth against the side of your cheek.

"He's working on a case, he says we're getting closer to finding out what killed Mom.. and your dad," Dean whispered the last part and laid his emerald eyes upon you. Your gaze locked with his for a few moments.

"My dad mentioned you guys were here a couple days ago, so when the cops asked me if I had a place to go tonight, I immediately thought of you guys," You whispered gently, your eyes bounced from Dean to Sam.

The sound of the front door opening caused the three of you to turn your heads and meet with John Winchester, father of Sam and Dean. His eyes looked immediately to you as you were laid against the bed. You slowly sat up against the headboard of the bed and looked at John, noticing how exhausted he looked.

"Y/N, what are you doing here?" He asked, releasing a soft breath. He removed his jacket and tossed it onto a chair by the table.

"Shawn's dead, Dad," Sam answered for you, his voice was slightly shaky.

"Y/N thinks it was something from the thing that killed Mom," Dean spoke gently, not wanting to create more tension.

"I'm sorry for your dad, Y/N.. Shawn was an excellent hunter," John spoke softly and took a seat against the edge of the bed that Sam was on. You released a gentle breath and nodded softly.

"The flames were everywhere," You whispered, tears blurring your vision. You let them slip from your eyes and stain your soft cheeks. You looked up to John and found that his gaze was soft, you knew he empathized with you.

"We'll figure something out, Y/N. We'll find that yellow-eyes son of a bitch and get rid of him, okay?" John mentioned softly. You nodded your head and felt Dean drape an arm around your shoulders. "For now, go clean up and we'll take you to Bobby's tomorrow. You'll stay with him," John pushed himself off the bed and looked down upon you and Dean.

"But, Dad, why can't Y/N stay with us? She's really good at research and–" Sam was cut off by a stern look from John.

"It's too dangerous for her now. For all we know yellow eyes could be after her next," John spoke firmly, making Sam retreat.

"Yes, sir," The youngest Winchester nodded slowly.

"Go clean up, kid," John turned to you with a softening expression. "Dean, give her a pair of your pajamas," He spoke and Dean nodded, taking the cold damp cloth in his palm and scurrying to his bag to find a pair of pajamas for you to wear.

"Thank you, John," You whispered softly and pushed yourself off the bed. John placed a hand against your shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly.

"You're family, kid. We look after our own," John offered a gentle, thin smile. You nodded and peeled from his grasp, escaping to the bathroom.

Before you could get inside, Dean walked up behind you and handed you one of his t-shirts and a pair of flannel pajama pants. You took them into your hands and offered him a soft smile.

"Thanks, Dean," You whispered and felt your fingers graze against his as he handed you the clothing.

"You're welcome, Y/N," He whispered softly and let you escape into the motel room's bathroom.

.

After your shower, you stepped out onto a couple towels upon the floor. You stretched your hand to grab a towel along the small hook againsg the wall and begun to dry your body. The ash hd been washed off along with the other bits and pieces of debris against your body. You felt refreshed. You quickly brushed your teeth and after completely drying off, you changed into the pajamas that Dean let you borrow. They smelled just like him and you couldn't help but notice how they loosely draped around your body.

They didn't cling to you like your own clothes did, but that's what you liked how them. It felt like they protected you as Dean always did when you would spend time with him. Despite being the same age, Dean always made sure to look after you. He always looked out for Sam as well, mostly because John made Dean grow up rather too fast.

After combing your hair, you exited the bathroom and found Sam and Dean watching TV while John was nowhere to be seen. Soup was cooking in a little pot upon the small stove inside the room.

"Hey, sweetheart, feeling better?" Dean turned to look at you softly, his emerald eyes were so warm and made your body heat up.

You shrugged lightly, "I'm physically okay, mentally.. I'm not so sure."

Sam turned to look at you with a gentle gaze, "We saved some soup for you, Y/N." You offered a soft smile to Sam and thanked him before making your way to the small pot over the stove. You removed the lips gently and placed it upon the counter.

You felt a presence behind you as you reached into the cabinet, stood upon your tip toes. Struggling to read for a bowl, you felt the presence behind you slowly reach up, his arm grazing against yours as he grabbed a bowl for you. You smiled softly and turned around to face him. You were met with Dean, softly grinning at you with his glossy lips enclosed together.

"Thanks, Deanie," You spoke the nickname you gave him when you were younger. As you leaned your lower back against the counter, he stood before you with a soft, comforting smile.

"Y/N/N, I'm really sorry about your dad and I'm sorry you're gonna be stuck at Bobby's for a while, not that it's a bad thing, I just wish you could be here with me where I know you'll be safe," Dean released in a soft breath.

"I'll be fine at Bobby's, Dean. Trust me, I'll do some research there and whatever I find, I'll give you or Sam a call," You softly spoke and let your hand run up to his cheek. You took your thumb and caressed beneath his eye slowly, watching as he leaned into your touch; his eyes closed.

"Can you give us a call even if it's not about research?" You heard Sam's soft voice from behind Dean, making you slowly retreat your hand back to your side. Dean opened his eyes and turned to look at Sam who looked over the back of the couch. The sound of the TV muffled in the background.

"Of course, Sammy," You nodded gently. The youngest Winchester curved his lips into a smile as he turned his head back to the TV.

Dean looked back at you and parted his lips slowly. You took the opportunity and snuck your around his torso, burying yourself into his chest. His arms loosely wrapped around your shoulders as he pulled you tightly in. A few tears slipped from your eyes and ran down your cheeks as you buried yourself deeper into his embrace.

You felt Dean's lips gently press against the top of your head as you pulled back to look up at him. Your bodies were still entangled together. "I'm right here, Deanie, I'm always right here," You whispered and watched as he looked down at you with a soft grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

.

Asleep against the couch, you stirred when you felt a cool draft hit your bare toes. Subtle static came from the TV along with the aroma of dirty laundry. You shifted and clung the blanket around your body tightly in an attempt to keep yourself warm. Slowly, you felt your body had had enough sleep and your eyes fluttered open. You found your gaze was locked upon the TV. It had been turned on. You slowly sat up and rubbed your tired eyes, they'd been puffy and red from the mourning of your dad.

"Morning, Y/N," Sam gave you a soft grin as he sat against his bed with a new pair of clothes upon his body.

"Good morning, Sam," You mumbled, sleepily and turned your head to gaze at the clock beneath the TV. It read nine thirty-eight. You released a gentle sigh and pushed yourself off the couch, making your way towards Sam. "Where's John and Dean?" You asked and sat beside him, your hair stuck out in all the wrong places with a couple knots in the back.

"They went to get breakfast and fuel for the Impala," He replied flatly.

You nodded softly and gazed at the TV. A cartoon you were unfamiliar with played upon the screen. The door to the motel room opened and in came John and Dean, with a couple plastic bags in their hands.

"Morning, Y/N," John gave a soft smile.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Dean offered you a soft smile and nudged your shoulder as he placed down the plastic bags upon the small table beside the window.

"Morning," You replied to them both with a soft grin.

"Here, Y/N/N," Dean reached into one of the bags and grabbed a warm breakfast sandwich. He tossed it towards you and you caught it within your hands.

"Thanks, Dean," You smiled softly.

"Thank Hector Aframian," Dean sent you a wink as he slipped the fraudulent credit card into his wallet and in his backpocket. You chuckled softly and rolled your eyes as you unraveled the sandwich from the foil it came in. You began to eat at your sandwich as John, Dean and Sam started to pack up their belongings.

You took the time to change in the bathroom into your own pair of clothes that you managed to get from your burnt down home. There'd been a couple articles of clothing that survived, so you took them into your possession.

After changing, you returned the pajamas back to Dean, who smiled and took them back into his bag. You felt your face heat up at his grin.

"Need help getting anything to the car, John?" You asked as you slung your bag over your shoulder in a pair of jeans and a loose, baggy t-shirt.

"Just get yourself in the Impala, kid," John offered a softly smile and ruffled your hair. You chuckled and nodded lightly. You stepped out of the motel room and headed towards the Impala with the Winchesters behind you.

.

In the backseat, beside Sam, you gazed out the window as the world passed. You felt almost like a burden to John for having him go through much trouble to get you somewhere safe. You knew he did it out of the kindness of his character, but you were unsure if this got in the way of him trying to find the demon that killed Mary and your dad.

You leaned your head against the seat and attempted to rest for a while. The drive was about three and a half hours. With that time, you attempted to get as much sleep as you could. You had a feeling that Bobby wouldn't make you stay for free, perhaps he'd have you help out at the Singer Salvage Yard.

While the ride was long, you were able to sleep respectively and soon awakened when the gravel against the tires of the Impala rumbled the body of the car. You slowly stirred and blinked twice as you lifted your head up. You rubbed your eyes slowly and looked around, noticing the salvage auto parts were around the front. Bobby's house was towards the back. You gently yawned as John pulled into the back, parking the Impala in place beside Bobby's car.

When John and Dean started to exit the car, you did as well, grabbing your back and slinging it over your shoulder. You watched as Dean walked around the front of the car to make his way towards you.

Bobby exited the front of his house and walked along the gravel towards John. The two grown men hugged and spoke for a moment while you, Dean and Sam stood together beside the Impala.

"You'll be okay, sweetheart?" Dean asked softly, looking down at you.

"I'll be fine, Dean," You whispered and nudged his side with your elbow playfully. He softly grinned and gave you a warm hug. You snuck your arms around his torso as he clung around your shoulders.

You felt Sam hug you from behind. You released a soft giggle and pulled from Dean, turning to face Sam. "Take care of the old man, okay?" You chuckled softly towards Sam, inference to Dean.

Sam smiled lightly and nodded. "Call us as soon as you can, Y/N," He mentioned.

"And if you need anything, we'll be here," Dean added. You looked between the two brothers and smiled softly.

"What would I do without you boys, hm?" You offered a grin and pulled them both into a hug. They returned the favor.

The Winchesters treated you like one of their own and that's what you loved most about them. Family was their safe place and you were a member of their family despite no blood relation. You grew up with them and the fact that most days you woke up and it being life or death made you all the more closer with them.

Once you pulled back from them, you caressed Dean's cheek and offered a small smile. He softly grinned and leaned into your touch as he always did. When you slowly pulled back, Dean gazed at you warmly.

"Hey, girl," Bobby's redneck voice was heard from behind you. You turned and offered a soft grin as he stood on the other side of the Impala. You walked around the back of it and hugged Bobby from the side as he rubbed your arm softly, in a fatherly manner. "Sorry to hear about your dad, kiddo.. was a hell of a hunter that one," He mentioned and pulled back.

"I'll have to keep his legacy going," You brought your chin up and watched as Bobby nodded slowly.

"Well, why don't you come on in? I've got a room for you upstairs and some old clothes of Karen's in a box in the attic you can look through if you want," Bobby spoke while looking down at you.

"Thanks, Bobby," You whispered gently, knowing the topic of his wife was a sensitive subject.

"Well, Y/N, we'll keep in touch, yeah?" John mentioned as he looked at you.

"Of course and if you guys need any research done, gimme a call and I'd be happy to," You offered them a warm grin. Your warm eyes found Dean's as he gazed at you, his expression looked both distressed and worried.

"Sure thing, kid," John nodded and pulled you into a warm hug. You returned it and felt him squeeze you before he pulled back and patted your shoulder softly. "Alright, come on, boys," John looked to his sons who continued to watch you with an forced grin.

"Bye, Dean. Bye, Sam," You waved slowly and watched as they waved back while getting into the Impala.

You and Bobby stood upon the gravel as you watched the Impala rumbled due to the engine starting. Bobby's arms crossed over his chest as yours were down at your sides. Dean's gaze was locked with yours as you found his while the Impala turned around and exited the salvage yard. You could see Sam's head turned to look at you through the back window of the car.

Bobby patted your back gently, "C'mon, girl. We got work to do."

.

a/n: hi!! so i really wanted to write this on my wattpad (narcissistiches), but i really don't know if this idea has potential or if it'll go anywhere so i'm posting this here in hopes of you guys giving feedback, maybe?? i hope you guys enjoyed this and that you want more! i'm planning to rewrite the first season with this little plotline! anyway, thank you for reading! be safe and treat people with kindness. — angelina.

[stolen-kisses-a]

The Night Ali Disappeared ~ A PLL Night of Terror ~

In other words, the night Ali had too many people against and after her and she almost got murdered for it. 

 *most info comes from a PLL site if I can’t remember every little detail so I rewrote the majority of my version of events and copy and pasted some parts along with some of the pictures, so credit goes to them for putting it altogether for us.

Link:  https://prettylittleliars.fandom.com/wiki/Sequence_of_Events_-_Alison%27s_Disappearance#The_Day_Alison_Went_Missing_-_September_1 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lets take a trip down memory lane shall we??? This is gonna be a long one. Read it if you want to or read it from the link as well :)

1. The morning of: Alison went to Hilton Head to meet up and be with Ian to get her mind off of - A. And at the same time Melissa was there with Ian but in separate rooms. Melissa showed up in Ian’s room and was angry with Ian for knowing Ali is there with him and he tells her that Alison means nothing to him, that’s when Alison finds Ian’s creepy pedo videos and it happens to be one of Toby and Jenna. She gets a copy of the video and then leaves.

2. Alison checks into the Lost Woods Resort under her Alias Vivian. Sparia also found out she checked in another time. But the dates are confusing. This will be explained later on (#23).

3. Alison then dressed up as Vivian Darkbloom and had Duncan fly her from Hilton Head to a field near Philadelphia 6-7 hours before the girls believed her to arrive (I’m not sure if it’s true or not). She then was going to meet A face to face finally after having a newspaper convo back and forth with them, but supposedly that never happened. They were supposed to meet nearby of what looks like a creepy doll hospital (cuz Mona loves dolls), supposedly Alison called the police that same day near the street where the hospital was - not sure what for if this was true as Alison never confirmed it.

4. Alison then goes visits Jenna in the hospital, to show her the video of Jenna and Toby together as blackmail, because she thought Jenna was A. Turns out to be false as A sends her a death threat right after leaving Jenna’s room. 

5. That afternoon: Alison then “returns home” from Georgia with bags looking very tan and saying her arms are sore. One bag had a tag on it from Hilton Head, Spencer obviously questions it and Alison asks her “why so many questions?” and reiterates she can’t spill every detail and tells the girls to “wait for it” repeatedly.

6. Alison returns home and finds a gift from her mom with the infamous yellow top and she turns around after changing in her room and sees a threatening message from A on her mirror.

7.  That same day, Alison bought a storage locker to hide Ian’s videos before stopping by to see Emily and flirt with her some to then give her a snow globe with the storage locker key inside the bottom of it. Alison then leaves for a “prior engagement” although it was never revealed who she went to see next before coming to Spencer’s barn for the sleep over.

8. Before heading over to the sleepover. Alison returns home again and runs into her mom (on the phone with Radley because Bethany escaped and Charlotte escaped as well to go after her). Her mom wanted to Ali to stay in for obvious reasons even though the excuse that she just didn’t want to her going out. Alison then fights back by saying she planned this ages ago and was told it was ok to do. Then she mentions about Spencer being a bully and that she took care of it (really, Spencer a bully?). Then Ali’s mom remarks to Ali “She knows things about  that family Ali doesn’t know” and Ali asked curiously “Really, like what?” Ali’s Mom responds that she’s seen what they are capable of and reminds Ali’s that she can never turn her back on a Hastings. -Which is exactly what Ali did after her and Spencer fought again #12). Alison then pretends to go to her room and sneaks back down to go into her moms purse to grab some sleeping pills while her mom was distracted on the phone again- what does Ali need those for? Oh, we’ll find out soon.

9. That Night: Alison arrives at Spencer's barn and pranks and jumps to the barn doors and scares the girls. Heading inside, she gets a text from Toby to meet her. The girls hang for a bit and gossip about Beyonce’s new song and then Ali throws some shade at Emily for liking it too much (totally not homophobic am i right??). She then spikes the girls drink with her moms medicine to knock them out. Aria drinks first and Spencer jokes to Aria to not drink to much or she’ll tell them all her secrets. The Ali ironically says “Friends shares secrets, that’s what keeps us close. Drink up”.;)  We can only assumed Emily, Hanna and Spencer drank afterwards. After the girls fell asleep, she then meets Toby outside of the barn doors so he can thank her for getting Jenna to leave him alone. Toby then gives her his sweater because she was cold.

10. After speaking with Toby, Alison leaves Spencer’s backyard to meet up with Ezra. *cringe*.Toby also saw this as well (Although this was never even mentioned by Toby either -plot hole-).Ezra is clearly mad at Ali since she lied to him about her age and then he ends things with Alison in a not so nice way..

11. *Spencer wakes up and notices Ali was missing, so she waits for her to return.*  

Alison then goes to meet Ian at the kissing rock after speaking with Ezra. (flashback moment: (I know you wanna kiss me”). this is where they fake Ian hurting Ali in the video later discovered. Alison then threatens him with his videos to make him leave her alone, Ian then says not tell anyone or else people will get hurt and then ironically “storms” off.

12. Alison returns to the barn to find Spencer awake waiting for her. Also she didn’t have Toby’s sweater anymore. Where did it go? (plot hole - only to be planted in Toby’s room to frame Toby for Alison’s murder at some point.)

They go inside Spencer’s house and have a fight about Spencer telling Melissa about her and Ian again. It gets heated and Spencer tells Alison she is sick of her games and told her, "You are dead to me already. “ Alison leaves and then Spencer runs after her. (Charlotte and Alison’s mom witness the fight and pays Charlotte off not to say anything - which is weird to pay off your own daughter). Spencer wants to continue the confrontation with Alison and Spencer grabs a shovel acting as if she was going to hit Alison with it and Spencer collapses to the ground in the midst of Alison trying to stop Spencer. Alison then discovers Spencer had been taking ADHD meds (not to mention the sleeping pills mixed in her system from Ali already) and Spencer begs Ali not to tell anyone and she agreed and then sends Spencer back to the barn with the shovel in head and Ali  then waits for her to fall back asleep. (Melissa also sees the fight and sees Spencer walking away with the shovel)

13. Meanwhile, Ian, Garrett and Jenna all meet up in Alison’s bedroom to look for the videos she stole. Melissa comes in furious looking for Alison in hopes to confront her about Ian and Ali hooking up. Garrett and Jenna leave Melissa and Ian alone to talk it out and go outside in the backyard. Alison comes up to them and then Ali reminds Jenna of the promise she made to her earlier that morning,(”If you ever come back to Rosewood, I’ll bury you”) so Jenna and Ali get into a cat fight, Ali knocks Jenna to the ground and she comes back up with the infamous now burned in Spencer’s fireplace (thanks to Mr. Hastings) field hockey stick in attempt to defend herself. Garrett takes the hockey stick from Jenna and proceeds to attack Ali with it and hits the tree next to Ali, she then falls to the ground next to the tree telling Garrett to hush with her finger. Garrett and Jenna flee the scene, with Jenna thinking Garrett killed or hurt Ali badly.

14. Garrett comes back to check on Ali to see if she’s ok (even though she wasn’t even hurt), but then notices she was talking to someone and proceeds to listen and watch to see who it was. Byron (Aria’s dad) came to speak to her about not exposing his affair to Ella because he didn’t have anymore money to give her to keep her quiet. Alison says "If you don't pay for your mistakes, how do you become a better person?" Byron replies back "You say all these grown-up things, yet you're still a child." Alison smirks and says "You know what I'm capable of." After Garrett makes some noise, Byron starts to leave and Alison threatens him again saying it's his last chance to save himself. Byron turns while he is leaving and replies, "Yes it is," presumably meaning he was going to tell Ella himself (which he obviously doesn’t). Alison then screams to him "You made your bed Mr. Montgomery,"  

15.  While Byron was leaving, Byron turns back when Alison spoke about his bed (LOL) and sees Melissa coming out from Alison’s back door on the phone with someone and says to them, "What do I have to do, call 911 to get your attention?" This is the part where we never found out who she was talking to, but it was important enough to show it to us.

16. Jason (out of nowhere) came outside to grab a drink of water from the watering hose since he was drunk and high and notices Melissa and presumably Alison talking to each other and calls out Ali’s name and then he sees Charlotte talking with Melissa instead, although this is false and never really confirmed who it actually was. As Alison and Bethany were wearing the same outfit that night, not Charlotte. It wouldn’t make sense for it to be Bethany talking to Melissa since she arrived much later, and Alison never confirmed this information either. So who knows what Jason really saw. So right after seeing them, he passes out on a lawn chair. Sometime after this, Garrett or Jenna, or both, slipped a note to Jason that says "I know what you did", in order to make him believe he hurt Alison, since Jenna thought Garrett had killed her.

 17.  Alison returns to the barn watching the girls sleep some more and waiting to get another text from A, in order to rule them out. As some time passes, Alison decides to head home thinking she won since A didn’t try to kill her. As she was walking back to her house, she sees her mom obviously angry at her through the window for sneaking out and then all of sudden. BAM!! Charlotte hits Alison over the head with a rock only because she presumed it was Bethany since she was wearing the same outfit. Her mom then proceeds to bury Alison where the gazebo spot would be (pilot episode).  She is screaming to Charlotte, "What have you done?! What have you done?!" Alison attempts to tell her mom she is alive, but cannot move or speak due to temporary paralysis. After Ali’s mom buries her, she then calls Detective Wilden and pays him off to give Charlotte an alibi and sends her back to Radley.

17. Not long after, Alison dug her way up reaching out of the ground for help/to get free, and who was there to grab her hand? Mrs. Grunwald of course, as she sensed something was wrong with Alison and had to come see what was going on and found her hand reaching for life. She then takes Ali to the hospital to get help, but then Ali runs away.

18. Meanwhile, Bethany finally shows up at Ali’s backyard, and so does Mona who was finally ready to confront and to kill Ali. But just like Charlotte’s mistake, Mona only saw the back of Bethany and presumed it was Alison and hit her over the head with the same shovel Spencer had earlier. This is when Bethany’s head gets hit so hard that it makes an indentation on her skull and she falls unconscious next to where Ali was previously buried. Mona then flees the scene.

19. Shortly after, Melissa shows up and sees Alison (obviously presuming it was her without checking) and assumed Spencer killed her based on the fight she witnessed they had earlier that night. She then proceeds to bury Bethany who was still alive in order to protect Spencer (”this whole time”)

20. And then we come back to the Pilot opening scene where the girls wake up to find Spencer and Ali missing from the barn. Spencer comes back to them and says that she looked everywhere for her and she thinks she heard her scream - which we know was probably from Bethany.

21. Later on that night, we see Alison walking on a random street after leaving Mrs. Grunwald’s aide. She is dazed and confused, hurt and traumatized by what she just went through. And who to pull up beside her? Mona. (I wonder what Mona’s plan was since she thought she killed her). 

So Mona takes Ali to the Lost Woods Resort and checks in under Vivian Darkbloom’s name for Alison. Mona proceeds to clean Ali up and Ali tells Mona what  happened and about A who tried to kill her. So smart and cunning Mona persuades Ali to fake her death so A could leave her alone for good.

22. The next day: Mona helps disguise Alison in a Vivian like wig so she can disappear. She then gives Mona tips on how to become popular and then Ali takes a car and leaves showing Mona with a eerier grin as she drives away, thinking she finally won.

23. Which comes back to the last bit of information involving Alison checking in again on 9/6 at the Lost Woods Resort 5 days later as she already checked in the night she went missing and she left the next day. So this had to be Mona checking in as her again or a plot hole in plotting clues in the storyline of Alison’s disappearance that ended up not making sense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s crazy how many people Ali saw the night/day she went missing and was almost killed. Like this girl clearly attracts trouble and drama and shit she shouldn’t be into at 15 years old.

Well, I hope you had fun reading this tale of terrors with me (if you made it to the end and didn’t go to the link lol) as much as I had fun putting it altogether and reminiscing on how it took the show 4 seasons to tell Alison’s disappearance story.

[cinebration]

Just Like Old Times (Victor Zsasz x Reader) [One-shot]

To celebrate reaching 100+ followers, enjoy this Victor Zsasz content!

Premise: You once worked alongside Victor Zsasz for a mob boss. When he left for Roman Sionis, you stayed behind, loyalty to your mob boss winning out. Until he betrays that loyalty, forcing you to call on an old friend.

Tagged: @strangeaddiction1306​ (who gave me the idea!)

You and Victor Zsasz shared an affinity for knives. Well, that’s what he called those little things he used. You, however, had taken the ideology “Walk soft, but carry a big stick” to heart. Instead of little switchblades, you carried a machete.

Your signature style included a knee-length trench coat to hide the machete strapped to your thigh. There was a hole in the right pocket so you could yank it out quickly if need be, but like an old gunslinger, you preferred to swish aside the coat and unsheath the blade with a flourish.

Leonardo Acciai had only employed you as a favor to your mother. Unable to curb your violent tendencies, she had sent you to Leo, believing that if your violence couldn’t be exorcised, it could at least be put to use.

That’s how you became Leo’s butcher at sixteen.

Leo liked to take hands. Cross him, deny him—any poor sucker who got on Leo’s bad side lost a hand at the wrist underneath your machete.

You met Zsasz a few years later when he signed on as extra muscle. His self-cutting ritual of marking kills preceded him and fascinated you. He couldn’t help but like a person who carried steel as long as his forearm.

The two of you were formidable.

When Zsasz left for Roman Sionis, he asked you to join him. You said no. Leo had given you your break. You owed him loyalty.

