#me after being informed by my dentist that one of my teeth just decided to die for no reason and now it's just like that forever

[3445poems]

Fuck Me Literally

i applied for my first apartment in the same week that i bought my first sex toy

i used some of the money that my dad had gifted me for food delivery on my “buy 15 dollars worth of merchandise get 50% off and a free vibrating rabbit”

both of these accomplishments were spur of the moment, and happened on my phone.

for one of them i fell backwards out of my anti-suicide college dorm chair- i’ll let you decide which

when i was a kid i would plan my whole life out using pinterest boards and vague areas of google maps i found pretty

i dreamed of moving to places like london or paris and growing up and having adult responsibilities

which everyone would always tell me i would regret wanting

i dont “find joy” in being an adult anymore, no.

i have meltdowns making phone calls,

my first apartment tour just a day after my first apartment application haunted me until i tossed and turned enough in my bed to write this poem.

i think i wanted to rip adulthood off like a bandaid

i couldn’t procrastinate growing up any longer,

distract myself with childhood games and ignore the welling inside of me maturing and needing and desiring

the kid part of me is still in power

because to her nothing is more scary than having to call the doctors office on your own

to write your own “out sick” emails

and advise your other 11 year old friends on what to do when the boys in your grade are already suffering from alcohol poisoning during your middle school dance class

i try to be really forgiving of her even though her

actions still keep me tossing and turning

like a vampire at my grave

ill never forget how she even had to take the responsibility to get a sleep study for her insomnia- to which her mother responded by saying it was “up to you” to get it done

her parents procrastinated being parents

when i didn’t go to the dentist for 9 years

and finally returned unlucky enough to have the same dentist as i did when i was 9

they told me i had perfect teeth

and that i was in great shape other than some plaque

i instinctively informed her of my hardships and “im in treatment but not on meds anymore” and “not to worry because i have plans to take care of myself”

i spent 30 dollars on a discounted crystal dildo, lube, and a stimulation vibrator

[alexipyro]

For the unintiated, Dr Pimple Popper is a TLC show in which people with various skin conditions see Dr Sandra Lee to get them treated, and often seemingly completely cured. Commonly these conditions are things like cysts, lypomas, and keloids, which results in bumps or blemishes that can fall into any combination of the following

be painful or uncomfortable

get in the way of daily activities activities

cause the people who have them to feel ugly, unlovable, or like that they're a freak

cause the people who have them to be gawked at or made fun of by others

cause the people who have them to worry extremely that their condition is indicative of cancer or some other major medical issue

With all this being said, many people featured on this show desperately want their conditions removed, but also gave up hope for a long time before deciding to see Dr Lee. Many of these people went to other doctors in the past, but experienced any of the following

was told "its benign so there's no need to remove it"

had their condition treated ineffectively, so it came right back

was not given accurate information on what their condition was

was not given accurate information on how their condition could be treated or cured

was told "there is no way to cure or treat this" when, as demonstrated when Dr Lee treated them, this was not the case at all

I'm not going to pretend I know more than any given medical professional. I'm also not going to pretend that these people were not selected by the showrunners for the severity of their conditions, or that any of these people's testimonials of their experiences may not have been chopped and screwed to be made more interesting.

But I cannot deny how accurately this rings to how so many Doctors don't give a shit about their patients. Is it not crazy?

When I was 21, I absolutely had to get my wisdom teeth removed. One of them broke in half in my mouth. So I wound up in a consultation with a dental surgeon who did the following

asked me how old I was (not suspicious inherently but lets put a pin in that)

told me that she was going to "put a sand-like substance" where my bottom two wisdom teeth would no longer be, to keep my other teeth in place (she did not tell me the name of this method, which I only realized in hindsight)

gave me an estimated price of about $3600 to remove my four wisdom teeth

When I told my older sister (she's in her mid-30s) about the price and what the surgeon had said she would do, my sister instantly said that something was really off. One of her friends had appearently just booked a consultation to get their wisdom teeth removed, which was something like $1000 for two teeth. My sister also thought that the sand-substance thing was very weird and began looking up what it would be. It's called a bone graft.

Regardless of whether or not I need a bone graft, my sister said she wanted me to go to a second surgeon, at least to see if we could get a better price estimate.

I didn't get to have this consultation with the actual surgeon, but it was with a dentist who knew the surgeon and his practice well enough to give his input on the situation. When I asked the dentist about if I would need a bone graft, he told me that he had never once heard of the surgeon implanting a bone graft after a wisdom tooth extration. Also the estimated cost was $1800.

I genuinely believe that the first surgeon I saw was attempting to take advantage of me because she saw me as too young to know better. And the scary thing is that she was right. If I hadn't have had someone in my life who had more life experience than I did and also really cared about my well-being, this weirdo would've done an unnecessary medical procedure on me and charged me double for it. The bone graft was like $1500 of the price! And while some cursory research does show that sometimes bone grafts are used in wisdom surgeries, it's typically in rather specific scenerios that did not apply to my medical situation.

Doctors can bitch and moan all they want about doctor shopping but as far as I'm concerned, at least here in the states, if you have any inkling of suspicion that something isn't right with what a doctor told you, you should always get a second opinion. Maybe even a third or fourth. Or fifth. At this point I genuinely think doctors should be treated like the strangers that they are. Sure, they did go to school for years and years to be able to do what they do, but that doesn't mean that they're a decent person worthy of your trust.

ive been binging the show dr pimple popper and honestly this show just cements by belief even firmer that if you live here in the united states you should always doctor shop

[dreams-of-cerulean]

∞:

“What do you want from me!?” the old man screamed hoarsely. His one-eyed gaze desperately hunts for something merciful - compassionate - in her only to find nothing. “Just stop! I’ll tell you anything! Please!” He avoids gazing into the mirror standing a few feet away which revealed what was left of his face and limbs. 

> You lift the dentist’s drill away from the man’s mouth, its bit still spattered with flesh. 

“James, James, I told you I don’t need anything from you,” she said gently. “And you make me sound so cruel. I left you with an eye, didn’t I?”

“Of course, at the time, you believed that total blindness would enhance my experience,” she said calmly, “But I believe that letting you see the horrors of what I’m doing to you is worse - and I can always put out your other eye.”  

> “But what do I know?” you shrug your hands apart, drill in tow, “I’m just an archivist, an amateur. Not an expert like yourself. All I have going for me is being well-read and my memories of what you did to me.”

James keeps his mouth shut. He’s learned not to speak unless it’s to scream or to answer her questions. Not that she’s asked many beyond that of whimsical curiosity - what did he like to eat? what was his favorite animal? He learned very quickly he couldn’t lie to her, and ignoring her has its own consequences. 

James immediately flinched as she whirred the drill once more, blood and tooth pulp flicking away. 

“Besides I doubt there’s anything you could tell me that your subordinates haven’t.” she brings the bit closer to the man’s squirming head.

“The girl! The girl you’re in!” he hurriedly screeched as the bit came closer to his teeth, “I know why we’re watching her!”

“I already know,” she snorted dismissively, “You’re looking for a herald for your god. Just like 15 years ago when you sacrificed a girl of the church and failed... Now I think that molar of yours has a cavity - it might need to com-”

The drill inches closer to his immobile jaw, its unpleasant screech making him sweat.

"It failed because her alignment wasn’t Kether! She wasn’t a goddess candid- AAHHH!”

The screech of metal on enamel is briefly heard before stopping. 

> “Hmm. That’s a little intriguing. Alright, new game. And it might even end well for you.” You smile. “This is your last chance to speak. You talk until my curiosity is satisfied. No lies, no omissions. Otherwise, l cut out your tongue, and we’ll see how long I can keep you alive - I lasted two weeks, I bet I can keep you alive for longer...”

“If you win though, I simply kill you. No more drills, no more knives.” A couple seconds pass in silence before she adds, “I suggest you start talking now.”

He sputters for a moment and then starts babbling for all he’s worth. 

“Kethers like that girl have souls furthest from the physical world. It’s because of that they could be used as conduits to similar entities...”

----

End:

< Fourth Wall > has been activated.

> You cut open his throat with a metal shard and calmly watch the light in his eye dim. Despite convulsing and choking, his expression turns lax as if letting himself go. And when he finally does turn still, his broken face is relaxed in peace. 

> A shitty man dies a death fit for no one. 

> You - or rather Samantha Golden - were tempted to renege on the deal, but that wasn’t how you operated. And ultimately it was you who decides. 

> From allowing the fragments of Samantha Golden to blend into you by disabling < Fourth Wall >, to convincing the Templars the best way to get information was to pretend you weren’t after it, and to torturing an awful, but ultimately fellow, human being... that was all you.

> You look at the mess of what once was a man. 

> A sane person would probably be feeling revulsion, disgust, or even self-hatred right now. But you don’t. Instead, you feel vindicated. Satisfied. A revenge well done. Perhaps not perfect, but you’re a step closer to what you promised yourself and Golden - that you’ll get all these assholes in the end. 

> The others have finished up within a day. You’ve been here for three breaking this man, playing the part of a torture victim back from the grave. And now you’re done.  

> You were going to go home and return to your daily routine. Pretend that you weren’t a monster hiding in a child’s skin. You were going to say hi to Sato and Sasha, greet your sister and mom, go to bed, and then return to school like nothing ever happened.

> You were glad to have left Sylph and the Blank Canvas at home this entire time. You didn’t want what was supposed to represent your childhood and an echo of your younger sister see what you did here. Maybe that bit of shame was all that separated you from the deep end. 

> In any case, you knew a lot more than you did before. 

> You don’t have to worry about being unable to find the Radiance anymore.

> They’ve already coming after you. 

[collecting-stories]

Wisdom Tooth - Kiara Carrera

Request: hi there! can i request a kiara x reader where reader has to get her wisdom teeth taken out and she asks kiara to come along with her and the others come along too bc they know you like kiara. after it’s done you’re very clingy to kiara and keep complimenting her and confess that you like her ? thank you !

A/N: Fun fact, I have 3 out of 4 wisdom teeth still but I had to lose a molar when I got the one removed because it was impacted. 

Outer Banks Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

Your mom had scheduled your appointment for after school, it was a half day and she figured you could walk across campus to the dentist’s office to get your wisdom teeth pulled before winter break. The upper right tooth was impacted, evidenced by the increasing amount of pain you were constantly in and they had decided to go ahead and pull all of them while they were pulling that one.  

“Don’t they like, dose you up with painkillers?” John B asked as the four of you cut across the parking lot after school. The only disadvantage of Kiara not going to the same school as you anymore was that you always had to wait for her to drive down from the Eight. Even now as you walked with John B, JJ, and Pope (who had invited themselves along to your dentist’s appointment for some unknown reason) you were looking for Kiara’s subaru.  

“I wanna be dosed up with painkillers.” JJ said, followed almost immediately by a groan as Pope smacked him in the chest.  

“I seriously don’t think you guys are allowed in.” You said, stopping at the front door of the house that had been refashioned into a dentist’s practice.  

“Why? Kiara’s coming.” JJ argued, glancing over as the green subaru pulled into a parking spot, “why does she get to go in and not us?”

“Is it because you love her more than us?” Pope asked, grinning when you groaned and rolled your eyes.  

“It’s because she won’t be a total dick to me when I’m all doped up.” You replied.  

“We’ll be saints!” John B swore, placing a hand over his heart. Pope and JJ quickly mirrored his stance. “Honest, we’ll sit in the waiting room and be silent.”

“You’d better.”

“What are you guys doing?” Kiara asked, coming up the front steps behind the four of you.  

JJ turned around to face her, “going inside, what are you doing?”

You didn’t say anything, opening the door and going in, everyone else following behind you. The living room had been converted to a waiting area with a fish tank and a few different activities for kids to stay occupied. You went to the front desk window to check in while JJ, Pope, and John B went over to the coloring table, sitting around on kid sized chairs as they divided up coloring pages. Kiara grabbed a chair and sat down, away enough that she could pretend the people she just walked through the door with were complete strangers and not her actual friends.  

“Okay,” you fell into the seat next to her, knee bobbing as you took a deep breath. You hated needles and surgery and anything that meant a trip to the doctor. Especially when that doctor was a dentist. It didn’t matter that your tooth hurt so bad that even now you were holding an ice pack that you’d nabbed from the school nurse against your cheek. You hated dentists, “she said they’ll call me when it’s my turn.”

“Well we’re the only ones in here so I can’t imagine that’ll take too long.” Kiara replied, reaching over to put a hand on your knee, “it’ll be okay, I’m right here.”

“I’m just freaking out.” You replied, glancing over to JJ, Pope, and John B, all huddled over coloring pages with crayons spilled out in the middle of the table, “I wish I could be that chill.”

“How’s your tooth feeling?” She asked, glancing their way before turning to you again, sympathetic smile on her face. She’d been the first one to realize that there was something wrong with your tooth.  

“Like it’s trying to murder me.” You replied, slumping over slightly in the chair. Kiara pouted at you and put her hand on your back, rubbing in small circles.  

The door by the counter opened and a nurse came out, calling your name into the small waiting room that was empty aside from your friends. When all five of you looked up at the same time she looked a little startled.

“Can I bring someone back?” You asked, getting up.

“Only one person.” She replied, eyeing the three boys drawing at the table, “this isn’t an afterschool hang out.”  

“We’re here for moral support.” JJ said, winking at you.  

You glared at him in return. All three boys knew about your crush on Kiara and had tagged along with the intention of watching you hopped up on laughing gas and uninhibited. Even Pope had been joking about you being all crazy like people always seemed in videos on youtube.  

“That’s fine, just,” you pointed to Kiara and she got up, coming over to you.  

“Alright, follow me.”  

You walked back into the dentist’s exam room, Kiara slipping her hand into yours encouragingly and squeezing. You hated the dentist as it was and if your tooth wasn’t impacted you would have kept all your wisdom teeth in.  

You weren’t exactly sure what length of time actually passed between you being led back to get your wisdom teeth out and the dentist sending you back out, five teeth, because your molar had to come out too, in a tiny plastic container. Despite the anxiety you had before and the pain you were in, you came out smiling, Kiara’s hands on your waist as she walked behind you.  

“She almost walked into the bathroom door.” Kiara explained as John B, Pope, and JJ stood up to meet you both. “I’m gonna sign her out.”

You were passed from Kiara to John B, who wrapped his arm around your waist as you hugged him. “Hi!”

“Hey, how you feeling?”  

“Look,” you held the little plastic container up and rattled it around, bobbing your head as if there was some kind of beat to the sound.  

“She made her teeth into a maraca.” Kiara mentioned, looking back at the four of you as she signed you out.  

“That’s definitely some serial killer shit.” JJ replied, grabbing your bag off the floor and heading towards the door, John B maneuvering the two of you to follow him.  

“Where are we going?” You asked, suddenly concerned, twisting your body to see Kiara.

“We’re going outside.”

“What about Kie?”

“I’m right behind you, promise.” Kiara called, grabbing her stuff and following Pope out of the little house. “Are we headed back to the Chateau?” She asked as she walked around to the driver’s side of her suv.  

When John B tried to put you in the backseat with JJ and Pope you protested, calling out shotgun. “I wanna sit next to Kie.”

“Okay, okay, we’re sitting you up front.” He promised opening the door and helping you in.

You leaned against the seat, laying your head on the headrest and turning to look at Kiara as she started the car and backed up into the road. “You’re so pretty.” You mused, drugs in full effect, killing whatever filter you would have usually had.  

JJ leaned over enough to smack John B’s arm as Pope started filming the two of you.  

“Thanks.” Kiara laughed, “you’re pretty too.”

“Do you really mean it?” You asked, looking a little teary eyed.  

“Yeah of course, you’re super pretty.”  

You smiled, leaning a little closer to her and just watching her for a minute before opening your mouth again, more damning information coming out. “I like you.”

Kiara looked back at the three boys through the rearview mirror before glancing over at you, unsure exactly what was happening right now. “I like you too.”

“Really?” You seemed even more moved by the idea that she also liked you and Kiara nodded.  

“Yeah of course, you’re my best friend.”

You groaned, rolling your head against the headrest momentarily before turning back to her, “no, not like that. Not like friends. I like you so much, you’re so pretty and I just want to go on dates with you and kiss you and love you.” You confessed. “When we went swimming last week and you had the green bathing suit and you looked so pretty and I was just like...what if we were girlfriends.”  

“Uh...” Kiara stopped the car at a stop sign, idling for longer than necessary as she fought the urge to look over at you, no doubt smiling at her like you had been since you got doped up, trying to process exactly what you’d just said to her.

“Any response there Kie?” John B asked, trying not to laugh as he leaned toward the driver’s seat.

“I think we should talk about this when you’re feeling a little less foggy.” She finally said, chancing a look over at you. She had been thrilled when you asked her to go with you into the dentist’s, as crazy as that sounded. But she got excited whenever you relied on her for something or asked her opinion or included her in something personal. She knew you were friends but it was always easy to pretend that it was something a little more than that. Hearing you say that you wanted to be her girlfriend had erupted an entire colony of butterflies in her stomach though she hadn’t quite envisioned this as the venue where you confessed your feelings.  

“I’m not foggy...I’ve never been clearer.” You replied though she had trouble believing that considering your trouble walking down the stairs.

“She’s never been clearer.” JJ chimed in.  

Kiara twisted in her seat, ready to tell the three of them that they could walk back to the Chateau if they didn’t shut up when a car pulled up behind her and beeped.  

“Sorry dude, we’re having a friends to lovers moment!” JJ shouted out the window.  

“I will come back there!” Kiara threatened as you giggled. The car behind them pulled around, slamming on their horn the whole time before finally throwing back the middle finger as they sped off.  

“Some people man,” Pope muttered and Kiara glared at him as well.  

“Why don’t we talk when we get to John B’s?” She offered, looking over at you.

“Why?” You asked, “you don’t like me? Are you gonna break up with me?”

“We’re not dating yet.”

“She said yet.” John B pointed out, smacking your shoulder like you were even coherent enough to understand the implication.  

“Okay, I am driving this car the rest of the way and if any of you distracts me I will kick you out.” Kiara announced, turning back around to face the front and taking the car out of park to continue driving on. “We will talk at John B’s.”

“Okay.” You twisted in your seat, leaning against the backrest as smiling at her as you watched her drive.  

-

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[willow-salix]

Fluffember prompt: Feathers (vaguely, and with a dash of Rainbow)

Day 13 of Isolation on Tracy Island 2.0

“OK, who threw that pencil at me?” Scott demanded to know. No one owned up. Honestly I didn’t even see where it had come from let alone who threw it. 

“No clue,” I answered.

“I’m gonna find out,” he growled. “I could have been badly hurt!”

I sniggered to myself, for a real life action hero Scott could be so dramatic sometimes, and didn’t bother looking up from the latest copy of ‘Better Gnomes and Gardens: Witches Weekly’ that I was flicking through.

“Seriously, that could have taken my eye out, it’s like a miniature stake,” he continued to grumble.