Until you didn’t.

~~

Leo called you into the warehouse in which he ordered the butchering. Despite the sweltering heat, you still sported your trench coat. The machete felt comfortable on your thigh, reassuring you even as you slowly compartmentalized your emotions. You were a professional. You had to inure yourself to others’ pain.

A young man, head hooded, knelt on his knees before the chopping block.

“You’re late,” Leo groused. In his fifties, his old-man irritation had set in early.

You didn’t bother explaining why. Even if he cared to listen, you preferred to keep quiet. You knew that a quiet woman was reassuring.

But a quiet woman with a machete and dead stare was terrifying.

“Let’s get this over with.” Leo waved a hand at Roberto, one of the two other men in the room.

The hood came off your victim.

Shock stabbed through your stomach.

Your brother stared up at you in terror, eyes wide, broken lip bleeding. “I didn’t do it,” he cried.

Roberto backhanded him. The slap echoed around the space. Leo liked the warehouse not just for its easy-to-hose floors; he loved the acoustics.

“I’ve known you since you were shitting in diapers, Tommy,” Leo said, craggy face creased with disappointment. “Stealing from me is like stealing from family.”

Thomas’s panicked eyes sought yours, pleading. Struggling to keep your emotions in check, you raced through your options.

Leo snapped his fingers. Dragging your feet, you approached, pulling the machete out from its sheath.

Thomas blubbered your name, thrashing against Roberto’s iron grip on his neck. With a snarl, Roberto kneed him in the kidney. You flinched as your brother gasped, wheezing. Roberto seized his arm and forced it onto the block.

“Because you stole from me and disrespected not only me but your family,” Leo declared, “you lose both hands.”

Sobbing, Thomas flailed uselessly against Roberto.

Leo snapped his fingers.

Stepping forward, you stared down at your brother. He was barely nineteen, enrolled in college to get a better, less bloody education than you did. He should never have been anywhere near Leo.

Your jaw clenched.

“Something wrong?”

You glanced aside at Leo, just out of reach. He looked at you patronizingly. There was a reason he had earned a reputation as merciless.

Like granite, your tongue moved. “He’s moving too much. I need Ed to hold his other arm.”

Roberto whistled. “I thought I was fucking cold,” he muttered.

Leo waved a hand at Ed, the other man in the room. Ed seized your brother’s free arm and forced it down onto the block.

Thomas’s sobs assaulted your ears. Your hand tightened on the machete.

Stepping up to the block, you gripped the machete with both hands. Thomas screamed your name.

You swung.

Blood spurted from Roberto and Ed’s exposed throats. Surprised, they let go of Thomas, their hands flying to their necks.

Leo leapt from his chair, hand reaching into his jacket.

Seizing Thomas by the collar, you dragged him to his feet, throwing him behind barrels clustered around a pillar supporting the warehouse roof. Thomas shrieked as you landed beside him.

Bullets pinged off the barrels, concrete raining down onto your heads as they ricocheted off the pillar.

“When I say go, run,” you hissed, pointing to the door through which you had entered earlier.

“I should’ve known,” Leo snarled behind you. “Sooner or later, you were going to bitch up and let your emotions get in the way.”

“Now,” you told Thomas.

Rolling to your left, you heard a bullet whiz over your head. Thomas scrambled in the opposite direction, heading for the door.

Leo spun to shoot him.

You threw the machete with a grunt.

The blade clipped Leo’s shoulder. With a roar, he squeezed off shots wildly. Roberto, bleeding out, weakly lifted up his own gun and fired in your direction.

Using everything as cover, you sprinted to the door, Leo screaming after you. “I’m going to fucking butcher you and your whole fucking family!”

Thomas’s fear crippled him as he ran. You caught up easily, seizing him by the arm and dragging him behind you.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he cried, gasping.

“Later,” you said. “We have to get Mom.”

~~

It had been a decade since you had felt this afraid, everything out of control.

You did the one thing you could think of.

Parked outside of the Black Mask Club, you hunkered down in your seat, watching the front door and the alley. You waited nearly four hours before the sunlight struck the bleached-silver hair you were looking for.

Slipping out of the car, you crept up behind Zsasz’s as he climbed into the driver’s seat. You opened the passenger door and sat inside.

Zsasz lashed out in reflex, nearly hitting your face. “Holy fucking shit,” he gasped, gaping at you.

“Long time no see.”

“No shit. What the fuck have you been doing?”

“Getting into trouble.”

He grinned. “I like trouble.”

“That’s why I’m here. I need your help.”

Gold teeth flashing in the light, he said, “My help?”

“Leo wanted me to take my brother’s hands.”

The glee in his face slipped. “No.”

“I killed Roberto and Ed.”

“But not Leo.”

“He pulled a gun. Couldn’t get to him.” You swallowed thickly. “Can your boss spare you?”

Zsasz hesitated. You leaned back, smothering your hurt. You had been friends, but only because of work. Of course he wouldn’t risk it.

“Nevermind,” you muttered. “I’ll figure something else out. It was good to see you.”

His hand clamped down on your wrist, preventing you from leaving. “What did you have in mind?”

“Leo and Don,” you answered. Don was Leo’s right-hand man, the only person who could take over and pose a threat if Leo died.

Zsasz’s lips peeled back from his teeth. “I fucking hate Don.”  

~~

The plan was simple.

Its execution would not be.

This didn’t bother Zsasz in the least, which was part of the reason you recruited him. The other reason was because he was psychotic and trigger happy and ruthless.

“Roman wants this fucker dead anyway,” he said as you both waited for night to fall. “I can ask him for help—”

“No. This has to be dealt with internally.” You glanced out the window of the car. Your jaw ached from grinding your teeth together. “It’s personal.”

“Is Thomas alright?”

You arched an eyebrow. “You remember his name?”

Zsasz nodded, looking anywhere but your face. “Is he safe?”

“Yes. I hid him and my mom.”

“That’s good.”

Sunset painted the sky in gorgeous reds and oranges that you would have barely seen through the Gotham skyline if you had been in the city.

You cleared your throat. “How is it working for Roman Sionis?”

“Amazing,” Zsasz answered immediately. “Look.”

Unbuttoning his shirt, he bared his scarred chest to you. Fingers dancing across his flesh, he pointed out a handful of scars you had never seen before.

“You’ve been busy,” you noted wryly.

“Roman likes to cut off faces.”

“So I’ve heard.” You hadn’t seen Zsasz so ecstatic since the two of you had cleared an entire safe house of men with nothing but knives.

“He gives me a lot of work,” Zsasz continued. “You’d like it.”

You disagreed, but before you could voice it, a car pulled up to the gate of Leo’s sprawling estate. The driver rolled down the window, flashing his ugly mug at the guard. You recognized the profile and balding pate immediately.

“Don,” you muttered.

As much as you compartmentalized your emotions, Zsasz’s excitement was and had always been infectious. It thrummed through you, stoking fires you had forgotten existed during his absence. Zsasz knew how to have fun.

Reaching over your shoulder, he withdrew a submachine gun from the duffel on the backseat. Racking the slide, he peered down the iron sights, gold teeth flashing in the waning light.

“Last resort only,” you reminded him.

His smile widened. “Just like old times.” Cackling, he climbed out of the car.

~~

The problem with paranoid men is that it’s easy to surprise the men they hired, but not the paranoiacs themselves.

With ease, you and Zsasz chopped through Leo’s security, severing carotids and slipping blades between ribs. Your machete bit into throats, running with blood down to your hands, bodies trailing in your wake.

As you converged on Leo’s office, you sheathed the machete and drew the pistol tucked under your arm. Following your cue, Zsasz swung the submachine into his hands.

Down the hallway from the double doors, you gestured to Zsasz. “Spray and pray.”

Gold teeth flashing, Zsasz stepped forward.

The bullets tore through the doors, wood chips flying.

Screams and the thud of heavy bodies filtered over the buzz of the submachine gun.

Sidling up beside the doors, you sliced your hand across your neck. Zsasz released he trigger.

Kicking the mutilated doors open, you sped to the right, Zsasz cutting behind you to the left.

Double-taps to the chests of men still alive.

You swept the room.

No Leo.

An icy chill snaked down your spine.

Pain exploded through your shoulder from behind, slamming you forward. Zsasz spun in your peripherals, shock on his face. You threw yourself behind Leo’s heavy oak desk. Head low, you checked your shoulder. No blood.

Thank God for Kevlar.

Zsasz threw himself beside you, back smacking against the desk drawers. “Are you okay?”

Gritting your teeth, you nodded. Numbness crept down your arm, reaching your trigger finger.

Zsasz withdrew a knife from his boot, made eye contact with you. You nodded.

“You fucking bitch,” Leo shouted. “You really fucking thought—”

Zsasz popped up from behind the desk. The knife flew from his hand.

It buried into Leo’s shoulder.

Leo snarled.

Rising, you squeezed the trigger.

Blood sprayed the opposite wall. Leo went slack, gasping. He looked down at the sucking hole in his chest, staggered.

Shaking, you holstered the pistol and slowly approached his supine form. Leo’s hand limply searched for his gun, panicked eyes watching you.

The machete slid free from its sheath.

Staring down into his face, you hissed, “I wanted you alive for this.”

You brought the machete down onto his neck.

It took several chops for you to hack his head from his neck. Roaring filled your ears. It wasn’t until you staggered back from the decapitated corpse that you realized the roar was your own voice.

Zsasz stared at you, awe on his face. “I like you better like this.”

Without control, you mean, you thought. Struggling to compose yourself, you surveyed the bodies on the floor, searching their faces. You frowned.

“Where’s—”

You pitched forward onto your hands and knees, white-hot pain sucking your breath away in your back. Zsasz slid forward, hand reaching under your arm. Yanking the pistol free, he fired.

Thump.

“Fucking Don,” he snarled.

You coughed. Blood flecked the floor in front of you.

“Shit,” you hissed.

“Fuck.” Zsasz hauled you to your feet, pulling on your shirt to check the vest. “It almost went through.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Zsasz forced you to stare into his dark eyes. “Don’t lie to me.”

“It’s not the worst I’ve suffered.”

He refused to let you go. Giving in, you leaned on him, shuffling forward to Leo’s head. You stared down at the grotesque rictus twisting the man’s features.

“Does your boss like gifts?” you asked.

Zsasz’s teeth gleamed.

~~

Despite his need for cleanliness, Roman was just as excited by the sight of you blood coating you as Zsasz was. Ordering Leo’s head to be placed on a spike, Roman all but kissed you on the mouth.

“You should have brought her to me sooner,” he admonished Zsasz.

Zsasz grinned in response.

“My own lethal eagle.” Roman laughed with excitement.

In the bathroom, you washed the blood from your hands, the water running pink. Zsasz entered the room, the grin still on his face. Helping you out of his shirt, he slid the Kevlar off your torso. Dark bruises were already forming on your back. You would need to wrap your ribs.

“Just like old times,” he said, his hands running over the marks.

“Sionis isn’t Leo,” you muttered, wiggling back into your shirt.

His silence drew your attention. Leaning against the sink, but still in your personal space, Zsasz let the smile slip.

You frowned. “What?”

“I thought about killing Leo before I left,” he confessed. “So you had no reason to stay.”

You didn’t know how to answer. Instead, you said, “You have some new scars to make.”

Zsasz’s voice rumbled low in your ear. “Want to help me make them?”

A smile twitched at the corner of your lips.

Just like old times.

[whumpschild]

Carson/Tyler series crossover (Part 2)

@writehardwhumpharder

Daniel came home that evening to Tyler and Carson, still sleeping. didn't notice they were there until Tyler let out a cough. There was a pizza sitting on the coffee table. Daniel saw the two lying peacefully on the couch. He found it kinda funny that they were sleeping in almost the exact same position and he decided to take a picture. When he dropped his phone on the floor. It made a loud thud that woke carson up. He groaned as he perked his head up looking at Daniel.

“Well good morning sleeping beauty.” Daniel said sitting at the end of the couch where Carson's feet were. Turning on the TV, it was kinda loud so he was surprised when Tyler still didn't wake up. "Is he even alive? That would have woken up anybody."

"Go poke him." Carson said. He didn't feel like getting off the couch. He looked like bedhead twice over with bits of his dark brown hair sticking straight up and his mood matched his looks. Neither of them knew what kind of person Tyler was after he woke up so they were both hesitant.

"Why me?" Daniel complained. He sighed and walked up to Tyler and shook his shoulder. "Tyler are you alive?" He opened his eyes and turned his head behind him,

"Hn? Dunno, ask mom." He said sleepily shoving his face back into the corner of the couch. His brain was in limbo after that nap and he was super out of it. Daniel and Carson stood in confusion before Daniel started to laugh. Tyler rolled over and looked very confused then sat up, his brown hair had fallen out of the bun it had been put into that morning and his bangs were sticking up weird because he had his face shushed into the corner of the couch exposing the scar on his slightly larger forehead. 

Daniel’s laugh faded after a minute or so, “What kind of party did you have while I was gone?” 

“A sleeping one.” Carson replied.

Daniel opened the pizza box still sitting on the coffee table to see it hadn't been eaten. “Have you two eaten at all today? You bought pizza but didn't touch it.”

“We had about two slices of one.” Tyler responded. "We stepped away for ten seconds ya know, then it was getting eaten by pigeons. Those things are like rats with wings, I swear.”

“Probably.” Carson said, sitting up on the couch. 

“I'm gonna heat this up,” Daniel said grabbing the pizza box and taking it to the kitchen leaving Tyler and Carson in the living room.

They sat there for a minute before Tyler started rummaging through one of his backpacks, Carson didn't know how he didn't notice it there because it was bright yellow. He pulled something the size of a small pillow, it looked like a sturdy plastic. It was light blue with small hoses and an oxygen mask attached to it.

“What is that?” Carson asked, staring curiously at it.

“A nebulizer, It's for when my inhaler isn’t really working.” Tyler didn't want to say anything, but he was slightly worried  about his asthma. It seemed to be getting a little worse since he had been outside running around so he was going to be prepared this time so he wouldn't have to rely on Carson. He still felt guilty about when Carson had to heal him when he had run to Carson and Daniel's hotel room in the cold and rain forgetting his inhaler. “And if that doesn't work, i have this” Tyler pulled to things that looked like epinephrine pens from the little pocket of his backpack.

“Epi pens? Aren't those antihistamines?”

“Close, their bronchodilators, they relax the muscles in my lungs causing them to open, I hate sticking these in my leg. It hurts like hell ya know. It's even worse when somebody does it to you because you don't expect it. Do you have anywhere I can set this?” Tyler said holding up his nebulizer.

“Yeah” Carson got up and went to his room with Tyler. He moved the lamp over  on his dresser so it was closer to the wall and set Tylers nebulizer on the side closer to the bed then plugged it in behind the dresser. 

“Thanks ya know,”

“Sure,” Carson said when he and Tyler went to go and sit back down. They waited about ten more minutes before Daniel came back out with the pizza which was steamy from being heated up. They all ate pizza, watched tv and talked a bit. They eventually got tired around midnight and one by one they went to bed.

--

It was a sensation that was familiar to him slipping into a dream that made no sense. It was a familiar scene to Carson that he couldn't quite place. He was walking by some kind of stadium. It was loud and echoed through the air so he assumed there was a game happening. All of the sudden black. He was in something. He couldn't get out, banging on whatever  was above him when he heard a phone ringing. This was starting to feel more and more familiar and not in a good way. He flipped the phone open but couldn't read who was calling but he answered anyways.  Somebody was talking but he couldn't understand them, nothing was making sense. As it went on he could barely breathe, trying to pull in air but it didn't seem there was enough in the small space he seemed to be in. He slipped away into a familiar space he knew as death. Normally he’d be revived but it wasn't happening. He waited and waited until a tugging sensation came around his ankles and up his legs. He was suddenly being pulled into the black abyss of death. He tried to escape but nothing he struggled and struggled trying to break free but no use he was dying for real this time.

--

He woke up screaming, startling Daniel awake. Carson was hyperventilating and crying grabbing at his hair and face. Daniel was used to this by now seeing as Carson had frequent nightmares. He scooted closer to Carson and pulled him into a hug. Was he shaking?  He normally didn't like being touched but there were a few acceptations. This one really got to him

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Daniel asked softly as he rubbed Carson's shoulder. 

Carson shook his head. Daniel got up and got his laptop to put on cartoons which always seemed to make Carson feel better after horrible nightmares. This is the first one in a while that scared him this bad. He was so scared that he was really going to die. Carson layed down and watched the cartoons on Daniel's laptop, sniffling and rubbing the tears from his eyes. Carson always seemed to be vulnerable in his sleep.

After a while Carson had fallen back to sleep. Daniel hadn't noticed and yet to turn off the cartoons. He thought he heard soft bangs coming from Carson's room so he paused  the video on his laptop. He sat there and listened before he heard  more bangs , then the door opening. He got up after hearing a loud thud and somebody saying something that was hard to make out. He walked out of his room to see what was going on, through dim lights of the lamp in Carson's room he could see Tyler on the ground gasping for air and pulling at the strings of his backpack that was by the couch in front of Carson's bedroom door.

--

     Tyler woke up around 2 am wheezing, he quickly fumbled for his inhaler and took several puffs of it before he realized it wasn't working. He resorted to his nebulizer slowly cranking up the dose. Sometimes it took a minute to work so he sat there before he realized  it wasn't going to work, he didn't think clearly so he started banging on the wall to Daniel's room the only thing was the bathroom was right in between the two rooms so his attempts were futile of banging loud enough for anyone to wake up to it. He tried the nebulizer again but it really wasn't working. Tyler couldn't breathe in deeply enough to get the medicine in his lungs before it was breathed out. He started feeling dizzy and light headed from the lack of oxygen, It was like breathing through a straw that was getting narrower. He fumbled around Carson's room looking for his yellow backpack when he realized he left it in the living room. The dizziness got to the better of him as he started to stumble  for the door. He fell but managed to grab at the door handle and pry it open before falling all the way to the floor. He tried calling for Carson and Daniel but he could barely breathe so he didn't think anyone would hear him.

“Tyler?!” Daniel shouted, rushing over to him after walking out of his room a white cat running out behind him. “Carson! He shouted. Daniel didn't know what to do. He didn't know anybody with  asthma  so he had no idea how to handle him. He rolled Tyler on his back which made it worse but Tyler couldn't say anything. His face paled and you could see his lips and fingertips were ever so slightly blue because he wasn't getting enough air in. Carson came out of the room quickly and hurried over to Where Daniel was kneeled “What do we do Carson?!”

Carson thought for a second he grabbed his arm to get a sense of what was going on inside of him. Reading his energy he turned to Daniel. He suddenly remembered all of the medications he had shown him. Good thing he did or they would have no clue what to do.”Give me the yellow backpack. Daniel did what he asked and fumbled around in Tyler's backpack eventually pulling out one of the pens Tyler had shown him. He pushed out the needle which was easily as long as his thumb. Seeing that  made Carson nervous,”Maybe we should call an ambulance?”

“What do you mean you have the pen!”Danie shouted.

“Im not qualified to use needles!” He said raising his voice.

“Just do it already!”

Carson took the Bronchodilator and shoved it into his thigh. Tyler took a gasp of air as he panted. Carson and Daniel let out a sigh of relief as The sound of Tyler heaving air ment they wouldn't have to call an ambulance.  They sat there for a while Just quietly hovering around Tyler as he enjoyed the air mother nature tried to deprive him of. “ It's gonna be a frequent thing?” Carson asked, letting out a sigh.” Because the last time I met you  this happened.” he said pulling out the pen from Tyler's leg and cringing at the groan of pain he let out as he rubbed where it was sticking into. 

“It was only this bad because  I was outside during a flare up,” Tyler croaked.

--

 A lot of Tyler's plans were ruined as he was forced to stay inside for a few days, Trying to avoid any air pollutants or any contact with allergies until his asthma cooled down a bit. He spent those days studying magic books with him and Daniel. Tyler had a tiny little notepad he was writing things down on. It was hard to keep track of anything Tyler wrote because his handwriting was terrible. There were tons of little scribbles, circles drawings and arrows that Carson swore was code and not writing. Daniel was kinda surprised but not too shocked  to see how much Tyler had dedicated himself to learning magic.  Tyler may have been the only psychic magician That hasn't tried to kill Carson that he's known. It was nice to have a change of pace. 

By all means Tyler liked to hang out with Daniel and Carson, but he was bored as hell staying inside so he decided to play with the keyboard he bought a few days ago. "Do ya mind if I play on this?" Tyler asked Carson and Daniel who were sitting on one of the couches. Go for it, Daniel said looking at Tyler who was holding the keyboard even folded up it was about as tall as his waist, it worried Daniel a little bit that Tyler might barely be able to pick it up. He was proved wrong when he easily moved it and set it up. Tyler played little notes to test how it worked for a little bit.

"Anyone got requests?"

"Not really." Carson said, not bothering to look up from his phone.

"Suit yourself," Tyler said, positioning his fingers on the keyboard and  letting his hands work on their own. Carson and Daniel were surprised when the soft melody he was playing actually sounded decent. It seemed like Tyler was good at several things for all Carson knew he could actually sing

"When did you learn how to play piano?" Daniel asked. "You seem pretty good at it."

Tyler kept playing while talking to Daniel, "Um im not sure, sixth grade maybe. My brothers and sisters took it too but only me and Audrey kept it up."

"How many siblings do you have?" 

"Five, three older sisters and two older brothers. Me, the youngest , maddie, Addie and Audrey they're twins, Sam, and you guys have met Elliot."

"Was he the one that popped into your hospital room for like 10 minutes."

Yeah, what about you Daniel?"

"Three, an older sister and brother and then my younger brother."

"Siblings are nice ya know," Tyler said, continuing to play the keyboard. Carson and Daniel just sat there and listened as Tyler played relaxing melodies which really was the song of healing from Majora's mask that Tyler had learned when he was 12.. He liked piano a lot and he frequently lost himself in it. His fingers Flowing over the keas like water in a river. He didn't know how long he was spaced out for before he felt Daniel poking at his arm from behind. He was set up right behind the couch closer to the laundry room so it didn't take much effort to reach over there. 

“Earth to Tyler, I asked if you were hungry.”

“Oh what, sorry, yeah i could eat. I just kinda slipped away for a bit ya know.”

“Sounds like you actually enjoy it,”

“Yeah,”

That night Tyler woke up to go to the bathroom. He walked in and turned on the light only to see somebody curled up on the bathroom floor on his side. “Carson?!” Tyler gaped and dropped to the floor by Carson trying to wake him up. “Carson? Come on buddy get up,” He studied Carson to make sure he hadn't hurt himself falling or worse he then noticed a bottle of pills that were spilled by Carson's hand along with an empty cup that was knocked over. He rubbed his hands through his long messy hair as he started to panic. Then Carson stirred, opened his light blue eyes and looked up at Tyler.

“C-Carson?” Tyler stuttered “ Are you okay, should I call an ambulance?

“Calm down,” Carson said pinching his eyes closed and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I was just napping,”

“Just napping? What's this?” Tyler asked, holding up the bottle of spilled pills.

“Wot’s this,” Carson said, mocking Tyler's accent again “ Can’t you read?”

“No, I don't have my glasses.”

“It’s Hydrocodone.”

“Hydrocodone? Migraines? Do you get them often?”

“Yeah,” Carson felt like total shit, his head felt like it was splitting in half with the unbearable pain that was in his head. He had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor trying to get the migraine to go away when Tyler had woken him up and turned the light on. It made the migraine worse. “Could you turn off the light?”

“Uh, sure.” Tyler didn't want to be in total darkness so he decided to do something, his third eye let off a dim pink light so he decided if he opened it and not actually used it then it should be fine.  He turned off the light  and left the bathroom a few minutes later he came back with two pillows, a blanket, a sketchbook and his glasses. His hair had been set into a lazy ponytail at the nape of his neck that had not bothered to have been brushed. Tyler tossed the pillow and blanket at Carson and kept one to himself. He made his way to  the bathtub managing to not step on Carson. He felt around to see if the bathtub was wet then sat down and tucked the pillow behind his back. He concentrated for a bit then let his eye open, a faint light about as bright as a glowstick came from it; it was enough to where Tyler could see the paper in front of him. 

“Thanks,” Carson mumbled as he set his head on the pillow and tossed a blanket over himself. “Shouldn't you go back to bed or something?”

“If you're going to lay on the bathroom floor then i'm going to lay in the bathtub.”

“Whatever,” Carson snugged his face into the pillow and closed his eyes. He sensed a faint energy coming from Tyler as he drifted back to sleep.

--

“What the hell are you two doing?” Daniel understood why Carson was there but not why Tyler was there too sleeping in the bathtub. He didn't have time for this; he had to get ready for work. He grabbed tyler's sketchbook and pencils that laid on his lap and tossed it onto Carson, hoping he would wake up. And of course, he did wake up. Daniel then went to the bathtub and set his hand on the faucet handle.

“If you don't get up in ten seconds I’m turning this water on.” Tyler almost never woke up to noise so Daniel's verbal threats were pointless, after all he had 5 other siblings to drown out. Daniel counted to ten and turned on cold water, Tyler simply scooted down the tub more, groaned and flipped the pillow over his head before his brain felt the sudden rush of cold. Carson was thoroughly annoyed why couldn't Daniel wake him up by shaking his shoulder or something. His head still hurt and he didn't want to exist yet.