“Talking of stakes,” I started, trying to distract him so that he didn’t go off on a ranting tangent about the danger of flying pencil projectiles, “there’s been a development with the Highgate Vampire, he’s been spotted again. Seriously, what more can this crazy year throw at us? Don’t answer that,” I warned John before he could even utter a word. I know my boy and I know that he was about to throw out some highly logical statistic or another that would make complete sense but would make me want to cry.

“Highgate Vampire?” Scott asked, distracted as I'd hoped he would be. My evil plan had worked. I turned my magazine to show him the article. “You remember, when we tried out that new ka- pub,” I corrected myself, aware of just how many of his brothers were crowded around. “We walked past the cemetery and I told you all about the legend of the Highgate Vampire.”

Scott looked blank, which is a look I’m used to seeing on him, I gotta be honest, he barely ever listens to me. “You know, I told you the story of how, back in the 1970’s a group of ghost hunters decided to try to find a vampire that supposedly lived there?”

He shook his head. 

“Self appointed bishop vampire hunter dude?” I tried again.

“Oh, yes! I remember him. He’s back?”

"Who?" 

"The Bishop."

"No, he's dead, the vampire."

"The vampire killed him?"

"The Bishop is dead of natural causes, and the vampire has been seen again," John supplied. 

“Yes," I agreed." Apparently so, and they’re blaming him for this virus outbreak.”

Everyone went quiet for a second, not sure what to say to that. John reached out a hand and I passed over the magazine so he could read it for himself. 

“Why do you read this rubbish?” he asked after perusing the rest of its offerings.

“Why wouldn’t I want to know that blue aliens brought Elvis into that lady’s garden?” I asked, genuinely perplexed.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” he told me honestly, handing the magazine back to me.

“Do you remember that time that Virgil thought he was a vampire?” Scott suddenly asked him.

“Oh, God, yes. I hadn’t thought of that in years,” John laughed.

“Wait? He what now? There were vampires involved? Why was I never told about this? This is my one area of expertise and you've been holding out on me?”

“I did not think I was a vampire,” Virgil corrected them. “Our high school math teacher did.”

I tossed the magazine aside, this was far more entertaining than anything I’d find in there.

“Spill,” I demanded.

“It’s really not that interesting a story,” Virgil insisted, trying valiantly to deflect us.

“He was a sophomore, so about fifteen years old,” Scott started, dodging out of the way when Virgil threw a pen at him this time. Scott narrowed his eyes, like he wasn’t sure if that was proof that he had been the perpetrator of the pencil or not. Virgil, for his part, looked innocent. Pen, what pen? I saw no pen? What even is a pen? Isn’t that something you put pigs in?

“And he had to have two of his back teeth out due to overcrowding,” John continued, grabbing me and yanking me onto his lap, using me as a human shield when Virgil lifted his sketch pad threateningly.

“I’m so glad I married such a brave rescuer,” I deadpanned as John continued to hide behind me. "My hero."

“I was driving him back from the dentist and he was still a little out of it from the sedation they had given him,” Scott took up the tale.

“I’m just not a big fan of the dentist, OK?” Virgil defended himself. "They have to sedate me."

“His gums were still bleeding and he’d spat the gauze out within a minute of getting out of there,” John continued, ducking back behind me when Virgil glared at him.

“They’re going to tell it anyway,” I told him, “so why don’t you do it instead?”

Virgil nodded, seeing the wiseness in my words.

“My gums were bleeding but I didn’t know what to do with it all, I didn’t want to swallow it and to be honest, I was still pretty woozy, so I just kinda let the blood collect in my mouth.”

“Aww, that must have sucked, babe, I’m sorry.”

He nodded at me in thanks for my sympathy, something he was NOT getting from his brothers.

“We stopped at some lights and by that point my mouth was getting pretty full-”

“He was drooling like Alan at nap time,” Scott butted in.

“Did you not give him a tissue or something?”

“No, he was evil.”

“I was driving and I don’t carry things like that on me as standard,” Scott argued.

“I’ll pick you up if anything like that happens again,” I promised the big guy. “For girls our cars are like an extension of our house or our handbags, there's tissues, lip balms, snacks, bottles of water, everything.”

“Thank you,” Virgil sniffed, casting Scott a smug look, knowing I was firmly on his side.

“So, how is this vampire related?” I had to ask, I mean, I was sympathetic but I was also nosey as hell.

“I wound down the window as we stopped at the light,” Virgil continued. “And I...well, I was still a bit muddled…”

“He opened his mouth and all this blood came oozing out, it just dribbled everywhere,” Scott  practically yelled, bursting out laughing.

“Why are you laughing, you evil thing?”

“Because,” John piped up from behind the shelter of my person, “the car next to Scott’s was Mrs Beddleman’s. Virgil, recognising her, breaks out into this wide, goofy and completely bloody, smile.”

“She looked absolutely horrified and even though she wasn’t going that direction she turned right to get away from us. She was a very religious lady and she took to wearing a cross to school for the rest of the year until I left her class.”

“And she moved his seat to one beside the window,” Scott howled, doubled over laughing.

I bit my lip, trying very hard not to laugh.

“It’s OK,” Virgil sighed, “you can laugh.”

“I don’t want to,” I told him as seriously as I could. “But I really don’t think I can help it.”

I made the fatal mistake then, I glanced at Scott who was at the point of silently laughing, his body shaking and I cracked.

“It’s not like I’m the only one that had bad anesthesia reactions,” Virgil said slyly and I snapped to attention.

“Are you not?” 

“Nope,” he shook his head, grinning now. “We’ve all had broken bones and hospital stays over the years.”

“Oh, oh, tell me a Scott one!”

“He had an appendectomy when he was twenty. He was taken in for day surgery and when he woke up he was completely coherent,” Virgil started.

“He was?” Knocked out Scott had to be different to sedated Scott, because sedated Scott was hilarious and very snuggly. 

“What can I say, I have a strong constitution,” Scott preened.

“He’s lying,” Virgil continued. “He was talking normally, answering questions and the doctor said he was doing great and could go. He was starving, hadn't eaten since the night before and he insisted that the only thing he would eat was Chinese food, and it had to be a buffet, nothing else would do."

"I mean, he's not wrong, there is nothing like a good Chinese," I agreed. 

"Well, it appeared that he hadn't been as recovered as we thought he was."

"What happened?" 

"I came round from the anesthesia sitting in the restaurant and as far as I knew I'd just gone under in the operating room and I'd woken up with a plate of chicken teriyaki on a stick in front of me."

John sniggered, muffling his laughter against my shoulder.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing,” Scott huffed. “Have you forgotten about when you had your tonsillectomy?” 

“That was not my fault,” John mumbled, clearly regretting his previous amusement.

“Oh gods, what did you do?” I asked him, turning my head to look at him over my shoulder.

“Nothing! I was just talking to the anesthesiologist.”

“The anesthesiologist was new to the hospital so hadn’t met any of us before,” Virgil started.

“Do I take it that you all had frequent user passes? Like buy ten ops and get the eleventh free?” 

“Pretty much,” Scott shrugged, unashamed of just how bad that sounded. “So John’s there, being himself, talking to the surgeon and anesthesiologist about the operation and what they were planning, how long it would take, telling them what they needed to do, that sort of thing-”

“I like to know what to expect,” John defended himself.

“Swot,” Gordon teased, coming in at the tail end of John’s mini rant, Alan trailing along behind him.

“It’s not a bad thing to want to go into a situation with full knowledge of it. Research and a game plan are only sensible. How do you expect to get good at something if you don’t know the mechanics behind it?” He glanced around at his brothers who looked less than convinced. “You know you’ve all been grateful for my expertise more than once.”

“I know I have,” I agreed, ignoring the raised eyebrows that came my way. Let them think dirty things, that was their problem. I received a small kiss to the side of my neck thanks for my support so I’m not going to complain.

“So, what were you guys talking about?” Gordon asked, flopping down on the couch beside Virgil.

“They were sharing with me their tales of woe under the effects of anesthesia and sedation,” I informed him.

“Oh, yes, we’ve all got those,” Gordon agreed. “Which one was John telling?”

“The time when he had his tonsils removed,” Scott helpfully supplied.

“I don’t remember it,” Gordon frowned.

“Neither do I,” Alan added.

“He was talking to the anesthetist, we got that far,” I said.

“He was talking to him as they were asking him to count down from a hundred,” Virgil continued.

“I only remember getting to ninety-one,” John told me.

“We were outside in the relatives room, waiting for him to be taken to recovery,” Scott took up the tale. “We had only been in there about fifteen minutes when the anesthesiologist and a nurse came out looking like they had seen a ghost.”

“Dad stepped up and demanded to know what the problem was and if John was OK,” Virgil said. “It turned out that John had been far more coherent than he remembered and hadn’t stopped counting at ninety-one.”

“He’d gotten to sixty-two but when he reached eighty-nine he’d apparently switched to fluent Japanese, and then started talking about a wakizashi, that and asking them about their day.”

“A what now?” 

“A small, fourteenth century Japanese sword,” John supplied.

“The anesthesiologist was actually Japanese and he had apparently called three of his peers in the ten minutes that John had been under to ask how it was possible that this Caucasian, american teenager was suddenly speaking in fluent Japanese under the influence or anesthesia.”

“It took Dad a good five minutes of solid laughter to finally tell them that they hadn’t broken John or damaged his brain in any way, he was actually fluent already,” Scott laughed.

“Apparently he gave them the biggest scare they had ever had in more than twenty years,” Virgil finished.

“I was obviously being considerate and had thought that it was more polite to talk to him in his own language rather than English,” John sniffed, crossing his arms around my waist. “I don’t see what the big deal was.”

“I’m just impressed that you were speaking it fluently at all,” I said, earning a gentle finger flick as punishment for ever doubting him. “I meant that I can only speak three languages fluently, English, bad English and Sarcasm, so anyone that can do anything else is just amazing to me,” I quickly defended myself.

“Sarcasm is your native tongue,” John mumbled. I ignored him.

“He’s mostly self taught too,” Scott added, showing that, despite how much time they all spend teasing each other, they are always proud of their siblings.

“I used to watch a lot of foreign films and TV shows to pick up the pronunciation and read a lot of graphic novels and translated books to learn how to read and write,” John elaborated. “It’s a very effective way to learn and I apparently have a gift for languages.”

“As well as many other things,” I added to be nice. “Any other stories I need to know?”

“When Gordon was having one of his back surgeries they told him that they had to strap him down and when he asked why they told him it was so he wouldn’t fall off the table and he said ‘It’s OK, five second rule’,” Scott told me.

“‘Cause I'm a snacc,” Gordon added with a grin. “Apparently I also woke up with a violent jolt and when I was asked if I was OK I apologised to the nurse and told her that I thought I was a shark.”

“You also started a joke with the nurse as you went under and finished it the moment you woke up with no prompting,” Virgil laughed.

I clapped enthusiastically for that one and Gordon bowed modestly.

“What about me?” Alan asked, finding the whole thing highly amusing.

“You’ve only been under once but you were hilarious in both the things you said,” John answered. “You apparently woke up screaming ‘Where are my wings?  I want my wings? You stole my feathers you jerk! You were only supposed to take my tonsils!’ and then passed right out again.”

Gordon cracked up laughing, as did everyone else including Alan.

“You then woke up again and asked how long until the anesthetic kicked in, and when the nurse told you it was all done and had actually been two hours you yelled in her face ‘WOAH, DID I JUST TIME TRAVEL?’” John finished.

“That’s so precious,” I cooed, because Alan is adorable in everything he does regardless of what it is.

“We have a lot of stories like that,” Virgil said, “we sometimes have to give pain relief or sedate someone who is freaking out and they do the weirdest stuff.” 

“They do? Is there some kind of hippocratic oath that you guys have to swear or can you tell me some?”

“No oath,”  they assured me. 

“One woman grabbed Virgil’s hand, stuck her fingers up in his sleeve, stroked his arm and said ‘You’d make a great carpet’,” Gordon told me.

“It’s not uncommon for people to feel stressed and unsure of where they are,” Scott continued, “they often wake up screaming or panicking, but we delivered one guy to the hospital who’d had a pretty nasty bang to the head and broken an arm. We were unable to calm him down so we had to sedate him so he wouldn’t do any more damage. He woke up as we were transferring him to the hospital gurney and he hopped off before we could catch him, pulled his pants down with his good arm and started to helicopter right there outside the hospital.”

That broke me, I’m sorry to say. I might proclaim to be far more mature than these idiots and not find fart jokes and the like amusing, but the mental image of this guy, standing there, twirling...I just couldn’t stop.

“One girl asked us if we were single and we didn’t answer and deflected by asking her if she had a boyfriend or girlfriend and she started crying that she just wanted a dog.”

“Remember that young boy who meowed the entire way to the hospital?” 

“And that one lady that was really nervous so we told her to think of something nice and she started singing ‘I wish you a merry Christmas,’ but it was July!”

“And the one that said she wanted us to drop her off at the top of a rainbow so she could slide down it?”

“And the guy that woke up when we landed, looked right at Kayo and said as loudly as he could ‘Look! The love of my life! Don’t leave me, I can change!’”

“And that one guy who knocked out a few teeth and spat out the gauze we packed his mouth with and started freaking out crying ‘was that my liver? Nooo, my liver! I need that! Get back in you!’”

“A woman lost a couple of teeth too and was crying about being ugly. We gave her some pain relief and she was so hazy that, when we handed her over to the doctor and gave him her teeth she started screaming at him... what was it she said, John? You heard it over the comms and were laughing so hard.”

“She yelled, ‘Charlatan! I demand you return my teeth! They are mine and I will choose how they are to be spent!’”

I cracked up at that, mostly the way John told it, which I assume was the same way she had, like a plummy Victorian aristocrat that had just been insulted.

“And that teen who said ‘hey, mister, my ass itches and I’m too high to scratch it.”

“Oh, that’s pure gold,” I laughed, wiping my eyes because I was laughing so hard.

“What about you?” Alan asked me. “Have you ever done anything weird?”

“Only every day of my life.”

“I meant under sedation.”

“Oh, yeah, not really,” I shrugged. “I know that when I had teeth out once, after napping on the couch for a few hours I suddenly sat up and announced that I needed to make Mum a cup of tea. She told me I didn’t need to but I said she was my guest and I had to be polite or she’d leave me alone to die. There was no arguing with me so I got up, went to the kitchen and came back and gave her a mug of cold water with a spoon in it. I apparently said ‘drink up, luv,’ like a really bad impression of Parker and face planted the couch and passed out again. Mum made her own tea after that.”

That got a fair few sniggers and Scott threatening to take away my British card for screwing up tea so badly.

“I have to ask,” I said conspiratorially once everyone had calmed down, “has Kayo ever done anything like this?”

They all looked around, as if scared that she might be listening, then eventually Virgil nodded.

“She came round from her knee surgery after she dislocated it and insisted on trying to get out of bed. The nurse told her she had to stay put as they had just fixed her knee and it needed time to heal. She answered in the most confident, how dare you try to stop me way and informed the nurse that she was a ninja and that they heal three times faster than normal people. The nurse let her try and she dropped face first.”

Honestly, out of all the stories I’ve heard today, that one was the best. It’s nice to know that even the most capable and sometimes terrifying of us isn’t always perfect.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 144: Hermione's Helping Hand

The room was a very dangerous landing, each of them got a book to the head no matter where they landed. Frank was on a flaming red comforter on the bed with a dog eared copy, the title so faded he hadn't a hope of recognizing it until he flipped through a few pages, and even then did not follow the Muggle story.* Alice had a heavy tomb smash so hard against her forehead she saw stars, and it was over a copy of some muggle thing to do with the human anatomy a Healer would struggle to follow.

Lily groaned miserably as she removed a book on alchemy from her face, and Potter's glasses had broken where he'd faced planted a window with an interesting view of a Muggle neighborhood and still had a book on the windowsill crack a lens he couldn't even read the title of now.

Peter had to pull himself out from a whole pile of books, on top of which was Defensive Magical Theory, by Wilbert Slinkhard, and Regulus even found one on teeth he had to dislodge from his own.

Remus landed painfully on a desk, the book losing its place as the bookmark toppled out of sight he felt bad for, and Sirius even found a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages to his distaste for the first time in his life as he pulled it from where it had whacked his ear.

The silver book itself they were all supposed to be here for sat in the middle of the room with the air of innocence. For once.

"As if we haven't been traumatized by enough books already," James sighed as he tapped his glasses to fix them.

"If this room isn't Hermione's, then I'll kiss a centaur," Sirius happily informed the room at large.

"Brilliant deduction there," Lily rolled her eyes, but there was only amusement in her voice. "Did you figure that out before or after this?" She was holding a picture of Hermione in this very room, a still image of her sitting at this very desk with Crookshank's in her lap, the sun just visible on the horizon from the window.

The walls didn't house much decoration, it was simple yet charming to see so much of her personality packed into the comfortably sized room.

"The best part is, I bet this is only a quarter of the ones she owns," James grinned. "She takes most of them with her to school!"

Sirius laughed and Lily found herself smiling in agreement as Lupin tried the door, which mercifully opened. The others scattered about the house, some for the loo, some for the kitchen. Sirius made to do the latter, but lingered in the door jam to watch in fascination as Prongs hesitated, and then turned back to Evans.

There was a reluctance in him he'd seen a few times now, and he had a very good guess why James was suddenly so hesitant to engage with her. He'd been devastated by the news of Sirius' death, arguably more than him even, and it wasn't hard to follow his logic if he had to change something to keep it from happening it would be taking Harry out of the equation via her. He wished his brother wouldn't think like that, but he'd never liked Evans much himself to understand his fascination with her and so wasn't even sure how to urge him back.

When James turned back holding in whatever he'd been about to say though, Lily startled them both by asking, "so, do you know what a dentist is?" The tone was mild, maybe a little mocking, but she was now holding the book Regulus had spat out with a curious smile.

He would have expected James, as usual, to not actually know how to respond to her when she spoke like a normal human being. Instead he hesitated with an odd smile in place and said casually, "not really, but I got the idea. Teeth and such, Muggles need them cared for without a spell."

Prongs hesitated again, some torn expression lingering, before he softly asked as if speaking of her ill coming death, "how come you never took Care of Magical Creatures?"

Sirius snorted fantastically, earning a dirty look from both of them. He raised his hands in surrender and took a step back into the hall, where Remus came up and pulled on him out of sight. James turned back to watching her, still unsure if he should have asked. She'd gotten assurances on their first day from McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn all the creatures came to no harm for their classes to commence. He'd watched her love of animals long after that, she'd taken to cuddling with every cat in the common room and watched the birds deliver post every morning despite receiving none of her own long after other Muggle-borns grew used to it, but that look of awe and longing lingered in her.

Just because he'd given up on the idea of her didn't mean he couldn't still learn more about her, right? It was something he'd wanted to know for years but obviously she'd never have answered before. Maybe if he tried without the flirting he'd get a better result.

And, it worked. She went a little red, but answered casually, "I was trying to prove something, to my parents, to Snape, myself. Taking Arithmancy and Runes, the harder and more difficult classes. I regret it a bit now."

Potter watched her, absolutely fascinated by her little speech it seemed. She kept waiting for that to wear off now that she was actually trying to talk to him on a regular basis, but it didn't seem to be happening.

"You can take it come NEWT year if you want," he told her, that damnable cheerful smile creeping back now as they managed the first casual conversation of their life. "Remus will lend you his notes for the OWL's next week if you want."

She laughed in surprise, then realized he wasn't joking. He really thought she was that smart she could take a class she hadn't been in for two years? "I'll, ah, take that into consideration," she tried to shrug.

He hesitated, seemed to decide he'd pushed her enough, and then finally left. He'd gotten her to laugh, that was more of an accomplishment he'd managed in his life already! He glanced the way two of his friends went, rolled his eyes, and called towards the kitchen, "hey Alice, want to show me how a muggle stove works!"

Lily blanched in fear of him burning the house down and snatched up the actual needed book, not bothering to pretend to herself she was smiling as she followed along and cracked it open, but paused to take in the rest.

The hallway was littered with cheerful hallmark signs such as 'Love, Life, Live,' and several more of Hermione through the years, but Lily kept watching the muggle photos despite the fact that they weren't moving in mild curiosity for several moments before it occurred to her why they seemed a little odd. Hermione was alone in each of them, smiling brightly, but the only one in focus. Not only no friends hanging off her arm in her primary years as she held up spelling awards and science fair projects, but her parents didn't seem in any of them either. One particularly telling one was a candid shot of a very young Hermione sitting in an empty waiting room, reading a book far too big for her lap. Only when she got to the very end of most recent photos hinted at who could have been there all these years, and it was an extremely elder lady, possibly her grandmother or even a nanny, the photo at such an angle it was clearly taken by her as well as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Hermione. The tender look of love in the older woman's eyes only leveled with the weary exhaustion in the folds of her skin. Beneath that was a hand drawn calligraphy plaque with the year and date, but no other sort of explanation except her socially awkward behavior from back at the first book.

The kitchen seemed to double as a study, there were heavy journals on multiple surfaces, Frank was flipping curiously through one that was ear marked with dates, names, and what the appointment was going to be for, another that Regulus was prodding his wand along curiously through every page seemed to house lots of studies and practices on how Hermione's parents could improve their work. She doubted he followed a word, even she probably couldn't.

The chapter title itself was unsurprising, and she went through it still laughing it was all about Harry's first act as Captain sorting out members of his team, indeed with Hermione's help. Wasn't this just a day of surprises.

Potter continued to rank highest of all in that regards. The look on his face when he found out what Hermione did was priceless.

The reason behind it she misunderstood.

"She cheated? On Quidditch! I'd expect this girl to snog Snape before I heard her do something like this!"

"She did set Snape on fire once during a game." Alice happily reminded as she swatted his hand away from the hot surface, again. He seemed to keep forgetting despite the red light and heat waves coming up from the innocent black circle. "Guess her bar goes out the window during sports," she finished with a giggle.

His flummoxed expression still seemed at war if he should be impressed or agitated at this, while Regulus was snickering relentlessly for the show as well as he said, "I thought it was brilliant, as if I want to sit around hearing about that McLaggen's temper for the games, he'll ruin what little fun we've been getting out of these."

His eyes tracked curiously as he seemed to realize his brother wasn't in here to give his opinion, but seemed distracted enough when Peter spoke, "think of it this way, you or Padfoot would have done it to some arse in the hallway if he was really saying half that shite. Does the location matter that much?"

"I mean, yes," he pouted, but if anything he looked more confused. "Quidditch shouldn't be trifled with," he finished with a hint of defiance, but eventually sighed and turned back to turning the stove on and off with the odd switch and all the numbers while she finished.

Remus let his fingers brush against Sirius' and subtly pulled his fingers before letting go. Sirius needed no further prompting before following him out of the room into what must be Hermione's parents room. Remus didn't care as he locked the door and then hugged Sirius.

He laughed in delight, immediately returning it as he said quietly into his neck, "I'm getting whiplash from you."

"I just wanted to make sure you know I'm grateful," Remus told him as he pulled back, having to remind himself not to let his hands linger. "For not beating Frank's face into a pulp, back in the apothecary," he elaborated.

The fact that Sirius never held his mood swings against him or even ever accused him of being moody because of the full moon made him wish he could snog his face off right about now. Merlin, James had barely been involved and he'd called him on being an emotional ass!

"Oh," Sirius' face did not settle into a promising expression, barely concealed anger still there, but he made such a valiant effort to push it back away Remus had to fight back the urge to kiss him again. "Right, you're welcome. If he had done it on purpose though, I can't say I'd have been able to stop myself." Moony and Prongs had made a valid point, better Longbottom occasionally forget the dangers than continue being a racist arse, but his point still stood there was a middle ground that wouldn't put Remus in pain! The Marauders all knew it, couldn't he?!

Remus really couldn't resist and let his hand brush along his cheek and settle down on his neck as he gazed into his eyes. Sirius hummed as always at the physical affection. Remus could have hugged him back in the apothecary and not been an arse about this too! This really would just have to be enough for him, he could never ask for better friends. He reluctantly let his hand drop back away with one more whispered thanks.

Sirius looked hurt though, to Remus' confusion. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" He denied, he really hadn't thought Sirius would realize he was starting to back off yet, as much else as he was dealing with.

"Remus, you've barely looked at me since the polyjuice prank," Sirius finally called his crap. "So if you're not mad at me, would you please say so?"

"I'm not," Remus instantly promised. Merlin if he was mad at Sirius for every stupid prank he'd never not be enraged at this one. "I'm, mad at myself." He finally reluctantly admitted.

Sirius' face clouded with concern. Even on top of dealing with James, Peter, and Regulus at once Padfoot hadn't once tried to cope a field on him for some fun away from them while in this room, and a traitorous bubble of hope still lingered in Remus' chest this could mean more to Sirius. They were just friends with benefits, he instantly reminded himself. Friends! Of course he cares, you know he does.

"Anything I can do to help?" Sirius was even the one to reach for his hand, their fingers naturally intertwining.

"It's, Harry," he finally gave a half truth, which was still a truth that the book provided. He couldn't believe he'd only been back in Prongs's kids life once so far this year with Sirius out of the picture. "Not even writing to him, I'm just, this future- I don't want to stop-" He stopped himself quickly before something stupid came out. 'Being there for you,' probably sounded way too intimate to Padfoot. Maybe if he'd actually been around Sirius during that awful Ministry fight he would have come back out of it and none of this would be thrown in their face so repeatedly!

What kind of heartless monster couldn't do the bare minimum to look after one of his best friends kids anyways? And he was complaining Sirius wasn't ready for more, he clearly wasn't capable of it either.

Sirius had such a beautiful smile, and one he so rarely showed anyone. A smirk, his teasing grin were all anyone but the Marauders ever got to see, and Remus drank his fill in now as Padfoot squeezed his fingers while mimicking as well, tracing his cheek before letting his hand rest on his neck as they naturally mirrored each other. Remus wouldn't dream of denying he instantly felt warm and assured as he leaned into the touch even before Sirius told, "this future's a mess Moony. Don't kick yourself about this poor kids life we have no control over. We'll find a way to fix this."

He spoke with such assurance it's like they should have heard the very words Evans was reading change to match. Remus was convinced Sirius could hypnotize the moon to never be full again in that moment as he leaned in and kissed him.

It was just sweet, and gentle. There was no randiness in either of them, just a silent promise as Remus leaned back that no matter what, his words would be true.

HPHPHPHP

*Let me know what you think Hermione's favorite book is. I personally always thought it was Sherlock Holmes.

[wireless-art]

For the @gerrymichael-bigbang event. 

(Click for best quality, this pic is big).

Adjacent to Human by @prentissed

It’s Michael who gets the idea, when they happen to pass by an old, inexplicably terrifying dentist advertisement on the road.

It stretches across a faded billboard, lone in the stretches of desert that surround them, featuring a gargantuan set of grinning teeth being poked and prodded by metal tools. Text overlaid above reads, ‘Every tooth has its end. Eckleburg & Co.’

“Oh, look at that,” says Michael, like he’s just seen a particularly cute cat picture. “I can’t remember the last time an actual doctor examined me.” He sighs. “I wonder how many teeth I have now.”

Gerry looks up briefly from the magazine he’d been peeling through to circle job offers. “Huh.” He wonders why an advertisement would deliberately make itself so existentially horrifying. “Well, I dunno, we could always take an x-ray of you or something. That’s not impossible, right?”

Michael makes an excited noise that briefly removes all sound from Gerry’s right ear. “It might be!”

So that’s how they get the idea to quote-unquote ‘borrow’ some medical equipment. It’s more simple than Gerry thinks it’ll be. Michael just pops them in and out of an empty lab and they take the x-rays before anyone notices. (And for the record, they aren’t careless. Gerry has a fair bit of medical knowledge, in fact, left over from the long-forgotten years when he’d been studying for a doctorate. He’d had dreams once.)

As Michael lies back on the examination table, twiddling his thumbs, Gerry asks, “Why’re you interested in this kind of thing, anyway? I thought you didn’t like having… knowledge about yourself.”

“I don’t,” he lilts, “but sometimes I get curious, you know? Anyone would. No one in the world knows how I work. Not even me.” One of his hands waves fingers just a touch too long. “Besides, there’s no guarantee this will even give that information. Or maybe it’ll be knowledge man wasn’t meant to know.”

“I see,” Gerry says flatly, starting up the machine. “Hold still for a sec.”

After all x-rays have been scanned (and equipment hastily abandoned at the startled screams of returning doctors) Gerry sits with Michael on the couch back in their apartment, rifling through the pictures they managed to snag.

Truth be told, he can’t help but be curious too. Whatever Michael’s insides look like, they definitely count as some sort of once-in-a-century medical anomaly… and maybe, maybe it bothers Gerry a bit that he doesn’t know what’s going on in there either. Don’t judge him. It’s his fucking boyfriend.

“Where do you wanna start?”

Michael hums from where his head is pillowed on Gerry’s lap. “In the spirit of Eckleburg, how about teeth?”

“I hope you’ve been flossing,” Gerry mutters.

The average person has 32 teeth, including incisors, canines, molars, and premolars. Michael has upwards of two hundred and forty-seven. No discernable categories between any— some are almost normal-looking, some are ingrown and nubby, others sharp as blades and spiraling out in jagged hooks, occasionally doubled up like emerging baby teeth. They’re jammed into the vague space where the mouth cavity should be.

“I hope it isn’t a turnoff.” Michael grins. In the flesh, he doesn’t have nearly that many. Well, sure, it’s more toothy than any human-adjacent thing has any right to be, but 247? Gerry counts and recounts. The number remains surprisingly consistent.

“No, no. You’re fine.” It’d be pretty hypocritical if Gerry went around judging someone for the state of their dental. He’s gotten a few knocked out himself— there are some gaps he’s never filling back in.

Besides, Gerry’s long since gotten used to Michael’s smiles. Even if he agrees with the general consensus that they look like “puncture wounds with molars”, they’re all part of Michael’s distinctly unnerving charm. He’s gotten used to a lot these past years.

“Okay, okay, what about the rest of my skull?” Michael claps his hands like a kid about to go on a roller coaster. “I wonder if I still have one.”

“You do,” Gerry confirms. “It’d be pretty wild if you didn’t and still had the capacity to carry teeth.” He squints as he pores over the pictures. “No eye holes, though. And you have a few more nose cavities than usual.”

“Of course, of course.”

Every human has 24 coupled ribs (12 pairs total). Michael appears to have missed the memo, because the x-ray of his torso displays something so distended and crooked it barely looks like a real extension of a creature’s anatomy.

Gerry loses count after around 20 and he’s not even halfway down the left side. Looks asymmetrical too.

Again, when he glances over at Michael’s torso, it really doesn’t look like all that twisted bone is in him. When one gets to know Michael (as much as that’s possible) it’s actually the normalcy of his appearance that becomes weird after a while. It’s easy to forget Michael doesn’t look monstrous to 90% of the general population.

But in a way it’s kind of nice too. When Michael sheds that skin around him, Gerry’s getting a look at something more real— not real, probably not even comprehensible, but truer. 

“Let’s take a look at those hands…” Gerry flips the next picture over, does a triple take, and scoffs. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“What? What?”

“These look normal.” Eight carpals, five metacarpals, fourteen phalanges; all lined up neatly in little rows. No unusual curves or even crookedness in the joints. It’s a perfectly ordinary, human-presenting hand.

Michael seems to find this one particularly amusing. He muffles his laughter into his fist, which Gerry glares annoyedly at— like a camera fading in and out of focus, it goes from regular to the inhumanly distended appendage he knows it is. Most people are lucky (or rather, profoundly unlucky) to get even a glimpse. Gerry suspects maybe it’s because he’s spent so much time around Michael; still, the cognitive dissonance gnaws at his brain the longer he looks at it. He doesn’t like his eyes lying to him.

As if to placate him, Michael reaches out and touches his wrist. Now this is a feeling Gerry really knows— something much larger than a hand, heavy, alternately soft and sharp, settling like a sack of stones into his grasp. The skin rasps against his. The texture is more akin to that of a sandbag. Now, that’s something uniquely Michael. It’s an oddity that has become a signature of their shared life between each other.

“Now come on,” Michael croons up to him, not unkindly. “You knew an X-ray couldn’t reveal everything, right? I have my secrets to keep after all.”

“Yeah. But I wanted to see you,” Gerry pouts, letting his face be held between too-large, too-scratchy, too-long hands. He runs his own fingers over one of them absentmindedly and Michael sighs. “Sometimes it just frustrates me that I can’t know you better.”

“There are things that you, nor humanity, aren’t meant to see. Besides,” he adds, nuzzling closer, “wouldn’t you say that knowing someone isn’t the same as understanding their anatomy? I could study textbook upon textbook and still never really grasp why you humans are the way you are.”

“Don’t get started on that,” Gerry rolls his eyes.

Michael gets insistently coy about these things, leveling little jabs implying humanity is some alien race to him when Gerry knows damn well he didn’t always used to be this way. He lets Michael have this because bringing it up tends to make him upset, and Gerry’s content letting him be a bit of a shithead if it makes him comfortable.

Still, though. Sometimes he’d like to ask what exactly’s so bad about being human. Maybe it’s perspective— there was never a time when Gerry wasn’t human, so how could he make that call?

“You know me well enough,” Michael says, smiling up at him softly with those wretched teeth. He takes one of Gerry’s wrists, one of his scarred and tattooed and utterly ordinary human limbs, and kisses his pulse point. “Be sated with this, darling. Don’t be like one of those Beholding folk, hungering for knowledge you can’t have.”

“But sometimes I like knowing things.” Gerry combs his free hand through Michael’s hair. It’s stiff and sharp at the edges, with the faint smell of straw. “Did you know there are over 7,000 nerve endings in the hand alone? Our fingers contain some of the densest areas of those endings in the body.” He watches Michael’s eyes slide shut. “Say what you will about us, but human beings have amazingly complex bodies. Like. It’s a wonder we’re here at all, with how easy it is for them to malfunction— and you have all that, compiled with the fact that it’s a statistical improbability for us to exist at all in the first place.”

He brushes his fingers over Michael’s cheek. “It’s terrifying being alive. The fact that we are alive is pretty astounding, though. That knowledge keeps me going sometimes.”

Michael has such a worn face. So close to human. Almost adjacent.

He sighs in Gerry’s lap. “Hm.” A pause. Then: “Gerry?”

“Yeah?”

“All that being said…” It’s not that Michael’s voice wavers, exactly, but the usual smile isn’t present in it. “Is there any part of this you would like to change if you could, then?” 

“Nah,” Gerry decides, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “It’s all part of your charm.”

[youllneverknowrac]

Oscar Diaz-So High

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Side note:This is how it goes down at my job and yes the dentist can tell! Only if it was done with force!

@slightlynumb

~

“Y/N Y/LN!” You hear your name being called as you sit in the small waiting room nervously, Oscar at your side holding your hand.

“Come on nena.” Oscar says softly and pulls you to stand up with him. You look at him with wide eyes and don’t reply as you follow the nurse to the pre-op area. They take your height, weight, and blood pressure and ask you one million questions, just like they did a week ago at your dental exam. The nurse pulls the curtain so she she can go put in all the information, letting you know that it won’t be too long before you’re getting your iv and heading to the OR.

The reason you were here was because you were absolutely terrified of going to the standard dentist, you could not sit still and let them remove all four wisdom teeth while being awake, so they referred you to this surgery center where they put you completely asleep for the procedure. The only problem being that your insurance didn’t want to cover it so Oscar had to pay 3 grand out of his own pocket. You wanted to tell him no and not come, but Oscar basically forced you to come to the exam after seeing how much pain you were in.

“I don’t want to Oscar.” You say as you sit in the chair next to him,”I’m fine really, please let’s just go home.” You plead, looking over to the hospital bed that was a few feet away from you.

“Y/N you can’t even eat bread.” Oscar sighs,”It’s a quick procedure mami, a hour tops. Don’t get yourself worked up. I’m going to be right there when you wake up.”

“If I wake up.” You groan and wipe your face tiredly.

“Don’t say that, you’re going to wake up.” Oscar reprimands,”This is going to make you feel better. You will be glad you did it.”

“You’ve never had to remove yours so I can’t really trust your advise, no offense.” You tell him and rest your head on his shoulder.

“It’s a fact that this will help you eat again without crying every two seconds.” He says and places a kiss to the top of your head,”Just be calm and have good thoughts mami.” Oscar soothes, the nurse opening up the curtain and asking you to sit on the bed so she can do your iv. You slowly pull away from your human comfort source and move to the bed. You hold your arm out and let the nurse tie the band around it, finding a vein with ease and grabbing the iv. You look away not wanting to see the rest, grimacing when you feel the needle go in.

“All done.” She says hooking all the tubing that would be needed to the actual iv. Watching as she hangs a fluid bag on your bed,”Let me go make sure they’re ready for you and then I’ll roll you back.” She smiles

“Okay.” You nod and take a deep breath, Oscar standing up and pushing some hair out of your face.

“You okay?” He asks, giving you another peck, this time on your forehead.

“Yeah, it. hurt a little, but it’s okay.” You tell him as you play with the hospital bracelet on your arm.

“Que chica tan fuerte.” (What a strong girl)Oscar pokes fun.

“You’re suppose to be nice to me today.” You pout

“You’re right, you’re right.” He chuckles and leans down to give you a quick kiss,”I’m sorry.” He mumbles against them before pulling away.

“It’s okay, you’re gonna be buying me all the ice cream I want later so it makes up for it.” You say with a small smile, leaning your head back and trying to relax.

“Yeah, I figured you were going to milk this shit out of this.”

“Hey you’re the one that forced me to come.” You tell him just as the nurse comes back and tells you it’s go time. She instructs Oscar to go wait in the waiting room again, letting him tell you bye before she’s pulling you down a hall and through these big double doors and into a room that’s reads OR 1. She connects three little patches on your chest, hooking that up to the machine, along with a blood pressure cuff on your arm and a pulse ox on your finger. Soon a few other workers join her-the anesthesiologist, the dentist, and a dental assistant.