“I need a shower, some people have to work for a living,” He more directed it at Carson since he was the only one there who didn't have a job, however he had a lot of money from healing people so he was the one that paid the bills. Carson and Tyler left the bathroom and just stood there quietly before Tyler decided he was cold and went to change his clothes that were now very wet. Carson dragged his pillow and blanket to the couch and laid back down.  His head was still hurting and he wanted to sleep for the rest of his life. 

Tyler came out wearing a plain jacket without a shirt under and pajama bottoms. “Hey Carson? Can I use your washer? I ran out of shirts.”

Carson let out a groan and waved in a shooing motion which Tyler took as the okay. He spent a good two minutes trying to figure out how to use it before dumping his clothes in and sitting on the opposite couch. Eventually Daniel left for work and then began Tyler and Carson’s movie marathon. They watched anything from disney movies to horror movies. The only horror movie that Tyler actually liked was amityville horror. Tyler knew how ghosts really were but that movie always got to him. Tyler started to feel restless around 6 or 7 so he decided to go on a walk. He asked Carson if he wanted to go but he still wasn't feeling good so he went on his own. It was still afternoon sunlight outside because it was summer. Tyler felt hungry so he went to get doughnuts at a mini-mart. He was careful not to wander too far off from the apartments so he wouldn't get lost in the city. He realized that he couldn't eat a ton of doughnuts by himself so he stopped by the police station and said hi to Riley and Morris. They asked him about how his arm and leg were since the last time they saw him,Tyler had his arm crushed by rubble and his leg gashed open by debris. He had scars in both his arm and leg now. He was there for maybe twenty minutes before he decided to wander back since it was almost 8pm and the sun was starting to go down. He didn't know what kind of weirdos were wandering around at night in big cities.

Daniel was off of work and headed home. He tried to get the elevator to work but nothing, it was fine that morning when he left. He was about to head up the stairs when Tyler showed up. 

"Where's your shirt, dude?" Daniel asked, looking him up and down.

"I ran out."

“You could have just taken one of Carson’s you know,” he added. Carson must not have offered, he’d have to ask him about that when he got back to the apartment. 

"Oh you're right, I didn't think of that." 

“By the way, did Carson’s migraine ever go away?” Daniel asked as he opened the door to the stairwell, having given up on the elevator.

"Why are you taking the stairs? And no I don't think so. Either that or he just wanted to sleep all day."

“The lift is broken. You coming or what?” He held the door open for him.

Tyler shook his inhaler to make sure he was ready," Yeah we might have to stop a few times on the way up." Tyler said as he and Daniel started up the stairs. It wasn't too hard at first but by the third flight he had to stop and take a breather.

Daniel sat down on the step next to him. He wasn’t thrilled about this either but he had been gone all day and wanted to get back to the apartment.

"Sorry Daniel," Tyler said breathlessly, a light layer of sweat starting to form on his forehead. "If asthma didn't exist we wouldn't have this problem." 

“I miss living on the second floor,” Daniel sighed, looking up at the many flights of stairs between them and the apartment. Of all days the elevator could stop working it just had to be today.

"Im happy I live on the second floor," Tyler chuckled and stood back up after catching his breath for a minute.

“Three more and we’ll be halfway there,” He said bitterly. Daniel seriously wondered if Tyler would make it.

Tyler sighed, alright he thought to himself. I can make 9 more right? "Alright let's go." He said, continuing up the stairs again. He lasted about one and a half more flights before he was out of breath again, "Daniel just keep going without me, I'll make it up eventually." He said half leaning on the rails.

Daniel shook his head and chuckled. If Carson was there he’d be making some dramatic speech right now about how he had to go on without him like some scene from a movie. A tiny part of him was tempted to just keep going and let Tyler take his time but he couldn’t do that. “Just take another break. We’ll get there, it’s not that far.”

"You sure, you look kind of annoyed I can tell."

Tyler was picking up on something but it wasn’t annoyance. Daniel had been gone for hours and it was starting to get to that point where he’d get anxious if he wasn’t with Carson. Daniel rubbed his hands over his arms as if he was cold despite it being quite hot still. “It’s fine.”

Tyler looked at him like he didn’t believe him but they continued up the stairs anyway. They were getting slower and slower, even with all the breaks. At this pace they would get there some time tomorrow morning.

As they climbed higher up the stairs his senses started to tingle, it felt weird like a thick haze. "The air is pretty thin up here don't ya think?" Tyler said fanning himself with his jacket.

Daniel laughed, “We’re not that high up. Is that inhaler working for you?”

"Yeah, it's fine, something feels off here, I can't tell what it is."

“It’s probably fine. The security is tight in this building,” Daniel dismissed the concern, thinking he had gone paranoid from oxygen deprivation. Everything felt fine to him.

They continued to climb the stairs to the 6th floor. It wasn't just his brain playing tricks on him, something really was weird, he couldn't tell what it was as they reached the landing of the 6th floor Tyler felt so compelled to open the door. Daniel just stared at him.in confusion.

“Uhhh, Tyler? We live on the 12th floor. Sorry to break it to you but we’re only halfway there.”

Tyler glanced at Daniel before his gaze returned to the door of the 6th floor, his eyebrows furrowing. What the hell was it? The thick feeling of haze was really strong there but he decided to open the door anyways before getting hit with a strange wave of negative emotions that had him slamming the door and pressing his back to it. "I don't- I don't feel too good," He said, taking a deep breath trying not to throw up.

Daniel put his arm out behind him so he couldn’t fall down the stairs if he passed out and looked at the door Tyler just slammed shut. “I don’t know what the hell is going on but I think we should get away from this door, yeah? Come on.” He grabbed his arm and urged him forward. He planned to come back later to investigate with Carson.

"Yea-" Tyler covered his mouth suppressing a gag and managing not to throw up in the middle of the stairwell.

Daniel looked at Tyler with caution and worry as he didnt want to be thrown up on but he also wanted to get Tyler out of there quickly. He didn't believe he was about to do this but it was the fastest way he crouched down and urged Tyler to get on his back making Tyler promise Not to throw up on him. He tried to reject Daniels' offer but he didn't give him much choice.  The further up they got the better Tyler seemed to get. On The 10th floor he told  Daniel that he was fine but Daniel didn't believe him and he still looked pale. He let Tyler down on a landing  when his feet hit the floor he stumbled a bit before straightening up and walking up the stairs. Daniel was glad that Tyler could walk on his own because he was exhausted from carrying him 4 flights up and he was tired and sweaty.

“I can buy dinner if you want me to, ya know, for carrying me.”

“Sure, thanks.”There was a little piece of him that wanted something for doing all of that, he was glad Tyler brought it up.

Carson woke up to Daniel and Tyler walking into the apartment. It was pretty noisy because Tyler had tripped over a boot that was laying in front of the door. His head felt a lot better than it did earlier but it still felt like an echo was there. He noticed that Daniel and Tyler both looked pretty worn out.

“What happened to you two?” 

“The elevator broke,” Tyler said, slipping off his converse.

“You actually walked 12 flights of stairs?” Carson asked knowing he would probably just wait until the elevator was fixed.

“Yeah, and lucky for you I'm ordering dinner,” Tyler said, flopping onto the couch opposite of Carson and pulling out his phone. “What do you guys want?” 

Carson didn hesitate when he declared he wanted sushi. Daniel went along with it. He was feeling good enough to  eat now and he was a little hungry anyway cause he hadn't eaten all day. Tyler sighed and fumbled with his phone a bit. They realized the guy delivering their food would have to walk all the way up the stairs. Carson didn't really care though. It was a while before The food got there, when it did they Tyler tipped the guy like ten bucks. They sat at the table and all separated their orders. Carson poked at his wich was normal. What was not normal is that Tyler was barely touching anything he had. The past week he had scarfed down anything he was handed.

“What's wrong?” Daniel asked, noticing Tyler's Lack of enthusiasm to eat anything.

“Dunno,” he sighed, setting down his fork, “I'm just, not hungry.”

“Could it have been from earlier?” 

 Carson was confused. Did something happen that Daniel hadn’t told him? Was that part of the reason they looked particularly tired when they walked in? “Earlier?” he asked, staring at Daniel expectantly.

“I’m not sure what happened exactly,” Daniel started not really knowing how to explain what happened in the stairwell.  

“There's something on the 6th floor,” Tyler stated. “A malevolent spirit most likely,” he pressed his hands into his face, just the feeling of being on the same floor as that thing was panic inducing the very thought of it made him sick to his stomach. “It’s been there for a while the whole floor reeks of it.”

“We need to send it back. It can't just be left there.” Carson stated.

“”Don't you think i know that? We can't just send it as it is we need to purify it.”

“What do you mean purify it?” Carson was genuinely confused. He didn't really know much about ghosts or spirits, only that they existed and they were sent to the other side after they had died.

“Ya know? Cleanse it, rid it of evil and malevolent, uh ness.” Tyler was trying to explain as well as he could but knew no professional terminology.

“That's real? I thought that was something that was in movies.”

“You and me both. I didn't figure things out until I moved into my current apartment.” When Tyler had moved in there was a spirit that was attached to that apartment for years. The first time he did it he woke up on the floor the next day with blood all over his face. It might end up the same way for Carson.

Tyler rushed over  to the bookshelf  gathering magic books and setting them on the table as he pushed his food aside which he probably couldn't stomach at the moment anyways. He grabbed the little notebook he had and started going at it desperately searching for anything that would make it easier to purify this thing. There were several things that related to sealing evil spirits but not purifying things. Eventually Carson joined in on the research too as well as Daniel.

The more Daniel thought about it, the more of a bad idea it seemed. How much energy this would take out of Carson or Tyler not knowing what it would do to them. What if it got one of these guys possessed. There were a lot of worst case scenarios that flooded through his head when something Tyler said confirmed one of his suspicions.

“We’d need some way to keep the spirit from getting to us, it’d want to leave but it needs a physical body to do so.”

Carson started to say something when Daniel snapped a book closed. “I'm not letting you do this,” He said, collecting books from the table attempting to stop them from getting any more ideas. 

“Why what's the harm?” Tyler complained.

“What's the harm?! Do you have any idea what getting possessed might do to you guys?”

Tyler was hovering over a few books protectively looking slightly annoyed “Yes actually, it's not as bad as you think. It only happened because I didn't know how to keep them out.”

“Do you really think Carson knows how to do that?”  Daniel asked like Carson wasnt sitting right next to them.

Carson couldn't blame Daniel for being concerned he could have at least a little faith in him. Daniel reached for the books Tyler was hovering over  before his hand was shooed away  and Tyler pulled the books closer to himself glaring at Daniel with a “don't you dare touch these” look. He couldn't understand why he was being so defensive about it.  “I’m not letting you do it. Not if there's a risk of getting possessed.” They continued to bicker about it before Daniel dropped the conversation and went to bed. Tyler stayed up later than Carson still looking for things that would help him purify this thing until he found something. If Daniel didn't want them to take care of this then he would have to sneak out. He drew the symbol on about 15 pieces of paper so it would be one big circle then taped it all together and folded it and shoved it into the book it came from. He had to wake carson up so he managed to telepathically communicate with him. Something they had learned to do around the time they first met.

“Hey,” He thought into Carson's head while he was sleeping.”Hey wake up, I've got it.”

It took a second for Carson to respond. “Got what? Why are you waking me up?” He thought back

“We can purify it now. Lets go.”

“What? Now?”

“Yes and don't wake up Daniel. He’ll get in the way.” Tyler didn't hear anything from Carson so he thought he might have to do it alone. He suddenly came out of Daniel’s room  wearing sweatpants and a sweater even though it was summer as well as an empty jar that gave off a weird energy.  It made Carson feel a little nostalgic for when he used to sneak out when he was a teenager.

“You’re actually coming?” Tyler whispered as he was slipping on his shoes. He was glad he didn't have to work on his own.

Carson tossed him a bracelet that was made of large wooden beads that each had symbols carved into it. Then he slipped one onto his own wrist. “You said we needed it right?” 

Carson started to slip on his shoes when Daniel came out of the room with his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. “If you're going somewhere I'm coming too.”

“Do whatever,” Tyler mumbled angrily which seemed out of character for him “If you get in our way I'll make you wait outside.” 

They left the apartment and tried the elevator again luckily it seemed to be fixed. It would have been very convenient for them earlier. They took it down to the sixth floor Carson noticed how more irritated Tyler seemed as they went down. They arrived on the 6th floor and Carson could feel the energy there even though he was wearing the bracelet it felt heavy. Tyler seemed to be incredibly anxious at this point as he took a deep brethand closed his eyes as he walked forward keeping them closed. Carson was confused as to what he was doing  until he saw him reaching his hands over the doors. He was feeling for what apartment it was in however Daniel didn't seem to catch on.

“What are you doing?” He asked. Tyler snapped his head in their direction with a disturbing look of anger in his face, his purple eyes staring daggers at them before turning his head and continuing what he was doing. It seemed to startle Daniel “What's up with him?” Daniel asked carson with his brow furrowing slightly. Carson was just as confused as Daniel was. He couldn't really think of real reasons Tyler would be angry he didn't even get mad when Carson had Tackled him at one point he just got up and brushed himself off as Carson stormed away.

Tyler suddenly stopped and knocked on the door of 606 several times before a middle aged man with a beer belly and a white Tank Top he seemed to be even taller than Daniel which ment he towerd over Tyler. came out looking angry and very annoyed. Apparently Tyler was even more so because he was having none of this shit. 

“Look, your apartment is haunted. I'll give you two options, One; You let us pass and purify the spirit we will be gone quickly.  Two; we force our way in and if you try to stop us I will knock you out with that lamp shade behind you. So what's it gonna be?” The man chuckled and told Tyler to prove it, big mistake. Tyler stuck his hand up with two fingers in the air and pulled them towards himself as a lamp came flying from behind the guy  knocking him out as Tyler emotionlessly and let the man fall and stepped over him.

They really started to get concerned at Tyler's sudden shift in behavior and decided they should point it out. “Tyler? Ya good there dude?” Carson asked as He and Daniel walked towards the apartment door. 

Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Yeah fine, lets get it over with.”

He just stared at Tyler as he walked into the apartment somebodys in a bad mood. He thought to himself.

 The feeling of dread when they walked into the apartment was probably the strangest sensation ever. It was messy and gross and it smelled like beer, they had to clear out a space just to sit. How is this something he hadn't noticed for the several  years that he had lived in that building. Tyler walked in setting up the large magic circle sheet and set it up on the floor while sitting next to it. Carson checked to see if it was stable with his vision and it had a pretty strong structure. “How do we do this?” Carson asked, he had no idea how to purify a spirit. 

“I have to pry the dark energy apart from the soul without damaging it, It's kind of like surgery it can take anywhere from a few minutes to six or so hours.” He suddenly jerked forward, setting one hand on the floor and the other on his stomach then moving it to his mouth exhaling from his nose before continuing. “We might be here w while so-” he stood up suddenly and dashed towards the bathroom. The apartment was the same as Carson's but reversed so he knew where everything was more or less. He locked the door behind him leaving Daniel and Carson in an awkward silence and the muffled sound of Tyler hacking up everything he had eaten in the past 20 years.

Carson was also feeling nauseous he wasn't sure if it was because the putrid smell of the apartment or the thick feeling that came along with the spirit but he managed to push it to the back of his mind he was glad that he isn't as sensitive to these things as Tyler was.  Carson continued setting things up looking through bookmarks. Tyler had  book marked and had witten things on sticky notes. Lots of things and symbols related to sealing and removing dark spirits. E came out of the bathroom like nothing happened and got right back to what he was doing. “Carson do you know how to separate things like that?”

Carson had a lot of experience in this field. It can't be any different from separating cancer cells right? “Yeah it takes a while though.”

“Good.” Tyler said “it would shorten the time it takes to do this.” Tyler took the time to put  strange purple flower in the center of the magic circle   and waited. Caron got a strange chill up his spine as well as Tyler then the flower turned red, it had started. Carson looked with his magic  there was a strange dark energy that stained the flower and that same dark energy was swirling around trying to get out of the circle.

 Tyler and Carson set their hands  onto the edge of the circle and began. Bit by bit they began picking off the bad and negative  pieces like picking olives off a pizza. To anyone outside it would look like they were just sitting there with their eyes closed. But to them it was like an operating room one wrong step and they could corrupt the soul or even themselves. Both Tyler and Carson broke into a sweat as they started to struggle, they were at a very delicate spot where they were separating stuff from the core of the soul, “Are we almost there?” Carson groned. They both appeared to be getting exhausted after about an hour. The man that Tyler had hit with the lamp had gotten up and was enraged. How dare some random strangers demand to be let in. Daniel wasn't paying attention when the man got up. He stormed by and grabbed Tyler by the shoulder breaking his concentration. 

“Who the hell do you think you are, you little shit?!” the man screamed, shaking Tylers shoulder causing his hand to slip. He grimiched and yelped in pain.what he had been doing was very delicate so his lack of control was dangerous for him and the soul. His nose let out a small stream of blood as he repositioned himself. Daniel grabbed the man's arm and tried to hold him back then he whipped out his phone. “You all are a buch of fuckin  magic useres the cops can deal with you.” Daniel panicked but  there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. As the police were on their way Carson started shaking, Daniel got closer to check on him only to discover he was starting to shiver. Daniel took off the light jacket he was wearing and threw it over Carson. That would do little to help. There was a knock at the door behind them, it was the police. The busts in the door guns drawn. 

“This is the police! Don't move, any use of magic and we will shoot.” Daniels' heart was beating a million miles a minute as the apartment owner stood there with a snarky grin on his face. The officers looked around and locked eyes on Carson who was facing the door. He lowered his gun as well as the woman with him. “Sir you are not in danger here” the male officer said putting the gun back in its holster. The man had been saved by

“You should just go home sir,”The female officer said.

The man got angry. You could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. “This is MY house!! They're the ones who broke in!”

“Then you should go somewhere else,” she said closing the door and leaving. The man was more angry than he was and glared daggers at Daniel as he was still in between him and the two magicians sitting on the floor. 

The last bit of negative energy had been removed and then they spring into action startling Daniel and the drunk. Carson suddenly Smacked a jar onto the floor and held it with both hands as Tyler jumped up grabbing what seemed to Daniel, thin air and shoved it into the jar. Tyler kneeled in the center of the circle and seemed to concentrate.

Dark energy was swirling around him and he needed to dissolve it. He had little control so what he was going to do was risky, he concentrated as much as he could and destroyed the dark parts, their energy dissolving and lifting the feeling of the room. He and Carson started panting heavily as soon as it was done. Everything suddenly felt hot and cold at the same time. He scooted backwards into the couch still panting and letting out little coughs. “Take- that. You sick son of a bitch.” he let his eyes slip closed as he went limp falling sideways. Carson let out a wispy laugh before laying down on his side and curling up while he shivered. Daniel went straight to Carson as Tyler just seemed worn out so he wasn't too worried about him.  

“Car? Carson can you hear me?” Daniel asked as he repositioned the jacket so it was completely wrapped around Carson like a swaddle. Carson gave a lazy nod, keeping his eyes closed, as Daniel looked around for more things to cover him up with. “I need blankets, please,” He begged the drunk. Luckily he wasn't completely heartless and got about four blankets and gave them to Daniel. He threw them over Carson and wrapped him up. Over the blankets, Daniel wrapped his arms around Carson to provide some warmth, knowing he wouldn’t complain at a time like this. He ran his hands up and down Carson’s arms instinctively as if the friction would help somehow. “I told you it wasn't a good idea didn’t I?” He glanced over at Tyler who was still out cold but he could see that he was breathing steadily so he didn’t seem to be in immediate danger. About ten minutes went by and Carson seemed to be warming up though he was still shivering a bit. “Can you stand? We need to get back to the apartment,” He needed to get Carson and Tyler out of there, mainly to treat them, but he also didn't want to stay in that disgusting apartment anymore it smelled and there were empty beer bottles, clothes, paper and food wrappers all over.

Carson didn't want to move but he reluctantly got up and wrapped himself up in Daniels jacket that was two sizes too big, still shivering. He looked sad as he was forced to leave his pile of blankets behind. Daniel managed to prop Tyler on his back and walk out the apartment and to the elevator. All Carson could do was trail behind him, trying to keep up even though his legs felt stiff and weak. Daniel’s back felt uncomfortably hot, more hot than it should be. It dawned on him that Tyler might have a mild fever and he'd have to check it when he got to the apartment. Carson was still shivering, he looked exhausted, like he was ready to just sleep on the elevator floor. He’d seen that look of exhaustion on Carson before. His eyes were glazed over and Daniel could tell just looking at him that he was counting down the seconds until he could sit down again. Carson kept an eye on Tyler, he seemed okay but he wouldn’t really know without looking at him with his magical senses. When he tried to switch over to his other sight he closed his eyes for a little too long and forgot what he was doing. The ding of the elevator woke him back up suddenly. 

Daniel laid Tyler on the couch and motioned Carson to do the same. He got the thermometer and blankets while pulling out his phone. He was honestly overwhelmed. He could handle just Carson but not both, he couldn't do this on his own and there was only one person he could really call in this situation. Carson's mom, Diana. She was a registered nurse and she might know what to do, at the very least she’d know more than he did. Daniel stuck the thermometer into Tyler's mouth and made sure Carson was fully covered in blankets, then he turned up the heat a bit while he dialed Diana's number. 

‘He-hello Diana?” Daniel stuttered, standing up and running his hand through his hair before going to check the thermometer that just beeped. 101.6*, okay not too bad, now for Carson. 

“Daniel? What's wrong?” she asked, hearing the panic in Daniels' voice. “Is it Carson?”

“Yeah he-”

“I'll be there in twenty minutes.” Diana lived a good two hours away but when it came to Carson she could care less about a speeding ticket.

“Okay, I-I have another person here too, he has a low fever, he should be fine.” 

“Okay,” she responded, Daniel could hear shuffling on the other side of the phone before she hung up. Daniel heard the beep of the thermometer, 94*. Carson was falling asleep so Daniel patted the side of his face to wake him up. “Come on Carson, you can't fall asleep.” he sat Carson up on the couch and kept an eye on him to make sure he wasn't closing his light blue eyes for any reason but blinking. Tyler started to stir as he woke up he let out a coughing fit, lifting his head off the arm of the couch. Daniel knew that wasn't a good sign coming from Tyler but why he was coughing wasn’t from asthma.

“Tyler are you okay?” Daniel asked. But didn't get a response. He still seemed dazed. Daniel paced around until Diana got there. 

He heard knocking at the door and quickly let Diana in. She went straight to Carson.

He's cold, what's his temperature?

“94*, it was 94* last time I checked.” Tyler let out  another coughing fit each one sounding more aggressive. Daniel went for the yellow bag in carson's bedroom and pulled out an inhaler and brought it out. “Tyler, do you need this, be honest with me.” 

“Diana wiped her head around to see Tyler behind her she quickly moved the coffee table so it was perpendicular to the couches and ad the end of the couch were Carson and Tyler's feet were facing and set a bunch of medical supplies she had brought with her including IV bags, a first aid kit, and things you could do surgery with. “Is he an asthmatic?” she asked. 

“Uh- yes.” Daniel stuttered

“Bring any medical supplies he has out here, just in case. And prop pillows under him don't let him lay flat on his back like that especially if he's coughing.” Daniel did as she asked as Diana tended to Carson attempting to warm him up. Dropping one of the blankets over Carson's head  and making sure none of him was exposed to open air accept his face as he just stared at her in a daze as she laid him down.

“Mom? Why are you here?” he asked.

“Because I’m your mom I don't need a reason to visit.

Daniel came out with the nebulizer, yellow backpack and about six pillows. He did as the nurse asked and propped Tyler up as he had his hand around Tyler's head. It felt hot and it was then he noticed he was dripping in sweat. “No no it can't be,” he muttered to himself. He grabbed the thermometer and re-checked Tyler's temperature.* “Uh, diana? Do fevers usually rise this quickly?” Daniel asked with panic in his voice.

“What was it before ?”she asked. Raising an eyebrow.

“101.6,” he stammered.

“What is it now?”

“102.4” Daniel said, hands shaking. He was getting so overwhelmed at this point he felt like he was going to cry.

“Give him the acetaminophen in the IV bag over there.”

“But-” Daniel had hardly any confidence putting a needle in anybody but he was taught how to do it correctly by Diana so he had no choice because she was busy with Carson. 

Tyler was just lying there dazed as he let out small coughs here and there. He just stared into nothing until he saw  the needle above him. Something told him he should be afraid of it. He jerked his arm away  as his breathing became rapid and panicked as he tried to squirm away.  Daniel put his hand over Tylers chest to make sure he stayed down but that just scared him more. He tried to grab at  Daniels arm and push him off but he was a lot stronger than Tyler was. “No, no no no no.” he whined, kicking his legs and making things difficult. Daniel held down Tylers arm as he inserted the IV into Tyler's arm and set the bag on the back of the couch. He dragged a lamp over and hooked the bag on a branch of the lamp.

After Diana finished tending to Carson he went over Tyler and gave him a full blown check up. He could tell he was underweight just by the fact he could see his ribs, he still wasn't wearing a shirt. He seemed to be getting very agitated at people touching him, getting as fidgety as Carson would be. He suddenly got aggressive and went to bite at Diana before Daniel pulled her back letting Tyler scratch his arm. For Diana it was just another day of work but Carson wasn't having it. He sat up and came to attention as a protective instinct  came over him.

“What the hell man?!” Carson shouted still wrapped in several blankets. “Back off, pull yourself together!”

Daniel got in between Diana and Tyler who he noticed was acting very strange and out of character. Tyler let out an aggressive wet cough  that seemed to go on forever. She needed to check his breathing. The aggressive coughing was worrying.

“Is he normally aggressive like this?” She asked, grabbing a syringe and making sure there were no air bubbles.

“No, he's pretty cooperative.” Daniel said. Diana asked him to hold Tyler down  while she sedated him. Tyler slowly stopped fidgeting  until his eyes fluttered closed and he was fully sedated. She put a stethoscope to his chest and back as Daniel held him up. It sounded normal, for an asthmatic anyways. Tyler seemed fine for now despite the fever so she went back to Carson going to recheck his temperature. 96* still a little low but he wasn't hypothermic anymore. They enjoyed the next ten minutes as there wasn't a whole lot of chaos.

“So,” Diana started. “How do you guys know this kid? Tyler was it?”

“Daniel glanced at Tyler who would  be out cold for the next 15 minutes or so, “We met him during the case we did in Oregon. He was a magic consultant.” 

“He’s a magician?” Diana asked kind of surprised she had never met another magician other than Carson so she was kind of intrigued. Tyler wasn't actually a magician, he was a psychic but she really didn't know the difference.

“Yeah, he's pretty inexperienced.” Carson chimed in. “And annoying, I had to stab this guy in the leg with a bronchodilator the other day. At like three o’clock in the morning.”

“How long has he had magic?”

“Two and a half years. At least that's what he said.”

“What about” Diana paused with a sympathetic look in her eyes.”How he’s treated. You know? For having magic.” Carson was treated horribly by peers at school and the people in his little town when he was younger; she felt horrible just at the thought that Tyler might be treated that way too.

“Lets just say they put him in police work to keep an eye on him. Apparently he's powerful enough to have the feds breathing down his neck.”

Diana sighed “I'm glad they don't have you on any kind of list.”

“It doesn't really help that he doesn't have all the control Carson has.” Daniel said snickering trying to bring a good vibe to the conversation. They continued to talk about things Tyler has told them like his five siblings or his girlfriend who Carson thought was way too cheery. They also talked about Daniel's bookstore and just how life was in general. 

“Hn-” They heard a groan from Tyler and looked back at him, he was dripping in sweat as his bangs clinged to his forehead,  uncomfortably shifting around. His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes opened. They all tensed up seeing as Tyler was getting aggressive for seemingly no reason. He tried to get up but he couldn't even stand, the fever was making him dizzy. Diana went to help him but he seemed worse than he was half an hour ago. She felt his forehead with caution but lucky he didn't have the strength to fight anymore even though he tried to push her away. He felt too hot for it to be normal. They checked his fever again for the third time. 104.2*.

“This isn't normal, it should have gone down,” she muttered to herself. “What were you guys doing Carson? Before Daniel called me.”

“Purifying a spirit,”

She wanted to ask a million questions, she didn't know what that meant ,how, or why he did it. “What happened while you were doing that? Did anything feel strange about him?”

Carson decided to look at Tyler with his magic. If this problem wasn't physical it was magical and he was right, he could see something with an ugly red tint attached to Tyler. “Something’s there.” he chimed getting up off the couch and wobbling over to his mom and Tyler. “I think it's part of the spirit we purified,” When the man grabbed at Tyler's shoulder causing him to slip, he had messed up the process and a bit of the dark energy slipped passed his defences even though they had been wearing the bracelets. Unfortunately spirits aren't magic.

“So it is magic, how do we get rid of it?” Diana asked hoping it would be simple.

Carson placed his hands on Tylers arm to really read what was going on. “It’s acting like an infection, his system might be trying to fight something that isn’t there.”

“Is that what's causing the fever?” Daniel asked

“Probably,” It was relatively easy to get rid of something that caused so much damage. It was like peeling a band aid except you had to be more delicate. As soon as Carson plucked away the dark energy tyler seemed to relax and went limp on the floor just like that the chaos was over. They were all tired. It was four or five in the morning and Diana decided she would spend the night to keep an eye on Carson and Tyler. She kept Carson awake until the thermometer was above 97* just to be safe. 

Daniel was glad it was one of his days off because if it wasn't he'd be late for work. It was around 2 pm and everyone was sleeping. The IV had been taken out of Tylers arm and he had been covered in a blanket. Carson had kicked off a few of the blankets he had been laid under in his sleep. It was a good sign That meant the blankets were too warm and he was back to normal. Tyler was still coughing but not nearly as violently. He decided to grab the thermometer science Diana was still sleeping on the floor next to the couch Carson was on. He put the thermometer in Tyler's mouth as he went to make something to eat. He came back with some toast and eggs and sat down on the floor by the coffee table which was still pushed to the side. He checked the thermometer 100.2 , the fever probably broke this morning because it was still on the border. He sat there by himself and ate before turning in the TV. He made sure the volume was down this time so he could let everyone sleep. They had a rough night.

Diana woke up and Checked on Carson, accidentally waking him up. "You stayed?" Carson asked. He wasn't sure why he asked, he already knew she would.

"I don't need a reason too, '' she chimed, rubbing his head. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," He really was doing okay he still didn't want to worry his mom anymore.

"That's good," She said smiling.

She checked in with Daniel because he still seemed stressed. She couldn't blame him, if Tyler had not been in bad shape too, Daniel could have handled it on his own. He might have looked strong and tough on the outside but really he was the equivalent to a puppy.  Diana went To check on Tyler who might have been awake for a while because he was lying there spaced out just staring at the light fixture on the ceiling. She was very cautious getting close but any kind of aggressive behavior had dissipated and he was completely calm. He could barely remember what happened. The time he spent just staring at the ceiling was him trying to recall anything past starting the purification. It was only when  He saw Diana's face appear over him that a few gears clicked in his head. He mindlessly grabbed her arms and checked them for scratches and bite marks; she just let him, he looked around for Daniel who he saw behind Diana watching tv. There were several scratches on his forearm and a wave of guilt washed over him. Did he do that?

“S-orry,” Tyler mumbled. “I'm sorry for hurting you guys.” He couldn't look them in the eye they had tried to help but all he did was try to hurt them.

“It's no big deal,” Diana said, sitting him up and checking his lungs. “I deal with difficult patients all the time.” She asked him to take a deep breath and he did so. “Anyways , I'm glad you seem to be doing better.”

Carson eyed Daniel who was rubbing his arm which was covered in scratches. He got up and sat beside Daniel on the floor and brushed his arm against Daniels healing all of the scratches. He couldn't help being upset even though it wasn't entirely Tyler's fault. Whatever had attached to him seemed to be making him aggressive because when Carson had taken it out he went back to normal. He saw Tyler try to get up but he seemed  unsteady on his feet but managed to walk to the bathroom. A second later they hear Tyler scream all of their heads looking in that direction.

“What the hell happened to my hair?!” He swung his head out of the bathroom door. “Why the hell didn't you tell me I looked like a drowned rat?!” He went right back into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Everyone just stood there in confusion. They were surprised how quickly he seemed to bounce back from being sick just the day before.

Daniel and Diana sat on the couch since Nobody was laying on it anymore. They pulled out their phones just appearing to be scrolling through social media but really they were texting back and forth. Diana asked if he was eating well enough because he had a serious problem with that in high school, a mother can't help but check on her child. She recommended fettuccine Alferdo because Carson liked it a lot and sent him the recipe. Carson would once in a while give them a suspicious lance because they would let out a quiet giggle here and there. Carson just decided to read a book, it was one he had read a million times but he still enjoyed.it was called Catching the Rye. The plot really reminded him of himself.

Tyler came out of the bathroom about 15 minutes  after the water had stopped . Carson had wondered what had taken so long but when he came out of the bathroom he knew why. His hair was now short and it looked oddly fluffy because it had been blow dried but you could tell it was a bit choppy. It was a little longer than Carson's now he still had side bangs and still had hair chunks that settled at his sideburns  which were now visible. When Tyler walked passed you could tell that he had missed a few chunks in the back. He looked about five years younger.

“Who are you and what have you done with Tyler?” Carson asked, surprised  and Daniel seemed to be too. You could see little flecks of hair on his neck and shirt. 

“I am a ghost come to haunt you.” Tyler said sarcastically sitting next to Diana on the couch.

“You didn't leave all that hair on the bathroom floor did you?” Carson asked.

“No, What am I, a slob?”

Diana couldn't help but point out the chunks of hair he missed in the back as Tyler went to fumble with it. “Want me to fix it?” she asked. He looked at her questioningly then nodded his head. Diana went to pull a chair for Tyler to sit in while she stood behind him and fixed the things he missed. She started asking him questions about things Daniel and Carson told her.

“Are you really a magician?” Diana asked Tyler pated his fingers on the back of the chair as he was sitting backwards in it before answering.

“I'm a psychic, It's different from magic.”

“How is it?” Diana asked, sniping at Tyler's hair and brushing some of his back. 

“Well, psychics deal with the power of our mind not using the energy around you. If Carson tried he could probably grow a plant but I wouldn't even be able to sprout a seed ya know. I would be able to read anybody's mind with ease, all accept for Carson.”

Diana wasn't so sure about that but she had no reason to to believe him. She wanted to test him.

“Oh really? What am I thinking?”

Tyler tilted his head a bit and closed his eyes. The fact that Diana was touching him made it easy to read her mind like blinking. “ 2,583”

Diana wasn’t surprised she expected the unexpected but still found it intriguing. “Hmm, impressive, what other things can you do?”

“Watch this,” Tyler still didn't feel well enough to do anything too big but he decided to cause Carson some trouble. He pointed two fingers in carsons direction and flipped a blanket over his head  then pulled his phone which was on the coffee table toward him and caught it in his hand. He made a mischievous  snicker as Carson went to glare at Tyler.

Diana smiled, holding back a laugh and finishing up Tyler's hair. “There, done.” she said brushing off his back.

Tyler stood up stretched and scratched his neck then Daniel stood up. "Anyone want something to eat?” He asked. Daniel didn't feel like getting up and making a whole lot of food so he just ordered takeout. They sat there and waited with Carson almost falling back asleep. There was a knock at the door then Daniel grabbed the food and went to separate it in between everyone else. Danie land Diana ate normally while Tyler and Carson hardly touched anything. Any kind of appetite they had for that day was gone. One could hardly blame them. Just the night before they were both in bad condition. Tyler feels bad if he doesn't finish food that is made or bought for him and he tried finishing it with all his might. About halfway through he stopped eating entirely. Carson only took one or two bites before stopping, He felt nauseous. Diana kept prying Tyler about his family and his home life. Eventually She had to leave because she had work the next day. Daniel and Carson (but mainly Daniel) Explained The majority of what happened because Tyler hardly remembered anything other than attacking Daniel.

The next day Carson tip-toed over to the door of his bedroom where Tyler was sleeping before remembering an earthquake couldn’t wake him. He sighed, loosening his shoulders as he walked in heading straight for the closet. If he wanted clothes he could have easily taken some from Daniel’s room but he wasn’t looking for clothes. On the top shelf in plain view was his bong -- a small, glass piece maybe 8 inches tall. Next to it was a bag of supplies. Carson grabbed both and went out to the apartment’s small balcony. It felt weird to smoke weed out there. He always felt like the world was staring back at him. He missed his old back porch, shaded by the tree and hidden by the fence. Here he could look in either direction and see more balconies and if he looked straight ahead, well there it was, New York City. Carson fell back into one of the lawn chairs and got to work setting up his things. He rarely got up this early but it felt right somehow. Finally some peace and quiet. Daniel was at work, Tyler was asleep-

“What are ya doing out here?” Tyler asked suddenly, poking his head through the door. His purple eyes were full of innocence.

Carson looked down at the bong, realizing there was no point lying now. He caught him. “You’re letting out all the AC. Decide, in or out,” he told him. Tyler realized he was in fact, standing in the doorway letting out all the cool air. On a whim, he decided to join him out on the balcony. Tyler slid the door closed and sat sideways on the other chair to face him, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Carson asked rhetorically as he hit the bong. He stared Tyler right in the eyes as he did as if to say “judge me, I dare you”.

“It looks like you're smoking something,” Tyler quipped.

“So you aren’t completely blind after all, good for you.” Carson replied. He settled further into the cushions of the chair, straightening out his legs. This wasn’t exactly how he planned for this to go but he could manage. Tyler would probably get bored in a minute and go back inside anyway.

“I wanna try it.”

Carson coughed on a cloud of smoke, his face momentarily getting red from the strain. ”You what?” He asked in disbelief.

“You deaf? I wanna try it, what exactly is it that you’re smoking?”

“Just how long were you in that coma? It’s weed, obviously.” Carson scoffed. Who didn’t know what weed looked like?

“Three and a half years,” Tyler didn't really know slang for stuff like that so he was genuinely confused. “weed?”

Carson perked up, suddenly turning to look at him, “You’re kidding.”

“Well I don't know what weed is if it's slang for something I wouldn't know, ya know?”

Carson looked like he had a million things he wanted to say about that but he just sighed, shaking his head. “Weed, pot, grass, marijuana, ringing any bells?”

“Oh, you should have said marajuana in the first pace.”

“You know who says the word ‘marijuana’? Narcs, that’s who,” Carson argued.

“I'm used to dealing with the crackheads. I only know professional terminology.” 

The wind suddenly changed directions, blowing some smoke in Tyler’s face. Carson grimaced, “Better go inside before you lose a lung, kid.”

“I can do what I wanna, i'm not a kid ya know,”

There was a spark of mischief in Carson’s eye. “Okay, go ahead then,” He challenged, handing him the bong and a lighter. Carson sat back and watched, expecting him to not know what to do with it. Tyler tried blowing onto the bong failing horribly and spilling ash onto his leg.

If  Carson wasn’t already feeling it a little he’d be twitching with annoyance seeing him waste perfectly good weed like that but in that moment, all he could do was laugh. “I knew it.”

Tyler tilted his head and looked confusingly at Carson. “What?” 

Carson rolled his eyes and thrust his hand out, “Give it back.”

Tyler looked a little bit sad as he glanced at the bong and handed it back to Carson. He wanted to be mischievous.

            Once he had his things back, Carson put a little fresh weed from his bag into it and looked at Tyler purposefully, “Just watch.” He held up his lighter in one hand with the bong in the other then did everything in slow motion. Carson lit the bowl and waited for it to smoke a little then inhaled, causing the glass to fill with smoke. Then he pulled the weed out and inhaled. “You got all that or do you want me to do it again?”

“I think so,”  Tyler said, taking the bong and weed from Carson and copying his actions. He let out a few coughs but strangely, it didn’t trigger his asthma.

Tyler passed it back to Carson and Carson took another hit then set it down on the deck. The city looked so beautiful from up high. There was a slight breeze too which was a miracle for the weather they’d been having. Tyler seemed to enjoy every second of the breeze as he inhaled through his nose.

“It’s nice up here, isn’t it?” Carson asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, you don't see places this high in my town.” Tyler said, gesturing for Carson to give him more with his hand outstretched. He was feeling the effects start to kick in a bit.

“Oh man, you know what we need?” He turned to him, looking suspiciously friendly.

“Hmm?” Tyler said, taking another hit.

A small smile spread across Carson’s face, “Blankets.”

“That same smile spread on Tyler's face. “Fluffy ones?”

Instead of answering Carson just stepped back into the apartment, disappearing inside to go hunt down those blankets. He ended up grabbing two that were already draped over the couches from last night. When he came back and handed one over, Tyler noticed that he seemed a bit different somehow. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Carson got comfortable on his chair again and spread the blanket over himself so that his feet were still poking out. Tyler, instead of copying carson completely wrapped himself up including his head and rubbed his face on the blanket. He really looked like a child.  

Tyler liked the smell of the detergent. It was somehow comforting. “Soft,” he muttered, staring off into space.

It was oddly peaceful to Carson, he usually did this alone  but now there was somebody to do it with at least just this once. “You know, you’re not as much of a nuisance as I thought you were.”

“Really?”Tyler genuinely couldn't ever read Carson. His mind was closed off. It was like a door made of steel shielded with cast iron so reading his mind was impossible. It was nice to know that he wasn’t a total burden.

“Yeah.” Carson said stretching his arms up and setting them behind his head. He might not have admitted that if he was sober.

Speaking of sober Tyler definitely wasn’t. He was happily humming to himself without a care in the world. Seeing him agitated the other night made him curious about what would happen if he really got angry. Seeing him now you would never think he was capable of any kind of rage. Last november he had brutally beaten a man who had hurt his girlfriend. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was like on the receiving end of it. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He went to reach for the bong but it wasn’t there, Tyler had it. Carson asked for it and Tyler went to hand it to him. Instead of using his left hand which was closer to Carson he used his right. If Carson's hand would have been there it would have broken because it seemed to slip through Tylers fingers. He just went to staring at his hand wiggling his fingers like was making sure they were there and rubbing at a scar that was on the outer part of his forearm.

They heard a door slamming from inside the house. It was probably Daniel coming home for lunch. “Carson? He called. “Tyler? Are you guys here?” he spotted them on the balcony as he got closer to the glass door. He saw a puff of smoke come from one side. Was he really smoking? Daniel poked his head on the balcony but not only was Carson high but Tyler seemed to be too.

“Really, I was gone for a few hours and this is what you do?” Daniel gave Carson a glare then listened to a short cough that Tyler let out. “You let he asthmatic smoke?!” 

“I’m not his babysitter, besides he's the one who wanted to.”

“Y-” Daniel sighed and went back inside to make lunch.  Carson followed him inside with his blanket trailing behind him as well as Tyler.

 Carson caught Tyler staring at him with an unreadable look. “What are you doing?” He asked, kind of feeling weirded out.

“I'm taller.”

Carson stared back at Tyler with a slight look of annoyance. He studied Tyler for a second and he probably was taller maybe an inch or two. They heard Daniel open the fridge in the kitchen and just sat on the couch. Tyler laid down and his eyes looked bloodshot and he seemed ready to go back to sleep. He got up sniffing the air about ten minutes later sniffing the air and going to the kitchen leaving Carson by himself in the living room. Daniel and Tyler came out with a few plates of food with some pasta with white sauce  and some vegetables. He then left for work and Crson and tyler spent the majority of the day being high and watching stupid things that made no scence but was funny to them anyway.

The day came Where Tyler had to leave, Daniel and Carson helped Tyler carry his things to his little Red car. “Ya glad to Have your room back?” Tyler asked, throwing stuff into the hatchback of his car.

“I guess.” To Tyler he sounded a little disappointed.

“What, you’re not actually upset I'm leaving are ya?”

“Not really.” Carson said, pulling out a black leather book that looked kind of fancy. “Here.” he said shoving it into Tyler's hands.

“What's this for?”

“Every magician needs a journal don't you think?”

Tyler managed to conceal his excitement but not the big grin that appeared on his face. Tyler flipped through the first few pages on the first page were Daniel and Carson's numbers. There were several things written in it about controlling magic inside a circle, and the way structure affects how strong the seal was. There was a lot of emphasis on control.

“You're giving me this?” Tyler asked Looking up at Carson. 

Carson clapped his hands  over Tyler's shoulder. "That’ll be 12.95.”

Tyler couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't tell if Carson was serious so  he smacked a 20$ bill into his hand, Carson looking slightly surprised. Tyler put his hand on Carson's shoulder. “Instead of buying Marijuana with that buy yourself a few more books. Getting high all the time isn't super good for you ya know.”

“No promises,” Carson said Turning his head as Tyler started walking to his car.

He got in his car and got in rolling down his window. “Keep the change!” He yelled as he turned out of the parking lot and sped away. Carson felt a twinge of sadness when he sped away and went out of sight.

[gainerboystories]

Farm hands forced weight gain

A small town in North Carolina we see Jack a slim 18 year old that is looking for work, hes only slim no muscle or fat, a blank slate you can say. The town is very small with only a population of around 50 people, the town has only a few places to work most people resorting to working on farms. So jack accepts his fate, as much as he doesnt like the idea, and jumps in his truck to the nearest farm that he knows will hire him.

After driving about 7 miles, Jake arives at 'David's Ranch' as Jack reads on the wooden sign. He dives through the enterance and down the long dirt road with feilds spread across both sides, the right pigs and left cows blocked of with a long wooden fence from the enterance down about half a mile. After the feilds they is a large dirt area, straight infrount of the road is a small cabin, to the right is a large white and red barn and the left is a area holding all the farm equipment and a large truck with hay bales in the back.

Jack pulls in front of the small cabin and starts to get out of his truck, and walks up to the cabin, the cabin has a little raised deck just before the mesh door with the main doordoor open on the inside. He does a little knock on the wood near the door at first but nobody answers, then one a little lowder. Through the mesh Jack sees a large towering figure coming around the corner at the back of the cabin, walking quickly towards the door. The man unlocks and opens the mesh door and speaks in a raspy tone, "Hello?", Jack looking up at the incredibly tall man exsames him, hes shirtless, huge muscles covered with a thick fur of hair, giant feet and hands, and at least 7 foot tall. "I said hello...", Jack looks back up at him and says worryingly, "urm hello, i was wondering if you was in the need of a farm hand?". The man looks Jack up and down like Jack did to him. "Little small for a farm hand, are you sure", Jack replied "yes ive been doing manual labour most my life". The man pauses, then reponds "so if you wanna work on this farm its gonna be long hours, sometimes 12 hours", jack reluctantly agrees. The man holds out his hand for a shake and says, "im David", jack lifts his arm and places his tiny hand in David's palm, "im Jack".

"Come in Jack i can talk to you about work".

They enter an Jack is hit by a smell of Davids Bo, whats the point of wearing deoderant when your alone in the middle if nowhere. The cabin is small a living area to the right as you walk in, a small kitchen in the back right corner behind a large brormwn leather recliner, which David sts his large body into. To the left is two doors, one to a bedroom and the other a toilet. "You wanna sit down boy?", David pounts to the other Brown recliner in the corner of the room, Jack then sits his small body into the chair, he doesn't fill even half of the chair. "So boy heres what needs doing, the cows need milking, the pigs need weighing, rhe chickens need the eggs collected, the equipment needs cleaning, and then we need to place haybales in the feilds and then we should be done, its 10am now we should be done abround 8pm, you ready?", Jack not knowing if he will survive the dah nods, "dont look sceared boy, you wanted to be my farm hand, come on we can do it together... dont worry one day you'll the the same size as me", Jack looks at the big burly shirtless man and thinks of what hell look like with all that muscle, a dream he thought.

"Done" david shouted, its been hours and they are both exhausted, under the now setting sun, jack and David start to walk back to the Cabin. Jack now shurtless due to him sweating like crazy, says "i guess i better be heading home", "what?" David responds "you thinks you can drive home like that youll pass out before you get to the end of the road to the enterance, you can stay here tonight, ill make dinner". Jack to exhausted to argue renters the cabin and suts in the recliner he sat in when he first entered the cabin, "do you have a shower?" Jack asked, "haha nope" david took a pause "to expensive plus if i wanna be clean i use the hose pipe outside". Jack falls asleep while David is sleeping.

David cooks for about an hour or so, then wakes up Jack. "Hey boy, you ready to live like a real man on the farm?" Jack still waking up nods, David continues "so you wanna look like a farmer too", jack nods again. David then makes a drink for jack and pours in some white powder out of a black tub, "this will help with that" David said quietly, he drings the food and drink to Jack "eat up Jack you hav a big day tomorrow".

Finished his meal jack asks "where do i sleep?", "eather in here or in my bed, if you csn fit". Jack just wanting to sleep in a nice soft bed asks " can i sleep in the bed" David says "of course, where farmer together now" . Jack and David walk to the bedroom, its simple just a bed some photos, david unbuckles his belt and pulls down his jeans showing of his white underwear, stained and showing a huge bulge, Jack then dose the same and they get in bed, jack falls asleep instantly.

In the morning Jack wakes, his belly a little bigger due to the large meal and spesial drink David gave him, but not rally hurting his thin fram.

After many months, the days murge into the same and Jack ends up moving into the cabin. His body now changed, every day his meals getting larger to adjust to his growing body. Now almost a year after meeting David he looks like the average farmer, 300lbs of a mix of fat and muscle, a big beer belly, is now what he looks like.

The day ends, David and Jack are about to do their dayly ritual of making as much food as posible and eating it, Jack eating more of course, then washing it all down with a crate of beer. After Jacks second can he feels tired and passes out in his chair, the last thing he sees is Davids evil smile.

He a wakes in the barn that he has worked in all this time tied to the back wall, the door is open a crack but the rest of the barn is black. After a while the figuree if a man apears at the door its David. "Hey boy, youll be a man soon, awww are you wondering why your tied here and gaged with that funnle, well im gonna faten you up and turn you into a food obsessed pig. Ive always wanted this, in a few years youll be massive and want to worship me." David pours gainer shake after gainer shake into the funnle. After weeks of this Jack has already gained 50lbs now at 350lbs. David then trusts Jacl to take the gag off and untie him. "What do you want to do boy?" Jack responds in a drone type voice "eat sir, eat and worship you sir", "good boy, now eat this 3 layer cake while i jerk off to you been a pig, David places a huge 3 layer cake on the floor and Jack drags his now huge boy to it and eats it all up.