“Big breaths.” The old man says after giving you a quick briefing of what he was going to do, and what would happen in the next thirty seconds or so. You do as he says, your eyes growing heavy as you breath in the gas. Surely enough your world becoming black as you get knocked out.

~

You feel someone messing with your arm and calling your name. But it’s like you couldn’t fully wake up yet. You try to pull away to stop whatever was going on but you had no force...and this strange urge to cough. Which is exactly what you felt your self doing before something is being pulled out of your mouth(oral airway). Your eyes flutter open and your instantly blinded by the light, also taking notice of the new location and nurse that was at your bedside. Everything just seemed so...slow. Like if you were high off your ass already and then decided to smoke three more joints.

“My throat hurts.” You say, craving some cold water. You’re mouth also feeling stuffed.

“It’s going to hurt baby, you had a long tube down it.” The older lady says as she grabs something near your head,”Let me clean your face off and try not to talk to much. You still have gauze in your mouth.” She instructs

“Sorry, oh my bad. Sorry.” You giggle, the nurse shaking her head but a smile still on her face as she uses a wipe on your face.

“No talking.” She says and waves a finger in front of your face playfully,”I’m going to take you iv out now. Then I’ll call for your family.”

You nod your head in understanding and hold your arm out like earlier. She does it quickly and bandages it up before walking away, the curtain slightly open so you could make out a few other workers. It doesn’t take long before Oscar is at your side and looking over you, the nurse as well.

“How you feel mamita?” Oscar asks.

“I can’t talk, so I can’t tell you that.” You say, your voice kind of muffled from how much gauze was in it. Oscar laughs and takes your hand as the nurse grabs his attention. She goes over a list of instructions and what to expect for the next few days, having Oscar sign your release forms and a bit of other medical stuff. Oscar takes the copy’s along with a prescription for pain medication and antibiotics. They help you in a wheel chair and bring you downstairs, your legs feeling funny as you try to get in the car.

“Woah, I feel like gelatin.” You laugh as Oscar reaches out to help you.

“I got her.” Oscar tells the lady as he places you into the car with ease.

“Gauze comes out when you get home! Call us if you have any more questions.” The nurse says as she pushes the wheel chair away.

“Wait! How long did y’all say this last again?” Oscar asks, slamming the car door shut.

“She should be back to her normal self in the next hour or two.” She answers quickly

“Fuck.” He mumbles to himself,”Thank you.” He says and walks around to get into the drivers seat.

“Blood is on my shirt.” You say as you look down at your clothes, a few drops of blood on your chest,”What.the.fuck. They got blood on my shirt papi.”

“Y/N, you can’t talk. That shits going to fall out of your mouth.” Oscar reminds as he starts the car up,”Also you had four teeth removed, there is going to be blood.”

“Right quiet. Shhhh.” You say and look over at him,”Are you forgetting something?”

“Quit talking!” He groans and looks over at you,”What am I forgetting?”

You give him a pointed look and pat your chest,”Um my seatbelt, do you want me to die. My arms are like not attached to me so I can’t do it.” You laugh and let your head roll back slowly.

Oscar takes a deep breath and reaches over to put on your seatbelt,”Not another word.” He says more sternly before beginning to drive. That only last about seven minutes before you remember something.

“Hey, give me my phone.” You say and hold your hand out.

“Shhh.” Oscar says and reaches into his pocket with his free hand and gives it to you. You try to unlock it but everything was blurry and the numbers didn’t look like numbers.

“I’m confused.” You say and toss it to the back seat in annoyance.

“The fuck, you’re going to break it.” Oscar says, not being able to hide his laugh,”You need to calm down mami.”

“No talking.” You say smartly, the gauze moving from the sides of your mouth and on to your tongue,”Ew!” You say and spit them out, letting the bloody covered squares fall into your lap,”Oscar get it off of me!” You say in disgust.

“My god.” He groans as he glances back and forth between you and the road. He reaches over and pulls out a few napkins from the glove compartment and picks the gauze out of your lap and tosses it all out the window,”I told you to stop talking.”

“I know you did not just litter.” You gasp and swat his arm,”Oscar we love the earth.”

“Okay well where the fuck else was that shit going to go?” He asks as he pulls into the drive through pharmacy to grab your items.

“I don’t know...but what I do know is that I want ice cream after this.”

“We’re getting ice cream after, but be quiet so I can talk to these people.” Oscar says as he pulls up to the window. You try to focus on the windshield and sitting still but you get bored a few minutes in.

“Hurry up.” You complain,”I want Ice cream now.”

“Nena, just a few more minutes.” Oscar says and takes your hand, placing a kiss on the back of it as the two of you wait for the pharmacist to return with your items.

“Thanks.” Oscar says as he takes the bag from them and places it in between the two of you before driving again.

You pull down the mirror wanting to look at yourself and your eyes go wide,”I look so ugly.” You cry, your eyes feeling up with tears,”My cheeks are so fat. Am I gonna look like this forever?”

“Your face is swollen nena. It’ll go down.” Oscar reassures.

“I look like a chipmunk.” You sob

“Nena you’re the cutest chipmunk around.” He laughs and shuts the mirror back up.

“You mean it?” You ask

“One hundred percent.”

“Well I guess that’s good.” You smile, your mood instantly changing. Oscar doesn’t reply as you turn the radio on, a old school rap playing,”Ice cream?”

“Yes, I’m going to get some right now.” He laughs.

“I want strawberry.” You say excitedly

“I knew that already. That’s all you ever get.”

“Cause it’s the best flavor.” You defend,”It’s like sweet but not to sweet and you can mix it with stuff if you want too. But you shouldn’t even want to because it’s so perfect on its own. Don’t you agree?”

“Nah we gonna disagree on that one.” Oscar shakes his head,”Cookie dough is where it’s at. No competition.”

“Wrong. So wrong.” You tell him

“Whatever you say.”

“Just drive Oscar. I can’t believe you could even say something so far from the truth. Strawberry will always be number one. I love it so much I should get it tattooed on me. Like on my neck...or maybe my forehead. Yes! That’s such a good idea.”

“I would love to see you do that.”

“Fine. I will. Call your homie up and have him come to the house.” You say nonchalantly

“I’ll call him later smart ass..” He laughs

“Better to be a smart ass than a dumb ass...I mean it though I’m going to do it. A big ol pink ice cream.”

“On some real shit, I need whatever the fuck they got you on.”

“Um general anesthesia? Did you not listen to them when they explained it?”

“Well I need some of that...you think there’s a market for that?”

“Um I don’t think so...it’s too medical and involves all this other shit.” You giggle

“Well shit. Just gotta stick to what I know.” Oscar smirks

“Duh.” You smile and tap your forehead knowingly,”Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything.”

“Do you think the dentist could tell that last night...I you know...” you say, pointing to his lower body and then to your mouth.

“Shit, I don’t know. You think he seen my dick print in the back of your throat?” Oscar laughs loudly

“Oh my god, probably. They’re all gonna talk about me. Or they were while I was knocked out.” You groan

“I don’t think they can really tell mami. I mean I wouldn’t think so and if they did who cares.” He shrugs

“I mean I care, kind of.”

“Not like your ever gonna see them again.” He says and pulls into the different drive through lane to buy you your treat,”You want all strawberry? Ima get a few cups to take home so you can eat later.”

“One vanilla mixed in with strawberry. I like to add a little razzle dazzle every now and then.”

“Of course you do.” Oscar says with a shake of his head pulling up to the voice box to order. Hoping this drug can wear off sooner rather than later.

~

“Cesar and his little crew are here!” You say excitedly as Oscar parks in the drive, a now empty ice cream cup in your hand. You toss it at him before trying to run out of the car, nearly tripling the whole way to the outside couch.

“Hi!” You squeal and wrap your arms around the younger Diaz brother tightly, making your way down the line. However when you get to Ruby he holds on for a little longer.

“Did you just sniff me?” You laugh, eyeing as Oscar grabs the stuff from the car and heads in, his clean white shirt now stained with droplets of pink ice cream.

“No!” The tiny boy says, his eyes going wide before he sits back down on the couch. The rest of the group laughing.

“Did I smell good?”

“Yes.” He mumbles quietly, keeping his head down.

“Good.” You say and wave at them before making your way inside, humming to yourself. The drug not as strong as it was earlier, but still feeling a little doozy.

“Ohhh, strip show.” You say as you find Oscar in the bedroom changing into a clean shirt.”

“It’s your fault. You threw that ice cream on me.” Oscar says giving you a glare.

“I was just excited to see Cesar.” You say and walk up to him, with puckered lips.

“Hell nah, get away from me with your bloody ass mouth.” Oscar says and gives your forehead a light push as he laughs.

“I thought you loved me.” You say in shock as you hurry to the attached bathroom to look inside your mouth,”Gross.” You say and lean down to cup some water in your hand. Sipping it into your mouth and gargling it.

“You’re never going to kiss me again?” You ask softly when you come back out, walking past him as you throw yourself down on the bed face first.

“I will. Tomorrow.” Oscar says and comes over to take your shoes off,”You need some sleep right now though. A long nap will do you good. Go get under the covers.”

You mutter something incoherent, scooting yourself up like a worm and bringing the blanket over your body,”Lay down with me.”

“I will, but let me go get your medicine so you can take it already.”

You sigh and wait for him to comeback, a small headache forming and the numbness from your mouth beginning to wear off. Oscar returns shortly with a glass of water and two pills,”Open.” He says as you sit up, sticking you tongue out as you do what he asks. He places the medicine on your tongue and holds the glass up to your mouth,”Drink.” You listen and let him hold the cup for you as you down more than half of it.

“Okay, sleep now.” You say after swallowing, patting the empty space next to you.

Oscar nod and sets water down on the night table, pulling off his belt and cargo shorts.

“Your socks are so high, leave them on. They make your thighs look amazing.” You joke, Oscar rolling his eyes as he tugs them down.

“Ima let you talk your shit for today...but tomorrow I’m coming full force mami.” He smirks before climbing in behind you.

“Shut up and hold me.” You say and snuggle into him,”Thank you for going with me today.” You add after a few moments

“I had no choice, I couldn’t let you go by yourself.” Oscar says as he wraps himself around you.

“Yeah but still, thanks. I couldn’t have done it with out you.”

“You’re welcome. Now shut those pretty little eyes of yours.” He says as he pushes some hair off of your face,”I’ll make you some soup later for when you wake up.”

“You’re the best.” You sigh and let your eyes close,”love you.”

“I love you too.” He says, the last thing you hear before your falling asleep for the second time that day.

[speciallinksseo]

George Campbell Orthodontist

I recently visited Infinity Smiles where my orthodontist was Dr George Campbell, and I was very impressed with the experience I had, as well as how my teeth now look after treatment. I was quite nervous as I’d never been to see an orthodontist before, but I have been self-conscious about my teeth and was hopeful something could be done to improve their appearance.

Dr Campbell was friendly and made me feel comfortable straight away, and I have felt this way during every appointment I’ve had with him since too. I was glad to have Dr George Campbell as my orthodontist as I’d heard good things about the treatment he provides from previous satisfied patients. His knowledge and experience made me feel reassured and confident that he was the right man for the job, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Given my sensitivity about my teeth, I was worried about fixed braces being the only option for me. I expressed my concern to Dr Campbell who assured me that there are other avenues to explore that I could feel more comfortable with.

I ultimately decided to go with Invisalign braces, so they wouldn’t be as noticeable, but still effective in aligning them. I was a bit concerned as I’d heard the price of these braces was quite expensive, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much it would cost when discussing it with Dr Campbell.

He was clear and took the time to break everything down for me and answer the many questions I had. I learned more about Invisalign, which was helpful as I wanted to have all the details before settling on that type of brace as the best for me. Deciding to get braces as an adult is a big decision which he completely understood; he gave me all the information I needed, and I felt that he was caring and patient throughout the process.

George Campbell Orthodontist review

At each appointment, Dr Campbell was warm and took his time, which I appreciated, as I know dentists and orthodontists are extremely busy, but he never made me feel rushed or like I was just another patient, every appointment was personal. When I first got my Invisalign braces, Dr Campbell thoroughly went through the care that was needed so I had a clear understanding of what I could do to ensure I got the best results from my braces.

george campbell orthodontist

I was so impressed with Invisalign as soon as they were put in, I could barely see them. The aligners have a look of thin mouth guards that just sit over your teeth and unlike normal braces you can remove them at certain points too. Dr Campbell took the time to create a custom treatment plan to suit my lifestyle and goals for how I want my teeth to look at the end. To follow this plan, I simply had to replace each set of Invisalign aligners with a new one every few weeks. The process was straightforward, and I started to notice changes in my teeth quite quickly, as did Dr Campbell who was pleased with my progress.

At the end of my treatment, I couldn’t have been happier with the results, my teeth straightened even more than I imagined they could. Having my teeth better aligned has given me so much confidence. I cannot thank Dr Campbell enough for the time and effort he put in to make sure I was happy throughout my Invisalign journey. If anyone in the Glasgow area is looking for a good orthodontist, I would definitely recommend going to see Dr George Campbell, he has worked wonders on my teeth and could do the same for anyone else.

[dibidibifiction]

Criminal In My Mind: Chapter 3

Warning: foul language

Pairings: Choi Minho x Reader; Kim Jonghyun x Kim Kibum (side) Word count: 1.8k

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction made for personal entertainment of readers. The writer does not ever intend to offend her readers nor does she aim to spread false information about anyone as to pay any disrespect to the real-life persons whom the characters are based on. She also does not claim ownership to any of the images that are being used.

masterlist Chapter 2

Y/N

I just received a phone call from Minho to notify me that Taemin has been brought to the hospital. I’m now in a cab on my way there, out of breath from being anxious and in a hurry at the same time.

I just told that kid not to do something stupid!

Minho told me that Taemin’s going to be okay but what I’m worried about now is keeping this a secret. I hate lying to Mr. Lee.

So, that’s his name. Minho, like from the book series, Maze Runner. He didn’t sound hostile at all when I talked to him on the phone. He actually sounded reassuring and respectful.

I arrive at the emergency room and immediately catch the sight of him as he stands up to approach me. 

“Hey, thank you so much for being here for him. I’m Y/n. Where is he?”

“Right in there,” Minho leads me to Taemin. Although I find myself staring at his back for a second, eyeing his features briefly, as I’m quite astonished by his obvious handsomeness.

I walk right up to Taemin, almost teary. “What happened to you? I thought I already told you not to do something stupid!”

“It’s not my fault, Noona. My girlfriend’s ex and his friends got back at me for stealing her, which is not really the case at all. She came onto me!”

This kid is so adorable that he never fails to make me laugh. I could never be mad at him. “Well, I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks to Minho Hyung. He would’ve fought off those guys if they hadn’t run away fast enough. He and his pretty girlfriend helped me and rushed me over here. For free I might add.”

I turn to Minho, “Oh, you didn’t have to do that. I promise we’ll pay you back.”

He chuckles charmingly, “There’s no need for that. Anyway, I have to go. I have to drop my mom off at the airport. Taemin, stay out of trouble.”

We watch him walk away. He does look cuter when he smiles. The chuckle with his deep voice was just a bonus. For some reason, he has this flaming charisma that I find sexy. With his muscular manly figure showing off despite wearing a loose shirt, and his long arms and legs. I wonder how tall he is. And that ass? I mean no disrespect but fuck! 

“Was that really his girlfriend that drove you here or was it his mom or his sister?”

“I think she’s too young to be that guy’s mom. Why, do you like him?”

“I didn’t say that!” My voice sounds so high and loud that I seem defensive.

“Oh, please. You’re already smitten,” he continues to annoy me. “Not only is he hot and handsome, but he’s really kind, too. God, I’ll be all over that guy if I was a woman. Or gay.”

I laugh at what Taemin says. Regardless of how ridiculous that sounds, I’m afraid that he might be right.

. . .

Days have gone by after that Taemin incident. It’s finally my day off tomorrow! I have over an hour left before my shift ends.

I will finally get to see Kibum tonight, who I haven’t seen in a long time. We barely hang out anymore ever since he moved out of town with his own family for a bigger place. 

He’s been my best friend since junior high school. I had no friends back then because everybody’s too uncomfortable to speak to me after I survived the abduction. He was the new kid in school. One lunchtime, I was having trouble pumping ketchup onto my plate because my limbs were too small and weak. He then helped me out since he’s surprisingly strong for quite a skinny guy at the time. Since then, after we first shared our love for ketchup, that’s how we came to be. We also went to the same college and got the same undergraduate, only he carried on his studies to pursue dermatology and I finally got to be a florist.

Speak of the devil, “Kim Kibum!” I answer my phone.

“I hope you’re carrying some aspirin with you because we are gonna party until roofs blow off!”

“Who are you kidding? You hate clubs,” I get confused at first but immediately realize he’s just being sarcastic.”

“The fuck I do. I just thought I could trick you. But we’re still drinking. I went into clubs so rarely in college but now, I have three-year-old boy twins and a fiancé, who I met in one of those clubs,” he laughs too loudly. Funny for someone who hates noisy and crowded places.

“I know. I was there the whole fucking time! Is Jonghyun Oppa coming, too?” I ask him.

“Uh, no, he went home to his mom with the boys. It’s just a few neighborhoods away from where you are. He might come and join us tomorrow morning.”

“That’s fine. We can just meet up at SM Café.”

“Oh, are still friends with that Jinki guy? I thought we didn't like him anymore.”

“Hey, come on, we only went out for a week. We didn’t even sleep together. Plus, he is a perfect gentleman, although sometimes annoying because of his jokes. But there’s no reason to fall out.”

“Does he still flirt with you?” he asks me teasingly.

“Yes, be right there,” I tell a customer who has just walked in and called out for assistance. “Hey, I gotta go. I’ll see you later, honey. Love you. Bye.”

I hang up and instantly turn to the customer by the vases section of the store.

After almost an hour discussing kinds of soil, pots, and vases with a customer, Mr. Lee comes in from the back of the shop, “Mr. Lee, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I live here. My apartment’s right upstairs,” he’s frowning like an old man who screams at children who wouldn’t get off his lawn.

I laugh at this hilarious sarcasm. “I mean aren’t you supposed to go to the dentist this afternoon and get your teeth fixed?”

“I changed my mind. I’m happy the way my teeth are,” he tells me while smiling widely. “By the way, I hired two new florists to cover for you as you arrange flowers your way all day long. I know how swamped you can be handling customers, deliveries, and bouquets all at the same time. Plus, we have more than enough money to pay for extra help thanks to you. So, congratulations, you’re my new head florist!” 

“No way, really? Thank you so much, Mr. Lee!” I jump up and down out of glee. I almost hug him.

“No problem. Oh, and you get a pay raise. Now get out of here. I got this,” he insists, patting me on the head.

I go home to take a shower and put on some more attractive clothes and bold, glam makeup because I don’t know where Kibum and I will end up going, just like the old times. Even though we didn’t often go to clubs—well, he didn’t—we still drank together at our dorm, resto-bars, and barbeque places. I always wanted to be ready to live this single drunk life in case some sexy guy wants to get on with me.