After months his body grows 400lbs in a month 500lbs in 3 months and then 1000lbs in a year. At the year mark Jack is just a large ball of fat sat on hay in the barn been fed endlessly byby his new master. In these months many other farm hands have joined the farm and come to the sane predicament as Jack, locked away in the barn watch eachother grow and become more submisive begging their master to let them suck his cock, but he never does just teases them, its a mix of heaven and hell for the boys, and constant heaven for David.

If you want to request a story DM me. Or comment on my posts.

[bubmyg]

genre/warnings: restaurant owner!yoongi, some sort of business manager!oc, f2l if you squint, fluff

word count: 1,402

summary: your work party was a disaster from the moment taehyung ordered shots for everyone or you have seven different sauces splatted down the front of your shirt but yoongi tastes better anyway.

a/n: the third request of this batch from @yoongiseesaw !! reposted as a text post because tumblr fucked up the formatting of the other post afjkslaf

Dabbing a paper napkin into a marinara stain was a futile action regardless of the type of fabric or the dampness of the paper crunched in your sweaty hand but none of it stopped your frustration from resorting to furious scrubbing, effectively worsening the glob of faded orange in the dead center of your shirt. It was the twin puzzle piece to the glob of ranch on the corner of your shoe, the mysterious alcohol tipped onto the collar of your shirt from when Taehyung had tried to “do it for you”, the black (brown?) specks lodged underneath the keratin on your thumbs. 

The crumpled napkin bounced across the ruined plastic table cloth, a five dollar number you couldn’t wait to ball and shove into the nearest trash can, similar to the mentioned napkin when it fell to the floor below. You groaned instead, metal folding chair unforgiving on your stature when you slumped backward into it, neck folding into round of the back of the chair, mysteriously scented fingers curling under your eyes and dragging down your cheeks. 

“You’re still here?”

You made out a glob of fluttering white through the blurred spaces left by your fingers, the gentle smile attached to Yoongi gradually focusing. He moved closer, still fiddling at various aspects of his white button down, untucking it from his belt, bow tie hanging loosely around his neck where the collar was popped and peeled back from his collarbone, cuffs rolled to his elbows. He glanced up at you while rolling the second cuff, raising an eyebrow, steps stalled at the head of the table. 

“I’m not letting you clean this mess alone,” You gestured vaguely to the tornado left by your employees. 

Exposed forearms braced on the edge of the table and Yoongi leaned forward, blonde fringe draping into the teasing glint in amber irises, “Who said I’m cleaning this?” When your mouth fished, he shook his head, “I’m kidding. I pay people to clean this room, you don’t have to.”

You made a show of lifting your watch to your eyes, hand curled well past closing and there was no sound of another soul in the restaurant other than the air conditioning rumbling into overdrive. 

“Oh yeah?” You peered at him over your arm, “Where are they?”

Yoongi hummed, shoving himself up for one hand to crook around the back of his neck and he studied something over your head, the mountain of silverware Jeongguk had proudly created most likely, “...okay maybe it’s just me tonight.”

“Then, as I said—” You followed his gaze, pointing to the pyramid of cutlery, “I’m not letting you do it alone.”

Dismantling Jeongguk’s creation into a thick grey bucket, slivers of silver sprinkled on top of dirty plates and bowls and pans, barricaded by frosted glasses of untouched soda and water in favor of the separate plastic rack Yoongi hauled in specifically for the expensive containers alcohol was served in. He returned after depositing the dishes into the dishwasher, the roar in the room over sounding over the methodical crinkle of plastic as you peeled away the surface soaked in various edible substances. 

Your fingers brushed when you handed him one end of the table, letting ring wrapped fingers do the rest as you nudged his side with your elbow instead. He raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement, nose wrinkling when rolling fingers landed directly in something sticky. 

“Thank you for letting us rent the room,” You spoke of the private room attached to the serene restaurant outside the door reserved specifically for events of any kind. 

Yoongi shrugged, turning to shoot the tablecloth ball into the nearest trash bin. Score. “You paid for it,” He made eye contact with you, opposite eyebrow quirking, “and believe it or not? We’ve had worse.”

“Worse? What could be worse than the children I employee?”

“Actual children,” He waddled to the doorway, ducking around the corner to return with a rag and a spray bottle. One of each item was tossed to you before he returned to your side with matching ones, “At least your children pay for hundreds of dollars in alcohol. And are potty trained.”

You eyed the flex of his joints as he sprayed some of the substance out before smacking the rag down on top of splatters of disinfectant spray, rubbing in wide circles. “Debatable…”

You continued to study the curl of his fingers into the dishes he stuck underneath the faucet, handing off the final bowl stained in a similar color to the one now dampened on the front of your shirt before turning to the counter space next to the sink. You’d know much as slid onto the space when a reprimanding spray of water was drenched to the denim wrapped to your thighs. 

“Hey!” You flattened your palms in concession until he turned the stream back to the dish at hand. 

“I’ll have to clean that now, you know,” Yoongi gestured to the counter with a shake of his head. “I’ll do it.”

Dishes clattered together as he loaded the last bit into the washer, turning to you in wait with arms crossed over his chest. 

“Maybe you should just come work here again.”

You thought to your headache inducing mass of employees and the corner office you enjoyed because of it versus the aggregated position you’d held at Yoongi’s restaurant upon its grand opening after he’d showed up to your apartment in the third most frantic state you’d ever seen him in (The second was when he’d bought the building for the restaurant. The first was when he’d locked his keys in his car in your driveway in the middle of a snowstorm) begging for you to help him just until everything took off. 

He leaned into the sink, knees brushing your thighs and you reached out to nudge him with your foot. “You’ve made a lot of improvements since I stopped working here,” You drummed gentle fingertips into the metal counter, “You do a great job. Especially on the food.”

“Thank you,” Yoongi’s neck unhinged shyly but it caught and his squinted at the slouch of your stomach, “...saving some for later?”

You didn’t have to look down to know what he meant, “You just now noticed the stains on my shirt?”

“Maybe,” His cheeks remained pink as he leaned over the sink to retrieve a sponge, advancing on you with the dripping blue in hand, “Want a trick to get it out?”

Yoongi took your gentle nod as consent, pressing his hand up underneath the hem of your shirt to sprawl his palm underneath the stain, knuckles brushing against bare skin as you tried (unconsciously) not to breathe. “This water will be cold,” He warned lowly, sandwiching the sponge between both palms and the fabric of your shirt. Some of the water dribbled between the spaces in his fingers, dipping into your navel and you hissed at the temperature. 

He tossed the sponge aside, studying the damp circle on your shirt now with his tongue sanctioned between his back molars, eyebrows pulled together at the bridge of his nose. Gentle eyes fluttered up underneath long eyelashes and he shrugged with the tiniest of embarrassed smiles lighting his teeth. 

“I think it’s a little better than before.”

Your body recoiled in the awkward angle you leaned forward, fist curling into the open lapel of his collar to pull him close enough to press a soft kiss on the apple of his pink cheek. 

“Thank you, Yoongi,” You praised into the proximity, nose nuzzling across his cheek and your you’re welcome came in the form of the seam of his lips slotting between yours, hand curling around your thigh to fit himself between them. 

He pulled away natural to the resounding beep of the dishwasher, smirk confident in contrast to the shy light of his eyes training on yours as he murmured, “...you must really like our garlic bread.”

You jammed your knee into his thigh in jumping off the counter, snatching the hose spicket in retaliation and you followed Yoongi’s shriek of retreat around the corner of the dishwasher. 

“Expect a shitty tip.”

“I’m not your waiter.”

“Do you want to be?”

Yoongi’s fluffy hair peeked around and you managed to get a solid squirt in to his chin before he ducked back to splutter, “Is that one of your odd kinks?”

“Min Yoongi—” 

[empressxmachina]

Dolled Up and Underdressed // 2

Promises, part II

Brooke shut the door behind herself, only to open it if any of the wandering Wainscots knocked a code. On the surface, the shed was nothing out of the ordinary. Hedge clippers. Garden hose. Charcoal, propane, and logs. Some spare parts and local wares. A hidden door behind some shelves and paneling. Going through said door, however, the comfy cabin stretched underground beyond its cozy, cup size into the beefed-up bunker it really was.

Posters became historical maps. Instruction booklets for lawn tools became test plans. The wood was now metal and LEDs. Various files and other personals were stacked and stored across and around lines of tables and stations of varied roles, all of which they’d rather die for than reveal to any outsider. Crossing her arms, Brooke strutted down the center path and reunited with Garrett at its end.

There, at the hub of it all, wearing matching glowers, Brooke joined in with him keying in the final characters of a ridiculous sequence into a specialized console.

The last symbol was entered into its keyboard, its screen began to buffer, and then they waited.

And then they waited.

They waited, losing hope, looking for all the ‘last resorts’ in reaching distance. The piercers. The navigators. The bottles and boxes and all they contained.

Optimism quickly started to plummet, but they still waited all the while… until it wasn’t needed anymore.

They were here.

The monitor eventually stopped processing, indicating with a jingle that contact was made. The Wainscots’ breaths were held as hard as their hands, and only determination kept them inside at the appearance of their interlocutor.

The display’s girth being comparable to a mattress, longer than Garrett’s height and broader than his wingspan, left nothing to the imagination. Every hair, pore, and hue on the answerer’s face was present and accounted for. Relating their glamour and airbrushed features to the rustic naturalness Brooke and Garrett donned would’ve seemed nonsensical from the outside looking in. But it was that extravagant look, on top of the muffled atmospherics in the background, that proved their connection right.

Disregarding the effort to make greetings, the protective parents began the conversation.

“The caravan’s left,” Garrett gruffly announced.

Brooke followed suit with her own sighs. “She’s… on her way.”

“I have already been made aware of that,” the dame on screen, one of Them, addressed, somewhat preoccupied. Her side of the video conference appeared to be filmed from a handheld device. As products began to pile on her face from below the frame, one could guess it was combined with a makeup compact. Her dolling up eventually ended, and she continued with her full attention and appreciation. “But I appreciate you informing me, regardless… despite your disquiet.”

Brooke gave a slight bow of farewell before turning back toward the outside. The farther forward she went back up the shelter, the warmer it became, but she chilled again when she noticed no footsteps following her. A glance behind her shoulders found Garrett continuing to talk on the call, and his audience of one appeared to be listening intently.

They were struck silent. The incongruity between lifestyles and demeanors was incredible.

“I understand your unease,” Hailey’s soon-chaperone commiserated, tucking some hair behind an ear, shining more light on the gems that hung from it. “Really, I do. But I assure you. We are on the same side.”

The soft shock that the couple wore immediately evaporated off their faces. Such niceness from someone so well-off was more than unbelievable.

“If that were the case,” Brooke tested, a hand on her hip, “then you’d know why I can’t believe that.”

“The trophy wife aesthetic you’re painting on yourself sure isn’t helping your attempt at humility, either,” Garrett huffed in accordance.

Now, it was the duenna that was caught off-guard. To go after her customs was one thing, but to go after her appearance was low. Not only was the sentiment false, but it was also just rude. Rude in a way to set someone off beyond their usual limit.

As the subject of the jab, she didn’t take it lightly. “Because being a so-called ‘trophy’ is definitely worse than being—!”

Before she could complete a comeback, a new, disembodied speaker entered the call. The silhouette reflected in her eyes verified it was another person in the room, rather than just a voice. The words resonated with bass but not in an overbearing way. It held control without an iron fist as she spoke back to it. At least, that was all Hailey’s parents could guess from the sudden language barrier.

A series of syllables that sounded painful to reproduce yet melodious flew around them, and they knew they had a better chance of guessing how many freckles their bun in the oven had than whatever they were saying. The words they spoke were unknown, though body language was apparently universal. Over twenty years of binding with the same person built much experience in emotion expression for Brooke, and she would’ve bet all that she could safely give away on her confidence in Player Four’s identity.

“Is that your husband?” she inquired, garnering a presumptive look from her own spouse.

The question smacked the faraway set of speakers like a pile of bricks, muzzling them in an instant. The matron gazed deeply into the screen, focusing more so on Garrett to catch what Brooke mentioned about him that she must have missed. When Brooke repeated her query, this time in the past tense, clarity on the opposite end was reached. However, as the fourth soul in the fray remained unaddressed, the shed dwellers were still left in the dark.

After a pointed pause, they were brought into the loop, but that pointing left more to be desired,

“That’s… a word for my partner.”

Brooke and Garrett shared a look between themselves, counting all the definitions such wording could have for that relationship. The fiery reentrance of the fourth soul – the woman’s husband – in that brusque, foreign tongue shortened that list in some ways and lengthened it in others. What then bubbled into a presumed marital spat grew uncomfortable to watch, but such chips in their perfect personas were somewhat humbling.

One could’ve said they were relatable, but then the last resorts would’ve had to have been brought out.

“Ahem,” the interlocutor lady cleared her voice after some time, attempting to swerve the call back on its intended course. “Apologies. Yes, that is my husband.”

Neither Wainscot said anything immediately, but Garrett expected for the interjecting gentlemen to at least introduce himself. They had already met, but courtesy was always appreciated. Why else would the call still be happening?

Just as the fans of the shed automatically flicked on, the encompassing mood dropped with the lowering temperature, Garrett going first to spit ice. “It’s nice of him to show how much he cares about our daughter’s safety by being off-frame.”

The outlying wife, with a quick gasp, spread her lips to respond, but her voice wasn’t the one to reply. The sir, from afar, countered for himself, combating the diss with his own frozen singes. “It’s as nice as your assumptions of us: they who are about to host her in their home. We’ve given you no major reasons to distrust us, aside from the lax acquaintanceship.”

Not liking anything that could’ve been inferred from that, Brooke was next to debate. “I think you have a different definition of ‘major’ where you’re from. Like hell, we should trust you.”

“Well,” the doyenne carped, “whether or not you should, you are.” She then set a hand – the one not holding her communication device – atop her heart for emphasis. “Hailey’s safety is our top priority, too, and we genuinely thank you for opening your hearts and letting her come into our lives.”

“She is a grown woman,” Brooke tersely defined. “She can make her own decisions, and she wanted to do this, despite not knowing the full story. I would’ve given her more to go on about it, but… consider my censorship, at your request, my part of this trust trade.”

Her last statement came out more like a grumble, but it was heard. A surprise to be heard, for sure, but it was heard.

“That sounds like you actually didn’t try anything,” the distant don said in disbelief. “Huh.”

“A surprise, indeed,” his other half concurred, “and I promise your compromising will be in your favor. As discomforting as I’m sure this seems on your end, this is the best way for us to be transparent.”

“By taking away our choice and hiding your truth?” Garrett argued through gritted teeth.

“By showing her rather than telling,” the other man pressed with similar roughness. “It’s harder to deny reality when it’s right in front of you. ‘Actions speak louder than words,’ or so you humans say.”

“‘You humans!?’” the Wainscots scoffed, his tone turning them sour.

“Forgive him,” the glamorous gal apologized on her husband’s behalf. “Hailey may be an

honorable guest invited to our event, but tonight is one for him to be in the spotlight, and it’s getting to him.” An almost inaudible growl came out from outside the screen, perhaps insinuating another rift between the couple. Retreating footsteps soon followed. “That being said,” she resumed, now alone, “he and I hope that you all and we can, one day, meet at the gates of friendship.”

The counselor level commentary was uncalled for, but Brooke was curious enough to bite at the lure for elucidation. “Meaning we’re currently…?”

“Conversing via a bred parcel bird, and I assume the gifts of thanks ours brought you do suffice for now?”

A look of consideration rose from Brooke’s eyes toward Garrett’s above hers. As much bribery with hints of blackmail this ongoing charade was, all for Hailey to be a plus-one for some boy, they would be dumb to pass on free funding.

“I… suppose,” Garrett gave in, catching Brooke’s drift, “and we’re to expect more within the day?”

“All goes well at the gala and between our babies, and you’ll find more than that,” the matron promised fruitily. “We’re fortunate to be in a position to give our surplus toward better use and greater rapport with you.”

Brooke was ready to end the conversation at that. As much as she wanted to see Hailey arrive at the spot, proving her safety in transit, she knew she wouldn’t handle seeing it in real-time. Pregnancy already pulled so much energy out of her. Her now two oldest children being out of her hands was anxiety-inducing. Dillon’s present in confidentiality was terrible, and his future was never guaranteed to be sunshine and daisies. Hailey’s advent, meanwhile, despite its pledges of protection and pleasure, looked much grimmer in her mother’s eyes, but it was too far in progress to be reversed now.

And, so, she could only hope for the best, wishing her well, struggling to calm her own pulse.

A pinch of insecurity bubbled through Brooke as she wasn’t so deep in herself to not notice the other woman’s allure. But it only took the money – the actual appearance of metal coins about as wide as the dame’s glazed fingertips on screen – for such thoughts to vanish.

It was all for the bag, and what a priceless bag it was.

Coins like those had become such frequent additions to the Wainscot fortune in the recent months. Those handheld coins on display probably would, too, sooner or later. Much time was spent with them, but they, themselves, were never expended. It would’ve been impossible without raising a barrage of red flags.

The systems the Wainscots knew had their unique ways with customs and currencies, depending on who was making the transactions. Usually, the exchange rates were easy to come by, as frustrating as they were to do just to get a subpar product. However, the new acquaintances were at such an extreme echelon for so many reasons that there wasn’t a rate. There literally was no calculatable price to put on the offering, and they all knew it. Yet, they were the best trade – well, the least degrading barter conjectured – and Brooke and Garrett immediately found a use for them when the deal was accepted.

The conversation transformed into a heated debate about what had and should become of the gifts, with Garrett both pressing to get more of them and reluctantly thanking their givers simultaneously. The plating and gildings that decorated the bunker so far weren’t there a season ago. More test cases for the once-canceled experiments were added. The lumps and chips in their wedding rings were smoothed, refilled, and shined.

New plans for another graduation gift for Hailey had been made. A new mold to upgrade her namesake tools of the trade was forged not long ago, and the casting for it may have been getting made at that moment. Through a one-way peephole, Brooke saw her younglings still in the yard, following through with much of the drama popping off in the background.

Addy, despite her attitude being as bouncy as her and her mother’s hair, wasn’t a girl of many words. But she had many an interest, many of which only Hailey and Tuck seemed to get out of her. For once, Tuck had the upper hand over all his older siblings, able to give her insights that no one else dared to and that Hailey couldn’t yet do. He tucked his sister next to him as they gazed into a telescope together. The attachment on its lens looked MacGyvered as all hell, especially with it pointed at superficially nothing important. But he knew that wasn’t the case.

Tuck knew, and Addy would learn soon from his teachings. Brooke, not wanting him to do so but choosing not to stop him, lurched but knew. Having ignited a dispute, Garrett obviously knew. Dill even knew a bit but had more than enough distractions to render him to forget. Hailey would know more than any of them before the day was over.

Fitz, all the while, sat alone, enjoying his time as the most knowledgeable child while he could. Partially from his parents’ aggravation and partially from general interest and natural skill, he was the chosen soul to make Hailey’s enhancement into a reality. With the modulated voices of both Hailey’s date and his, from the Wainscot parents’ point-of-view, ever domineering dad coming in headphones over some ambient but obviously exotic music, Fitz followed their instructions on how to forge their presented metals to a T.

The scene was tranquil, but Brooke never soothed her nerves while viewing it. Her husband maintaining an argument with their associates didn’t help, but that wasn’t why. Even if relations were placid, there would always be a cloud of danger over them. The constant badgering from the feds they already had would just increase if this got out.

The Wainscots had enough supply to combat any quarry, cave, or army on the planet, and they were only going to get more to use and peruse. The youngest pair used some to look again at a dot in the sky cited nowhere on the internet from whence it came. The middle child had to stay focused to not near-fatally harm himself once again from the metals melting with the same, outlandish glow as that once-hidden dot.

All of it from another world and those who lived on it. All of it their makers’ and Their inconsequential slivers and shavings to be thrown away. All of them half as tall as their new recipients, having made dents and the occasional ravine in the ground when they were first nonchalantly and literally dropped off. All of them with profiles of people’s portraits and symbols etched on them as large as their own heads.

Monies poured from fingertips that looked like theirs but rivaled the firmament in magnitude. Brooke’s baby’s presence was traded for them – for Them – was being transacted to Them currently as she breathed.

Barely.

“Stars above,” she radiated to the heavens with one hand on her belly and the other on her heart, “see Rosebud through.”

[threadsketchier]

Glimpses - a time to mourn

Because of my delay the other week, I wound up unintentionally timing the final installment of this series for Memorial Day.  I think it’s pretty fitting, considering the subject matter.  But don’t worry, there’s still some positivity at the end.

@kaelinaloveslomaris @culturevulture73 @littlesparklight @azalea-scroggs @onwardintolight @klcthebookworm @celinamarniss - the usual suspects

Read it at AO3 instead

With the Empire’s head severed and its limbs in disarray, many turning against each other in the ensuing power vacuum, the Rebel Alliance – now the Alliance of Free Planets – was also experiencing a turmoil of disagreements, as conscience and principle wrestled with pragmatism.  The Battle of Endor had been costly on the fleet, and securing new allies and their supplies, as well as taking advantage of the Empire’s weakening influence, became the greater priorities over liberating oppressed worlds.  Patience was required, it was said, for gaining a foothold in the Core and taking strides toward legitimizing the Alliance into a true government would go much further in relieving the galaxy of the Empire’s grip.

That was a sensible goal – just not one that Lando felt particularly beholden to in this moment.

I was responsible to the people of Cloud City long before I was in command of your forces, he’d told the brass.  And I’d be happy to continue to do so.  But I had no intentions of leaving my facility in the Empire’s hands any longer than I had to.  You’d also stand to gain a safe haven and an intelligence source, but I’m sure not everyone was able to escape, and I’m not leaving them behind now that I’ve met my immediate obligations.

I’m aware I’m not calling the shots here.  But I’m calling them anyway.

And he’d walked out of the conference room, expecting nothing, already planning on calling in favors from old contacts who might be willing to pitch in if they could have some stake in the deal.  He’d had no intentions of asking them to help him, not after what they’d gone through.

Trouble was, Luke was a Jedi now, which meant even a sabacc face couldn’t hide much from him.

“I have some unfinished business,” Lando tried to leave it at.

Luke appraised him in that almost unnervingly compassionate way of his.  “You’re going back to Bespin.”

Immediately Lando held up a hand to stop him.  “Look, I can’t ask this of you – ”

“Yes you can,” he retorted firmly.  “Because it wasn’t you who hurt us.  You were faced with a no-win situation and you did what you thought was best at the time.  If you’d known, Lando…”  He trailed off, shaking his head.  “And even if you did, you had all those lives to weigh against ours.  People you didn’t even know, and a couple of old friends.”  He smiled sadly.  “All of us have lost our homes.  Alderaan is dust, and my homestead is ashes.  At least you can still go back.  You really think we wouldn’t want to help you?”

Pain and sadness were for suckers, he used to think.  Showing them gained you nothing; if you were cheated, outwit them back, and everything was better with a smile and a swig of fine liquor.  But Luke’s words left him feeling raw.  He hadn’t allowed himself to mourn Cloud City for many reasons – he hadn’t been the one tortured or sold or maimed, and grieving meant the Empire had won and he wasn’t going to fight back and reclaim it someday.  It wasn’t even grief that overtook him now in the strictest sense, since it wasn’t an end, but a chance at a new beginning.  But being confronted with this acceptance, this kind of unquestioning loyalty, from someone who’d suffered greatly because of his ignorance and ill-fated attempt at insulating himself from the war…

Luke put an arm around his shoulders and turned him back down the corridor to walk alongside him.  “C’mon, we’ll tell the others,” he said, his tone gently encouraging.

The halls were just as bright and vacant as Luke remembered them, and eerie in their silence after the battle, though thickened with far more smoke and blaster ozone than last time.  It was almost a relief – it rendered them less sterile.  Less deceptive of the darkness concealed behind and underneath its pristine white walls.

That darkness wasn’t intrinsic, he had to remind himself.  This was just a mining facility and pleasure resort.  It wasn’t Lando’s or anyone else’s fault the Empire had descended here and left their taint like a carbon score that couldn’t quite be scrubbed out.

The compulsion to retrace his steps gnawed at him, even as his most primal fears bade him to ignore the urge.  There was nothing left here but memories, ones he didn’t need to dredge up.  He’d forgiven his father, and his father was gone, and he had survived his own trial with the Dark Side.

Luke found himself walking the path anyway, sweat gathering on his left palm.

As dim and foreboding as it had been the first time, the carbonite freezing chamber hummed with the same deep vibrations of dormant machinery, the kind of heavy, ringing quiet that poured into his ears like molten metal and solidified.  The hose he’d cut was repaired, and the pit lay open to receive another payload of tibanna gas.

Another victim.

Leia had stood and watched here while Han was lowered into that pit, just before he’d entered and met Vader.  Luke’s legs felt unsteady as he came down the stairs.

So many things could have gone even worse here.  Han could have perished from the freezing process.  He could have succumbed to it rather than being able to jump clear with the Force, and been carted away to the Emperor even sooner.  Leia or Chewie or Lando could have been killed in the ensuing firefight during their escape.  He could have plummeted straight down the city’s core shaft right after being sucked out of the broken window, or not been caught by its vacuum currents on his second fall.  As nightmarish as this time and place turned out to be, it was a wonder they’d made it out alive and as fortunate as they could’ve been for the circumstances.