This time I take the bus to SM café and by the time I arrive, I catch Kibum’s car just pulling in for parking. I go ahead, walking into the café, and get relieved that it’s less crowded than it was this morning. I take a seat at a table by the window as Jinki approaches me. 

“Hey, is your shift almost over?” I ask him.

“Yeah, I get off at-”

“Oh, my God, Kim Kibum!” I scream and suddenly rush over to Kibum and give him a long tight hug. “I missed you so much!” 

Last time I saw him, his hair was pastel purple and longer. Now, it’s blonde and shorter, almost to his roots. I swear this man pulls off every single hairstyle and every single outfit. I can never understand how he does it. There’s not a day when he is not gorgeous.

“I missed you too, babe!” We’re screaming like a couple of teenagers who are so ready for spring break.

“You remember Jinki?” I introduce them then they exchange their hellos.

“What can I get you guys?” Jinki asks, as merry as always.

“Iced black coffee for me and…” I look to Kibum.

“Iced low-fat latté and a piece of red velvet cake for me. Thanks!”

“Great! I’ll be right back with your orders. Nice to see you again, Kibum.”

Kibum smiles and waves at Jinki as he walks away, grabbing empty trays from recently left-out tables. 

“He got cuter, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Then what are you doing? Get on with it. You’re not getting any younger.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not the kind of guy I get attracted to. You know what I mean? It’s just...” I go on and on trying to explain, listing down reasons but nothing I say seems to make sense.

Kibum stares at me for a second with a wrinkled forehead and slightly parted lips. “I literally didn’t get a single thing from what you just said.”

“Well, there’s this guy I’m hoping to-”

“Here are your drinks and one red velvet cake. Hope you enjoy,” Jinki is back, placing our beverages on the table.

“Thank you so much!” Kibum exclaims.

“I get off at nine,” Jinki turns to me.

“That’s soon. We’ll just wait for you,” I tell him. “We have a lot of catching up to do anyway.

“Alright, as long as you guys don’t mind. We can drink here if you want. I still got several bottles of soju left from when my friends came over last week.”

“Sure, that would be great! It’s less trouble,” Kibum tilts his head toward my direction, referring to me and the many nights I got into trouble in every college bar.”

. . .

I start hearing familiar voices in the background fading in.

“Right, right. So what happened with you and the girl?” I hear Jinki laughing.

“What do you think? I haven’t seen her ever since. I decided to take the twins with me since she didn’t want them. Then Jonghyun and I eventually got back together and worked everything out the way...”

I open my eyes just to realize I passed out. I look around, we’re still at the café. I look at my watch, it’s almost midnight. 

Holy shit, have I grown weak? I scold myself. It's only been two hours since we started drinking.

When I was in college, I didn’t stop drinking while the sun was still hiding. I could go all night partying even with people I didn’t know, as long as they didn't sell drugs or dressed up as a cop. What happened to me? Maybe I’m too old for this shit.

“There she is!” Jinki is laughing at me.

Just after a few minutes, I still crave for a fun night so I resume drinking and join the boys. Turns out the night is still young and the fun is just continuing on. 

Would you look at that, I’m not too old for this shit after all!

Chapter 4

[angrylizardjacket]

you wrote ‘don’t forget’ on your arm // 1 // charlotte&lola (penny&jupiter)

Summary: Jupiter’s going to dress as Lola for the premiere of The Dirt, is dating MGK, and also the premiere happens.

A/N: @misscharlottelee and @local-troubled-writer . I split this into 2 parts because the second part is almost entirely this AU’s version of The Dirt and it was getting too long. Next part to be posted tomorrow!!

Part 1 of 2

----

Jupiter looks like Lola; the same dark hair, same angular face. They’re not a spitting image, they’ve inherited Tommy’s waifishness and green eyes, so the honour of looking like a carbon copy of their mother belongs to Cerie, but whenever people write about Jupiter, on blogs or in magazines, they always feel the need to mention; Jupiter looks like Lola. So with the premiere coming up, Jupiter thinks it’s only fitting; if all anyone sees is their mother, then spitefully, they’ll play into that.

For the record, Alicia, the woman they’ve got playing Lola, looks eerily similar to her, and by extension Jupiter, and Jupiter wonders if it’s egotistical of Freudian to think she’s hot. Whatever; that’ll be their therapist’s problem. The cast for The Dirt is hot, which is an uncomfortable truth that Jupiter has to live with. Even Iwan makes Mick hot, which is somehow way weirder than her mom being hot, because Mick is a gremlin and the only band member Jupiter actually gets along with, their father notwithstanding. 

Some time when Jupiter was a teenager, Mick had told them, with the haunted wisdom of a man who has spent over half his life putting up with their parents, that he’d had broken guitars with more common sense than Lola, and Jupiter decided then and there that he was their favourite, and their opinion hadn’t waivered since.

So it’s with a well-worn resentment that they acknowledge how actually stylish Lola was in her youth, not that she isn’t now, but she was more of a punk in her twenties than Jupiter knows they could ever be. 

Penny thinks it’s self-destructive behaviour, and that Jup is too old for this shit, but she tags along, never one to pass up a good trawl through a vintage store, that is when she’s not in the studio with Dominic. Jup joins them when they can, when they’re not working on the final touches for their own album.

“Am I allowed to say your mom is hot?” Colson’s laying back on Jup’s sofa, flipping through a scrapbook Tommy had leant him, filled with old newspaper and magazine clippings, trying to find a good photo of Lola, while Jupiter scrolls through pinterest, looking for any and all photos of their mother in her youth. Preferably with clothes on. Christ, Lola. Jupiter shoots him a look, but it’s not angry, it’s just rather… uncomfortable.

“I think you are, but I wish you wouldn’t.”

None of the jackets are ever right; they’ve got the ripped fishnets, the black platforms, the leather shorts, they’d even managed to get their hands on a spiked bra, but for all the leather jackets they’d looked at, none of them were Lola-level of over the top gutter punk. Oh they had spikes upon spikes, and buckles, and a few had some custom detailing, but none of them were right. Up until Motley’s first tour, Lola had lived and died in her black leather jacket, with the spikes on the shoulders, that looked better open than it did zipped up. There was only one option left. They could go to Tommy, but they knew ultimately they’d end up at the same place.

Lionheart Management’s thirty-second floor offices had the same effect on Jupiter as a dentist’s office had on a child; deep seated discomfort, but Jupiter would rather meet her there than have to go to the bullshit family home she shared with Nikki.

Jupiter knocks on the door that bares their mother’s name, grimacing at the little plaque beneath that reminded everyone that she was the CEO. Lola’s voice rings from inside, inviting them in, and she seems pleasantly surprised to see Jupiter when the door opens.

Lola still wears all her earrings she’d given herself in her youth, though now they’re studs rather than safety pins and pieces of wire, as Jupiter had come to see, and for all she’s grown up, she still favours black. Maybe that’s why Jupiter’s always gone for pastels.

“What a lovely surprise,” Lola sits back in her desk chair, haloed  the golden records on her wall, and gives a fond smile to her child, “what can I do for you today?” And it kind of stings that Lola knows that Jupiter wants something, though Jupiter considers that that’s no-one’s fault but their own. They don’t make a point of seeing Lola for idle chatter.

“Do you still have that black jacket from the eighties?” Jupiter cuts right to the chase, and Lola frowns a little.

“Which one?”

“The one with the spikes on the shoulders and the weird sort of panel design?”

“I think Nadine gave me that one -” Lola says, something gently faraway about her tone.

“I don’t need it’s history, I’m just asking if I can borrow it.” Jupiter’s tone is sharp, and Lola’s expression falls. After a moment, she agrees quietly, giving a sad smile as she tells Jupiter they can pick it up later that night from her house. Before they turn away, they think they can see what people mean when they say that Jupiter looks like Lola, something haunted, wise beyond her years. They turn away.

“It’s good to see you, Jubilee,” Lola tells them just as Jupiter goes to leave, using the nickname she’d given Jupiter after they’d come out and changed their name, “I’ve heard you’re working on some new music, that’s exciting.” She’s trying so desperately to make some sort of connection with the child who barely acknowledges her, and Jupiter feels a twinge of guilt.

“It’s releasing a month after The Dirt, my album,” Jupiter’s tone is soft and a little cautious, but they turn back in time to see Lola smiling, “I even had Seo and Cyrus help out with one of the songs.” To which Lola actually laughs, warm and fond.

“I heard; Cy has not stopped talking about it, and about how he’s going to thank you when he’s headlining Coachella in a few years time.” Lola enthuses, leaning forward, elbows on her desk, eyes sparkling with amusement. This has Jupiter grinning, amused at their little brothers antics, actually sharing a nice moment with their mom. “Sounds like you’re really keeping busy; dad’s got you and Penny working on some stuff for the premiere, right?” 

“Yeah, along with Colson and Dominic,” Jupiter says with a faint smile.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Lola says, a gentle pride in her words, “taking the world by storm, you’re a powerhouse, Jubilee.” And Jupiter feels a strange sort of warmth flourish in their chest. 

Lola doesn’t ask why they want the jacket, just hands it over easily when Jupiter comes to pick it up.

When he sees it, Colson whistles low through his teeth, poking at the spikes on the shoulders with an awed fascination.

“Holy shit, dude -”

“Don’t cum too hard, it’s just a jacket,” Jupiter makes a face, but Colson actually snorts.

“Do you know how many guys would give their left nut to touch this jacket?”

“Are you into me or my mom?” Jupiter snaps, and he turns his gaze on them, eyes wide, looking a little guilty. In an instant, he’s put the jacket on the table, and has wrapped Jup up in his arms.

“You, babe, of course, it’s just weird after seeing the replica costuming made; it doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing. I’m into you, Jup,” he adds, “jesus fuck.” Jup will leave enough bites and hickeys on him to remind him of this fact later that night. 

They haven’t thought much about the movie itself; they’ve been around set out of sheer curiosity, and also to spend time with the cast, as they’re becoming fast friends, but they don’t actually know even the plot of the movie, or have read the script, and they haven’t been motivated enough to piece together any of this information from the snippets they’ve been on set for. Penny’s got a better grip, mostly because she, Lola, and Tommy have had meetings with the director, writers, and actors on how to handle Charlotte and Razzle with sensitivity, but Penny never talks to Jupiter about it, she knows Jupiter, for lack of a better phrase, would rather be surprised by the movie.

So their expectations are low by the time the premiere comes around, but they’re going all out, getting ready with Penny and the hair and makeup team they’ve hired for the occasion. 

Dark hair dark eyes, the makeup and hair women do a fantastic job, and Penny’s quiet for a long moment after the reveal.

“They did good?” Jupiter asks with a sharp smile, and Penny gives her a strange smile, a nod, but no words leave her lips. Jupiter doesn’t quite know how to take that, so they get dressed, leather shorts over ripped fishnets, knee-high black platforms that make them taller than any person should rightly be. They’d inherited most of Tommy’s height, which now, with six-inch platforms, is more of a curse than a blessing at 6′7″, but it doesn’t matter. They pull on the spiked bra, and leave their room with Lola’s jacket in their arms.

And Penny is silent.

“Holy shit.” Soft, eyes wide and awed, Penny takes them in, and Jupiter feels a strange sort of discomfort. “You look just like her.” Penny looks stunning in her own right, in a gorgeous, vintage-inspired jumpsuit, hair styled big, looking every bit like her parents’ daughter. Before her words could really sink in, she’s giving a bright smile, rifling through her bag, “we should get a polaroid; Andy and Sami asked if I could send a photo of us from tonight.”

They get a photo together, wait for it to develop before sending it to both the kids’ groupchat, affectionately titled Bastards Incorporated, as well as the group text Penny’d started with the rest of Hanoi Rocks after visiting them a few years ago.

Sami Yaffa sends back ‘holy shit pennylope and kid lee!! what a blast from the past’ and Jupiter feels like they’re hearing that a lot lately. He follows it with a few kind words about how authentic they look, and how their parents would be proud. Penny pretends like she isn’t tearing up a little at that, and Jupiter pretends like they don’t take the comment as a compliment. 

Meanwhile, in Bastards Incorporated, populated by the various Lee and Sixx children, amid compliments, Cyrus has changed Jupiter’s nickname from Daddy Kink  to Electra Complex 😘 and Cerie is sending selfies from the limousine that’s on it’s way to Jupiter and Penny.

[Jupiter] Electra Complex 😘: cyrus im gonna break all the bones in your arm [Cyrus] DJ Dumbass: im ambidextrous [Jupiter] Electra Complex 😘: *arms [Cerie] Evil Cyrus sent a photo to Bastards Incorporated. [Penelope] the only valid lee: Cerie sTOP you look incredible!!  [Cerie] Evil Cyrus ❤️ reacted. [Jupiter] Electra Complex 😘: wait is that SEO NOT WEARING A HOODIE [Seo] King of the Ripsticks ❤️ reacted. [Cerie] Evil Cyrus sent a photo to Bastards Incorporated. [Penelope] the only valid lee: SEO YOU LOOK SO GOOOOOOOD [Seo] King of the Ripsticks ❤️ reacted. [Seo] King of the Ripsticks: 🤵

Since turning 18, no-one outside of the family has seen Seo’s face without his hoodie and sunglasses, a personal choice, and kind of a gimmick to make him more memorable in the skating scene, so when Penny and Jupiter slide into the limousine to see him dressed to the nines, in a powder blue suit with his hair blown out, it comes as a welcome surprise, and they both shower him with compliments.

“Oi!” Cyrus cuts in where he’s sitting opposite them beside his twin, “what about me?”

“You look like a rat,” Jupiter tells him, despite how well dressed he also was. Cyrus flips them off, “Cerie you look stunning.” Jupiter tells her with a warm sincerity, and Cerie gives a toothy grin. Cerie’s always had the makings of a model, and in a sparkling, champagne colored dress and understated makeup, she’ll outshine them all with ease.

“Come on,” Cyrus whined, before tugging at the lapels of his jacket, doing the bottom button up, putting on his most winning grin as he turned on Penny, “come on, Pen, thoughts?” And Penny, ever the favourite cousin, humours him.

“You look great, Cy; I can’t believe you’re wearing a keyboard tie, but somehow it looks good on you, bud,” and at her praise, Cyrus practically preens.

“I can’t believe you’re dressed as mom,” Cerie’s a little disbelieving when she finally takes in Jupiter’s attire, quickly making mention that they look spectacular, it’s just a little jarring.

“You look -”

“Just like her, I know,” Jup gives a tired smile, and pulls out a hand mirror to touch up their lipstick, “it’s kind of the point.”

They all enthuse about the film, about the story they’re about to witness, about how it’s probably going to be weird to see their parents like that - Penny is quiet. And Jupiter takes her hand without a word. 

They step out onto the red carpet one at a time, first the twins, Cyrus leading like the peacock he is, followed by Cerie, then Seo. Jupiter goes to leave, but Penny won’t move, won’t let go of their hand.

“What if they tell it wrong, after everything, they tell it wrong?” She asks, a shake in her voice that Jupiter knows all too well. 

“Then we’ll burn the theatre to the ground -”

“Don’t be like Lola for just a fucking minute, Jup; this is really important to me, I know you don’t get it, but arson won’t fix if they’ve ruined my family’s memory, you know?” 

Jupiter pauses for a long moment before wrapping Penny up in a hug, just as she had so many times for Jupiter before. Penny dabs delicately at her eyes before her tears can ruin her makeup.

“Our family wouldn’t let them release anything that didn’t do your parents justice; you wouldn’t sign off on anything that wouldn’t do them justice.” Jupiter tells her with the utmost seriousness, though Penny’s expression is still doubtful.

“But what if I got it wrong?”

“Penelope Dingley Lee, first of her name, if your parents were here, they’d be so immeasurably proud of you, because they loved you more than anything else in the world,” they took Penny’s face in their hands, made sure she was looking at them, “you couldn’t fail them even if you tried.”

Together, they face the crowd, who go wild at the sight of them, and smile like this isn’t one of the most uniquely strange and painful experiences of their lives. Flashbulbs go off and Jupiter strikes pose after pose, soaking up the attention with Penny by their side. They get to their siblings, to the rest of their family, there’s shock, and surprise, and when they look at Lola, wearing a black, velvet dress with her hair slicked back, she’s shocked. 

“Look at you,” Tommy marvels with a million-watt smile, “this is one hell of a stunt, kiddo, you look fantastic!” And he wraps them up in a hug, looking proud as punch. 

Mick is laughing harder than Jupiter’s ever seen him laugh before, and Vince and Nikki are wearing almost identically fond and disbelieving smiles. But Lola is unreadable.

“Never thought I’d see the day,” Mick makes his way to Jupiter, pats them fondly, and Jupiter makes a point of patting his head with their enhanced height, “you wear it well, kiddo; didn’t realise those two had good genes to pass on but it seems they did.” Tommy, who overheard the remark, sees Mick’s good-natured smile and teasing tone, and flips him off with a smile of his own, while Lola snickers.

“Fuck you, you geezer,” she tells him with a well worn fondness, before looking back at her child, who suddenly feels strangely nervous, though they try their best to cover it with bravado.

“They say I look like you,” Jupiter says with a smirk, and Lola shakes her head, expression turning amused. The rest of the family and the band is busy taking photos, but Lola tentatively approaches Jupiter, asks if she can hug them. Jupiter, who’s never really been one for physical contact, acquiesces, bending to hug their mother. 

“You have a much better head on your shoulders than I did at your age,” Lola mutters, and gives Jupiter a squeeze, before adding, “you look so badass, sweetheart.” 

Jupiter has no idea what they were expecting, but this almost definitely wasn’t it. Lola and Jupiter get countless photos together, and in the moments that follow, when the cast arrive, Alicia almost doubles over with laughter, crowing about how they should have cast Jup instead. The three of them get a photo together, and it’s one of the proudest moments of Lola’s life.

Focus from Jupiter dies down as people are splitting off to get photos with their doubles; Max and Josie tug Penny away to get a cheesy family photo with her, while the band and cast were taking side by side comparisons. 

By the time Douglas has reintroduced himself to Seo, not recognizing him without his hoodie and sunglasses,the rest of Lola’s kids are doing an incredibly poor job of hiding their laughter.

“Dude, who is that?” Colson asks Jupiter, trying his hardest to be discrete. Jupiter raises their eyebrows, casting their gaze to Seo before looking back at Colson.

“That’s my brother.”

“How many do you have?”

“Four.”

“And that one’s -”

“Seo.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Colson half laughs, looking back at where Seo was taking photos of Cerie on her phone for her instagram, “are you- that’s Seo? Seo! Dude!” He calls, and Seo looks over in their general direction, flashes a toothy smile, before turning back. “That dude was under that hoodie that whole time? Guess I owe Daniel five bucks.”

“What?” Jupiter laughs, and Colson looks a little sheepish, wrapping an arm around them as a photographer calls their names.

“We all had a bet about what was under his hood,” Colson tells them, posing for the camera, “Iwan’s money was on alopecia -”

“He thought Seo just had no hair?” Jupiter snorted.