With his heart beating swiftly, Luke skirted around the edge of the pit and leapt down into the blackness, where he’d gone to pursue Vader and his own thirst for vengeance.

The only true sounds were the soft, echoing tread of his footsteps and the tremble of his breath, but he kept expecting to hear the snap-hiss of a lightsaber and the slow, harsh bellows of a respirator.  Despite the awareness of when he was, his hand rested on the pommel of his own weapon.

The observation window was also replaced, once again a barrier between him and the gantry he’d been forced out onto, and all the equipment that had been ripped from the walls put back in their places.  No trace remained of their duel.  It felt like a waking dream, or even a vision, a taunting artifice reestablished as if he had the chance to remake this encounter with new insight.  If only he’d known.  If only.

Luke approached the window and pressed his palms against its cold surface, a grief so sudden and violent constricting his chest that he struggled to breathe.  Tears had been shed over his father’s death, but he’d been almost too numb with shock and insulated by the reassurance that Anakin had finally found peace in the Force to let himself be overcome.  This, now – this was too much.  Dwelling on the terrible fact that they’d come to blows here, that a man was so desperately twisted he could fight and wound his own son, and in ignorance he’d fought back in hatred, wishing nothing more than to kill him in return, when instead he could’ve grown under his care and knowledge and love, when they could’ve shared their lives together…

But it was too late, and there was no going back for another chance.  “Father,” Luke whispered plaintively, gulping in air as tears spilled forth, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the pane.  Now he keenly felt the loss of his father, and of all the hostility and vast separation between them.

Father…

“Luke.”

The air spoke to him in the shape of his name, and at first Luke thought he imagined it over the wretched noise of his own crying.  Then a strange, prickling warmth spread across his back and upper arms, and encircled his right wrist, and the hair on his neck stood.

“Luke,” the voice said again, that of a young man wholly unfamiliar and yet known to him, roughened with emotion.  The edges of his vision were filled with a gentle blue light.

Luke crumpled against the window and slid down to the floor, sobbing.  The spirit – Anakin, his father – enveloped him in warmth, but offered no more words, because there were none.  Both of them mourned alike and together, reunited but still separated by the veil between life and death.

After some time Luke gasped out, “I wish…I wish you didn’t have to go.”

“I won’t, Luke,” Anakin promised.  “I never will.”  The warmth touched his chest, over his heart.  “I’ll always be with you.”

“It’s not the same.”

“I know.”  There was a regretful wryness in his tone.  “I know it’s not.  But it’s the truth.  You’ll never be alone.  Wherever the Force is, I’ll be there too.”  Anakin’s intangible fingers caressed his hair.  “And when it’s your time, I’ll be the first face you see.”

“Can I…will I see you again before that?”

Anakin smiled, a spark of some long-buried pain and love shining in his eyes.  “Of course.”

There were so many questions to ask, but now wasn’t the time for them.  Luke simply basked in the bittersweet comfort of his father’s presence and gave full vent to his sadness.

Later he wasn’t sure how much time passed, if it was only minutes or hours.  Tired and shaky, with his eyes swollen and throat aching, Luke wandered back until he re-emerged into the light, the daytime brilliance hurting his eyes at first.  Right outside the alcove surrounding the maintenance corridor that led to the freezing chamber stood the others, all looking worried and haunted.  Leia’s face was pale and drawn, and for a moment Luke felt apologetic that he had done this, leaving them again to go ponder his own losses.  He wondered if she’d felt all of his anguish.  She and Han already had enough of their own from this place.

Before he could say a word, though, they all gathered around him in a tangled embrace, except for Lando, who kept staring at the doorway.

“I’m sealing up this refinery,” he said, anger simmering beneath his quiet voice.  “Someday I might make it a memorial.  People need to know what the Empire did here.”

Long after they’d all departed the area, Lando’s hand kept a firm grip on Luke’s shoulder, conveying remorse and anchoring him in camaraderie.

None of them wanted to spend the night in any of Cloud City’s suites; besides the fact that Lando and Lobot would need to rework the city’s security codes, they all knew they wouldn’t get a lick of sleep otherwise.  Between checking on civilians and working with the Ugnaughts to dispose of bodies and sort materiel for collection or recycling and assessing property damage, it was easy to avoid sleep altogether.  But eventually Chewie was urging them to get at least a little rest before dawn, and they herded themselves into the Falcon for both mental and physical respite.

Luke and Leia both kept eyeing Han as they watched him go back and forth through the ship several times carrying bedding materials into the cargo hold, then an armful of beers.  When he finally acknowledged their stares he said, “We’re hanging out in here tonight.”

They didn’t question him.  It’d become obvious pretty quickly that Han intended for the four of them to bed down in one space, and Chewie wasn’t going to fit in a cabin with three others, and Luke supposed Han felt it was unfair for him and Leia to share a bunk together off the deck.

They didn’t talk much between quaffing the beer, too weary and shaken in confronting the horror of their first time here and just content in the moment with their closeness.  Eventually another pair of boots rang slowly through the ship and Lando’s silhouette filled the hatchway, and Han waved a hand to invite him in.

After his third bottle Han glanced up at Leia and said, “Hey.  We’re getting married,” in a calmly casual manner, as if he meant to remind her of something trivial, but there was a nervous hope and vulnerability in his eyes.  Leia regarded him for a minute with a soft wonder that shifted into amusement.  “I know,” she replied, deadpan.  Luke snorted, feeling like he was missing something but appreciating the humor nonetheless.  Over Leia’s shoulder he could see Lando studying the two of them, something profound in his otherwise neutral expression.

A short while later Lando broke the silence again with an idle mutter.  “Need to modify the sensors in the core shaft.  If anything else that isn’t refuse falls down there and winds up in the disposal chutes, I don’t want them hanging off the weather vanes.”

Luke craned his neck and half sat up to peer at him incredulously.  Was he being serious or sardonic?  He caught Lando meeting his curious gaze.  “Not that I anticipate that happening again,” Lando added.  There was a definite glint of exasperated humor in his eyes, but there was nothing trite about his tone.  Luke had to conclude he was sincere in his concern about how he’d nearly plummeted to his death.  It was a wonder anything had broken his fall down there, let alone an air current.

He hadn’t even been hoping for it the moment he’d decided to jump.

It had taken Luke some time to get used to the realization that Lando hadn’t only seen defeat and vulnerability in him when he’d pulled him to safety off the Falcon’s hull.  That admiration didn’t manifest in overt flattery or reverence, though, as it did with many others.  Lando had simply granted him a deep yet quiet respect from the day they’d met, just for having survived such a crucible.  There’d been an almost astonishing ease to their friendship, quite different from the bond he’d formed with Han.

With the beer settling into his weary frame like a warm weight, Luke reclined again and let his head rest against Lando’s knee, and his eyes grew heavy when he felt fingers gently play through his hair.

When Luke finally managed to nod off, he dreamed of a green paradise with wildflower-laden meadows and great waterfalls, and a young man and woman frolicking through them, carefree and joyful, their laughter ringing across the heavens.

[thehelleniclunarwitch]

Home [Chapter One]

Author’s Note: I tried my best to switch my OC’s name out for Y/n. If I missed any my apologies just let me know and I’ll fix it. Hope you guys enjoy my new fic, Home!

                                                   --------------------- “Y/n!” Eddie shouted.

Y/n laughed as she sped up, running up the hill towards their farmhouse. The horses ran alongside her in the fenced in area. She giggled as she could feel Eddie closing in on her. Y/n took a quick turn and ran towards the chicken coop. She slowed down as she reached the coop. Breathing heavily, Y/n turned around to see Eddie slowing down. He was glaring at her.

“You cheated,” Eddie growled.

Y/n rolled her eyes. “You’re just mad that your younger girlfriend is just faster than you,” Y/n teased.

“I’m only older by six years!” Eddie shouted.

Y/n laughed again. “Six years is a lot for an old man,”

Her laughter faded as he lunged at her. A tiny squeak slipped out of her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She tried to pry his arms off her, but he only pulled her back against his chest.

“Say you’re sorry,” Eddie said.

“Never,” Y/n laughed as she continued struggling trying to free herself.

“Why must you be so stubborn?” Eddie asked her.

“I’ve learned from the best,” Y/n said between clenched teeth.

The two continued to struggle for power until Y/n slipped her feet in between Eddie’s. He gasped and then swore as the two of them went crashing down into the mud. Y/n fell back against him laughing hysterically as Eddie had taken the brunt of the fall and most of the mud.

Eddie was quick to flip Y/n over and onto her back. Squishing her down in the mud. She groaned and looked up at her boyfriend.

“Was that necessary?” Y/n hissed.

“You wouldn’t stop laughing at me,” Eddie complained.

Y/n shook her head and she could feel the mud caking onto her hair. Eddie grinned, leaned down, and then kissed her. Y/n nibbled at his lips and he pulled away. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“How about we take this inside?” Eddie asked.

Y/n cocked an eyebrow at her boyfriend.

“I’ll race you,” she joked.

“You’ll pay for that one,” Eddie said as he jumped up to his feet.

Y/n let out a soft playful scream as he yanked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. He slapped his hand against her ass and she let out a small yelp.

“That’s not fair!” Y/n argued.

“You don’t play fair,” Eddie reminded her.

Y/n fell silent as Eddie carried her the rest of the way across the yard and up into their house. He kicked off his shoes and peeled off hers dropping them outside of the door where they would have to come back and hose their shoes down.

Their two dogs greeted them as Eddie stepped inside. Y/n called for her dogs to follow, but they only stood and watched as Eddie disappeared upstairs with her.

A very long hour later, Y/n came jogging down the stairs. She booped Cap and Sarge on their heads as she went over to the fridge. Her stomach was rumbling and dinner was calling her name. Y/n strained her ears as she heard the sound of tires on the gravel of their driveway.

“Someone’s here!” Y/n called up the stairs.

“I’m coming,” Eddie shouted back.

Y/n could hear Eddie running down the stairs and land right in the living room. She tossed the stuff for dinner on the stove.

“Y/n, you’re going to want to see this,” Eddie said.

Y/n wiped her hands on a dish towel and headed towards the front of the house. A black SUV sat parked. The two of them watched as a man in a black suit stepped out of the SUV. Three more doors opened and a bunch of figures stepped out of the vehicle.

“My boys,” Y/n said as she burst out of the house and onto the porch.

“Y/n!” Billy exclaimed as he finally set his eyes on her.

Y/n stepped off the steps and caught Billy as he threw himself at her. The other three boys ran up to join the hug. Y/n made sure to give them each individually a huge hug.

“What are you guys doing here?” Y/n asked.

“Miss Barnes, it’s good to see you again,” The voice said.

Y/n looked up as the man in the suit pushed back his sunglasses revealing himself as the one and only Bruce Wayne.

“Surprised you’d be caught dead out here, old man.” Y/n snarled.

Eddie pinched her side to silence her.

“Well, I knew if I’d call you wouldn’t answer,” Bruce admitted.

“Damn straight I wouldn’t have. Takes a lot of guts to show yourself around here,” Y/n snarled.

“Y/n,” Eddie sighed.

“Shut it, Brock,” Y/n growled.

Bruce gave Eddie a knowing look. Eddie sighed. Y/n wasn’t normally like this. She was sweet. Kind. Caring. Always had open arms every single person. Except for Bruce Wayne.

“Listen, I know that you and I have a lot of unresolved issues,” Bruce said.

“That’s barely touching it, but sure we’ll go with that,” Y/n growled.

“Can we talk?” Bruce asked.

“I’m not inviting you into my home,” Y/n barked.

“Y/n!” Eddie shouted.

Y/n tossed her boyfriend a look over her shoulder. He fell silent. Eddie knew better than to argue with her. This wasn’t a battle he wanted to pick with her. Not when it came to Bruce.

“I’ll make this quick. Some things have come up in Gotham. The boys are no longer safe,” Bruce began.

“Oh so now that Jason and Tim are dead, now you realize that?” Y/n snarled.

Eddie noted the way that a look of pain crossed Bruce’s face. He felt bad for the guy. He had lost two sons. Lived a dangerous life. Ever since Y/n lost Jason and then Tim it was never the same between the two of them. Y/n couldn’t forgive Bruce. Eddie didn’t think she’d ever been able to.

“There’s no reason to be hurtful,” Bruce said coldly.

“Trust me that’s me being nice,” Y/n said.

The four young teens looked at each other. They knew what was going on. They weren’t dumb. All of them understood why Y/n was so upset. She was in love with Jason. He was her first love. Damian was so sure growing up that Y/n was going to end up as his sister. When Jason died, it was like Y/n’s whole world had crashed down.

Y/n had become dark and scary. She hardly talked to anybody. Damian wasn’t sure of Eddie at first, but he sure brought Y/n around. He made her happy. And that’s all that mattered to Damian. He loved Y/n and he didn’t want her to be hurting anymore.

“I need you to sign this,” Bruce said pulling out a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.

“What is it?” Y/n asked.

“Legal custody of the four boys. Clark already signed the papers, as did I, and so did the Vasquez’s,” Bruce said.

Eddie and Y/n only stared at Bruce.

“I’m sorry, what?” Eddie said in shock.

“You’re right. I lost Jason. And then turned around and lost Tim. If Dick was young enough to be placed in your care he would be, but he’s an adult now and can protect himself. These four can’t. If they stay with us they will only end up being hurt or killed to hurt the rest of us. I can’t do that. I can’t lose any more of my children,” Bruce explained.

“So, what? You expect me and Eddie to just drop our whole lives and take care of the boys because you’ve finally come to the realization that the life you live and lead isn’t safe for them?” Y/n snarled.

“Yes,” Bruce simply said.

It took everything out of Y/n not to slap Bruce across his smug face.

“What made you think that Eddie and I would even be willing to do so?” Y/n demanded from him.

“You’re the only safe choice that I have,” Bruce told her.

“What about Clark’s mom? I’m sure Martha would love to take care of the boys. Or how about Detective Gordon? He could give them a good life and protect them,” Y/n said.

The four young teens watched as Y/n and Bruce squared off. Jon was starting to grow concerned that Y/n wasn’t going to take them in. That she was going to say no and they would have to go to Bruce’s last resort which was the orphanage.

“Martha is too old to be running after four teens. Gordon has his own kids to take care of, plus he’s in the thick of my mess just as much as I am,” Bruce said.

Y/n scoffed, rolling her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.

“Y/n,” Jon finally piped up.

Y/n looked down at the dark haired boy.

“Bruce will take us to the orphanage if you don’t take us in. You know they’ll separate all of us if that happens. Please don’t let him do that to us,” Jon pleaded.

“Are the papers actually for custody or for guardianship?” Y/n asked him. “There’s a major difference,”

“Custody. We are signing over all legal rights to you. If and once you sign the papers you are legally their parents. Which means you’ll be in charge of Damian’s portion of Wayne Enterprises until he is of age, you have rights to all of their bank accounts that I have their college tuition set aside, and a hefty bank account for you and Eddie as well to live more than comfortably for the rest of your lives while you take care of them,” Bruce explained.

“Which means you and Clark will have no control over Damian and Jon? And that unless I permit you can’t see them,” Y/n said.

Bruce nodded. Y/n outstretched her hand.

“Give me the paperwork,” Y/n said.

The four boys watched her practically rip the custody papers out of Bruce’s hands. She quickly signed her name on the lines that were marked with a purple highlighter. Once she had signed on all of the correct lines, Y/n moved so she was standing in front of all of the boys.

“Just because you have handed over the custody to the most important boys in my life doesn’t mean that I forgive you. I still hate you for what you did to me. To Jason. To Tim. And I swear to you that I will make you pay for it,” Y/n said her words dripping with poison.

Bruce straightened his back. He ripped his gaze away from Y/n and glanced down at Damian. Damian looked so much like him. His son was fifteen. Just nine months shy of turning sixteen. Bruce noticed the way he stood right next to Y/n. Holding her hand in his and defiantly looking at him waiting for his father to say something to him.

“Be on your best behavior. And take care of each other,” Bruce said before turning on his heel and heading back to his SUV.

The six of them stood there and watched as Bruce backed out of the driveway. Finally, Y/n turned around to face Eddie and their sons. She wasn’t sure what to say or what to do.

“Are you guys hungry?” Eddie asked finally breaking the silence.

“Duh, I can always eat,” Freddy said.

Eddie and Y/n rounded the boys up and brought them inside. The couple worked alongside each other whipping up a large meal for the four growing boys. As the boys sat around the table eating, Eddie pulled Y/n out of the dining room and into their office. Y/n knew what was coming. Eddie closed the door.

“You didn’t even ask me if this is what I wanted,” Eddie pointed out.

“Last I knew, we weren’t married, this was my house, and my decision to make,” Y/n snapped.

Eddie sighed. “Four teenage boys is a lot,”

“Yeah, and what’s your point? You’ve known even before we started dating that I was close with all four of those boys. I made it abundantly clear that I would drop anything for them. Which I have. You’ve come with me to rescue them on bad fights,” Y/n reminded him.

“It was different when we had the chance to take them back home to their actual parents,” Eddie argued.

Y/n crossed her arms over her chest and she clenched her teeth. Eddie had pissed her off. He knew that. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the kids, but he and Y/n had already been through so much together. They were friends before they had started dating. He saw the emotional turmoil that she went through after the death of Jason.

He was there for her when Thanos had happened and she had lost a huge chunk of her family. The two of them had gone through a lot. Their relationship was strained for a long time after the snap. But they worked together. He loved her. Eddie could see himself spending the rest of his life with her, but her not including him on making such a big decision rubbed him the wrong way. He didn’t really care that they were here and that Y/n took them in. The point was that she didn’t even discuss this with him.

“Did you want me to send them to the orphanage?” Y/n asked him.

“Of course not!” Eddie hissed.

“Then what is your fucking problem?” Y/n asked.

“You and I have been through so much shit together. I just thought you would have had the common courtesy to at least ask me if I was okay with you taking custody of the boys,” Eddie explained to her.

“You’re right,” Y/n began.

Eddie looked at her in confusion. He felt like this was a trap.

“The two of us have been through a lot of shit together, but you would think by now that you would have learned that I don’t ask for permission. Especially when it comes to those boys. If you don’t like it, then pack up and leave,” Y/n said.

Eddie’s eyes widened. “You’d break up with me because of this argument?”

“Those boys came first before you. I’ve made it clear that I love those boys. I’ve watched them all grow up. I will always put them first. If you don’t like that and can’t handle it then don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Y/n said.

Before Eddie could even try and argue with her, she was pushing past him and leaving him in the office. He could hear in the dining room talking with the boys. Eddie loved her. But could this be too much for them? This could be their breaking point.

Forcing a smile on his face, Eddie stepped out of the office and headed back into the dining room. Jon was in the middle of telling Y/n some wild story. His hands were waving all over the place. Freddy and Billy were arguing over who was the better superhero between Y/n’s parents. Eddie caught Damian’s eye and the young teen was glaring at Eddie.

Eddie and Damian stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity until Y/n asked for Damian’s opinion. Damian slowly turned his attention off of Eddie and onto Y/n. Eddie sighed. Venom was growing restless. He hated when Y/n and Eddie argued. Which Eddie didn’t understand because 99% of the time Venom always sided with Y/n.

Apologize!

No.

Y/n didn’t have to ask for your permission.

I know that. But we’re in a relationship. It would have been nice if she at least considered my opinion.

Bleck! You humans and your emotions disgust me.

Yeah. Yeah. If anyone is a bleeding heart, it’s you.

Take that back!

Eddie only smiled to himself and fell quiet. The teens were rowdy. Y/n was laughing. Eddie had to admit this was the happiest he had seen her in a long time.

“Hey, Y/n, we don’t have anything except for what we could shove into our backpacks,” Billy sudden brought up.

“Mhmm, you’re right. That’s going to be a problem,” Y/n said.

“We could always go shopping tomorrow!” Freddy shouted.

“You all have school,” Y/n said.

“So? We all could afford to skip a day,” Damian shot back.

“Yeah, come on Y/n, we could make a day of it. Get everything that we need in one big day of shopping,” Jon added.

Y/n sighed. Y/n glanced up at Eddie. He gave her a soft smile and nodded.

“Also, it’s not like you don’t have the money. You know Bruce set you up for life. Buying us clothes, toys, electronics, or whatever else we want isn’t going to break you,” Damian piped up.

“Well, I was thinking of using that money to add to my house. Y’all will be sharing a room for a while,” Y/n said.

“Do both. You can afford it,” Freddy grinned.

“Yeah, come on Y/n, it will be so much fun. It will be our first big day as a new family,” Billy pleaded.

“Alright, we can go. But on a few conditions,” Y/n gave in.

“Name them!” The boys exclaimed together.

“You all must be on your best behavior. You stick with us and no running off. Clothes first before anything else. No whining. No complaining. You will try on your clothes and I get to veto anything that I don’t deem appropriate and then your butts go right back to school the following day,” Y/n listed.

The boys looked at each other and nodded. “Deal!”

Y/n rolled her eyes. Everyone chit chatted while they finished dinner. Once they were done eating the boys helped take care of the leftovers, did dishes, and then split into pairs into the one spare bedroom and into the office that they would make into a bedroom for the time being.

After Y/n got all of them showered, in pajamas, and their teeth brushed she left them to talk amongst themselves until they fell asleep. She disappeared upstairs into her bedroom. Eddie was already in bed. Y/n changed into her pajamas, did her nightly routine, and then climbed into bed next to Eddie.

‘Y/n,” Eddie began.

“I’m tired of fighting. We can talk tomorrow,” Y/n said and without giving him a chance to respond she turned off her light and turned away from him. Eddie had hurt her feeling and she wasn’t sure just how they were going to bounce back from this one.

[byrantfrost]

The best of me, Honey, belongs to you.

So idk how to give this content/trigger warning so I’m just gonna put this right here, family murder? Kin Slaying is the word they would use for what happens here. It’s not happy, its cold blooded murder. Patricide, matricide, fratricide, just nepocide all around. Children are murdered in this story.

very out of character for Byrant but I’ve been listening to NFWMB all night soooo here’s just one version of what happens after the red wedding.

Byrant stalked through the halls of a castle he thought he’d never see again. He could have found the rooms he was looking for with his eyes closed, but that, of course, would have put him in danger of running into someone. There were more people about, even late at night, than had been when Byrant had lived here. Lakehold was not meant to be the hold of a rich man, well not as rich as Byrant’s father was now.  

Byrant crouched in the darkness before turning the last corner. He closed his eyes wondering how he’d gotten here. The journey was easy enough, he might have been the son of a Lord, but he spent more time with the common soldiers than was probably propper. He’d learned to march hard and sleep wherever he could long ago. He and Robb had all but trained for this, sneaking around Winterfell at night as boys. Over walls and through woods in the dead of night. No the physical journey from the twins north to Lakehold was not the hard part. 

What gave Byrant pause was how could he be here, feet from his father’s door, dressed in black, a dagger at his belt. He’d spent time in front of every wirewood tree he’d seen on the journey north. He could not find an answer, would the gods cast him down for being a kinslayer? His father hardly thought of him as kin, his father had sent assassins after him more than once. His father had conspired to kill the king, and it had worked. He had not stopped at Winterfell, he had not yet dealt with the Boltons. Roose Bolton might be evil, but Byrant figured he was smarter than Byrant’s father.  The gods had never answered him, and Byrant took that as answer enough. 

Byrant pulled a dried Wirewood leaf from his purse and stood tracing his steps back to the nearest torch and lit the tip of the leaf. He watched it burn down the ashes settling on the floor. A foot soldier’s superstition perhaps, but Byrant wanted any help from the gods he could get. Quietly he walked back to his corner and checked for guards. 

Seeing None Byrant stole forward, he knew the door would creak as it opened, or it had years ago, the hinges didn’t look any newer. When he pulled the door open he held his breath, but no- the hinges must have been replaced, all the better he walked into the room and took a breath, but it caught. 

Byrant had come prepared to kill his father, his father had killed his king, his love. But there laying next to his father was his mother. Byrant took a deep breath, he harbored no ill will for his mother, none at all, but- Byrant thought about what had been done to Robb, more than just the killing after guest rights had been invoked. The mutilation of his dead body. Many had died that night, more than just Robb, Lady Stark, the young Queen, and so many men, men who had more honor in their sword hand than Lord Frost had in his whole body. 

Byrant walked to the bed and took his father’s hair in his left hand, his father woke up but Byrant didn’t give him a chance to even recognize him, he slit his father’s throat and smiled. His smile fell though when he heard a choked shout from the otherside of the bed. 

“I’m sorry mother.” Byrant said, and he was, but the put a hand over her mouth as he slit her throat as well. He did not wait to watch his parents die, he only stayed long enough to burn another wirewood leaf. He was not done yet. 

Byrant found his eldest brother’s room as if by habit, he’d spent hours here with Derron, reading the history of their land, learning about wars. When they were younger it was always Derron who pointed out how merciful the Starks had been, not executing the youngest son after the war that nearly wiped their family from history. Byrant wondered now if the Starks should have. 

Byrant did not even pause, walking up to the bed. He’d not forgotten Derron’s wife, and soon the blood was pooling from both their necks. He wondered if Alisha had been conflicted when the Ironborn had come to take Winterfell. She herself was from the Iron Isles, a match suggested by Lord Eddard Stark to quell difficulties between the North and the Iron Isles. Neither house Frost nor Hose Orkwood seemed important enough to stop Theon. Byrant shook his head, he was going to Winterfell next and then he’d find Theon. The man Byrant had learned to think of as a friend would not die so peacefully. 

Byrant felt some regret as he slipped into his old room to see his nephews asleep. He’d been lucky so far, husband and wife sleeping near enough that Byrant did not have to worry about them calling out. That only meant he’d have to work quickly, three boys and then- he supposed Lyanna was in Garrat’s old room. They were all close enough to each other that this could pass for family chambers even if Derron and Alisha did not have a formal sitting room in with to entertain. 

The twins Robert and Brandon were closest to the door, young enough to still share a bed, it was almost too easy before Byrant padded over to his eldest nephew. The boy had always talked about wanting to be a swordsman, Derron had never said it, but Byrant knew it hurt that the boy looked up to him more than his father. 

“Uncle Byrant?” Byrant looked down at his nephew and almost put his dagger away. The boy did look something like him with his unruly blond hair. “Why are you all bloody?” 

Byrant couldn't find it in him to answer, could not even tell the boy sorry as he slit his throat. Like the other rooms he stayed only long enough to burn a wirewood leaf. He was not yet done, he wiped the dagger on his nephew’s bed linens as he walked out. It was a shame, the older one would have made a good honest Northman. 

His neice died quietly and Byrant found himself outside the room of his baby sister. She had been five years old the last time he saw her, before he had gone off to Dorne. Watching her Byrant could see she had grown into everything her older sister was not. Byrant felt regret, Ellya, Jorran, and Artor had not survived the massacre at the twins. Byrant could not help but wonder if Lord Bolton had meant for that to happen. No matter how much Lord Frost had put his support behind Lord Bolton, he was just a tool. 

Byrant closed his eyes and he slit his youngest sister’s neck. A single tear fell as he burnt the wirewood leaf. His father, his older brother, they deserved this but Alerie did not, she was only twelve years old, but there was nothing to be done. Byrant had one more stop to make. 

This time he did put his dagger away, he pulled a folded note from his purse and shook his head. Warrek  had been just two when Byrant had left for Dorne. This boy, a boy who Byrant could not even say he knew, was Lord Frost now. Byrant unfolded the letter and laid it on Warrek’s desk. It explained the whole thing. There were only three Frosts left in the world, Garrat, who had given up his name when he joined the citadel. Byrant who Lord Frost had disowned, struck from the family. And eight year old Warrek.

“The Frosts had been purged before” the note explained “and at the Starks were merciful to leave just one. Let this be a warning, to the Houses of the North.”

Byrant did not claim to work for the Starks, this- this was just vengeance, he had a considerable amount of work to do before he could claim to work for the Starks.

He did not go to the Lakehold godswood, instead, as he slipped out of the castle as quietly as he had slipped in, and headed south, he knew of a wirewood that grew near the shore of Long Lake, he needed to cleanse himself before he could continue south. 

Bathing in the lake, washing the blood from his hands, and changing into new clothes Byrant let his thoughts stray to Robb, for a moment he thought that Robb might disapprove of killing unarmed men, women, and children in their beds. But the sight of Greywind’s head on Robb’s body chased that thought out. He’d seen his father’s men in the crowd cheering. And what good had that been for Ellya, Jorran, and Artor, where they not his father’s children? Or had they gotten too close to Byrant, too far out of Derron’s reach? No, no matter what, Byrant knew he’d done right by Robb tonight.

He wanted to stop to rest but knew he needed to put as much space between him and the castle as he could. He only knew of two living Starks, Jon would make a good Lord, Byrant knew it, he’d grown up with the boy but he would have to be a last resort. So he set out south, he’d need a horse but he’d steal one when he got further away. He didn’t want to get too close to any houses, even if they were just solitary farm houses, yet. 

Stealing the Princess, The Queen from the Red Keep would be difficult, but it had to be done. It was a shame, even with Queen Sansa, that the Stark name would die out. Robb had been sure that Theon had not killed the young boys but all Byrant had to go off of were Robb’s feelings. Byrant loved the man but his feelings were what got the North into this mess in the first place. No Sansa would have to do and if the boys showed up that would just be icing on top of the cake. 

[lemonclemontadmin]

Bonnie’s Nightmare Oneshot

Psst @tiredclemont this is just the start of the Lemon boi angst >:3 

Night time had long fallen upon Kalos and everyone in the cities have begun to drift into dreamland after a hard day’s work. Lumiose City is one of them and the city of light still glowed like it was named for. Locals can still be seen outside, but they’re lesser than in the day for most have already gone to bed. The Lémons are just getting to that after having their supper before bed. Tonight however was a bit different for it was just the kids and their Pokemon at home. Meyer and his Ampharos are out tending to a customer in a farther city. So that night, it was just Clemont and Bonnie and the older sibling was put in charge of things.

Luckily for him, Bonnie had been on her best behaviour today and all Clemont had as a downside by day’s end was Bonnie getting dirty after playing - Which rewarded the little girl a fun shower from the hose in the backyard. The little girl had long fallen asleep with Dedenne in her arms afterward and Clemont had gone to his own room not long after. The day has come and gone perfectly leading to the next few hours of night calm. The two siblings and their Pokemon managed to sleep ever so peacefully as well. However, it wasn’t until sometime later when the slumber of a certain little girl was interrupted by fear. In her bed, she was frowning. She was restlessly tossing and turning...

Bonnie woke up to find herself in a strange place. Something about it seemed familiar somehow. Judging by the many contraptions, the glass chamber and dozens of controls littering the room, it appeared to be a part of someone’s laboratory. It was dark with only the dimly glowing green illuminating everything in sight. The light came from the glass chamber containing a few Zygarde cores, the very ones Xerosic still had and Bonnie had seen them when she, Ash, Pikachu and Serena together with Greninja broke in to save Clemont… Wait a minute.

“That big man with red glasses...”

The girl muttered to herself in recalling as her eyes have widened with fear. She had seen that Team Flare member a few times in the past and those times weren’t the prettiest - They made Bonnie mostly angry and at the same time, terrified. First, her beloved Squishy was forced to rampage after Xerosic managed to control it with that machine. And the next, Xerosic, during his search for Zygarde cells, had come across Bonnie and the others and kidnapped Clemont to later turn him into the first ‘Advanced Human’ with the same device used to control Squishy.

The more she thought about it, the more anxious Bonnie became as she slowly realised. This is the exact same lab where she together with Ash, Serena and Greninja broke in to save Clemont only to find him ‘brainwashed’ by Xerosic. “W-What am I doing here? Dedenne? Clemont? A-Anybody?” Blue eyes continued to scan the area with rising fear and the urge to burst into tears. Nobody is in sight except for her and fear rocketed within her - The strange absence of the elephant in the room isn’t making things any better. Where is Xerosic? And where is her brother? Ash and Serena can’t be here anymore, Bonnie knew. They’ve already gone to different places now. So that leaves only Clemont…

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here~!”

A crude, taunting voice belonging to a man made Bonnie squeak with surprise. The next thing she knew, she found herself face to face with a very familiar face; The last face that Bonnie never, ever, wanted to remember. The pale skinned figure stepped out of the dark corners of the lab and the lighting illuminated his crimson lenses and uniform. His dark smile is enough to send Bonnie into hysterics, but she tried to act brave, putting on her ‘fierce’ face. “Y-You again?! How did you get out? I thought the Officer Jennys put you away forever!”

Xerosic pretended to look shocked and had a hand to his chest in ‘fear’. “Oh they did, did they? Ha! That’s priceless!” He smirked with a snap of his fingers to summon two Pokemon from the shadows - Crobat and Malamar. “They are no match for me and oh! They definitely won’t be once they face Team Neo Flare in full power once again! All of you will pay for foiling with my plans and you will all bow down, before me!” He cackled nastily before the girl and Bonnie was shaking terribly. Her eyes darted around her in desperate search for only one person.

“C-Clemont? Clemont where are you?” Bonnie’s voice was high with anxiety that’s threatening to burst any second. No matter which angle she looked, there was no sign of her brother and her heart was pounding in her chest. She cried out at Xerosic, unable contain herself any longer. “You took him again didn’t you? Where is he? Where is my big brother!?”

The pale skinned man smiled eerily, suddenly looking as if Bonnie brought up something to be proud of. “Hmph, where he is as of now is highly classified. But since you asked me ‘so nicely’, I suppose I might as well tell you,” Xerosic took in the second of hopefulness on Bonnie’s expression before crushing that in an instant. “You see, the moment I slipped away from those Jennys I knew I was going to have that pathetic kid as the first to interfere with my plans of collecting all of the Zygarde cells again. So to spare myself from such trouble I did the one thing I should’ve done to him the first time I grabbed him…”

Xerosic chuckled and he casually paced before the child, hands rubbing like they were fresh from asphyxiating someone. “Ah you my dear had such a strong brother. You should have seen him when I had Malamar bring him in with psychic. Oh how he struggled, shouted, writhed like a Weedle until he broke free from the psychic. It’s a shame really, all his fighting is done for nothing.” His hands clenched together and a devilish grin formed on his face; Bonnie could have sworn she saw his lenses glint with evil.

Bonnie could no longer control her tears at this point. “I don’t understand.. W-What did you do to Clemont? What did you do?!” She screamed the last three words.

Xerosic only smiled more. “Do you really want to know?” He tittered before his smile turned sinister. “Fine then,” He pulled out a walkie-talkie device from his pocket to speak into it, never taking his manic gaze off of Bonnie. “Unit One, calling in Unit One! Please report to the lab, Xerosic out.” His words caused Bonnie to blink in utter confusion. Unit One? Those two words suddenly seemed familiar. It was fuzzy for Bonnie had only heard it once; But it wasn’t until she heard the sound of doors sliding open and smoke began to pour out.

A dark silhouette began to form in the fog and it was advancing towards the two. The only thing that stood out is the electric yellow light emitting from the visors. The figure’s shape grew clearer from the fog’s dissipating and it stopped. Now Bonnie could get a clear glimpse of the figure - But it was a face that made her heart stop. Her lower lip hung and quivered with tremendous shock, eyes never leaving the figure. No.. It can’t be!

The figure was no one other than her own brother.

Clemont stood stiffly before his master and Bonnie, the fog fully dying out now and his full appearance is revealed. The teenager is dressed in Team Flare uniform resembling what Xerosic and his cronies wore only it had a yellow pieces like the tie and even the lenses on his mechanical visors. The sixteen-year-old’s expression was a blank stare with his otherwise lifeless eyes being hidden behind the visor; Bonnie didn’t need seeing to believe that something is beyond off with her brother. But due to the negative worries ready to explode within her, the girl cried out to him in relief.

“Clemont! You’re alive! Did the big meanie hurt you?”

Poor Bonnie had no idea what she’s in for. In her sheer distress she expected at least one mention of her name from Clemont’s unmoving mouth - But there was none. The teen continued to stand emotionlessly in place and Xerosic began to chuckle, clearly amused by the little girl’s attempts. “Oh me? Hurt him? I did no such thing~!” He taunted in a singsong manner. He sauntered to Clemont and casually held the teen with one arm around him. “Your brother here is the one who let me do the job. All I did was threaten him with your life - Which means you are partly to blame in hurting him, my dear.”

Xerosic’s lenses glistened with evil and he cackled once more, enjoying the horrible shock on Bonnie’s face. His words played through her mind again and again. You’re the one who hurt him. The more she thought about it, the more she began to realise the truth in it and she could literally see the scenario in her head; Being stubborn as he is, Clemont refuses no matter how much agony is laid upon him - Until Xerosic resorted to a final blackmail that finally broke the gym leader into hysterics. It was then did Xerosic become satisfied and have Malamar knock out Clemont for the deed, ending the vision just like that.

Tears of anguish streamed down Bonnie’s face and she fell to her hands and knees. But as much as Xerosic’s words cut her like a knife, a part of her felt that it was only lies coming from the man; Clemont told her plenty about him after all.

 “You’re lying! My brother would never give in to you even if you’re controlling him!” She boldly retorted to Xerosic before setting her frightened, but desperation-filled eyes on Clemont. “Big Brother I know you can hear me in there! Please! Snap out of it! He’s controlling you again - You can’t let him do whatever he wants with you!”

Clemont did not move, nor did his expression falter even a bit.

Xerosic clicked in false sympathy and he brushed away a stray tear resulting from his laughter. “Oh your efforts are futile, child! He can’t hear you, not anymore!” He grinned at Clemont as he casually wrapped an arm around him. “You don’t hear a thing from that girl now do you Unit One?” He earned a stiff nod from Clemont and the man smirked at Bonnie. “See? Face it my dear. Your brother belongs to me now and together we will lead Team Neo Flare!”

The blonde child before him quivered terribly. She screwed her eyes shut. “N-No! My brother will never agree to that!”

Bonnie cried out with all bravery she could master. Despite that however, her eyes are leaking tears and Xerosic knew he’s succeeded in breaking her. Just one more push and he could either get Bonnie brainwashed and working for his side, or, he could have his ‘Unit One’ dispose of her corpse… The latter became his final option.

“My poor child. That is indeed true but I hate to tell you that at this point, your brother is gone. Dead the moment I shot him with my enhanced controlling system.” Xerosic wore a look of false pity. “But if it provides you any consolation, I made his last seconds of life at peace by promising that I wouldn’t turn you into an advanced human - Just like he badly pleaded me to.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Which is why I have another plan for you.”

Bonnie shakily looked up at him with teary eyes. “What are you going to do? … Kill me?”

Xerosic doubled over in a fit of laughter at Bonnie’s statement. “What? Me? Kill you? Oh no! No of course I wouldn’t do that heehee!” He shook his head in regaining himself - Before his expression morphed into an enormous grin. “He is.” He snapped his fingers at Clemont’s direction. “Unit One? I have a request for you.” He pointed towards Bonnie. “You see that girl over there? I want you to do the honors,” He reached into his uniform pocket to pull out a lethal looking weapon.

He gave the weapon to Clemont, and the teenager accepted it.

Bonnie’s blood turned cold at the terrible realisation; She felt faint. Brainwashed or not, surely Clemont would have fought hard against the option of pulling the trigger on his own sister? He can’t be that weak! Does he even know what he’s doing? She felt tears threaten to spill once again as she cast her distraught eyes on Clemont. “B-Big brother?”

As usual, not a response. Not a falter, nor a sound. But that was nothing compared to what happened next. Xerosic gave Clemont a nod, turning back to Bonnie. “She’ll be of no use to Team Neo Flare. Unit One, I want you to end her. Make it as painful as possible if you don’t mind.” And to his leader’s command, Clemont turned to face Bonnie, the yellow glass of his visors glinting with the mood to kill.

“As you wish, Xerosic sir.”

Clemont’s tone sounded mechanical; Lifeless as it had been the first time Bonnie heard it and it came crashing down to her. That was not her brother. Standing right before her is a mindless slave who is about to become the cause of her death.

Barely holding back a cry of terror, Bonnie began to stumble back in panic. She didn’t see Xerosic’s Malamar sweep behind her. A startled yelp escaped Bonnie’s mouth and she found herself being trapped by Malamar. The restrained girl tried to struggle against them but to no avail. Clemont already had the weapon pointed towards her and out came an ear-splitting sound. Bonnie’s life flashed before her eyes; Memories of her father, Ash and Serena.. And her brother; Back when he looked much more alive and made sure Bonnie is loved and cared for with his life. She will never see that again. The light cut off as Bonnie cried in pure agony - The last thing she said being a cry for her brother, and she saw him and Xerosic breaking into snide grins as they watched her die in her own blood…

“Ah!”

Bonnie shot up with a frenzied expression looking around wildly in her panic. Her pupils have shrunken from the anxiety and she found herself in her own bedroom. Was it only a bad dream? The girl had never been so freaked out by a nightmare - To her it felt so real, she even reached to her torso where she saw Clemont shoot her. There was none of course, but poor Bonnie was terrorized. Her panicked gaze set on the door and she sprinted out; Accidentally disturbing Dedenne and the mouse pokemon landed on the floor with a plop. 

“De ne? De ne ne!” The orange mouse squeaked and scampered after the upset Bonnie. She is going straight for her brother’s room. To her horror, the door was open and Clemont was not in bed. The covers looked like they have been thrown off in a haste, causing the fear to spike within Bonnie some more. “Oh no…” The girl began to hyperventilate as she scanned her surroundings. She bolted downstairs with that one horrifying thought in her mind; Xerosic has taken her brother.

“Clemont! Big brother where are you?! Clemmy!” 

Her terribly distraught cries for her older sibling rang throughout the house. There was no sign of Clemont in the house at all and it made Bonnie even more terrified. Unknown to her, her anguished cries aren’t unheard and they have reached the ears of a certain someone who was just outside the house - The one she was desperately looking for.

Clemont recognised the voice at once and it caused him to gasp, azure eyes filling with alarm; There was only one person in the house with that voice. “Bonnie?!” His head turned to the direction of the cries and they definitely belong to his sister. His anxiety and protective instinct raising, the teen wasted no time in going back to the house - Grabbing a broom along the way in case he needed to whack a burglar on the head. A dozen thoughts flooded his panicked mind at once. Had someone broken in? Was it a wild Pokemon? Was Bonnie hurt?

The back door was slammed open and Clemont ran in panting heavily. “Bonnie?! Bonnie where are you I’m right here! Bonnie!” His panic-filled eyes scanned the house for any sight of his distressed sister and any possible thief. He stiffened upon hearing hurried footsteps from upstairs and was quick to raise the broom in preparing to make a hit, thinking it was a stranger attempting to make a getaway. He braced himself as the footsteps grew faster and louder; He stopped himself from swinging the broom down the moment Bonnie came running in crying.

“Big brother! Big brother you’re okay! You’re okay!”

Clemont nearly fell back when Bonnie went colliding into him in a tight squeeze. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be-!” His words were cut short by the cries - Bonnie was wailing loudly in his waist and wrapping it in a vice-grip embrace. The older brother gasped when he felt just how scared his sister is. He could feel her heart literally pounding in her chest and he could immediately tell from her intense crying - This is not an ordinary display of fear; Bonnie was deathly terrified and never did Clemont see her cry like this.

The elder couldn’t help but wonder what made Bonnie  like this. Asking her was out of the question for the girl was too upset and Clemont focused on calming her down first; He knelt to her level to take her in his arms, softly hushing the child all the while whispering soothing words to her. “It’s okay Bonnie, I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere,” Clemont gently rubbed her back as the young girl continued to cry. Her sobs slowly began to grow lesser, but that did not slow down her rapid pulse, or her unsteady breathing and sobbing. It wasn’t long before Clemont felt Bonnie’s legs give way beneath her and the girl nearly slid off him if it weren’t for his hold on her. Bonnie had passed out…

About half an hour since she lost consciousness, Bonnie began to stir and she opened her eyes halfway. They were still slightly red and puffy from her crying fit and her cheeks had dried tear stains running down. “Hmm..” She groaned a bit and sat up. She was greeted by the familiar scent of lemon, paper and metal, a comforting combination of smell she often found around Clemont. The girl took in her surroundings and she realised she is in Clemont’s room. Beside her, Dedenne had just sensed his caretaker’s awake and he nuzzled Bonnie’s arm.

Bonnie took a deep breath and she stroked the Pokemon behind the ears. “I’m okay Dedenne.. I was just worried for Clemmy that’s all.” She murmured to which Dedenne looked in sad wonder. He continued to nuzzle Bonnie’s palm as a soothing motion for his caretaker. It lasted until Clemont returned to the room and Bonnie felt her earlier anxiety grip her again. She tried not to break down again. “Big brother,” She squeaked out and she was immediately swathed in the arms of her brother. She caught a glimpse of how worried Clemont was for her and looking back, she realised that she had been a crying wreck before passing out. “I’m sorry for being a big crybaby. I didn’t mean to.”

She was hushed by Clemont at that sentence and the elder looked at her with softness. “You shouldn’t apologise for being scared Bonnie. It’s especially okay for everybody to cry sometimes when they are,” He swallowed briefly and continued to caress his sister on the head, just as she loved it whenever she was sad. Now came the stressing part; Getting Bonnie to talk to him. “Why were you worrying about me? I never went far away - I was only near our backyard because I couldn’t sleep.”

Bonnie averted her gaze. A small part of her is afraid to tell Clemont in fear of hurting his feelings. But when she met Clemont’s eyes, she was emotionally stung in seeing how sad and worried her brother is - She can see it in his eyes. It was a sight her heart can never say no to. She sighed looking down, knowing she’ll have to tell him. “I was worrying about you because of this really bad dream I had. I was in this lab. It was dark, and scary… It’s the exact same one we were in last time. And then I saw him...”

Clemont looked tense. “Who did you see?”

Bonnie screwed her eyes shut to fight back tears. “It was that big meanie with the red clothes. The one who took Squishy’s friends, and you.” Her description caused Clemont to look disturbed. Bonnie began to cling to him. “I asked him what he’s doing back there and he said he was going to start his Team again to finish what he started..” She snivelled a bit and Clemont snapped out of his stunned silence. His heart now dreaded to hear the rest of Bonnie’s story. But his need to comfort her outweighed that. “... Did Xerosic do anything else?” He regretted asking that in an instant when Bonnie began to cry into his chest. Clemont internally cursed himself. He rubbed Bonnie’s back. “You don’t have to tell me.. You can stop right there.”

But Bonnie did not. She shook her head in between sobs. “N-No.. I can do it! I can’t hide this from you…” She whimpered and felt around for Clemont’s hand due to her eyes being shut and her face is buried in her brother - The elder sibling took it in his, giving it assuring squeezes. “I got you, don’t worry.” Bonnie looked at him and she sniffled. ‘Don’t let go.’ Her teary eyes seemed to say.

She rubbed her eyes, and she began to continue. “So that big man wanted to start Team Neo Flare again and continue his plans to catch Squishy’s friends. And then I got scared. I started to look for you but you weren’t there! And that was when he told me.. He said he caught you! A-And he wasn’t going to let you stop him so he did something really scary…” She began to hiccup in sobs. Her hold on Clemont’s hand grew tighter. “I-I didn’t know what it w-was at first… B-But then he started to c-call for someone… And y-you appeared!” She grew hysterical at this point. “Y-You looked exactly like that bad man’s workers and when I t-tried to call you *sob* you d-didn’t listen and he said *sob* he said you were gone! You couldn’t hear me anymore And… and… He told you to kill me and when you did.. *sob* That’s when I woke up..”

The room became deathly silent save for Bonnie’s muffled crying. Clemont had never felt so anguished in his life. He killed his own sister in her dream! Hearing this kind of nightmare coming from Bonnie stabbed his heart deeper than the sharpest object and it was something that disturbed him far more than his own nightmare. It may have only been a dream but the fact that it was so realistic enough to scare Bonnie like that and is not to mention, based on an actual event, it sickened the teen to the core. The thought alone of him being partial nightmare fuel for Bonnie is enough to send Clemont into tears - But he can’t, not in front of his sister. She needs him.

With a shuddered breath and rapid blinks to fight tears, Clemont scooped Bonnie onto his lap to hug her close to his heart. “Oh Bonnie that’s terrible I.. I’m so sorry you had to dream of something like that,” He sounded guilty at that, but then he swallowed it down. He gently ran his fingers through Bonnie’s hair and looked into her eyes. “But as scary it is, nightmares are never real and this one is definitely no different, I swear to Arceus. You’re my little sister and I promised that I’d always love and protect you no matter what; Not even Xerosic can ever make me break that promise.”

Bonnie looked up at him with tears. “R-Really?”

Clemont nodded. “Really.” He sighed wearily with a hand running across his head. “Honestly? After that last encounter it’s gonna take a lot more out of Xerosic to turn me into his slave.” He felt the twinge of guilt creep up his heart and he held Bonnie closer. He felt the girl whimper and cling to him. “It’s really scary, Big Brother, and I don’t know what to do…” She looked up with puppy eyes. “Can you invent something that will get rid of nightmares forever? If you do I promise I’ll eat all of my veggies for a whole year and I’ll even do all of your chores! I just want that big meanie to stop bothering me at night.”

The older brother just gazed at her, before melting into a knowing expression. Though he couldn’t help but chortle at the girl’s offers - And feel heartbroken for her at the same time. “Actually Bonnie, I can’t. Because getting rid of nightmares without inventions is already possible,” He paused before smiling suggestively. “And I happen to know the best method known to mankind.” In response, Bonnie tilted her head curiously. “You do? What is it?”

Clemont smiled gently at her. “This,” He reached to hoist Bonnie up so he could lie on the other side of the bed beside her. He allowed the girl to rest her head over one of his arms and laid the other around her - Drawing the girl close in a way that Bonnie is nestled close to his chest and Clemont’s chin is atop her head. Bonnie’s forehead was pressed lightly against her brother where she could feel the soft, rhythmic beating of his heart. It slowly but gradually began to sooth the child the longer she listened - The loving touch of her brother making her feel more comfortable and she felt safe.

Bonnie curled up against her brother with a small smile. “I.. I actually feel much better now.” Her eyes have widened slightly with curious realisation. True to her words, she felt much more calm and her frightened state from earlier had simmered down to nothing. She hardly felt scared anymore; Clemont felt relieved at this. “It may not be able to make nightmares disappear in an instant, but believe me, hugs can help people a lot, especially when they’re scared.” He paused in recalling an old memory with a wistful sigh. “It was mom and uncle Colress who believed in that when they were kids and mom told this to me when I had my first nightmare.”