“I was thinking embarrassing face tattoo, Doug had weird-coloured hair, and Daniel had -”

“Regular dude?”

“Weirdly handsome dude, actually, and I can’t believe he’s spot on -”

“And I can’t believe you seem to have a thing for my whole family,” Jupiter gave him a gentle shove, while Colson gave a rougish grin.

“Only ‘cos if I think too hard about you, lookin’ the way you look, we’re not gonna make it to the actual movie,” he murmured in their ear, and Jupiter swallowed hard, smile widening on their face.

“The movie starts in half an hour; meet me in the second story bathroom in ten minutes,” and with that, they split, each moving to take more photos, Colson doing a few interviews while Jupiter made their way to the bathroom discretely.

Before he leaves, Colson can’t help but say hello to the oldest Sixx child; Seo squints at him for a moment before smiling.

“Hey man, good to see you,” he says, and without a doubt, that’s Seo’s unflappable baritone. 

“Gotta say, man, you clean up nice, almost didn’t recognise you,” Colson admits, wrapping an arm around Seo’s shoulders as they take a few pictures together. Seo looks at whoever calls his name loudest, smiling brightly. “How you doing man?”

“Great, man, like a pig in shit,” he says, “can you do me a favour?”

“Depends, what’s up?”

“Point me in Penny’s direction; she’s wearing the same colour thing as Cyrus and I am fucking lost,” he laughs, and Colson does a double take, which Seo seems to miss, “Cerie was right, I should have just worn my damn glasses.”

“Dude, are you blind?”

“Legally, yeah, can’t properly see anything that’s not six inches away from my face.” And suddenly things are make a lot more sense.

“Your sunglasses are prescription, aren’t they?” Colson steers him in the direction of Penny, who caught sight of the pair of them, meeting them in the middle.

“Bingo,” Seo tells him with a grin, before letting Penny tuck her arm in his. After a beat, he adds, “thanks Daniel.”

“Actually I’m -” Colson goes to correct, actually a little embarrassed, but Seo snickers.

“It’s a joke, Kells, I know it’s you,” and he adds, “Jup left like twelve minutes ago, if you were looking for her.” And it’s eerie that he knows that he was. But it sounds like a blessing, if anything, and Colson tries to get away as unnoticed as possible.

[Cyrus] DJ Dumbass sent a photo to Bastards Incorporated. [Cyrus] DJ Dumbass: JUPITER WHERE U @ UR BOYFRIENDS ESCAPING [Jupiter] Electra Complex 😘: none of your business [Cyrus] DJ Dumbass: :O [Penelope] the only valid lee: they’re really in character ;) [Cyrus] DJ Dumbass: lmao what if i sent a screenshot to lola [Cyrus] DJ Dumbass: Jup [Cyrus] DJ Dumbass: @Electra Complex 😘 Penelope changed Cyrus’s nickname to QUIT SNITCHIN MFKER. [Cyrus] QUIT SNITCHIN MFKER: they’re not even RESPONDING [Cyrus] QUIT SNITCHIN MFKER: @Electra Complex 😘 this is the fuckin funniest i can’t believe you’ve been possessed by the spirit of 80s mom on tonight of all nights [Penelope] the only valid lee: since they aren’t here to defend themselves, cyrus im gonna rip out ya spine mortal kombat style [Seo] King of the Ripsticks and [Cerie] Evil Cyrus ❤️ reacted.  [Cerie] Evil Cyrus: a threat jup would be proud of [Penelope] the only valid lee ❤️ reacted.  [Cyrus] QUIT SNITCHIN MFKER: thats fair

Jupiter doesn’t mind, just this once, that history, in it’s own twisted way, repeats itself. If both of them look a little too pleased, a little too rumpled, no-one comments; it’s in the spirit of the film after all.

[thegreenfairy13]

No Country For Heroes - Part 2

Last week @justsimplymeagain gave me the prompt ‘beg’ and I wrote a one-shot. I am sorry to announce that I decided to turn this one-shot into a full story. You can find the previous chapter here on Ao3.

I raised the rating to an M for the subject matter and following chapters. 

Summary: when Gotham is cut off from the mainland, the GCPD decides to turn Jim in in exchange for the Penguins protection.

It’s fitting, in a way. They dragged him in half-dead, they are keeping him half-alive now. 

Jim isn’t sure how long he has been there. He only knows his entire body is burning up while his teeth won’t start clattering. The blanket they gave him is not big enough to cover him entirely. Not that it would do anything anyway to keep him warm, sweat-sodden as it is. 

Now and then, a doctor comes. At least Jim believes he’s a doctor. He can’t even tell if it’s night or day when he arrives, for the room he’s being kept in has no windows. It’s a small cell - only big enough for a single bed, a toilet, and a sink. 

The medic arrives and tends to Jim’s wound. By this point, the detective barely whimpers when he carves out the puss with a sharp scoop. He tells Jim he’s sorry and that they ran out of antibiotics. Jim takes a good look at his face, notes the eerie smile, and doesn’t believe him for a single second. He looks somehow familiar but before he can figure out who it might be, he passes out.

Small blessings. 

When he wakes up, Jim thinks he can hear Harvey’s voice and Cobblepot. “Now you’ve seen him,” the Penguin snarls, clearly exasperated. “It’s not due to my men’s doings he’s in this dire condition,” he adds. “I’ll keep my promise, I’ll keep him alive,” Cobblepot finishes solemnly and Jim shudders. It sounds like a threat. 

He makes it to the toilet the next time he regains consciousness and even manages to drink some water from the tap before collapsing again. 

When waking up again, he’s hooked to an IV, and his head is spinning.

Oswald is watching him from the door, a wide, toothy grin plastered all over his face. 

“Itsy bitsy, toothy teeth,” Jim thinks in his half-delirious state. He starts laughing. ‘Toothy teeth’, that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? They are sharp like daggers, though, and oh so pearly-white. Jim remembers when they used to be yellow, and full of stains. Oswald hadn’t had the money for a dentist back then. Now, they look like rows and rows of knives carved from ivory. 

Jim waits for him to unhinge his jaw and swallow him whole.  

He blinks, sits up, and shakes his head in an attempt to sober up enough to deal with the gangster. 

“What do you want from me?” he snaps, more harshly than is probably wise. But then given his current state, he’s as threatening as a kitten hissing at a snake. 

As expected, Oswald’s smile merely widens in response, mocking him. “What I want?” he drawls, studying the detective intently. 

Pushing himself from the wall, he limps closer. The bed dips under his weight, and just like that, he’s sitting next to Jim, so close he can feel the other man’s warmth. The detective tries to move away, to get some space between the two of them, but Oswald is having none of it. 

He catches Jim’s bruised hand in his gloved one, inspects the blue and black marks blossoming on his knuckles. Pressing down in a silent warning, he halts the former cop in his tracks. 

To an innocent bystander, they’d look serene, like two old friends united in worry for each other’s fate.  

Jim gasps softly when Oswald increases the pressure. The motion could be comforting.

“What I want,” he repeats pensively. “There are a lot of answers to this question, detective,” he ponders. “So I’m sorry,” he says, directing his gaze at the man next to him, “this might take some time.”

“Then go on,” Jim urges through gritted teeth and Oswald smirks.

“So much bravado,” the mobster acknowledges. “Even now.” Leaning in closely, he whispers, “I can see the fear in your eyes.” 

Jim wants to jerk away from his grasp but Oswald’s fingers clench around him like a vice.

“Do you think someone will save you?” he asks haughtily. “Do you think someone will bust through that door, knock me out, and carry you to safety?” He yanks the detective closer, until he’s all but breathing into his face. “I’ll tell you a secret, Jim. All these good people, those honest Gothamites you kept safe for months didn’t hesitate to sacrifice you. That freedom, that justice you offered them, meant nothing to them. Even Harvey couldn’t deny the temptation of exchanging you for a chance to have his old life, his old comfort back.”

Jim’s eyes widen in shock before he finally pulls his hand free. 

“Liar!” he growls. 

The Penguin tilts his head and sighs, pity written all over his features. “He couldn’t wait to take the bribes off my hands once they appointed him Captain, don’t you remember? I promised him to keep you alive, and that I did.” He nods, obviously pleased with himself. 

Getting up from the bed, Oswald starts pacing the room. “I have been this city’s mayor before,” he mutters. “I did good, kept the crime-rates low and the streets safe. I built hospitals and renewed the streets, staffed schools. The moment Ed shot me it was all forgotten,” he reminisces bitterly. 

“They couldn’t wait to toss me back into the gutter, to depict me as a monster. Do you think it would be different with you?” he scoffs, turning to Jim. “I had been their hero and their villain and so have you,” he challenges. 

“They will carry you on their shoulders and praise your name as long as you benefit them, James. And when I demanded you, they decided that indeed, you have always been the villain to keep them from getting reconnected with the mainland.” 

Shaking his head fondly, he walks back to the bed. “This city makes or breaks you,” he whispers, placing his hands on Jim’s shoulders.

“So, pray tell, why do you want me?” the cop urges. 

Oswald opens his mouth and closes it again, seemingly staring at a point in the distance. 

“I want revenge, Jim,” he admits softly. “I need retaliation for Arkham, for every time you betrayed me, rejected my friendship…” His voice breaks off and Jim feels a cold shiver running down his spine. 

Tilting his head, he inspects the former detective. “I never wanted your death,” he confesses. “Not even when I put the bounty on your head. I dreaded the possibility of someone dragging your cold, lifeless body into my house.”

Unshed tears glisten in the mobster’s eyes. Reaching out, he touches Jim’s face hesitantly, starts following the lines of his features with long, cold digits. The cop lets him, frozen in fear by the implications of the Penguin’s request.

“You were the rare exception in this city. The good, good man. Sure, you’d make your hands dirty, turn to me when there was no one else to turn to, but once you had gotten what you wanted, you’d betray me to my face.”

Swallowing heavily, Jim tries regaining his voice. He’s still feverish, weak, can feel the cold sweat dripping down his forehead. “And you allowed it,” he rasps out. “Every time. And you always knew right from the start that it would end that way.”

The Penguin smiles, sadly, longingly. “I had always so much hope,” he whispers. “So much hope you’d realize how much I used to love you.” 

When leaning forward, Jim thinks he’ll kiss him again. The cop’s mouth drops open. He knew, of course, he knew. What kind of detective would he be if he didn’t realize what had been obvious for so long? It would probably be a good moment to remind Oswald of that fact, of him being a detective - or of all the times he looked the other way when the Penguin committed another crime. 

His mouth runs dry though when the other man starts running his hands down his torso. “I had a stepmother, briefly,” he shares. “I had also stepsiblings,” he carries on. “They poisoned my father. So I cut them into little pieces and fed them to their mother.” 

The smile contorting his features when sharing this tidbit of information will haunt Jim Gordon forever. 

“That was after Arkham,” he declares. “They made me good there, Jim,” he adds, directing his gaze back at the detective. “They took apart my entire being, my personality, my very core, and pieced it back together according to their vision.”

Jim wants to protest how they obviously didn’t achieve anything there but keeps his mouth shut for once. This time, he’s smart enough not to taunt the mobster even more.

“Grace, my stepmother, in a way she helped me becoming myself again,” he muses. “When they released me, I felt sane - but never just quite.” His lower lip quivers and Jim wonders if he should offer some comfort. Finally making a decision, he places a slightly trembling hand above the one still laying on his torso. 

Gratefully, Oswald squeezes his fingers lightly. 

“There was always something off with me though, when they released me. Did you ever dring rotten milk from a box? It tastes normal at first, but then you smack your lips, and it’s there, this slightly sour, rotten taste. You need a moment to catch on, because your body wants to taste this regular milk so badly. At some point, you have to swallow, though. And there’s the clump, and you can’t continue pretending.” 

With a sigh, he lays down next to Jim. “My father was a good man, like my mother. They could have never harmed anyone. So, so good...just like you.” 

Burying his head in Jim’s neck, he inhales deeply. The cop stiffens, before awkwardly patting his back, unsure how to answer all that. 

“Grace, she accused me of being a rapist.” The criminal shudders in silent disgust. “I protested, of course. Yet she looked at me that way, as if I only hadn’t committed this particular crime yet.” 

Oswald’s voice is full of desperation when he speaks again. “Who would be as pathetic as to take love by force. But looking at you,” his voice breaks off when reaching again for Jim, hunger written all over his face. “I want you so much.” 

The cop swallows. Whatever he says now, whatever he does, is crucial. Somehow he knows that even a false movement could end him for good. 

Suddenly, Oswald jumps from the bed as if something had bitten him. Straightening out his suit, he narrows his eyes at Jim. “I could make you want me to,” he blurts out. “I learned everything I need at Arkham, I watched Victor doing his magic,” he shares. Working himself up into an excited frenzy, he starts pacing the room and Jim has had enough of it. 

“You want to what?” he snorts, appalled. “Brainwash me into loving you?” The words come out too harshly, and Jim realizes his mistake instantly, but nevertheless too late. 

Oswald halts in his tracks, eyes wild and as feverish as Jim feels. “Yes! Yes!” he exclaims. “Exactly that.”

Jim Gordon had been afraid of the Penguin before. When he had only been an overeager little umbrella-boy, a creep who used to lurk in the dark, stalking him and his then-fiancée, he had been repulsed, disgusted even with him, yet now, he learns what true terror means. 

With a shudder, he pulls the blanket around his shoulders, presses his entire body against the bed-frame. He feels like a child, hiding in his bed from the monsters, too terrified to get up and turn the lights on. Except, this monster is standing before him in broad light, entirely unwilling to go away.

But there’s not only fear. Even if he rarely admits it, Jim knows somewhere deep inside of him that he helped to shape this particular monster that came to haunt him today. This beast had been molded from grief and betrayal. The cop recognizes a broken heart when he sees one, and a part of him wants to reach out, give in, and grant him his wish. 

And there’s another part, one Jim keeps hidden even from himself. It would probably be wise to speak about it right now, but just like his gangster, he is a fool, full of hope. 

[canaryatlaw]

okay, today was good. same old morning, 8:45 in court, we were supposed to be up on a motion with my client present but then the judge didn’t have a copy of the motion because it’s now our responsibility to send the motions to the courtrooms, not just submit them to the court for them to give to the judge with all the other information which is you know, their job, but it’s definitely not the biggest gripe we have with the clerk’s office right now. so he just reset it for tomorrow morning like okay fair enough. so that was done, and I was working on some stuff as well as trying to manage a situation with a former client (we help people file for orders of protection, and some of them [the better cases] we accept and act as lawyers throughout the case, this was a client we helped file but hadn’t gone on to represent) for him trying to get to court and I swear like I don’t even think this guy was that old or anything but like, he got stuck on the screen on Zoom that says “join with video” because he like, just didn’t hit it and was just waiting there, and I ended up calling the court to figure out what the heck was going on, and I didn’t hear anything back after that so I’m assuming that means everything went fine, my main worry was that the court would think he wasn’t there and had already dismissed his case where he’d have to file a motion to reinstate...if that happened I was planning on clearing with my supervisor that the intern who’d been the person relaying a lot of info here help with writing the motion like we did at the beginning of the case and go from there, which I’m sure my boss would’ve been fine with, but luckily we didn’t need to get into all of that. I had a dentist appointment at noon so I was running out the door while trying to get it all figured out. the appointment was fine, I do really like my dentist even though we’re always having to do painful shit for my teeth because a major side effect of some of my meds is dry mouth which apparently just like, decays teeth like crazy, he has me on a fucking prescription toothpaste (that has to come in the “very berry” flavor because I can’t do mint, lol) and said I’m doing a good job hygiene wise with my two minute timer toothbrush, but still whenever I go there’s something, and like now it’s former fillings get unsealed and shit like that so it’s super annoying, but we at least finished up for now and I don’t have to come back till a cleaning in March. Left there and made it home, turned back to my work so I could at least get some stuff done, we had the all-staff meeting yesterday afternoon and tomorrow afternoon we have our department’s staff meeting, so I needed to get stuff done today. I did a pretty good job with all of it and got through what I wanted so I was happy about that. We had planned for friend to come over and get Thai food delivered (they’re like the only restaurant we’ll actually use grubhub for because they’re not on ubereats, but we’re kind of attached to the staff there haha at least the kid who’s normally doing the waiting (I say kid, he’s probably late teens) and it’s very much a family business and when covid stuff started becoming news but we weren’t in lockdown yet for a few weeks we saw that they were really not getting as many clients as they had before, because racism? so we always want to patronize them where I can order my shrimp fried rice with no vegetables and they of course know our order now haha because only I would ask for that and we always get the same thing. while we’re eating and such we did friend’s favorite activity of pulling kpop music videos from various groups up on the tv and try to make me name them and I totally rubbish at it and it never goes well haha but it is at least very entertaining so that’s good. After a bit friend headed home, I put on Chicago Fire and worked on a few other things, I made my instacart grocery cart to put the order in for tomorrow (in advance of tomorrow night’s small group session which I’d need the groceries for), and I’m hoping I’ll be able to get at least some laundry done, $20 in quarters equals 5 loads, and I don’t think I have /that/ much clothing but having to drag a very heavy hamper down the hall stairs and then down the basement stairs sounds like a super bad idea being how bad I’ve been with stairs lately, so I was thinking of transporting like one load’s worth at a time, my only concern then would be I wouldn’t load them enough because I wouldn’t have enough space to bring a full loads worth and thus not get it all done, but I think I’ll be able to figure it out, as long as stairs are somewhat okay tomorrow. so that will be good to get done. and yeah, after a bit I decided to shower and start getting ready for bed, and now I’m here and it’s almost 2 am and I have today’s supposed court date up in court in the morning, so I should be getting to bed and I’ll do that now. Goodnight friends. Hope your week is going well so far (and if not, I hope the rest of it goes better).

[kinsbin]

My Life With You

Title: My Life With You Word Count: 4500 Pairing: Star/Kray [si/canon]

Summary: Kray and Star have been dating for a very long time. Kray decides its finally time to take the next step in their relationship, and plans the perfect day to do it.

A/N: Commission for @starscloset! i super duper loved writing this for her and I hope ya’ll enjoy this cute couple *w*

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Star bit her lip as she watched the clock that hung on the edge of her desk, eyes staring into the numbers that ticked by all too slow to be considered a second or a minute in her mind. Her foot tapped on the tile floor beneath her as she tried to focus on her work in front of her but failed when her hand found itself pulling away to trace doodles on the corner of a nearby notepad. Some of them were little stars. There were hearts surrounded by fireworks and butterflies making their ways across the page in a mass migration of curiosity. A sketch of her face aside one of Kray’s littered the top most edges here and there, some scribbled out when she had decided that they were not up to par with what he truly looked like.

Normally she would be hard at work. Normally there would be more appointments that she had to handle and organize. Spreadsheets of company and personal information would be spread about before her like pieces of a battleship game, needing to be adjusted and called out so that each one could be done and sunk in within a few precious moments. Calls would have to be made and orders given to those lower down under the request of business so that the company and all of Kray Foresight’s shareholdings in that company could go smoothly and without fault. It was her job to be the oil in the machine that filled them.

Today, however, was really hard to work.

The first thing Kray had done that morning was announce that the both of them would be getting off early. The order to cancel all of their plans and appointments after 2pm was a startling one to Star, but she obeyed with little resistance as the question left her lips. Brows knit together, she tilted her head at the man before her.

“Can I ask why you need to remove all of these appointments. Some of them are really important, Kray! You have a meeting with the global marketing executives of three neighboring cities at 4:30 and-”

His hand touched her lips, silencing her as she watched him with wide eyes. That same hand moved from her lips to her cheek, cupping it gently as he gazed down at her with that strong, soft looking smile that he always seemed to wear around her. It was a secret look given only to her and every time he gazed it made her heart beat ten times as fast as it normally did. Her cheeks were red as he leaned forward, kissing her forehead carefully before murmuring into her ears:

“Trust me, it’s important.”

She bit her lip one last time before it gave away to an excited smile, nodding her head as he removed his hand from her. With one last final sigh of indignation, Star hit the red ‘cancel’ button on the appointments and prepared for the onslaught of calls that would echo in her phone as to why the client’s meeting with Kray Foresight was so suddenly removed from their busy schedule.

It lead to her contemplation at the desk, picking at the smooth surface as she waited for the clock to strike the appropriate time for her to get off. Star’s mind had not stopped racing with the possibilities of the events that might occur. What was Kray going to do with her after the 2:00 mark? Was it something she should be worried about? No, of course not. They had long since passed the threshold of being worried with one another. Kray had proven time and time again that he was nothing but loyal and caring to her needs, each surprise always startling and exciting her more than the last one he had planned.

She recalled fondly the time that he had taken her to a zoo on her day off, the images of animals and exhibits displaying such rare commodities that barely existed in the world after the Great Blaze was something that set her heart beating at a rapid pace. How strange the world used to be. It was a far away, distant memory of something that was no longer obtainable to humans or burnish. The state of the earth was hot now. Estranged and different in its creation as magma heated up and, with it, burnish revolution.

Star bit back a laugh at the thought. Global warming used to be something people could joke about but now? It was all too real.

The increasingly melancholy emotion that began to settle into her stomach at the thought dissipated as soon as the gentle ring of her intercom echoed through the otherwise empty halls. Picking it up, she hit its speaker button with wide, curious eyes. Leaning in closer, Star spoke with a practiced professionalism to her tone that lent itself to her more out of habit than actual want for its presence.

“Yes, Mr. Foresight!”

“It’s 2:00, Star. Meet me in the lobby, alright?”

“Oh, right! I’ll be down soon, Kray.”

She smiled to herself at the quick change of his name, the shift of his professional title to his casual name always gave her a sense of whiplash. The ease with which it shifted was like something out of a romance movie. The dashing and debonair CEO of a corporation falling for his simple and soft secretary, only for their relationship to blossom into something more than either could have ever expected. The idea made her laugh, the blush evident on her rosy cheek as she gathered up her stuff from her desk,bid farewell to the security guards that monitored just outside of the reception area, and made her way towards the lobby of the Foresight tower.

The lobby was less than bustling. Every worker was still in their quarters, busily going about their duties until the five o’clock bell rang to signal the day was over. There was something surreal about being out so early, Star noted. It was like when you were pulled out of school early as a child, the pride of walking down empty halls unnoticed by everyone but you and the classmates you had left in your wake. It would almost be worth the doctor’s appointment or dentist trip that you would have to go through to manage.

Instead, though, this was a date. At least she assumed it was a date. There was usually few reasons he would cancel so many appointments outside of spending time with her, the knowledge both flattering and worrying Star all at once. Could he afford this? If one of the meetings got too offended with his cancellation they might do something to harm his reputation! The last thing she wanted was to be responsible for something bad happening to either him or his company. Her teeth worried at her bottom lip as the thoughts put her body on autopilot, shifting her movements so that she exited the lobby with ease and stood outside the impressive building with her fingertips pushing against one another in front of her.

A hand on her back startled her into a stick straight position. Kray’s chuckle echoed comfortingly at her side.

“You were thinking.” He noted as she finally looked up at him.

Kray was as handsome as he ever was, the sunlight shining off his golden hair to make it look like he was wearing a halo. The light reflected so beautifully, like an angel who had come from the heavens to greet her, the smile on his lips all the affirmation she needed that she was loved.

Loved… The feeling was a warm and intense heat all throughout her body. It was a hot sensation that only grew the closer she was to Kray. As if there was a string of fate connecting them. A line of important warming up between them as they got to know one another. Star smiled and leaned up despite herself, her lips puckering for a kiss she couldn’t reach due to their height different. Kray watched her for a second, amused at the attempt, before leaning down to allow the kiss to be placed on his cheek. In turn, he moved his mouth so that it covered hers, holding the true kiss for a long and complete moment between them.

“I don’t remember what I was thinking about now.” Star admitted, dazed through the power of the lip-to-lip contact her man had offered her. Kray chuckled and held onto her as he lead her forward.

“That’s fine, we’ll have a lot to think about on our day out. Shall we get started?”

Star skipped forward with an eagerness in her step, head tilting curiously as he made his way with her to the limousine that they traveled often in.

“Just where are you taking me?” Her tone was teasing as she smiled up at him, eyebrows raised in genuine curiosity that made her face look so inquisitive and soft that Kray’s heart nearly burst from his chest. He stared down for one long, quiet moment before clearing his throat and giving her a reassuring smile one last time.

“You’ll see when we get there, it’s a surprise.”

Star fidgeted the entire car trip, her legs crossed and her hands in her lap as she watched her fingers shift from one point to another. Though she was nervous, there was a strong tinge of excitement underneath the layer of anxiety. Underneath that estranged worry she had her soul was layered with a sense of eagerness. Delight to know that, wherever she was going, she would be bringing Kray with her. No, more like he was bringing her with him. They were going together, wherever they were going, of their own volitions. It was that thoughtful memory that made Star excited. That one piece of trivia that made her heart thrum with a renewed excitement for Kray Foresight. It was like she was falling in love with him over and over again.

She couldn’t get enough of it.

Kray’s hand rested on her leg, calming the jostling it had started to take up doing, making Star bit her lip in surprise and look up at the man at her side. HIs smile was kind to her as he held her, thumb brushing over her knee gently. A blush heated up her face as she smiled, her smaller hand reaching out to rest atop his larger one. The two shifted so that their fingers were soon entwined with one another, his grip firm and strong and hers light and gentle. She loved how strong his hands were. How easily they knew how to hold her in just the right way to make her feel safe and secure. To not worry about anything in his presence.

As the car slowed to a halt, the tinted windows blocked her view to the outside world. A soft pout formed on Star’s lips as she tried (and failed) to look out one of them in hopes of being able to see just where they were. When she turned to face Kray to ask what was going on, he only offered her a small bag in return.

“Here,” He smiled, “You may want to change into this.”

Her curious look morphed into surprise as she grabbed at the bag to peer into it, noting the beautiful purple and gold one piece swimsuit within it, completely with a matching skirt cover up and hat. Pulling out the items, it took her mind a moment to connect the dots of their location and the gifts but, when the realization crossed her mind, she gasped.

“Kray are we-.”

“See for yourself.”

He gestured to the door, leaning around her to open it.

Star peered out in shock. The beachside was abandoned besides them, the sand radiated a sweet and comforting warmth from its edges as the water lapped away at it from the safe distance. The ocean glimmered beautifully across the entire horizon, like a blue gem in the nothingness as the sky glittered blues and purples above them. The only other open item on the beach was a single, smooth beachside shack. She imagined it housed changing rooms and showers. LIkely even a small bar to eat from, and her heartbeat elevated in excitement.

“I thought there were no more beaches left anymore?!” She gasped as she hopped out of the limousine. Kray took his time rounding his own corner, running a hand through his hair with a smile down at his awed girlfriend.

“It’s a project we’ve been working on,” Kray admitted with a cheeky hum to his voice, “Terraforming devices were used to build up the landscape and fit this together. Though, I admit its more of a lake than a true ocean. A majority of the water across the bay are reflective holographic panels and the sand ends shortly in a mile in either direction, but to most who would want the feel of a beach day, I’d say it’s sufficient don’t you?”

“It’s more than that!” Star giggled as she ran forward, having taken her heels off she now let her feet be engulfed by the warm sand with an excited smile, “It feels like it’s a real thing! This is amazing, Kray!”

Kray couldn’t hide the smile that broke across his mouth, edge upturned edge lacing with pride as he watched his beloved girlfriend all but scramble out of the parking lot and towards the beach, her new swimsuit in hand as she made it towards the shack to change into it. He followed her lightly in return, the driver of the car dropping his own bag of swimwear into his hands as he went to do so.

It was only a few minutes before both were in their swimsuits. Star rushed towards the water, stopping just along its edge as she watched the waves lap at the edges of the sand. As the tide inched towards her, she squealed when the cold water engulfed her feet, smiling at the feeling of its bite against her ankles as it surrounded the lower half. She stepped around against the softening sand beneath her and felt some of the material give way underneath her movements. A startled trip against an uneven part of the ground made her fall backwards, a shocked yelp leaving her mouth as she all but careened downwards for a brief and terrifying moment.

Strong hands caught her body, a covered chest providing cushioning against the otherwise nasty (and wet) fall she might have taken had Kray not been there. Looking upwards with surprise, Star noted the way Kray’s smile had turned almost smug as he tilted his head towards her.

“I know you fell for me, but you should be more careful.”

“It wasn’t like that, dummy!” She laughed as her blush roared across her cheeks, her hand gently smacking his pectoral in return and causing him to laugh lightly as well.

As she regained her balance, Star kicked up some of the salty water as it returned against their legs with renewed vigor, splashing it against Kray’s legs as he stepped back in surprise. A daring look sparkled against his cheeks and Star new that she had started something she was not sure if she could finish. Still, the grin of excitement upon her lips was genuine as she skittered away across the shoreline, laughing as she was chased by the man behind her, who followed with an almost relaxed ease. His height would have made it easy for him to overtake her, but then the chase would have no true meaning. It was only when they managed to run a decent distance that he picked up his pace, his arms finding Star’s wiast and lifting her up.

Star’s scream echoed into giggles as she was spun around in his grip, her fingertips clinging to his shoulders for dear life as she was brought downwards into a sweet, deep, and salty sort of kiss. The spray of the ocean hit her cheeks as she smiled against his mouth, her hands finding his cheeks and holding him where he was.

It was a long and languid kiss, her body pressing against his torso as he held her up. Her legs popped backwards, the semblance of a foot pop as best she could do above her own center of gravity, and the curve of a smile against her lips was soft as she pulled away from him with a gaze that resonated nothing but the softest of loves.

She always looked at him like that. Like he was the only thing in her world. An intense and caring sort of stare that focused solely on him. Solely on admiring the contents of his soul and his heart and his mind and his body. All of it was an almost overwhelming look, the gaze making Kray’s cheeks heat up as she continued to gaze lovingly at him.

Kray had often forgotten what it was like to be so adored by a singular person. Certainly the masses found him beautiful and creative. The world looked up to him as a pioneer of technology. There was a strange disconnect in the love of an entire group, however. A group mentality of  care and cooperation needed for survival. Of course they would look up to him, a man who pushed through all of the survival and created something for himself. It was easier to follow than it was to lead. To look up at him as they did without focusing on what was truly beneath him.

Star, though? She looked at him as Kray. As someone she trusted and adored and… He couldn’t quite figure out why, of all things, this was so different.

Maybe it was because he loved her too.

He kissed her again, sweet and languid as his mind raced with the thoughts of care he didn’t think he could have so much of for one person.

“How about we have dinner in my penthouse? The sunset will be beautiful from the top of the tower.”

Star giggled and pecked at his nose with a nod.

“I’d love nothing more.”

Their trip from the private beach back to the Foresight tower felt shorter than the drive from it. The movements of the car lulled Star into a sense of relaxation. As her dry work clothes rubbed against her chilled, water-kissed skin and created a sweet sense of friction, warming her up as she let her head rest on Kray’s arm. Shutting her eyes, she wasn’t quite sure when she had fallen asleep during the drive before he was gently nudging her to get her awake. Her eyes fluttered open, a yawn stretching her lips as she rubbed the nap away from her bleary vision. Looking up at Kray, he gazed down with a sense of care and admiration that made her feel, suddenly, all too exposed under his eyes.

His gaze always did that. Gave her the sense that she was the most important thing in the world. Gave her the feeling that she was… care for. That she was the only thing under that gaze and nothing in the world, burnish or otherwise, could possibly change that. It was a feeling that made her heart clench up in all the right ways as she gazed up at him, smiling just as he was at her. He was a sun and she could stare at, blinded by the care that seemed to radiate from his entire body all at once and the warmth that it created was something even more sweet than that of a fire or blanket or anything in between.

They exited the vehicle and moved on to the tower, the elevator taking them all the way upwards towards the top of the tower. The sky was beginning to fall with shades of pinks and purples as the setting of the sun beyond the horizon of Promepolis dragged its shadow further against buildings and cars alike. By the time they reached the top of the tower the entirety of it was bathed in that beautiful sunset, the air smelling of something as sweet as the colors were. They swirled in shades of cotton candy and wildflowers. Clouds dotted the sky above the entire sky like pointillism, painting a sense of comfort and beauty in a way that took Star’s breath away the longer she watched it above her.

The wide open area of the rooftop was windy, but not obnoxiously so. The table in the center of the entire area was draped with a white cloth, intricately laced with gold fleur de lis and edges of flowers. The food that rested atop the cloth, however, was the center of attention. Deliciously laid out steaks amongst vegetables roasted in garlic with tall glasses of white wine aligning themselves neatly against the side of pure silver tableware and folded ivory napkins with lacing that matched the edges of the cloth beneath the beautiful white plates. Star wasn’t sure if she was supposed to drool over the food or admire the view of the city beneath them.

Kray’s hand suddenly landed on her shoulder as she inched closer to the edge of the building, staring downwards at the world below them as the people and the cars moved through the grid of the city like small working ants. It was so strange, being so high up like this. So detached from the world around them. As though they were above it all. As though something about the entirety of the world was smaller than them… It was a strange feeling for her. Kray’s hand tightened, as though in fear that she might slip off and fall. If she did… Would she fly?

Probably not.

“Everything is so different from up here,” Star whispered softly to the man at her side, “Like we’re in a world above the one we’re watching…”

“We are,” Kray murmured in return, “In a way. We’re in a world that is for us right now. A world filled with opportunities and changes. Places that we can study and learn the secrets of the world. From up here… It’s as if we have the power of the entirety of the city from here, don’t you think?”

Star laughed, the sound soft in the back of her throat as she thought of just what he was saying. Just what it all meant, being as high up above people like this. It was… strange. Foreign. She wasn’t sure if the word ‘wrong’ was the correct one but something it was almost unusual.

She turned to face Kray all the way, her eyes wide and sparkling with curiosity. Her gaze held his with curiosity as it became… serious. She bit her lip and tilted her head up to him with a wondering expression.

“Is… There a reason that you brought me up here, Kray?”

Another echo of silence. The wind howled around them, sending goosebumps up her side as she watched his face morph from a smile to something serious and then to something… different. Something she hadn’t seen on him before as he cleared his throat and looked away fro a moment, collecting himself. What did he need to collect himself for? Star’s mind raced dramatically through the movements he made as he changed his positions. As he reached downwards for something. Something… What was it?

“Star… For all the time we’ve been dating you’ve made me happy,” Kray admitted with a soft breathiness to his voice, “I never thought it was possible for someone to make me feel the way you have in all of this time we’ve been together. More than a secretary… or friend… or lover. You deserve more. More than the world below us has to offer. So… I will offer it to you. As best as I can, I want you to have everything you deserve and more.”

He got on one knee, his impressive height causing him to simply meet her eye to eye as he stared forward at her. Star tensed up, her breath hitching in her lungs as a hand reached up to cover her lips as they flew open in shock.

“Star…” Kray’s voice was gentle as he smiled at her, his lips gentle as he took her free hand in his own, pulling his other outwards from his pocket to reveal a small, velvet box.

The box opened. Within it a diamond ring sparkled in the low light of the setting sun, the band of gold glinting just right with the reflection of the gems. The middle gem was heart shaped, curling with surrounding gems that layered outwards in smaller rows. They shone like rainbows against the cotton candy skyline, shifting their hues with the movement of the box in Kray’s hand. He looked down for a long moment at the gem and then back up at Star, his patience easygoing as he watched her face morph between awe and shock as tears formed up in the corners of her eyes.

“Will you marry me?”

The question sent the dam bursting, her tears falling down her cheeks as she laughed through her sobs, taking a step back as though the shine of the ring might burn her skin if she got too close. Star felt the ruffle of wind on her hair again, the goosebumps rising from delight rather than cold now, and she couldn’t see through the tears that now fell. Kray felt a blush warm his cheeks at her reaction, the excitement so clear on her perfect lips that it made him stiffen with pride.

“I… Kray I’m…” Star tried to formulate the words. Any words to express her excitement. To display her gratitude. To admit to him just how much she loved him back and how much she wanted this in her life. How much she wanted HIM in her life. To be with him in such an official way for the rest of their lives… The very thought made her head spin with excitement and her chest heave with eager hope.

Instead she simply said the one word that would seal it all at once.

“Y-Yes! Yes. Yes… I accept!”

The words fell from her mouth like a waterfall as she launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around Kray’s shoulders and pushing herself into the most intense hug she could muster through the tears.

Kray gasped and laughed, wrapping her up in a tight hug and heaving her into his arms, their lips colliding into a powerful kiss.

They held their kiss for a long, deep moment. Their bodies held tight together as they shared the moment that was, surely, the echo of their true feelings.

When they pulled away and Star was put back down on the ground, she smiled up at him, the tears stopping but the aftermath of their warm glow on her face still there as she bit her lip. Kray sighed with delight and took the ring from its box, holding up her hand and carefully sliding the piece onto her ring finger. It fit easily, her measurements memorized in both his mind and database enough for it to be perfect on the first try.

“Kray… Are you sure?” Star gasped with a smile.

He kissed her again, his smile evident.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life… I’ve never been more sure of you.”

The air was mellowing out around them, the sun finishing her descent across the sky so the city glowed with its set lighting and beautiful rainbow stars of windows and cars moving below. The world was endless around them, constantly shaping and changing as Star had thought it always would.

But the difference now was that she had Kray Foresight. All of him, for the rest of their lives.

And it was perfect.

[whumphoarder]

Viral Wisdom

Summary: When Peter’s dentist decides the kid’s impacted wisdom teeth need to go, Tony offers to have the surgery done at the compound. Honestly, Peter is looking forward to it. After all, he’s seen the viral videos—he’s pretty sure he knows what to expect.

What could possibly go wrong?

Word count: 2700

Genre: Hurt/comfort, whump, minor surgery, fluff

A/N: Thanks to @sallyidss and @xxx-cat-xxx for beta reading!