“She did?” Bonnie’s face lit up with surprise. “Wow I didn’t know that!” She smiled as she was given a pet to the head by the teen. “But now you do,” Clemont chuckled and he let Bonnie cuddle against him some more. The elder exhaled softly and stroked his sister’s hair. Part of him isn’t ready to let Bonnie on her own the rest of the night. “I think it’s best you stay with me tonight. Is that okay with you?”

The little girl lifted her head up, her expression innocent. “I was gonna ask you that, but thanks Clemmy!” Clemont could only chortle in amusement. “No problem. Anything for my little sister,” He gave Bonnie’s forehead a soft kiss and the two siblings slept in each other’s embrace; Bonnie did not get disrupted a single time after that. Her slumber is finally made at peace and it’s all thanks to the one she called her Big Brother.

[sunflowercheol]

Sleigh Ride

BTS OT7

[Day 8]

pairing: BTS x Female Reader

genre: fluff

warning: none

word count: 1,355 

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you have a happy holiday season with your family and friends! See you all January 5th-ish!

———————-

“Everyone got everything?” You ask from the front door as they all packed the car with their bags. Jungkook comes up behind you and picks you up heading towards the car. “We only have to put this in the trunk and then we’re good to go!” You try your best to wiggle out of his arms before he stuck you in the trunk. “Jungkook LET GO OF ME!” You yell at him as he tries to put you in the trunk. “Yah, Jungkook! Put her down,” Jin scolds him as he heads towards the driver seat of the car. Jungkook puts you on the ground and runs away. “You just wait you little bunny!” You yell at him as you let him run away. ‘Either way he has to get in the car eventually,’ you think as you get in the passenger seat.

“Hello and welcome to Worldwide Handsome’s wonderfully planned trip. Today we have our navigator, Y/N and then the rest of you as the others joining us on the trip.” You start laughing as the boys complain. “And ONWARD WE GO!” Jin yells interrupting the complaints and drives off.

———————-

“FINALLY,” Jungkook yells as he gets out of the car once Jin had parked the car. You carefully get out and sneak up behind Jungkook, who was breathing in the fresh air and looking up towards the sky with his eyes closed. He starts walking when you quickly trip him causing him to fall face first on top of a bed of snow. You start laughing and run towards Namjoon as Jungkook gets up after laying down for a couple of seconds. By the time Jungkook fully thought of what had happened, you were already inside, hiding away in the room that the boys had left for you.

“Y/N!” You hear Jungkook yell as he bursts into the cabin. “No worries we got you,” Tae says as he points at Jimin and himself. Jimin gasps, “Why am I being included? I didn’t do anything to be included in this mess! I didn’t want to be included in this mess!” Jungkook bursts into your room and comes towards you but not before Tae and Jimin get in his way and hold on to him. “Come on Jungkook we wanna cuddle!”

“Yeah, let’s go cuddle!” Jimin snuggles in a bit closer to Jungkook as he tries to shove both Jimin and Tae off of him. “Guys, let go of me!” Jungkook manages to get Tae and Jimin off but wasn’t able to get to you as Jin came in at that exact moment. “Guys leave her alone. Y/N’s the baby between all of us, and we have to take care of her.” Jin comes up to you and hugs you. “Look how small and cute she is!” He pinches your cheek, which makes you pout at him. “Now, come on. We have some food ready, so we can eat before we go and have fun in the snow!”

———————-

“Thank you for the food, Jin. It was very delicious,” You tell him as you gather the dishes to wash them. “You’re welcome, and don’t worry about the dishes. I got them,” He says as he tries to get you to move out of the way. You stand firmly on the ground,” No. You cooked and now you go rest a bit before we leave. I got this!” You urge him as he keeps trying to get you to stop. He sighs after a while of struggling. “Fine. I’ll at least tell the others, so hopefully at least one other will help you!” He leaves quickly, so you couldn’t stop him from bothering the other members.

“I am here to help,” you hear Jungkook announce as he comes up behind you. Jin comes back in shortly, “You better not try anything, JK. I will be watching.” Jin slowly backs out of the kitchen as he points two fingers at his eyes and then at Jungkook. Jungkook just looks at him blankly and turns around once Jin is out of view. “You’re lucky that Jin is overprotective over you. If that wasn’t the case, you would’ve been tackled already.” You roll your eyes as you hand him the plate you finished washing. “Try me, Kook. I’m not afraid of you.” Right when Jungkook grabs the little water hose by the sink to spray you with water, Jin comes back in to throw something away. “Jungkook! What did I tell you?” Jin comes up to Jungkook and grabs him by the ear, making Jungkook put the water hose down. “Ow ow ow ow! Okay, I’m sorry I won’t do it again I promise!” He yells to get Jin off his ear. Jin lets go making Jungkook rub his ear and pout. “That really hurt.” Jin glares at him, “That’s why I did it. Now get out of here, I don’t trust you to be alone in here with Y/N no more.”

Jungkook scoffs. “Fine. Care about Y/n more than me. I’m fine with it,” Jungkook playfully whines. “Oh, you know what you were getting yourself into when you introduced us to her. Thought you could keep her to yourself after we found out that she was your friend? You make me laugh. HAH,” Jin laughs as Jungkook looks at him weird before leaving the kitchen.

———————-

“Okay, now that the dishes are done, and everyone is ready, it’s time to go on the sleigh ride!” Namjoon announces as Yoongi comes to join us in the living room. Hoseok gets up excitedly and grabs your hand. “Come on let’s go, everyone!” You and Hoseok put on your shoes and head outside in the snow. You and Hoseok are talking about what you guys could do tonight after the sleigh ride when you feel something hit your back.

You look behind you, eyebrows furrowed to see what hit you. You look straight into the eyes of a smirking Jungkook and pout. Hoseok comes up behind you and wraps you in his arms. “Stop it, Jungkook! You’re hurting our baby!” Hoseok lets go of you to make a snowball and throws it at Jungkook’s face. Yoongi and Namjoon come up behind Jungkook and roll their eyes.

“Guys we have to go. We don’t have time to play right now,” Namjoon states as he and Yoongi leave you all behind. Jimin comes out of nowhere and throws a snowball at both Namjoon and Yoongi. They both stop and Yoongi turns around slowly. “Did you just throw that at me?” Yoongi stares at Jimin. Jimin laughs cutely, “Let loose, have some fun!” Namjoon bends down and then stands up, slowly turning around. “Have fun?” Namjoon throws the snowball he had made at Jimin’s chest. “Is that enough fun for you?” Jimin laughs even more, and Jin comes running out of the house. “Have fun!” He yells as he throws a whole bunch of snowballs that were in his arms.

Everyone starts throwing snowballs at each other, which starts a huge snowball fight, that made you all late to the sleigh ride.

———————-

All 8 of you finally arrive at the main building of the cabin resort that you were at. “Okay, here we have your sleigh ready. Please come aboard,” one of the staff members points you towards the last sleigh that was ready. You all board the sleigh and off you guys went after being told what and what not to do on the ride. You all had a great time, laughing about the fun bumps and talking about the animals that were seen on the ride. “I hope you all enjoyed the ride! When we stop, there will be some sleds for all of you to enjoy for the rest of the day. Have a wonderful day!” The man stops the sleigh, and all of you thank him as you get off.

You all quickly get on the sleds and begin racing each other and have great fun. ‘Nothing can top this moment,’ you think as you all head back to the cabin, all worn out and cold but with huge smiles on your faces.

[bike42]

Northwoods bike tour (7/24 thru 7/30/2021)

Saturday morning found us driving back up Highway 39/51. This time our destination was Rhinelander Wisconsin for the Northwoods bike tour. We had been scheduled to do this last year with Sandra and Matt, but that was postponed due to the pandemic. Instead, the 4 of us rented a condo near Eagle River and did our own tour last year, but it’s nice to be up headed on the organized tour this year with somebody else to do the planning.

 It was a beautiful drive up north and as I was driving, I reflected on how far we’ve hiked over this past year on the Ice Age Trail. Towns that were vaguely familiar names before, are now intimately familiar to us and it was fun to remember what it was like as we were driving north over this past year and hiking in the various areas.

 Jeff and I arrived at the hotel in Rhinelander about 1 PM, and we were happy to find our room was ready. We picked up our ride packets, changed into our bike clothes, and headed out on the 20-mile warm-up ride.   I’d brought along my cycling Camelbak.  It was the first time I’ve used it since last July and it was like I’d never used it before (even though this very same Camelbak crossed the country with me!). I was so confused about the operation and how the hose attached.  I’ve become so familiar with the Osprey hydration system that’s part of my backpack, that this one now seemed foreign.  Even after I got it together and functional, I spent the first 4 days reaching in the wrong place for the hose!

 When we’d done this tour with our friends Paul and Rachel three years ago, we were confused about which day the actual ride started, and missed the warm-up day as well as the first day of riding! Since this will probably be the only time we’ll do this tour again, it’s great to take advantage of the full ride.

 It was a warm day and there was a little breeze and we headed out across the Wisconsin River along beautiful roads. We only met one other couple riding and chatted with them for a while. We cross the dam and headed back north and found that the wind had picked up a bit. While it’s difficult to ride into the wind, it would’ve been really hot without it. The road was a beautiful newly paved asphalt with rolling hills and we really enjoyed the ride. Given all the hiking we’ve been doing lately to train for Kilimanjaro, we’ve only done several bicycle rides of 30 to 40 miles each, so these consecutive days in the saddle are going to be rough on certain body parts!

 We finished the ride, took showers, and then headed out to my dad’s “Fish Camp.” Sandra and Matt were spending the night there with my folks.  We had cocktails and dinner (Booyah), and had a rousing game of spinner Dominoes, where I came from behind and won.  Jeff and I headed out for the 20-minute drive back to our hotel in Rhinelander. It was just getting dark, which is the worst time to be driving country roads in northern Wisconsin as the deer can be quite active. We weren’t in any hurry, so he drove slowly and we did see several deer, but no close calls.

 Sunday morning, we did some yoga and stretching in the room, then headed down to the breakfast room of the Quality Inn. There are about 140 cyclists on the tour, and most of them were trying to have breakfast at the same time. A little bit of chaos, but also excitement and a chance to talk with fellow cyclists. Sandra and Matt arrived, put their bike together and we headed out together on today’s route. The ride started with backtracking over the beautiful road we had ridden yesterday. It was really fun to be riding in an organized ride again.

 We chatted with several cyclists as we passed them, one chatty guy’s name was Casey, and we were calling them “KC and the Sunshine Band” as in “that’s the way a ha a ha, I like it a ha a …” There was a rest stop at a beautiful trail head and pavilion on a lake called Perch Lake. Unfortunately, there was a gravel road about a half a mile leading into it. Riding gravel on our tandem is never fun, but Jeff led us safely there and back (twice).

 After the food stop, there were two optional loops for a 50-mile ride for the total for the day or the 60 miles, which is what we opted for. I was very turned around and not certain where we were however the little yellow arrows kept us on the route and there were enough other cyclists out there that for the most part you were generally pretty confident you were on track. By 1 PM we finished the loops and were back at the Perch Lake stop for lunch. We grabbed a sub and a bag of chips and went down to the lake to enjoy the view, the nice breeze and time to rest. Unlike many of the beautiful lakes that we’d cycled past, Perch Lake was green and full of algae, much like most of the lakes in southern Wisconsin. While it was tempting to wade and soak our feet, the water just looked too gross for that. We settled for laying down on the bench of the picnic table and having a little nap there. Jeff laid down in the shade of a pine tree and it was great to have a good rest.

 It was an easy 20 miles back to the hotel, but as typical after lunch and a nap, we were all feeling a little sluggish. All it will take for Jeff, however, is for a couple fast riders to pass him up and he kicks into a different kind of a second wind. We had a downhill run and we caught the guys that passed us, we chatted them up a little bit and then easily cruised down to the hotel without thinking about the ride.  We really enjoyed talking with an older guy named Richard, who splits his time between Cheyenne and Steamboat Springs.  He was here with a larger group as a “reunion tour” from their cross-country bike trip on Tandems 20 years ago.  Just flying through the miles and talking to our new friends took our minds off our sore butts and wrists!

 One thing that’s really struck me on today’s ride was the comparison to walking the connecting routes as part of our Ice Age Trail journey. Over this last year, we’ve walked hundreds of miles on county roads much like we were biking on today. The major difference is how fast it feels like the miles fly by when we’re cycling at 15 to 20 miles an hour versus hiking, where 15 miles in a day is a really good day!

 Back to the hotel, we had quick showers and then shuttled Sandra’s car up to Eagle River, where we will be cycling to tomorrow. We returned to the hotel just us happy hour with starting outside the U-Haul van! One great thing about this PAW‘S organization is that they have great taste in beer! We grabbed a couple cold Mud Puppy Porters and met even more new friends. Being veterans of the PAWs tour, Jeff and I remembered to bring camp chairs and I even brought my little table that screws into the ground - people were impressed!

 After happy hour got in our car and drove out to the Holiday Acres resort where dinner was scheduled for this evening. We arrived early, and Matt and San explored the building a bit while Jeff and I headed to the bar to order a round of brandy old-fashioned. It’s a well-maintained old-time resort, it felt like we’d been transported back in time to the 50s. We had a great buffet dinner and a yummy strawberry ice cream dessert! After dinner we stroll around the resort a little bit down to the little beach, around some cool cabins and then drove back to the Quality Inn. The only thing that could be done to improve the Northwoods bike tour would be to stay in a really cool resort accommodation like Holiday Acres.

 Monday morning, we had breakfast and headed out for the ride to Eagle River. Even though we had ridden this route before and I knew basically what the route should be, we still found ourselves following a group of cyclists that led us off route. Less than a mile into the day and we were already lost! I grabbed my phone and rerouted us back to the correct route without any trouble. We just got to see a little bit more of downtown Rhinelander.

 We crossed the Wisconsin River again and wound around some beautiful lakes and cabin areas and stopped at the first rest stop about 15 miles into the day, near the town of Sugar Lake. We grabbed a few snacks and headed out, knowing that 10 miles down the road it was an awesome coffee shop in a little town of Three Lakes.

 Like every establishment that’s trying to get back to business after the pandemic, the coffee shop in Three Lakes was short-staffed. I was smart enough to rush in and get our order placed before a larger group of cyclists came behind us. It still took some time to get an iced latte – Sandra remarked that the young lady wouldn’t make it as a Starbucks barista! We sat outside under the apple trees and chatted with a group of guys from Maryland. One of the guys (Robert) was originally from New York and we had fun joking around with him as he was waited a long long long time for his order. We finished up and then headed out to ride Highway X. In our memory, Highway X was the best ride of the tour last time we were up here. Last summer with Sandra and Matt on our self-guided trip, we road it again and it did not disappoint! Three years ago, when we were up here we were so delighted by the road that we doubled back and rode it again. We weren’t feeling that inspired today, but it was still enjoyable and a beautiful day.

 There was a rest stop set up at the landmark boatlift and dam. We grabbed a few snacks, San and Jeff and I took off our sandals and cooled our toes in the water, while Matt took a nap on a nearby picnic table. There was a little crayfish that was poking his head out near Jeff’s toes, and Jeff had fun grabbing a stick and trying to entice him out of the water.

 Back on our bikes, we had about 10 miles to get to the Days Inn in Eagle River. We were delighted to find smooth new blacktop on much of the route that wound through resort and cottage areas, around beautiful lakes, and then to Eagle River. While it was a warm day with a little breeze, I really didn’t feel hot until we had about a mile stretch on Highway 45.  The rest of the day was simply delightful.

 We checked into the Days Inn with no trouble having arrived about 2 PM. We took quick showers and then Matt took me back to Rhinelander, where I picked up our car. Matt had to stop at Menards for some work that they’re going to do at his land later this week.  I stopped at a second-hand shop in downtown Rhinelander, and bought a new purse as the only one I’d brought had developed a hole and I nearly lost my car key!

 Back in Eagle River, we gathered behind the hotel in the shade of a few little trees for the 4 PM happy hour. Great beer and great conversation with new friends. The nearby place where they would normally have held our group dinner went out of business so they’d made arrangements at Eagle River resort which was 5 miles away from the hotel. They arranged for school buses to pick us up and shuttle us to our dinner so we didn’t have to drive after happy hour – that was great, and fun to ride a school bus again!

 The resort had a nice bar and two dining rooms and we were able to spread out and not have to fight for tables as we did the previous time we were here. The four of us sat with four other tandem riders from the Chicago area. There is always camaraderie among tandem riders! We had a great dinner then boarded the school buses back to the hotel. The organizer, Ken Jr, had warned us that the Days Inn breakfast was a little lacking since the pandemic, so Jeff and I walked across the street to the grocery store where we picked up some yogurt, granola, and fresh fruit for our breakfasts, and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s just because. Back to our room to watch some of the Olympics until we just couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer.

 Tuesday morning, we had breakfast in our room. I went down for coffee and picked up some instant oatmeal, and then we met Sam and Matt just before 8 AM to get started on the 52-mile ride for today. Matt said he had some knee trouble today and after about 8 miles they decided to turn back. Completely understandable, but it was lonely riding without them even though there were hundreds of other riders along on the tour. There was a rest stop set up in a small town called Lake Tomahawk, and we had about 5 miles of really awesome road and then about 5 miles of not so good road but lots of dump trucks. We got to the rest stop, ate a few snacks and then headed out, disappointed to learn that we had to go 5 miles back on the not so good road with all the dump trucks. Even worse, was that the dump trucks were working on road construction on our route! County Highway E was actively being regraded for about a 1.5-mile section. While they warned us about this, I was really surprised that they didn’t reroute us. The first section was loose gravel and there’s no way we could ride our tandem on that, so we walked on what had been the shoulder. There was a large piece of equipment that was grading the road and we were closer to it than I cared to be! There were also several dump trucks driving back-and-forth. After a bit, the road was a hard packed gravel/sand and Jeff felt comfortable riding. While I have complete trust in him as a captain, it was really unsettling to be in the back and feel the sliding motion of the bike but not be able to see around him. I didn’t realize until we got back on hard pavement how hard I’ve been gripping my jaw and the handlebars, and humming my way to my happy place!

 We turned onto County Road J and easily cruised into the little town of Saint Germain. I had recalled that there was a neat coffee shop there called the Red Canoe. Rather than turning onto the bike path as our guide described, I directed Jeff to stay out on the highway so we could cross to the coffee shop. It was busy with lots of tourists but not many fellow cyclists from our tour. Like every place these days, there was a “help wanted” sign on the door, so I hustled in ahead of a group of four women to place our order. There were two young ladies working there but they were really busting butt and efficiently getting the job done - big change from the two young women yesterday! We ordered breakfast panini‘s (we should have split one), I had a nice latte and Jeff had a smoothie. We got our drinks and food pretty fast and sat on the on the deck watching cyclists go by, quite a few cruised by to St. Germain and then came back to what I think was the best place in town!

 From there, we had about 15 miles back to Eagle River. We rode on some beautiful small roads which was a nice relief after the county roads. A storm came through last night after we’d gone to bed. They’d predicted high winds and hail, I did hear a bit of the storm last night but the news this morning didn’t chat about it much, so we didn’t really think about it until we get out on the road. We saw a lot of trees down but on the county roads they were cleared off the road, save for a little debris here and there. However, after we left Saint Germain, there were more trees down and while the road was never completely blocked there were some causing partial blockage. It was a little surprising that it was afternoon and they hadn’t been cleared yet. In addition to dodging around the fallen trees there was a lot of debris on the road and sometimes it would fling up towards my face after we would ride over it. That was pretty unsettling to me. Once a stick got stuck near my pedal and was scraping my leg I had to ask Jeff to stop so I could dislodge it. I can’t say that has ever happened to me before!

 We’ve seen a lot of deer each day as we’ve been riding. They seem to be traveling in pairs, and we watch carefully when one crosses, and the second one comes along, too. Once we had one run alongside of us, leaping into the air about every fourth step! Another time, we heard the second one running through to woods in line with us, before turning and suddenly crossing the road, too.

 As we’re riding, I spend a lot of time looking into the woods and reflecting on the hundreds of miles we’ve hiked on the IAT. The woods are thick up here, and the dense canopy makes for not much undergrowth. As we were running the rolling hills today on a nice smooth backroad, we commented that it’s like slicing the eskers sideways, versus walking along them as we’d be doing on the IAT.

 The last 10 miles were cruising down County Highway G with a good amount of traffic, but a decent shoulder and no significant hills - so we were able to cruise. Our average for the day was over 15 miles per hour, which made us feel pretty good. Our butts are sore, and our wrists are little sore, but other than that we feel strong from our hiking and weight training and are happy with that.

 We were back to the hotel around 1 PM, so we lazed around for a while.  Jeff jumped on an IFA conference call that he thought he’d be missing. I caught up with some email and reading and just generally relaxing waiting for Happy Hour to start.

 We met up with San and Matt at Happy Hour. They’d gone back to the beach near the condo where we stayed last year and had a great swim. It’s funny as we were up here exactly a year ago and Facebook is showing us memories of the week.

 We had group dinner at the Eagle River Inn again – another great dinner and Old Fashioned’s. We sat with an interesting couple from Florida, Alice and Tom. After a school bus shuttle back to our hotel, Jeff, Sandra and I walked back to downtown and did some window shopping and stretched our legs.

 We planned an early start for Wednesday, as rain was forecast for the early afternoon. However, when we awoke and looked out the window, there was thick fog so we delayed our start until 7:30am. Today’s destination was Butternut-Franklin National Forest - a place we used to camp when we were kids. We’d biked and hiked there during our week last summer. We had two options, 52 or 60 miles. With Matt’s knee still sore, we opted for the shorter option, which also meant out and back over 5 miles of really crappy road - the only downside.

 We got to the lunch stop at 10:30a, 30 minutes before the sandwiches arrived. San and I brought our swimsuits, so we had a swim - water was perfect and it felt great. Having a wet head and swim suit top helped keep me cool the rest of the day anyway!

 Other than the 5 miles bumping along Military Road on the return, the rest of the roads were smooth and delightful. We were surprised by the wide swath of trees down from Monday nights storm. As we got closer to Eagle River, we were also surprised to see power lines still down - some hanging so low over the road that I could have reached up and touched them!

 We got back to the hotel just after 1pm, lots of time for showers and naps before the 4pm Happy Hour! By 4pm, rain was eminent, so Tom didn’t get even the chairs out. I brought ours out, and some others had chairs. About 4:30p, we started feeling drops and I ran to my car to get out my umbrellas. The rain came fast and heavy, but then tapered and a few people came back outside - then the skies opened again! We ended up having to bring our wet chairs into our already humid hotel room to try to dry them out.

 We decided to drive into town to go to the American Craftsman- we’d gone there last year and recalled they had an extensive beer menu and great food. We thought at 5pm, we’d be able to get in - wrong - 2 hour wait! We were lucky to get four seats together at the bar, and we ordered all of the appetizers on their menu and chased them down with some yummy beers and called that dinner.

 Thursday was a planned day off, and we travelled to Matt’s deer hunting land, where he’s in the process of erecting a Yurt. Jeff, Sandra and I went into Iron River (Michigan) and ate a second breakfast at a sad cafe before heading to Camp Lake Creek Camp. I was surprised to find my sister’s lack of navigational ability in finding the place, just one more way she takes after our mother!

 Last night another storm swept through northern Wisconsin, but the morning news made it sound like most of the damage was south of here - Tomahawk to Wausau area. In the turnaround of the camp, there was a poplar tree down over the road. Matt fired up his chain saw and Jeff quickly cleared the tree while I stacked the pieces in a new wood pile.

 Then we set about working on the platform for the yurt. We installed braces, tamped sand around the support posts, and installed a few hunks of plywood. Matt had to make one trip to the hardware store, and we did as much work as we could with the materials we had. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out but it wasn’t too hot and we had ample shade. Hardly any bugs, but I’d sprayed myself with the 40% DEET spray.

 We had an early dinner, and decided another tree was leaning and needed to come down. Jeff got the chair saw stuck, but was able to use the handsaw to cut the tree in a way that we could still control the angle of the fall, and free the chainsaw! We couldn’t get the chain saw restarted though, so we used the handsaw to trim most of the branches and lifted the main trunk so it was behind our new woodpile. Lots of other trees that still need to come down - one hovering about their out house!

 It was fun to work together today, but Jeff and I were beat when we left there about 4:30pm. Easy drive back to Eagle River, stop at the Dairy Queen and back to the hotel for much needed showers.

 Friday was our last day to ride, and we set out with cooler temperatures which felt great.  There didn’t seem to be a lot of other riders, even though officially there were 140 registered.  We rode the familiar route to Star Lake (rest stop), and onto Boulder Junction (coffee shop), then back to Star Lake and another route back to the Days Inn.  We got back about 2PM, and had already decided to shower and head home.  The official ride finishes Saturday with a 35-mile ride back to Rhinelander – but we already had our car in Eagle River … and a night at home, and a full weekend to relax at home seemed like a better option than one more night in a musty hotel room.

 Great week – always fun to spend the time with Sandra and Matt – great weather, beautiful cycling.

 Six weeks until Tanzania … COVID Delta Variant rates are soaring – up 125% in Dane County.  Making us a bit nervous, but all we can do is continue to be smart and mask up, and hope our trip is able to happen after all of this waiting!