Link to read on Ao3

“You’ve gotta video it, Mr. Stark,” Peter says between bites of the pizza he’s currently wolfing down as part of what he and Tony have jokingly dubbed ‘The Last Supper’. The kid will be getting all four of his wisdom teeth removed at eight o’clock sharp the next morning, and being a teenage boy with an absurdly fast enhanced metabolism means Peter has decided the twelve-hour mandatory fasting period before surgery will be the worst part of the whole procedure.

Tony raises his eyebrows in mock offense. “Oh I’ve gotta, do I?”

Peter grins. “Yup,” he says, popping the ‘p’. “It’s gonna be awesome. Ned’s cousin got hers out last December, and when she woke up she was so high from the anesthesia that she started accusing the dentist of stealing her teeth and selling them to the tooth fairy on the black market.” He sticks the last bite of his pizza slice in his mouth. “Her mom filmed it and the video went like, viral.”

“You know,” Tony remarks. “Hate to burst your bubble, kid, but I got my wisdom teeth out during my senior year at MIT and I don’t remember anything like this happening. Just a lot of eating applesauce and mashed potatoes while resembling Alvin the Chipmunk.”

“No, no it’s a thing,” Peter insists. “These videos are like, everywhere. I saw this one where this lady woke up and forgot she was married but suddenly noticed her wedding ring and started freaking out, thinking her husband had just proposed. But they had been married already for like, three years.”

Shaking his head, Tony huffs. “You are literally a superhero with a secret identity and you think it’s a good idea to get wildly high on medication and then have me film whatever crap comes out of your mouth so you can post it on, what, Facebook?”

“Ha, Facebook,” Peter snorts as he reaches for another slice. “Good one, Mr. Stark. No one uses Facebook anymore.”

X

The next morning, Peter’s not looking quite as excited as he was the previous night. He sits beside Tony in a plastic chair just inside the compound’s Medbay, anxiously texting back and forth with Ned as they wait for the SHIELD appointed oral surgeon and his assistant to finish prepping the procedure room.

When Peter’s dentist decided several weeks back that the impacted teeth had to go, Tony and May agreed it would have to be done at the compound. Peter’s enhanced physiology means that the dosage of anesthesia required to put him out could also take down a moderately-sized elephant. HIPAA protection or not, Tony would rather not have any raised eyebrows from standard medical professionals.

“You hanging in there?” Tony asks casually. The kid’s foot hasn’t stopped tapping once since they sat down and he’s wondering if Peter’s beginning to regret telling May he’d be fine doing this solo while she’s at work. “Ready to make, what is it then, Vine history?”

That remark elicits a short laugh from Peter. “Vine’s dead, Mr. Stark,” he informs. “It was the true tragedy of this generation.”

Tony sighs, exasperated. “Is it YouTube then? Reddit?”

Peter just shrugs. “Something like that.” His gaze lowers back to his lap and he fires off another text to Ned.

FRIDAY’s voice comes over the speakers, so sudden that it startles the kid and nearly causes him to drop the phone: “Dr. Jacobson is ready for you now, Peter.”

“Oh. Already? Wow, okay,” Peter babbles. “Not even 8:00 yet, no need to rush...” he complains as he pockets the phone.

Tony checks his watch. “It’s 7:58, kid,” he scoffs, getting to his feet. “Perks of being the only patient in the building.”

After a second’s hesitation, Peter stands as well and Tony frowns at the shakiness he observes. “You good?” he checks, lightly gripping the kid’s elbow just in case he decides to channel his inner Victorian lady. “I know your blood sugar’s gotta be low, but I promise, as soon as this is over, it’s all the ice cream and pudding you want.”

“Oh, yeah, that’ll be good,” Peter says half-heartedly.

Tony gives his back a little prod to encourage him toward the door. “C’mon kid. Let’s get a move on. Upward and onward and all that jazz...”

Swallowing hard, Peter begins shuffling forward with Tony guiding him along. “So, I’ve never, um, actually had anesthesia before,” he admits. “And, like, what if something… goes wrong?"

Tony softens, for the first time seeing the actual fear lurking beneath Peter’s façade. “Don’t worry—these guys know what they’re doing,” he assures, giving the kid’s shoulder a squeeze. “You’re gonna be fine.”

Lips pursed, Peter nods a few times. “Yeah. Yeah of course. Okay. I guess I’ll just, go on back there and, uh...“

“Do you want me to stay until they put you under?” Tony offers.

A look of relief instantly washes over Peter and he nods vigorously before stopping to quickly add in a tone of forced nonchalance, “But like, only if you don’t mind.”

Tony chuckles. “I think I can swing it.”

X

The IV placement is a little rough. Peter’s never been a fan of needles, but Tony distracts him by telling him to close his eyes and recite the second row of the periodic table. Once the saline is flowing, the assistant places an oxygen cannula under his nose.

Peter glances up at the dentist. “So, have you ever had someone say something, like, really inappropriate when they wake up?” he asks.

Jacobson chuckles drily. “Oh yes. I actually have a very amusing anecdote about that.”

Both Tony and Peter look at him expectantly, but the doctor just continues preparing his instruments.

“So, uh, what happened?” Peter asks finally.

Jacobson’s eyes narrow. “That is confidential information.”

Peter blinks at him. “Oh. Uh, of course.”

While the surgeon moves over to grab something from the counter, the assistant—a woman probably in her early thirties whose name badge reads ‘Megan’—gives a small laugh. “Don’t worry,” she says. “It can’t make you say anything you weren’t already thinking on some level.”

Peter gulps. “Great.” Turning to Tony, he says, “Uh, you know, on second thought, maybe we don’t need this on video…”

Tony huffs out a laugh. “Oh no, no take backs. In about an hour, you’ll be trending on Twitter. Or wherever the hell this is going.”

Before Peter can say anything, Megan gives a warning of, “Alright, here we go.” Then she injects the anesthesia into the IV port.

The effect is nearly instantaneous. “Whoa…” Peter mutters, shooting his mentor a nervous look. “Feels… weird.”

“You’re fine, Pete,” Tony promises. “I’ll be waiting right outside until you wake up.”

“Yeah…” he breathes out, eyelids drooping. “And ’s’goin’ on Instagram, Mr. Stark…”

A few moments later, the kid is out.

X

“Boss, the surgery is complete,” FRIDAY’s voice comes over the speakers in the waiting area. “The extractions went well. Peter has just regained consciousness and has been transferred to the recovery area.”

“Thanks, FRI.” Getting to his feet from the plastic chair, Tony closes out of the Minesweeper app on his phone and opens the camera one instead. “Guess it’s showtime…”

Already filming, Tony pushes open the door and makes his way back to the small room off to the side of the procedure area. Peter is sitting propped up on a cot as Megan drapes a blanket over him. Tightly rolled wads of cotton are sticking out of his mouth and his eyes are droopy and unfocused.

The assistant gives Tony a small smile. “He did great,” she assures in a quiet voice. “We’ll be right in the other room cleaning up if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Tony tells her before turning his attention back to Peter and pulling up one of the stools to sit on. “Hey kid,” he greets. “How’s life with four gaping holes in your face?”

“Uhhh… M’s’r St’rk?” Peter manages to mumble, blinking a few times.

“The one and only,” Tony replies, his camera still trained on the kid. “Any dental conspiracy theories you wanna share with the audience? Declarations of affection you care to make?”

Peter’s face screws up into a weak sort of frown. “Wha…?”

Tony shakes his head slowly, chuckling to himself. “See, what’d I tell you, kid? Anesthesia just isn’t that exciting.”

“Uhhgg…” Peter groans, blinking again. The kid’s expression of utter confusion coupled with his already swelling cheeks is honestly adorable. “I-I don’t… I feel weird, I…”

Smirking, Tony focuses the camera a little closer on Peter’s face, ready to film whatever drug-induced ramblings pour forth from the kid’s lips.

But then all of a sudden, he’s watching tears well up in Peter’s eyes.

Tony’s grin falters. “Pete?”

“Oh god…” Peter draws in a shuddering breath, which comes back out in a choked sob. “I-I didn’... I can’t… I don’ like this...”

All traces of humor immediately dissolve from Tony. “Whoa, hey, you’re alright,” he says. As Peter continues to cry, Tony turns off the camera and shoves the phone back into his jacket pocket. Scooting closer to the bed, he takes the kid’s hand. “You’re fine, you’re okay.”

“I-I don’ feel... I, uh...” Peter chokes out between sobs. A bloody wad of cotton falls out of his mouth, which only causes him to cry harder. “Wh-Why ’m I bleedin’?” he cries.

“You just had a few teeth out, no biggie,” Tony assures. He grabs a fresh cotton roll from the table and sticks it in the kid’s mouth. “You’re fine, bud, I promise.”

Still crying, Peter manages to spit out, “Am I... is this… real?”

Tony’s heart clenches, going back to Titan, back to Peter being trapped for five years in some kind of altered state of consciousness. He’s kicking himself for not having realized sooner that something like this might freak him out.

“Ah, kid…” Tony sighs. “Yes, this is real. You’re real. You’re right here with me,” he promises, rubbing his hand up and down over the kid’s arm.

Suddenly Peter’s breath hitches in his throat. “‘m gonna throw up,” he chokes out.

The warning is immediately followed by an unproductive gag. Tony mutters a curse, jumping up and grabbing a plastic emesis basin from the counter. He barely manages to get it under Peter’s chin before the kid makes good on his threat.

“Hey, hey, easy, easy...” Tony says, switching to hold the bin with one hand and place the other on Peter’s back. He winces in sympathy at the bloody cotton and red-tinged strings of bile Peter is spitting out between sobs; he can only imagine how much that has to hurt. “FRIDAY, can you get the doc back in here?” he asks in a low voice.

Pulling in a shuddering breath, Peter glances up from the basin, eyes wide and fearful. “I th-threw up b-blood,” he whimpers, horrified. “...’m I dyin’?”

Aw fuck. “No, no of course not. It’s just from your mouth,” Tony explains, much more calmly than he feels.

The door reopens and Megan is the first to enter. She gives Peter a sympathetic smile as she steps into the room. The surgeon appears a few steps behind, looking totally unfazed by the teary, vomiting teen in the chair before him.

“Ah,” he says with a nod. His tone is factual, though not unkind. “We have a crier.”

“This just happens sometimes, nothing to worry about,” Megan quickly assures. She takes the bin from Tony and hands him an empty one before carefully wiping the tears and vomit off Peter’s face with a paper towel. “Anesthesia can have all kinds of different effects on people.”

Jacobson hums in agreement as he checks Peter’s mouth to ensure his stitches are still holding before giving him fresh gauze to stem the bleeding. The tears have stopped now and embarrassment seems to be rapidly replacing fear as the kid’s primary emotion. Unsure of what else to do, Tony just continues rubbing Peter’s back.

“Everything looks fine,” Jacobson concludes after a moment of looking him over. “You can take him back upstairs now. He’ll probably feel calmer once he’s in a familiar setting.”

Tony doesn’t need to be told twice. “Sounds good,” he says, grabbing the paper Megan hands him with the discharge instructions as he helps Peter to his feet. “Alright bud,” he says quietly. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

X

After getting Peter situated on the couch in the common area, Tony heads to the kitchen and returns with a tray of soft food selections to offer the kid.

“What are you feeling?” he asks, pointing to each food in turn. “Yogurt? Ice cream? Applesauce? Pudding?”

Peter blinks twice at him. “...Butterscotch puddin’?” he asks hopefully.

Tony scoffs. “No, because I’m not eighty. I’ve got chocolate or vanilla.”

“Oh.” Peter’s face falls. “Don’ want anythin’ then…”

“Nope, not an option,” Tony declares. “You have to take your super spidey-kid painkillers soon and I don’t want them to make you sick.”

“But I ‘ready got sick…” Peter moans.

“And it wasn’t fun, was it?” Tony reasons. “Which is why we’re trying to avoid that.”

“But ‘m not hungry…” Peter whines, turning his head away from his mentor to face the cushion, causing the ice pack to side down from his cheek. “Jus’ wanna sleep…”

Tony peels the lid off one of the vanilla pudding cups and scoops up a spoonful. “C’mon, Pete.” He says, holding it in front of the kid’s closed mouth. “You’re not gonna make me do the airplane thing, are you? Because I will definitely be filming that.”

“Uhhh… no...” Peter groans, finally taking the spoon from him. “No more internet…”

X

It’s been several hours now since Tony managed to bully the kid into choking down enough pudding to take his meds before letting him fall asleep. Aside from the obvious swelling, Peter’s looking far better for having had the nap.

“How are you feeling now?” Tony asks, handing Peter a fresh ice pack.

Peter accepts it from him and presses it to his comically large cheek. “Mortified,” he mumbles. “This is so not going on Instagram…”

Tony huffs out a laugh. “I don’t know, maybe it should. Like a PSA of sorts for all the kids out there looking to be the next viral sensation.”

“Wonderful,” Peter mutters, rolling his eyes.

Tony pats him on the shoulder. “You know, while you were out, I was looking up some of those videos you mentioned. I see the attraction. Did you watch the one where the black med student called pickled eggs a ‘hood snack’?”

Peter nods.

“Or the red-haired teenager who woke up thinking he was a gangster in Dubai?” Tony goes on.

“Classic,” Peter mutters.

“Or the girl who wanted to go swimming in the painting on the office wall so she could see the fishes?”

Peter waves a hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah…”

“I’m telling you kid, I think there’s a market here…”

X

It’s two days later that Tony finally breaks down and shows the kid the video Rhodey took of him back in ‘87, burned directly off the VHS into FRIDAY’s archives:

A teenage Tony Stark sits on the floor of his dorm room, slumped against a twin-sized mattress. His cheeks are swollen to twice their usual size and drool is running down his chin onto the graph paper notebook he’s scribbling feverishly into.

“Tony, you gotta eat something so you can take your meds, dude,” Rhodey’s voice comes over the recording from off-screen.

“Go ‘way…” Tony groans, waving him off irritably. “‘m busy solvin’ th’… prob’em…”

Rhodey breathes out a heavy sigh. “Okay, for the last time, you can’t ‘solve’ the second law of thermodynamics.” He pauses for a beat. “Especially with a purple crayon.”

Tony looks up at him, eyes unfocused, and gives an almost evil grin. “Maybe you can’t but… I’m… ‘m’ really smart…” He blinks twice, then giggles. “m’ Tony Fuckin’ Stark…”

“Yeah, yeah, and Tony Fucking Stark needs to take his meds...” Rhodey mutters. “So what’s it gonna be, dude? Yogurt or applesauce?”

Tony’s face screws up in apparent thought before he mumbles, “A cheese’urger,” he decides. “Then I solve… gravity.”

Fic Masterlist

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Sweet Potatoes & Stitches

[itsthecolleenlife]

So I was just watching clips of Last Week Tonight

Specifically the Medicare for All segment from last month. And at around the eighteen-minute mark, he says that he hasn’t met a single person in the United States who doesn’t have a health insurance horror story. So I’mma share a couple of mine.

When I was thirteen my dentist told me that I had a congenitally absent tooth (basically, I didn’t have an adult tooth to replace the baby tooth). He explained that I would need to get a bridge or an implant when I ended up losing the tooth, otherwise I ran the risk of my teeth shifting to fill the gap, which would be quite painful and make it difficult to chew. He recommended to my mother that we go with the bridge option, because it was cheaper and less invasive. It would still cost at least $500 (c. 2004). On the way home, my mother asked me what I wanted to do. She was trying to steer me toward the bridge when I started crying, partly because the idea of getting dental surgery was scary but mostly because either way, it was gonna be really expensive, and we didn’t have dental insurance. We ended up leaving the tooth as-is and just hoping that it would stay there until I was an adult and could deal with it then. I got it pulled about ten years later at a dental school clinic. I haven’t gotten a prosthetic because it’s not visible when I smile and it doesn’t affect my bite.

When I was eighteen I went on birth control to regulate my period. This was pre-Obamacare, so there was no rule about insurance companies being required to pay for contraception. When I got to the pharmacy, I found out that a three-month supply was $80 with insurance, $50 without.

When I was nineteen my mother changed jobs so our insurance changed as well. On the old insurance, the co-pay for my meds had been reasonably affordable, around $100/month for birth control, anti-depressants, and ADHD meds. On the new insurance, my ADHD meds were not initially covered, so the co-pay for those was around $185/month. Fortunately we were able to get a prior authorization, and that price got cut in half.

When I was twenty-one my mother changed jobs again, and went back to our old insurance company. When my family was last on it, our deductible had been $1000. When we got back on it, our deductible went up to $5000. I decided to apply for medical assistance. Fortunately Minnesota has a fairly decent Medicaid program, and I got coverage. Unfortunately whenever my income level changed (which was frequent because I was in college), instead of just adjusting my premium, they would drop me and I would have to reapply. 

When I was twenty-three I moved from southern Minnesota to Minneapolis, so my medical assistance changed (again). Before I moved, my doctor gave me about six months’ worth of paper scripts for my ADHD meds, so that I wouldn’t have to go without while I was finding a clinic. I ended up going to the Walgreen’s near my house, and I don’t know what happened but about six months down the line, Walgreen’s informed me that I was going to have to start paying out-of-pocket for my meds, because the medical assistance plan I was on wasn’t covered. I ended up frantically calling every other pharmacy in the neighborhood to find out if they accepted my plan, which was surprisingly difficult because the plan I was on is more common in greater Minnesota than in the metro. Eventually I went with Target Pharmacy (which later became CVS), and during the next enrollment period I switched to a different medical assistance plan that was accepted at more places in the metro. A couple years later CVS decided they weren’t going to accept my new plan anymore, so I had to find a new pharmacy again. (Some other bullshit happened later, but that wasn’t due to insurance so I won’t go into it).

When I was twenty-five I asked my PCP if she would increase the dosage of my ADHD meds. After some research we found out that my insurance doesn’t normally cover Concerta; I’d been grandfathered in when I went on that plan, but that wouldn’t apply if I changed my dosage. The only one my plan covered without a prior authorization was Adderall. My PCP and I were both willing to switch, but I ended up losing my coverage due to income change and didn’t get it back for a few months, so I just didn’t get my ADHD meds during that time. (This one ended up eventually working in my favor, because when I got back on my insurance, I got switched to Adderall, and it works a lottttttt better than Concerta ever did. But that was a rough couple months 😬)

When I was twenty-seven I got a job with the state of Minnesota, so I got that sweet AFSCME insurance. I ended up losing that job after three months, and my supervisor told me he arranged my last day to be at the end of the month so I wouldn’t have to pay for parking for an extra month. Unfortunately, this also meant that I ended up losing my insurance much more quickly, so I had to scramble to get back on medical assistance. Fortunately it was open enrollment so the process went pretty quickly and I was only uninsured for a month, and I’d just gotten my meds refilled so I didn’t have to worry about paying out-of-pocket.

The really sad thing is, on the spectrum of health insurance nightmares, mine are pretty mild. Right now, one of my friends is uninsured because she had to move away from her abusive parents and ended up in Kansas, and apparently in Kansas the only way a single adult without dependents can get Medicaid is if they’re on disability. 

So basically, I’m really hoping either Bernie or Warren gets the nomination bc Biden ain’t gonna do shit.